Recipes

As I come across new recipes...healthy ones...I thought it would be helpful to share them on the blog. We are plugging away at improving our diet. We have cut corn syrup and hydrogenated stuff, cut back on sugar (although that is something we could still do much better at...I do like my sweets!), eliminated any sugary cereals for breakfast, and added more wheat and flax seed to our meals. So far so good! Dan and I had a free month membership at a local gym so we have been able to do some weight training. That helps so much with energy level too! I can actually see my bicep muscle again...ha ha!

The first recipe is the green smoothie:
1 cup strawberries
1 cup mixed berries
1-2 cups organic spinach leaves or kale
1 banana
1 cup OJ or 1/2 cup OJ and 1/2 cup almond milk
Fill the rest with filtered water
Could add a little honey if you need it sweeter
Could substitute other fruits

The next recipe is for a turkey chili that the family loves. I got it from a running magazine and tweaked it for our taste buds:
1/2 pound ground turkey
Garlic
Salt and pepper
1 eggplant, cubes
1 zucchini, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1-2 teaspoons mild chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 cup canned tomato, chopped
1 can kidney beans, liquid reserved
Vegetable stock as needed

Season and brown meat over medium. Remove meat from pan and drain off all but three tablespoons of fat. Heat the pan over medium high. Add the garlic; cook for about a minute. Add the vegetables; cook for 10 minutes or until they start to caramelize and dry out. Add the seasonings and stir, then add the tomatoes and beans with enough of their liquid to submerge everything (use stock if there isn't enough). Bring the mixture to a boil and cook about 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.
300 calories, 33 G carbs, 19 G protein, 10 G fat

Still Waiting.....

and that is exactly what we are doing...still waiting patiently.  We don't have any updates on Dan's next contract, but we are leaving it in God's hands.  It is a waiting game for us, yet so exciting at the same time.  As the time draws nearer, I find it sad to think about leaving Porterville.  We have grown to know many people that we enjoy.  Leaving will be difficult, but I know that God continues to lay out his plan for us and we can't wait to see it unfold.  In addition to our near future plans, we are starting to really pray about Mya's schooling for the Fall.  We are weighing the pros and cons of the schooling options and committing that to prayer.  Lots to be thankful for and lots to be praying about!

We went to the park today because the weather was beautiful...thought you all might like to see some updated pictures of the girls.

Eating Vegetables....or anything else mommy tells me to eat

It is amazing what a one year old can really understand. I think we discredit what they can comprehend. I learned this early on with Chloe, after reading the Tomato book, when I discovered that we didn't have to baby proof our house too much. She learned how to respond to the word "no" before she learned to walk. With consistency and tomato staking I did more on teaching obedience with Chloe then I ever did with Mya and Sara so early on. So now we have come to the time where we fight the "eating of the vegetables." I knew the time was coming and decided to tackle it this week. So how did I tackle this battle? With extreme consistency and language that makes sense to Chloe. I chose a word that I used every time I needed to give her a command to obey. I chose the word "bite" (meaning....take a bite of the food I am giving you no matter what it is). But first I had to conquer the spitting of the food when she didn't like something. She had a consequence each time this happened. Then I gave the command "bite" to tell her to eat the food. Using a short word or phrase each time is good for a kid with a small vocabulary. They seem to get it quickly when your language is consistent. When she disobeyed, she had a consequence and then was given the command. She received praise when she complied. The cool thing is that Mya and Sara get into the praise part so the whole dinner table goes crazy with cheers. It took about five days but today.....she ate lettuce! That was our biggest challenge food. It clicked today and we are so glad!

Moving Update

There isn't one! We are still waiting for Dan to have some phone interviews before we make our decision. I promise as soon as we know something we will post it!

Where's Waldo....I Mean Where's Julie?

