happy moments

Lately I'm just struck by how much it's the little things that make you happy.
Make you take a moment to breathe.
To soak in the pretty sun.

do you see her swinging with her head tilted all the way back.  You know that feeling right?  That feeling of freedom.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but I had to try to capture the moment.

Her creative style.

And baking healthy treats with my girls.

(flourless nut butter cookies - recipe found at here.)

Remember what it was like waiting for them to come out of the oven.

Hanging with a friend's baby.

My babysitter from when Audrey was a baby who also happened to be her big sister's preschool teacher
now has a son of her own.  Sometimes she picks Audrey up
from preschool and takes her to her home to hang until I can pick her up.
Audrey absolutely loves it.  And I think would adore being a big sister.

These lemons

and oranges from our own tree inspired my son to start a sale.

Fresh oranges and lemons.
His price seems a bit high in this economy.
But one after another people stopped.

It's amazing how much you can get to know your more distant neighbors this way.

And I was amazed at how many people actually took the time to support them.
It was unexpected, but nice on the start of this beautiful weekend.

I'm busy working away on a number of projects, including a Valentine party
for my son's class (more on that soon) and an editing project that I was literally doing in the front
yard on the laptop while they carried on with their sale.  It's all about the
multi-tasking as a mom isn't it!

Last night after dinner, I quickly had to try my hand at making a vegan, raw, chocolate mint truffle.

My kids said they taste like Mimi's mint bars.  That's about the best compliment ever.
Because we all love Mimi's mint bars.
But these are filled with only healthy, good for you ingredients, including some
fermented spirulina protein powder.  Love that they have no idea. :)

Perfect with a cup of tea!

Here's the recipe in case you're interested.

1 cup cacao powder with maca.
3/4 cup coconut oil
2 Tbsp. peppermint oil
2 cups soaked & pitted dates (soak for a couple of hours, but dump out the water before adding to recipe)
1/4 cup thick raw honey
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 tsp. fermented spirulina powder.  (I get it from a local store, but it can be found here. Scroll down a bit to read about the benefits of fermented spirulina.  It's why I've chosen to use a teaspoon a day in my morning smoothies).
& a pinch of pink sea salt

I used my hand held mixer that I use to puree soups, to mix this.
I must warn when forming the balls it was much more wet than I expected.
Once the balls are done sprinkle them with the cacao powder and put in the refrigerator overnight.


Happy Almost Valentine's Day everyone.