Happy Birthday Terry!

Happy Birthday Terry!

Uncle Ryan

Shooting marshmallows from the catapult and into our mouths. Uncle Ryan's job was to dive for the ones that ricocheted off the walls. He caught em.

I walked in and they were all like this.

Turns out they were only pretending to be asleep.

Make Me Feel Better.

It's official. I am doomed.

Today we learned what a statement sentence was. I can do that.
We studied a bit of Isaiah (2 Nephi). With help, I can do that.
Spelling tests - check.
Reading - check.
History of ancient India - no problem.
Classification of musical instruments with a little help from Peter and the Wolf - enjoyable.
Then we came to Eliora's math.

Here is a sample: (and how it was written out)

Study the Patterns and Find the Missing Numbers:
19, 10
6
34

8,4
11
23

7,28
3
?

Find the question mark. It took me 20 minutes.

The next one was:
a+b=9
a+a+b=15
a=?
b=?

This one I could figure out pretty quick owing to the fact that there are not that many combinations of 9. However, if the number were any higher I would have sitting there for 20 minutes. Seriously, I remember doing this stuff in high school. So, make me feel better. Do the problems and let me know how fast you are. (I am hoping someone, anyone took as long as I did) I will post the answers in a few days.

End of the Diet

Saturday marked the end of the no meat, no sugar, no refined, bleached anything. In truth we cheated a little on the last two weekends. However, we both decided that we definitely need to make some permanent changes in our diets. Mainly, more veggies, less meats, more whole grains, less sugars, and watch the portion sizes. Both Ben and I lost about 5 pds and he quit falling asleep in the afternoon (well, feeling really tired and wanting to fall asleep). I also lost my massive sugar craving that usually comes between 2-4pm. Totally worth it.
On Saturday was the Red River Rival and to celebrate we invited some OU fans over and had a feast. Italian Meatballs, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Hot Wings, Gooey Frosted Brownies, Sugar Cookies, Coconut Chex Mix, chips, soda, Lipton Onion Dip and I can't remember what else. They say that if you go vegan and healthy for awhile and then eat like that you get sick. It didn't seem to be a problem for us. I think we might have gained the five pounds back as well :) Totally worth it.

Stomach Virus, Swine Flu, and Perfect Children

Eliora woke up this morning feeling shaky and sick. An hour later came the time honored tradition of expelling everything in your stomach into a bowl. Then she promptly fell asleep.
On a typical day Eliora is my helper (to tell the truth she is usually a better 'mom' than I am). Eliora is the reason we CAN homeschool and why we can occasionally make it to church on time. She helps set tables, gets cereal going in the morning, finds shoes, reads books to the little ones all without being asked. It is in that kids nature to nurture. On days she gets sick I go into overdrive and count the days until she gets better (nurturing is not in my nature).
We took her to the doctor and found out she either has a severe stomach virus or the swine flu. Great. We were told to keep her on a liquid diet, let her get lots of rest, and disinfect the entire house including throwing away toothbrushes and washing all the sheets on the beds.
Normally this would be rough day. Normally. Enter kid number two. Audrey is our introvert. She is am awesome sister but usually is the one who will color by herself or look at books for long periods of time. This morning however she got up and asked if Eliora was sick. She then proceeded to make pancakes for the other two while I made a doctor's appointment. She asked me to measure ingredients (just add water) but did the rest herself. She has since gotten the baby applesauce while I was scrubbing the floor were earlier stomach contents had fallen, turned on a new movie while I was starting laundry and made everyone eggs for lunch. She has cleaned up after herself and right now has Abbey sitting on her lap with a bottle of milk while watching Nim's Island. To be honest I didn't know Audrey knew how to work the stove. (I was paying close attention in the background.)
In short, my kids are perfect.

I am now an Iron Chef

I had seen them before.
Alton Brown has one.
The Iron Chef Stadium uses them.
Then the mailman knocked on the door yesterday and made my life complete.
At 4:45 I put in 1 lb. completely dried pinto beans that were not soaked (only rinsed).
I also added half a jar of salsa, 15 oz. of water, 1 large can of green chili's, an onion, and some seasonings.
At 5:30 the beans were done to perfection so I set the unit on warm.
I ate two huge bowls.
Ben came home at 8:45 and told me the chili tasted great.
I love my mom.

On another note, has anyone seen the new food pyramid?

What was wrong with the old one? Although the older one seemed seemed simple many people misunderstood the servings from each group. If you have a sandwich one slice of bread is 1 serving so in a sandwich you are eating two servings, not one. It also didn't emphasize that whole grain foods are good and processed grains (like white flour) are not so good. Also, that protien from good sources (beans, nuts) is better for you than proteins from red meat. Some people were blaming the old food pyramid for the obesity problem in the United States. So, here comes the new pyramid. Yeah...
I love the color, don't get me wrong but does anyone find this more confusing than the last one? At the least the guy is taking the stairs. You can get online and find more information at
www.mypyramid.gov but here is some guidelines for the rest of us:

Amounts of food will vary on gender, age, and lifestyle: You can look this up at the food pyramid site or google it but your body tells you what it needs. Eat healthy and learn to stop eating before you feel full.

