Easter Weekend Away

We took a road trip to Ottawa over Easter weekend to spend time with family. Mother Nature was kind enough to get her freezing rain storm out of the way on Thursday (and to give the boys an extra, extra long weekend with the resulting school closures that day), so we were still able to make the drive on Friday as planned. The weekend was everything we'd been looking forward to: a chance to reconnect with loved ones, play, eat good food, and give our minds a change of pace and scenery as we begin to shake off winter and look to the promises of spring.

We put together an entire 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle whose pieces were spread out on the kitchen table when we arrived at my sister-in-law's house, inviting us to accept a challenge. (Well, actually, it was Matt, with his patience and calm, steadfast nature, who put together most of the puzzle; the rest of us helped here and there, adding pieces sporadically while we all chatted animatedly together.) We all went to cheer on my nephew at a hockey game he was playing in one morning, and I spent some time making Shrinky Dink jewellery with my niece and reading her bedtime stories, a favourite activity that I hadn't even realized how much I'd missed since our boys outgrew it. The kids played a lively game of baseball in a park one sunny afternoon, and we adults shared details about the worries and glad moments of our separate day-to-day lives. We helped the kids colour real Easter eggs, and watched them race around the house finding filled plastic ones and baskets stuffed with cheerful surprises. There was delicious chocolate, and scrumptious shared meals, and we spent a beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon walking on a trail in the woods, where the chickadees came and ate birdseed right out of the kids' hands.

As we rolled down the highway back towards Waterloo yesterday, Matt and the boys and I all agreed we were very glad we had made the long trip. It was a wonderful weekend. There are few things better than driving for hours and landing in a place where you still feel so much at home.

March Muffin Madness: Nut Butter, Banana and Jam Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free)

Today I'm sharing a recipe as part of a March Muffin Madness event that kicked off earlier this week and is hosted by my friend Shirley of Gluten Free Easily. Every day through April 5th, Shirley will be highlighting a delicious new gluten-free muffin recipe created by one of the twenty-two participating bloggers. (That's a lot of new muffin recipes for those of you who love muffins or who have kids who love them as much as mine do!) In addition, she's rounded up an amazing collection of prizes to send out to some lucky winners, both through daily giveaways and in a grand prize giveaway at the end of the event.

Find out more about March Muffin Madness here.

This was a perfect week for me to work on a new muffin recipe, as my boys have been home every day for the March Break, looking for things to do and things to eat! Will put his creative energy to good use and came up with the concept for the nut butter, banana and jam muffins featured here -- he thought the combination of his favourite breakfast flavours would make a great anytime snack. I agreed with him, and all four of us were super happy with the scrumptious muffins that resulted when I turned his idea into a recipe. These nutritious gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free muffins are versatile, too: they can be made with any kind of jam or nut butter to suit different preferences.

Nut Butter, Banana and Jam Muffins

For the jam:

2 cups fresh or frozen berries (I used a combination of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and dark sweet cherries)
1 tsp coconut palm sugar
1 tbsp ground chia seeds

For the muffins:

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 cup certified pure oats, ground
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup natural nut butter, melted (I used cashew butter)
2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water (stir and let stand for a minute or two to form a gel)
2 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed

For the crumble topping:

1/4 cup certified pure oats
1/3 cup chopped nuts (I used cashews)
1 tsp coconut palm sugar
a pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp natural nut butter, melted (I used cashew butter)

To make the jam, pulse the fresh or frozen berries in a food processor until they break down into small pieces. Spoon the berries into a saucepan and add the coconut palm sugar. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook the berries for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Gradually stir the ground chia seeds into the hot berry mixture. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for another 10 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally. Remove the thickened mixture from the heat and allow it to cool slightly, then spoon the jam into a lidded glass container and place it in the fridge to continue to cool and set.

If you're pressed for time and would rather not make your own jam, you can use a good store-bought version instead. The homemade jam makes these muffins especially delicious, though!

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and fill a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. To make the muffins, combine the almond flour, ground oats, baking powder, and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the melted nut butter, almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a smaller bowl. Add this mixture, the chia seed gel, and the mashed bananas to the dry ingredients and stir until everything is well combined.

Spoon muffin batter into the prepared muffin tin so that each paper cup is just under half full. The batter will be thick, so press it down a little with the spoon so that it fully covers the bottom of each paper cup. Add a spoonful of the jam in the centre of each muffin.

