We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. For dinner we went to my parents house, where the food was delicious, and where I had more confirmation that I'm not the only funny looking one in my family. I sure love these guys! (Thanks Felicia for letting me steal this picture, even though I didn't ask)
We played the paper bag game again (you have to learn over and pick up a paper bag with your mouth, then tear off the piece you bit, and you can't touch the ground with your hands or knees or anything), and later that day my back was really sore. I'm too old for that stuff! It was fun spending time with my family, and it was great seeing my grandma and grandpa, who I haven't seen for years.
Then we went to Troys parents for pie, and we mostly just sat around and talked and looked at the ads for Black Friday. It was a wonderful day, and I'm so glad I have so many people to love!
I've had this list on my sidebar, but I decided to compile all my links into one post, and then just link to the post. While browsing the web, I often come across things I'd like to try later, and that I think other people might be interested in. So that's what you'll find in this post. So, if you ever find yourself this bored:See if there's something here that interests you:
I kept hearing about Bountiful Baskets, and this week I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did--look at what we get to eat this week!
In case you can't tell what's in the photo, here's what we got (for $15): Bananas Apples Grapes Pears Oranges Persimmons Corn Celery Lettuce Brussel Sprouts Acorn Squash Potatoes
When you order, you don't get to pick what you get. Everybody gets the same things. I'm not sure about the brussel sprouts, but we'll see. Maybe I can find a good recipe for cooking them. I'd never had persimmons before, and actually didn't even know what they were. But I looked it up online, found out it was a fruit that can be peeled and sliced and eaten like an apple (I thought it was something more like a tomato). I had one for lunch, and it was different, but good.
If you live in one of the areas that does Bountiful Baskets, I'd highly recommend it. You definitely are getting a deal!
Mindy (my sister) took some family pictures of us a few weeks ago, and I wanted to share some. They were all awesome, and I had a really hard time narrowing down which pictures to post. I'd like to post them all, but I can't. So, here are some of my favorites, in no particular order (just the order they loaded on blogger).
Today was my first day on my new adventure that I talked about yesterday. I started with a bowl of steel cut oats that I had cooked overnight in the slow cooker. After I skimmed a layer of what I can only describe as goo off the top, they were delicious. I added a little brown sugar and some chopped pecans. Most of us ate and liked the oatmeal, except Ethan wouldn't even try it. He had some All Bran instead. Tomorrow I'm planning to do pancakes.
Also, on the budgeting/saving money front, I decided to try to take shorter showers. I remember reading somewhere about an actress (can't remember who, at the moment) who said she took five minute showers. At the time, I thought that was ridiculous. No one with long hair can wash and condition their hair, wash their body, and also shave their legs in five minutes. But guess what? I did it in 5 1/2 minutes this morning. Legs shaved and everything.
---------------- Okay, it is now day two, but my keyboard stopped working in the middle of typing my blog post yesterday, so I couldn't finish it. I made pancakes for the rest of the family this morning, but I should have made a double batch because I forgot how much they eat. So they got eaten, but I had leftover oatmeal, and it was still good. And I had so much energy today at the gym--way more than I usually have. I don't know if it was the oatmeal, or the fact that Ethan has been sick and I've not gone to the gym for the last two days (I had to work out at home). Whatever it was, I'll take it, and I hope it continues!
The other day I watched the movie Food, Inc. If you haven't seen it, and you want to be able to keep eating whatever you want, for heaven sakes don't watch it! It will change the way you think. It has actually made me a bit miserable, because I'd love to be able to eat healthy, locally made or grown foods, and it's just such a huge undertaking from where I am right now.
But I decided it doesn't have to be all or nothing. I can start with baby steps and change one thing at a time until eventually we are where I would like to be with what we're eating.
So, I decided to start with meat, since that one is a biggie for me. Both in that we really like to eat meat around here and that where meat comes from is quite possibly one of the most horrifying things in the food industry. We've just made our first order for a quarter of a cow at Utah Natural Meat. This is my first baby step. This is just about all I can talk my husband into at the moment. Eventually I'd like to get all of our meat from local sources, but my chicken and fish will still have to be bought at the grocery store. For now. I have to keep telling myself I'm going in little steps. Otherwise my family (and probably me, too) would rebel.
I'm thinking even though I can't change everything completely at once, I still need to make healthier choices for our food. Even if my food can't be completely locally purchased, it can still be as healthy, organic, and unprocessed as possible. This means a big change in our breakfasts. My boys eat the sugary breakfast cereal nearly every morning. It's quick, cheap and easy, especially since my boys wake up between 6:00 and 6:30 wanting to eat right away, and I am so not a morning person. But I need to quit with the laziness and think about what's best for my kids.
