Penelope

While eating sushi for lunch on Saturday, Penelope said, "Good Lord, I love sushi!"

She loves getting ready for soccer too. Her outfit choice: Alexander's baseball jersey, John Paul's old soccer cleats, socks (that just happened to match!) and underwear.  See what's missing? :) 

Mara--meal plans coming~I kinda promise!

Not Quite As I Planned

So, I thought I'd be able to be a great mom, fantastic wife, A+ student, volunteer extraordinaire, an everyday blogger, and a few other daily/weekly task master however it just doesn't look like all that is going to be possible...DUH!  I'm just a bit crazy sometimes :)  I thought I'd jump on here and let you know how the first week of classes has gone for me--fantastic!  I'm excited for my classes this semester--Public Speaking and Personal and Community Wellness.  I'm getting in shape this semester! Last week I completed 5 days of working out and I've already tackled today's workout.  Public Speaking, well, that's a bit challenging but I appreciate the importance of it and how I can definitely benefit from the course.
Enough about me.  The kids completed their first full week of school last week too.  Penelope did her 2 days, one of which was all day.  She has asked daily to go to school despite being told she only goes 2 days a week.  The boys have some great teachers and are off to another wonderful year.  Alexander has already done some research and completed a report on the subject of himself.  John Paul has brought home some papers covering various reviews of last year's work.  I love his handwriting and listening to him read.  The boys are having fun competitions each evening as we review math facts. And, Stella is crawling! Eight months old and crawling! No teeth, no rolling over, CRAWLING!
Check a few of these out
Get some quick extra nutrients in your diet at Green Thickies
Was so excited for her baby announcement.
I'm excited to check out this site with the kids.  Did you know PBS Kids and Whole Foods have teamed up to create Fantastic Organic?
Have a beautiful week! :)

80th Anniversary of Lego

It's the 80th anniversary of Lego!  What have you created lately? Over the weekend, Alexander created a board game using his bricks and guys.  We've enjoyed playing it a couple of times.  John Paul watched a tow truck load up a car on Friday and then recreated the tow truck using his Legos.  Legos truly are endless possibilities for imaginative play and creation.  Here's a short video about the history of Lego.

During the Blog Vacation

Just some of what we did during my blog vacation in no particular order...

Despite the crazy drought and heat, we have had a pretty good garden this summer.  It was our first time to grow okra.  This is a picture of the okra bloom. It's a beautiful flower that lasts for a vary short time.

The kids had fun creating their very own bows and arrows.  And then shooting them off was even more fun!

Our trip to Chicago...Jaime and I became god parents again.  This is my teeny tiny niece, Hailey.

Chicago 'burbs cousins

Chicago cousins

Auntie time.  Can't wait to meet the newest cousin...arriving in January!

Curiosity

Exploring Curiosity

After watching a video of Curiosity, Alexander went and built his own out of Legos :)

Back Again :)

Hi everyone...if anyone is still around after my month long break.  School and life just got busy there for a little while.  I'm hoping that with this upcoming semester I can keep up here a least a couple of times a week. My family and I went on a fantastic vacation to Chicago.  Jaime and I both have sisters that live in Chicago and the suburbs so it was great getting to see both sides of the family for the first time in 2 years!  We went to the beach, the Children's Museum, and other fun Chicago things.  If you've never been there, we highly recommend visiting. :)
The start of school is quickly approaching!  The 3 older kiddos start next week.  It'll be Penelope's first year of preschool and she is more than ready and extremely excited.  Alexander starts 4th grade and John Paul begins 1st grade.  I start back on the 20th and will be taking 2 courses this semester.
Pray for rain and enjoy these last days of summer!