The words to sum up Disneyland:  exhausting, fun, entertaining, exciting, magical, busy, crazy, memorable, and awesome!  We had an amazing time as a family.  It all started when the kids woke up on Saturday morning at 5 AM ready to go to Disneyland.  I am not kidding!  They were wide awake and talking excitedly about how it was time to leave.  We had no choice but to get up, get them ready and wait for the clock to change so the park would open.  It was a long three hours.  We ate at IHOP and took a shuttle to the main entrance where we waited in line for about a half hour just to enter the park.  That prepared us for waiting in lines the rest of the day.  We were hoping that our timing of this trip would prove to be a slower day at Disneyland.  Not the case!  It was very busy, but we figured out how to navigate through things as the day went on.  The fact that I like stripes proved to be very beneficial to our family.  Sounds odd, but let me explain.  I wore a striped fleece that could be seen for miles and I have no sense of direction whatsoever.  So every time we had to separate the family, Dan could always find me…even if I was in the wrong place, which happened often.  He told me it was like Finding Waldo (i.e. Finding Julie) because of my coat.  Saturday we were at the park for 12 hours and never went back to our hotel.  We did take one break to go offsite and eat at the Cheesecake Factory.  Then we headed back to the park for more.  We headed back home around 8:30 that night, just in time to hear the fireworks.  Chloe was passed out in the front pack, Sara asleep in the stroller and Mya asleep on Dan’s back.  We literally all fell into bed that night.  Sunday we repeated the same routine of eating at IHOP and getting to the park by 9am. This time we lasted until 4 because we still had the 3 hour drive home to the apartment.  But we made it successfully and once again all passed out in bed as soon as our head hit the pillows.  All in all we had a trip that has made lasting memories for all.  Below are some highlights from the trip and some pictures:

*The best part of watching Sara at Disneyland was hearing her talk about seeing Sleeping Booty.  It was so hard not to laugh each time she asked about her.

*Mya was tall enough to ride some roller coasters, which she has never been on before.  As the day went on, Dan kept talking about wanting to take Mya on Space Mountain.  When I was little, about her age, I was taken on Space Mountain in Florida.  And to this day I am afraid of roller coasters from that experience.  I was terrified for life.  So I was very nervous for Mya, but she went on it and did great.  She didn’t love it because it was dark, but she didn’t walk away scared.  In fact, she and I went on another roller coaster together (I decided to be brave for her).

*Constantly, we would hear Sara ask, “Where are we going?” Even right after we had just told her where we were going.  She just had to know ALL the time.

*As many of you know, there is a lot of music at Disneyland .  Chloe has taken up ‘gettin her groove on.’ She loves to dance.  Anytime there was music she would break out into a dance, moving all over the place with her hands going wild.  In fact, at the musical show Aladdin she belted out in song while Jasmine was singing.  The audience around us thought it was adorable…but pretty soon after that Chloe and I left the building because she was so loud.

*My favorite ride……the Monorail!

*Thank goodness for two things on a vacation like this:  the Ergo front pack and Keen shoes for the whole family (thank you Papa and Nana for the girls’ shoes).

*We went on a Little Mermaid ride and Sara was terrified of Ursela the sea witch.  But right after that ride we went to a Disney store and all she wanted to buy was the Ursela stuffed doll, which she cuddled and loved.  So funny!

*We discovered that one of Mya’s love languages is receiving gifts.  She became very focused on checking out each store that we passed so we could look at toys and maybe get something.  We had quite a few training opportunities to work on NOT pouting when you don’t get something you want.  She had to learn a tough lesson, but a good one.

*I think that Dan’s favorite thing from the trip was buying the girls light sabers (which I kept calling life savers).  These light up swords are a little foreign to our environment among the princess figurines at home.  Just this morning I heard him teaching them how to fight with their swords.  I suppose they do need to be exposed to some boy stuff every once in a while.

This is our hotel.  It was wonderful!

We had about a 10 minute walk to the main entrance to the park.  So good for the girls to get extra exercise!

Shooting guns on the Buzz Lightyear ride....so focused!

 Just some pretty flowers we saw along the way.

The feeding of the little birdies...really they are getting cotton candy from Daddy.

Sara was the only brave one to meet the princesses.  She was in awe!

Wow!

All I have to say today is 12 hours at Disneyland....awesome....very tired....forgot the camera....going to bed. Will post more tomorrow.

