Friends and Family

Friday, January 4, 2013

Delicious Recipe of The Moment: Zucchini Enchilada Boats

Excellent reviews from everyone!  The first time I made it, it seemed a bit tedious, but now I make it often & I double the recipe!  Love!  And all Paleo if you leave off the cheese on top!


This recipe came from Skinny Taste.  Click on the link below for complete recipe & all instructions.
Skinnytaste Zucchini Enchiladas

**Note: I don't follow recipes, usually.  I did omit the chipotle peppers in adobe sauce because they are too hot for my kids & not one of my pantry staples. I also use onions instead of green onions & use regular chili powder instead of chipotle chili powder.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Baylor Update

Baylor is healthy and strong (and stubborn, hard-headed & typical 5th grade boy, but that's another story).  He is no longer producing new bone marrow, but we have no big changes in his health.  His doctor monitors him constantly & we continue with blood and bone marrow testing every 2-3 months to catch anything as soon as possible.  We did start seeing a new ear, nose & throat specialist that will begin monitoring Baylor's mouth & throat. Fanconi's Anemia is commonly linked to mouth and throat cancers.  It's inevitable that a bone marrow transplant is in his future, but that, too, will be taken day by day.  I will continue to update with news!
On a more positive note, Baylor's birthday is this month.  He will be 11!  We are into another decade. Can you believe it?  We are blessed as parents & blessed with family.  Love to all who keep Baylor in your prayers and love him! 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Adeline Quotes

1. "Mom, we don't like this damn food" (sitting at the dinner table with the family)
2. "I love the babysitter. Can you call her on the writing and tell her?" (meaning can I text her)
3.  (crying) "mom, you make me afraid right now" (after I got on to her because she was not listening)

This is such a fun, loving age.  She tells us constantly how much she loves us and stops to say I love you, and how great her family is!  Maybe it's because she's a girl, but I don't remember this with Baylor. She was also so appreciative of all of her Christmas gifts & said they were all the best!  I'm sure I'm leaving out a ton, but that's what I get for waiting so long to update the blog.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Pre-Christmas Fun

We visited the Christmas Train this year at a friend's church, and it was amazing.  Quick, inexpensive, and fun.  This will be our new tradition for Christmas, for sure.  Check it out at Living Stones Church!

 Christmas 2012, Baylor (10) and Adeline (3)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Mini Dance Recital


Adeline had her first mini-dance recital.  I say "mini" because her dance teacher comes to her school for an hour each week, and then they put on this little 10 minute "show off" in December & May.  It really was the cutest thing ever, but you guys....boy, was I worried!  She really is her daddy's child.  She is so clumsy and falls over her own feet and knocks things down. Some of you that know Adam may be saying to yourselves Really?  He's so outstandingly athletic? How can he be clumsy?  Yeah..it's possible!  I used to laugh and say I got it when Adam's parents refer to him as "bull in a china closet", but I was wrong.  I didn't really get it.  NOW I get it! 
Anywho, she did beautifully!  It was sweet and just long enough.  And, she was proud to show her newly learned ballet and hip-hop! 

Sidenote: She looks like a giant in this video because evidently when people say she's tall for her age, they're right!  All of these girls are 3, and Adeline is one of the younger 3 year olds.



Thursday, December 6, 2012

Squats and Hiccups

Adeline asked me tonight to babysit her friends Diego and Alicia (pronounced Badego and Balicia. And imaginary, I might add) so she could go to the gym. I said okay, and she went in the garage and rode her car around a bit. Then she comes back in and tells me she did 3 WODS (crossfit workouts) and 4 squats! You can tell she listens to conversations in this house! I told her to go tell her dad & the story got even better. She added 3 hiccups. Confused? So were we! I asked ,"do you mean pull-ups?", and then Adam asked, "or push-ups?". To which she shakes her head yes and says "yes, 3 push-ups!" Good stuff! As for the imaginary friend topic, I have some great stories to document of Baylor's imaginary friends years ago, but that will be another day.

