Tuesday Treats: Look on the bright side...

I planned to come here and tell you all about the delicious fruity lamb casserole we enjoyed last night. But, I also planned on enjoying the fruity lamb casserole.

It was such a great smell and concoction of lambchops, dried apricots, red onions, tomatoes, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and coconut oil. But, there was nothing about the fruity lamb casserole that I enjoyed. I did eat it. But, I did not enjoy it. I won't confuse you by giving you the recipe. I'd hate to lead you down the wrong path. If you're on the path searching for Julia Childs, this would be a wrong turn down recipe lane.

I don't want to come here and be a Debbie Downer, so I must tell you one thing that was fabulous about last night's fruity lamb casserole: My Pampered Chef Mandoline. I LOVE MY MANDOLINE. If you don't have one, get thee to a store or PC consultant or nearest online shopping site and get a mandoline. I can slice up anything in a jiffy with this tool. It's amazing.

So, dinner wasn't a complete dud. I had the chance to use my mandoline and be reminded of how awesome it is. I like to call that: Looking on the Bright Side.

Grandparents' Day

Today was Grandparents' Day at school. It was the first time Abigail and Cooper have had grandparents in attendance at the annual event. Abigail made sure to call Gran last week and invite her. She was sure I hadn't already informed Gran and Grandad of the occasion. Gran and Grandad were so sweet to take time off from work and travel to Round Rock for the event.

The morning kicked off with Abigail's class singing two songs at chapel. I wish I could show you a video or even a photo of the performance. I was irresponsible and showed up with uncharged electronic devices. If you were there this morning, I was the lady in tall boots at the back of the auditorium looking for a plug to charge my camera battery. Fortunately, I found one. Unfortunately, I missed the photo op of the performance.


After chapel, we visited Cooper's classroom as they had snacks and went through the morning circle time routine. I'm pretty sure this pre-kindergarten class is already smarter than me. They knew the day and date of the week. If it weren't for the calendar on my phone, I'd never know the current date. Would anyone like to join me in a circle each morning to sing about the day and date of the week? It might help me keep up with these details.


Cooper showed off his "Smurf Hands" painting and poem for Gran and told the class that Grandad gives the best hugs. He doesn't even try to hide that he's quite partial to Grandad.


In Abigail's class, Gran and Grandad helped her fill in her family tree.


We got to meet Abigail's teacher, which was an added bonus. Daniel had yet to meet Mrs. E. Abigail is usually mortified at the thought of being seen with us at school. Apparantly it's okay when there are grandparents to show off.


Daniel was busy being the WatchDOG on campus today. (Each day one dad is on campus all day to help corral the kids and do any tasks the administration needs help accomplishing.) The kids love and look forward to these occasions. I'm so glad he has the chance to do this several times during the school year. We love being a part of a school that invites our entire family into the classrooms, and today was a special day to share with Gran and Grandad.

You DO Bring Me Flowers Anymore

My hubby brought flowers to my office this morning. He reminded me that we will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in almost one month. Yeah, he's pretty great.

A New Swimmer in Town

Cooper is officially registered as a USA Swimming swimmer and signed up for his first swim meet.


He's so excited that I had to create a countdown for him to keep track of how many sleeps until the meet in San Antonio October 15-16.


I'm amazed at how much progress he's made since he learned to swim in April. We owe it all to Coach Adam who Cooper completely admires. We're pretty fond of Coach Adam, too.


I mean, this kid has seriously come a million miles from being the kid who would only scream bloody murder when we forced him into a pool. It was Coach Adam who finally convinced Cooper that he wouldn't drown in the pool.


Now, we have a fish on our hands for an hour every day after school. He can't stand to get out of the pool once he starts swimming. I can't wait to see what he does at his first meet. Go Cooper! 

Tuesday Treats - Clean Eating Pineapple Pork

We have challenged ourselves to eating a paleo diet for two weeks. (The Paleo Diet mimics the types of foods every single person on the planet ate prior to the Agricultural Revolution: fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood; we aren't eating refined sugars and grains, saturated and trans fats, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and processed foods.) In other words, we are mainly eating everything except grains, potatos, beans, dairy. So, I was in search of new recipes and even found quite a few paleo crockpot recipes. This was my first venture into the paleo pot world. It was speedy and tasty!


