Slumber Party

I let Breanna have a slumber party on the last day of school to celebrate the end of the school year.  This was actually her first slumber party ever - she has never even gone to one before.  Needless to say, she was pretty excited about it.  I only let her invite 3 friends and they were all really good, polite girls.

They started off with sleeping bag races down the stairs, but that got a little too crazy so we decided to have dinner instead.

For Dinner I let them each make their own mini pizza and then they got to watch a movie on our big projector movie screen.

I don't think any of the girls slept very much.  I think they were all asleep by 11pm when I went to bed but then they all woke up around 2am and I don't think they ever went back to sleep.  They didn't wake us up until around 6am luckily.  I think that was just because they started getting hungry.  I think they all had a really great time, but we sure had some grabby little girls to deal with all day the next day after the party was over.

Last Day of School

Eva's last day of school was yesterday and Breanna's is today.  We took the kids out for frozen yogurt last night to celebrate graduating from kindergarten and the 2nd grade.  Eva actually graduated from speech also.  She still has a little trouble with some sounds and rhyming but not enough to qualify her for speech anymore.  There was a time I didn't think she would ever be talking, so this is quite the accomplishment for her.  She has come a really long way in the last couple years.  I am amazed and very proud of her.  We were also celebrating Breanna getting into the Highly Capable Program at her school for next year.  She qualified for both reading and math.  Next year she will be placed in a regular class but will be clustered with the other 3rd graders who qualified and then they will be pulled out for those subjects that they are more advanced in to do accelerated work.  We are very proud of her and know she will do really well next year in the program.  Tonight Breanna is having her first slumber party with a few of her best friends from school here at our house.  I'm not too worried about it because they are all very sweet, well mannered girls.  I'll try to remember to take some pictures tonight to post later.  Here are a few I took last night at the Flirt frozen yogurt place:

I think Joshua really enjoyed sharing Daddy's frozen yogurt.  He especially loved the chocolate and strawberries.  He doesn't get sugar very often, so he got a little crazy after he ate it but he crashed pretty hard a couple hours later and slept really good all night.

Girl Scout Bridging

The girls had their bridging ceremony last night for Girl Scouts.  Breanna bridged from a Brownie to a Junior and Eva bridged from a Daisy to a Brownie.  It was a short little ceremony and then they got to enjoy some treats.  The girls have really loved being in Girl Scouts.  I volunteered this past year to be the Brownie co-leader and will continue on next year as the Junior co-leader.  I have had a lot of fun getting to know all the girls and watching them grow throughout the year.

Here's troop 42167 in their new uniforms.  Breanna was hiding in the very back.

Joshua enjoying a treat!  He also enjoyed the ceremony - well I should say he enjoyed running around and trying to get up on the stage during the entire ceremony.

Some of the Brownies enjoying some brownies and other tasty treats.  They get to go to a backyard campout next week at one of the leader's houses and then they will be done with Girl Scouts for this year and will have to wait until the Fall for it to start back up again.  I really wish they did activities during the summer, but I guess we will have to find other things to do to keep ourselves busy.

Father's Day

For Father's Day this year we surprised Jason with waffles for breakfast.  I haven't made those for a really long time and even though they were gluten free, I think he enjoyed them.  Joshua sure enjoyed them and was upset that he didn't get more for lunch later that day.  We also surprised Jason with some fly fishing gear from Cabelas and a hammock from REI.  I think he had a good day even though he had to give a talk at church.  The girls made some really nice cards for him too.  It was Joshua's first day starting nursery yesterday, so that made for an even more relaxing time at church for Jason and me.  He loved nursery too, which made it even easier for us.  We celebrated Father's day with Jason's family the night before, so we just had a nice relaxing day with our little family at home.

Health and Safety Fair

We went to the Lake Steven's Health and Safety Fair today.  Last weekend we went to the Get Movin Kick Off event in Marysville and there were a lot of the same vendors.  There were a lot of different organizations from around the community and different businesses sharing what services they have to offer.  Some had activities for the kids to do and some had things to handout like pamphlets and stickers and other random things.  We brought home so much stuff.  I'm still sorting through all the stuff we brought home from last weekend.  They had a big bouncy house there for the kids to enjoy.  Joshua wasn't too sure of it, but he had fun as long as Breanna was holding him.  

The Fire Department was there.  They brought their Fire House for the kids to try out.  It simulates what it is like to crawl through a burning house filled with smoke.  The girls thought that was so much fun.  They also got free hats and their faces painted from the fire department.

The kids also got to go inside a real firetruck, first aid car, and a police boat.  They really liked that but their favorite thing was the smoke house.  I thought that was funny because last week, at the Get Movin event, their favorite thing was getting their vision and hearing checked from the Lions Club who were offering free screenings.  It's nice that it doesn't take much to entertain my kids.  I'm glad that I have been able to find so many free things in the community to take the kids to.  I'm hoping this summer there will be even more things to do so I don't go insane having the kids home with me every day.  We're still waiting for some nice weather to show up here.  I'm hoping we will have a nice summer so the kids can spend a lot of time outside playing with their friends.  They are lucky to have so many friends in our neighborhood to play with.

Going to the Bus Stop

One of Joshua's favorite things to do is to go to the bus stop with the girls.  He especially loves to be pushed around in his little red car.

 Whenever he gets in trouble or is being shy because someone at the bus stop is looking at him or talking to him he starts rubbing his eye.

