Thankful Thursday: A Day In The Life Of

Alisha told me I need to do a day in the life of post last night. Basically it is a detailed run down of your day. Here goes.

12 am, get up put homemade yogurt in fridge.

5:30 wake up startled at new sound. The new coffee maker grinding beans.

Lay in bed until 6:15. Brian gets Lainey out of bed, I get dressed. I fix Lainey breakfast. Whole wheat pancakes, and oj. I make her lunch while she eats, leftover cous cous, blueberries, and homemade yogurt.

7:45 Ellis wakes up. (This is BIGTIME) sleeping in for him.

8:05 Leave to take Lainey to school.

8:30 Get home. Make Ellis breakfast. Toast, scrambled pastured eggs, homemade yogurt and oj. For me eggs, yogurt, and coffee. Clean kitchen, pick up downstairs, shower, do laundry, pack Ellis and I lunch. Him whole wheat bread, natural pb, and low sugar jelly, chips (still going through processed food), and dried fruit. Me larabar and dried fruit.

Leave house at 10:45 to go to the Red Cross and give blood. My iron was too low, come back next week. Okay....that was weird, I have never had low iron, and the two people before me were low too. I think the machine was broke.

Go to Lainey's school to observe since I can't give blood, and eat lunch while watching her eat lunch. Talk to the teacher, she is doing a GREAT job.

Pick Lainey up, she falls asleep, Ellis has school in one hour. Go get coffee for the first time in a month, only got 5.5 hrs of sleep last night. Park hang with Ellis in car, update planner, make appointments, arrange childcare for September football game trip.

1:00 drop Ellis off at school. Go home.

1:17 arrive home. Lay down for 15 minutes for a power nap, Lainey isn't going back to sleep. Do more laundry, clean upstairs bathrooms, wash kid's sheets, play some with sis, and answer peoples emails, fb messages, texts.

3:30 Leave to pick Ellis up from school. 4:00 pick up Ellis. Almost get into 2 accidents on the way home from crazy rush hour drivers. 4:25 get home, see neighbor, joke he needs to come mulch my landscaping, unload Lainey, Ellis, backpacks, and lunch boxes. Ellis is asleep on couch, Lainey playing in my silverware drawer. Clean out lunch boxes and wash dishes. Straighten down stairs. 5:00 call work, I don't have to go in. Start dinner prep which includes, washing and cutting potatoes, washing and snapping green beans, defrosting hamburger (grass fed farm raised), and thawing homemade whole grain dinner rolls. 5:30 meatloaf in oven, beans and potatoes cooking.

5:40 knock on door. My awesome neighbor had extra mulch, and mulched all of my front landscaping for me. 5:50 Brian pulls up to our nice neighbor doing our yard work.

6:05 eat dinner. Very good. All within a 45 mile radius of my house. Ellis wakes up and is super cranky. I run upstairs get some cute clothes on, brush my hair, and spray some perfume. Leave the house at 6:50 to go to a friends 31 party.

Arrive a little late, see my lovely friends. Buy a cute tote for farmer's market. Eat lemon pie. Bring Brian cupcake from party as a I spent money consolation prize. Fill his car with gas and buy him some beer. Come home, start writing this blog.

Insert over the course of the day, meltdowns, beeping phones, I love yous and kisses, 1000 thank yous from my kids, wiping little bottoms lots of times, one wet accident (Lainey), 1 hour of me being stressed to the max,  and funny car conversations:

Ellis: Lainey don't be sad at school today, okay.  Lainey: Go to school today?
Ellis: Lainey say "cow boy"  Lainey: Moo
Ellis: I am hungry lets, eat a helmet. Me: Son there is no person I know of who eats helmets! Ellis: Well then lets eat our shoes. Me: Son there is no person who eats there own shoes that I know of! Ellis: Well then lets eat a house.

It is now 10:11.

I spent over 4 hours in my car today.

