Food, Sewing and Crafts

Weekend Review- Monday creeps up on us so very fast! We are preparing a delish dinner of Cauliflower/Broccoli Curry Soup with some Garlic Bread and a big salad- yumm! This is our second cauliflower dish this week as our co-op basket came with a head last week and one this week as well. Last week we did Indian Cauliflower over Rice with Buttered Pea's and Carrots:

Our other successful meal of the week was some cheese tortellini with onions, tomato and a creamy sauce and of course some garlic bread and salad.

Our weekly co-op basket of wonderful fruits and veggies this week:

My daughter and I found a simple flower sewing tutorial on line and made some simple flowers with bobby pin backs for her hair- and I've stolen them one day to wear too :)

Then my daughter and I spent some time taking an old dress, planning out a long skirt for her and taking an old t-shirt and refashioning it to a skirt as well.

 

Then after a nice family breakfast of french toast and some family 'work' (chores) of room cleaning and taking care of all of the animals we spent some time crafting...melted crayons into Valentines!

And my son had fun with a bunch of crafting scissors we found making hearts.
It was a great weekend spent together along with a fun movie night of 'Real Steel'- awesome our son LOVED it! And a morning basketball game, can't wait for next weekend, until then, Hello Monday!

Basketball, Meals & Family Work

An exciting weekend as the kids both played in their first basketball game. Its the first time they've played basketball- they each did really great considering there was only one practice before the first game! Proud that they tried their best with something new and are both excited to learn more.

 And my wonderful hubbie did great coaching his first game with the kinder-1st grade team!

A few weekend meals: as we continue on our meat-less meal journey- We had a pasta dish with sauteed mushrooms and broccoli with buttered brussel sprouts on the side.

 This dish was quick easy and filling- barley, black eyed pea's and veggies with some multi grain bread loaf on the side.

 And my son's lunch he wanted to show off for school- His sandwich roll with avocado, cucumber, spinach and olives then he has an orange, sunflower seeds and a natural fruit leather with some crackers on the side :)

We also had a great weekend trying something new- We are working towards 'working' more as a family and doing 'family' chores. So besides all of us getting in the kitchen and cooking up some pancakes together, sitting down eating together we all went into my son's room first, helping him clean, communicating together, asking questions on where belongings were stored...then moved onto my daughters room again cleaning together, all of us putting her things away, working together to make her bed and tidy up. After rooms were done we all went and took care of our animals- rabbits, guinea pigs and the dogs- feeding, cleaning cages, watering- it was a nice experience- took us less time- we worked well together, we spent time together, and we got things done faster. Great family teamwork! It was a wonderful weekend!

The 4-H Show Weekend

Thank goodness today is a holiday and we all get to rest up after such a long fun weekend! It was all about 4-H this weekend. Our daughter showed her rabbits for the first time and also her cavies, one of which has been shown the other had not yet. She had a great time. She really works so hard and we couldn't be more proud of her! She grows so much each time we see her show, as a person, in confidence and in knowledge.

Weekend pictures:

Hectic as all get out!

This week has been full of ups and downs and not so much sleep with a 6yr old having nightmares to tons of overtime at work, 4-H practice, starting up coaching kindergarten-1st grade basketball- things have just been hectic. The weekend is bringing big happenings with our daughter going to her first smallstock show of the year for 4-H, she's entering two rabbits and two cavies and is extremely excited.

She also recently got a baby girl bunny- "Kiwi" who is a Black Satin. We've been playing around with her hair and new hair ribbons so she can figure out what hair-do she wants for her show as well.

Thankfully someone up 'there' knew I needed a break because I got a morning cancellation for work and am able to breathe until lunch time! Coffee and the computer and then some de-stress with baking- nothing big just some easy muffins- blueberry for my boy and chocolate chip for my girl.

1 Month Meatless - DONE and still going strong...

Wow has our family been changing our diet! For the past month our family has made all meatless meals with the exception of having a slice of ham on Christmas. It has been a great experience. Our goal was to eat a more plant-based diet. We are not trying to be 'vegetarians' although we have nothing against it- we will eat meat at times like once a month we are just attempting to eat whole foods, natural foods and stay away from processed foods or foods that have been contaminated with pesticides or antibiotics or other things our bodies just shouldn't have in them.

There are so many benefits we have seen just over a month-
My husband and I cook dinner every night from scratch- and we enjoy it, spending time together in the kitchen alongside each other.
Our children are trying new foods, new dishes and appreciating good clean food.
We feel better! We feel full and not bloated. We feel energized not slumpy. My husband has even lost weight.

As for our picky eater daughter, she has done well. Many things she still doesn't like and won't try but she is adapting well to eating more fruits and veggies and going meatless and finding substitutes.

Two meals from last week: Mushroom and Barley Soup with Leeks and Carrots and a side salad with herb bread. Then Butternut Squash, Black Bean and Spinach Lasagna with salad. Both were amazing! A labor of love for the Lasagna truly as I worked late and my husband slaved for over 3 hours, prepping, cooking and baking that sucker! :) Well worth it!

Daughters Decor, Crafts and Dinner

The kids are very proud of doing 4-H. Our son is too little to actually compete but he takes part none the less and has a participation award from fair last year and has learned alongside his sister about animals as well. We finally got the hardwood floors done in her room- yay for hubbie. So, yesterday we began getting a few things set up....here's here 4-H corner in progress...

She helped put together a few framed pics for her and her brother.

And she also keeps a scrapbook of additional pics her entry numbers, show flyers..so we added a few new pages and are awaiting the rest of the pictures to be mailed.

Just some painting for craft time- I made out on after Christmas sales at Micheals with these cute bird houses for .40 cents each then letters/numbers to paint for .50 cents each! 

To top it all off, dinner was another home run- Stuffed Mushrooms and Corn Chowder- thanks to hubbie, the cook of this wonderful meal!

And that was our stay-at-home, New Years Day-off!

New Years Sushi

New Years is a family event - its not where the hubbie and I get a babysitter and go out and party- we enjoy spending the time with our kids. Last year we went to the movie theater and bought sparklers to do at home. This year we did some crafts and science experiments....my son made stink bombs with hubbie while my daughter painted a tiny porcelain tea set then they both 'grew' marbles. It was fun.

My daughter and I ran to the craft store to pick up some more ribbon and get some new bows ready for her 4-H competition in a few weeks. 

For dinner we made Veggie Sushi and Organic Miso Soup - so YUMM.

This last week while the kids have been on their first week of vaca we made home made pizza's and took a trip to the library.

This is what hubbie and I are reading....

Our 6th grade daughter is extremely into American Girl and started reading the 'Molly' Series:

And then what our 1st grade boy is reading this week...

New Years comes every year with people making resolutions. This last year I look back and think 'we are doing pretty good'. We work hard, play hard, spend quality time with our children and have grown even closer as a family. What more could we want. So, I believe for this year we need to keep growing in the same direction- to make our house a home, learn new things as a family, continue to spend that quality time together that will make those lasting wonderful memories forever. At the end of your life will you look back and be so proud that you put so many hours in at work or will you be happy that you spent time with your family and the ones who matter most to you. That is our families priority- each other.                              HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!