After a 16-month hiatus, the Wolfepack returns to the blogosphere!  It began with persistent morning sickness and evolved into a necessary break to reevaluate priorities, learn how to be a better steward of my time, develop the character of discipline, and, frankly, to make sure I wasn’t blogging just to blog.  I needed to confirm it was being done with a larger vision in mind and with an eternal focus at heart.

I suppose I need to formally introduce our little Sunshine as well.  She made her debut back in September and has been brightening life in our family every day since.  She and her big sister are quite the pair of blessings.

Anyway, it’s fun to be back.  Oh, and I started tweeting, too!  (@mcdwolfe)  Talk soon, y’all!

Even mouths need to join in on the party sometimes, too.

Thanks to Baby S’s tia, Ivy Mae, the Wolfepack is now the proud owner of a super cute set of Chez Beeper Bebe’s counting bean bags.  Crafty tias are the best kind of tia.

The love bug really likes to learn.  She’s a good student.  When I sit down and show her something new and start to explain, she becomes so focused and thinks about the new subject so intently.  She waits to hear all about it and then goes and experiences it for herself.  I mean, she’s really thinking about it.  Hard.

So far she’s got “2″ down.  And in case you were wondering, it is pronounced “DOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!“

Ivy Mae and I are on a mission to craft the perfect granola recipe.  Here’s one of our first tests from katie did.

It was lovely.  I’m convinced that the whole wheat flour and wheat germ are what made the clumps so lovely.  For me that’s the hardest thing about granola – getting it to actually clump uniformly.  (Is that a verb, btw?)   Another benefit was the low heat and long baking time.  I think we’ll be incorporating these two elements in our recipe for sure.  Thanks, Katie!

Some encouragement – a reminder to live authentically, passionately, and boldly in the face of your imperfections.  Write from the belly of your inspiration, not out of a sense of duty.  This post by Alisa Burke is a great encouragement as well.  Here’s to authentic creativity and living real life!

This inspiration actually started two days in advance with the sourdough starter, then another overnight rise with all the ingredients but the soda and salt.  The morning of, just knead and roll out the dough, stamp out your muffins, sprinkle with cornmeal and plop them into a warm skillet and watch them rise.

I even got the nooks and crannies!

Give it a whirl.  Totally worth the process.