 Dumbbell Squats!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Grandpa Lulue Nicknames

This one is for my dad who gives all of the grandkids ridiculous nicknames that none of them can remember!  One day he was yelling for one of them to come see and Carter (age 4 maybe) looked at us and said, "Which one am I?"
Well, the other night we were discussing it with Baylor because he couldn't remember some of the names & Adeline chimes in listing them all off!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Bossy Much?


She's demanding that Baylor give her more snack & saying "Baylor Janese"!

Thanksgiving Week



We had a great Thanksgiving this year! I love spending Thanksgiving at the deer lease (thanks dad).  The kids get to have their taste of country, the boys get to shoot things, we get a year's worth of deer meat, & it's a few stress free days.  I especially loved this year with our simple Thanksgiving meal with no bread, no sweets, no stuffed bellies afterwards, no TV with football, no STRESS!  We did indulge on all kinds of chocolate, fudge & other crap from Bucee's on the way home, but as my sister-in-law Sarah pointed out, we would've done that anyway, so it's good we didn't indulge the day before as well! Good point. 
I didn't list out all the things I'm thankful for because they still haven't changed.  My husband, my kids, my family, everyone being healthy, etc.  Maybe the only thing to add is our new family at Crossfit Bay Area!  I love the way Crossfit & new eating habits have changed us & mad
e us want to be better & healthier.  It really is like a family where we crossfit & we love it, the kids love playing around up there, and we've made great new friends!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Big Bro


Best part about this picture? Not that we're at wal-mart riding a bull, not that Baylor is so mad, and not that Adeline is obliviously happy.....No, the best part was that one of Baylor's excuses for not wanting to ride was that he might fall off because there is nothing to hang on to.  I tried to tell him that it's a baby toy and wasn't going to go very fast, but he insisted. So when I put the quarters in, and it started to go in slow-mo, Adam started giving him all kinds of hell about it going too fast & saying "whoa, I don't think you're going to make it 8 seconds"!! That kind of stuff only makes me & Adam have the giggles & ticks Baylor off even more.
I seriously love this picture.  It speaks volumes about their personalities!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Ouch!

Well friends, another lesson on why you should not let your little kids have sharp things.... They might fall on them?? Oh no, they might sneeze on it! Adeline was holding the air pump for the basketball yesterday in the car. She sneezed & then started screaming & holding her bloody eye. We just new the needle had stuck into her eyeball. Luckily, Crossfit Bay Area saved the day with a small first aid kit. The needle had scraped under her eye and gauged a little hole in her eyelid. A little bloody, a little bruised, but all is well. Thank goodness your eyes shut when you sneeze.
You can't see the worst of it here, but you kinda get it!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Paleo Shepherd's Pie

Recipe to not miss this week....October 8: Paleo Shepherd's Pie
This is adapted from a Shepherd's Pie recipe from WeightWatchers.  Think you can't stop eating potatoes? Wait until you try my Shepherd's Pie with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes!  It's delicious! And don't even get me started if your a calorie counter because this dish is next to nothing!
Serves 6, about 200 calories per serving

Ingredients:
1 1/2  large heads cauliflower, trimmed, chopped and steamed until very soft
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup(s) onion(s), chopped
1 bag of frozen diced carrots & peas (I find this at Kroger)
2 stalk(s) celery, diced (medium)
1 pound(s) uncooked ground turkey breast
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup(s) canned chicken broth, or beef broth
**be careful with the rosemary & thyme! I go light.
• Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Using a hand mixer or food processor, mix cauliflower until smooth.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots/peas and celery; cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add meat and cook until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Add rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper; stir to coat. Add broth and bring to a simmer; simmer until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer meat mixture to a  9X13 cake dish. Spread mashed cauliflower over top and using the back of a spoon, make decorative swirls over the top. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Slice into 6 pieces and serve.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Reading

Baylor doesn't talk to me in the car. Ever.  This is usually why.  I guess it could be worse, huh?