We have been teaching him sign language, so here he is signing "bird" after seeing a crow on the ground.

He likes to throw himself backwards when he throws a tantrum.  Luckily his car is pretty secure or he would have gotten a nasty bump.  I can't remember what he was so upset about.  I think one of the neighbors started talking to him and he felt a little insecure and was mad that I was taking his picture instead of picking him up and holding him.

We Love Carrots!

Yes, that is a 25 pound bag of carrots.  It weighs more than Joshua.  With my diet we go through a lot of carrots.  Not quite as much as at the beginning when I wasn't digesting anything but carrots and chicken.  Now I think we go through about 5 pounds a week.  I'm surprised I haven't turned orange yet.  I don't eat them raw though, so maybe that's why.  Joshua also loves carrots.  He loves to try to climb on the table while I am peeling and slicing a big batch of carrots to get them ready to be steamed.  I usually give him a whole carrot to chew on to keep him busy and off the table.  He's also a good little helper and picks up all the pieces I accidentally drop on the floor.  Carrots are the one vegetable I know the girls will eat also.  They only like them raw though, dipped in something of course.

Green, Gooey Soup

This is my life right now.  This is the green, gooey soup that Breanna was talking about in her Mother's Day poem to me.  I pretty much have this for every meal, but I change it up a little every time so I don't get too sick of it.  I don't really have a recipe, but in case anyone wants to try this very nourishing/easily digestible/healing soup, here are the instructions:

Simmer some homemade chicken or beef broth in a sauce pan.  Homemade broth is very healing for both the digestive system as well as the immune system.  Add any assortment of these veggies peeled, de-seeded, and diced:  zucchini, cucumber, summer squash, carrot, tomato, red pepper, cabbage, and onion.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes.  Add any assortment or all of these steamed and pureed veggies(I make large batches of these at the beginning of the week so they are always ready to go):  broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, peas, kale, spinach and acorn or butternut squash.  I usually add in a scoop of each of these or whatever I chose to cook that week.  Then add fresh grated ginger or garlic and heat for a couple minutes.  Turn off the stove and add one egg yolk and a tsp. each of butter, coconut oil, and olive oil(with my diet it is very hard to get enough calories so these fats are very important, they are also important for healing my intestines).  Then add good quality sea salt and pepper to taste.  Oh, and protein.  I add 2 ounces of cooked chicken, beef, or fish which I have already cooked and ready to go.  I add it cold to help cool down my soup.  You can also add 2 whole eggs(for your protein) before you turn the stove off and slowly stir and cook them until done.  Enjoy!  It's actually very tasty.  I can tolerate most veggies without pureeing them now, but I actually prefer most of them pureed because it makes the soup so creamy and delicious.  Feel free to add any other veggies that sound good.  These are just the ones that I use most often.

Sauerkraut

I have recently started experimenting with making my own sauerkraut because of all the health benefits, especially for someone with digestive problems.  Sauerkraut is definitely a superfood that everyone should include in their diets. It is high in vitamin A and C and is a rich source of antioxidants and also has anti-inflammatory properties.  It was actually used to prevent scurvy by the vikings and other early sailors because of it's high vitamin C content and long shelf life.  It is also a great way to get a large amount of probiotics from the lactic acid bacteria that is naturally found on vegetables and fruits and grows to large numbers when fermented.  It is actually a better source of probiotics than eating yogurt because of the higher levels of good bacteria.  From what I have researched, probiotics are the best thing you can eat to help heal your gut and also to strengthen your immune system.  When you get sick, the best thing you can do for your immune system and to get over your illness faster is to eat sauerkraut.

It is super cheap and super easy to make also.  All you need is salt and cabbage and maybe a little filtered water.  I just use about 2 tablespoons of salt for every head of cabbage.  I finely shred the cabbage and layer the cabbage and salt in jars and pack them in really tight using my fists.  The salt will bring out the juices from the cabbage to make your brine.  I leave it out overnight and pound it down with my fists again.  If I don't have enough brine to cover the cabbage, then I mix a tsp. of salt per cup of water and pour it on top to cover with a little extra to allow for expansion of the cabbage.  I also used some whole cabbage leaves to stuff in the jar in order to keep the rest of the cabbage down, so it doesn't float to the top and get exposed to air(I think I need a bigger leaf for the jar on the left).  I then leave this on the counter for 10 days and then it goes into the fridge for 7-10 weeks before it is completely finished.  The jar on the right has a lid that allows air to escape but no air can get in, so the gases produced by the fermentation can escape but no oxygen can get in.  You don't want oxygen because oxygen creates mold.  The jar on the right is completely air-tight, so I will have to open the jar to let the gases out once a day for the first week.  I am experimenting with the two different jars to see if there is any difference in the end product.  I'll post another picture in 10 weeks when it is finished and let you know my results.

The Pig

We have this giant glass pig that we inherited from my parents that is meant to be a piggy bank.  We did use it for that at one time but we pretty much emptied it out when we started our adoption process.  One of Joshua's favorite things to do is to put things in the pig.  He will try to fit anything he can into it.  The funny thing is that once he puts it in he can't get it back out, yet he keeps putting even his favorite things into it.  Whenever we can't find something, like the remote, or some other random item, the first thing we check is the pig and it is usually in there.  Here's what the pig looks like today: