Cute Logan

Just because I liked this picture.

Winter fruit salad

I hope you will all bear with me as I share yet another recipe.
I love to find good food, so I hope that someone else out
there will get some good use out of it also.



This is one of my family's favorite new recipes,
if you can even call it that,
it really is so simple. You can make it anytime,
even in winter when fruit is so expensive.
I use about:

2 C. Diced Peaches
(I bottled my peaches with white grape juice this last year instead of sugar syrup,
and they are by far the best for this salad, but regular peaches work fine too.)
2 Bananas -sliced
1 C. Frozen Blueberries

Mix and serve. You can add this to oatmeal in the morning also and it is really yummy!

Quinoa Taco Salad

This is my latest addition to my healthy recipes file....It was wonderful.
Here is the link to the recipe. I only used 1 can of beans and no cayenne. I served it over a bed of lettuce (and alfalfa sprouts) and topped it with fresh pico de gallo and a spoonful of sour cream. I thought it was extremely flavorful, and very filling. I might add some more corn next time, the sweet contrast was wonderful.

And, this is what it looks like all over your kid's head when they are done eating. :)

Gock-Gock video

We have been trying for weeks to get Logan (and all of his enthusiasm) on camera- this is the best we could do....so far....we are still working to capture his full excitement.



PS- if anyone out there can tell me how to rotate this video, that would be great, I just can't seem to figure it out.

Wish me luck!

You know how they say, "you are what you eat"? Well, I suppose it is true. Every winter I get a little bit lax and I start to eat things that I probably, (well, probably isn't really the right word,) shouldn't eat. This winter was no exception. And in June, Craig and I are taking the kids on a vacation to see my brother David and his family in Mississippi. I am super excited to see them, and super excited because they are going to let Criag and I go on our first vacation alone since we had children. We are planning to take a cruise. :) I would like to get in shape before that happens, so I don't have to feel like I am hiding the whole time.

I have been watching the biggest loser for years. I love to see the transformation each of the contestants makes. One thing that I have learned from watching them is that life challenges each of us differently, and for one reason or another most of these people feel like they can't succeed. I find myself falling into that trap too. Feeling like I can't do things, because they are too hard or for some other equally silly excuse. This time, I am going to do it. I have set my mind to it, and I am going for it. I have already started eating healthier, and I am planning to start an excersize program soon. I am determined to not give up, and to work until I succeed. Wish me luck, and if you think about it, a word of encouragement now and then will keep me on the right track. I will let you know how it goes.

Gock-Gock!

Logan is beginning a great love affair with the out-doors and with animals of any kind. Since the weather is getting warmer, he goes out every morning with daddy to feed the animals. Craig says that he will sit and watch the chickens or bunnies forever. Dad taught him that chickens say bock-bock, so now, if you even say the word chicken, he immediately starts saying "gock-gock, gock-gock!" He goes to the back door, grabs his shoes and hat and brings them to you all the while saying, "gock-gock!" He stands at the window, or door at random times of the day and says "gock-gock" while pointing outside. And the best was 2 mornings ago, when the first thing (at 6:30 am) is "gock-gock" coming from Logan's crib. Today we learned that kitties say "meow", so the gock-gocks have been broken up with a few "mowwws". He is such a darling baby and we are so happy to have him.

This is Logan ready to go out-side in Sissy's hat.

Bye-Bye Wall

This weeks project: Wall Removal

Ever since we moved into our home, we have been talking about tearing out a small wall in-between the laundry room and the stair well. It is a small space that needed to be opened up. Well, we finally made it happen....

Here is the before:



Here is Ally helping....we always knew she was like her mother, but we found out through this process that she LOVES to do demolition just as much as mom.



She swung that hammer until every last bit of the wall was gone...

She was our BIGGEST HELPER!!!

We re-textured the walls, primed and painted them and then installed a beautiful new hand rail and banister, and it is everything I wanted it to be.

And here you have it, the finished project.
We LOVE it!
Thanks to my handsome hubby Craig for all his hard work, I love you honey!

Bread Dough

I am really not sure why, but I don't have a singe child who doesn't love to eat bread dough...I think it's pretty disgusting, but who am I to judge :)

grubby

Before I had kids, I always said,
"I am never going to be one of those moms with grubby kids...."
Well, I was wrong. :)

We are usually grubby, and I can't tell you how many times I have been standing in a checkout line and looked at my children and thought, didn't your mother look at your face before you left the house! Good Grief, you're a mess!

And then I realize upon further inspection, that my shirt or pants looks equally as bad! I suppose I will just have to come to terms with the fact that motherhood is messy. :)