Be Still

I am not a patient person...

NOT.AT.ALL!

Psalms 37:7 says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him (Jesus)". 

Apparently God wanted to teach me a little lesson in patience and grow my faith muscles.  All while being still.  WOW....

I have this thing called, "bleeding heart syndrome".   I'm sure others suffer from this as well but basically I HATE any injustice.  My soul bleeds for children particularly that don't feel or know what love is due to life circumstances.  My heart cries out for orphans.  My mind is blown away by the children who are sold into slavery right in front of our faces.  Even as I write this, I feel that little blazing fire within me getting fueled to run out and stop it.  To bring EACH AND EVERY orphan into my home.  To love EACH AND EVERY child who is hurting.  To END child slavery as a whole. 

That being said, I married a practical man. A man who first of all loves Jesus but knows that it is just not practical to have 1,000,000 children living in our home.  Lets say he "balances" me.  He doesn't like any of the above situations either but knows that God has given me a mission right now to love and disciple the four children he gave to me. 

Then came along a friend with a passion for orphans in other countries.  New Horizons for Children is an organization that places children from overseas orphanages into homes during the Christmas and summer seasons.  During these times, the orphanages "shut down" and the kids are left to celebrate (or not) Christmas on their own.  Like...NO ONE is loving them?   NO ONE buys them presents?  NO ONE cooks a yummy meal for them?  UMMMMMMM NO! 

So this lovely friend decided she should host.  Then another lovely friend decided to host.  Then another.  So of course I should host.  Right?  Aren't we called to take care of orphans?  Isn't this a huge example of injustice?  But Zach...ummmmm not sure how he would like that idea.  Well, I guess I should pray.

Then one day I was completely blindsided.  I sat down on my computer to check facebook and what would you know.  There she was.  MY GIRL!  Let me say I was not thinking of hosting at all this holiday season and I knew that Zach wouldn't be on bored with it but I felt and overwhelming pull towards this girl.  I immediately sat down with God and prayed!

 An excerpt from my journal that day:

10/1/14

There are so many kids wihtout moms and dads.  My heart grieves for them.  What do I do with this grief?  I want to host and orphan ("o") this Christmas but I'm not sure it's your will.  You command us to care for the orphans and widows.  Please, PLEASE change Zach's heart.  Help him let this child into our home.  Please Lord.  "O" needs you!

She consumed me for the next 24 hours.  My heart bled like it never had bled for a girl I had never met.  I could see her sitting in my living room.  I could smell her sweet head.  I could imagine snuggling with her, reading a book.  I WAS SURE she was suppose to be here.  God laid this girl on my heart.  He told me to pray for her.  Why shouldn't she be here?

Zach and I talked about it and prayed more than ever about "O".  My heart didn't waver at all.  Zach's didn't either.  He wasn't hearing what I was hearing.  He was hearing, "no, she isn't for us.".  WHAT?????  I begged and pleaded with God.  My core group of friends were all praying that Zach's heart would be changed.  I called NHFC and found out more information about "O".  There was no way she wasn't meant to be here!

The next few days my journal opened with this:

10/2/14

I'm so confused Lord.  Which way are you leading me?  

10/3/14

I am worn and confused Lord.  I was so sure I heard your voice and went out on a limb only to get burned.  My heart breaks.  

I cried out to God.  He answered me with these verses.  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him".  1 Corinthians 2:9.  "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14.

As I sat in my living room pondering these verses, I felt I NEEDED to talk with my friend Juliane about the whole thing.  Why wasn't Zach hearing what I was hearing?  Why was God saying, "Be Still" when this was obviously not a time to wait?  I called her, heartsick over "O".  As I retold the whole story she told me to go outside, take a deep breath and know that I obeyed God.  He was going to do all the work, I just need to "chill out" and relax.  What happened next was what one of my friends would call a #MJM (Magical Jesus Moment)...

I said "O's" name...

