Wordless Wednesday

Gratitudes

1. That God has watered my garden for me for the past 3 days

2. That my kids have been very good about trying new recipes

3. That we can afford to get the bathroom floor fixed

Meal Plan Monday

And it really is Monday this time!!

Rob and I have discussed it and decided to make a big change in our family's diets. In the past few weeks I have read The G.I. Diet and Living the G.I. Diet by Rick Gallop, Belly Fat Free by Josh Bezoni and Wheat Belly by William Davis. After each book I looked through our cupboards and realized how much junk was in them. So after talking about it with Rob, we went through our cupboards and took out alot of food. Food that we have decided that we don't want to put into our bodies or the bodies of our children.  We took all of the stuff over to the pantry at our church so it won't be just wasted.

Thankfully we had just paid off another debt and the only one we have left now is the van so we have some room in our budget to up the food category.

After we discussed the diet changes with the kids and the reasons we are making the changes, we came to the conclusion that cutting processed wheat from our diet would be met with alot less resistance than sugar. We will be cutting out processed sugar too but that will be done more slowly and will let everyone get used to using less and when the do want to add sweetener it can be something natural, like honey.

That being said our menu this week is all gluten free. I will let you know how it goes.

Sunday - crustless spinach quiche
Monday - wheat free pizza
Tuesday - zucchini bites and french fries
Wednesday - chili
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - tuna salad in flax seed wraps
Saturday - butter chicken and brown rice


Gratitudes

1. That we have extra money to afford healthier food.
2. That we have a home to live in.
3. That I can cuddle up under a blanket and read a good book.

CORNERSTONE'S GOT TALENT

Last night the kids school held a talent show fundraiser. The kids all did an amazing job, there are some really talented children and teachers at that school. Emily sung in the choir but I didn't get any pictures of her because she hid behind a taller kid. The twins and 2 of their friends actually competed and they were awesome. Their singing leaves something to be desired but stage presence isn't something these boys are missing. It's a good thing they performed last because they had the audience pretty riled up.

That is Theo on the far left, then Jake, Frank and Kier. They sung Don't Stop Till Egypt by Apologetix. It is a christian version of Don't Stop Believing by Journey.


Gratitudes

1. That God put amazing children into my life.
2. That we live in a place with lots of great acivities and opportunities.
3. That I have lost 2 lbs.

A few weeks ago I found a cool idea on Pinterest. They were called time out or meditation jars and I decided to make them too. We have been using them as relax jars, the kids can shake one up and then sit quietly while the glitter settles. I used clear pop bottles, because I wanted something the kids could handle instead of just looking at them, glitter glue, glitter and hot water. I didn't have measurements or amounts so I just played with it until I was happy. I did use some superfine glitter in my first bottle and it just kind of gets gloopy and floats on top, so avoid that superfine stuff if you attempt to make one.

This is the bottles once everything is settled.

This is with the glitter swirling around.

These were definitely worth the money( I spent under $8 on all 5 of them, but we did have some glitter already in the house) and the time it took to make them. The kids all love them.


Gratitudes
1. That I just found out that I can get used coffee ground for my garden for free.
2. That I have a wonderful man in my life who works very hard so I can stay home and take care of the kids.
3. That we have a paid for home, even though it needs work.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Gratitudes

1. For the free peat moss someone told us about and that my amazing man went and got for me.

2. For pets that make me laugh.

3. For a wonderful neighbor that is going to give me one of her plants to replace one that didn't survive in my garden.

Meal Plan Monday on a Tuesday

Because I am just that organized. LOL!

Sunday - pizza
Monday - bbq at park managers
Tuesday - chili
Wednesday - fish and rice
Thursday - spaghetti
Friday - leftovers
Saturday - tuna melts

Gratitudes
1. The smell of rain.
2. That after raining all night and all morning the sun is coming out.
3. That I fit into a beautiful dress that I got recently.

I have decided that each day I need to write down the things that I am grateful for. I know and do think about all the good things in my life but I think it will keep it more in the front of my mind if I am writing it down.

Gratitudes
1. A bbq put on by our trailer court management so I didn't have to cook dinner tonight
2. Grandpa Don being able to come out for a visit
3. Children who pay together so well. That is my 16 year old twins and 2 of their friends playing Polly Pockets with their 8 year old sister.

This week the Canadian Tire scratch cards came out so we saved all the extras from the flyers and on Friday we went shopping. Here is what we got

The 3 big plants in the back are tomatoes, $6.99 each.
The 2 white pots are peppers, $3.99 each.
The 5 small pots are herbs, $1.74 each.
Bottom picture has:
2 boxes of garbage bags, $2.49 each
1 box of electrical outlets, $5.79
1 box of scissors, $4.99
3 metal camp mugs, $5.99 each
1 cat collar, $6.49
2 icing decorator bags, $5.99 each
2 pkgs heirloom seeds, $2.49 each
6 solar garden lights, $0.99 each
We also got 2 chocolate bars that the kids ate rght away so they are not pictured. The coupon in the front of the bottom picture is for $5 off at M&M Meat shops.

So all of this cost $102.80........ We paid ......$27.80 YAY!! I love those scratch cards!

I'm going to try again. I've read it takes 21 consecutive days of doing something to make it a habit so maybe I need to blog daily. I would probably need double that amount of time because I tend to rebel against almost everything including my own good intentions.

First an update on Frank: His liver enzymes have continued to level out and the doctor was very happy about how fast they did that. He is officially off of the steroids, he took his last pill yesterday. We have a video conference scheduled for June 11th so then we can ask all the questions I keep forgetting about. If you can think of anything I might need to ask let me know, I'm trying to get a list of questions made so I don't forget anything this time.

So our lives lately have been very busy. I am still babysitting and I have been driving bus for some of the school field trips. Rob is working hard as usual. Emily is doing great and she has started taking art classes, which she is loving. The twins have been very busy with cadets and school. They have done a survival training weekend and gone gliding with cadets are now preparing for annual. They are doing really well in school and are planning on performing in the school talent show next week. Frank has been accepted to Survival Instructor camp this summer so he will be gone for 6 weeks. Jake did not get a camp offer this year so he is planning on making some money and getting a new bike, he also wants to do alot of camping. David is also doing great he is working full time at the electronics store now and they have trained him for opening and closing. They also told him that he could take the managers training. Tracey, Riley and Matthew are preparing for their move, Riley has an appartment and he stays their whille working then heads to Brooks on his days off. Hopefully their trailer will sell soon so they can all be in Unity together.


We are all very excited about the family reunion and can't wait for everyone to get here. We are sad that Cyndi, Steve and the kids can't come but hopefully they will make it too the next one.