Mix 1 t. paprika with 2 T sugar-free dijon mustard and rub onto two pounds pork roast. Top roast with one pineapple cut into 1" cubes. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred pork before serving.


The recipe actually calls for pork ribs, but I can't stand to eat anything but french fries and sandwiches with my fingers. Go ahead and try out the rib version if you're a lick-your-fingers-while-you-eat kind of person.

Star Student

Today is the first day of Abigail's Star Student week. She's terribly excited.


I wish I could show you the Star in all her crowning glory, but that would involve going into the classroom with her. There's no chance she'll allow anything that embarassing to happen.

Mason Money

A few months ago we set out on a new financial journey. It's called A Budget. We decided to take the kids with us. I even bought them new luggage for the trip.


These mason jars are now the keepers of all things needed for the trip. Cooper only has one jar, because anything further would be difficult to understand. Abigail has three jars: spend (70%), save (20%), tithe (10%).


The kids earn money by doing chores. We don't give them an allowance, but do pay them for any tasks beyond what is already expected of them, i.e. clean rooms, beds made every morning. Cooper has become wonderful with the vaccuum cleaner. Abigail likes to clean out my car. And, I was able to let my housekeeper go.

Cooper's jar is mostly empty, because he recently spent all his earnings on a used Nintendo DS with five game cartridges. Abigail's save jar is empty because we opened a savings account that is used when the jar becomes full.

I love that the kids are learning that money must be earned. And, I especially love to see them making choices of how to spend their money.

Abigail was named the Star Student of her class for the coming week. Don't be too impressed. Her name was drawn out of a hat, which the teacher will do each week until every kid has spent a week as the Star Student.

I'm not sure of what the title involves other than wearing a crown all week in class and getting to skip out on some of the homework for the week.

And, Abigail has to present a poster to the class Monday morning that tells them all about her. She spent more than half of today coloring and decorating her poster.


I had all kinds of creative ideas for how to "help" her with the poster, but the assignment came with instructions from the teacher that parents were not to help.


Cooper desperately wanted to be involved in her project. I spent several hours bribing him with his DS to stay in his room.


Fortunately, it's done and ready to present to the class. Take note of my "favorite" section where she wishes for a sister. Yeah, she can just keep wishing. That's one wish that won't be granted!

Lately, there has been lots of fighting. I mean, screaming, hitting, slamming her brother's head and fingers in her bedroom door. That's why her daddy had to remove her bedroom door.

She says mean things like, "You ruin every day of my life that you're in it."

She yells that she'll kick him in the face if he talks to her again.

Then there are moments like tonight when she loves him and asks if she can read him a bedtime story. They snuggle up in bed together in his bed and she reads a Skippy Jon Jones book in her best Mexican accent.

Then, they hug and kiss each other goodnight, and I know that one day they won't want to beat each other up.

The Teacher Becomes the Student

Sometimes my children frustrate and annoy me. There are days I wonder if they've heard anything I've ever taught them. Many days go by that I want to pull my hair out because I can not think of a punishment to fit the crime.

Then, there are days when I am the one being taught. I am humbled at their knowledge and understanding of kindness.


A few days ago Abigail began to ask me a question and abruptly stopped herself. I continued to probe because I could tell she was truly curious about something. And, I'm not one to ever let anything go. I insisted that she ask her question. She insisted that she could not ask her question because it would be impolite to talk about someone. "Mom, it would be gossiping." She continued to tell me that she had just found out a friend has divorced parents. Abigail had thought the friend's stepdad was actually her birthfather. With this new knowledge, came many questions, but Abigail refused to ask them. She would no longer discuss it because she insisted that she would not gossip and her friend's family life would not be appropriate to discuss. I was amazed at the maturity she had shown at just seven years old. I wish I could be that discreet and mindful of not gossiping.

