Invaders

Sunday morning we woke up to invaders.
They called themselves the "girl ninja and the boy ninja."

Thankfully they spared our children,

and we were still able to make it to church,

matching outfits and all.

if you can walk....you can work!

It's no wonder Emmett waited to walk.
As soon as he started walking we put him straight to work.
On Saturday A & B got to go to a movie with their Auntie so E was an only child.
It was a fun day.
Emmett and mom had a special date to the grocery store.
Then the rest of the day was spent working in the yard.
Jeff and I enjoyed the help and the company of Emmett.

food blog

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Most of you know that I have two passions, my family and healthy food.
This does not make me a "food snob," because I am not.
One of the best compliments I ever received was from a friend who told me that she loved going out to eat with me because I always order dessert.
I think that is another reason why I am passionate about eating healthy. It allows me the freedom to treat myself to dessert without ever feeling guilty.
I have never thought dessert was bad. I do feel strongly that it is a treat and not an everyday
necessity.
Enough of that.
Some of you have asked for pictures of the delicious healthy meals I have been eating since I have eliminated most starches from my diet.
*Because of this condition I have (rash) I have seen a nutritionist and been put on an elimination diet. This means no sugar, honey, potatoes, dairy, fruit, grains, soy, peanuts,.....DIFFICULT, but not depriving.*

So here you go.

Picture #1 is roasted vegetables. I love these because thy are easy to fix and the leftovers can be used in a variety of ways.
Oven 450 degrees. I put broccoli, carrots, cabbage, onion, garlic, zucchini, asparagus (but whatever you have) a little bit of olive oil and cooked for 40 minutes or so stirring once. Delicious hot out of the oven, delicious scrambled with eggs the next morning, delicious for lunch cold out of the fridge....endless possibilities with these babies. My friend Sarah suggested blending the leftovers in the blender with chicken stock to make soup but so far they all get eaten before they make it to soup. I will try that one day soon!

Picture #2 is roasted veggies with bell pepper that I did on the bar-b-q. Hamburger patty smothered with black bean salad.
For my black bean salad I soak black beans over night in my crock pot. Then give them a few rinses the next morning. Cover with about 5 inches fresh water and cook in crock pot on low for about 8 hours. Then I refrigerate them and add fresh cilantro, tomato, red onion, avocado and eat it all week. Delicious.
The other salad you see is what I call spring roll salad because it's everything I put in my spring rolls but I can't even have rice paper so the spring doesn't get rolled. It's cucumber, carrot, green onion, fresh mint, and Thai basil. All chopped up really small and mixed together. The longer this sits in your fridge the better it tastes.

There you have it.

Another couple standards that I've been sustaining myself on are:
salmon
hard boiled eggs
celery with almond butter
sunflower seeds
hummus and veggies
almonds

This is not a permanent thing. This is to cleanse my body and rid the toxins so I can fully heal and basically start over. I'd love to tell you more about it if you're interested. I really think everyone can benefit from this.
I FEEL AMAZING AGAIN!! I had forgotten what that felt like for a while.
They recommend doing it for 2-4 weeks. I'm pushing for 30 days but I do allow myself one day a week to bend the rules a little (or a lot if I am at a party or something). The first week I didn't bend at all but as I feel better I listen to my body and fluctuate a little. I'm on day 18 and going strong...

I would love to do a food blog one day but for now I will combine my passions here

from baby to man

Emmett grew up!
I'm not sure how this happened but he seemed to go from baby, to man, overnight!

He's got the greatest hair ever. I could run my fingers through his hair all day.


It used to be that Emmett was set apart from the others because he refused to walk. It's as if it gave him the right to still be a baby.
Not anymore.
Now he's just like the big kids and boy is he proud of himself!

"me and my perfect little body"

I've written this post in my head about 500 times, usually while I am in the shower. You see, the shower, and my husband, are the only ones who really understand and see the whole picture. They are my safety lately and also my threat. They know everything! Every time I write this in my head it is worded and titled a bit differently but the message is always the same. You really never know what someone else is going through.

