Sophia serves

I want Sophia to grow up without remembering when she first got involved in ministry.  I envision serving to be so marinated in her bones that she never gives it a second thought. 

I have decided that my child is in ministry already. She provides baby therapy to many senior care residents in the Boise area.  She comes with me to most of my musical performances and is part of the show. Having her in my baby sling while performing brings more smiles (and more audience members for that matter) than my music ever brought on its own.  

Seeing the countenance of a grandpa visibly brighten because of Sophia's presence in my show is worth the shoulder aches that playing piano while holding a baby strapped to oneself affords.  After the performances, I linger and take Sophia around to visit all the residents- many of whom laugh with joy just at the sight of her.  I'm sure the amount of germs she has ingested is appalling and I'm clinging to the hope that it's helping her have a stronger immune system!  

One of my earlier memories is of my mother taking me with her to the nursing facility where she worked as a nurse. I would spend hours (or so it seemed at 4 years of age) in the apartment of one lady in particular and loved every moment of it.  This is why I feel it is only honest to claim I've worked in healthcare for 28 years, though it produces quite the cognitive dissonance evidenced in the form of raised eyebrows.  I then go on to explain and we have a good giggle.  When I think of those early experiences, giggle or no, I'm thankful that my mother instilled in me an interest in filling the emotional needs of the older generations.  Needs of love, respect, companionship, and quite frankly, the entertainment that a young child can bring. 

When Andrew and I played at the market on Saturday, many people stopped to take our picture. More than ever before Sophia came into our family.  Some tipped a dollar into the guitar case and some did not, but just to know that someone's day was brightened enough at the sight of our little family circus that they thought it worthy enough to stop for a photo, is payment enough.  I still wish we could get it recorded for posterity but I haven't figured out how to do that while playing music and holding a baby.  I should probably plan ahead and ask someone to help.

It will be interesting to see how Sophia's ministry and her part in our family unfold as she grows older and different abilities are nurtured. In my friendships with hundreds of senior citizens, I've interviewed many farmers (including my own father) and owners of other family businesses.  I learned that their children were only allowed to participate in sports and activities that didn't hinder the family vision as a whole.  My father for instance, was allowed to run track because it didn't interfere with planting and harvest season.  Unlike the ethic of today, where children are chauffeured to every activity at all costs, children were expected to contribute to the family's lifeblood and vision as a whole.  

I learned through these interviews that the good majority of the farmers or other business owning parents, reared children who grew up to be unquestionably successful and had failures that were never due to laziness or lack of work ethic.  Many went on to be doctors, construction contractors, missionaries, and Navy SEALS. Few or

none that I interviewed reared children who turned out to be professional students or bums or delinquents. 

I like to think of Sophi's baby therapy when she goes to work with Mama as her first job on the "family farm".  I've found my child to be genuinely helpful to our family vision through her ability to bring joy to others. I'm excited to see how she learns to help next. 

Strangers hold my baby and a panhandling experiment

The weather has turned colder and it is officially fall as of last week.  I realized as I was putting away Sophia's sweet little baby summer dresses, that she will probably never be able to wear them again. Do many mamas cry when this happens?  I sure did.  

Having a sweet baby to laugh at all day, makes it a wondrous time in a persons life. Many old ladies with dementia in the nursing homes I visit revert back to this time and will coo and ah over baby dolls all day long. In the market place, I see the grimace in old ladies' eyes when they see my Sophia because it has been so. Long. Since their babies were babies.  For many, this includes even their  grand babies.  

Call me crazy, but just about every elderly stranger in the marketplace I meet that gets that longing look when they see my baby gets to hold her.  My only prayer is that someday when my hair has greyed, my eyes have crinkled at the corners, and my babies are not babies anymore, some strange young girl with a new baby will return this kindness to me.  

Today was an amazing day with my little family.  We decided to moonlight as street musicians at the farmers market and make a little money. We got to the market at the crack of 11:30 with baby, music stand and baby stuff in tow when I said, "Drew, did we remember your guitar?"  He began laughing because with all the preparation of the morning, with packing up the baby, timing her feeding and diaper blowouts and spit up on her outfits and the craziness of still getting used to having a baby in the first place, we forgot the one tool that would help us accomplish our panhandling musical plans. 

I decided to sit at a local coffee shop with Sophia while Drew ran home for his guitar.   A middle aged lady got that longing look that women get when their own babies are grown, and out of compulsion, she began fawning over my 4 month old snuggler.  Honestly my gut reaction most times when strangers reach for my child is to turn into a mama tiger, but I pushed that instinct down, and gave the woman a warm smile and introduced myself.   Her "babies" are in their twenties now and the woman can hardly wait because one of her children is finally expecting.  I'm so thrilled for her as I can tell from the sparkle in her eyes, that it has been a long wait.  

The barista has been yelling that the woman's coffee order is ready for several moments before the woman realizes,  because she is so focused on my daughter.  She finally wakes from her dream like state and looks a little sheepish as she realizes her coffee is ready. She excuses herself to go retrieve her coffee and as she passes me again on her way out the door, she drops a gift card for the coffee shop in front of me on the table and says, "Here! Get whatever you want!"  I'm blessed beyond words. 

