spring break in our rear view mirror

We all survived spring break. It was a pretty low key non-event around here. But we managed to squeeze in a little fun. : )

My girl turned 18. She had a small get together with her besties.

I made cupcakes. And there was no licking involved on my part. For the first time. Ever. And I didn’t eat one either. These aren’t the prettiest cupcakes but they are a recipe of my mom’s that this bunch seems to enjoy. So instead of a bundt cake, I made cupcakes. And I sent the leftovers home with everybody so they weren’t staring at me. Crisis averted. : )

One of the girls made her this pretty bookmark. This girl is a reader herself so it makes me smile that she gave my girl a bookmark for her birthday. It’s very pretty. Good job!

She could use it in Pride and Prejudice. She was having to read that for school. And this sort of book is not her thing really. (even though she finished reading it last night and ended up liking the ending, so it’s all good) But the girls also gave her this…

…which I think is a hoot. The light is awful because the flash is so obnoxious that I shot a lot of pics without it. : / But the book on the left is P&P and the book on the right is P&P and Zombies. Cracked us up! A fun little gift while she was trudging her way through the real thing. : )

They also did some things you can do now that you’re 18 kinda stuff. One of the things they did was a mock-wedding. This is the ‘bouquet’ being tossed. The girls made tissue paper flowers for fun and used these in their ‘wedding’. It was a hoot!

The party was fun. She had a great time getting together with the girls and I had fun planning it and listening to them laugh. : )

Also during spring break, my girl went for her driving test. Well, nerves got the best of her and she drove into a parking lot instead of making a right turn. And got so flustered, she didn’t do well on the rest of the test. She did not pass. (she went again a few days later and passed with flying colors, justsoyaknow) She was crushed and a little embarrassed but handled the situation with grace. I was thankful for her attitude and it was a learning time for her…even though she was disappointed at the time.

We drove to a podunk town near us to order her a class ring. It is one of the things about school she was missing and really wanted one. So we found a company that could make that happen even though she home schools. So that was a fun little outing.

On a funny note…we have had trouble with our potty flapper for ages. I can’t tell you how many we’ve gone through. But his time the hubs came home with something different.

Isn’t it cute? It’s kinda like being at a bed and breakfast every time I flush. Or not. ; )

My garden seems to be taking off. I have baby strawberries.

And the kale is getting bigger. And everything is really doing well and growing. And the squirrels are doing their best to dig it all up. Will be making a fence’y kinda deal pronto!

I had to take the cat to the vet Monday. She had a weird tummy. Come to find out she had lost THREE POUNDS. Gah. So the vet did a bunch of blood work on her and she’s got high thyroid. So we’re doing meds for that. She’s acting better but not eating as much now. I may end up trying to find something herbal for her if she doesn’t start eating soon. She is on antibiotics also which can cause her not to want to eat. The thyroid med doesn’t taste bad and it’s not hard to get it down her. But the antibiotic tastes bitter and she foams at the mouth with every dose. Which is gross, in case you didn’t know. ha. So it will be a long week or so til that’s over. Ugh. Poor kitty. Aaaand in a strange move I still don’t understand, she slug slobber onto my lip last night. Poor me. : p

Well I think that about covers all the major activities of spring break and beyond. Hope you are all doing well, my friends. : )

oatmeal chia breakfast

I have seen variations of what I’m about to show you all over the internet and on Pinterest. But I tweaked and changed and lowered the sugar (to zero) and I think it’s just about my favorite thing ever.

Are you ready?

(pretend I am showing you oatmeal, chia seeds, stevia, cocoa powder and almond milk)

(I totally forgot that until I was loading the pics and I deemed it too late since I didn’t want to start the process all over. Forgive me.)

Ok…back to the recipe…you start with 1/3 of a cup of old fashioned oatmeal…not the quick 5 minute stuff.

And then add about 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder.

And 1/8 of a teaspoon of stevia.

This is the kind of stevia I’m using right now.

And stir it all around til it looks sort of combined.

Then add 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened almond milk. (or the milk of your choice)

And 2 tablespoons of chia seeds. (follow the link and go read about this little super food dynamo!)

And stir it all up. Also add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir that in too. I forgot to picture it. Pioneer Woman I am not.

