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!