What a weekend

Wow!
Fun and busy weekend here!
We started out bright and early getting our bountiful basket.
Can't go a week without our baskets!
Seriously, I miss it so much if I do!

Next, we headed to a huge neighborhood rummage.
Apparently, it is a BIG DEAL.
I've never head of it, but we figured we'd give it a go.
It was a gorgeous morning when we set out, but by ten or so, it was HOT.
We only made a few purchases...
    - a covered sandbox for the baby :)
    - an old suitcase for me (I LOVE old suitcases.  What should I do to it?  Cover in fabric?  Paint?)
    - a few random DVDs that Jimmy had to have
    - a couple cute tie-dye headscarves for the baby - SO CUTE!

We ended the night with the Dueling Pianos show!
They are phenomenal.
Great entertainers and great talent.

After church today, Lexi had to get ready for a birthday party a cute little friend.
She got all decked out for a tea party. 
SO CUTE!

Of course there is packer watching and we're ending the day with a welcome home party for a friend.
Great weekend of fellowship, friendship, and time with friends.

Day eight of our parenting lessons has us looking at who has the hearts of our kids.
Do they still want to be around you and hang on your every word?
What has pushed them away.
The only thing that reaches them is whatever has their heart.
Man, I need to get back there with Dylan and hang on to Lexi with all my might.
They can slip away so easily.
    - with our attitude
    - with our laziness
    - with our negligence

Here are some pics from the weekend....

Yummy tomatoes shared from a friend's garden!

My 18 or so pounds of dried pears.

Arabella getting crafty.

Cooking up a storm....

Began the day wit wheatgrass in my ginger shot.
I stopped growing wheatgrass before our trip,
and hadn't began any seeds again.
At the local co-op yesterday, Jimmy and I noticed they had beautiful stuff for $2!
How can you pass that up???
Got me in the mood to start soaking my seeds again :)
For the kiddos, I made a grain free apple cake.

I bought tomatoes and pears from bountiful baskets last week.
Today they are both ripe.
I jumped in right away with and started cutting up pears for the dehydrator.
I filled all nine trays up with slices - probably used 18 pounds total.
I'm hoping to get to the store and use some birthday money I have stashed on a food mill.
Assuming I will acually do that,
I saved all the extra parts of my pears and threw them in the crockpot to make pear butter. 
I added some quartered pears too, to fill it up.
I despise trying to get things through a strainer.
I have maybe 10 pounds left to figure out something.

I halved enough tomatoes to cover two cookies sheets.
They are in the oven roasting with olive oil and garlic.
YUM!
When I get to that store for that food mill,
I have a plan to cook it in the crockpot for 24 hours.
This should make a beautiful tomato paste.
Still have about half the tomatoes left.

No school today.
We were planning to do it,
but we have much more fun plans
in preparing a surprise for Jimmy's birthday next week.
More on that later :)

In our parenting lessons:
Don't be easily provoked.
Love isn't.
We shouldn't be surprised wen our children make mistakes.
You don't want them to feel insecure or scared to mess up.
Your reaction to them is usually more about some stress or selfishness going on with you
and less about what is actually going on with them.
Let it go.
Be aware.
DON'T take your stuff out on them.

Juice fast day 2

Here's our juice for tomorrow.....
     Yes, that is one big nasty beet and the tops being used.   Blech!
     One romaine heart
     The other 1/2 of our container of spinach
      One lb. bag of carrots
      One lemon
      Three apples
      One inch of ginger
      1/2 of that beautiful pineapple


Verdict?    Jimmy tried a shot warm.   You can definitely detect the beet but the pineapple is so delicious that it is bearable.  I was advised to only use 1/2 a beet next time.
I don't know how we'll ever eat through thos 5 million beets I have!


If you are following along, comment and let us know how it's going a d what your favorite recipe is!



In dehydrator news, here's what I've done....
       Salad savoy    -     Decent.   I will probably be the only one to snack on them but they are ok
       Beets   -    Really gross.  I had high hopes for dipping chips, but the flavor is SO intense.
                         ( I actually threw the out before taking a pic)
        Watermelon    -  very sweet, Lexi liked, Dylan didn't
        Bananas     -  more chewy than ones I've bought before - Lexi isn't a fan
                              (but she doesn't love them fresh either), Dylan liked
        Strawberries     -   delicious!
        Apples    -   delicious!

Our new toy.....

We have a new toy in our house!
It's the Excallibur dehydrator!

We couldn't wait to try it out.
We are excited to make fruit, veggie chips, jerky, crackers.....    OHHHHH the possibilities!
It arrived late afternoon, so about all we had time for was fruit leather.  
I immediately blended whatever was near.


Strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas, apple pears....