Hey there little sprout!

Sprouts.

The wonderfully healthy wormlike little seedlings that you can add to salads, sandwiches, or just eat plain.

And I grew them myself.

In a Mason jar.

On my kitchen counter.

In four days.

Flat.

Want to know how easy it is?

Just follow this step by step guide.

Or if you choose to see a video, just google Mason jar alfalfa sprouts or something like that to be inundated with websites and youtube videos showing you how.

First things first.

The seeds.

I bought mine at the Natural Grocery store in the bulk section.

I got roughly 1/4 pound for a little over $2.

Next you need to find or buy a quart sized Mason jar. It needs to have an open top canning lid so you can replace the canning top with a screened one. Or you can use old pantyhose and a rubberband around the top too.

{I actually didn't have a screen and I didn't use pantyhose. And you don't have to, it just makes it a little easier to drain... but I'll explain that in a minute.}

Now that you have all the components, you are ready to start growing sprouts.

Begin by measuring 1 Tablespoon of the seedlings.

Next pour the little things into said Mason jar.

Then fill the Mason jar about 1-2 inches above the seeds and soak for 8-10 hours.

This is best done overnight. You put the water in before bed and then when you get up the next morning you just drain the water out.

This is where that screen comes in handy.

If you have one just tip the jar upside down and let the water pour out.

If you don't have one...

you can just use a paper towel and hold it tight to the lip of the Mason jar while the water streams out.

The seeds that end up on the paper towel just need to be "tapped" back into the jar. There might be a couple casualties each time. No big deal.

Next step is to simply rinse the seeds at two different times during the day.

{Best if you do it in the morning when you get up and then before you go to bed because it is easy to remember.} 

The first day they won't look much different. Maybe a little swollen.

By day two you will begin to see sprouting. Or as my kids called it "worms" beginning to show.

Day three the jar is starting to fill up.

And by day four or five you can visibly see that it is time to harvest and start the process again.

I laid mine out on a paper towel before storing them in a sandwich baggie in the fridge.

Excited to top my lunchtime sandwiches with these little guys.

Momma's Movie Theater

I told the kids Wednesday, that on Friday night I was going to do a "movie theater" at our house.

Just for them.

I would supply the tickets, the movie, the refreshments and the drinks.

They just had to do a couple simple jobs in order to get some "money" to come to my Movie Theater.

So.

Nolan swept.

Nevaly picked up.

They both helped carry their clothes up to their room to be put away.

They both wiped down the tables in the living room.

And dusted the TV dresser.

Then, last night we went to Walgreens and picked out some of their favorite treats.

Circus peanuts. Gummy worms and bears. Mike and Ike's. Suckers. And Sour Patch kids.

Then I Redboxed the movie Puss in Boots and Mr. Popper's Penguins.

We ate at Pizza Hut before heading home.

When we got home I had to feed Nadie, and then began to "set up" my ticket booth and concession stand.

Nevaly had of course fallen asleep on the short car ride home {because they both failed at taking a nap earlier in the day}, but I told Nolan to go and hide so he didn't see my Movie Theater yet.

He was so excited.

I made tickets out of some thin cardboard I had laying around.

I had ice cold water in the bottle.

I displayed the candy we had bought in perfectly portioned snack sized baggies so he could pick what he wanted, and could see everything easily.

I had three different mixing bowls for the sizes of popcorn I was "selling", from small to large.

I got him a little coin purse with real coins and a dollar inside, then told him to come in through the garage and up to the booth to buy his tickets.

He had the most adorable smile on his face when he saw what I had out.

I had used our seated bench in the hallway with cubbies underneath to put my display of goodies on.

It was the perfect size for him to stand in front of and choose what he wanted.

My brother called just as I was getting ready to ask Nolan what he wanted, so instead of answering it I put the phone ringer on silent and pretended that someone was calling about the movies and times for that evening.

Nevaly woke up just in time to get in line with her brother and play along.

They both bought a ticket to Puss in Boots that was starting at 8pm.

Then they both bought a bottle of water and their choice of candies.

I directed them to the couch and told them I would be bringing out their stove popped popcorn shortly, and that I would come around to collect their tickets.

They loved it.

They simply ate it up.

They were both so happy and Nolan kept saying "I like your movie theater, mom!"

{insert big beating heart melting into a puddle on the floor}

We let the previews play so we could pop the popcorn, and then came around to collect their tickets.

Then as the movie started, I told the Hub to crank up the volume so it really felt like we were at the movies. We turned down the lights and their evening at Momma's Movie Theater was underway.

Nolan periodically would turn around and tell me "thanks!" and that he "liked my movie theater" again.

I know they both really liked it, because this morning when they woke up the first thing they asked for was to do the movie theater again!

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures.

But since I know we will be doing this again {soon} I will try and snap a few next time.

Until then...

She smells like breakfast...

Things at home have been pretty run of the mill this week.

{thank goodness}

Nev has pretty much got the potty thing down. Almost...

I guess I should mention that yesterday she pooped in her pants and got it out to show me. {I may or may not have had a fit as I raced her and her two handfuls of solid logs to the bathroom... yeah, I know. Cringe.}

We had a nice warm full body bath after that.

If it were okay to use bleach as body soap I might have. But instead used antibacterial body wash. Three times on those little mittens of hers. 

Had a long conversation about poop after that. And how we don't ever ever touch it.

Weird because I remember having that same conversation with Nolan {same age possibly} after he smeared his on the wall in my bedroom. That time I did use bleach. On the wall people, just the wall.

Anyhow, onto more uh... pleasant smelling updates?

Nadelyn had been suffering from some pretty bad excema, and I researched natural methods to ease the dryness it was causing.



Came up with an oatmeal bath.

2 cups that are run through a food processor {or blender in my case} to make a fine powder.

Add the fine powder to warm water.

Then add some raisins, and brown sugar, and a little milk...

Just kidding!

Just let the baby soak.

Apply the soup-y oat mixture to areas of badly dried skin.

Which happened to be those babe's poor cheeks.

Cracked me up when she accidentally rubbed her cheeks with her hand and then got that hand in her mouth.

She was making so much noise sucking!

And after the first day {I applied Jergen's Ultimate Healing lotion also} her cheeks looked 50% better.

And three days later {today} she has some dry skin still but I would say the treatment healed her skin by 90%.

And since I have made a post about each of the other two kids, I should probably talk about how Spiderman {aka Nolan} has been scaling every piece of furniture in our house from my bed, to his bunk beds, to the leather chairs in the living room, the Step 2 playhouse roof in the basement, and of course the staircase... and the doorway.

He really takes his role very seriously.
And if it's not Spiderman he is acting like, his Batman shirts are in full cycle in the washer, so that he can wear one if his Spiderman costume or shirts are dirty.

I love his imagination.
I love that he is 100% boy.
And I love that summer is coming, and we have a closet full of polo shirts, vintage tees, and shorts, that do not include a superhero on it. Yet.

Anyways, that is the most up to date.

Looking forward to a great relaxing weekend.

Until next time...