This is what I have to be thankful for today:
I am thankful my yogurt turned out great.
I am thankful I am able to stay home to run my kids to the school I so love.
I am thankful to have a running car with gas in it.
I am thankful we are able (although just barely) to afford to send them to the school.
I am thankful I get to eat lunch with my son sitting on benches, with his feet swinging, I love it when he gives me his crust to eat, and asks me if my lunch is good.
I am thankful that the yahoos on the road didn't actually crash into me.
I am thankful I have friends to get messages from.
I am thankful I am well enough to clean my home.
I am thankful we are able to buy the local food that we ate for dinner tonight.
I am thankful for an awesome neighbor.
I am thankful my husband got home safely from work okay.
I am thankful for time with wonderful friends who I love dearly.
I am thankful that I am done blogging and will go put on my pj's. I won't do another a day in the life of for a while. It takes to dang long.

A Few Notes

A few things.

I use my cutting board like every meal now. I guess that is how you know you are eating healthy.

I cut up two whole chickens into recognizable parts for later cooking. We ate some of the farm raised chicken the other night for the first time. I used an old recipe, and it was very good. Better than normal. Delicious! And I was very proud that I cut up the chicken into recognizable cuts. Very proud. I have been known to butcher a chicken in the not good way. Yay me. This video guided me through it. It saved my dinners. I am proud of my newly found chicken cutting skills. It is the small things for me.

Bad picture, Good food!

I made bread. For the first time. Brian had a heart attack when he saw the $4.29 a loaf, kind of healthy bread I scrounged up at the store. I don't like stressing my hard working hubby out over bread, so I made an attempt at a recipe that Alisha sent me. It was good ya'll, and Brian is making sandwiches out of it!

Here is that recipe. Now I have a loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg way to go for the bread making. Mary who writes Chattavore is going to give me a hands on, all kinds of bread, from scratch, superwoman class. Whenever I can get myself in her neck of the woods. Also I used store bought flour, and although I used whole grain flour, it is nothing like milling your own. Or so I have been told, and believe to be true. But I don't have a mill attachment for my Kitchenaid. I plan on tricking someone into buying me one for Christmas, or by being bored enough to read this blog.  This is it in case I have an anonymous benefactor, or if Brian reads this.

I am also trying a new method of making yogurt from a new blog I am following. This is the recipe.

We will know in the morning how it turns out. I didn't do the crock pot recipe because it never thickened up good, and it was recommended to add gelatin, but I feel like that defeats the purpose. This recipe promises thick yogurt every time. We will see.

I bought a pastry roller to make homemade ravioli. I am making the dough and feel like it would be 1000 times easier if I had a pasta machine. But I don't, so I have to hand roll it. I am a little concerned. That will probably be a blog post in itself. Anyway, Lainey saw the pastry roller this morning and has been carrying it around all day. It has became a part of her collection, along with a rock from mom's yard, a paint brush she wouldn't unhand at the pottery place, and a $20 mini baby doll Brian got suckered into.

Yes she is in her undies, but it is already established my kids don't like to wear clothes at home.

This is the pottery Lainey, and Ellis painted. I use it to hold my veggies. I love it. It makes me smile. It is the kids hand prints. I would have a good picture of just the platter, but that would require removing everything and putting it back and I am way to lazy for all that.

I have to go start dinner. I am barbecuing drunsticks from my awesomely cut chickens.

The end.

Wordless Wednesday: Gaga for Glass Edition

Saturday Notes

Aghhh grocery shopping. I feel like I spend hours of my life shopping for and preparing the food my family eats. Well now that we are trying to eat non processed foods the time I am spending preparing food is going up.

I can tell you this. Even though I didn't buy any meat, my grocery bill was higher than normal. No coupons for this lady in today's trip. This is what hurts the most about the change to whole foods. I used to love going to the grocery and saving insane amounts on food. It was a high, and I also felt like I was really doing something good for my family. Saving the money on groceries does help me stay at home with my kids. Now that I know differently about all of that free food I was getting, my joy comes from buying the healthy foods for my family. I feel extremely empowered grocery shopping now, and broke. I walk through isles and isles of food, walking right by not even tempted to put it in my cart. It feels good.

This is what your pantry looks like when you aren't buying processed foods I still have some in there, but those are what we are going through. I just bought two weeks worth of groceries, and used to stock my pantry to the max. Pantry space is no longer a major need of mine. When I think about it, although I am no expert, the super size pantry is a thing that has cropped up in the last 10 years or so. I could be wrong.

This is what your fridge looks like when you buy fresh. This isn't two weeks worth, when you eat real food it is perishable. It is so messy because Brian wasn't home to help, I suck at fridge/pantry organization.