Weekly Menu

Saturday--Ribs, salad, potatoes
Sunday--caponata sandwiches
Monday--spaghetti with yellow squash and ground beef in the sauce
Tuesday--pulled pork, salad, golden melon, fresh pineapple
Wednesday--hamburgers with bacon and avocados, fresh fruit, salad, beans
Thursday--Mexican Quinoa Enchilada Salad  the spin I did on it turned out to be quinoa, black beans, enchilada sauce, onion, and frozen sweet corn. We all loved it! I threw it together in about 15 minutes and was nervous about the fam liking it.  They devoured it!
Friday--chicken taco pizzas, salad

7 Quick Takes

{1} This crazy heat is sapping all my energy and desire to do anything.  I've taken the kids to the pool a handful of times this week.  I'm thankful for my air conditioning.  I'm praying for the people fighting the Colorado fires and for all those affected by the fires.
{2} Despite my lack of energy and desire, I had fun taking my kiddos to our church's Little Angel program several mornings this week.  Little Angels is like VBS for the younger ages.  My friend who organized and led it this year did a FABULOUS job!  And, I got to meet some new moms and make some new friends :)
{3} I also got outside to water the garden a couple of times.  My efforts in the heat have been rewarded!  I harvested some lovely tomatoes :)  This is the first lemon cherry tomato we picked a week or so ago.

{4} So pretty!

{5}  The best breakfast (when making a smoothie will wake everyone up) when it's hotter than Hades

Toast with avocado smashed on top and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Also, tomato slices on top makes it yummy too.
{6} Another fun baseball season has come to an end...thankful we don't have any games in this crazy heat!

{7} Watching this relationship grow has beautiful and frustrating at the same time.  He loves her to the moon and back...which means he wants to play with her ALL THE TIME (that means he likes to wake her up!), he wants to carry her around, he wants her to wrestle with him.

Building Challenge (#6)

Well, how did you enjoy last week's challenge?  My boys had great fun with the Breakfast challenge.  John Paul constructed an entire breakfast scene in a cafe!  His scene had people eating and a table with pancakes.   Pics to come when I get them off of the camera...hopefully soon!  Alexander decided to build a coffee mug and a box of cereal--but, they're not done yet because he spent more time constructing his robotic mini me complete with a remote control.  Ditto the picture info above.  Penelope just wanted to build planes.  And again, that's okay.
So, for this week's challenge...MUSIC.
Have fun with it and be creative.  Remember, build with whatever you have...Legos, blocks, stack cereal and tissue boxes, whatever you have, just get building! :)
UPDATED with Pictures

Weekly Menu

I've missed this weekly menu posting.  Have you?  Well, in the hopes of greater organization and time management, I'm bringing it back :)  Though, for the summer, I'm not sure what day of the week it'll show up.  I have a harder time planning too far ahead because I like to see what all the fresh local foods are at the farmers' markets and Whole Foods.  Those of you who participate in CSA, do you know ahead of time what you'll get?  Do you make a menu after receiving your CSA?
Sunday--leftovers (because it's the hottest day yet this year and I have ZERO desire to cook) and salad
Monday--a spin on this recipe. I'll toss quinoa, ground beef, onion, green chilies, S&P, black beans, cilantro, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, and bell peppers (chopped) all together for what I'll dub Mexican Quinoa Salad
Tuesday--BBQ chicken pizzas--BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, red onions, cheddar cheese, jalapenos.  and a green salad
Wednesday--Prosciutto, Asparagus Pasta--adjusted to be dairy and gluten free. No cream or cheese added, will toss with some meyer lemon olive oil
Thursday--Sausage and Polenta casserole...I made this a few weeks ago and we all loved it!  It's one from the Everyday Food Magazine.
Friday--Grilled Pork chops with garlic honey mustard, Sweet potatoes, and a green salad
Just a note--I made this awesome pizza with our fresh picked blackberries last week when Grammy and Papi were here. You've GOT to try it! I made ours without the chicken and it was still super delicious!
Ugg, I can't figure out why the text is all highlighting. Do you know why???

Pretty, Happy Funny, Real

{Pretty}

We went black and blueberry picking this week with Grammy and Papi.  It was a great morning to go for blueberries. The plants were dripping with clusters of blueberries. We got a couple of pounds of sweet blackberries, but really had to work for them.

And I got this pretty cool shot too

{Happy}

Our garden is exploding. I'm so happy to be able to harvest food (soon) from our own garden.  I love that we can grow our own food.  So far this summer we've only had some various herbs from it, but we've got tomatoes, zucchini, acorn squash, butternut squash, okra, and a variety of peppers growing too.

{Funny}

Can you hear the squeal of excitement as Stella has for the most part mastered sitting up?

{Real}

Most of my pictures of my crazy energetic boy, John Paul, are looking like this

He's in constant motion! Whether it be on the soccer field, at the table, or just being--he's ALWAYS moving and usually making noise too!

