Happy Goobie Day

Can someone explain to me how this happens? In the blink of an eye, your sweet, pulsing bundle of love-embodied-in-life goes from this:


...to this?Its almost to much for a mother to bear. Of course, you want to see your children grow and develop and succeed, but can't at least the last child stay a baby forever?


To distract ourselves from the shock and creeping melancholy of the fact that Georgie is ONE today, we took the kids to the zoo to frolick. In some ways Geo is still a baby, like when I see him here, happily hanging in the backpack, taking in the world with his eyes only.

But then when he is set on the ground and his explorer is set free, I am reminded that he is now a little boy. Look out, Goobie takes on the world!!

...or at least a carrot stick;)



Ah, my family. Dark silhouettes again the blue glow of life. Nothing stops. A mother can only desperately try and keep up...be open, be available, be observant...and take lots of pictures.

last call, folks!

wow. i had no idea how many people were quietly reading Milk and Ink. its been very exciting watching the email come in--many oregon and pacific nw moms, but a handful in the mid-west and even...get ready for this...one from denmark! how cool is that?? ladies, thank you for reading, please don't stop now that i've made you feel like exposed stalkers; hopefully that has not stripped the thrill from it...:-) no, from what i gather its not so much about "peeping" as much as just inspiration in daily life, and maybe a chuckle or two. and that i am happy to provide.


so since i still have at lease one or two people emailing my everyday i am going to give it a bit longer. "we ask that your please bear with us..."

Privacy

Don't believe for a second that I have abandoned my blog. Or even that it has slipped my mind--as a matter of fact, I think of it often. I have lots of ideas for great posts and OODLES of adorable pictures to show off from the past 6 weeks. But there has been one big looming issue that has stood between you and me and those yet-to-be-written greats and that is: PRIVACY.

This blog has grown and attracted a wider audience than I had imagined. What began as a way to share the growth and antic of our little ones with far-off family and a creative springboard for my thoughts and inspirations, somehow trickled out of the village and into a larger body of water. And that is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact I love the idea of other moms that I have not met, in various locales-not-within-driving-distance reading my blog and smiling over my slices-of-life. Some of my posts are well-suited for sharing with a larger population. But this, as you all know, is the world wide web, and I don't just post about funny stories or my favorite purchases, I post openly about my family and my sweet, dear children. But this all came to light around the time we were building our barn and working harder toward our self-sustaining urban homestead, and for the tenth time, a brand new client walks into Nomad and says to Blake, "I found you online....oh, and I read your wife's blog...your family is SO cute!" I am sure most of these are harmless and fascinating people, but Blake, who is uber-private by nature just cringes at the thought of our lives being out there for all to see and intertwined with his business personna, and rightfully so. A quick google search myself found that to bring up Nomad the business, also brought up lil' ole Mama Nomad and her Milk and Ink.

I really don't have the time and energy to keep two separate blogs, one for close persons, and one for the public, nor do I want to--I like the ecclectic mix of my content and don't want to compromise my candor or the blog's flexibility. So that leaves me with one choice and that is to make it private and limit my readers.

Don't worry if you read my blog and we have never met--again, I am not looking to shut out everyone who is a stranger. I just need to know WHO is reading and be able to officially invite you to my blog. From what I understand this will create and extra step in order to view my blog, some sort of log-in process. Honestly I don't really know how it will work until I "go live" with it. So all you need to do, if you would like to stay with me so far (and I promise once this is settled I'll be back to your regularly-scheduled-blogging-program) please send me an email and I'll add you to my "invite" list which I will activate on about a week (giving everyone out there time to see this "public post.") Please, don't be shy if we have not met or if you read my blog and I have NO IDEA (you, lurker, you!)--just tell me how you found me, where you live, and why you love me so much. Haahaa, just kidding about the last part. Just be sure to email me from the address that you would be using to log-in. Here is where you should contact me (obviously, no spaces and use the "@" and "."symbol instead of the actual word, you get it, right?):


p e r l i n g i e r i

a t

g m a i l

d o t

c o m


Just so you know this message will self-destruct at the end of the week. *Kablooey!*