Immediately a light bulb went on in Juliane's head.  "She is for me". 

Wait...what??

Juliane went on to describe a vivid dream she had 2 years ago about a girl named, "O" who lived in an Eastern European country.  She asked me to send her the picture.  I did and the rest is history.  

God WAS talking to me.  I WAS listening. The little girl who my heart grieved for WAS going to come here.  I WAS going to see her sitting on my couch.  I WAS going to smell her sweet head.  Not sure about the snuggling part but its possible.  My husband WAS hearing God saying she wasn't for us.  I WASN'T going crazy.  

Juliane immediately talked with her husband and they went forward.  "O" will be here this Christmas.  

My lesson from this was that I am not in control.  God may put things on my heart but it's not up to me to decided what to do with them and when they should happen.  As Juliane said, "Take a deep breath and know you obeyed God"!   I look forward to hearing God more as I learn to fine tune my hearing.  

Patience...Patience....Patience.  

I'm excited to see what God has in store for us ;)

PS. You can read all about the Worthington's journal to get "O" home here!

Natural flu remedy!

This is more of an informative post for myself since I tend to forget all the things I do to combat things naturally!

Kylie and Cooper had the flu....  It only was bad for 1 day!  I kid you not, 1DAY!!!  Here is what I did to make life easier for them and help them recover quickly.

1.  Homeopathic flu remedy.  If you aren't lucky enough to have a homeopathy doctor near by who makes a flu remedy, FIND HER/HIM NOW!!  We gave it to Kylie every hour/Cooper every 3 while symptoms lasted and it worked well and shortening the duration of symptoms!!  Amazing.  If you don't have a doc near by, please try Oscillococcinum which can be found at your pharmacy.  I personally haven't tried it but have friends who use it and swear by it.  It is another homeopathic remedy for the flu!!  

2.  ELDERBERRY SYRUP!!!!!!!  Take 2 teaspoons every 3 hours!  A.MAZING!  If you don't want to spend a fortune on it, I make and sell it myself for $10 per pint!  It's a lot cheaper than store brand versions and is made with LOCAL RAW HONEY!!!  

3.  Zicam!  Its another homeopathic remedy which is found with the cold meds at your pharmacy.  Take it every 3 hours while symptoms last!  (It can be used for kids ages 2 and older and my kids didn't mind the taste). 

4.  For coughs:  use Similasan Cough Relief !  There is a kids and adult version but kids can actually use the adult one...just saying! It's cheap and works great! 

5.  Epsom salt bath!!!!  Mix some epsom salts with eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender oils and soak!!  It detoxes and relaxes you all at once.  As an added bonus, it helps with muscle pain.

6.  Thieves oil!  Just cover your poor sick and not so sick people with it.  Diffuse it in a small crock pot with some cinnamon sticks to get rid of any airborne viruses.  Also clean the living tar out of your house with it!!!!  You can just put it in a spray bottle and spray everyone down :)  I sell it, so let me know if you need any!  I am trying to stock up for this flu season so I have some on hand.  I went through almost an entire bottle which is pretty impressive!

7. Drink lots and lots of things.  For congestion, I have been drinking Yogi Breathe Deep.  It really relaxes and looses things up! 

8.  Oregano oil for coughs!  Put it in a nebulizer (if you have one) or just inhale directly to loose up your chest congestion.  (Thanks D)

9.  Sleep, sleep, sleep and more sleep!  

Thank you to all of my other natural mama friends for their input into this post!  Especially, Jocelyn Rebisz :) Now, here is to hoping you won't have to use this natural flu remedy....

Keep washing!

Week 2 of pantry clean out!

Lets sum up week #1....

We spent a total of $43 at the grocery store on Monday and $5 yesterday!  I'd say we did pretty well. 

Now, if you look into my pantry, you will see very few items!  I mean VERY few items!  But we are making due...

Today, I did another brief inventory and made another grocery list for the week.   If your wondering what we are eating this week..here's a peak..

