Friday's Favorites

1. This cute vinyl wallet ...perfect for days at the pool and water park. I love that I can have my keys and our season passes all in the same place. It's waterproof and will allow me to keep my regular wallet at home or in my car so that I don't worry about someone walking off with my credit cards or id. This has my spare key on it and will stay in my beach bag for the days we head to the water.

2. My recipe binder. A couple of months ago I mentioned a favorite recipe site called Relish. I have basically created a binder full of all of our favorite relish recipes, along with some of our other favorites. I have it organized by types of food, such as: poultry, seafood, beef, etc.....and it saves me so much time each week when I plan our weekly dinner menu. Each recipe is in a clear protective sleeve so that if it gets dirty while I'm cooking, I can just wipe it down and return it to the binder when I'm finished.

3. Rosemary is probably my new favorite fresh herb. I've made lots of things with it lately and I just really love the taste. Here is one of my favorite new dishes. It's super easy and so yummy!

Buttermilk and Rosemary Chicken Breasts

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

coarse salt and pepper to taste

In a large ziplock bag, combine the buttermilk, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Add chicken to the marinade, turning to coat. Marinate all day. Heat grill to medium. Lift chicken from marinade, shaking off excess; discard marinade. Grill for 5-8 minutes per side (depending on how thick the chicken is)

It is so, so good!!

4. The boys playing so hard that they both fall asleep on the way home and I get a nice and peaceful ride. Ahhhh......

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Hello Summer

Yesterday we went here with Laurie and her boys....kind of as a way to celebrate school being out. It was the first time any of us had been there and the boys all loved it. Laurie and I loved that we could sit in the middle area and still see them, instead of constantly having to run around and look for them. The bounce houses were unique and it just had a really comfortable feel.

Hudson and Brady. Hard to believe that they have been "friends" since before they could even walk or talk. Seems like just yesterday.Our little guys were so cute! They spent lots of time at this air hockey table and did quite well.

We played so hard that someone was tuckered out and fell asleep on the chair. Crazy that my son, who NEVER naps, took a decent nap yesterday and my monkey that still takes a 2-3 hour nap decided that he didn't need one yesterday. (sigh)

Speaking of monkey.....while I was on the phone with Laurie and making plans for our day, I went into the study for just a few minutes. I finished the phone call and came back to find someone with a really guilty look on his face. He pointed to the floor and there I found a heaping pile of baking soda from an almost full box. He helped himself in the fridge and felt the urge to pour it out on the carpet. I really thought by age 3 we would be outgrowing these situations. Oh, fun times for me!

The now empty box.

Strategically placed right between my two couches.

My neighbor and I decided to buy tickets for the movies this summer . Both of us realized that our younger kids won't sit through a movie so each week we plan to take turns- one week I'll take the older boys while she keeps Cooper and her daughter and then next week she will take the older boys while I watch the younger ones. She had something come up at the last minute today and couldn't participate. I decided to get brave and take both of mine to see what would happen. I must have been feeling pretty confident or something this morning.

Today's feature was Space Chimps- a show that none of us have seen so I was hopeful that this would be a success. Somewhere in the communication lines Cooper must have been confused because after about 5 minutes he started asking where the zebras and lions were at. I told him on the way over that we were watching a movie about monkeys.....and I assume that his little mind told him we were going to see a whole host of live animals???? Once the kid packs (small popcorn, fruit snack, and drink) were consumed it was my full time mission to entertain monkey boy. Hudson was having a grand ole' time and I didn't hear a peep out of him the entire 81 minutes. ( I mean, who's counting?) I didn't want to yank them and head back home (like I had threatened before we got there) because he was enjoying the movie. So, I did everything but juggle our popcorn buckets in order to keep Cooper happy. So....it was for sure an experience and one that I'd like to not visit again until at least next summer, when hopefully they will both sit through a movie. In the meantime, I'll swap weeks with my neighbor or try to get someone to watch Cooper for me. The movie theater is one place I'd rather not be outnumbered at.

After lunch we pulled out the sprinklers because the boys were dying to get them out.

Most of the time, my kids looked like this....with their hands over their faces and complaining that water was getting into their faces. I tried to explain to them that that is part of the sprinkler process but they didn't buy it. They had more fun spraying my car instead.

One summer day down and many more to go!!

GoodBye Kindergarten

Tomorrow is Hudson's last day of kindergarten. He had his graduation today and it was really sweet. I managed to only escort him to his room this morning before the tears started pouring. I was already crying on my way to the cafeteria....before the thing even started! This year has flown by and Hudson has blossomed before my very eyes. He has changed and matured so much this school year.