Divide the remaining muffin batter between the twelve cups, using a spoon to spread out the batter so that the jam is covered.

To make the crumble topping, combine the oats, chopped nuts, coconut sugar, and sea salt in a bowl. Drizzle the melted nut butter over this mixture, and use a fork to mix the nut butter evenly into the other ingredients. Spoon the crumble topping over the tops of the muffins. Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool.

These nut butter, banana and jam muffins are sure to be enjoyed by anyone who wants to try a long-time favourite flavour combination in a new form.

Here's something else I think people will like: the grand prize giveway for March Muffin Madness has some exciting prizes for the lucky winners, including a half-gallon of Hidden Springs Vermont organic maple syrup, a 5-lb bag of Honeyville almond flour, a USA Bakeware 12-cup muffin pan, a Cuisinart ice cream maker, a Paderno World Cuisine vegetable slicer/spiralizer, a Crockpot casserole slow cooker, and an Instant Pot pressure cooker. The super grand prize is a Blendtec Designer 625 with Wildside+ and Twister jars! Take a look at all of the prizes and enter using the Rafflecopter box below for your chance to win -- you can enter daily. You can also earn additional entries for the grand prize giveaway by leaving a comment on any of the participating posts during the event. (There is a maximum of one comment entry per person per post.)

a Rafflecoptergiveaway

Lastly, head on over to Gluten Free Easily every day from now until April 5th to discover a yummy new muffin recipe and to enter the daily giveaways for cookbooks, resource books, subscriptions, and meal plans. March Muffin Madness indeed!

Sunday afternoon hurdles

It was a pretty ordinary Sunday afternoon around here. I was in the kitchen testing out a new muffin recipe I'd developed, while Matt was upstairs assembling a vanity for the bathroom that's currently under renovation. Noah was building a prototype of an electric car out of Arduino, Lego EV3 parts, wires, nuts, bolts, and string, and Will was sprawled out nearby him on the living room floor, dreaming up ideas and mentally problem solving for the game he's programming using Scratch. At one point, Matt called out, "Hey, who wants to see some track and field implements for cats?!" He was holding up two small hurdle-looking structures made out of wooden slats and plastic supports, meant to be used as dividers in the new vanity drawer.

The next thing I knew, this was happening:

Yep, just an ordinary Sunday afternoon around here!

May your kids' March Break be filled with fun adventures, big or small. :)

Twelve

You came running with breathless excitement into the house one recent afternoon, calling me to come quickly and see something fascinating you'd noticed while shooting hoops in the driveway. I grabbed my shoes and followed your fast-moving frame until you stopped just a few feet from the fence. You pointed and we both watched the empty space under one of the wooden boards for just a second, when a tiny brown mouse suddenly scurried into view, scratched at the grass frantically and then dashed back out of sight as quickly as she had come. We stood together for a long time watching the little creature repeat this same process over and over again, laughing with shared delight and appreciation for her focused efforts, imagining warmly the cozy nest being created somewhere just beyond our sight. These have always been some of my favourite moments with you, the ones when you draw me into the wonders of seeing the world through your keenly observant eyes, your curious mind, your tender heart.

You were lying at one end of the couch devouring a book the other day, your bare feet dangling over the edge of the cushion you had them propped up on. I was caught off guard by how long your feet suddenly looked to me -- it was as if overnight they had grown a practically impossible amount. From what I know of boys your age, your body will follow not far behind in a similarly shocking growth spurt; soon you will fill up so much more physical space with your sprawling limbs and ideas. I said this out loud to you, that I thought from your foot size you were going to get taller soon, and I could see in your eager smile this notion pleased you. You want to be taken seriously, to have your outer frame match the giant concepts and convictions you carry inside you.

When I asked you what you'd like to have for your celebratory birthday treat, you immediately dismissed the idea of cake. I should have known that cake would be far too predictable, too ordinary for your liking. You decided on banana splits, in proper dishes, with homemade brownies on the bottom, three different flavours of ice cream, and the bananas sliced in rounds, not lengthwise. You asked for strawberries, and whipped cream, and melted chocolate to drizzle over everything (if it wasn't too much trouble). Oh, and nuts. And sprinkles. And a cherry on top. I thought this was a perfect birthday treat for the ways that it's just like you: sweet, complex, and wonderful.

