Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we're thankful for our families. Our home. Our stability. Our healthy babies. Karl's wonderful new job. My wonderful job. We are blessed beyond what we deserve and we are thankful.

Enjoy your day of Thanksgiving, too!



i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

e.e. cummings

DIY Yogurt

We've been eating plain Greek yogurt around here for ages, and I'd talked to a gal at WayMar about making yogurt at home. She made it sound easy, no yogurt maker required. So I did a little internet research (did you know the light in your oven creates enough heat to make yogurt? I didn't either. It does!) and decided to give DIY Yogurt a go. I purchased 3 different cartons of milk before I finally got around to trying it, but this week the magic happened!

 Heating the milk up to 180. I believe this is referred to as scalding.

 And then waiting for it to cool down to 118. I borrowed this digital thermometer from my friend Becky, who also happens to live next door. 

I must get one of these!

 I left it in the oven overnight, accidentally. I had intended to check on it during one of Marek's nighttime feeds and forgot. When I noticed it the next morning I thought, Dang! I ruined it for sure!!, but it looked fine. I put it in the fridge for the recommended 8 hours and when I pulled it out, I had the above. Creamy and a little runny, or at least runnier than the thick Greek stuff we usually eat.

 So I let it drain in the fridge for awhile. I had to empty the bottom bowl twice of the liquid whey. Some people eat this liquid whey. I do not. At least, not yet. :)

Fun fact: I read online that draining yogurt long enough results in cream cheese. Interesting!

The final product: 32oz of organic Greek yogurt. The stuff we buy runs 18-22 cents an ounce, and we can easily go through 2 containers a week. The DIY Yogurt runs 9 cents an ounce and is organic to boot! Totally worth it. And next time I'll do it overnight on purpose, now that I feel confident that my oven light outputs sufficient heat and so I'm not giving up my oven all day. If you want to try this at home, I used this recipe.

Side Note: Auntie B asked me if mine was tangy, and I did a taste comparison this morning of the two and found that mine was not any tangier than the store bought. While researching making yogurt at home I recall reading that the longer you incubate it, the tangier it becomes, so either I'm immune to tang or my overnight incubation didn't increase the tang. :)

Would you make your own yogurt at home?

DIY Cloth Wipes

I decided to try cloth wipes to go with my cloth diapers after seeing this recipe here. I got three patterns of thin flannel and sewed up 45 double-sided 8" x 8" wipes. I mix up the 'solution', fold the wipes one halfway over the next so they're kind of accordion folded (which pulls the next one up when I pull one out), set them in an old disposable wipes container (yay recycling!) and pour the solution over top. I'll often flip the container over, after replacing the lid of course, to allow any excess solution to absorb into the upper wipes. It's been working out great for us, as long as I pay attention and remember to make more solution when I'm running low. Willa seems to find them soothing, they smell good, surprisingly don't stain and we love that we aren't throwing so much away. A winner!

Love this idea! Found on crunchybetty.com, these easy, clever little buggers are made with things I already have on had. We use cloth diapers on our sweet pea, and often go a few days between washings. This means the stinky, poopy diapers pile up, making the bathroom where they sit FUNKY. Totally trying it in our stinky dirty diaper bathroom! And we cook all the time, so in the kitchen to absorb those saute smells! In the closet where the shoes live!

We're headed back to Mexico for a little getaway this week! We're staying at the adults only resort across the street from where we stayed last year. We are VERY EXCITED to be taking this vacation!!

While I was in Reno last, I had the pleasure of shopping at a Whole Foods. They have a surprisingly large non-food section as well as a fantastic organic grocery selection and while perusing the aisles I came across this Ballet Conditioning dvd. I'd taken dance classes as a kid and I thought it might be a fun workout alternative, and definitely something I could do in the hotel. The workout was awesome! It's 51 minutes long, the only accessory you need is a straight-backed chair (although I found even a roll-y computer desk chair works in a pinch) and it really works you out! My legs were weak and tight the rest of the day. (I should've stretched a wee bit more afterwards!) A couple of mornings later I did it again, still challenging but I didn't hurt nearly as much afterwards.

I found it here online for 8.99. Worth a try if you're interested in a 'dancer's silhouette'! It is now in my weekly exercise rotation.