Traveling Mojo

My Mojo to create is still with me, but it has been traveling a bit.  Mojo hasn't been traveling geographically (if it did, could it take me back to Victoria, B.C.?? or to Fort Bragg, CA?? or to one of the places I'm aching to return to?? purty puhleeeze??).  Mojo has been playing with my camera and flitting around Flickr lately. 

Other than one quick card for a Moxie Fab challenge from last June (oh goodness! that's almost a Year ago...wow...time flies!!), I had not played around there a lot.  I've read Pioneer Woman from almost her beginning and last month, I finally decided to play along with one of her Flickr photography assignments.  And I've played along with the three since then. 

Guess what?!  Come close and I'll tell you......I've been having so much fun!!  I love that Flickr has so many groups that cater to the amateur & pro alike and both can throw their shots into PW's Flickr group.  Not to mention, that place is an inspiration powerhouse!

Thought I'd share with you my latest upload.  Two roses in our backyard bloomed at the same time and this is one of them.

I am having fun playing and learning (actually, blogging is what has made me realize how much fun it is to take those photos....and oh my, I'm having a Girl Scout flash back to my Photography Interest Project Patch....right now!!).

Blogging, attempting to capture something beautiful and/or interesting, and even that Girl Scout photography seminar from more than twenty years ago have definitely made me wish for a better camera!  And while its definitely on my wish list, it won't be appearing in my home anytime super soon.  So, I'm simply doing the best with what I have (which I bought four years ago.....thinking I just wanted something digital & small to be able to capture my kidlets' moments with.....little did I know where Mojo would begin to take me!).

What kind of cameras do you use?  Do you like what you have or what is on your wish lists?  I'd love to know and learn from you too! :>  And come visit me on Flickr!  Do you add your cards and/or photos to Flickr?  If you do, I'd love to connect...add me as a contact and I'll hop on over and say 'hello'! :>

One Little Word Update

When I chose my One Little Word for 2010, I chose {Life}, and while there were many reasons to choose that word, one particular reason swayed me. Before our daughter arrived a few years ago, we had our veggie garden and loved it! We loved planting it as a family, watering it, checking on it, picking from it, and cooking with what we grew.....all as a family. Once we had our wee girl, we didn't replant. And I have missed it....a lot.

So, to remedy that, my wee girl (who loves her fruits and veggies so much that we often have to bribe her with a veggie to get her to eat the main course on her plate) and I have been bringing home 2 1/2" organic starter plants the last couple weeks.

And now, tomatoes, chives, and parsley are in the ground, in planters on the deck, and in an old antique wash basin. Sharing those homes are a few other herbs & veggies, including:

Sage

Yellow Bell Pepper
(that was a wee bit chewed up by the time it got into the ground
...not sure that it happened before or after it arrived home)

Red Bell Pepper



And our boy's sweet strawberry plant! Can you believe it was only a couple of leaves big when he brought it home in his backpack from a local Ag Fair??!!

And since I took these pics, zucchini, rosemary, Japanese eggplant, peppermint, crooked neck yellow squash, and artichoke organic 2 1/2" starter plants have followed my wee girl and I home and are waiting to stretch their roots out in some deeper soil!

We are all having a lot of fun and enjoying having a veggie garden again.....or in the case of our wee girl, for the first time. It feels good to plant {life}, help it grow, eventually harvest it, and bring it into our kitchen to better our lives!

What's growing in your garden this season?

----------------------------------------------------------

Oh yes....one last thing, my wee girl, our Princess, came running up to me the other day with excited words spilling out of her wee mouth, "Look Mom!! I spelled 'Disney'!!!"


When I told her what it really spelled, she was tickled and proceeded to write 'Princess' on every single thing she could get her hands on! That was one great big little thing that made me Smile!!

GF/CF/SF Strawberry-Banana Smoothie......Delish!

Last year, my sweet boy brought home a small strawberry plant that he planted, watered, and nurtured its way to producing a few strawberries. This year, that plant is looking mighty happy with many blossoms and it even divided itself at some point over the winter and so now there are two strawberry plants in the pot. We are very much anticipating more ripe red strawberries to eat and light up our sweet boy's proud smile!

In the meantime, we are a strawberry lovin' family and just cannot wait for the ones in our garden. So, that means many containers of organic strawberries come home with us!