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Adam's Pet Peeve

Maybe "the only" pet peeve! Seriously, not much nerves that guy, but our laudry room does--AKA the garage because of the craphole house we live in (but's that's a story for another day).  I suck at doing the laundry.  No, let me rephrase that, I'm awesome at washing the laundry.  I just suck at moving it to the dryer, getting it out of the dryer, folding it, etc.  Really, you know those little funny cards on Facebook that talk about rewashing clothes because you forgot to put them in dryer or restarting the dryer because you don't want to get the clothes out?? Well, hit the nail on the head!! Adam can't stand this.  He's always complaining about it when he goes out in the laundry "area" (since we can't call it a room) and complaining as he's folding clothes.  But he is folding them, and that's all that matters!
Anyway, I think of this today because Adam stayed home from work yesterday and the one thing he got accomplished was ALL of our clothes washed and put away AND all of the junk that collects on the dryer & ironing board all put away.  :) Which makes for a happy me!

This Week's Menu

Let's see how this goes!  This may be the only week that this ever gets posted.  I plan out recipes for each week & search Paleo blogs for meals.  This would certainly keep me updating often.  Maybe I'll make the recipes their own tab on our blog.  Of course, I do not create recipes, so I'll give credit where it's due.  I do make slight changes to some of these as I cook, but you're going to have to handle that part yourself !

Sunday: Perfect Roast Chicken  & steamed broccoli

Monday: Paleo Shepherd's Pie
** I don't use bacon in this one & most of the time use ground turkey instead of beef, but both are good!

Tuesday:  Grilled Steak & Butternut Squash with Cherries


Wednesday: Leftovers (soccer practice)

Thursday: Mexican Chicken & cauliflower "rice"

Friday: Steak & eggs (Adam's night to cook)

And.....breakfast all week is my all time fav, Cowboy Breakfast Skillet

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Be The Match Bone Marrow 5K

Our first 5K for such a great cause! Lots of friends & family came out to spend some time with us early on Saturday morning & joined Team Baylor to run!! It was a first 5K for lots of us. I ended up with a giant blister on my foot, but fun, none the less.


                                    

 Baylor, Braden & Cater
 Even Adeline ran in the Tot Trot!!

Great friends!!


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Crossfit Update: Month 4


See that?? That huge muscle in my arm?? Okay, that's all! 
No, really, that is proof that Crossfit is the most awesome thing ever, and I'm not even that good at it! Adam is in the middle of his 2nd month & tested into not only Level 1, but Level 2 this week! He IS good at it.  I had no doubt.  Find a crossfit box near you and a friend, because if not you'll be too scared to go in, and go. try. it!!

1st Day of School


Baylor's first day of 5th grade!! That's right, I said 5th!  He had a great day. We have great teachers. And, his 4th grade teachers said that he's been stopping by in the mornings to "chat" with them.  Anyone who knows Baylor well, knows this is a very rare occurance, so maybe he's coming out of his shell a little!  Here's to a great school year for all the kiddos (& definitely to all my teachers out there).

Friday, August 10, 2012

Munna-melon is a Favorite

Let me start by saying that I have a love affair with watermelon that has grown as I've gotten older.  When I was pregnant with Adeline a couple of summers ago (in July & August), I would just cut the watermelone in half and sit with the WHOLE half & a spoon.  Then, of course, it would swell & I couldn't get off the couch!  And...repeat the next night, and the next, and, well, you get the picture!

So anyway, Adeline, too, is in love with watermelon.  The way she says watermelon is quite possibly the funniest thing she says. She says munnamelon. Pronounced mun-uh-melon, but really fast. Like so fast that it took us a long time to replicate the way she says it! 
So every time she goes to the grocery store with me & sees watermelons during the summer, she's shouting about getting a munnamelon.  We had one in the car this week & every time we would go somewhere, she would say, "oh mom, we have to get the munnamelon out of the car"!
Finally, yesterday, I had just drove up from working out & Adam was leaving to go to workout, so Adeline and I were getting the watermelon out so we could cut it up.  She says "mom, i'm going to get strong, too (insert cute muscle flex), so I can carry munnamelons"!  Then she proceeds to talk about how she will go workout & do weights to give her big muscles.  All for the munnamelons!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Happy Birthday Adeline!

This year, Adeline had a Minnie Mouse party at Jump n Jungle!  Lots of people came out to see us & she got lots of love and goodies! We also went out to eat with Justin & Wesley & family for Uncle Wes's birthday.  Lots of fun time. 
Birthday Party Stuff
Goodie Bags

Birthday Girl
The Invitation

Cupcakes

Cake

More party pictures: