Reed's Favorite Hat

Reed recently found this hat and absolutely loves it.  My Grandpa gave it to Eli after a trip to Guatemala.  I think Reed looks so cute in it and I wish that Grandpa was here to see Reed wear it.   I just know that Grandpa would love Reed to death!!!  

This and That

As we were driving home last week, we saw the most unique rainbow in the sky.  It had not been raining and there were very few clouds in the sky and no storm clouds.  But, hidden in a very thin cloud was a short, verticle rainbow.  It was beautiful.  We saw it while driving and pulled over to try to take a picture and look at it.  Many other cars were pulling over too.  It was beautiful and very unique.  Eli and Chase loved it and Eli thought it was in the sky because God was trying to tell someone something.  I'm not sure, but he may just be right.  Either way, He was reminding everyone of his wonderful promises....I know that!  : )

Eli and Hunter went to the NASCAR race on Saturday.  Eli was very prepared and his backpack was so full that I was surprised he could hold it!  : ) 

 Chase & Reed found a baby cricket.  They played with him for a while but I had to rescue him from Reed.  Reed was just waiting for his chance to squish the cricket!  : (

 A game that Hunter always plays with the kids................

 And Reed loves it too now!  ; )

 Since Halloween, I've received at least 5 magazines/catalogs in the mail every day.  I had them in a pile ready to look at them, but it got so overwhelming (and cluttered) that I threw them all away today (recycle, of course! )  ;)

 Reed loves to look through the kitchen cabinets....but today just looking from the outside was not enough.  : )

 Eli's school is having an Elementary Showcase on Thursday evening.  The Kindergarten class is singing a cute song about the jungle and the sea and Jesus being King everything.  Eli is a shark.  : )

I found the idea for the costume on Pinterest  : )  Love that site!!! It was really easy to make and I think he looks pretty cute!  : )

10 Day Pledge....continued

I haven't been good at taking pictures, but we are still hanging on to our pledge although the kids have "cheated" a bit.  : ) I let them have 1-2 pieces of Halloween candy.  And, Eli went to the NASCAR race on Saturday and from what I hear, he ate quite a lot!  Hunter and I haven't "cheated" at all!!

Day 4:  Whole Wheat Pizza - this was super yummy!  I made the crust and it was really easy to make.  We always have a problem with Eli and supper so I let him decide the toppings so that he would eat it.  He chose half cheese, half bacon.  We all enjoyed this and will definitely eat it again!

Day 5:  Fajitas - these were the best fajitas I've ever made!  I was supposed to make the whole wheat tortillas, but after the disaster that I had with the corn tortillas, I made a quick trip to Whole Foods and found some 100% whole wheat tortillas with no sugars or other sweeteners.  Everyone love this recipe and I will make it again soon!

Day 6:  On your own - Sunday in our house is usually "on your own" for supper....meaning, Mom's not cooking  : )  I was actually at the NASCAR race with my Dad so Hunter fed the kids.....eggs and toast.  Not too much to this meal.....and of course they liked it.

Day 7:  Pasta with Alfredo Sauce and Chicken - this was a good recipe, but I'm not a huge fan of Alfredo sauce so I didn't love this.  And, this must have been VERY high on the fat content scale.  I'm not used to eating extremely fatty food so pasta covered in sauce made from butter, heavy whipping cream, and cheese was a little much for me.  Hunter felt the same way.  The kids loved it though.  : )  Doesn't it always work that way?!?

A couple of things worth noting......I have been serving cucumbers (Chase calls them pickles) at lunch and I make Chase eat his before he gets any chips.  He eats them, but has not been a huge fan.  Well today....Chase said "more pickles please"  : ) WooHoo!!

Another thing....Eli usually begs me to stop at McDonald's or Chick-fil-a for lunch after school.  Today he didn't mention either and when we got home he asked for "some of that yummy salad" for lunch.

Also, I made some pumpkin bread.  It is good, but different that the pumpkin bread that we are used to eating.  The pumpkin bread that I made a few weeks ago had 3 CUPS OF SUGAR!!  This recipe had no sugar, but 1/2 cup honey.

Anyway, all is going well.  Hunter and I were both wanting something sweet....like candy......all day today, but neither of us caved!  ; )

10 Day Pledge - Day 2 & 3

We are continuing our 10 day pledge of eating real food.  Thankfully, day 2 and day 3 were much better and easier than day 1.  I made some cheese crackers for snack.  The recipe was pretty easy (just 3 ingredients).  Chase and Reed liked the crackers, but Eli didn't care for them too much.  It's interesting to see who likes the various things that I'm making.  Reed seems to like everything, but Chase and Eli could go either way.  Anyway, the crackers seem to be a success and will be a replacement for snacks like goldfish or cheddar bunnies.

 Trying the crackers.  Reed doesn't have a very nice look on his face, but he really did like them!  : )

 Day 2 supper was crock pot chicken, purple hull peas and salad.  The chicken was VERY easy to make, but a little challenging for me to cook a whole chicken.  I'm not a big fan of touching raw meat and a whole raw chicken is gross and freaked me out a little.  Actually, Eli had to help me put it in the crock pot!  : )

 This picture doesn't look that great, but the food turned out SO good!  I loved the chicken recipe and of course we loved the fresh purple hull peas from our local farmer's market.  This meal was a hit.  Everyone loved it!!