Before we left for the ceremony.

With GrammyLuckily for me, we had some funny moments like this that somewhat took my mind off of what was going on. Hudson is so much like me in the sense that he doesn't like a ton of attention on him. Even though he was on stage with 40+ kids, he still felt nervous up there. I honestly can't say that I blame him. Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm not an "eyes on me" kind of person.

The kids sang some really sweet songs and a few that were funny too. Once the program got going, Hudson started to sing and do the hand motions. He was super cute!

Mrs. P handing him the diploma.

We are so proud of you Hudson and all the progress you have made this year. You are an incredibly smart boy and we can't wait to see where God takes you!

A Productive Weekend

A few years ago, I went on a scrapbooking weekend with my college friends. On that trip, I made an "ABC" scrapbook for Hudson since his 3rd birthday was quickly approaching.

He has LOVED this book for the last few years and lately Cooper has shown interest in it as well. He would bring it to us and look through the pages and say "is that me?" We realized that Cooper wanted and needed an ABC book of his own. So, my sweet husband sent me away this weekend with one mission: to complete a book for Cooper. So, I headed out to seclusion for the weekend and came home with an almost finished book for Cooper. (I had one letter that I couldn't find stickers for so I'll finish that this week) Cooper has been so excited ever since and it's been so sweet to watch him look through it. I'm so, so glad I took the time to make it for him.

I'm really thankful for Jason......who encouraged me to do this and took care of the boys this weekend while I was gone. Thanks honey! My mom also did me a huge favor and came over around lunch time on Friday so that I could get a head start and leave a little early. I'm so blessed that my mom is close by and that she offers to help me out at times like this. The boys love seeing her and spending time with her. Not to mention, she is so great about making dinner for the boys. Unfortunately she knows that most times I will have a menu set out for her and she doesn't complain one bit. I have everything ready for her and she makes sure that these men are fed.

I had the instructions and ingredients laid out for her. I have some soy and ginger flank steak marinating in a baggie and everything else for the Asian vegetables. Thanks mom for always taking the time to cook our meals while I'm gone!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Getting Creative

When I first started changing our eating habits I knew it might be a long road and I realized that the transition might be hard for the boys- especially Hudson. I read this book and was so inspired! I realized that I could get creative with food, still keep nutrition in mind, and not make the boys feel that they were missing out on everything fun. For example, instead of buying store-bought popsicles in the summer....we make our own fresh fruit smoothies or purchase organic lemonade and pour that into popsicle molds. They still get the "popsicle" experience without all the extra sugars and yucky ingredients. I recently discovered this Pizza Bagel Bites recipe and it's been a huge hit around here. It's so easy to make and the best part is that you make them ahead of time and pull them out of the freezer when you need them. When compared to the store bought pizza rolls you will see that they are MUCH healthier for your kids.

Pizza Bagel Bites

12 miniature whole wheat bagels, cut in half

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup pepperoni slices (I cut these into fourths)

1 1/4 cups pizza sauce

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon dried oregano

(you can make these as healthy as you want by purchasing natural/organic ingredients)

Lay bagels out on a cookie sheet. In a medium bowl, combine the cheese, pepperoni, pizza sauce, and spices. Stir. Top each bagel half with about 2 teaspoons of the mixture, make sure not to overfill. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer and flash freeze for about 30 minutes or until the top is firm. Transfer them to a large freezer safe zip lock bag. Write "cook on 350 for 20-25 minutes) on the baggie. Place bag in freezer.

It's that easy! Now you have miniature pizzas in your freezer for those nights you don't want to cook or for an easy lunch. It will also hopefully keep you from grabbing food from a fast food place.

Probably the most important thing I realized when making changes is that if I don't have it in the house, then I can't be the bad guy. If my kids see a 2-liter bottle of Sprite in the refrigerator, they may ask for some. If they do, I will probably say no and they might get upset. That puts me in the position to be the bad guy. Why would I do that to myself? Same thing for food- if they open the pantry door to see it stocked with candy, cookies and treats ....they are more than likely going to want some. If it's there, I'm torn with the decision of should they eat it (and if it's there then I will probably eat it) so I avoid that altogether. If it's not in the house then I'm off the hook. So, if you are thinking about making some changes my first suggestion would be to STOP BUYING the stuff you don't want them to eat. It's that simple. Again, your family will probably have enough parties and celebrations to fulfil the sweet tooth they occasionally get. Next, you can get creative with food and hopefully your kids won't feel they are doing without.