Recently someone said to me, "you and your perfect little body," as if to tell me that I had no idea what it meant to struggle with weight. They were right, I guess, I've never struggled with weight. I wasn't offended, actually I was flattered and grateful for the nice words. They strengthened my spirits. However, it stopped me pretty still in my tracks and has led to much pondering. This person (love them by the way) obviously is not my shower, or my husband, otherwise they wouldn't have made such a strong statement.

My body is little, yes, but it's not perfect. It was created in God's image (as were all of our bodies), with His design, but there are still flaws. That is what being human means. Imperfection. If we were all perfect, we wouldn't need to be here. I know I need to be here and I know I've needed this little secret because it's refining me again and again.

Last Friday I wore a short sleeved shirt out of the house for the first time in two months. Good thing it's been a lousy spring! I don't have to wear a scarf anymore and I can pull my hair back in a ponytail again in public. I still wear long pants and not capri's or shorts and I have 2 skirts that are long enough that I can wear to church without exposing myself and my little secret. What would they say if they knew?

"My perfect little body" has been covered with an awful rash from head to toe, literally. As you can see from the picture, and any picture of me taken within the last 2 months, I am completely covered with clothes or accessories or long hair. So, to those of you who are wondering why I haven't been playing basketball, I guess the answer is because I'm too prideful to wear shorts!

My body did sort of a crash landing back in March. To sum it up it's been a stressful year and to top it off I got strep throat 3 times in 2 months and was on 3 different antibiotics (if you know me at all, you know I don't take antibiotics EVER, until this happened). It was all yucky and my body went crazy what started as a red patch on my stomach spread up to my neck and down to my feet. Leaving me feeling hopeless and discouraged, and self conscious of "my perfect little body."

Don't feel sorry for me and don't be worried because it's not contagious. These are the reasons I haven't told you yet anyway. In the beginning it caused more stress, which is probably why it spread so far so fast. I wanted it to stop and I wanted it to go away and I wanted to hide it from everyone, even myself and my shower. But that didn't work.

If you have seen me around and asked me how I am I have probably said, "great." And that is the truth. I am great. Things are great. Welcome to the internal battle. Do you know what I mean? "Great?" "How are you great?" "You can't even stomach the idea of wearing a swimsuit or shorts." "I'm great because I'm getting better." "I'm healing." "My husband loves me." "My kids are healthy." ..... and it goes on. The hardest part for me in all of this has been that no one knows that I am struggling. Except my shower and my husband and a few of you who I've randomly flashed to give you a clear idea of what's going on and why I'm maybe having a moment. So how does this work when we really struggle? If it's weight do you tell everyone you want to loose weight so they can support you? Or do you just diet on your own and deal with it secretly? I haven't known if I should tell, or if I shouldn't or what. But it's been hard to wear a scarf and act "normal" in April. Really, I have way better fashion sense than that!

I don't want to complain. I really have nothing to complain about. I don't want you to pity me. That is ridiculous and maddening. I don't want to come across as being incapable of dealing with "my Goliath" as I call it because, I know we've all got 'em in some way, shape or form. I can deal with it. I am dealing with it. It's going away!

So there you have it. The whole truth right there out on the table for you to know and do whatever you want with!

So please, if you'd like you can continue to think that I have a "perfect little body" that is fine by me. Maybe that is why I haven't exposed the imperfections. Maybe I like that gratifying title. But don't think that I don't have my own struggles. Don't for one minute think that my life, family, marriage, children...are perfect because that is not the truth. Things are great and I really focus on the great things in my life... But I do have "my Goliath's" and I am fighting everyday as are you.

So here's to the fight and here's to the person that Heavenly Father is preparing me to be. If I could just get there, already!

banana bread puddin'

One day last week Jeff was out working all day in the rain and the kids were all taking a nap.
I had a bit of free time and I decided to make my good husband one of his favorite things...
Banana bread!
Not only did I decide to make him banana bread but I decided to make it with all the original ingredients.
This meant I didn't substitute whole wheat flour or brown rice flour. I didn't lesson the amount of sugar. I didn't add flax. I didn't make it healthy.
Jeff is really awesome and easy going and doesn't complain when I turn banana bread into a protein and fiber packed meal....
But I knew he'd appreciate the "real deal."