So I need help. I need some good breakfast ideas that are not processed, yucky foods. I already have a recipe for pancakes made from scratch that I will do sometimes. I plan to make the pancake batter the night before so it's all ready to go in the morning. But I need more ideas, and I know they're out there. And another big thing for me is that I don't want to spend a ton of money. Eating healthier is more expensive. For some reason, our country has it backwards and the more unhealthy a food is for you, the cheaper it is, it seems.
Here begins my new adventure of eating better while trying to stay on a budget. Anyone want to join me? Start by watching this:
Also, I'm reading and really enjoying Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and I know there are a ton of other resources out there. It's always more fun and easier to do things when you have other people trying to do the same things you are, so I'm looking for a support system. I'd love to hear from other people who are already eating healthy and local, or from those who, like me, want to start.
(Sorry to any of you who read my blog and also read Apron Girls. I'm cross-posting today)
No, I'm not behind at all. Why do you ask? Just because Ethan's first day of school (and the day this picture was taken) was a couple months ago doesn't mean I'm not right on target with my posting. Ethan started preschool this year. His teachers name is Miss Megan, and he loves it.
We were looking at pictures, and we saw one with Ethan as a baby (his eyes are red in the photo), and I said "that's Ethan", and Kevin said, "Really? I had red eyes when I was puny."
The rest of these are things Ethan said (he's at a good age):
Last night we went to a Bee's game with Geoff, Felicia, and their boys. We love spending time with them, and had a great time. Here are a few pictures:
Kaitlyn started 8th grade this year, which is totally unacceptable, but I can't seem to figure out how to stop time. I'm so thankful for by sweet, beautiful daughter.
Ethan just celebrated his 4th birthday, and we had some family and friends over to help us celebrate.
He wanted a dinosaur theme, and since we waited until the last minute to look for a cake, we couldn't find a dinosaur one, so I had to just buy a regular frosted cake and decorate it with dinosaurs myself.Ethan was really excited about some of his presents. He'd say, "awesome!" when he really liked something. Here's a little dog he got from Grandma Howell. We got little pill-type things that you put in water and they grow into dinosaurs. It was the one activity I did. Here's Allston taking a swing at the pinata. I think it was after this picture that I realized I needed to go to the other side to take pictures so I could get faces. I'm a little slow sometimes.And here's Ethan (he actually went first, before Allston). He's got some good form here. And that's pretty much it. Thanks to our family and friends who came to help us celebrate. We love you!
This is the last blog post of the day, I promise. And then you probably won't hear from me again for a few months. That's how I roll.
Today we went with Geoff, Felicia, their boys, and Danay to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. I can't remember if I've ever been there, but if I had, it's been a long time. The kids really loved it. Too bad it's so far away. There are a ton of pictures here. I just liked them all too much.
Here are my very dangerous children. I think the sign in baby colors really adds to the element of danger. The boys played in the dirt here for awhile. Allston was so funny--he was holding a paintbrush in one hand, and clearing the dirt off the stuff with his other.Thank goodness for Geoff. Who else could I get to break the rules so I can get fun pictures. Although I guess breaking the rules wasn't that scary, since Kaitlyn is holding this dinosaurs hand (you weren't supposed to go off the path, but come on, how fun is that?).
Felicia is good for fun pictures too. I sure love these guys!
I thought this dinosaur was kind of cool looking.
Kaitlyn looks as tall as Geoff here.
Here's a group picture. We should have had someone take it, so we could have gotten everybody, instead of having the men take the pictures. It's impossible to get everybody looking at the camera. This is the best we can do. They were supposed to be looking scared here. I'm not sure if I believe it.
This bear . . . there are just no words.
I love this one of all the kids (except Jake). It's one of my favorites of the day.
Here's Kevin with his favorite dinosaur.
The bones of this dinosaur look really cool. But when we saw the "real thing" outside, we really really disappointed. It could never have picked Geoff's nose. Wooly rhino. Has anyone ever heard of one? I never had before today. You can never accuse any of us of being normal, that's for sure.
There was a grand opening for the new building where Ethan will be going to preschool. They had facepainting. Both of the boys wanted to get batman paint, so they're matching.
Here's Kevin on his first day of second grade:
And Ethan felt left out, so I took his picture too.
I know this is a lot of blog posts in one day, but I'm so far behind, and I figured since I was going to sit down and do one, I might as well do them all. Our last stop was Crazy Horse memorial. I really liked this place, maybe even more than Mt. Rushmore. It was cool, but I wish we could have gone closer to the actual memorial. Here are some pictures:
We played the paper bag game again (you have to learn over and pick up a paper bag with your mouth, then tear off the piece you bit, and you can't touch the ground with your hands or knees or anything), and later that day my back was really sore. I'm too old for that stuff! It was fun spending time with my family, and it was great seeing my grandma and grandpa, who I haven't seen for years.