Happy 12th birthday, Will! Your dad and I feel so much joy watching you grow more extraordinary with each passing year. No matter how old or how big you get, I'll never grow tired of learning to see the beautiful, captivating world from your perspective.

Love, Mom  xoxo

Easter Basket Ideas for Tween/Teen Boys

They may be big kids now, but even tween- and teenaged boys appreciate a basket of fun surprises to hunt for on Easter morning. Here's a collection of ideas the Easter Bunny might like for the growing (and growing and growing!) boys in your house this year.

First row

Finger scooters: These tiny versions of real scooters are similar to Tech Deck finger skateboards, and are fun for guys who like to perform cool tricks with a quick flip of the hand.

Surf Sweets jelly beans: Made without artificial colours or flavours, and free of the ten most common allergens, these bright beans are a sweet Easter treat for kids of all ages.

Illuminating bands: Keep your tween/teen boys visible and safe with an LED slap band that can easily be worn on an arm or an ankle while kids are biking, walking, running, or skateboarding after dark.

Nike Elite basketball socks: According to my teen, these are the best socks ever for their comfort and performance. Many colour variations are available at sporting goods stores, and the Nike outlets in the States sometimes have cool patterned ones, too. (Noah wore a circuit-board patterned pair for good luck on the final day of his robotics competition this past weekend, and he and his team won the final and a spot at the World Championships in St. Louis in April! Definitely good socks.)

Second row

Colourful airplane-making paper: Give your tweens and teens who like to fold and fly paper airplanes a large assortment of paper patterns to work with. Instructions for four different plane styles are included; you can also find many design concepts with folding directions online.

Aerobie superdisc: This soft rimmed disc is an aerodynamic flyer and easy to use for players of all skill levels. Tossing it around with some buddies in a yard or a park is a fun way for guys to spend time being active outdoors.

Unique puzzle cubes: Tweens and teens who are familiar with Rubik's cubes might enjoy the challenge of other unique cube designs, ones that shift shape when turned and have interesting colour patterns. The inequilateral cube pictured above is only one of many available options for keeping your puzzle-solvers' brains sharp.

Third row

Precision screwdriver set: This is a very useful little gift for guys who like to tinker with electronics, or for those who wear glasses. You never know when the need for a small screwdriver might arise!

Drawstring gym bag: These handy nylon bags make carrying gym clothes to and from school or extra-curricular activities a cinch. (They're also useful for keeping smelly socks contained after a workout!)

Dark chocolate bunny: All-natural dark chocolate bunnies are a great choice for tweens and teens with food sensitivities. I've found the Barkley's one pictured above online; many health food stores carry dark chocolate bunny options, too.

Thing Explainer book (Complicated Stuff in Simple Words): A goldmine for guys who are interested in how things work, this book explains complex concepts using only drawings and the 1,000 most common words in the English language. Thing Explainer has kept my teen fascinated for hours.

Fourth row

Movie gift card: Make it easy for your tween or teen to enjoy a movie of his choice (without having to ask you for money!) by tucking a gift card to a local cinema in his Easter basket.

Waterproof notepad: Does your tween or teen claim to get his best ideas in the shower? This waterproof notepad, stuck to a shower wall, will make sure that he always has somewhere to write down those great ideas before they vanish.

Hacky sack:  Easy to throw in a backpack and take out anywhere, hacky sacks provide quick entertainment for tweens and teens who are looking for something active to do either alone or with a group.

If the Easter Bunny wants to be especially fun, he'll hide the baskets in almost impossible to find spots this year, just so your tween/teen boys realize that they don't know everything. ;)

February in Fast Forward

Happy Leap Day! Here we are, at the end of February already. Even with the extra day added on, this month, which has felt very full in all kinds of good ways, seems to have flown right by. I could have written a dozen blog posts detailing the various things we've all been up to in recent weeks, but time for writing has been in short supply, so I'm settling for the fast forward version of chronicling February's more noteworthy moments today.

