The M&M Story

I've decided it might be time to post the mommy prayers I elicit most days.  And then some nights.  And, well, then some mornings because my prayers are never ceasing.  For survival. Dear God, Thank you for valentines.  Not that I really love Valentine's Day, but I love that my boys love Valentine's Day. Create. Plan. Execute.  What more could a mommy ask for?  Well, maybe a dozen roses....or a night off...or a bottle of my favorite wine...or a pedicure...but really, a create/plan/execute is far more beautiful and keepsakeish than any wine/pedicure/roses. Thank you for little boys. They are just perfect---in their puppy love, playful-wrestle sort of way. They love deeply.  And passionately.  Give me patience...and wisdom as I love these puppies to adulthood.  Or at least until they are able to feed and clothe themselves.  Please give me insight into their characters....into their passions and desires and motivations. May I please have that extrasensory spidey sense th

Okay, so I know I posted a few days ago my base quick bread recipe.  Well, I tried something else, but this is only for banana bread.  I like banana bread, but I'm always looking for ways to make it more interesting--and less fattening.  So this is adapted from The Canyon Ranch Cooks: Preheat oven to 350.  See below for pan prep. 3 small, ripe bananas, mashed--about 1 cup 1/4 cup brewed coffee 1/2 cup brown sugar (could sub regular sugar--i just like how the molasses flavor mixes with the coffee) 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (i usually blend an apple with a little water--it's easier than stocking applesauce) 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups spelt flour (you can use regular whole wheat, but sub a little bread flour for the rise) 1/4 cup coconut flour (can skip if you don't have it--but use one less egg) 3/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp (or more) of allspice 1/2 tsp (or more) of cinnamon splash of almond extract ( if you prefer vanilla, that works, too.) s

In the words of The Beautiful South--"I want my wind-swept, Ingrid Bergman kiss."   No wonder we cheer for Maximus and Frodo and Harry Potter.  For years, I've loved dissecting movies and books, engaging with the hero and his quest as he searches for his elixir. It's good to know it's the way we are designed.   A Sacred Romance In all of our hearts lies a longing for a Sacred Romance. It will not go away in spite of our efforts over the years to anesthetize or ignore its song, or attach it to a single person or endeavor. It is a Romance couched in mystery and set deeply within us. It cannot be categorized into propositional truths or fully known any more than studying the anatomy of a corpse would help us know the person who once inhabited it. Philosophers call this Romance, this heart yearning set within us, the longing for transcendence; the desire to be part of something larger than ourselves, to be part of something out of the ordinary that is good. Transc

I thought that might get your attention.  I love to bake.  I sometimes follow a recipe but more often than not, I improvise--mostly because a. I don't necessarily have all ingredients on hand or b. I need to raise the nutritional content or c. I'm not a rule follower.   And then there is my love affair with spelt flour.  I love spelt.  It can be substituted 1:1 for wheat flour, but it is nuttier, sweeter and higher in protein.  It is also easier on the digestive system.  My new base recipe for pumpkin and banana bread. 1.5 cups spelt flour .5 cup coconut flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 cup sugar--I use the "healthy" kind--evaporated cane juice.  But really it's just sugar.  1/2 tsp maca powder (Optional.  You can add more if you like, but be careful, this stuff is STRONG) 2 eggs  1/2 cup  (or a dribble more) of buttermilk 1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce--I usually just put my apples in a blender and use that. 1

I love laughing. Growing up, I frequently laughed at my father and brother with their running commentaries on most any subject presented. And now with our Big Mac around, we laugh....a lot.   Max has a natural penchant for humor. He's Brian and then some. It's sort of slapstick, Monty Python humor. Briggs, on the other hand, is a bit more serious.  I'm not sure he sees the whole point of the humorous stupidity. We watched Home Alone and Jim Carrey's Grinch this season, and Todd took the boys to see Yogi Bear.  Yes, we've had our fill of funny movies.  My favorite line from Max was, of course, a little more poetic:  "Mommy, the Grinch has fingers like sugar snap peas."   For a child who hates writing but makes ingenious connections, I think he may be a budding poet. Daddy Brian would be so proud :).

A few nights ago, we were eating dinner and all of a sudden Briggs pipes up:  "Think.  Don't drink and drive."  Okay.  Good conversation starter, considering it is the holidays and spirits typically flow.  But this is my six year old.  So we asked why and where he had learned that.....he read it on a billboard.  Makes sense.  But then he said, "Children and dogs should not drink and drive. It isn't safe." Children and dogs????  And are we talking orange juice or beer? Biting the inside of my cheeks, we pursued this line of reasoning with questions, mostly about the dogs and whether or not he understood to which drink the phrase referred. Apparently, he just figured it would be dangerous if children and dogs drink and drive because they might get hurt. We explained the difference between drinks like soda, coffee and orange juice (I had a panic for a minute because my kids have seen me drink coffee daily...as I am driving) and adult beverages.  Both seemed

Recently, I taught some poetry writing workshop lessons to Max's third grade class. It's been awhile since teaching elementary school kids, especially those under the age of 10.  I forgot what it was like to have a gaggle of little people follow you around the room itching to read their creative work or to motivate little boys who would rather play with dust bunnies than write. Such enthusiasm--with high schoolers, they would much rather talk to each other than to me--these little guys were buzzing with creativity and excitement over writing poetry.   One of Max's assignments was to write a poem about something at home and to write to the something--be it an object or an event or even a person. Dabble in personification. So he decided to write about Briggs.... Briggs [all about my brother] by Maxwell Maynor Fall 2010 Briggs you are loving you are kind you are smart in the mind. You are funny You are kind You are kinda Weird sometimes. I love you very much So I won’