Drew returns, we walk down the market street and find a good spot to play. I wear my daughter in a baby sling as we perform because it is the only way to get thru the songs with her content the whole time instead of screaming.  I lead a nursing home music ministry which I love and feel called to do but It was so fun to perform covers of up to date songs!  It felt exhilarating to see the smiles on people's faces as they stopped to listen to our music. 

 A young teenage man that we see playing guitar and singing quite well at the market stopped by our spot for a song or two. He had a great grin on his face as he listened. I gave him a wave and a shout and told him we were fans of his and he returned the complement by dropping a dollar in the guitar case.   I tried to return it because we had already enjoyed his music without dropping a dollar in so I felt we owed him but he waved and ran away.  To those who think all the youth today are lazy and entitled, I think that I found a young man who is neither!

 I'm fairly certain having Sophia in the show increased the amount of passersby who stopped to hear a whole song or two. Everyone smiled at the fact that I was singing while wearing my daughter. I could hear comments from the audience about how adorable she was.  We had a little tongue in cheek sign for the tips thrown in the guitar case that read "Sophia's college fund (if she wants)" I think people really responded to that.  One enthusiastic youth exclaimed as she threw in a dollar, "If my parents had done that I wouldn't be paying back $50,000 in student loans!" 

 At one point during the performance, I even put Sophia  under the nursing cover and fed her during a song.  Some friends came to see us as we played and some of their unpretentious kiddos danced their little hearts out. So joyful!  It was the funnest day I remember for a long time. 

Cherry cobbler protein bars

My brother blessed me with a bag of already pitted cherries and I had to figure out what to do with them expediently. I came up with this recipe up after getting comfortable with Jamie Eason's pumpkin protein bar recipe from bodybuilding.com.  I changed a lot of things to suit my liking and it turned out yummy!  I'm starting to get a hang of this gluten free baking thing!

Ingredients

1/4 cup truvia brand stevia (any sweetener you prefer)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 stick of melted butter 4 oz (or applesauce)

2 tsp cinnamon 

1 1/2 tsp crushed ginger

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

15 oz pitted cherries

2 cups oatmeal or oatmeal flour

2 scoops vanilla whey protein (I like nutrilite)

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or regular milk plus 2 tsp vanilla extract)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Grease a 9 X 13 Pyrex with lubricant of your choice (I use butter cause I'm not a fan of the unnatural cooking sprays.)

Combine first 10 ingredients and mix thoroughly. 

Add final 3 ingredients and mix well. 

Spread batter into baking dish. 

Bake for 30 minutes. 

#glutenfree #proteinbars

Homemade Italian espresso drink bibicafe

The first time I ever tried bibicafe I thought it was going to taste weird. Strange. Bat-dung crazy. Yet this carbonated italian espresso drink proved to be a heavenly concoction.  Carbonated. Coffee. Sounds weird but I promise it is delish.  I liken it to a root beer float for adults. The warm coffee flavor mixed with carbonation and cream has similar qualities to the root beer float but is simultaneously unlike anything you have ever tried. 

Rumor has it the import license was lost or some such nonsense so we American bibicafe addicts can't get it anymore. There is another brand (or maybe the same brand with a new name?) called Frizz that they sell at my local Thomas Hammer coffee shop that is also quite yummy.  They doctor it up for you if you like with vanilla syrup and a dash of cream, but it is $3.25 or so for a tiny bottle. Here is what I came up with at home. It was quite a treat. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 can of plain soda water

1 cup of strong brewed coffee frozen into ice cube trays (I have started freezing my leftover coffee or just making a pot and freezing it as a treat to myself)

*1 tbsp sweetener or to taste (I used maple syrup cause its all I had)

*1/2 cup milk of your preference (I used 2% cause its what we had. I'm sure cream would be better)

*optional (some like it unsweetened and/or without cream)

Directions: 

1. Place frozen coffee ice cubes in glass. 2. Sprinkle or pour sweetener of your choice over frozen coffee cubes.  I feel the sweetener adding step is important to place here as it gives sweetener optimal time to dissolve before serving.  

3. Pour 1/2 can of club soda over the frozen coffee cubes. Should froth a bit to make a nice foam. Be careful not to pour too fast as it could foam over. Angle the glass and aim the soda water at the glass rather than the coffee to keep the foam more manageable. 

4. Pour milk or cream over the entire concoction. 

This is only about 1 serving since my hubby isn't much of a coffee drinker.  

I drink iced beverages all year long and this is one of my favorites.  It has a woodsy comforting flavor and yet the  bubbles make you feel like you are at a party.  

Enjoy this recipe!  Let me know if you tried it and found any helpful modifications. 

Dear Sophia.

Dear Sophia, Never lose your smile. 

People skills of a 3 month old. Smile. Eye contact. Infatuated with people who talk to her. 

