Merry Christmas, Again!

We had a fun time on Christmas day trying to celebrate the birth of Jesus and spend time with our co-family. We spent the day before with a's mom visiting us. We opened gifts with her that day. She gave e the cutest organic pj's from under the nile. Winston Salem has a really great store called Baby Organics that you should all support, if you live or visit that town. It's in the same shopping center as Whole Foods. A made us pancakes, vegan sausage and I made fried potatoes and peppers.
We had another yummy breakfast Christmas morning before reading the story surrounding Jesus' birth. Growing up, my mom always made orange cinnamon rolls so this year, I found a recipe and veganized it! It was okay but not so great. Mainly, the rolls were cut too small so they got crispy instead of staying fluffy and soft. The larger ones turned out better and the glaze was very good.
So, we read a bit after breakfast. You know, we don't really hear much about Mary's labor and the actual BIRTH of Jesus but perhaps I should do some more research before thinking that info just isn't available. I sure would be interested in reading about it.
Then, we opened the few gifts we got for each other. My mom gave us lots and lots to open. Her presents took up most of the space under the tree. One of my fave gifts from her was a hand-knit bag for carrying groceries. I will admit that i liked the yarn for a's hat so much that i almost offered to trade him. Then, i remembered that we live together and can share. She made a great hat for ez in a pattern that we always get compliments on and a sweater vest. I want to avoid going on and on about "what gifts did you get for christmas?" and say we had a really fun day. E was way more into the celebration and giving this year than last year. That was really fun for us.
We made mashed potatoes and cookies that flopped later in the day to share with our co-family. We had so much fun playing with their new toys like a handmade wooden kitchen with hand crocheted vegan cupcakes. Too fabulous! We had quite a feast from amazing stuffing to gravy, celebration roast, green bean casserole, and even chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon (which my BF gifted us!). Then, most of them drank wine while nanja and I had sparking cider and e's boyfriend showered her with hugs and kisses all evening. A truly fabulous day!
Tomorrow, I will celebrate another birth...the birth of my husband, who will turn 31 on the 31st and begin his golden year! I love to celebrate everything about him.

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

making gingerbread cookies

we made gingerbread cookies for the first time! after letting the dough firm up in the fridge, we rolled it out and began to cut shapes and create figures. we don't have a single cookie cutter in our house, so we had to use our imagination.
after they quickly baked, we used some leftover vegan "cream cheese" icing to decorate.
everyone got in on the decorating.
one happy vegan family!
she chose to eat the christmas tree cookie but really only licked the icing a couple of times.
a nursing mama and her babe!
hot chocolate with soy milk, cocoa and a touch of vegan sugar. so yummy but it kept me up all night making christmas presents.

after two bites of a cookie and three licks of icing, she asked to eat cranberries. that ez!
the finished cooks, minus a few that we had to eat all warm and yummy. what do you see?

what we've been doing recently

learning to make vegan biscuits the same size as our faces. then, devouring them with apple butter while still piping hot. do you know how long it's been since my poor raised in the south husband had a biscuit? it's become a staple around here in just a few short weeks.
re-enacting LHOTP by cooking our dinner and heating our house with the woodstove.
we just boiled sweet potatoes for sweet potato cornbread. yummy.
here is every parents'dream come true! our always ready to help daughter has washed her first pot. let's all raise our glasses to cheer her on and wish her many years of helping us in this way!
"mama, you need help?" oh, yes, babylove, i totally need help washing these dishes. it's one of my last desires in the kitchen...to wash dishes. thank you, dear hubby and now dear child for taking that burden off of me. you two are the best!
vegan baking practically every single day. sometimes more than one baked good in a single day or even a single session. it's becoming a mild obsession to bake something new or tasty true on a very regular basis. we all needed to gain a few pounds in this house, anyway! these are cinnamon raisin (uhm, or maybe these were the cranberry version?) spoon drop biscuits with an orange glaze in that blue bowl.
on a whim, i stuck the pile of holiday greeting cards up on the wall in our guest bedroom but then more came and they haven't made their way up there, yet. which i kinda feel bad about. maybe tomorrow.
accidentally, my camera slipped out of my pocket at a friend's house. when i got it back the next week, my first thought was, "wonder what bliss took pics of on my camera." only this lovely one of two of my most inspiring friends. i am soooo jealous that they are neighbors! you can only imagine the level of crafty goodness that happens between the two of them.
reading books titled, "snow" (yes, there is more than one with that same simple title) and "the first snowfall" while snuggling up on my expanding belly. so good for all three of us.
then, she'll spend some time loving on her dog brother. she is already a fabulously caring sister. soon, she'll get to be the big sister instead of being the youngest. sherpa turned five one week before e turned two this fall.
some of my favorite people making some of my favorite sounds. what a treat to have you all in town!
lil hands hanging some of my fave bought ornaments
yep, that's rudolph from the classic christmas cartoon. it's been a long time fave of mine.
even ole fluffy got in on the tree decorating this year. he's one talented penguin, that ole fluff. he's the best penguin in the country, no?
here's a tip from a smart grammy. when you send three boxes of wrapped gifts to your daughter and her family, leave something partially unwrapped for the granddaughter to open immediately! it will save a lot of stress for said daughter and her family. score bonus points if it's a handmade blanket that said granddaughter likes to wrap her animals up in. genius.
so happy to be unwrapping the blanket to see what is inside!
she named her bear, yesterday. she told me, "bear snores on." while holding this bear and recalled the occupants of the house where we first read this dear book. thus, the bears' name is ambrose. precious to my heart.