Monday: Meatballs with sauce
Tuesday: Sloppy joes (without the bun) and applesauce/homemade fries
Wednesday: Ham and potatoes with broccoli
Thursday: Rotisserie chicken with seasoned rice and roasted veggies
Friday: Meatloaf with roasted potatoes

I also made a batch of sauce, fruit leather, gf bread, smoked ribs and ground up some beef.

It smells delightful in here.

 My kitchen was mass chaos! 

 YUM!!!

Day number ??

How's it going you ask?  Well my pantry is starting to get bare but we still have food.  I have used up so much of what is in the freezer it makes my heart smile.  Yesterday, I found pizza dough I had froze a while back along with some cookie dough.  Thus, we had pizza and ABC cookies for dinner while daddy and Ky skied!

Tomorrow I will set our weekly food menu and hope we can stick close to the $43 we spent last week.  Tonight we are having southwestern egg roll dip with tortillas which will cost us $5 tonight at the grocery store.  Sorry folks, but we don't have any essential ingredients right now...

Off to make some more gluten free bread! 

Day # 3

What we had:

 Tacos....

(Sorry no pictures) but it was devoured!

 

Baking Update:

As part of cleaning out the pantry/freezer, I have come across a lot of frozen rhubarb/zucchini/blueberries.  What else to do with them but BAKE!  

 

First we made rhubarb bread (GF style).  Not going to post the recipe because it was so.so :/  The kids ate it but it does not have the best aftertaste.  Still half a loaf to go (I made 2 yesterday) so it wasn't a complete waste. 

 

Next I made english muffin bread!  It just came out of the oven, so I cannot comment on how it tastes.  It's also not GF so I cannot give a personal testament as to how absolutely delicious it may be.  The hubby will have to be my taste buds on this one.  

Empty the shelves day 2

Black Bean and Cheese Burritos

What we had:

1 can of black beans

some tomatoes

cheese (colby jack)

red onions

a half of a bell pepper

garlic

mild jalapeno peppers

and burrito shells/corn tortillas

Saute onion/pepper/garlic (minced)/peppers until tender

Add black beans (rinsed)

remove from heat and add cheese

spoon into warm shells

top with diced tomato (or salsa) and some sour cream.

I added rice to our meal!

Food clean out day 1

So snacks...

My kids are grazers.  They love their snacks so I try to make them healthy.  I plan on making lots of bread from shredded zucchini I found in the freezer and applesauce I canned in the fall.   BUT...what about on the go?  School lunches?  When mommy is just too busy blogging to stop and get a snack ready....

Well my wonderful Sister In Law made us fruit strips for Christmas this year.  Let me just say they were de.licous!  The kids gobbled them down within a few days.  Now, I don't have a dehydrator yet so I needed to figure out a way to make them without one.  AND.THEY.WORKED.OUT.GREAT! 

Yesterday we made strawberry ones and today I have apple in the oven. 

And did you know it is ever so easy!  And healthy! And frugal! 

Since I love to can, I had an abundance of jams and unsweetened applesauce in the Hoosier. Simply, spread a thin layer of jam/applesauce on a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and bake at 170 for 6-8 hours.  It doesn't take up energy and works great.  Then flip the dried fruit on some wax paper, cut, and roll.  Wallah!

*WARNING:  These will be gone within seconds if left unattended! 

Enjoy!

Frugal mama

This is the month to be frugal.  To be VERY frugal!  So lets give this a try. 

First on the list...MEAL!

I already spend near nothing on groceries but we always seem to have a lot in our cupboards.  That being said, we are eating it ALL this month.  Yes, we are going to clean out our pantry which will require a bit of creativity from this mama.  I am very open to any suggestions on simple meals (kid friendly of course) so please comment with any you may have. 

A few meals we may start with...