4.5 months. Excited when someone walks into the room. Quick to hug. People are still the only thing she cares about. She shuts her mouth and listens when someone sings to her or plays a song from pandora.  Smiled even through her first sickness and throwing up seven times.  When I hold her in front of a mirror, she is mostly looking at me,

not herself. 

I was talking with my doctor, Nicole Harvey yesterday and she commented on how great Sophia's eye contact is.  She looks you in the eye and doesn't let go. Chris, another friend of mine the other day said, "Look at those eyes. She's looking into my soul."  

Back to the conversation with Dr. Harvey. I responded with mentioning something I've oft wondered lately while observing my daughter. In public speaking courses and musical stage presence training professors teach you to have great eye contact with your audience.  It's a powerful people skill and yet many babies do this instinctively. Dr. Harvey responded with a phrase that struck a chord with me. "I wonder when people lose that!"  

Eye contact, smiling at people and being genuinely interested in others is something many babies are experts at and yet not very many adults reach adulthood with these skills intact.  

I know I didn't. I had to relearn them from a great book called How to Win Friends and Influence People.  When I read the principles in that book, I kid you not I started getting raises in the workplace, found getting along with coworkers to be extremely easy and went quickly from making minimum wage (with my two degrees) to making $18.00 an hour and then even higher  in the worst economy since the Great Depression.  

My challenge to myself is to practice being more like a baby.  It turns out that simple things like eye contact, a smile, a hug and genuinely being excited to see someone and more interested in others than self are more important in life than my two degrees. 

Homemade baby wipes and other celebrations of a new mom.

Easiest thing ever!  So cheap! I ran out of baby wipes for the first time since my baby gifts ran out. A quick google search gave a plethora of recipes to make my own. It took about 30 seconds of hard labor and I used stuff I had around the house. Here is the recipe I came up with.  

Ingredients:

Napkins (a couple inches tall)

Water 1 cup

Baby shampoo 1 tbsp (any mild liquid soap would work as long as you know it is gentle enough for baby skin)

Olive oil 1 tblsp (I imagine any natural oil would work such as coconut)

Directions: Mix wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Soak napkins in mixture for ten minutes. Turn napkins over and soak the other side for an additional ten minutes.  Most of my mixture was already absorbed by the time I turned the napkins over but it gave the solution a chance to evenly distribute. Store baby wipes by recycling a store bought baby wipes container or use a zip lock storage bag or tupperware container. 

I found these wipes to be the best I've ever used!  They are much gentler and smell amazing!  I found that they clean better. 

I am the type of person who would rather use a wash cloth then to waste money on paper products (it's not really about the environment for me I just would rather spend my money on other things) and washing a cloth that has been used to clean a baby bottom is really not that bad since the invention of washing machines.  I just happened to have a vast amount of napkins lying around forever being unused because someone left them here.  I think the only time someone thought to use them was when my dear husband was working on the car. 

We are in the habit of using cloth napkins around the house and just throwing them in the wash. It makes me feel special to use cloth napkins and it is cheaper. If you like me hate to buy most paper products (ahem ... I can't see this household going so far as to use reusable toilet paper though I have some hippy friends who are all about it...no judgement) the solution can be put in a spray bottle and used to aid when you are cleaning baby's bottom with a cloth.  Truthfully cloth is usually gentler if your baby has extra sensitive skin like my sweet little nieces. 

I hope you find this recipe helpful. Let me know if you try it and if you find any helpful modifications. 

If you want to know how I learned to organize my life (to where I actually feel like a semi responsible adult) check out flylady.net and the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Also the chapter on priorities in A Woman After God's Own Heart. 

I've been loving the Youversion Bible app because of its plans that seem to help this busy mama hold onto the rope.  For personal growth lately I've been reading and loving John Maxwell's 15 Laws of Invaluable Growth. 

For a daily dose of marriage strengthening check out The Generous Wife. 

All natural, sugar free, blueberry soda pop

My husband chuckles at me on a daily basis because I am addicted to yummy beverages and often double fist it. Why only tonight with our evening meal I enjoyed this homemade concoction of sugar free blueberry soda and yet downed my vitamins with a glass of chocolate almond milk. 

This sugar free natural beverage was not only easy to make it also helped me get rid of blueberries that had started to wilt.

You cannot mess this recipe up!  Assume everything is "add to taste"

Ingredients (eyeballed)

2 handfuls blueberries per serving

that have seen better days

Your favorite sweetener to taste (I used stevia and honey. Agave, maple syrup or table sugar will work (no judgement)

A tiny amount of water

Club soda

Directions:  Mix blueberries and sweetener in a sauce pan.  Add enough sweetener so that it is a little sweeter than you prefer since the soda water you are going to add later will diminish the sweetness by a considerable amount. Add a tiny amount of water and cook over medium heat to reduce the blueberries into a simple syrup. Voila!  Let cool and add to club soda or sparkling water. Add a couple of the berries to your glass for flourish. If you like, serve over ice!  A healthy alternative to store bought soda and way more delicious!