One container of those organic strawberries made its way into the blender for this gluten, casein (the protein in dairy), soy free Strawberry-Banana Smoothie and it was absolutely deliscious!!! So delish that the kidlets had three glasses each! It was definitely a meal in a glass that day. :> (Our son cannot eat gluten or casein and soy is extremely limited in his diet. He just loves it when he can eat something that looks and tastes like what everyone else can eat and won't make him sick & miserable!!)

Gluten/Casein/Soy Free Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

One container of GF/CF/SF Coconut Yogurt

(we used strawberry-banana here, but plain or vanilla would work too)

One ripe banana

One 16 oz. container of organic strawberries

(halving or quartering first, depending on size, helps in the blending)

Half a scoop of Pea Protein

Ten drops of liquid Stevia

Crushed Ice

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend!

Did you know that you can add some spinach or kale to a sweet fruit smoothie and not effect its taste? You can! How much you add depends on how big your blender is and how much fruit you have in it. It will change its color, but its a great way to add some extra nutrients & dark leafy green veggies to you or your kidlets diet. Everybody's tastes are different, but personally, I've never seen anyone turn down a smoothie! :>

What's your favorite smoothie? My kidlets want to try a mango smoothie next!

Easter {Dye} Wrap-Up

Hello! I've been a wee bit MIA, haven't I??!! My son was on Spring Break last week, following Easter and though we didn't do anything super exciting, we did enjoy some very needed mellow family time. And while I checked {in} to my family, I did check out of the rest of life a bit and now life seems to be running ahead of me! (Ya like that glass half full state of mind??!! I'm not running behind, life is simply running ahead of me!! {wink, wink!})

I know I owe you a card or two and I do promise to share some soon. First, I have a couple of pic happy posts to share......there's lots of colors to enjoy (we sure did!) and you'll see soon where and what at least one of my cards might be made of towards the end of this post. {wink}



Dying Easter eggs is a happy time around here. And while the sky was wavering between gray, dark, and threatening, the rain held off long enough for us to get our DYE on!!! :>

The dying process began neat enough. Cups atop a runner of paper towels across the length of the picnic table took any minor drips, drops, and splatters. Egg holders (or better known in our technical jargon, "egg dip thingie"!) were being utilized. And beautifully dyed eggs were emerging to "OOOOOO"s and "AHHHHH"s around the table.



Then our son decided to get a wee bit creative and dye his egg multiple colors. And of course, the easiest way to have control over this creative process is to hold the egg by the fingertips. He might, just might, have seen Mama do that....

Then our wee girl wanted in on this creative egg dying process. And she utilized her hands too.

She really utilized her hands.

And she did indeed create an absolutely splendidly dyed egg, in her favorite color.

And she even gave herself a pair of hot pink skin hand gloves to wear for Easter! What do you think??

Now, I did say this is a very happy creative time for our whole family. And I meant it! Daddy got in on the egg dying action. He opted for the cleaner approach using the 'egg dip thingie'. Isn't his egg pretty?!?!

And yes, I dyed eggs too. But, my Easter egg dying fun could only be complete once I pulled out a little 2009 Egg dying fun, folded up a few paper towels, each in a different way, and started dunking!!


And yes, some of this dyed love will definitely end up on a card or two! :>

I hope you had a fun holiday, if you celebrate, a great Spring Break, if that is or was on your calendar, and a beautiful spring!! I look forward to visiting and saying, 'hello'! Thanks for stopping in and hanging with my warbled internal calendar!! :>

World Autism Awareness Day

Today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day! And here, in the United States, all of April is Autism Awareness month. We have been affected by autism in our own family. And after the diagnosis came in, I began climbing that learning hill, er, um, curve! Thankfully, there are sites like Autism Speaks, TACA, Autism Society, and many others to visit and learn more!

Just two years ago, the incidence rate being reported was 1 child in 150 is affected with Autism. Now, the CDC (Center for Disease Control in the U.S.) reports that the rate has increased to 1 in 110 for all children and 1 in 70 for boys and TACA reports a rate of 1 in 91!

The numbers are growing. And whether you are aware of it or not, you most likely know someone who is affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Support, research dollars, and understanding are needed by the community at large. In support of World Autism Awareness Day, will you take a few minutes of your time to do a little reading? Or wear blue? Or share your own experiences with someone? Do you know someone who is affected by autism?