The kids woke up from nap and could smell the sweet aroma coming from the oven. I took out the banana bread when the buzzer buzzed and it wasn't quite done. In attempting to put it back in the oven one of the kids flinched and in a worthwhile attempt to prevent one of them from touching the hot oven I dropped the pan and banana bread goo went all over my oven.
ahhhh!

I was not going to let that stop my husband from getting his special treat so with Adelle's encouraging, "oh, it's ok mom," I scooped it out of my fairy clean oven and put it back into the pan. Then I continued to cook it, for the remaining 5 minutes.

Braxton tasted one of the pieces from the top that was cooked completely and exclaimed, "this is the best banana bread I've ever had!"
Jeff came home to banana puddin!
He was thrilled.
Top it with a little milk and apparently it was scrumptious!

I feel...

IMPRESSED with Brax and his desire to learn and do his best.

APPRECIATION for this special momma and the chance we had to carpool this year to Preschool.

SAD that my little boy is all done with Preschool

GRATEFUL for the encouragement & kindness that Ms. Mimi has shown him for the last 2 years

GUILTY for not telling Adelle that she isn't going to Ms. Mimi's school next year. She really wants too!!

PROUD of Braxton for being recognized for his good penmanship, careful detail, leadership skills, and for being a good friend.

ANXIOUS to have all my little ducks home under my wing for the summer!

BAFFLED when Braxton asks to print off this picture and then find a frame so he can hang it in his room. No kidding, lol!

READY for some more sunshine!!

"my birthday is in June 8th"

When you ask Adelle how old she is she will hold up one finger and one thumb. Never seen anyone do it like that, but she is pretty one of a kind.
She will then proceed to say, "my birthday is in June 8th and then I will be 3!"
She's pretty stoked for her birthday.
My mom asked Adelle what she wanted for her birthday and without hesitation Adelle exclaimed,
"Chocolate cake, gum, and panties!"
I thought it was hilarious and figured it was a fluke until today at the store a friend of ours asked the same question. The response was unanimous...
"Chocolate cake, gum and panties!"
Guess she's got all her bases covered!

M-Bopilicious & Sissy-love

Emmett's favorite place to hang out whenever I am in the kitchen.
All I have to do is open the fridge and he plants himself.
Adelle has caught on to this fun new seat now too!

Jeff has taken my nickname "m" to a whole new level for Emmett. He now calls him

M-Bopilicious and sometimes shortens that to M-Bop.
Adelle is still sissy-love around here!

These two have become quite the buds lately and it's been fun to watch their friendship evolve.

Today Braxton had preschool and then was invited over to a friends house to play! What? I know, it's crazy that he can do that now. Not just any friend I will have you know. A good friend who I know well and trust, obviously. Since our good friends moved out of town this is the first time he's gone to a friend's to play without his momma. He has been to lots of aunties and with Grandma's and Grandpa's but never to a friends on his own.

So, this left the little ones and I alone for longer than usual.
It was so fun to do whatever we wanted to do without Brax initiating and running the show. Adelle got to step up and be the big sister and the leader, aka the mom of M. Emmett followed her around all day and did just what she told him to do. I kept hearing her say, "oh baby, it's o.k." He took her word for it and continued playing. They played hide-and-seek and chase and house. At one point they were sitting together (on top of each other) and giggling. I wanted to bottle it up and save it forever.

My babies are growing up!!!

Thank you MARS

Much Better!

Brown Eyed Girl

This little girl is too much for me sometimes!
Here are a few of yesterdays conversations...

Adelle dancing around and singing, "stinky butt, stinky butt..."
Me, having no idea where she heard this, or if she just came up with it asks, "Sis, do you think those words sound nice?"
Adelle acting innocent, "what?"
Me, "I don't like the word butt sis. We say bum, or tushy tush."
Adelle, laughing, "tushy tush?"
Adelle, being sneaky, "can we say BUT when we are talking, like but I love you?"
Me, "yeah sis."

Adelle comes running in the house and yells, "I'm doing the poop dance!"
This cracks me up because I'm constantly reminding her that she is doing the potty dance and that she needs to stop and go potty.
I take her to the bathroom and stick her on the toilet and she says,
"Can we talk about poop when we are going poop?"
Me, "yeah sis that is o.k."
Adelle, "I'm going poop!" hysterical laughing...."I got more poop!" more laughing.....

