Lexi's big day!

We had a great day catching up on school and canning.

I only have those 10 tomatoes left.
I think I will roast them and freeze them for future use.
It's not really enough to can anything with.
I canned  7 quarts of spaghetti sauce today.

I filled the dehydrator again with pears.
We really love them, so I know they won't go to waste!
I made  6 1/2 quarts of sauce with them,
and the rest are cooking down to fill the dehydrator for fruit leather.
Can't have too much of it, can you???
I'll probably add some blueberries to some of it.
I was thinking pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to the other.
Is that too weird???
Kids might think so....  
I won't tell them what it is.

Lexi had her first violin lesson today.
She has wanted to learn for YEARS.
We finally decided we had enough time to really do it.
She couldn't stop grinning :)
Really, she loved it!

Dylan had to show his new song when we got home too.
He wouldn't let me take a video.
TEENAGERS!

Here's an idea from dinner last night,
everyone LOVED IT!
I took my big roasting pan and added about 4 big sliced chicken breasts,
3 big bell peppers,
3 big onions,
drizzled with olive oil,
seasoned with mexican spices
(cumin, chili powder, oregano, taco seasoning, salt, pepper, cayenne...)
whatever your family likes.
I added a couple cans of diced tomatoes.
Popped it in the oven at 400 for about 45 minutes or so.
The kids ate on corn tortillas.
Jimmy and I just ate in a bowl with salsa and sour cream.
No complaints from anyone!

Our parenting lesson today.
Encourage them.  ALL.THE.TIME.
Be their cheer leader.
Who else will?
"What you speak into the ears of your children can impart love and build bridges of hope for them or it can poison their perceptions and crush their confidence."
LOVE THAT.

Baby's new shoes...   Her second pAir from ebooba on etsy.  Love them!

New chai recipe and a busy day

So I have a chai recipe.
It is a really good recipe, but I'm always on the lookout to try others.
I've tried some REALLY spicy, REALLY sweet, and some are just REALLY bad.
This one that I made this time is SO GOOD.
It is the only one I've seen that has you toast the spices.
I think it adds a depth that none have had yet!
I did add a couple vanilla beans from the bottom of my homemade vanilla.
I think that was the only thing I changed!

We ran errands all morning.
Beginning with picking up our Azure order.
I decided to order
ginger, watermelon, glycerin for tinctures,
olive oil, my favorite raw cheese,
hormone free butter, my favorite yogurt
that I use to make my raw milk yogurt,
a WHOLE case of organic pumpkin....
and a few other things that I can't seem to think of.
I'm still interested to hear what you get and find are great deal.

We headed to Sam's to get all our organic veggies for juicing.
By far the best prices on spinach and carrots.
They also had a great price on raspberries and Baby Bell cheeses.
That made my kiddos very happy and gave them something to much on for the rest of the errands.

Our next stop was the County Extension Office to ask all our 4-H questions.
Tiffany handles that and she was SO NICE.
I think she convinced Lexi that it would be great.
The whole way home, she was picking out all the things on the list that would be fun to do.
Dylan was even considering a couple things...  WOOHOO!
Did you ever do 4-H?
What was your favorite topic?
I'm still a little bit confused as to how it all works.....

At home I made my favorite lunch salad.
I have to keep lettuce and things all cut up in the fridge or I won't take time to do it and I'll just snack.
My favorite has lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, pumpkin seeds, salsa, and homemade ranch.
YUM.
One time I would have just ran through a drive though.
So glad I don't even think of that as an option anymore!

Another great time-saving tip is my chicken in the crockpot.
It's my baby sister's birthday today and we will go over to my dad's for dinner.
He's having pizza.
We don't eat pizza.
The kids will, but Jimmy and I won't.
I wanted to have something ready that we could munch on when we got home but didn't have to work to hard to make or we'd just snack.
I took out one of my favorite yummy hutterite chickens from the freezer.
I buy a few every month - they are such a good buy for only $6.25 each!
Put it on some bunched up tin foil (next time I'll use parchment.  TIN?  What was I thinking?),
drizzled olive oil, sprinkled spices and turned on low.
It smells SO YUMMY!
It will be delicious when we come home later!

The parenting reminder for day 8 is to cherish your children.
That doesn't mean just love them from afar.
That means touch them.
Every day, hug them, put our hand on them, wrestle with them.
Even if they don't seem touchy feely and it takes you so far out of your comfort zone.
Even if it takes time that you don't have to give.
The feeling of love they will get from a one second touch will speak
volumes as to how you feel for your child.

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