back again to say hello

I am not sure why, but I am having a hard time keeping up with blogging.... I need to find a balance with my screen time, which seems to be mainly fb or pinterest... and let me tell you pinterest I just cant seem to get enough of lately.  With the boys starting school next week, Im looking for lunch boxes, lunch ideas, reading, seasonal celebration ideas, crafts, you name it im looking and pinning!
Now, back to the starting of school.. I can not believe that Nico is going to be starting kinder!!!  My baby is leaving the nest! And I feel so lucky that he is flying into another mother birds nest! The boys school is called Sparrow. Nico's class is called Fairy Wren Forest.  Luca's class is called Sandpiper Shores. Both of which are lovely! I have stepped down as Luca's room mom this year and will be taking on the room mom roll in Nico's class! im so excited for he and Luca!  Luca is going in 2nd grade and he is looking forward to it. 2nd is a grade in which the child gets a sense of himself. Still in the child like ways, but becoming more aware of his own doings and such.  2nd was my favorite grade in elementary school.  At their school  from 1st to 3rd they will have the same teacher then 3rd to 6th the same teacher. Pretty amazing for a public (waldorf-inspired) charter school.
Im so proud of both of them!
As for daycare, we have all girls now.. this is quite the change from having all boys for SO long! We have three little girls who are just delicious. Grace and Abbey are the oldest (15 months) and our newest little member Madelyn who is just  6 months. The olders are very excited for the new baby!
Keep checking in for pictures! Ill have some up soon!

Happy Mothers Day

I would like to thank my mom for always being there! Know that I love you. I feel blessed to be a mom and to be able to be there for my own children! It is such an amazing experience!

mindfulness

Mindfulness... have you ever wondered in your day to day life if you are being mindful? I mean truly mindful of other people, your actions,  your thoughts, etc.
Well, I have and sometimes it is hard, you know you get caught up in something going on and then you look back and perhaps say " well I could have been more mindful"
I think we all should be more mindful on a daily basis... so I challenge you to a 7 day mindfulness journey. At least once a day reflect on something positive or negative and see if you handled a situation mindfully or if not how could should you have handled it mindfully.  Or perhaps in your yoga practice you need more mindful mediation, whatever it may be I would love to hear.

Namaste

Happy St. Patricks Day!

today has been super rainy and cold outside, the kind of day that you just want to curl up on the sofa with a book eat soup and drink tea. Lucky for us a friend had extra cabbage ( 3 heads to be exact) which meant soup on this cold day.
Now I did not use all three head of course, only half of one... and let me tell you this soup is so YUMMY! I love 101 cookbooks and they had a recipe for a Rustic Cabbage Soup.  I promise you are going to love it !


Rustic Cabbage Soup:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
a big pinch of salt
1/2 pound potatoes, skin on, cut 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups veggie stock
1 1/2 cups white beans, precooked or canned (drained & rinsed well)
1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons

more good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional, this part was not for me, I kept mine vegan)

Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes - it's o.k. to uncover to stir a couple times. Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the stock and the beans and bring the pot to a simmer. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Now adjust the seasoning - getting the seasoning right is important or your soup will taste flat and uninteresting. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is (varying widely between brands, homemade, etc)...

Serves 4.

ok, Im back and ready for SPRING

I have had so much fun trying out some new photo ideas with the babies. They are all so amazing and sweet! Here is a view of my latest work! Whats in your basket?

Snow days.. yes in southern CA

This weekend the boys and I headed to the mountains.. (about a 45 min trip from the beach) The sky was blue, the sun was shining and there was about 5 to 6 inches of snow on the ground.  A beautiful sight! This was our first trip to Mt. Laguna. Why, I dont know? But, believe me we will be going back. We already have a list of things we could have used.. waterproof gloves.. would have been a good choice!
We took our boogie board as this is the only sledding device we have..  however, we did see some people with plastic laundry baskets. Which actually work really well!
It was so nice to walk around the forest and explore with the boys. Not to mention the sledding brought back some really fun memories for me! Growing up in VA in the winter we had some really fun sledding days! Super cold though.. But warming up to a nice cup of hot cocoa with the icing on the cake!  This trip we did not have a cocoa, but we did eat lunch by the fire in a little restaurant called The Eagle and Bear Cafe.  The food was filling. And lucky for me they had a vegan White Bean and Kale soup. It warmed me right up!
So if you are up in the Laguna Mountains stop by.. I understand it is under new management.

wow - where does the time go.....

here is a glance at what has been going on...