Also in the past week, Abigail was in the car with me and I was listening to Dave Ramsey. I love hearing his financial advice, but the kids are quick to request a station change as soon as I pick them up from school. Usually I oblige them. This time, Abigail asked, "Why is that man talking about money?". I explained the purpose of the radio program, but she probed again. "But, isn't it rude to talk about people's money issues in public?" Wow! Another golden nugget from the pipsqueak kid! Uh, yes, I have strongly taught the kids not to ever discuss the cost of items or a person's salary or anything close to those topics. And, now the oldest one was calling me on the hypocracy of my Dave Ramsey obsession. Oh, goodness.

I can't help but be amazed at my daughter's intelligence and consideration of others. But, I wish she could show it in a less humbling way.

I'm Loving...

I usually don't share personal, trivial items, but I have to tell you what I'm loving these days...

A few weeks ago I stopped in at Ulta and had a full makeover of my makeup. It was awesome! I ended up buying everything. Okay, I didn't buy the mascara. (I have several mascaras in my couponing topstock from a sale at Ulta last year. Ha!)

For starters, I switched from a liquid foundation to Bare Minerals. I bought the starter kit because it was an awesome deal.

It seriously takes this many items to finish my foundation. I know, it's crazy! I laughed when I saw that it included an instructional DVD, but I wasn't laughing when I had to break out the instructions the first morning I used the products. I had to look at the instructions for at least three days, but I have it down quickly now. And, it's so worth the effort because I can apply my makeup at 6:30 a.m., and it still looks the same at 10 p.m. That's priceless!

Even my eye makeup is staying put all day long, thanks to Lorac's Behind the Scenes Eye Primer. This is a product type I have never used before, but it's totally necessary. It keeps all of my eye makeup in place all. day. long. It's the first product I use in the morning since I do my eye makeup first. The chick at Ulta did this so that when the colored powder on my eyes also fell onto my cheeks, it would then be covered by the foundation.


For eye makeup, I went a bit crazy but I think it will pay off. I'm already loving the choice of colors I have in the morning. And, the consultant assured me the palette would last two years. I'm not confident in that assurance, but I'd be elated if that happens. Mostly, the colors are awesome and they don't smear.

 

I even bought an eye brow kit, which I totally needed. The Benefit Brow zings is great! Weirdly, the darker color on the left is tinted wax that shapes the brow. The lighter brown on the right is powder to fill in the brows.

I'm still on the fence about the lipgloss. It's Bare Minerals Buxom Lipgloss. I love the color, but it has a weird stinging that is apparantly supposed to be plumping my lips. I'm not really interested in plumping. Lisa Rinna isn't the look I'm going for. When this runs empty, I'll have to find a similar gloss that doesn't plump. Does anyone have any gloss recommendations they love?

Tuesday Treats:

Ingredients

1 boneless roast
1 jar picante sauce
1 (7 oz.) can diced green chiles

This recipe is probably the easiest in my cooking bag of tricks, and it comes straight from my mother. Thanks, Mom! Combine all of the ingredients in your crockpot in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours. When ready to serve, shred the meat with a fork. (It will just fall apart.) Roll up the meat in tortillas and garnish with sour cream, guacamole and shredded cheese.

Layh Family

During our last visit to my parents in Odessa, I did a small photoshoot with some of my mom's friends. I met with Scott and Jennifer and their three children before church to (hopefully) snap a family shot. To say I was nervous is a strong understatement. I had never photographed so many people in one shoot. And, I have no experience posing people. This family wanted a traditional, everybody say "cheese", posed, Olan Mills type photo. And, I'm sooooo not the person for that.



I have never shot in Odessa so I had no location ideas. It's not that I didn't look for location ideas. I looked. If you've ever been to Odessa, you know why I had no location ideas. It's Odessa.   Picturesque is not a word that has ever been used to describe Odessa. But, Jennifer already had a location in mind and I breathed a sigh of relief and aimed to please. My aim was a bit off because when I arrived to meet the family, the location was not available. Hmmm... We went in search of something. Anything... Here's what we found.








Hopefully Jennifer and Scott have something they can use. Hopefully...