PS FAMILY NEED NOT DO THIS 'CAUSE YOU WILL BE GETTING AN INVITE ANYWAY!

its Mac tonight!

i have not eaten fast food in at least 3 years, since i discovered my soy allergy. its probably a good thing because i have always loved it and if there wasn't a medical reason keeping me from indulging in value meals, i'd probably eat them more than i should. although eating real fast food is only a good experience while its happening....the flavors, the evil, addictive, and filling flavors, is what keeps people going back, even though after you've eaten the meal you feel like crap. its no wonder, your body is hard at work processing the junk--that the part i've always resented. so when blake and i were first married i set out to create the "homemade Big Mac"--all the flavor of the McDonalds favorite but with the quality bumped up several notches. i laughed as i walked through our local market, singing the grocery list in my head: "2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettece, cheese....."

since bread products have also been restricted for me, i have not made this lesser-of-two-evils dinner in ages, since i cannot find a sesame seed bun without soy lecithin. but yesterday the stars seemed to be aligned for another Big Mac night. first i spotted a sesame speckled bun from my new favorite local bread company (all Lou friendly)--Gabriel Bakery. My first thought was, "oh I should make Big Macs!!" then i searched for a pickle that was Mayan-friendly, and i found one--most have paprika added, a nightshade, but New Seasons carries a local company's organic pickle without any nightshades. then in the produce department they are suffering from a "lettece gap"--the summer heads of leafy green lettece are not available yet and usual sources are in transition, so all they had was organic heads of iceberg lettece, the official lettece of fast food burgers!

and let me tell you, these are way better than the McD's version--all the flavor without the gutrot. still an extravagance to be sure, but when you are having that craving, serve these with some fries and cokes and you'll never go back the that drive-thru again.

here is how i capture that flavor, in order according to the song:

*two all-beef patties (organic grass-fed beef; make the patties large in diameter but pretty flat so they cook quickly and that having two in each burger won't make it too gigantic)

*special sauce (mayo and ketchup mixed, about half and half)

*lettece (iceberg is the most fast-food-like, but a leafier green like red-leaf would bump up the nutrient factor)

*cheese (Horizon organic american cheese slices--these are also key in getting that authentic flavor and texture, cheddar isn't the same--melted on your burger patties)

*pickles (chopped up into little cubes, and added into the special sauce is a good touch)

*onions (white onion, or yellow, chopped up finely and sprinkled on the burger)

*sesame seed bun (find the best you can, i highly recommend Gabriel's if available; the original Mac has a third bun slice in between the two patties but this is just TOO much, in my opinion)

the end result:



this is my "awwwww, YE-ah, its Mac tonight" face:

lou in b's eyes

oh, how i love this shot....


barn slideshow coming soon...

the kid lens: 2

(note: I believe all of these are from Isadore:)

the barn project continues

we have decided to go ahead with the Tuff Shed barn instead of building our own. we visited their lot and could not believe how over-built they were--all wood, no particle board either. plus they had so many great deals going and they build it on your lot for you at no additional cost. so instead of it taking months, and many injuries and arguments (and don't think i'm bagging on blake's skills, these words were from his own mouth) we have designed our barn and are on the schedule for march 3rd. its going to be sweet!! but our work isn't totally done, we've spent the last few weekends prepping the site.

my parents helped us bring down the old chicken shed. it may have looked rickety but it took some muscle to get 'er done! (thank you for helping us, mom and dad!)

its always a shame to cut down a perfectly fine tree, but it had to be done.

thar she blows! the tree falling scared the chickens so bad that one of them layed a shell-less egg a few hours later.

at least we'll have some firewood for next year!

goobie and mama help, too

pretty much ready