I forgot to take pictures of our Day 3 food, but it was yummy and EASY.  We had chicken noodle soup for supper.  We all really enjoyed it.

So far, so good.  Seven more days of our 10 day pledge.  The hardest part for me has been my morning coffee.  I would LOVE to have some with Splenda and cream.  But, I am surviving without.  Today I actually drank a latte without Splenda.  It wasn't the best, but I got used to it.  I think the hardest part for the kids is cereal.  They ask for it every morning, but I just tell them we don't have any and then offer oatmeal, eggs, or toast.  They seem satisfied, but I don't know how long that will last.  : )

For more info on our pledge and the recipes we are following, please visit http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

10 Day Pledge

I recently found a website/blog (thank you, Pinterest!) that is all about eating real food....nothing processed.  I LOVE this idea so I decided that our family would try the 10-day pledge.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

We started today.  Actually, I started preparing a few days ago, but the change in the way we eat started today.  I'm going to try to document the next 10 days....the good and the bad.

To get started, I followed the advise on the site and made a 10 day menu, bought all the groceries and cleaned out our pantry and fridge.  The fridge was easy.....not much processed food in there except for an old box of Velveeta cheese which is probably the most processed food ever made!  ;)  The pantry was a different story.  I boxed up all the food that we will not be eating and placed it on the top shelf of the pantry.  Out of sight, out of mind.

I already know that my biggest challenge will be coffee.  I can drink coffee but only without sweetener of any kind.  I usually drink it with Splenda and cream.  : (  So, for 10 days (and maybe longer), I'll be drinking hot tea with honey.

Day 1:  For breakfast, Eli and Chase had oatmeal with honey, cinnamon and a little butter.  I thought they would complain because I usually put sugar, cinnamon and a lot of butter, but they both ate it all without complaining at all.  Reed had a banana.  : )  I'm not a big breakfast eater, so I just had a bite of banana and a bite of oatmeal.

I made whole wheat banana bread.  I like it, Reed LOVES it, and Eli and Chase are a little iffy; although, Eli asked for a piece tonight, but I had to say no b/c he didn't finish his supper.  (not because he didn't like it....it is just an ongoing battle with him)

Lunch was not very different that what we normally eat except for the sandwich bread.  For lunch we had peanut butter sandwich squares, cucumbers, cheese, grapes and avocado.  Once the kids ate everything, I gave them a few baked kettle potato chips.  Eli loved everything except the sandwich.  The bread is pretty different than what he is used to eating.  He'll get used to it though.  ; )  Chase at the grapes, cheese, "pickles" (aka cukes), two bites of the avocado and two bites of the sandwich ("no, thank you bites").

For our first supper, I chose something that I knew the kids would like and eat....Taco Salad.  We eat taco salad all the time, but usually use a package of taco seasoning.  I added my own seasonings and beans and it was super yummy.  Probably the best taco salad I've ever made!!

Obviously Taco Salad is eaten with tortilla chips.  The recipe on the website included steps to make your own corn tortillas and then make chips by baking them.  Well this part was a total bust!!  I had a very difficult time getting the dough to the right consistency and when I did (or thought I did) I pressed them and then they were totally stuck to the wax paper and I couldn't get them off to place them on the skillet to cook.  So for me, this part was just a BIG mess!!  : )  And, while I was making this mess, Reed was making a mess of his own....pulling everything out of the cabinets!  : )  Oh well!!  Now I'm on a mission to find a local person that makes corn tortillas with simple ingredients.  When we ate the taco salad, I "cheated" and gave the kids a couple of tortilla chips from the top of the pantry.  I just had mine on a bed of lettuce rather than tortilla chips!  : )  

Reed's mess!

Overall it was a successful first day.  I hope I can do without coffee....

Pinterest

I recently found Pinterest (thank you, Dalaina!) and now I am totally addicted!!  I love looking at everything and finding new ideas.  Here are a few....

"Thankful Tree"

Every day in November we will each write something we are thankful for and place it on the tree. 

Mummy Hot Dogs

I actually did this before I saw it on Pinterest, but it was a great reminder to do it this year. 

Spider Lollipops
The eyes are a little big on this one, but I was trying to make these with supplies on hand rather than buying supplies.  Eli and Chase loved these!  : )

Ghost Cookies
I think these turned out super cute and they were so easy to make.  It's a Nutter Butter cookie dipped in melted almond bark and two mini chocolate chips for the eyes.  They were really yummy too!  : )

A Moment

I don't know why, but I love this picture.  Maybe it's because for a short moment all three are busy at the same time.  I love that Reed wants to join in whatever Eli and Chase are doing.  It's sad that he is growing up so fast, but fun to watch him grow, learn and try to do everything his brothers do.  I love my sweet boys!  : )

Face Painting - YUCK

I've never really thought about face painting....I mean, really thought about it....until now.  Two days after Eli got his face painted at the arboretum he woke up with a crazy rash all over his face.  Then I started thinking about the face painting.  There are many, many kids getting their faces painted and the same sponges are used on all the kids and even lip color is applied in many cases.  YUCK!  That is just a rash (or worse) waiting to happen.  Luckily, Eli's rash only lasted a couple of days, but needless to say, we will avoid face painting from now on!  And to think that I was so excited the first time that Eli was brave enough to let someone paint his face.  : )  Live and learn, I guess!  : )