I am fixing dinner and Adelle and Braxton come in from outside. They are talking about something and I look over and Adelle is wiping her finger on her shirt in just that way when you know she's gotten that little treasure she was digging for. She notices me turn and look and without hesitation explains, "I wasn't picking my nose mom!"

Adelle is a jewel. I love her so much. She adds so much character to our family. Aside from being a bit of a rebel and too smart for her own pants she is very sweet and very motherly towards Emmett. She is a girl with determination and opinion and big brown eyes that swoon all. She is definitely the one in the drivers seat around here.
It's funny because you may be thinking that the reason she talks about poop and butts is because she is sandwiched between two brothers? Like she's just picked it up from them or something and without being too naive that is so not the case. She's just really cool like that.

"Oh, I just want my momma!"

The baby is napping. The boy is working in grandpa's yard with Grandpa. The husband is out running some errands. The sis is with her Grandma, Great Gramy, and aunties at brunch. The mom is resting. It's o.k for the mom to rest, really it is (I'm not telling you, just convincing myself).

I just finished reading "A Quiet Heart,"by Patricia Holland. You need to read it!! Honestly, this book is good for the soul. As I was reading it this past week I found myself marking all these scriptures and quotes and wanting to memorize the whole thing. I found this review online and thought I would share. I highly recommend this read, especially if you are a woman. She gets it!

A side note that I have to mention about this book is that it is written by the wife of Jeffrey R. Holland who is a member of the twelve apostles of our Church. The amazing thing about this is that the book was recommended to me by a wonderful Christian woman who is not of my same faith. I listened to this woman speak during a Christian mom's group that I attend and she stood up in front of the whole group and pushed this book. It was awesome to me!

One quote, from "A Quiet Heart", that rung true to me in my life and that I thought was fitting for Mother's Day tomorrow is as follows;

"...Sister Hinckley's response when someone asked her how she felt about being the wife of the newly ordained prophet. Stretching to her full four feet, eight inches of height, and with her big brown eyes opened wide, she said, "Oh, I just want my momma!""

It is true for me. I still need my momma.

Yesterday for example. I did not feel well. Braxton had had some snot all week but each time I asked him how he felt he said, "fine." He didn't act sick and so when others convinced me it was just allergies I just assumed it really was just allergies. Maybe it was. He really is fine. I, however, got the snots and with it came the sore throat and the awful sinus headache. No fun for this momma. My mom, in her wisdom, came over with my dad, hot, spicy, nose-clearing, soup in hand and invited the kids to come home with them and spend the night. This was a huge blessing/relief for all of us. The soup cleared out my sinuses and Jeff and I were able to relax without 2 of our little munchkins.

It never ceases to amaze me. This whole momma thing. Of all the people in the whole world, my mom always seems to know what it is that I need and the very moment that I need it. How does she do it? I'm so grateful for her mother's intuition and for the kind acts of service that I am constantly blessed by.

I'm also grateful for the phone conversation with my dad this morning;
My dad to me: "Do you know what Adelle wants first thing when she wakes up in the morning?"
Me: "Yep, she wants her milk and her momma."
Dad: "You're right."

Mars vs. Venus

Venus: "Sorry I just don't get it. What's it for?"
Mars: "The kids to climb!'
Venus: "I know, but why?"
Mars: "It's just fun, they like to climb."
Venus: "So what's going to happen when Emmett tries to climb up there?"
Mars: No comment
less than 2 minutes later
Venus: "Great (not really meaning this is great)."
Mars: "Look at him go, what a little man. I can't believe he can climb that by himself."
Venus: "Yeah, awesome (insert sarcasm, worry, frustration...)"

Mars: "Look at him, he loves it up there!"
Venus: no comment but admits to herself that he is darn cute up there!

