3 MONTHS!

Calvin is almost 4 months old and I've never posted his 3 month pictures! It's been a little busy lately, I guess.

This is one of my favorite pictures because it says so much about how far we've come.

I have a photo of Brian sleeping with an infant on his chest with each one of my children. It usually occurs in the newborn phase when the baby will sleep anytime, anywhere in combination with us as parents getting no sleep and also wanting to catch a little shut-eye anytime we can. But since we missed all of that newborn cuddle time with Calvin from his colic and reflux (he spent most of his newborn phase incredibly unhappy and uncomfortable), he just never "drifted" to sleep, especially laying down with us. He always had to be held upright.

But here, at 3 months, he is such a different infant! He has calmed down so much! He has been our BEST baby to fall asleep in our arms, which I LOVE! We still don't have him sleeping through the night yet, but it's coming soon and I can't wait for that day! He is very happy and smiley these days. He loves attention and socializing! He loves to hear the sound of voices and get SO excited when he hears talking. He loves coming to Primary with me for that reason! The kids help out a lot when he is fussy, just by talkingto him. They fight over turns to get to talk to him while he swings or bounces. He loves the attention.

Although he's only pushing 12 or 13 pounds, I've had several people ask "Is he six months old?" when I say he's only 3, they are so surprised. "He's so big" and "He has such a strong neck" are some of the responses.  I don't think he's much bigger than my other babies at this age, but oh well! He sure is cute! He has found his fingers and loves to suck on them, just like Eli did!

Here's to 25 years...

.....of public school! AHHH! I can't believe this day has come. Here are a few shots of our first day of schoolers...

We figure that starting from this day on, Brian and I will have kids in public school for the next 25 years! Yikes! 25 years of first day of school routines, back-to-school blessings, summer vacations and all the ups and downs that come with the school system!

Jackson had a great start to his day. He got to meet his teacher on Monday night (Mrs. Godfrey) and was super excited to see his new classroom, the new playground and to start school!

Zoey was so excited to go to school! She asked about it all summer long and FINALLY started last Wednesday! She couldn't wait for August to come, but here we are! I'm surprised at how fast the summer went by. Brian snapped the first day of school pics, and if it weren't for a crying Calvin who needed my attention, I would have liked to capture the picture of him holding Zoey's hand as they walked to shcool that first day. Ahh, I guess I'll have to keep that in my memory....

A few favorites...

Thought I'd share some favorites I've come across lately. These are just a few 'staples' I make each week or so:

Spring Asparagus Puree:
1 bunch asparagus
3 handfuls baby spinach
2 cloves garlic
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Blanch asparagus for a couple of minutes then add to food processor with remaining ingredients and blend! Easy!
This is great used as a pesto over pasta, as a sauce for pizza, on a sandwich instead of mayo (I've used it on a morning breakfast roll with a wheat tortilla, eggs, avocado and tomatoes-very yummy!), it could also be swirled over soup.... Very versatile and tasty!

Granola Cereal:
4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sunflower seeds/sesame seeds (I just put some of both in a 1/4 measuring cup)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (my husband hates coconut but loves this cereal, I use an unsweetened finely shredded coconut, although I'd prefer more of a flaked coconut myself)
1/2 cup brown sugar (optional, sometimes I just double the honey instead of using the sugar)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or other oil of preference- coconut or sesame would work well here)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

mix dry ingredient in a bowl. mix wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. pour wet mixture into the dry and mix well. Spread over rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 300 for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally (i usually turn the sheet around and stir about every 20 minutes).

This will last us about 7-10 days, we go through it pretty quickly. It's great with soy or coconut milk and topped with your favorite fruits or yogurt.

Bread:This is a great bread recipe!! It makes about 4 loaves (although it says 6- I've only managed to make 4). We make it every other week, and my kids won't eat anything else!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dees-health-bread/

I make as directed EXCEPT I omit the lemon juice, use flax meal instead of the whole seed, and sub 1/2 cup old fashioned oats for the cracked wheat and sunflower seeds. Turns out great!

Garden Salsa: I know everyone has their own recipe and a favorite they like to use. I don't have an official recipe for mine, I just chop and taste and add more of this or that. I make it quite often and use it with eggs for huevos rancheros, in a tortilla for a veggie taco, in broth for tortilla soup, as a salsa dip...it's so versatile! my basic ingredients are: avocados, black beans (drained and rinsed), onion, peppers (any combo of red, green, jalapeño, etc. I love red pepper especially), corn, tomatoes, cilantro, limes, limes, limes, slat and pepper (i also will add cucumber sometimes). so yummy and my kids love it!