1. Bean and cheese burritos (and whatever salsa/sour cream we have in the fridge)
2. Tacos (I make taco seasoning, canned a lot of tomatoes this fall, and have a freezer full of meat)
3. Breakfast for dinner.  Potato pancakes, bacon, and eggs from our chickens
4. Meatloaf
5. Roast with veggies
6. Ham (and leftover for soups and lunch meat).
7. Lots and lots of stew...
8. Cheeseburger Quiche (GF of course)
9. Skillet meat supper
10. Pasta with homemade meatballs
11. Whole chicken in rotisserie cooker (leftover for soup)
12. Texas chili
13. Mexican style beef tacos
14. LOTS OF SOUP...and did I mention soup?
15. Hashbrown Sausage Casserole
16. Herb rubbed sirloin tip roast
17. Daddy's favorite!  (Chicken pan fried in State Fair Sauce)
18. Shepherds Pie.
19. Sloppy Joes

And PLEASE give me some more suggestions!

Lets see how much $ we save this month doing this!  

Merry Christmas

We had an amazingly simple Christmas this year minus the traveling from one place to the next. The big news being.....WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!! Yes we are and the kids are more than ecstatic! Hope you enjoyed yours as much as we did!

We'll see you again!

"As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8

As I read this verse this morning, I thought of my Queenie.  For those of you who knew Queenie, you know she lived her life for Jesus.  Whether it was singing to the "old people" at the nursing home or snuggling a baby tightly whispering, "Jesus loves you precious one".  There was never a conversation had where she didn't mention, "the Lord".  Queenie certainly fought the good fight as well.  She was a spitfire...hence she lived as long as she did.  She loved Jesus and passed on her love to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Now she is singing and dancing (with her new body) with Him.  HOW AWESOME!

Although I am soooooo very happy she is home, it's hard for those of us left behind.  The finality of death is broken with the promise of heaven but our human spirits remind us how far away that is at the present time.  For me, I choose to remember how wonderful Queenie was.  Remembering all the good times and memories that were made in the 33 years I have known her.  So I decided to write down those times....mostly for me, but I will share with you as well.

Cottage times:  Of course most of my memories of Queenie revolve around our cottage trips.  For those of you who don't know,  my grandparents built a cottage in 1958 in a very rural part of Canada.  At first it didn't even have plumbing but she brought her 5 boys up there each and every summer while my grandfather visited on the weekends.  So much of the cottage still has Queenie's hand print left there.  From the unique decorations, to her little garden dug by the lake, I see her and hear her each and every time I am there.  As a kid, I made the five and a half hour drive with them a number of times.  We would ALWAYS stop at Bill Grays in Watertown where Queenie and Papa would split a sandwich.  Papa would grumble about how expensive everything was and Queenie would tell him to shut up be quiet.  At the cottage, Queenie would sit in her blue recliner on the "davenport" while I sat on the blue shag rug singing Keith Green's, Holy, Holy, Holy with her. 

I saw God there.  Not only did Queenie teach me to marvel at His creation but she worshiped him, wholeheartedly.  What an awesome thing I was able to witness!  She let her light shine.  There are so many other memories the cottage holds...from swimming up and down the shore with Queenie, to wrestling a turkey on the kitchen counter at 9 am.  I am eternally grateful for the gift of time spent with her in the solitude of the woods.  If earth can be recreated in heaven, I KNOW Queenie is sitting in a chair at the cottage, singing her heart out to Jesus.