A Vehicle and Soap

Today, I filled up my tank in my new-to-me vehicle with biodiesel at a pump right down the street from my house. It was interesting and I will tell you all about it tomorrow. My camera is having a vacation in Raleigh at a friend's house so it may be a few days before you get to see the red beauty that she is.

While you are waiting on me, check out my friend's line of handmade homemade soaps. She's right here in Apex and a fellow home-birthing breastfeeding mama like me. We did our labor assistant training together after being friends since our pregnancies with our girls who are only a few months apart. I got to attend the homebirth of her son this past spring. So, show some support and buy some soap. After saying that three times without slurring!

eileen having a prenatal visit on the lawn behind the legislative building.

Bio-Deisel Vehicle

First, check out these.
Our current pressing dilemma is that of transportation. Our preferred methods of transport are walking and riding bicycles. A has been a life long bicycle rider while I gave up after my bike was stolen in 5th grade. We fell in love with bike riding back in Bali as it was our main means of transport beyond walking, which we did a lot of as well. And, we greatly enjoyed our bike rides and walks into town or just to the corner store, friend's house, birth center, wherever.

These days we own an old VW Vanagon Westfalia that you have seen pictures of on the blog. It really served it's purpose of getting us across the country safely, comfortably and with less expense than eating out and sleeping in hotels. For the daily drives around our town, the gas milage is a bit low for our liking and well, it's gas! We would prefer to not drive at all or, at least, I would. But, as someone serving women in the childbearing year, it's necessary for me to drive all over the place. Therefore, we would like to be able to run bio-deisel in our vehicle. We could drop about $3-8K and get the old VW engine pulled and converted to deisel. Or, we could purchase a more reliable vehicle with an existing deisel engine.

Outside of buying a truck, it's proving difficult to find a mid-sized vehicle that is both affordable and will fit our family life. We will be a family of five early next year, with two people in car seats and a large dog. By large, I mean he weighs about 130 pounds and is over two feet tall. He goes with us on camping trips and visits to the in-law. Therefore, we would like to have space for everyone. We sold both of our cars (VW Jetta and Subaru Wagon) before leaving for our trip around the world. We expected to be gone a year or longer so put the thought of vehicle needs out of our head for a while. Now, we are in a place where we would like to have something to drive that has less impact on the world and causes less harm than a gas guzzler like our Vanagon.

