this and that

our little family over the weekend....

so

many

things

happening.

Here is a little of this and that:

The Weekend

My sweet handsome boy was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints over the weekend. (In our church we are baptized by immersion at age 8).
 It was such a happy weekend and we had family in from Montana, up and down California, Wyoming, and Colorado.
He is one loved (and seriously how handsome is he??!) little boy.

Chickens

My house is a Pet Store. Zoo. Petting Zoo. Our "chicks" are giant (and dirty and smelly) and the coop should be ready this weekend.......thank goodness....I need them out of my house. (pictures soon!)

Sugar

I'm going off sugar for the month. (whaaat??!! why??!!) I was inspired by my friend Hayley, who's doing a complete sugar cleanse, and feeling fantastic. I started reading more and more about it--finding different "cleanses" and trying to figure what would work best for me. I've always believed in everything in moderation.....so it's not forever--I've just been looking for a few new ways to jumpstart my body and get some of the junk out. I love baked goods......we all know that. I'm active and burn enough calories that I don't worry about my weekend dessert intake. I don't like candy--I have no problem passing it up....it's just the weekend cookies and spoonfuls of peanut butter and chocolate chips (heavy on the latter) at 4:00 (and maybe then 5:00 also) every afternoon. I really don't eat a lot of simple carbs, but I do like a good piece of artisan bread every now and then so I'm nixing that as well (and any other simple carbs that try to sneak in). I'm keeping fruit in my diet--I'm trying to get my short runs faster and my long runs longer.....so for now I want that fruit. The past few weeks I've even skipped out on whole wheat bread....so I'm basically trying to eat only whole foods (with no "ingredient lists") for right now. I won't be perfect, I guarantee a little of this and a bit of that will sneak it's way in, but I'm going to try the best I can for the month and see how I feel.
Anyone want to join me? 
(and yes, Sunday I had a giant banana split with homemade caramel AND homemade hot fudge to wish myself well on this sugarless journey.)

Running:

My friend somehow tricked me into singing up for a 20 mile trail race......in a few weeks. ha. ha. hahahahaha. I have been running, but nowhere near (nowhere!) 20 miles. So it should be really, really, interesting. And entertaining. And terrifying. And maybe, eventually, worth it. maybe.

Skin

While I have been off antibiotics for a while now (hooray!!) my body is still trying to rebuild after 3 years of on and off use (doesn't that just disgust you?!) My skin has suffered the most, and I feel like I have been running circles trying all kinds of "solutions". I have recently been reading up on The Oil Cleansing Method.....have you heard about this? (google it....you'll learn lots. THIS lays it out very simply). I'm going to give it a try and I will report back to you in a few weeks. (why was I on antibiotics forever? I've battled Lyme Disease for the past several years. I'm currently living symptom free (weeeeee!) after years of traditional and homeopathic treatment. read more posts here.)

School

We have 3 weeks of homeschool left! We have all learned so much (well, at least I hope they have learned something.) We definitely have our routine down each morning, and things go smoothly as long as I don't leave the room for more than 3 minutes.....otherwise they'll be rolling around on the floor in math facts and pronouns. My house is usually in some sort of disastrous state, but I know that right now this part of our lives is more important than my house being perfectly clean (or perfectly unpacked for that matter). Some days I turn in to "grumpy mom", so I have to make sure that "fun mom" makes appearances too. We try and find time to play outside and hike together each week. We play board games and read together outside of our school reading.

Reading

Robby and I are reading The Magician's Nephew to the kids right now. I have never read all of The Chronicles of Narnia, and we are loving reading this book together. 

One of the many benefits of homeshcool is that I get to read more. I read when my kids read....win win. Right now I am in the middle of Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert by Terry Tempest Williams. In the past year, I have declared my love for the desert over and over again, and this book has been so good for me to read. It brings the desert to me when I can't quite get there--I can feel the heat bouncing off the rocks and see the sun casting shadows over the sand when I read it. I'm pacing myself because I don't want it to end. (more desert photos from last week coming soon!)

and lastly......Soup

Soup?! In May?! Why yes....it was cold and rainy and I wanted soup. 

Kale and Bacon Soup

6-8 strips of bacon

1 onion, diced

4 large handfulls of kale, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2TBS chopped fresh oregano

2TBS chopped fresh thyme

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 can of diced tomatoes

2 cups of shredded zucchini (optional. I happend to have this in the freezer from last summer....)

2 cans of beans of your choice (I used black eyed peas and butter beans), drained and rinsed

4 cups of chicken broth

dash of worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, cook the bacon,
Remove from pan and add the onions, kale, garlic and cook for a few minutes. (add a bit of olive oil of the bacon fat isn't enough)
add pepper flakes and fresh herbs and cook for a few minutes more.
add tomatoes, zucchini if using.
add beans,  chicken broth, and worcestershire.
Salt and pepper to taste.
bring to a low boil and then turn heat down and simmer for at least a half hour so all the flavors can come together.

enjoy!

I think we are all caught up......for now anyway.