a (Sun)day in the life...

This morning, my computer was hijacked by my older son, who had a globe at the ready,

and a lengthy, passionate article to write on fossil fuels.... for no other reason than he learned about "'the blue W' program at school on Friday and found it SO COOL that [in Word], you can write stories! And add in photos! It's like writing your own book!" Boy, I hope he's this excited about these sorts of things when he has to actually do projects like this for school.... So, I let him sit in the kitchen, diligently typing

while I made a batch of granola balls from Sweet Potato Chronicles so we'd have a sweet snack at the ready in the coming week. These were a major hit (though I do have a few modifications I'll share tomorrow to lower the sugar a bit and up the good stuff).

Then, he scurried off to "build stuff" with his brother, which involved a lot of rifling through the recycling bag and banging around upstairs...The next thing I know, I'm being serenaded. But he wasn't the only on feeling creative today...

In an attempt to tackle another recipe from my Pinterest "recipes I can't wait to try" board, use up the rest of a bowl of red quinoa in the fridge, and have a savory snack on hand for the week ahead, I whipped up a batch of quinoa bites I'd seen someone pin that I'd repinned because they looked interesting. Granted I took my own liberties with ingredient amounts, but I was the only one who liked them; no one else did. I might tinker with that one a bit more?

So anyway, while I'm playing with red quinoa, the boys were playing with plants, red food coloring, seltzer and red currants

before a lunch of Dinner: A Love Story's Redemption Salad (which I'll type up in more detail for all of you this week) that was delish. Definitely a keeper.

Then I realized it was almost time for my treat. All week, I'd been looking forward to this 2-hour Restorative Yoga workshop a new mom-blogger-friend had told me about. I packed two bunches of granola balls up: one for this mom blogger (even though I only knew her through her posts, I didn't even know her name), and one for the generous teacher offering the workshop.

And while I may have forgotten these small gifts on the kitchen table, I did manage to whip dinner up before heading to these 2 hours of bliss: chickpea-veggie sauce over polenta. 

I felt like I'd left everything buttoned up at home, so I really could decompress in the workshop. So, I cranked the music up in my car really loud for the drive down there, and belted out Hot Chelle Rae like nobody's business. The location was nothing to write home about, sort of tucked behind some industrial buildings, but I had a good feeling. Even if it didn't turn me back onto yoga, the workshop was sponsored by ProMindful, and it was offered to participants for free. So, at the very least, it was 2 quiet hours for free, in my normally not-very-quiet life. But, oh, let me tell you, this was a treat, far surpassing any hopes I had. No, "treat" doesn't even do it justice. The instructor, Carol, was gentle, thoughtful and uplifting. For two hours, she transcended a packed room into a den of calm. I actually cried when I thanked her at the end of class. It. Was. That. Good. And when I came home to the kids, just about ready to crash and burn after a day if writing, building, gathering, concocting, painting, gluing, stashing and messing,  I felt eerily calm and happy. My patience and love were back.