We have looked at a pre-owned Mercedes Wagon. We are currently looking at the pre-owned Jeep Liberty. Both the pre-owned Jetta and Passat Wagons are rather out of our price range. A would prefer us to look at the NEW Grand Jeep Cherokee but it is a bit expensive...okay, it's really expensive. And, it's new so the whole gig of re-using and not consuming more than we need would be shot. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!

recent events from our driveway

we live on a long road full of trees and dogs and houses. lately, there have been a series of unfortunate events occurring across the street from our house. we have observed each of these things in the same way, as we backed into our gravel driveway.

one morning, we left early to run errands as we seem to be doing quite often these days. upon returning later that afternoon, we noticed that our mailbox was missing. yep, it was not standing where it had been just a few hours earlier. we walked across the street to investigate. upon the torn up ground, we found both our mailbox and out neighbor's mailbox. a guessed that perhaps someone had fun playing mailbox baseball the night before. but, we probably would have heard that and teh mailbox was standing before we left earlier in the day. the ground around the mailboxes was rather torn apart, too. we knocked on our neighbor's door and she told us what happened. "i bet you're wondering about your mailbox!" She said that a woman swerved to miss a dog on the road and slammed into our mailboxes, skidding off the side of the road. The woman's husband had already paid a visit with apologies and an offer to repair both mailboxes for us free of charge, of course. He explained that this was the second time his wife had swerved to miss a dog along with his suspicion that she is actually falling asleep at the wheel! Thankfully, she was unharmed although understandably shaken up by the crash. Our mailboxes were fixed and replaced within the day. Additionally, A spoke with the man at length finding out that he does home repairs, door and cabinet installations. So, we plan to get his help with those things around our house!

as we back into our tree lined driveway, we have the pleasure of seeing our dear neighbors' front yard which functions as a sanctuary for birds and various wildlife. she even has a sign on either side of her yard as in nears the road, "do not mow. wildlife habitat." mainly for the people who keep up the grass by the road. it's a beautiful area, really. unfortunately, there are lots of houses made of ticky ticky tack invading us. therefore, more power lines are needed to support their energy gorging. as we were backing in the other day, we noticed the "do not mow. wildlife habitat." sign had gone unheeded. the whole front grass by the road was sawed down to stubble. i can only imagine that she is sadder than we about it.

let me share some good news though. we spent last night with long lost friends whose company we have been deeply longing for over the past five months that we spent away from them. we'll be hosting everyone in just two weeks for a rockin' time of more catch up, specifically about some of the other unfortunate spiritual events that have been occurring within our community. not a lovely conversation, perhaps but a necessary one.

In the meantime, i will be doing some crocheting and making yummy vegan treats to eat, but best of all we will be decorating the christmas tree today! we spent the morning picking out some holiday books at the PTA thrift store. From Kwanza to Hannakuh to the story surrounding the birth of Jesus, we piled them up in a cloth bag printed with the words, "Breastmilk, the gift that lasts a lifetime." What finds! It's rather disappointing to see titles like, "The Birth of Jesus" with nary a slight mention denoting Mary in labor or giving birth. Most don't even have her holding Jesus afterwards but rather lying him down by himself in a container while Joseph stares out the stable/cave door. It's enough to make me what to create a book that deserves the title, "The Birth of Jesus". Perhaps, after the tree is trimmed and we've eaten some muffins with soy nog!

"i've got my sweater buttoned, hat and bootlaces tied"

"hurry, before the sun goes down, let's take a walk outside."

"whirling and twirling
the leaves are calling
come pay with us,
come play."

from Autumn Walk by Ann Burg, which ez memorized in about a week after we read it to her every night. we were so surprised when she started saying the words before we did.
We try to take an autumn walk as often as possible, even if it's just through our backyard.

Happy ThanksVeganing

making vegan pumpkin pie in the morning
the kid's table. ez and her boyfriend sat next to each other with bas across from them.
the kids got so hungry waiting for food that we made them eat air.
green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish
the celebration roast and mushroom gravy
maple syruped acorn squash that andy baked up for us.

her birthday day

started the day by playing with the farm and opening gifts from richmond granny. two really thoughtful gifts, thanks, again, mom!
birthday playdate at the park
"can it get any better than a fun playday with my friends?"
taking a water break with two of her best friends.
holding the babe we so longed to hold! welcome to the world, you precious creation. bless your face (and your soul and all your other parts, too)!
eating dinner burritos with richmond.
reading "goodnight, gear bear" to her new best friend, richmond the penguin who needed pajamas just like her.