Mars: "Huh, maybe it needs a railing."
Venus: "You're a good dad!"

thumb prints to the rescue

Thanks to my husband's family who lives out of town I am getting better about thinking of holidays and birthday's early on to get cards in the mail on time.
This week I've been thinking about Mother's Day.
I don't buy cards, typically I make them or I have my kids make them. This becomes challenging when you have multiple cards to send out. I want everyone to get special mail! It's so fun!
I have many wonderful women in my life, only one of which is my mother. I wanted to think of a way to show my appreciation to these aunts, grandma's, friends...as well as to my own mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day.
I came up with this simple idea.
I got out the paint and I painted the little thumbs of my little ones
Then I had them press their thumbs on a piece of white card stock
First we all did red, then we all did yellow
That was it! It was easy and even Emmett was able to participate without painting the whole house.

After the kids went to bed I got out my black sharpie and drew on the thumb prints to create lady bugs and bees.
Get it, "lady bugs" for all the special "ladies" in our life.

That's it. I cut out enough for 12 cards from only 3 sheets of card-stock. I glued the white cutouts to orange card-stock and made sure they fit into the envelopes I already had.
Project accomplished.

I just realized that this same idea would be super cute next year for Easter. The thumb prints could be the eggs and you could draw a basket or just leave them in the grass....

I choose to laugh

Today was such a wonderful day!
The sun was shining brightly
I got up and went "to work"....more of that to come later
I ran into a friend, literally, and we hugged and cried and it was nice
I came home two hours later (work is 2 hours max) to 3 clean bedrooms!
Jeff wore his wranglers
The kids and I came up with a fun craft
All 3 kids took a good nap and I got to read my book...more of that to come later, too
We weeded the flower beds, again.
Adelle wore Super Woman attire all day and had people honking and waving to her as they drove past our street
Emmett put a ten of hearts playing card in the toilet
Adelle got it out, with her hand...I chose to laugh
Emmett dove into my cowboy beans during prayer....I chose to laugh again
We bar-b-q'd and ate outside on a blanket
Kids went to sleep
I am drinking my herbal tea and finishing the craft we started earlier.

May Day

If you ask my Gramy my memory used to be really sharp. Apparently by age 3 I had everyone in the family's phone number memorized and could recite them on demand. Pretty impressive! My mom tells me that when her and I went to the grocery store she didn't have to make a list she just told me what she wanted and then when we got there I would list off the things we needed. That's ironic since now I make lists for everything! The sad thing is lately Jeff will reminisce about old times or say things that apparently I used to say, to make us laugh, and I have no idea what he's talking about. I look at him like he's a crazy person and he sighs as if to say, "are you kidding, you don't remember that??"

The exception of this lost talent is May Day 1995. I was in seventh grade. For some reason I think of it every May Day and it makes me feel happy. It was the day that Shelby and I went from being friends to being Best Friends. The decision was huge and important and apparently unforgettable. That day after softball practice the two of us walked around the field and confessed to each other the desire to be titled. If we were really going to make this decision, which we did, it was going to be forever.

At the time it meant if the coach said, "pick a partner" we were always ensured not to be left standing there alone. If there was anything dramatic going on at school we would tell each other first. We would keep secrets and pass notes. If we went to the mall to hang out one mom would drive and the other would pick up. We wouldn't go anywhere without the other. Best Friends don't leave each others sight except to sleep was our understanding.

Well, since then our life and our perspectives changed. We made other friends, just as Best! Shelby moved to another state in high-school, then I went away to college. Life happened and keeps happening and we are hours apart.

May Day will always bring me back to my childhood and this particular experience. I love my dear friend and more importantly I love that we were able to share childhood imaginations. You are only in middle school once and I'm glad we were there together. I'm also glad I don't have to do it again.

Yesterday's May Day was a beautiful warm, sunny day. We laid on a blanket in the backyard.

Ate chips and 7-layer bean dip for a late snack/dinner. We made up a song, something like; dip your chip, dip your chip if you grab a chip then dip...

The boys tossed the football and made up some sort of game where whoever throws the ball past the other person the most times wins.

Braxton changed his clothes like 3 times depending on what he was doing at the moment. It didn't phase me.

Emmett waited until I had eaten plenty of chips and dip and then sat on my belly and started jumping.

Adelle tried to sneak as many chips as she could without dipping, hence the chip and dip song. Feeding your child chips for dinner isn't as justifiable as feeding them chips and homemade bean dip for dinner.

These two played barefoot all afternoon.

Happy May Day!