Spring Break

My kids have been on spring break this week. The weather has been warm and sunny (until today!), so we've had some good outside time. We hit a few parks, visited an art museum, checked out library books, had friends come visit. Its been so nice to have them home. I think I am ready for summer!




Caleb finished the last Harry Potter book today! It was so fun seeing my child enjoy this series as much as I did!

Spaghetti and Lentil balls and Bean Fudge

These were both experiments for a Relief Society activity we had last night. Probably won't make them again without adapting the recipe some. The Lentil balls lacked flavor and the bean fudge never really set up. I guess it would have made a good fudge ice cream topper! Worth a try.

Tonight I made a thai chicken in the crock pot (PB, Curry, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and garlic), served with raw vegies and fruit.

Veggie Delight

I am aware that my food-picture taking skills are quite lacking. But who is going to be looking at this, anyway? Probably just me. Anyway, this is your basic rice and fresh stir-fry veggies. Two secret ingredients: about a teaspoon of sesame oil (delicious flavor!), and sweet potatoes. That's right - those aren't carrots. Sweet potatoes. But don't tell the kids! They eat them up like crazy. This was inspired by a dish Michelle and I ate for lunch at Winslow's while she was here.

Food, Glorious Food

As many of you know, I have cut dairy completely out of my diet (baby William is super sensitive to it). This has triggered a desire to read more about nutrition. I am trying to change some of our eating habits to less sugar, less dairy, and less meat. It was hard to come up with different foods to eat, and sometimes I get tired of eating some of the same things. I decided to start kind of a food journal to kind of keep track of what we are eating. Maybe it will help give other people ideas of what they can eat!Last night we had bean tacos. I had some leftover pinto beans that I had cooked with beans and rice earlier in the week. We just added green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, and salsa to our corn tortillias. It was delicious. I do admit, the kids put a little cheddar on theirs, but probably wouldn't have even thought about it if I hadn't put it on the table for them.
And this is my new favorite breakfast: oatmeal. Yum. My day is not the same without it! I cook whole cooking oats on the stove, then I add apples, pecans, raisons, sometimes bananas, sometimes almond milk. Its hearty and filling and delicious, and I feel like its a healthy way to start my day!

Yesterday I cooked whole wheat pancakes with almond milk for breakfast. William loved the pancakes, and it was a nice change to have something else for breakfast. But, I admit, I was ready for lunch a lot sooner and didn't feel quite as healthy (maybe it was the maple syrup I soaked the pancakes in??)

Awards Assemblies

I keep meaning to post these! Every 9 weeks, Lucy and Caleb's schools do an awards assembly for those who have met reading goals and received good grades, perfect attendance, etc. James and Annabelle have been good sports to come to these assemblies with me (they are really LONG and lots of clapping).Here is Lucy (back row in green shirt) receiving her accelerated reader award.
Here is Caleb receiving the Honor Roll (all A's) award (for the 3rd time in a row!). He also reached his AR goal and this time earned a BUG award (raising your grades higher in one or more subjects. I'm so proud of my cute kids!

Day 2 - River Park and James' First Soccer Game

James played in his first soccer game on Saturday! He was a little shy having us all there cheering for him, but he'll get used to the fame soon enough! We were just all so proud to watch him play :)





We took Michelle to a fun park here in Greenville near the Tar(water) River. We rented row boats and paddled on the Lake for close to 3 or 4 hours. I was a little nervous about having the kids dumped over the edge, but we somehow survived and I really enjoyed being out in the warm weather in nature with the family. Michelle and I did the majority of the rowing and suprisingly - we weren't sore afterward (just exhausted). The kids really had a great time too.

Michelle Visit Day 1

Aunt Michelle came to visit the last 5 days and we have just had so much fun! She arrived Thursday morning. The day was busy getting ready for the church Relief Society Bunko activity that I was in charge of. It was so nice to have Michelle around to help out getting it ready.



FRIDAY we checked Caleb and Lucy out of school and headed to the beach! We visited historic Fort Macon near Atlantic Beach, NC and had fun exploring the cannons, the dungeons, the history, and the painfully accessible high drop-off edges that the kids didn't seem to be scared of at all!

The beach was quite breezy and the water was still cold. I think that the kids had fun in the water for about 10 minutes before they got out and started complaining about the cold. James and Annabelle curled up under their blankets, Caleb flew a kite for a minute, William was crying, Annabelle kept needing potty breaks. Michelle was a good sport through it all :)

(Annabelle curled up in her towel)

We called it quits around 6:30pm and stopped by a chicken and BBQ place for dinner where Michelle tried her first North Carolina BBQ. What'd she think??

Oh, and on the way home, we got a flat tire and a nice mechanic stopped by to help on his way home from work. Thank goodness. We were all so tired. It was a big adventurous day!