Snow!

Today was the 2nd time it has snowed this Fall but today was the 1st time it was enough for kids to play in it! They had a blast! Snow angels, mini snowmen, snowballs & hot chocolate:) It's very abnormal for Memphis to have snow in November & really weird to see it twice...makes me wonder what the weather will be like when it's actually winter! Maybe we'll have a white Christmas:)
Hot chocolate recipe:
1 T 100% cocoa
2 T maple syrup (more or less to taste)
Heat w milk on the stove
Enjoy:)

Monday cooking

Today was a perfect day to cook! Who wants to get out in cold, rainy weather?! Not me! So, I made pumpkin muffins, chocolate chip cookies (both w white whole wheat flour) & whole wheat spaghetti for the kids lunch & I will freeze leftover meat sauce for future lunches or dinners. It may come as a shock to some of you but 3 & 5 yr olds can be picky eaters. Crazy, I know! So I try to always have frozen, healthy leftovers just in case. Because long gone are the days of cooking up chicken & French fries on a moments notice. Both the muffin & cookie recipe came from 100daysofrealfood.com. The only change I made was to the cookies: I didn't have brown sugar so I used all real sugar (which is a treat w "real" eating!, I used all whole wheat flour bc I don't even keep white flour on hand anymore, & at the end I added just enough oil to coat the big dough ball to add some moisture. The spaghetti is just by taste. I add parsley, oregano, basil (or just Italian seasoning), garlic & onion powder, & a can of tomatoes(real 100% tomatoes). I love onions in my spaghetti but this debate goes back to Mr & Ms Picky so what can ya do?! Avery is not one of those "hide" things & she won't know kids. She always knows! Anyway, I'll cook some whole wheat pasta & there's lunch! Maybe a side of fruit or something if kids want extra. Later today I will be cooking a clean version of Macaroni Grill's Penne Rustica w whole wheat pasta, several cheeses, prosciutto, & shrimp. See I told y'all we still eat very good! It's just not processed!! I will post that recipe later bc I may tweak it or something:)
Here are some pics of my creations:

Lazy, rainy Sunday:)

Today it started raining early this morning on our way to church & hasn't stopped since! Looks like we could get rain for 2-3 days straight so we came home & I made potato soup & "grown-up" grilled cheese. It was the perfect lunch for this kind of day. Below is a pic of the kids I took while sitting on the couch...this has pretty much been my view all day:)

"Real Food" lifestyle

In the past couple months I have really gotten into making everything we eat. And when I say "making" I truly mean most of the food we eat is totally from scratch. I stumbled upon another blog entitled 100 days of real food. It's great!! There are 5 "rules" to follow & it's a lot like reading labels or knowing what you eat as if you were on a diet except a lot easier than counting calories & fat grams. You can't eat fast food, no fried foods, anything pre-packaged must have 5 ingredients or less, only whole wheat or whole grain, & try to avoid refined sugars. It's a whole lot simpler than it sounds. Except you do have to cook most everything you eat so it can be trying at times. I am absolutely loving it! I feel like everything we eat is food that I know exactly what it is. You can also pretty much eat anything you want but you cook it differently or substitute normal ingredients for a new real ingredient. Such as honey or maple syrup for sugar or syrup on your pancakes/waffles. I make a huge batch of banana pancakes on Mondays (my cooking day) & freeze them. I just take a few out, put them in the microwave & voila the kids have a very nutritious breakfast which was quite easy to make & they're getting a serving of fruit:) I will continue to post updates & recipes for our new food lifestyle as well as updates on the kids! This has really become a new passion of mine & I really love cooking good, healthy things for my family but not going overboard as some are doing now a days & cutting out what seems like everything they eat!! We still eat very well & lots of it! :)

Wow! Almost 9 months since my last post! I could have had another baby! Thank the good Lord I didn't:) Anyway, I'm back on the blog scene to try and keep up with the comings and goings of us and our kids and anything else that comes along.
So, I was reading the last blog I wrote and it was about G sleeping in a big boy bed...boy does that seem like a long time ago! Time sure does fly as a parent, doesnt it?? So..what's new you ask?? Well, let me begin with an update on my baby girl. Avery is doing phenomenal. Last year we had ups and a lot of downs as far as Avery's behavior and learning skills. Chase and I (& Avery) went through so much to try and figure out if there was some underlying problem with her mental growth. Long story short, after dragging her from therapist to therapist and always feeling like it wasn't really working she started the 5T class at Hope. She has done a complete 180! We spoke with her teacher, Ms. Jennifer on the day of orientation and Chase even took off work to meet with us because we both thought it was important that she "understood" Avery. It was this long meeting that was basically pointless. Even a couple weeks into class and hearing "she did great today!" or "she was wonderful!" and seeing her sticker chart continue to be full day after day I looked at Ms Jennifer and said "I guess you think our talk was kinda crazy, dont you?!" She laughed and nodded in agreement:) Apparently, it was a whole lot of hub bub for nothing. She's wonderful. Not that she always wasn't in my eyes but you know how a parent thinks. Always wanting each child to be perfect and when something seems not right, you freak! Now about our son. Oh my son. Garner is hilarious, the center of attention, all boy, and can make anyone fall in love with him in a moments time. He's full of energy and I'm quite sure there are days his teachers, although they love him, are glad he's going home:)  He keeps us on our toes and as I said before makes us laugh at least 100 times a day.
Chase and I are doing well too. He is looking at a potential promotion with raise that should happen within the next couple of months so I am very proud of him and know he fully deserves it and that all his hardwork is paying off! I am going to back to school. I will be going to Ole Miss-Desoto in January to finally finish college and get my degree. And of course there is nothing better than graduating as a Rebel:) So, I guess that catches us up and hopefully I can get back in the blog groove!