LEARNING ALL THE TIME.

 i watched a great and hilarious video yesterday about how our schools value academics above creativity. it definitely fell in line with our views of education and is one of the reasons why we do not send our children to school. you can check it out here on my sister's blog. 

i plan to write more soon about our educational journey with our littles. i'll also give some great links to our favorite resources, blogs and a book list that just might revolutionize your view of how children learn, like it did ours. for now, hop on over to the petite memoirs to check out the TED Talk video. enjoy!

LITTLEST JONES: WEEK 16.

mama's wearing: maxi dress, ralph lauren. belt, thrifted. scarf, gift. boots, steve madden.

here we are at 16 weeks. i'm excited to be feeling wonderful and enjoying having a little baby bump. i'm also getting anxious to know if baby is a boy or girl. four more weeks! i saw our midwife yesterday and heard baby's heartbeat, always fun. baby is kicking a lot more now and i even started having some braxton hicks each day...not terribly happy about that.

things have been relatively quiet around here lately. it's been nice to slow down a bit and just enjoy spending time with the littles. we're counting down the days till my sister visits next week and a road trip to texas the week after. we seriously need a vacation. seriously. until then, we'll be relaxing in the warm spring weather and seeing what kind of trouble we can get into. speaking of trouble, here's a couple photo shoot invaders...

GOOD DAYS.

today was not one of them. it started out poorly and spiraled out of control before i knew what had happened. everyone was up late last night and a certain five year old thought it would be fun to wake the entire family at an unkind hour this morning. any household disaster that could have happened, happened. there were bad attitudes and arguments in great abundance and by eleven o'clock i was on the phone with the mister whining about it all.

however, we all took some much needed time on our own to get our hearts right and after a playdate with some friends and a long walk, things were looking up. i can never say it enough, being outdoors is always uplifting to a grumpy heart. now the littles are resting and mama is sifting through photos of this week's good days. here's a peek.

flowers blooming on the trees in our backyard.

a cup of tea is good for the soul.

the littles made me lunch. fruit salad and a peanut butter and mustard sandwich. i let jack eat the sandwich.

the most precious smile.

a storm blowing in. my texas heart misses a good thunderstorm.

LITTLEST JONES: WEEK 15.

mama's look: shirt dress, vintage. belt, thrifted. tights, betsy johnson. booties, steve madden.

well, we had hoped to get a few more photos of the littlest this week, but it just didn't happen. a bad stomach virus made its way through the family last week and about an hour after we took this photo, mama and daddy got it too. luckily, it was only a twenty-four hour thing and we're all feeling much better. i'm finally feeling energized again, despite not sleeping well at night. i've gotten back to doing yoga every morning and what a difference that makes. i feel healthier and i'm getting lots done around the house, finally. the weekend snow has melted and the weather promises to warm up the next few days. we're hoping to do a little painting in the kids' rooms and a spring simplify around here. mostly, we're just ready for some sun. here's to productivity and vitamin d!

EAT YOUR VEGGIES.

i thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite recipes. the kids and i are vegetarians. mr jones is not, he loves animal flesh. he usually grills chicken or steak to accompany whatever vegetarian meal we cook. we get asked all the time no meat?! then what do you eat? so, here's what we eat...

VEGAN TOMATO HERB PASTA SALAD

Ingredients:

1lb whole grain fusilli pasta

2lbs mixed tomatoes, whatever tomatoes are in season, the littles love grape tomatoes

3/4 cup fresh herbs, whatever mix you like, we used just basil this time

2 Tbs finely chopped shallot

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise

1 Tbs white wine vinegar, i used red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar, optional, i like it to cut the tartness

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Whisk together oil, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar(if using it), salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Chop tomatoes and toss with chopped shallot and dressing. Set aside to marinate.

Cook fusilli in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente(tender, but not mushy). Drain pasta then toss with tomatoes and dressing. Mix in herbs last.

Eat out on the porch or take on a park day picnic. Yum!