Do you have any creative food ideas to share?

More Carrots Please!!

We actually heard those words last night at the dinner table. When I think about how far our family has come the last 2 + years, I'm so proud of the progress that has been made. To clarify, we have never been horrible eaters but we were not as diligent as we are these days. When Hudson was first born I was super picky about what he ate. I made wonderful homemade baby food for him and the first 18 months or so of his life, he ate great. Then the picky toddler stage started and I gave in to many things and we ended up with a kid that loved nothing more than chicken nuggets and fish sticks. I always had a knot in my stomach when I would reflect on what he was eating but I found it hard to get him to try new things. Luckily he would eat most fruits but veggies were another story. So I found myself, like most moms, giving in and lowering my expectations for his diet. One day, it seemed that the light bulb came on and I realized that our family would need to make some big changes in order to get my family to eat the way I envisioned. Thankfully, these changes were made around the time Cooper joined our family and he is a great eater because it's really all he's ever known. Let me say that these changes did not take place overnight. We had many nights where tears were shed over the 3 green beans that had not been touched. We don't force our kids to clean their plates but we do ask them to try new things. Hudson has found that he likes many foods that he had never even tried. Who knew that a breakfast burrito (with just eggs and tortilla) could be so yummy? To this day, he is still somewhat picky and will investigate everything on his plate. We often hear things like "what's that red thing?" or "I don't want that" but he has improved SO much lately. One thing I am adament about is that our kids eat what we eat. I don't make special meals just for them (unless there is a rare occasion that I make something really spicy that I know they won't eat) and they know that if they don't eat dinner then they don't get anything else. They have learned to enjoy meals such as pot roast with veggies, tilapia, meatloaf, baked cod, flank steak, etc....... The days of chicken nuggets and fish sticks are over for us. We have a few in our freezer but it's not the bulk of what they eat anymore.

I've had people ask me what we eat and what changes we have made. I'm sure I'll leave something out but here is what I can think of off the top of my head:

1. We try to eat organic whenever we can. This means meat, dairy, produce.....

2. Increase our fresh produce intake....we ditch the canned fruits and veggies (will eat some frozen)

3. Limit processed foods. We rarely eat "boxed" meals but occasionally my kids will eat some mac and cheese for lunch or have some crackers with their sandwiches.

4. We no longer eat foods that contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. This is a HUGE undertaking. HFCS is in just about everything and it takes some time and attention to do this. Every once in a while I will still see this on a label in our house - it's something that I'm constantly having to look out for. It's frustrating that I'm forced to buy the $8 Pure Maple Syrup instead of the $2 Aunt Jemima...but when I compare the ingredients it's a clear decision for me.

5. We drink mostly water and very rarely have juice. I'm not saying that juice is necessarily bad (in limited amounts) - I just prefer to give my kids a fresh piece of fruit and have them wash it down with water. They get way more fiber and nutrients from that versus the juice.

6. Sweets and desserts are few and far between around here. Don't feel bad for my kids......they get their share of yummy treats and snacks. It just seems that between all the birthday parties and celebrations we attend, our kids get their fair share of cake without having it around here too.

Is our family perfect? No. Do we eat bad at times? Sure. We have our occasional Chick-fil-A run or pizza night from Mr. Jims. This post isn't to paint the picture that we do this perfectly or that we do it every single time. Our goal is to provide the best nutrition for our kids and to educate them along the way. I know that I've got a handful of years where I have control of what my kids put in their mouths. I can only hope that once they are older that they will make good choices and remember what we have taught them. I am constantly researching and reading about this topic. I know that I still have a TON to learn in this area. Do you have any good tips on feeding your kids or getting them to be healthy eaters?

Friday's Favorites

I don't have a ton of things to list today.....in fact one thing I really wanted to post about isn't here yet so I'll have to include that one on another day.

1. My good friend, Laurie, introduced me to these healthy snacks. They are only 100 calories, full of fiber, vitamins/minerals, and don't contain a ton of "extras" or yucky ingredients. I found them in the freezer section (located next to the organic/natural products) at my local Target and Tom Thumb. They are definitely worth the money!

2. This pineapple slicer from Crate and Barrel is a MUST if you love fresh pineapple. I recently got this and have only used it once but it did not disappoint!

3. For some reason, I LOVE to wear dresses right now. I love the comfort they offer and the endless possibilities for accessories.

4. Some of my favorite friends! We had a girl's night last night and spent 4 hours eating and catching up. As usual, we had a TON of great laughs!

Happy Friday everyone!