Holiday Time

We have a few holiday traditions, one we make gingerbread houses and we have a cookie swap.
For the gingerbread houses,  for some strange reason I choose to make my own gingerbread and I have never bought a kit.  This year I finally got my recipe right  and the roof did not fall off during the process of decorating. I have also found that it is useful to have the girls have their own house to decorate, which they love.

For the cookie swap we invite all our friends to bake homemade cookies, and then we swap them. But not before we taste each cookie and vote on the best tasting cookie and the best looking.  Everyone always seems to have a good time and enjoy the time together.

I love having these traditions to do every year with my girls.  Do you have anything that you do every year with your family?

Pinterest

my 3 year olds work

I have found that I really enjoy Pinterest .  It is a really neat site where you can pin all the different things you see online and they are all in the same spot, a online pin board.  I try my best  to pin the things that I really think I will do, I have a pin board that I made for my girls bathroom, all the ideas that I like for a bathroom and I re-did their bathroom from all those ideas,  my food board is another one that I have made 2 or 3 of the foods I have pinned.  One of my most resent pins was painting your family on clothes pins. such a cute idea.  Over this past holiday I sat down with my girls and my mom and my brother and we painted away.  It was surprising how much fun everyone had fun doing it, my 3 year old loved it, I couldn't get her to stop.  My suggestions for you is to try out some of your pins, instead of just looking at them try them, you never know what you will like doing!

my parent and siblings

self-portraits by my 2 girls

Go Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!  

I don’t know where the time has gone, and I know I haven’t sat still long enough this past week to be able to give a proper thanks for all the many things in my life that I am thankful for.  Here is a small list of those  things.  What are you thankful for this year?

• ALL my Family those that are far and near
• God and seeing Him in my life
• Friends
• Roof over my head
• Food on my table
• Watching my children grow
• I am so thankful that I can look back and see the things that I thought were big issues in my life turn out to be small issues
• Thankful that  I am able to learn from my many mistakes
• Morning walks

 Being thankful is important to do every day. 


Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. psalm 100:4

Spreading Some More Sunshine

Day 2 of spreading Sunshine

Day 2 of the challenge is to write a handwritten note to someone.  So we sat down today to think of something kind and uplifting to say to someone.  We ended up writing 2 notes.  I found that once I got going with writing a note the easier it became.  Have you written a letter to someone recently?  If not give it a try, you might enjoy the process.

Chili

Black Bean Chili with Avocado Salsa

This was a hit with the whole family.  The Avocado salsa was delicious on top of the chili.  T

he girls like their chili with cheese, sour cream and Frito lays.  My theory is that you need to start off small.  If I make the girls eat their chili with the Avocado Salsa we will be fighting, but if I keep it the same as always they will eat their chili right up.  I have food that everyone likes chili and they hardly notice that there is no meat in it.

1tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno seeded and minced

1tbsp chili powder

1 tsp. each ground cumin and dried oregano

¼ salt

2 cans (28 oz. each) stewed tomatoes

2 cans black beans drained and rinsed

2 sweet red peppers chopped

¼ cup tomato paste

in large sauce pan heat up oil

cook: onions garlic, carrots, jalapeno pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt

for about 5 minutes or until onions are soft.

Place all ingredients in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Avocado Salsa

2 avocados peeled, pitted and diced

2 tbsp. minced red onion

2 tbsp. chopped fresh coriander (I used cilantro and it was good)

2 tbsp. lime juice

Pinch salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients then serve on top of chili, along with whatever chili toppings you like. 

this is the only photos I have of the Chili,  next time I will get the finished product for you

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Go Spread Sunshine

I love this blog Joyshope she seems like a very interesting and fun person. I have been following her for some time, this week she is doing a challenge and I have joined in.  


                          For one week we will spread sunshine unexpectedly.
                         Many of the tasks are easy, lots of them can involve little ones.
                         All of them will be a little ray of light in some one's day.

Day 1 is to bring a treat to a neighbor:  

I have 3 neighbors that live off our road, so the girls and I made some no-bake cookies and handed them out.  It was so much fun to do.  All our neighbors were home and we got to chat with each one.  

Our goody bags.

Fancy shoes on a dirt road with pants that are to short.

Diet

This summer I have taken on a new diet.  No Meat.   Almost 4 months and new meat, I feel good, and so far I haven't craved meat at all. What is challenging to me is when I cook for my family which still eats meat.   I have been looking for some good recipes that my whole family would like.  Here are my challenges

First, my husband is a typical meat and potatoes guy. 

Second, my girls are typical kid eaters; they don’t like trying new things.

Third, I am not an adventurous cook. 

When looking for a good cookbook I try to look for one that has pictures, of not just the food but also of some of the more tricky steps. I haven’t found a vegetarian cookbook like that yet.  So I am stepping out of my shell and trying new recipes, from my old cookbooks. I never realized that my most cherished cookbooks have a vegetarian section in them, which excites me.  Every so often I plan to share with you some of my new favorite vegetarian meals.  

Go it's a green light

This  is what I hear when I get to an intersection by my backseat drivers “Go it’s green”.  My backseat drivers are what make me “go”.  They keep me on my toes, they make me get up in the morning , they make me want to be a better person, by being a good example, by eating healthier, to get moving more (you know exercise) and most importantly to live my life with love, laughter, forgiveness and lots of thanksgiving.  When I don’t want to move around and just sit  still I hear my backseat drivers saying,  “mom lets go”. This is a blog about my life and how I am making sure I see the green lights that tell me to keep going in the many intersections that I come to in my life.

Isaiah 40:29-31 

    He gives power to the weak, 
      And to those who have no might He increases strength. 
     Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 
      And the young men shall utterly fall, 
      But those who wait on the LORD 
      Shall renew their strength; 
      They shall mount up with wings like eagles, 
      They shall run and not be weary, 
      They shall walk and not faint.