That spoon is good for licking right about this point. Just sayin’. : ) And the bowl now goes in the frig for 15 to 30 minutes. I usually grab it closer to 15 minutes and everything is ok.

While the chia seeds work their magic and soak up some of the chocolate milk, it’s time to make the topping.

The cast of characters…cocoa powder…I buy mine at the health food store…it is dutch process and I think it dissolves easier, vanilla extract, a riper banana (or baby food banana if you don’t have a real banana on hand), flax oil, stevia and cottage cheese. Pretend my cottage cheese is organic..it usually is.

Anyway, combine 1 tablespoon of the flax oil with about a 1/4 of a cup of the cottage cheese in a bullet style blender. Also add about 1/2 the jar of baby food banana, or about half a banana, 1/8 teaspoon of stevia, 2 teaspoons cocoa and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Put the spurs to it!

Basically what you’ve got now is something that tastes exactly like chocolate pudding, but it’s super healthy!

Pull out your oatmeal concoction when you deem it settled enough. It will look sort of crusted over on the top. I always stir it some to mix it well and give the chia something else to soak up if they still want to.

Pour the pudding on top. And enjoy!

Y’all this is just about the most delicious breakfast ever. I took all the equipment on vacation to have this every morning for breakfast. I just love it. And if you get tired of the chocolate, you can just leave it out altogether and make the entire thing vanilla flavored. Both are equally delish!

And super healthy…love love YUM!

strawberries

The other day when I went to Home Depot the nursery to pick out my plants for the garden, I ran into a friend that works there. She has worked there for what seems like forever, but I never run into her because I usually go to ‘the other’ Hope Depot in my neighborhood. (closer, less traffic etc) But on this day, I needed a big ole honkin’ bag of vermiculite and ‘my’ store was out. So we made the trek over to the other store to pick up my soil amendment and get some plants.

The instant I saw Mrs K, we both just locked eyes and I immediately made my way to her and we hugged in the longest hug I’ve shared in a very long time. We go way back. She kept both of my kids in mothers day out and we used to go to the same church. She also used to baby sit my little guy for me while he was sick so I could grocery shop, since I couldn’t take him with me. And she had my girl in MDO when she got the tip of her finger slammed in a door (another little kid closed it on her..no negligence on the school’s part) and it cut off her finger print. I frantically arrived at the school to find Mrs K holding my screaming, flailing girl with her blood all over the both of them. I reminded her of that the other day…good times. : )

But anyway, as we got ‘caught up’ chatting among the plants, we quickly discovered  that we are both on a journey to remain healthy. She has stayed the course for a long time and at 62 is proud to say that she doesn’t take any medications. Because of her healthy lifestyle choices. And since I am a slow learner, I am navigating this world AFTER a major illness, unlike her. But we both excitedly chatted about what we do, what we eat, how much we enjoy it…and how much we wish others could see what their toxic choices are doing to them.

She later commented on my basket of transplants and said I should have lots of good food. Among other things, I got 2 varieties of strawberries, two plants each. And it has nagged me ever since. So a couple of days ago, I went back to the store (to her store..and chatted with her some more) and got two more strawberry plants (yet another variety) and planted them too.

Yesterday I went to a farmers market she told me about and they had early strawberries so I grabbed a small basket. I told the girl about them and instructed her to eat SOME of them for lunch while I went to the gym. When I got home, she told me she ate all “the big ones”.

Gee thanks, kid.

Makes me glad I got those extra two plants. ; )

Maybe a need a couple more.

the garden

I have never gardened before. Well, I take that back, I did attempt to dump chemicals all over some tomato plants in an effort to get some home grown tomatoes one year. And it worked. Until I got tired of going out in the hot weather. And the plants finally died.

So as you can see, my experience with gardens is very limited. But we did have a garden when I was a kid for a few (lean) years. And my grandparents had a garden for as many years as I can remember until their health was too poor for them to actively work the garden the way they would have liked. So I guess it’s in my blood. At least a little bit.

But even though I can find some decent organic stuff at the grocery store and other stores that are out of the way, it can still be a bit spotty. And a lot expensive. So I began to research gardening.

I knew I didn’t want it to take up the whole yard and I didn’t want it to take up a lot of space. And I knew I wanted it to be organic. So after much searching, I came upon the concept of Square Foot Gardening and decided this was the plan for me.

