Our Potential New Home!!

We are excited at the possibilities of moving to this new home. The land is absolutely beautiful!!! We have been looking for a very long time to find some more space for our family. We were wanting some land, would like a pond, pool, creek, etc. Well, this land has it all. The house has great bones and we plan on updating it to our styles and tastes. We are praying God will continue to lead us to this home. If He closes the door then I will be sad but I will know it is His will. We have put our home for sale and have already had a family look before we even put it up for sale. We are praying that things keep working as smoothly as they have been. The house we are looking at was not even for sale. It was just so God led.....It is really awesome to watch Him work!! Here is a little clip of pics of the house/farm. We are truly excited and very hopeful. Enjoy!! I will keep you guys posted as things happen.

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Catch up....what's been up?

Okay...I tried to make the title more catchy and I am afraid that it is just cheesy instead of catchy....Oh, well.

I have just not made time to post. I will try to cram a bunch into this post...Hang on and hopefully stay with me.

We went to Meemaw and Pawpaw's and played on the lake. Matt and Candy joined in the visit too. We took a boat ride over to the restaurant and then stopped for a swim in the deep water by the dam. It is always really cool there and the kids like to swim out in the open water. We are lovin' Clara's lifejacket. It is the best lifejacket EVER!!! She is actually swimming around our pool now with it all by herself. She truly loves it too as you can see in the pics.

Here are some pics of Clara having her first corn on the cob. =) It is funny that she won't or wouldn't eat corn before I gave it to her on the cob. That is my girl for ya....independent! =D I thought the pics were too cute not to share.

Now I can update you guys on my journey to health that God has been leading me on. So far I am feeling great and loving the freedom God has given me with food and a bonus is that I am now 20 lbs lighter!! I LOVE that I am not on a diet! This is the first time in my life that I have not been on a diet trying to lose weight or worried about needing to. Here are some pics of Clara's plates as of late...(her plates are the same as our plates except sometimes I throw in some fruit on her plates too). The boys just grab fruit when they want it. (so does Clara...I have to hide or make sure fruit is out of reach b/c she will take a few bites of all of it!!! and then leave it lying around). The plate below is mashed potatoes with vegan mushroom/onion gravy, corn on the cob and an experimental lentil loaf. (mock meatloaf). The lentil loaf was not a huge hit with Cullen. Clay, Clara and I liked it. Clara and I really liked it.

The below plate is obvious as far as banana, peas, blueberries, and spaghetti. The spaghetti is rice noodles with pasta sauce but the meat is not meat. It is a meatless ground made by Yves. We all are pleased with it.

The below pic is sauteed squash and onions, blueberries. I made enough lentil loaf to freeze and then this round did not make it as a loaf. I made it like lentil patties in the oven. The lentil loaf has lentils, rice, tomatoe sauce, garlic, onions, carrots, etc. in it. The mac and "cheese" that you see has no dairy or cheese in it at all. =) The noodles are Jerusalem Artichoke macaroni and the "cheese" sauce is made with water, veggie broth, mustard, and Nutritional Yeast Flakes . I also added sea salt, garlic powder, and Sriracha for some spice. The yeast flakes are a new FAVE!! As we (Clara and I) are not eating meat we need to make sure we get B vitamins and this was suggested. I LOVE this stuff!! It has a cheesy, buttery flavor. If you want a great snack....air pop some popcorn add salt, olive oil spray and generously sprinkle onion powder and yeast flakes all over it. The flavor reminds me of Funyuns if you have ever had those. Funyuns used to be one of my favorites as a kid. So I LOVE the flavor to the popcorn. One of the neighbor boys had it and he loved it and told me to send the recipe to his mom. I thought it was funny. Clay, Clara, and I really liked it and the boys thought it was okay. I will definitely make it again. I have used the cheese sauce before in a squash casserole and they all liked it.

Another fave I am doing is smoothies for breakfast. I make them with a banana, frozen blueberries and strawberries and add raw honey for sweet, vanilla soymilk, and I also add Flax Seeds and Spirulina. I only added a tsp of spirulina and you could not really taste it. The kids drank it up!! So slowly I will add a bit more to it. It can have a very "greeny" taste to it. It is just powder that you add to the blender.