• Daily exercise and food portions
• water
• At most meals serve whole grain foods, including oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and brown rice (1 serving=1 piece of bread)
• Plant oils: 2 oz. per day (replace cooking in butter with olive oil)
  
• 3 or MORE servings of vegetables a day (serving: 6oz)
  
• 2-3 servings of fruit a day (serving: 4 0z or half cup)
  
• 1-3 servings of nuts or beans (serving: 2oz)
• 1-2 servings of dairy (8oz of non fat or 4 oz of whole)
• 1-2 servings of poultry, fish, or eggs (4 oz or 1 egg)
• sparing use of white rice, white bread, potatoes, white pasta, sweets
• sparing use of red meat, butter, fats
• avoid saturated oils especially partially hydrogenated oils
• avoid high fructose corn syrup - yes it's made from corn, and no, your body can't process it as well
  

And Finally - (cause this isn't long enough)

My Carrot Smoothie my kids actually drink

12 oz orange juice concentrate
2 bananas
5 oz raw spinach
20 oz frozen strawberries
3 cups carrot juice

Pour orange juice concentrate into blender and fill halfway with water. Blend. Add bananas and blend again. Add to a 1 gallon pitcher. Put raw spinach in bottom of blender. Add frozen strawberries and carrot juice plus water to blend easier. Blend until smooth. Pour in pitcher. Add water until pitcher is at the 1 gallon mark. Stir.
This does have a subtle carrot flavor but I let my kids know beforehand so they wouldn't think ice cream smoothie and they have been drinking it all week in little cups as a quick snack. Since carrot juice does not come in small containers I froze the unused portion into ice cubes to put in the smoothie next week.

Grocery List

Week Two of 'The Diet'. Here is the grocery list:
Apple Juice, Lemon Juice, Dried Pinto Beans, Brown Rice, 100% Cranberry Juice, 10 cans healthy Progresso Soup, Almond Milk, 2 loafs Ezekiel Bread, 1 loaf Cinn. Raisin Ezekial Bread, Frozen Strawberries w/out sugar, 3 different kinds of wheat pasta, Broccoli, Carrots, Red Grapes, Celery, Green Bell Peppers, Red Bell Peppers, Onions, Avocados, Apples, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Carrot Juice, Lettuce, Raspberries, Broccoli Sprouts.

Menu:
Breakfasts: No sugar, healthy cereal with milk and fruit or oatmeal with fruit (no sugar)
Lunches: High Fiber Wraps with lettuce, veggies, and balsamic vinegar, Progresso Soups, salad and beans, hummus and veggies, leftovers
Dinner: Whole Wheat Pasta and Veggie Sauce, Rice with Sauted Veggies, Grilled Veggies and avacado on Ezekial Bread, Whole Wheat Pizza Dough with Tomatoe Sauce and Veggies, Soup and a slice of bread to dip, Bean (or rice) and veggie wrap,
Snacks: Fruit, Nuts, Veggies, Air popped corn, No sugar all natural Peanut Butter
Drinks: Smoothies (I have a few really good recipes), Water

Rules for the Week:
Watch the amount of hummus, peanut butter, avocado, and the like. Only 2-3 servings of carbs a day. Only 3-4 servings fruit (including smoothies). Use lots of spices to enhance flavor. Soy sauce, red pepper, oregano, basil, cinnamon, capers, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and the like.

Yes, my kids are getting more than this. No, Ben is not a happy camper :)

The Diet - Week One

Last week Ben and I decided to do our own 'detox' diet. We didn't want to pay 200 dollars for a special drink that will cure everything but I had some friends that did their own version of a 21 day 'get all the junk out of you system and lose the addiction of sugar' kind of thing.
For six days we have been allowed to eat:
1 serving (a fistful) of milk (over cereal or Ben would die)
Whole grain, no sugar cereals
6-7 serving of fruits and vegetables (there has to be even or more vegetable than fruits)
Only whole wheat, oats, brown rice etc.
Beans (Beans are included with the other 'carbs' and are limited to 2-3 servings a day)
We cannot eat any refined sugars (only a Tb of honey a day)
No dairy
No fried, white, or junk food
Only water and herbal tea (unsweetened or use that Tb of honey)
No meat of any kind
We don't plan on staying on it forever but it does give you a good idea of what you crave, how much you snack, and what is worth eating and what is not. Hopefully it will help us change our habits a little more and get us through the holidays a little better. I do seriously believe in portion control. We have also been putting what we eat on weight watchers to see how many points we are consuming. The diet (which does fill you up although you seriously miss certain foods) averages about 16-18 points a day.
The dinners have been different and actually pretty good.

Lights of Pumpkins
by: Eliora, Audrey, and Sadie

We bring it in our big orange ball
Scoop out the seeds and start to cut
Be careful now, don't let it fall
Triangular eyes and roasted nuts

The face appears, a gruesome sight
Jagged teeth and a circle nose
Goosebumps rise, it gives me a fright
The light it twinkles, shifts, then shows

Outside we go to set dear Jack
It's here, it's here; Halloween!
Put on our costumes, grab our sacks
A ghost or two we've already seen
Now let's go out; It's Halloween!