Christmas:  For those of you who knew Queenie, you know how she loved to shop.  Not necessarily for expensive things but just things.  Mostly for others and mostly for Christmas and birthdays.  If I recall correctly, my cousin even set up a facebook page dedicated to odd Queenie gifts!  Each and every year (up until about 6 years ago) we spent Christmas at the Smith house.  As a kid, we would pile into the basement (carrying Nana on a chair) and mass chaos would break loose as one child was selected to pass out these "Queenie" presents.  As they aged, we moved Christmas upstairs but the same chaos remained.  The gifts got stranger and the meals a little weirder but we spent the whole day with each other.  Queenie wanted us ALL together.  She created an atmosphere of love and laughter.  There are thousands of stories of odd gifts that we received but I will share just one.  The first Christmas Zach and I were married, there was a HUGE box with our names on it.  We eyed it up, wondering what was inside but waited until the very end to open it.  We were surprised to find a box full of canned goods.  Yes, I said canned goods...mostly from their cupboards and many expired.  We got a good laugh but appreciated their thoughtfulness of trying to feed the newlyweds. 

Candice will hate me for this but this awesome shirt was a queenie gift :)

So many other memories have been flooding my mind the past day.  From her smell (mostly roses on a good day) to playing pool in her basement.  Being locked in the "scarey" part of the basement by teasing cousins to the infamous"barf chair".  But the most important thing Queenie left behind was her love for Christ!  I know she is with Jesus right this very moment (hopefully not yelling at us to stop crying), with her new hips, shoulder, knees, and heart.  I love you Queenie and cannot wait until the day I can hug you again!  

 

GF Apple pie anyone?

Nothing warms your house (and soul) like the smell of apple pie baking in the oven!

So on this dreary day, I decided to pop one in.

Totally made this recipe up and haven't tasted it yet due to it still cooling but I figured I would share anyways.

Kara's GF apple pie (and crust)

Crust:
2 cups GF flour of your choice (spelt would be yummy if you can handle it)
1/3 cup of COLD butter divided
1/3 cup of COLD coconut oil
1 Tablespoon of salt
5 Tablespoons of ice cold water


Mix flour and salt together.  Cut in butter and coconut oil.  Slowly add ice water until it forms a dough ball.  Split in two, roll out and place bottom in pie dish.

Filling:
7 cups of apples (skinned and cut up)
1/4 cup corn starch (or another thickener)
1/2 cup sweetener
1 Tablespoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
pinch of clove

Mix all in a large bowl and place in pie crust.  Put top on pie and do as you please with it...as long as you have a few vents :)  Bake at 375 for an hour!

ENJOY!!

GF Apple Pie Bread

Apples, apples, apples!

Yes, we have lots of apples thanks to Kylie's teacher who has an abundance of apple trees.

That being said, I have already canned apples sauce, frozen apple pie filling, and put apples in almost every meal AND we still have apples.

Today I decided to make my own apple bread...Gluten free style of course :)  Guess what...IT IS DELICIOUS!!!  Yes, I am a bit surprised but I figured I would share it with you all as well.

Kara's GF Apple Pie Bread:
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar (or another sweetener of choice)
1/3 cup yogurt
1 cup GF flour blend of choice (you can use spelt*)
1/2 cup GF oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 apples, skinned and chopped

 Mix wet ingredients, add to dry.  Fold in apples.

Bake at 350 for 50 mins

*spelt is sometimes tolerated well by those with a gluten sensitivity.  For those with a serious allergy or ce

liac, please avoid!

I guess it's time for an update

It has been exactly 1 year since I blogged....

What new??  Kylie's in third grade, the star of the nutcracker play put on by her ballet school, loving school, life, and dance, and amazes me with her knowledge on a daily basis. 

Cooper is in 1st!  AHHHHHHHH!  My baby!  He loves life, soccer, and pokemon.  His smile is infectious and his hugs are delightful!

Addy is a big preschooler.  She too loves dance and doing anything her older sister thinks is "cool".  She is my quiet one but will make sure she is heard when need be!  Snuggles are required from both mom and dad on a daily basis!

Kallen!  Well, he is 2! He is FULL of energy and loves life.  His favorite show is "riding down the road with me"(a show all about trucks) and most of his time is spent potty training! 