Building Challenge (#5)

Well, better late than never :)  Last week's challenge was Aquarium.  Unfortunately my kids didn't get to it for a few reasons...the biggest one being Grammie and Papi have been in town!  Always a fun and special time.  Another reason was that Alexander received some new Legos for his birthday and spent most of his time building and rebuilding these new sets.  Anyway, the important part was that they spent some time being creative.
This week's challenge is theme is BREAKFAST.  This should be fun :)

Almond Butter Strawberry Waffle Sandwich

Mmm, this sandwich is so yummy and perfectly filling.  It makes a great breakfast, snack, or dessert.

This sandwich came about out of my desire to finish off the waffles, a few spare strawberries, and a need for protein.  I liked it so much that I had to make it again...but I used up the last of the waffles.  I did, however, have some GF bread and GF cinnamon raisin bagels.  It still tasted fabulous!  So, you've just got to try it!  Breakfast is such an important meal and should be treated as such.  Eating protein (the almond butter) in the morning will help energize you as well as help you to feel full longer.  The strawberry provides some sweetness as well as a small amount of fiber.  This is sort of like a grown up PB&J...and kids love it too :)

Ingredients
waffle (can be dairy free and gluten free)
almond butter--1-2 tablespoons
2 strawberries, sliced
cinnamon
honey--a teaspoon or so, optional
Directions
Heat or toast waffle (or bread or bagel).  Spread the honey on the waffle then spread the almond butter over the honey.  Top the almond butter with the strawberry slices and sprinkle with cinnamon.  These are great open faced or topped with another waffle.
Serves 1
Enjoy!

NINE Years old

Oh My Goodness!!! I have a NINE year old now! :)  Alexander is 9 today :)

Happy birthday big buddy!

Small Update to the Blog

Check it out...I figured out a little something to help update this blog...you can now sign up on the right hand side top of the column to have my posts sent directly to your inbox :)

7 Quick Takes

{1}
Pretty excited and proud of myself today.  I took another Psych test for my class and only missed one question.  Great start, still going :)
{2}
I appreciate my education, but wonder why when I was in the thick of it before that I didn't appreciate and enjoy it as much as I do now.  Maybe it's because I see where I'm going and have a true passion for it.  Not that I was missing that before, just that I have a greater passion now...and maturity.
{3}
Speaking of passion and maturity...check out this amazing 9 year old girl, Martha, and her enthusiasm for health and positive change--not just for herself and those close to her, but for others as well.  Here's a great article about her and some of what she's done.  Beautifully amazing!
{4}
A favorite breakfast, snack, and dessert this week:

more on this simple quick yummy almond butter strawberry waffle sandwich next week.  But in case you just can't wait because my awesome photography skills have you hooked, I think that by the name of it, you'll be able to just about recreate it. :)
{5}
We have been eating copious amounts of fresh fruit.  As much as I dislike the heat, I LOVE summer for all the delicious fresh fruit.
{6}
Looking forward to visiting one of the local u-pick farms this coming week.  Very excited for the fresh blackberries.
{7}
Fresh foods...next week Stella turns 6 months...might start sharing some food with her...first up, avocado...then sweet potatoes.

Check out other 7 Quick Takes and more here.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Pretty Happy Funny Real

This week I thought I'd partake in the phfr linky party over at Like Mother, Like Daughter.  I've enjoyed reading the posts for phfr (as well as all the other posts) over at House Unseen {Life Unscripted}.  So....

{Pretty}

Stella--such personality! She's teething and drooling, laughs and smiles, sparkling eyes and big girly head bands. 

{Happy}

This stuff is seriously good!  Like a gluten and dairy free CRUNCH bar but so much BETTER!!! 

{Funny}

Both boys have been writing notes to me and others.  This is a recent one that John Paul wanted to leave on his kindergarten teacher's desk for her to see on the first day of school.  The truly funny one I only have a phone picture of and it's one by Alexander who was having a rough day and said he'd be staying in the office closet (where all the Legos are stored) until his birthday and he demanded room service.  Ha! I couldn't contain my laughter.  He delivered it to me as a paper airplane flown across the room just before he went back up stairs to said office closet.

{Real}

I tried to get a picture of all 4 kids the other day.  Well, you know how these things go! :)
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