These are what farm fresh eggs look like.

Do you know that vanilla extract has corn syrup in it? Crazy huh. Well for 3 million dollars you can buy it without it.

Homemade whole wheat pizza, with fresh mozzarella, and organic Italian sausage. Very good. Yum. I am getting hungry. I recommend.

We made Lainey's bed a toddler bed today. Ellis literally took it apart himself. We gave him the Allen wrench and he went to town. Quite the little handy man.

Oh and my kids are into a going naked kick. That explains the lack of clothes. Also Ellis is wearing his Thursday undies, not his Saturday. Brian dressed him.

Lainey is excited. And went right down for her nap. Thank GOODNESS!

Oh and my kids are cute.

Happy Saturday.

Thankful Thursday

Well, my thankfulness, as always is overwhelming. But let me list a few things.

Lainey is potty trained. That girl is so mature for her age. My child that would never eat baby food, and who started telling us she had poop at 10 months, is taking herself to the bathroom whenever she needs to go without prompting, at 21 months. Although Ellis potty trained early for a boy, just after age 2, he still needed help and frequent encouragement to go. Not Lainey. She has more initiative to take herself than her 3 1/2 yr old bro, who has been potty trained over a year.

At 21 months, knowing her strong willed personality, and her want to do all things "big", I am already prepping myself for teenage years. Right now it is working in my favor, no more diapers. Yes for now I am thankful.

I am still thankful for the rest and relaxation I had last weekend. It has done me a world of good.

I am thankful for my best friend, who is really like a sister to me. I didn't have a biological sister, so she has got to be God's gift to me. She is a life long soul mate, and I am thankful really every day for her. I love you Alisha, other than Brian and my kids, I think you are the person who knows and accepts me the most.

I am thankful my a/c works being that it is really starting to get and stay warm outside. Lets not things for granted here.

I am thankful that for the last couple of weeks my little boy has started snuggling more than before. Sitting in my lap, letting me hold him like a baby for more than 5 seconds, telling me he loves me. I don't know what has brought on the change, but I embrace it, he will only be a little boy for just a little while. Good thing I am not so wrapped up in all the busyness around me, to notice his sudden change. What an oppurtunity I would have missed.

Have a great day, and try not to miss the subtle changes in those around you, it could be an oppurtunity missed.

You Know Better You Do Better

I have certain things that I strive for, and have always rattling around in my mind.

• I want to be the best wife I can be.
• I want to be the best mom I can be.
• I want to have a full spiritual life.
• I want to get old and look back and not be bitter, and grow old well.
• I want to be a more positive person.
• I want community.
• I want to constantly be learning more and bettering myself.

These are things I am constantly thinking about. I am not particularly great at any of them, but I try. The funny thing is that I have found a new passion that feeds all of these things. The more I learn about eating whole foods the more I see how it can make my life better. I am excited about easing into this journey, and excited about where it will lead me.

Feeding myself, and my family healthy nutritious food helps me be a better wife and mother. I already love cooking, and for me is very connected to showing love and caring for my family. I love to cook, but that is mostly, I think, because I love my family. I am feeling better, and it gives me more to be a wife and mother. I am putting effort and thought, and love into the food I feed my husband and children. I am giving them better health, along with a pleasurable meal. Better wife and mother, check.

I am finding eating whole natural foods is very much tied to God. You eat what is given to you in its most natural state possible, as He intended. We are praying more before meals, because eating this way is giving us a consciousness about the food we eat. Something that I purchase from a farmer I am so much more grateful for because it is tied to another human being. I am thankful for my food because I am thinking about how it will nourish my body, and my family's. I pray before I buy the food that we will be able to make it work, because our society is set up to where it is cheaper to let a company do for you what you could do for yourself.  Feeding me spirtually check.

Think about that. How long has it not been cheaper to make your own clothes or make things from scratch ingredients.

I know that if I take responsibility for my health now will make me grow old well. Also seeking this knowledge, trying, leads to fewer regrets. Aging better, check.

This whole process is bringing nothing but positivity to my outlook on life. I feel like I have power of this now, and I didn't feel that way a few months ago. I feel happy and productive! Positivity, check.

This way of eating is all about community. I had a class at my house Monday night, with some ladies I love, and some new friends. We had a friends sis in law come and teach us the basics, and as we talked from us being together, to getting to know your farmer, to us pooling our resources to do this thing, it is all about community. I love it. Community, check.