Zach and I...well that's a whole other story...We are great, blessed, and in love :)

Young Living Oils

Don't know if you know this or not, but this past year, I started selling Young Living Oils.  I started mainly because I wanted the oils and couldn't get them unless I decided to be an independent distrubtor.  PLUS, they are the BEST essential oils there are!  Seriously!  I have learned so much about essential oils since starting this journey and want to share all these awesome things with everyone else.  So here is my October newsletter...If you want to be added to my newsletter, please leave a comment with your email address so I can put you on.

Happy Fall,

With the cold months approaching, we are all gearing up for cold and flu season.  I don't know about you but I tend to be a bit of a "germaphobe" at times.  When the first kid starts sniffing, I automatically start to panic...pull out my Essential Oil Handbook and call my homeopathic doctor.  That being said, I am going to try to prevent this panic BEFORE it starts this year.  What am I going to do you ask...

1.  I use Thieves cleaner on everything!  A. chemicals give me a serious headache. B. It makes my house smell DELICIOUS and C. It disinfects like the best of them WITHOUT the chemicals.  I bought one bottle in March and have only used a quarter of it thus far...this stuff lasts forever. 

2.  Speaking of thieves products, I also use thieves essential oil in my laundry to kill off any remaining germs that may be lingering on my children's clothing. You can also put a few drops in a diffuser or a small pot of boiling water to kill airborne germs. You can also use, lavender oil, Melaleuca, purification, or patchouli.

3.  Thieves hand sanitizer...A MUST THIS FALL AND WINTER!  I think I may purchase a TON of this stuff because I hate the smell of regular hand sanitizer and I cringe and what chemicals lurk in them. 


Now...what do we do when we actually get sick?  Stay tuned as I will explain in detail what essential oils we use and how to use them. 

Thanks for your support!

Kara

MIA

I know, I know...I have been MISSING!!!  You ask why???  4 kids...that is all I need to say about that. 

Anyways, now that 2 of them are in school, I guess I should start posting again! 

Enjoy!

She's 3 today

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

Essential Oils EVERY mom needs

Many of you know that I started selling Young Living Oils recently. I can honestly say that I didn't do it for the money but just because I LOVE their oils. Being a family of 6, we tend to see our share of colds and viruses and to be honest with you, I am not a fan of antibiotics (for more than one reason). So we have had to treat these illnesses a bit different...with essential oils AND homeopathy (but that is for another post). We also use them in our laundry, household cleaners, bathes, on "boo boos", and for just about anything! The reason I am hooked on YL oils is because they are 1. organic, 2. therapeutic grade oils, 3. you can ingest them, and 4. they are the most deliciously smelling oils I have ever smelt!

Being new to the world of essential oils, I feel I am constantly looking up a new use for my oils. My friends have questioned what would be the best for their families. Some just know nothing about oils other than they smell good. That being said, I figured I would put together a few lists of oils that might interest y'all. For starters, I am going to focus on those oils every mom should have around. Just so you know...this is just my opinion!

The Mom Cabinet:

Lavender: You can use it for just about anything!

• Put it on cuts or scraped knees to alleviate pain.
• Helps those babies sleep better (and mama). Put a few drops in a spray bottle and spray on sheets.
  
• Feels great to massage into your neck after a loooonnnggg day/night
• Calms ear pain (don't put it in the ear). Rub behind the ear during ear infections.
• Put a few drops in the tub and relax.
• Put a few drops in your laundry detergent.
  

Peppermint: You always need to dilute this a carrier oil

• Holly headache! Rub some into your temples to help with headaches.
• Put a few drops in water for an afternoon pick me up.
• Place a few drops in the tub (with lavender) to help clear up a stuffy nose
• Have a sore throat or mussel ache. Rub some on the inflamed area to help with pain.
• Put a few drops in your humidifier at night to help with colds.
• Good for digestion!
  

Thieves: The everything oil

• You should totally read about thieves here. It is so interesting.
• Have a cold, virus, infection? Lather up your feet with thieves oil before bed. You will feel better in the morning.
• Clean just about anything with it. It has an antimicrobial component to it.
• Put some on your wrist and smell like Christmas :) The kids will come running.
• Ingest some to help build your immune system! Seriously!
  