Veggie Stand

Last Tuesday, Jackson came to me and said, "Mom, I'm going to sell flower petals and rocks to people to make money and buy a toy." (It reminded me of when Jaran tried to sell me rocks) And Zoey chirped in and said, "And I'm going to sell Butter!"

I channelled their idea and help them come up with selling something that people might buy- like the whole flower, and cookies made with butter. Then we added veggies from our garden and WA-lah! They had a veggie stand! I guess summer isn't complete unless your kids try to sell something on the front lawn!  

 They made a whopping $24 and Jackson finished the day by saying, "I am overjoyed!" I think he like his enterprise, making money, working hard, and spending it all (except tithing, of course)!

That Friday, we went on an excursion to the Aquarium! It is always a big hit. They've added penguins and otters to the exhibit which were both really fun to watch. The kids were amazed!

Today is our nanny's (Audrey) last day of work. sniff, sniff. School starts next week and she and the older two kids will be heading back to school for the year. Summer over! I can't believe it. She really helped make the summer manageable. The kids and I counted all the things we did with Audrey and came up with a sizable list of things I wouldn't have been able to do without her. Some of them included the pool, library, aquarium, park, bike rides, doctor appointments, tree house at the mall, etc. She spent a lot of time reading books, playing, swinging, wiping bottoms, cleaning house, etc so that I could nap or run errands. She was such an amazing help and worth every penny! The kids had an awesome summer too.

We gave her a little going away party today, and here are some pictures of the fun we had on her last day:

This is where they would spend most of their time reading books, telling stories, and playing games. 

30 Day Challenge

We are just days away from finishing the 30 day vegetarian diet challenge. The kids never once asked "where's the meat?" I think I was able to get away with it because they are young enough, but had I implemented something like this among teenagers, I'm sure there would have been more griping :)

Here are a few things I've learned:

1) It's easy to be a vegetarian. You can eat pizza, fries, ice cream, cookies and cake all day long and still be a vegetarian. The challenge was feeding my family on a healthy "whole foods" diet. It was a great time of year to start because we got to enjoy tons fresh produce from our home garden.

2) Eating a vegetarian menu was great when we were eating at home, but more of a challenge when eating out. Restaurants just don't have a lot of veggie items that are also yummy...plus their veggies are usually under ripe and not very flavorful.

3) It's amazing what you don't miss. I never felt the craving to have a steak, or chicken. Not that I'm going to completely eliminate those items from my diet, but nice to know they don't have to be the main fare anymore.

4) I learned a TON about new foods. It opened a whole new world of food items I've never tried before. It was exciting to learn about these foods and how to cook with them. Although some things were removed from our grocery list for the month, so many more new foods were there to replace it, that i never felt we were missing out. Not all recipes were a success, but for the most part the kids enjoyed what I made.

4) For the first time in 5 years, since being pregnant and/or nursing, I've felt my hunger level maintain and regulate without going through huge dips of feeling starved, shaky, and sugar-low. I've also felt that my recovery period was quicker and my soreness level from working out and exercise was a lot less.

5) Making my own granola, granola bars, bread and healthy snacks is fulfilling to me. It's not too hard and the whole family enjoys them so much more than the store bought stuff. Plus it makes the kitchen smell good!

6) I challenged myself to pick a vegetable and prepare it in as many ways as possible. I chose a zucchini because we have it coming out our ears. Here is what we did:

Raw: Zucchini "pasta" salad. We loved the tomato, basil, garlic dressing and doubled it for the second time I made it.
 http://www.wholeliving.com/133487/zucchini-pasta?czone=eat-well/seasonal-foods/summer&center=136760&gallery=136699&slide=129181

Baked: Zucchini bread. This recipe came from the "Good to the grain" Cookbook (recommended!). There are a million different recipes of the same variation on zucchini bread. This was something I came across that was a new twist. It used rye flour and I LOVED it! The rye and zucchini flavors were like a match made in heaven! So good. Plus it didn't have a lot of spices that tried to hide the zucchini flavor, so it was a nice hearty blend. So good!

Sauteed, fried, grilled...we just did a ton of stir fry, risottos, savory bread puddings/casseroles, etc. They were all really good.

Other than zucchini, we made quinoa patties, stuffed squash, veggie tacos/quesadillas, different soups, gnocchi, salads, smoothies, just a ton of yummy food! It's been a great month in our kitchen!