It's been a while

Good morning friends! I'm so proud of myself..I did the dishes at 7am this morning AND I did them before I had my coffee! Weird. Doing the dishes has to be the #1 chore that I hate the most. Coming in 2nd..laundry.

So yesterday God shared the most beautiful sky! So I took a picture :) I love when God shows beauty like that. I love to just look out the window and admire He's creation. Anyways, I'm feeling blessed this morning.




Today's cleaning day for me. I'll let you know how it goes lol. Better get started now or it's just not gonna happen.

Food Family Faith

Well this eating healthy is going great! I really love seeing all the colors in veggies and fruit...makes is more delicious to me. Tonight I'm going to make Greek Caponata again. So good!

My Breakfast


It's raining and the kids are sleeping. This is nice :) We went to the park earlier while the sun was still out. I had 3 cups of coffee this morning, and I'm still shaking (too much caffeine). I just got off the phone with my sister Courtney..had a great talk about life and family. Thank God for sisters! Speaking of family..my parents could use a heavy dose of prayer. Some of you may know that my Mom has had Multiple Sclerosis for 30+ years now and it's really getting tough for her and Dad to carry. She's been dealing with MRSA and bladder infections, so you can imagine the stress that it's taking on her body as well as her spirit. Dad too carry's this stress not to mention his heart disease. You know the saying "when it rains it pours?" well it's pouring down right now. I could mention lots of other little things that are currently piling on top of them...and then I'd say Geez..what's next?! I don't know how they do it. What would we do without Jesus? I'm so thankful, that when we can't find peace in this world, we can always rest in the arms of our heavenly Father. There's no greater love than the love he gives. Just talking to him brings me comfort. He never promised us a life without struggles and pain. Just like our own parents couldn't promise this. But he promises to love us unconditionally..and he'll never give us more than we can bare. When times are tough it's so important to look within our spiritual strength. It's easy to give up when we feel so weak.

Then I'm reminded of a song by JJ Heller titled Your Hands.

Here's the link PLEASE go listen to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlL8LayF0uw

Here's the lyrics:

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That You would take my pain away
That You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crookedly lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

When You walked upon the Earth
You healed the broken, lost, and hurt
I know You hate to see me cry
One day You will set all things right
Yea, one day You will set all things right

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

Your hands
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave You when...

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave...
I never leave Your hands

Don't you just love that song?? It's a big favorite of mine.
Please take a minute and pray for my parents and your loved ones. It breaks my heart to see them go through these struggles. They have an amazing testimony that just keeps growing and I'm thankful for that.

Another day another dollar

Today's menu was...

Breakfast: Coffee with a banana and strawberry's

Snack: Almonds

Lunch: Roasted Potatoes, celery with peanut butter, and grapes

Dinner: Salad full of lots of veggies, almonds.

I DID GOOD!! YAY! :D This is me making a food log.

Great day..SOLD my car! Enjoy it Cameron :) So yeah..we're a one car family now. It'll be different, but I'm fine with that for now. Well..because I'll be the one with the car most of the time lol. Paul will be buying a bike tomorrow. That's right. Bike to work! By car we're only 3 min. away from his office so it won't take him long. Honestly..I wouldn't mind selling the other car now. I'd like a van. That's right, ya heard me.

I get to see my sisters this weekend!! They both live out of town. We'll be celebrating my Dad's birthday. :) Hope it'll work out all right cause Anna's sick, and now Samuel's getting a runny nose. Oh joy. We're watching Babe right now. You know the movie with the pig. The kids are lovin' it.

Can I just say that I'd like for the olympics to be over already. They're cool n all, but I'd like to see some of the shows like parks and recreation and the office.

I'm excited to go to church this Sunday. The Invisible Children Legacy tour is stopping at the wherehouse. Jacob, a former child soldier, will be there to share his story. It will be an incredible Sunday! You should come! 9am or 11am at Northpointe Church in the wherehouse building.

peace.

Veggies!

Tonight I made myself a tasty meal. I love bruschetta and asparagus!
So I'm off to a rocky start with my healthy new lifestyle..BUT these things take time. I can say that I'm eating lots of fresh food..and yes, I have eaten some junk here and there. I just need to create "good" habits. I made my kids try a bite of the asparagus..they still hate it. Boo.

My Dinner

Photo Fun

Still learning how to work the camera..but who cares! :) I'm having fun. Here's some photos I took today.













Overexposed..but still cute :)


Always save the best for last. I love this face.

A little booger never hurt anybody

Remember being a kid and discovering the fun stuff in your nose? Sure you do. Question..what did you do with the fun stuff? And don't lie and say you used the kleenex. Did you eat it, flick it, or wipe it on something? My kids like to make art with it on the walls. Yes, I'm aware that this is a gross blog :) I'm just tired of scrubbing crusty boogers off the walls, so I thought I'd vent about it here. Lucky you :) I tend to find them right above their beds. Isn't that special.
I remember a while back Paul and I were putting the kids to bed, and Anna was picking her nose. Paul asked her if she needs a tissue. She simply says; "No thanks Daddy, I'll just put it on the wall." Well that's juuuust great.

My kids make nose picking a part of bed time. I'm being honest here. In fact almost every night one or both of them come out of bed to inform us that they have a booger. They keep it safe on their finger for us see it, and grab it. OR it just joins the others on the wall. Oh, and there's always the boogers on the blankee. Fun.


Another Day is my son's world

Slice Chop Toss

Tonight I made a delicious Greek Caponata recipe minus the eggplant. I hate eggplant. Anyway, it's one of Giada's recipes..and oh it was so good! It's kinda like an Italian version of the French Ratatouille. And because this was my first time making this dish, I HAD to eat it with the toasted sourdough bread..yum. Still taste great without the bread though :) bye bye bread..you make me bloated..I now shall resist you!

My Greek Caponata




Giada's Greek Caponata Recipe

Ingredients

* 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juice
* 2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
* 2 summer squash, cut into 1-inch rounds
* 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
* 1 large Japanese eggplant, cut into 1-inch rounds
* 1 red onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges
* 1 potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 4 to 6 slices toasted sourdough bread, optional for main dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour the canned tomatoes into a 3 1/2-quart baking dish and spread to cover the bottom. In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients (excluding the bread). Toss to coat. Pour the vegetables over the canned tomatoes in an even layer. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the edges of the vegetables are golden, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve alone as a side, or over toasted sourdough bread for a main dish.