Lemon: Think clean

• Put a few drops in water for an afternoon wake up call.
• Place some drops in your homemade cleaner for a fresh smell
• Use in recipes that call for lemon juice
• Although I haven't use it for this yet, it can be massaged into skin to improve circulation.

Eucalyptus: Vicks anyone?

• Arthritis, bronchitis, cold sores, colds, coughing, fever, flu, poor circulation, sinusitis are a few of the things it helps with.
• If your kid has a cold (or you) put some in your humidifier.
  
• Rub some (diluted) on your chest before bed!
  

Dinner time!!

If you haven't seen a theme here yet, you haven't been reading for long. I like to save money. Seriously! I HATE spending money on useless things. Grocery's being one of them...and, as I have said before, I make a weekly menu followed by a grocery list. Just in case you were short on ideas for this week, here is what we will be eating at the Riedl household this week!

Monday~ Salsa Cube Steak, baked broccoli

Tuesday~Easy chicken stir fry with rice (I added chicken)

Wednesday~Chicken parm with salad

Thursday~Marinated baked pork chops with baked carrots and rice

Friday~Sweet and sour chicken with fried rice

Saturday~ Out

Sunday~ Steak fajitas with baked nachos


Lunch:
PB&J
turkey/cheese rolls
apples with peanut butter and veggies
egg salad
tuna fish
smoothies


Grocery list:
frozen strawberries
sauce
chicken
pork chops
cheese (2 packs)
spinach
apples (2 bags)
bananas
mayo
ketchup
milk
eggs
tortillas
carrots
frozen mixed veggies
oats
one kids snack item

Cooper's 5th birthday party

I was given the task of creating a Wild Kratts birthday party for Cooper this year. Not only did he want the Wild Kratts (if you have never watched them, you should..they are pretty cool), he wanted the Wild Kratts to visit the polar bears. Stumped, I searched the internet in hopes to find some answers. I came across a few sites with examples of "creature power suits" but it seemed like all of the parties happened in the summer. What games could be played inside? How in the world were we going to pull this off?

Well, we did and I think it went pretty well. The creature power suits were only a piece of felt folded in half with a hole for the neck cut out. I then glued the paw print on them.

After the kids wore them, we then had to "activate" them by putting our "polar bear disks" on the paw print (just printed out a picture of a polar bear and glued it on a circle which was worn as a necklace). This enabled the kids to be "become the polar bears". I found this cute little print out of a polar bear mask which the kids put on and we traveled to Antarctica to visit the polar bears. Cooper and I hung polar bear facts on the wall and we took turns playing throw the snowball in the ice berg. After that, we had a good old fashion snowball fight with crumbled up paper. As cheesy as it sounds, it turned out pretty good.

Good bags consisted of polar bear ring pops, snowflake pencils, snowflake stickers, compasses, mini polar bears, and of course some gum.

And I couldn't forget the cake...how easy was that?

My big 5 year old had a fantastic day and I am so glad we were able to pull off his "big idea"!

Papers everywhere

I don't know about you but I find that we accumulate a lot of papers...

And I.HATE.PAPERS!

So, what do you do with all of those beautiful pieces of priceless artwork and school work?

This year, I decided to take charge of the papers. Each kid was assigned a crate where all papers would go when they got home from school/church. After they showed off their creations and decided if one was valuable enough to be hung on the door, we put the rest of the papers in their crate. At the end of each month, I go through each crate and pull out extra special projects or things that show their progress level and put them in a folder. The folder if then labeled and placed in a bin in their closet. Last year, Kylie only had 2 folders (full) of projects that describe her year!

Before:
After:

I have found this to be a great way to deal with the "paper situation"!

Now if I can just come up with a system for the "other papers" we accumulate...hmmmm