back in north cack

our first picture back in north cack!
i never finished updating you all on our actual return to north carolina. i just jumped ahead to life here. well, it wasn't really that big of a deal, i guess to drive on into the dirty d once we hit nc. after a wonderfully inspiring time in nashvegas with timmy and skippy's family, we drove to asheville. we had a fabulous time up in black mountain where our friends were throwing a party. we got to see a few other familiar faces and meet some mutual friends of friends that we've been hearing about for years in addition to just brand new ones. we went out to breakfast the next morning at a bustling sunny cafe. we got to catch up with some friends who are working hard at making life livable. we were so glad to know how they are doing and look forward to many more times together.
on solid ground, again!
after breakfast, our plan was to hit up a nature reserve back in asheville. as we settled into the van, a said, "want to just drive on home?" he was really ready to be back in his own space and wanted to get there before dark. so, i agreed. we drove straight on through to our house. that's pretty much it. we've tried to recover from the shock of our overgrown yards and all the dead flies on the window sills inside. after a few nights of crying our selves to sleep and a ten days of cleaning with bleach and fire, things are looking up for the gunts.
oh, the rolling hills.
we're really glad to be back home. we love where we live b/c it is so full of beauty. from our house to our friends to the fresh whole food to the parks, this is such a great place to live. maybe tomorrow i will make my top 10 reasons that my town is so fabulous. it would be almost as hard as listing merely ten reasons why i love ashlove.
welcome home.

Easy Saturday

This morning, we got a late start but we're off to the farmer's market and a bead sidewalk sale. We made vegan pancakes from scratch for the first time. Yummy!

Happy Birthday, Ashlove!

Today is my best friend's birthday. Instead of being at a rockin' concert with her right now, I am under an afghan coughing my eyeballs out of their sockets. But, enough about me. Let me tell you 10 reasons why i love ashlove.
1. She is a dear friend, the best friend i have ever had. BFF
2. She cares deeply for not only me but my whole family from sewing dresses for them to spending hours baking them birthday cakes. Even after she baked all night, carved and iced a cake in teh shape of a penguin and then dropped the extra cake as she tripped on the step, she still woke up early the next morning to bake another cake from scratch so we would have enough for our guests! thanks for being her mamatwo!
wait, that's not your kid! we've got a few more years to go before we can officially arrange the marriage. but let's definitely have these pics posted at their wedding.
3. She loves and cares for her own family in ways that make me want to be a more involved and committed mama to my own family.
she took the family to get matching tattoos.
this is what happens when she leaves them at my house though.
4. She inspires me with her artsy creative ways from beading to sewing to pottery to painting to crocheting to photography to gardening to collages and paper crafts. Yeah, she does it all!
here is my girl getting all excited about dirt. yes, folks, dirt.
5. Her passion for attending women in their childbearing year is so strong and yet she is wise and modest. In my mind, she is a midwife yet would never call herself that b/c she's humble enough to work as a nurse and be in a master's program when she could be catching two babies at once with her hands behind her back.
she even taught her sons how to breastfeed their babies.
6. She has great taste in music and food and clothes.
where ryan's ringtones are tested for your hearing pleasure.
7. She doesn't just eat a vegan diet, she fully lives a vegan lifestyle full of tolerance for people who don't share her wisdom. She gets all credit for converting my husband to being vegetarian over two years ago before we were even friends.
doing what we can to support the vegan cookie makers.
8. She has courage and boldness to pursue truth, goodness and fairness. She compassionately teaches other out of her desire for these things to be known. She is gracious to people like me who are still learning.
we don't serve lil bitches in matching pink shirts with boobies on them.
finally getting our noses pierced was a bit of a blur for us, too as i drank false courage in the parking lot and she bled all over the place, as usual.
9. She is not afraid to put the needs of her babes before her own comfort yet she's no pushover.
taking care of bizness.
10. She makes the best damn chocolate coffee cake with peanut butter icing and sorbet and a mean rum and rosa.
here is the best camping spot on the east coast, hands down! jsow was making the drinks that night.
I could go on; it was too easy to think of those 10 and there are so many other fun things that i am leaving out. I am so honored to have her as my friend, confident and fellow mama. I wouldn't want anyone else to be my labor attendant at the birth of this babe. I anxiously await the day i get to return the favor. And, even more exciting are the days ahead where we're catching babes together left and right with ryan playing his gentle songs in the background (if the mamas will let us)! I love you fully, ash. Thank you for being my friend!
what a fun wine tour that was!