It is simple and it doesn’t take up the entire yard with rows and the useless space in between them, because everything is contained in a box. I can walk around the box to tend and harvest. And all the squares are solid growing space. Thus the garden doesn’t take up half my yard. Pure genius. OK…genius so far. I have planted a lot of stuff inside (seed) and outside too.. a few seeds and lots of transplants.

So without further ado, behold….the garden. Square foot style, of course!

Beds A and B. Containing cabbage, broccoli, onions, two varieties of kale and red lettuce.

Beds C and D. Containing 3 varieties of strawberries, spinach (seeded under plastic), rosemary and parsley.

I have empty slots because 1) I got a late start for my planting zone 2) some things will go in a bit later…and 3) I am learning and reading and planting as I read through the square foot gardening book. So in other words, I’m flying by the seat of my pants.

I also have red bell peppers and two varieties of tomatoes growing from seed inside the house. My cat doesn’t know what to think about all of this. ; )

Stay tuned for updates as things grow. Or die. Hoping for the first.

Sparkly Green Earrings

Y’all. I have been waiting. And waiting. And watching the calendar to see when Melanie’s new book was coming out.

And then I read on Boo Mama’s blog that she had seen it on the shelf EARLY at Lifeway where she lives. And I became on woman on a mission.

With a coupon.

I called Lifeway and they said they had two on the shelf. So I was on my way. When I got there I looked all the places I thought it was going to be, but couldn’t find it. So I asked about it. And the guy said he had a box full in the back for the Dot Mom conference so he just went back there and got me one. I was so excited.

I immediately dove into reading. But I struggled because I wanted to inhale it but I also wanted it to last forever because it was that good! But I managed to find a happy medium and stretch it out over a few days.

And y’all…it is so good! It’s not a bunch of recycled blog posts and I was thankful for that. It’s fresh and new, but it reads exactly like the voice we’re used to “hearing” on her blog. It is sweet and touching while being laugh out loud funny at the same time. A joy from beginning to end.

It doesn’t matter whether you are early on in your mothering or have a bunch of few years of parenting under your belt like me, you will love it.

In the immortal words of Larry the Cucumber…”I laughed, I cried. It moved me, Bob.” I know I’m old, but I can still quote Veggie Tales.

And we all know that’s one of the lesser known skills of being a mother.

In other words…buy it. Read it. You’ll be glad you did.

The end.

Please click here to see the trailer for the book. It is just precious and a must see, in my opinion. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to make it show up even though I got the html imbedded. So I had to add the linky. Sorry. : )

a bubbly day

Today I switched my end of the week grocery run around a little bit. I have been going to Kroger lately. I am LOVING all the organics and ‘crunchy’ stuff they are carrying now. Saves me many trips to the health food store that is miles away.

But they are re-arranging my Kroger. And it is utter chaos in there right now. I asked and they are supposed to be finished tomorrow. But I just didn’t have it in me to fight that for yet another grocery run.

So I switched my routine out and did Walmart and the big health food store. I needed a bucket load of lots of odds and ends anyway. I did the health food store first and had a lot on the belt. The lady started checking me out and commented that I was bubbly and perky.

HUH?! But I smiled and said thanks. But then I realized that I was bubbly and perky. And I felt like I had crazy insane energy.

So on the way home, I called my trainer to laughingly tell my story of being told I was bubbly and perky. My story wasn’t met with surprise. Not in the least. I was a bit taken aback. I knew we had wrecked my routine and shuffled everything around and that I had gone from a total beginner that could barely move her arms over her head with any weight at all, to a girl that can really exercise.

Granted I am at the beginning of all the new things we’ve started. But I am beginning to make progress. I can tell that I am stronger and have lots more stamina. And I can carry those groceries in the house like nobody’s business.

But the point is…my trainer knew this was going to happen. And that because I am working out and pushing my body harder, I was going to feel it. Not just in aches and pains (which are minimal by the way) but in feeling great. And having boundless energy.

Well if this is what pushing extra hard at the gym makes me feel like, then woot. Score for me.

So if you’re feeling tired and having a hard time getting out there…push yourself a little bit. You’ll be glad you did.

I am. : )

a sweet note to my girl

Dearest Daughter,

You do not have to get a new plate when you go to the stove for seconds.

This is not Golden Corral.

Love,

Your Mom aka “the one who does the dishes”