Matt and I have been especially proud parents this past month, as we've had several exciting opportunities to be observers to the hard work and accomplishments of our boys. I watched Noah compete in the CWOSSA swim meet, where he represented his high school in two events, and Matt and Will and I all attended the much anticipated unveiling ceremony of Team Dave's FIRST robot, an impressive feat of engineering that Noah and his teammates achieved through hours of determined effort over the past several weeks. We missed having Noah around home through most of January and February -- he spent every Saturday and Sunday and many weeknights at the school during the build season, often staying there even for meals, which we parents all took turns providing so the kids could eat together in the school cafeteria and then keep working -- but seeing how excited he is about the robot project, how many new friendships he's developed with teens who share common interests with him, and how much real world learning he's acquired throughout the process has made us so very happy for him. We've been amazed to see what the team's robot is capable of doing, and how confident and knowledgeable these young engineers are when they speak about their project to an admiring crowd. Noah is eagerly awaiting Thursday now, when he and his team will travel to Toronto for their first robotics competition of the season, and Noah will act as one of three team spokespersons as they deliver their presentation to the judges for a chance at the prestigious Chairman's Award.

Part of Team Dave with Mayor Dave Jaworsky, who stopped by for a visit one evening. The robot is partially hidden from view on the floor behind him.  

Even with all the time and energy Noah devoted to the robotics team throughout these past two months, he still managed to excel on all of his semester one exams, and is confidently keeping up with his semester two course load, including an extra Grade 10 course that he's taking online to free up space in his timetable next year for some higher level courses that really interest him. He continues to faithfully go to crossfit classes and to volunteer as an assistant swim coach every week, too. I admire his drive and focus, and his ability to manage all of these aspects of his life so well.

Will was invited to attend yet another meeting as a student representative; this one was a Town Hall held last week at the board office, led by the Director of Education, who was interested in hearing what students thought about their school experiences. Students were chosen for their passion, commitment, and leadership, and Will was the only Grade 6 student in the small group selected from across the whole board -- all the others were students in Grades 7, 8, or high school. He loved that the meeting was in an official board room, where each student had a little microphone in front of them and a glass of water; these details made him feel very important as he shared his ideas. I'm always so thrilled for Will that he makes such an impression on people (the coordinator of the meeting greeted him with enthusisam when I dropped him off and told us that Will had been highly recommended for this meeting), and that he's using his strong voice for good.

We've been very glad to be able to see Will shine in his dancing recently, too. We watched him perform with his hip hop group at his team's showcase last week, and it was exciting to see through his high energy performance and new tricks how much he's grown since last year. I'm looking forward to watching him compete in the first dance competition of the season on Friday. This past weekend, one of Will's dance teachers encouraged his students to come and check out a dance battle that he was part of at the University of Waterloo on Saturday afternoon, so Matt and I took an eager Will to see what it was all about. It ended up being a high-energy afternoon of great dancing, where university students faced off against each other in the styles Will loves most (popping and locking, breakdancing), but the most thrilling part of it all was that they allowed Will to register as a competitor. Just like that, he got up in front of a crowd of older teens and twenty-somethings and freestyled his heart out against seasoned competitors. I could learn a lesson or two from my adventurous boy about having the courage to live out a dream.

Will freestyling with his dance teacher at U of W on Saturday.

Spending all of this time with young people in recent weeks has felt very inspiring to me. Whether it was teen swimmers, whose hard working bodies created a powerfully loud spray of churning water that sent a thrill of excitement through me as they sprinted down the lanes all together, or dancers, who shared their true selves with touching honesty through their strong and graceful movements, or robotics students, awesome in their ability to generate creative ideas and a well-built machine in response to a real-world problem, or kids with a passion for speaking up to make a difference in their schools, all of them give me feelings of hope and promise as the next generation finds its way in the world.

When we haven't been occupied with the boys' activities this past month, much of our mental energy has been devoted to making a decision about Will's school situation next year. We were invited to attend a meeting with his teachers and principal last week, where they suggested we consider either subject acceleration or a full grade skip for him in September. This has felt like a very weighty issue to both Will and I; we've had many, many discussions in which we've considered all of the pros and cons of each choice. In the end, Will has decided to go with subject acceleration in math, so next year he will be a Grade 7 student but will take math with Grade 8 students, and then he will attend high school for first period each day in Grade 8, just as Noah did. While we all feel that Will is certainly capable of skipping an entire grade, we're respecting his wish to stay and graduate with his friends, so we'll look for creative ways to keep him learning and growing in the other subjects next year, too.

