Quinoa handburger (yes i said handburger, look it up;) buns

1/3 C quinoa flour
1/3 C coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp Beef Gelatin Powder

1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)

4 eggs

350 oven cook for 10 min.
Combine dry ingredients with hand held mixer. Pour melted coconut oil in and mix till completely combined. Add 4 eggs and mix again well.(dont over mix though;) let sit no longer than 2-3 min. spoon onto either greased pan or parchment paper. I make six big buns (which is three sandwiches i dont cut them in half to serve) I am still in experiment phase with this so last time i made them i flattened them out a little before cooking them and i liked how they looked better. (they will rise)  let them cool for about 10 min on a rack

I am thinking about adding one more egg to see how it turns out...ill let you know :)

Zane

My little boy, not so little anymore. He is 4 1/2 and acts like he is 6. He can read now and loves learning. He loves to draw which is something i forgot to say about Jordan...he will sit and draw detailed pictures or all sorts of amazing things! They hang out together and draw when they arent playing with legos or wrestling. Zane is a wonderful happy child. He loves his baby sister and when Jordan is doing school he will sit with her and read to her and play games. I really love the age differences because it made it possible for bonding to naturally happen. When Niko was smaller, before school started, Jordan was her main man and she pretty much ignored Zane and he didnt really care. As Niko got bigger and school started i was busy with Jordan so Zane took over big brother responsibility and an instant bond formed! When they are all together the boys are amazing to watch with her. Its like they are connected mentally. They play together for hours which makes it easier to get things done. Zane loves to clean up and is always picking up after Niko and showing her how (she doesn't think pick up is as fun as dumping things out) Zane can play alone and be in his own little world just like Jordan did when he was younger, which makes for a crazy imagination. By the time school is out he is bubbling with new ideas for things to build, play, create or draw. Niko will also spend time in her crib willingly and play alone for up to 45 min during the day.  Zane loves the outdoors, as do the other two. We love to hike and try to get out every day. We take our two dogs and the pistol and off into the woods we go. Zane wakes up with a happy heart ready to start the day and if its sunny the first thing he says is "mommy its beautiful, we should take a walk!" Zane can be very quick with his hands when he is angered and being around Niko has helped with that a lot. He has a lot slower reaction time and has become more forgiving over the past 6 months. He has also become more aware of his relationship with God all on his own. in the middle of a movie a couple nights ago Nate had been asking if i felt ok (i didn't). I few minutes later with no prompting at all Zane started praying out loud that God would help me feel better... i cried.  ( excuse all my ramblings all over the place...i feel bad for whoever reads this, it is meant for my memory sake only at the point)

Jordan

Jordan turned 10 in February. Hard to believe it went by so fast! He is an amazing kid! He has such a willing heart and a gentle spirit about him. He is as smart as his dad and makes my head spin how fast he catches on in school. He is at the end of 4th grade and doing algebraic equations. He loves to build amazing things with legos and read books. He is always spouting off something new he's read about or asking questions i have to say, 'hang on one minute' to answer as im running to google it! :) He gladly helps out with his sibling whenever asked (or not asked) He is always expressing how glad he is that he has a brother and a sister, which makes me very happy since he is the oldest! He has a best friend now named Wyatt, who is almost 10. They enjoy going to the pool together or just hanging out building legos and playing Nerf wars for hours! They are alot alike, quiet thinkers. This year Jordans health has been better than ever. Our family went grain free for his health as well as mine and everyone has benefited. Jordan skin is clear for the first time since he was 4 and he has had no asthma or allergies since. Although he still carries an inhaler because he remains allergic to some cats (not sure yet why some and not others) he hasnt had to use it because now that he is older he is aware and can sense cats and will leave a building at the first sign of breathing trouble so it clears up on its own.
Now that he is ten a whole new world has opened up for him and he gets to go with Dad and Grandpa and do more manly stuff :) which he is enjoying.  Zane was not thrilled at first at being left out but now he knows when he is older he gets to go too and has figured out that means he gets to be the oldest when Jordan is gone. He gets to have more time with me and he is learning to be an even bigger help around the house. When we go out shopping without Jordan he actually loves it and the fact that he can be Niko's oldest brother and do Jordans jobs when hes not there. He takes his job very seriously!