Luis and Mary

The past couple of weeks have been really busy! I am excited to show you some pics of this amazing couple and their family I got to photograph on New Years Eve day.  They have both been married before, and have children of their own. The love that they show for each other warmed my heart! They are genuine and truly lovely. We had such a fun time, they are full of laughs and love! Congrats

Welcome Baby Abigal!

Yes, we had a new baby join daycare.  Three 6 month olds! They are so sweet together.  So much fun to watch them interact. They are so curious especially with the hair. Boy do babies love to pull hair! Not just my hair but each others hair and sometimes their own hair. It is fascinating.

New Years and Black-Eyed Peas - 2012

Well, being from Virginia I have been brought up on the tradition of eating Black-eyed peas every New Years day for good luck. Now, as the years have past and I have children of my own, I still do this tradition. I dont do the traditional recipe with Black-eyed peas called  Hoppin John with involves cooking the peas with a hamhock. This year I did a couple of different things: A Vegetarian style "Hoppin John" and  a black bean and black-eyed pea salad. Both Delicious!

I am sure some of you know already, but I though I would share, what I know to be the origin of this tradition: It has been said that eating black-eyed peas for luck dates back to the Civil War. General Sherman thought them to be a humble crop and would not steal them as he did with corn, collards and other crops. Perhaps this was the luck of the pea as it became a major food source. 

Now, not being a superstitious person, I still find that year after year I continue to eat this savory little bean on New years day. In a conversation with my brother on New Years day he has decided not to eat the bean and see how his luck goes. I think he is going to do fine beans or no beans! I wish him and everyone the best in 2012!! May you all prosper in what makes you happy

For those interested, I am including my recipes for Vegetarian Hoppin John and Black Bean and Black-eyed pea salad:

Vegetarian Hoppin John

Ingredients

2 cups dried black-eyed peas, rinsed 
1 medium yellow onion, chopped 
1 teaspoon dried thyme 
1 cup uncooked long grain rice 
2 strips tempeh bacon, chopped 
1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped 
Pinch of cayenne pepper 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
Ground black pepper to taste 
Tabasco (optional)

Method

Put black-eyed peas into a large bowl, cover with water and set aside for 6 hours or overnight. 

Drain black-eyed peas, then transfer to a large pot. Add 6 cups clean water, onions and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until black-eyed peas are tender but still whole, about 45 minutes. Add rice, tempeh bacon, peppers, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Season with Tabasco, if you like. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Black Bean and Black-Eyed Pea Salad

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans corn or one bag frozen and thawed
1 can black beans
1 can black-eyed peas
1 red onion chopped
1 bunch cilantro
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all together and chill.

Next Time will have photos! So good did not have time to take!

Enjoy

What are your Intentions?

It seems that the year just started.. 2011 that is. I cant believe that it is ending... R u ready for 2012?  have you set your intentions for the New Year?  I am setting my intentions with in myself. Trying to find more peace, to live more simply, and always to do better than the day before.  How about you? Comments section is below!

Cant wait to hear from you!

Ocean Beach Pier

Well here in Ocean Beach..OB as we call it, the fog has just rolled in and boy is it cold! Well maybe not really cold, but for us weather wimps its pretty darn cold.
However, during the daytime it is quite lovely! The sun is normally out and it is usually around 65 degrees this time of year.  However, the past couple of days it has been really warm. Brining out more people to the beach. I took the children for a walk on the pier and we were trying to see if we could see Daddy surfing... later to learn he went to Mission Beach to surf..... Anyway, here is what we saw..