I've carved out a bit of time to focus on learning myself this month, at a writers' workshop series offered by the University of Guelph a couple of weeks ago. The sessions I attended gave me some brand new ideas for writing projects that I hadn't considered before and am quite excited about. I just need to figure out what else I can let go to free up some time to get started....

As if these activities weren't enough, Matt and I also took on some home improvement projects in February. We emptied out both of the boys' closets, removed the ineffective closet organizers that had been in there since we moved into this house over eight years ago, gave the closet interiors a much needed paint job, and installed a more streamlined system for storing clothes and other items. It wasn't an especially thrilling or glamorous task, but both boys are very happy with how much easier the stuff in their closets is to access now. (It's funny sometimes how long we're willing to hold on to something that just isn't working, in a closet or in life, when a bit of work can make a change that improves things dramatically.) Next up is a complete bathroom renovation -- we've chosen the tiles and fixtures and paint colours and the contractor we've hired will be starting on the demolition soon. (Goodbye and good riddance, floor-to-ceiling 1980s ceramic tile!)

Finally, we've been very glad for the mild overall weather we've been graced with this month, which is typically cold and dreary. Matt and I have been able to spend an afternoon outside almost every weekend, walking in our neighbourhood or on a favourite trail through the woods with the warm sun on our faces. The cheerful bit of quiet together out in nature has been a much appreciated gift amid the month's bustle.

I wonder what March will bring. It looks like the new month will come in like a lion tomorrow -- more excitement lies ahead!

Chance Encounters

I recently started watching CBC's heartwrenching television series Hello Goodbye. I should have known from the previews that I would need an entire jumbo-sized box of tissues just to make it through one 30-minute episode of the show. The program's host walks through Toronto's Pearson Airport and stops to talk to travellers or people waiting to greet loved ones; they share very touching personal stories with him about where they're going as they head toward the airport gates, or whom they're eager to see again as they watch the doors hopefully in the arrivals area. We meet a woman who is finally rejoined with the husband and young daughter she left behind in her homeland nine years ago, when she bravely came on her own to Canada to create a better life for all of them. There is an elderly woman perched gingerly on her walker, waiting to be reunited with her dear ninety year old cousin who is flying over from England, for what will most likely be the last visit together of their lives. A father with two young sons hugs his mother- and father-in-law goodbye as he and his boys prepare to travel the world for a year, a journey of tribute to his wife, who loved adventure before cancer took her from them. What strikes me as I watch each emotional embrace is how many extraordinary stories of sorrow and loss, of forgiveness, of hope and love there are among the most seemingly ordinary people. We all pass strangers everywhere, each and every day of our lives, and have no realization of the joys and the burdens they carry in their hearts.

One day recently I was at Michael's craft store, looking for a frame for a wall map, when I noticed a woman named Grace who used to work as a cashier at our grocery store. She was a long-time employee there; I had gone often through her line over the years and had come to appreciate her efficiency and the candour with which she spoke to me as we chatted about everyday things. She retired this past summer, and I hadn't seen her since her last week at work.

That afternoon at Michael's, I could tell she recognized me as much as I recognized her when we caught each other's eyes over the shelves and smiled, so I went over and said hello to her and asked her how she was enjoying her retirement. We spent the next twenty-five minutes talking animatedly together. Grace told me how she had worked in a grocery store since the age of fifteen, the year she came home and found her mom lying unmoving on the couch, dead from a stroke. She reminisced about how good the original owner of the grocery store had been to her throughout her career, and how even after he retired and grew old, he would make a point of coming to say hello to her when he was in the store, taking the time to bag a customer's groceries at the end of her conveyor belt if there was no one stationed there. She humbly expressed to me her disbelief and her delight over how many people came to see her and share kind words with her on her last day at work, and how she had come to know these people over the years, not always by name, but by piecing together details gathered through years of observation and little snippets of conversation. It was surprising and heartening to learn more about Grace in one chance meeting than I had known about her in all of the years that I had seen her almost weekly. Her touching stories made me glad for the chance encounter and for taking the time to listen.

When Grace and I parted, she looked into my eyes and said, "God bless you. You've made my day more than you know." I felt that she had made mine, too. It's a privilege to be let in on someone else's story, and to gain a deeper, more compassionate understanding of what it is to be human.