Niko

So Niko is now 13 months old. Shes been walking on her own for a month now. She now says hi,bye, up, no, yes, mom, dad, hot,dog, ball, bed, night-night. she says "I awe oo" (i love you) while hugging and patting our backs. She also says "awe duh" (all done) signs milk, please, bath,drink,and eat. She can tell you what the sheep,cow, rabbit and monkey and duck say.she loves to hide and play peek a boo. She LOVES to sing and you can even understand when she says some of the words and can guess which song she is trying to sing! Its nuts! She has a very good ear for music. Everyday she says something new! Always watching and trying to copy anything new she sees or hears. She loves to climb up on the couch and sit with her blankie and smile at everyone. Niko loves affirmation. When she does something she looks around to see who is watching.She loves to color as well. (writing all this because if i dont i will forget what my daughter was like as a baby, its going by so fast) Today she got some nail polished and "asked" my to put it on her toes. We did that 2 months ago...she amazes all of us everyday. The boys are beyond happy they have a sister (even when she is a pain:) Not a day goes by that one or both the boys say "Im so glad God gave me a baby sister" my heart melts! We all feel so blessed to have such an amazing family!

santa...again

so we went to the zoo yesterday and got to see a special event.... santa swimming with the sharks! zane was completely  intrigued while jordan was slightly annoyed at all the children blinded to the fact the santa isnt real :)  after we were done at the zoo and the kids were all loaded in the car i hear Zane whisper "See Jordan, i told you santa was real! i saw him swimming with those sharks!"

Santa's my dad!?

Jordan, 9.5 year old, has never believed in Santa. In fact he was horrified, at 3 years old, that parents lie to their kids.(His words, not mine:) He is very big on facts and truth so we never had to indulge him in the tooth fairy either. Zane on the other hand ...well let's just say last year he was 3 and he wouldn't believe anyone that Santa wasn't real so I convinced his brother to just let it go and stop arguing about it. Well this year he is four and the argument began this morning once again. Jordan was upset because I wasn't backing him up in the truth.( I was saying nothing seeing if Zane would listen to common sense and reason of his brother) so I finally spoke up agreeing with Jordan and trying to explain . I'll spare you the conversation but at the end I said" Zane daddy is Santa, he is the one that brings you the presents." Zane

looks at me says very matter of fact "Mom, Daddy can not be Santa ! He doesn't have any reindeer" Jordan is dumbfounded at this point, shakes his head and walks away. Zane grinned from ear to ear at me and changed the conversation. Arguing just to argue!? Hhmmm wonder were he got that trait. :-)

Niko Alyse

Niko Alyse, my daughter! It still feels a little funny saying that after having two boys, I have a daughter! She is much different than the boys. My boys both talked early but neither one walked till 14 months. Niko started getting places by rolling at three months and army crawling by four months and hasn't stopped moving! She started walking around by holding on to furniture at 7.5 months and is now standing alone but has decided crawling is still the safest way to travel but I can tell she is thinking about walking. She is into EVERYTHING! The boys started getting into things about 1.5 or 2 but not this girl! Even though she is very curious she is proving to be pretty obedient. She can say! mamma, dadda, hi and bye clearly. She attempts lots of words and says somethings that only we( her family) can understand. I have taught her some sign language as well. People who meet her think she is a very quiet and serious child because I have only seen her smile at one " stranger ". She is a friend I see about twice a month. If she doesn't know you you can do anything and she will just make you feel foolish for trying so hard. At home Niko is a different person! A ham just like her brothers! Very vocal and always trying to get a reaction out of us! She LOVES her brothers,and they share the same feeling! She wrestles with Zane and pulls his hair so hard he surrenders.... that one not so funny,we at working on being gentle! This week we made big steps in improving communication. She loves to growl to get what she wants. For the last month I have been working with her to use her signs especially at meal time. She will be done eating and instead of saying "all done" or signing it she growls loudly! Very loud, not cute, but funny when she first stared! So she sits very quietly while eating all her food an without fail let's out a very loud growl, waits for me to acknowledge her and then...she smiles! I calmly quiet her and say " are you all done?" While signing it as well. She smiles and says " a duh" for all done. But my work paid off and yesterday she finished her food and was about to growl she stopped, looked down at her hands and signed " all done" while grinning ear to ear. For the last three meals she has continued to be polite :-) she is so proud of herself as am I ! I love how much she understands and works so hard to figure things out at such a young age. She is such an amazing baby! There I'm done for now my iPad is driving me nuts and when I try to correct punctuation or fix anything it won't let me... so there you have it, run on sentences and a tumbled paragraph later. Good thing I'm writing this for me, because my memory is so bad I couldn't remember a thing if I didn't write it down to read later!