Excess......

I just finished reading the most amazing book.  It is called 7 an experimental mutiny against excess by Jen Hatmker.

This book is challenging me to look at my life and to see if I am really living as Jesus would.  Of course none of us can be perfect like Him, but can my heart and actions be more like His?  I think I can do better.  I want my life to be more about enjoying my blessings and more about sharing my blessings.  I want my heart to be drawn to do better, do more, love more, serve more, care more. I want it to be more natural for me to give, sacrifice, and love.  I want to not only think of my own wants and desires, but to look at those around me that could meet Jesus through my acts of love and service.  I am asking God to show me the areas I can be a blessing. To send the people my way that I can help, love, and serve.  I'm not gonna lie, its a little scary cause I'm not sure what that might require me to sacrifice, but I don't want to live a life that only focuses on myself and want I desire any longer.

6 Minute Solavei Video!

Here is a 6 minute video that explains what Solavei is. Definitely worth 6 minutes of your time. If you are interested or want more info please let me know. I would be happy to share this with you!

http://vimeo.com/48049267

Clean Eating Caramel Popcorn! Delish!

Can you say delicious and healthy?! 

So let me say first of all that I got this recipe from www.thegraciouspantry.com.  So super easy. Me and my kiddos loved it!

Ingredients:

8 Cups popcorn

1/2 Cup Raw honey

1/4 Cup Raw almond butter   

 I air popped some corn in my microwave popcorn bowl, about 8 cups popped.  Then you take 1/2 Cup of raw honey and cook in a small pot till it boils up about an inch.  Then take it off the heat and stir in 1/4 Cup almond butter.  Poor over the popcorn and stir with a large spoon.  Let it cool a little and enjoy!

Day 1 Success!

We started our first day of homeschooling today and it went really well.  Hooray! Bailey was so excited to get started she got up early, was dressed, and had a plate of fruit out on the table ready for breakfast.  It was awesome.  We got started early and since today was mostly an introduction to the subjects it only took us an hour and half.  

Brody even did school work too.  I bought some block activities, puzzles, and made some activity bags for him to work on while Bailey did school.  He was so funny.  He kept saying, "I'm doing my homework." Overall a great first day.  

Where's the beef? Here it is!

I have been trying really hard to have my family not only eat really healthy, but to buy better quality ingredients as local as possible.  A friend told me of a local coop that goes in together to buy several things in bulk that are direct from the farmer/rancher.  I checked it out and am so glad I did.  Below is a picture of my recent order of 1/12th of a cow!  I got lots of variety and it is all from 100% grass fed and finished pasture raised cows.  I got lots of ground beef, different cuts of steaks, roasts, ribs, stew meat, etc.  I am so excited!  I cooked one of the roasts last night and it was wonderful.  If you live in the vegas area check out www.vegasfoodcoop.com.  If you don't live in the area I recommend looking locally as much as possible and buying in bulk.  I also went in with this group and bought a gallon of raw honey that is amazing!  We love honey around our house and it is way cheaper to buy it in bulk than in smaller portions from my local farmers markets. So much better than the stuff you buy in the stores too.  

Watch out Picasso!

We decided to try a little art project that I got from pinterest.  The kids had lots of fun, but I made a few mistakes.  I meant to do four signs all for their bathroom.  They would say wash, brush, flush, and hang.  When I bought the letters and the canvases I only planned for the words having 4 letters.  Whoops 2 of them have 5!  Then when I started to put the letters on I realized I only had two of the letter H. Boo!  So we only made two signs for now.  They turned out alright though and most of all the kdis had a blast painting. : )

Brody is hard at work

Finished Project

Bailey loves pink

                 

Homeschooling

This will be my first year to homeschool so organization will be key! After reading lots of reviews and previewing several planners, I went with The Well Planned Day! I have to say I am loving this so far. It really encompasses a homeschool moms whole day/week/month. It has grocery list tear outs, meal planning sections, budgetting, and all the things needed for planning your school day!

No bake energy balls

No bake energy balls!

                                     

I make these tastey treats for my family constantly. We keep them in the freezer so they last longer, but we actualy go through them fast enough the refrigerator would probably be fine. They are loaded with protein and healthy stuff, but taste like a no bake cookie. There are lots of variations, but my go to recipe is as follows:

2 Cups rolled oats
1 cup Peanut Butter (I use oganic pb that is only peanuts in the ingredient list)
2/3 cup raw honey
1/2 Cup high Cacoa chocolate chips
1/4 Cup walnuts
1/8 cup ground flax seeds
2 Tblsp chia seeds

Mix it all together in a large bowl and let in chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Then roll into balls. Thats all there is to it. You can store them in the freezer or the refrigerator. :)
Other addins: coconut, almonds butter instead of PB, change up nuts, could use raisins or other dried fruit as well. Play around with it and find what you like best.

Who wouldn't want a cheaper phone bill?

Okay all, I am excited to tell you about a new company that is launching in September that is going to not only save me money, but give me the oportunity to make a little extra as well.  The company is called Solavei.  They are offering unlimited talk, text, and data on a nation wide 4G network with no contract!  I love that.  Another really neat part is that they are operating on a social commerce network.  This means that they will not spend the billions of dollars in advertising like AT&T did last year.  They will instead be paying their customers for sharing the service with others!  I am attaching the links to a company overview webinar and a compensation webinar that you can watch and learn more.  If you are interested let me know.  I would love to tell you how you, too can be part of the prelaunch of this awesome company!

http://vimeopro.com/solaveitv/solavei-vision/video/46408300

password: solavei

http://vimeopro.com/solaveitv/solaveicompensation/video/46410988

password: solavei