Monthly Onesies

I picked up 13 onesies at Hobby Lobby this week. Don't get any crazy ideas!!! Daniel rifled through the bag when it was sitting on the dining table, and had a few colorful comments to make. But, seriously. Stop that! They are for a baby gift I made yesterday with my Silhouette and some heatpress vinyl.

In fact, it's my favorite baby gift, ever! A year of monthly onesies with a bonus personalized outfit...


Have I ever mentioned how much I love my Silhouette?! Well, I do. It's amazing.

Please Help!

We just received very sad news. Our friends, Nita and Bruce Ward, did lose their home in the Bastrop fire. First and foremost, please pray for them as they begin to rebuild their lives after this tragedy.

Last night, Nita was taken to the hospital with afib, most likely due to stress and lack of eating and lack of sleeping this week as they awaited news of their home. Please pray health, peace and comfort for the Wards as they grieve their home and belongings.

The home that Bruce and Nita lost was their dream home. Delfin's parents retired a few years ago and moved from Odessa to Bastrop where they built this lovely home surrounded by a gorgeous forest of trees. We have visited the Wards in Bastrop several times, and I have always left envious of the beautiful home. I'm sure they are grieving this terrible loss. But at the same time, we are praising God they are both safe.

If you are interested in helping our friends, please contribute here.

Just after church on Sunday, a few wildfires began in our area. The closest one to us was out by Monday morning and burned just 200 acres in Pflugerville, about 8 miles from us. I know, I said "just". But, if you were here to see all the smoke and smell the burning homes today, you would know that 200 burned acres is miniscule now.

A large, upscale subdivision near Daniel's workplace in Austin was on fire and he barely got out of work Sunday evening before the roads were closed. That fire is still burning but the residents were finally allowed to drive through the subdivision today and see what has burned.

When we went to dinner Sunday night in Cedar Park, we were inundated by the smoke. Watching the news a few hours later, we saw that another two subdivisions near the restaurant had been evacuated and were on fire.


The Bastrop fire, which is just now 30% contained today, is the largest fire that started Sunday. It's now burned 35,000 acres and 1,387 homes. The parents of Daniel's best friend and best man in our wedding, Bruce and Nita Ward, live in one of the first of 20 subdivisions that were evacuated Sunday night. They are still in a hotel and waiting to find out if their home survived the massive fire. The initial news does not look good for them.

Late Monday night, Daniel alerted a co-worker who would be at work through the night that the area he lived in was beginning evacuations as a new fire spread to Dripping Springs. By Tuesday morning, the co-worker was forced to find alternate routes as three different roads were closed in his usual hour-long commute home. Fortunately, his home remained safe.

By Monday night, the entire city of Austin had large wildfires almost entirely circling the city. The northeast side, where we live, is the only area that has not had a large fire burning.


Today when I took the kids to school, the smoke in the air was so thick that visibility was limited. By the time I arrived at work, my throat hurt and my eyes burned. It was as if I had been sitting at a campfire for a few hours. The school kept the kids inside all day to avoid respiratory issues. No one has complained about the situation, though. The air is filled with ash from the homes of thousands of people. Discomfort and breathing issues aside, we feel blessed to be safe during this time.

Please pray for the many, many firefighters who are in our area battling this massive fire.

Please pray for the thousands of people who have lost their homes and every possession.

Please pray for rain to end this awful drought in Texas.

Tuesday Treats - French Dip

This crockpot recipe is one of the yummiest things I've ever cooked in my crockpot. The kids devoured it. A friend of mine also made it, and she loved it. Trust me. You need to try this one.

And, it's a super bonus that it's the easiest thing you'll ever cook.


4 pounds rump roast (I used bottom round roast. You know, because it was on sale. Ha!)
1 (10.5 oz.) can beef broth
1 (10.5 oz.) can condensed French onion soup
1 (12 oz.) can or bottle beer (I used Modelo because it was the only thing in singles. I don't need a six-pack.)
French rolls
Butter

Combine the meat, broth, soup and beer in the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. When ready to serve, slice, butter and toast the bread. Slice the meat for sandwiches. Ladle up the juice from the cooked meat to serve as dipping sauce.

Do you need my address or do you already know where to send the thankyou note? Believe me, you'll want to thank me for this one.