I am trying to find ways to add boosts of health to the foods we eat. I also don't want my children to feel like they are being deprived by not eating the junk that other kids/adults eat. We have found great ice cream (without dairy either soy or coconut). I do want to stress though that you MUST make sure your foods are not genetically modified (especially corn and soy) and the package will say it or say Non-GMO. I think there is something wrong with genetically modifying what God made by putting pesticides right into the corn and soy, etc. we eat. Scary stuff!!! (sorry I am bouncing around everywhere)

I found a great recipe for snickerdoodles. I found this recipe here. Here ya go!

Snickerdoodles (makes 3-4 dozen) (They freeze wonderfully rolled in sugar/cinnamon balls and then thaw quickly to cook)

3/4 C vegan butter (Earth's Balance)

1-1/3 C beet sugar (natural sugar and tastes/looks like sugar)

1tsp natural vanilla

1/4 soy milk

2-1/2 TBS cornstarch

3 C spelt flour (what I used)

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder

1tsp cornstarch

1 tsp cinnamon

For rolling cookie dough:

1tbsp cinnamon

2 tbsp beet sugar

Preheat oven to 325 F

Cream together butter, sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla, soy milk, cornstarch and mix until well corporated.

Sift in flour, baking powder, salt, cornstarch and cinammon. Stir. If the dough is too dry and crumbly add a splash of soy milk. It should not be sticky though.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Form the dough into 1/2 inch balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on greased cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for about 12 minutes until golden around the edges, but still soft on top. Transfer to wire cooling rack. ENJOY!!

I am pleased to say that I coordinated an organic produce coop for our area. The organic produce is delivered to our host home (Wendy's) and then we distribue it into bins of the people who have joined the coop. The people then come and pay and pick up their bins. So far we have something like 23 people or so. It all started with me wanting to find a coop to buy fresh, organic produce for our family. I found one around but it would be an hour drive there and another hour back to pick up all the stuff. I had offered to bring back the produce for anyone who wanted it. Well, we had so much interest that we had enough to start one locally so I didn't have to drive back and forth!! Over 20 people for our first time! I know it is more work and my every other Tuesday is shot but I feel I am doing a good service for those in our area. I will try to get pics of Sept. 1st's delivery. This week we got mangos, peaches, plums, nectarines, blueberries, corn, green beans, onions, garlic, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, butter lettuce, corn on the cob (still in husks)....I probably forgot something but you get the idea. Tonight for dinner we had potatoes and green beans sauteed with garlic, onions, and red pepper. I served corn on the cob, quinoa, and cucumber & carrot salad. Mmm, mmm good! So far I am very pleased with the coop and the good it is bringing to our community. The kids helped load bins and Cullen took pride in having people sign in and collect their money. Clara loves fruit! and veggies for that matter but she probably stole 6 plums while we were working. Eventually Christian had to keep her inside so she would not take a bite out of any more. So...needless to say all the plums I got had little bites in them...;)

On another note....we are looking at buying another home. We have been looking for a long while for a house with some acreage or at least a bigger home with more space. We have come close but nothing felt right. I was talking with a friend the other day and it happened to come into our conversation that if the right person came along they might sell. They have only been there a couple of years and I had never visited so did not know what type of property or house thye lived in. Well...it sounded perfect on paper so we arranged a time to go look. We looked Tuesday and we just LOVE the property. It is 20 acres with a barn, pond, creek, saltwater pool and the land is absolutely HEAVEN!!! There is a small white frame home that was once a nurses' station. It is so charming and has old wood floors, a bedroom, bath, kitchenette, and a living area. This would be our school house until Christian was old enough to live in it alone. The house is almost 2900 sq ft and the lay out is nice but it needs to be completely remodeled for our tastes. So we are really praying on it and so are our friends that it be the move that God wants for us. We are going to look again tomorrow with buyer's eyes. I am going to take my camera so hopefully I can get some good ones to show you. If they moved we have agreed that they would leave the 2 goats, chickens and one of the horses. We could have our own little petting zoo. =D As if finding that home was not coincidence enough....we called someone we knew wanted to move back into our neighborhood (that had moved out) and they are coming to look at our house Sunday. The requirements were to be one story and a pool and we have that. So it looks positive so far. God only knows and we are trying to listen closely to know what we are to do. If it is to happen then doors will open and if it is not the plan God has for us then the doors will close. Whatever happens we have peace of mind that God is in control and leading us to whatever can glorify Him best!

