The race is over!!

Big Darren had his annual triathlon this past weekend. He and his Brother Andrew got 12th place....WOO-HOO!!! I am so proud of this handsome man.

He is Handsome....Isn't HE!!

We got there early and the boys drank Gatorade

Eden played with leaves


This is what we ate the week before the race. He likes to eat lots of raw foods to insure he gets as much nutrients as possible as well as carbs from 100% whole wheat pasta.

We love pasta salad. I usually throw in whatever I have in the frig. I used whole wheat pasta, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, yellow pepper, olives, raw pecans, bacon and grilled chicken. I toss it all with a vinaigrette dressing and Parmesan cheese. Fresh fruit, green salad, and a fast pasta once a week....Healthy and easy.

Good Morning

I love the way the sun shines through our windows early in the morning. My house is quiet....no children are awake(well the baby but she doesn't count), and I can enjoy the sweet quiet of early morning.
This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!!


Here is another recipe for you. My Mother-in-law gave me this recipe and it has become our favorite bread. You can make it in a bread machine but I like to bake my in my Longaberger crock.



7/8 C of water
2T butter(I replace the butter with 6 more T of Flax seed and 2 more T of water)
3T Molasses
1t salt
2T flax seed
1T Wheat Gluten
2 1/2 C bread flour( I use whole wheat pastry flour)
1 1/2 T non-fat dry milk
1 1/2t fast rise yeast
Combine all ingredients in order of bread machine directions. I use my stand mixer and add the ingredients in the same order. Place your dough in your desired (greased) containor and let it rise in a warm place for an hour until it has doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn't get too brown on top.

Need a new recipe?

Do you feel like you make the same meals over and over? Well, Composing Hallelujahs inspired me with her summer salad posts so I thought I would share a couple of my favorite meals with you each week.
This is becoming one of my favorite meals. It is fast, easy, and really tasty.
Here's what you need:


1 package of water chestnuts
1 bag sugar snap peas ( I use two because we like our peas)
2 T (large ones) of minced garlic. (fresh is best...I didn't have fresh)
1/3 C chopped fresh ginger
2 C brown rice
2lbs steak (which ever cut you prefer)
1 recipe for brown sauce (recipe is below)
First warm 1 T olive oil in pan. Add garlic and ginger and saute for 30 seconds.
Add steak and cook until evenly browned, about 3 minutes. Add sugar snap peas and cook for 2 minutes, uncovered.
It should look something like this:

Next add your brown sauce and cook until thick and bubbly. Like this:

Serve over brown rice. Sorry, no finished picture...we were hungry:)
Brown Sauce recipe:
9T soy sauce
3 T dark brown sugar
1 1/2 t corn starch
6 T iced tea or apple juice
Mix together. If you like things spicy, add 1/2-1 t hot pepper flakes.

Invader

Remember those cute book forts my big kids made the other day? Well, yesturday they were invaded by this little lady.

She is cute and curious and into everything.

Book forts

My kids LOVE books. Toys are always great exciting gifts to open but when it comes down to day to day stuff, my kids choose books over toys. Lately our morning routine consists of breakfast together, 5-10 minutes reading our bibles(little ones look at their picture bibles) and twenty minutes of free play for kids while I get morning chores done. Yes, only 5-10 minutes...not a long time to spend in the word but for two little boys it feels like an eternity. Besides at this point it is the habit rather than the time that I am wanting them to form.
So, during this free time the books come out. I don't know about your kids but my little ones make secret clubs, aka forts, out of just about everything. This makes for an extremely messy house but the mess is so worth it. Look at what fun!

Almost Done?

This is the question I hear daily from my kids, "Are you almost done with the school room Mommy?"
They are so excited.
I have been trying to save as much money as possible in the redo of this school room(part of the reason why it's taking so long). I have used quite a few old pieces that now have a new job. On behalf of The Shabby Nest here is a look at my Frugal Friday Chalkboard.

What do you think? I know the picture is...not so great. I don't have one of those fancy shmancy cameras like some of you....sigh. Although, if I did have one I couldn't guarentee that my pictures would be any better than they are now. Photography is not a gifting of mine. Anyhow, so my chalkboard turned out awesome. It was actually an old table that we had. I unscrewed the top, taped it off and went to town with my chalkboard paint. Buying a new one was not in the budget and I didn't like the ones I found on the internet. This one is just right....it reminds me of a really old one that would be hanging in a Sunday school room.

This too is a pretty bad shot...bare with me. I haven't gotten to the details in the room, but I have managed to find cute little containers for pencils as well as bubble gum for my little students. Have I ever mentioned that I have a small obession for containers( mostly jars)? I will post about that later.
This room doesn't have any windows so I wanted to add as much light as I could by using white furniture pieces. At the same time I didn't want it to look boring.....so I added teal as an accent color. My Mom and my sister have had a lot of fun with tea; lately....wish they blogged about it. They both have beautiful homes and creative ideas.
Can't wait to show you the rest!!! I'm almost done:)

Unrelated

I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was busy but we managed to fit in a little relaxing with the kiddies..... Smores, a great book (A True Priness by lamp lighter press...great great books) and a warm fire in the back yard.


This is our school room before the maddness began. I am not ready to reveal the after but I will give you a few hints of the goings ons. I have repurposed a lot of old things. A table into a chalk board...what? You will have to wait and see. Old shelves, frames and cabinets repurposed and brought back to life and of course Ikea played a roll as well. Oh, and lots and lots of spray paint.