As far as learning, this is all about that. I have to learn how to find and prepare real foods. It is crazy when you think about it you have to teach yourself these things, but our society has became this way. I have a lot to learn, and a long ways to go, and I can't wait. Expanding my horizons, check.

Eating whole foods feeds my body, mind, and spirit.

Amen.

Life Lesson: Celebrate Your Wedding Anniversary

Brian and I have been married 6 years, and never paid our anniversary much attention. The most we did was a card and meal out. This year he surprised me with a weekend getaway to Gatlinburg, TN. This weekend I figured out how much we had been neglecting to celebrate our marriage. When kids enter the picture it is hard enough to feel "like a couple", and the habits we set up before kids didn't help. No more. Every year some way, some how we are going to celebrate. Marriage is something to celebrate, especially when divorce is found to be the answer for so many people.

Anyway we had a great time, no better than great, it was perfect.

The cabin. Brian did good!

You can see by my face I am shocked and thrilled! This was when I first walked in.

This was off of our back deck.

And so was this. Chilly nights + waterfalls + hot tub = RELAXATION

The first night out we went to a themed restaurant Dicks Last Resort. It is where your server and the staff treat you rude on purpose, and the commentary is a little on the dirty side. We had a blast, and even though I waiter was rude, he was the most likable, and the best server we had the whole trip. Including The Melting Pot.

Brian eating gator.

Brian eating crawdads. I don't know what got into him. He had never had either.



I had to get a Dick's t-shirt, and actually had to put it on because I got stuff all over the shirt I was wearing. It had a martini glass on the back.



On our actual anniversary we went on a hike in the mountains.

Then we went and steamed up the windows in Brian's car.....because we got caught in a severe thunderstorm that included hail, and were like drowned rats in the car, waiting for the storm to pass.

That night we went to The Melting Pot, and I was thrilled because I do love eating there. No pictures of us, but I sure did get the pictures of the food!

Blackberry Sage Lemonade. Ummmm

Ummm, we forgot to take a picture before we destroyed it.



Yep it was better than good.

  Celebrate marriage. I got it. Check.

Divorce is not the only way a marriage can end. You can starve it, and just be two people who live together in a house. You never know what tomorrow will bring, the person you chose for life, my no longer live.

Brian I celebrate you and me. I love you.



Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that I have a good hubby. We are going on a surprise anniversary trip somewhere and I have no idea where! A weekend away is just what I need, and just long enough. I don't think I am anywhere near mentally prepared to leave my kids more than 2.5 days, and that is a stretch. I am so excited. I don't know if Brian has ever pulled a surprise off, but that is hard because I am the one that handles most of our families bitness.

I am thankful that Brian and I made a terrible mistake last night of getting a sonic blast. We were going to watch 24 and have a couch hang out night, and like the "old days" (prior to 4 months ago) wanted to eat junk. It made us both sick, and I honestly still feel terrible. I think we have grown up and a seriously leaving the junk behind. The fast fooding days are for realz over. It happened very suddenly, but we are both realizing that we need eat like grown ups, and that we actually can't eat like kids without the consequences.

I am thankful I am losing weight. (wish I wouldn't have eaten that blast last night) I haven't weighed but my body is reconfiguring, and I know I am losing weight, and what I am doing is so minimal. Don't eat processed for like 90%- 100% of your day. The end. I am not adding exercises or counting calories. I feel great!

I am thankful it is family pizza night, which is something that I am going to start doing once a week. Pizza dough is so easy to make and the kids love it, and best of all we have fun doing it together.

And lastly I am thankful for the togetherness of my family. We are not perfect, I can be OCD and difficult. Brian and I argue, my kids throw tantrums, heck sometimes Brian and I throw tantrums, people get on my nerves. I lose my temper, miss teaching moments, sometimes I let my kids have chocolate milk after breakfast (I owed Ellis, and it is grassfed and organic) Some days I just don't know how I am going to do it. But those things are the exception not the rule. Those are the things that make me a real person and my family real, and not a fake image I create for myself online. I feel like my family is on a journey to become the best people we can be, and I am thankful for that.

We try so hard, I feel at everything. For that I am thankful.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Standing Breakfast Date