I told you I had a lot to add...I hope it interested some of you. I am really excited about what God is doing for me and the health of my family! I feel my eyes are completely opened and I pray that I continue to seek Him and hear His wisdom as He shares with me!! Keep us in your prayers as we make changes to glorify God and that we will lean on him and allow Him to guide us!!

Help Bring Harper Home!!!

You can read Harper's story here. I was outraged when I read about this and watched the video. It is a shame they had to leave their little girl in China. Heartbreaking....Please share the videos and story with anyone you can. You can also sign this petition to help bring Harper home and prevent this from happening to other children and families!! Please, please, please take action on this matter!! I cannot imagine having to leave one of my children behind and I hope you cannot imagine it either!

Tot Food, Christian's Date Night, & weight loss.

Last night was Christian's turn for a date night. We had a really good time. We went and ate Japanese food and then went to the book store. We did not have long enough at all at the book store so we will have to make another trip again soon. After that we had to head over to our movie. We saw Aliens in the Attic. The beginning was somewhat offensive as the 18-year-old girl wore a bikini and her boyfriend who said he was a senior was really a senior in college. The people were dishonest and not very Godly for sure!! All in all it was a very worldly movie (as most are these days), but it was a decent movie. Probably a renter though. After our movie we ran to Target and closed it down...=) Christian looked at books and video games and I picked up all the "equipment" needed to teach Clara to potty train. We bought little girl panties, a potty, pull-ups, and a baby doll that tee-tees. I am not sure when I will start this...she is giving me signs she is ready....but to be honest I am not. =D It is tough work and inconvenient....is that bad of me?? Christian and I really enjoyed our time together. It is nice to get to spend one-on-one time with each of them like we have been.

For lunch today Clara had peas, frozen cherries, and Chicken-Free Chicken nuggets with organic, sugar-free ketchup. I also gave her Terra's sweet potato and carrot chips but she does not like them, which REALLY surprises me!! They are YUMMY!! She ate everything but the chips. I am still struggling with getting her to drink Soy milk or rice milk. The boys love it. We like Silk Very Vanilla and the chocolate milk too. She was never much of a milk drinker and neither am I so I understand, but I am lovin' the soy milk. This morning I made her a big glass and she watchd me. She knew it was not juice (fortified orange juice) so she said, "no!" and pushed it away. =( I will continue to try ....I am hard-headed and stubborn just like my baby girl! =D

On another food note...this Monday marked my 15 pounds lost mark!! Woo Hoo!!! God is making this so easy for me. I am so grateful to Him for holding me up and guiding me through this battle with food. It is no longer a battle and God won it for me!! I guess I would call me vegan if you asked but I would like to call myself FREE!!! =D I still have quite a bit of weight to lose but as long as I am making healthful, Godly choices that will just come with being healthy!!

Okay....that is it for today!

IronFish '09 and The Louisiana Boardwalk...all in a Saturday!

Saturday was the IronFish in Benton, LA. This was Cullen's second year to do this triathlon. Christian chose not to do it and in the long run regretted it. Here is a slideshow (lengthy) of our Saturday...I did post a Sunday swim at the end with Clara in her new lifejacket we got at the Outdoor Bass ProShop. After the Tri we went to the Boardwalk and had a good time. We ate lunch at Sushiko. After that we rode the carousel. Clara loved it at first and got quite bored with it towards the end. Christian decided to buy Clara a medium-sized Lammie at the Build-A-Bear store. She loves her little Lammie Meemaw got her a long time ago. Since then Meemaw & Pawpaw got her a large Lammie for Easter. Well, we figured she needed medium Lammie. She sleeps with all of them but little Lammie is still the fave!! I just have to say how sweet of my Christian to spend his hard earned money buying his baby sister a Lammie!! I had to brag a minute! =D

Cullen did fabulous in this tri placing 7th out of 59 boys ages 7-10. He did awesome!! We are so proud of the hard work he put in for training for this tri and his dedication! Katelyn did the tri again this year too and she also did fantastic and there are a few pics of her in the slideshow! She improved her time from last year and also put in some great dedication and training for this tri with Cullen. We are proud of them!! The slideshow is a bit long but I could not figure out how to shorten the length of time on the photos. I hope you enjoy it!! We had a blast this weekend!

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