Tirzah's Sweet Sleep

I decided to write a little on what has been a joy to our family these past few days.  They are indeed gifts from the Lord and we are so thankful!

*CSA or Community Supported Agriculture

Daniel, Tirzah, and I have delighted in visiting the Farmer's Market every Saturday.  It is located in a place of Columbus called The Landings.  All the booths are bright pink, green, yellow, and blue: it makes you feel as if you are in the Bahamas or some wonderfully warm and tropical place!  Families are always milling about.  Booths have all the southern amenities like cupcakes, italian ice, headbands and hair bows, and even mason jars made into wine goblets!  We came upon our favorite booth 2 weeks ago while Renee was here.  It is run by a sweet southern girl, Ashley, who started an internship last year that stirred her passion for good food and community.  After talking with her, and then discussing family budget, we decided that we would join her CSA.  What this means is that each Saturday we will receive a share of the harvest from her organic farm.  The harvest could be large or small, depending on the weather and success of her farm, and the variety of vegetables in the share is dependent upon the season.  We are also discussing getting fresh flowers, eggs, and perhaps even some beef and poultry.  Daniel and I are so excited to receive our first share this Saturday; she said we could expect: kale, collards, green onions, kohlrabi, carrots, cabbage, and bok choy.  It will be an adventure each week to cook with new vegetables... any one have a good recipe for bok choy??


*Refresh time!  During Tirzah's morning nap I find myself reading the Bible and then spending at least 20 minutes doing yoga!  It is such a gift beyond measure to have that down time to refresh & rejuvenate every part of me: my soul, my mind, & my body.  I am beginning to discover the beauty & intimacy of the connectedness, (for lack of a more beautiful word) of God's Creation.

*The book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

If you haven't heard of this book, look it up and go buy one for yourself!  The title is true: having fresh bread every day for you and your family is really as easy as 5 minutes a day!  I just made the Master Recipe so we could have a fresh loaf for dinner.  And Daniel made the granola last night (best granola recipe we have ever used) so we could make the Granola Bread together today upon his return home.

*Just a fun thing to share: I rearranged the furniture downstairs yesterday.  It seems as though my mind is never at rest until I have all my decorating energies released (and these energies tend to surface every few weeks).  It threw Daniel off a bit when he came home... but I did at least text him some warning... :)

* Thursdays I try and write a new recipe that we have found.  Today I am going to give the recipe t0 Tirzah's Sweet Sleep, for that in and of itself has lightened our house and souls and brought so much joy.  I know this isn't going to work for every child, and only by the Lord's grace in our mistakes has he kindly brought us to this way.  But it is working so well for our family and with it we give such thanks! 

To Tirzah's Sweet Sleep

 2 months of "attachment parenting": holding Tirzah until she has fallen into a deep, deep sleep.

 1 full cup of overwhelmed parents (with the process and both the highs & lows of attachment parenting)

 3 weeks jumping to the extreme opposite of attachment parenting and letting her cry it out.

3 weeks using a "woombie"

 2 hearts aching for their Baby Girl

Several Mommy break-downs and moments of despair

1 BREAKTHROUGH that meets right in the middle: Daniel or I rock Tirzah until her eyes are softly closing(10-15 min).  We then gently lay her in her crib so she can easily fall back asleep with little to no crying.

Delighting in the sight of our sweet daughter sleeping in peace for the "Lord alone sustains her"