Vacation Part 1

We left Wednesday night, drove through L.A. when it was dark....bummer....and arrived in San Diego around 9pm.  Our nerves were a bit shot as Chloe cried for about two hours towards the end of the trip.  She was tired and very cranky.  But we arrived at a cute hotel located right on the beach so that helped with our mood.  We could hear the waves crashing from our bedroom.  Unfortunately the location wasn't exactly right.....aparently the area in front of our hotel was a prime location for many homeless men.  It was a bit congested at times, but the beach was stunning and it didn't feel right to complain about anything.  We were still pretty lucky to be staying so close to the beach.  About a mile to the left of our hotel was the spot where we should have stayed.  But all in all, we were very pleased with our stay.  On Thursday we went exploring and spent the afternoon on the beach.  Dan got to surf again, which was great!  He rented a surf board and wet suit for the afternoon, although I was a little nervous because he surfed by himself.  But we were able to watch him from the beach.  In the evening we went to a seafood restaurant that came highly recommended...but we wouldn't recommend it.  Not so good.  But some Coldstone Creamery lifted everyone's spirits after our dinner.  Friday morning Dan and I took turns running along the beach and exploring more of the area.  Stunning!  Once we were showered and packed we took the kids to a restaurant on the beach for breakfast.  Dan ordered this Acaii blend something or other that was fabulous.  It had granola, honey and bananas on it.  Yum!  We did some more exploring and drove to L.A. to our hotel at Disneyland.  Now we are here, pleasantly surprised with our room and getting ready to find a dinner place.  I think we will be eating at Bubba Gump's Shrimp.  The girls will swim a bit in the heated outdoor pool and we will settle in for the evening. Saturday and Sunday will be full of Disneyland activities.

 Our blue eyed girl....

 Surfer Dan striking a pose....

 Jumping the waves in the cold, cold water.  I had on jeans and a sweatshirt....

 Trying to catch that perfect wave.....

 View of the beach in front of our hotel.....

Exploring Point Loma....

 Chloe slept through the whole experience at Point Loma....

 Catching a quick kiss with Chloe in the middle asleep (Mya took this picture of us)....

 View of San Diego and the airport....



Vacation Finally!

Last night we had a wonderful evening enjoying Philipino food. A nurse that Dan works with invited our whole family to her house for dinner. The food was wonderful and the fellowship great. She has tons of energy and was so good with the girls. The best part was that she collects Beanie Babies and had hundreds of them for the girls to play with. They took all of them out of the boxes and arranged them all over the living room. They were entertained for hours and it made for a much more relaxing evening for mommy and daddy. But the best part was going home with leftover dinner...lots of it!

In one day we leave for vacation! Dan doesn't work on the weekends, but he hasn't had a vacation day during the week for almost 8 months now. So it will be nice to have him around for a couple days during the week. We leave on Wednesday when he gets home for work. We will drive to San Diego and stay at the beach for 2 days. Then on Friday we will head to Disneyland. We will spend Saturday and Sunday there and drive home Sunday night. We are super excited for this trip. Thanks to Christmas money from family we are able to take this trip stress free. Thank you all! Be looking for lots of pictures coming up. Stay tuned!

Good Morning

Do I really need to explain this photo?  This is what we woke up to this morning...and yes, those are toilet plungers.

Moving On

Well, it is time to call together some prayer warriors. We are starting the process of choosing our next location. We have options in San Diego but a new one popped up in a town called Salinas, which is North close to Monterey. Dan will be talking with his recruiter tonight to work through some details. We should be making a decision soon! Our plans can change like the wind as we never know which contracts are available until it is time to actually make a decision. Though we have had our heart set on San Diego, we could easily end up going somewhere else. The contract amount, location, housing, and type of job all have to fall into place. We will keep you all posted!

Road Trip to the Sea

I have to admit that we are getting better at travelling.  I am getting really good at finding hotels for us when we take trips.  I know the websites to use and I have learned to discern what is helpful/not helpful with the hotel reviews on some websites.  It is getting easier and this time we landed at a very pleasant hotel.  We decided to take a quick trip to the east coast to drive a famous road called Big Sur.  It is a 100 mile stretch of road that goes right along the coast. We left Friday when Dan got home from work and drove to Monterey.  We stayed the night there and left early in the morning to start the drive on the coast.  All I have to say about this trip is…..road trips are awesome!  The scenery was magnificent, the company excellent and breathing fresh ocean air all day felt so healthy.  We were in the car a lot, but we made quite a few stops along the way.  We took over 200 pictures today.  We saw the coast, big waves, beaches, elephant seals, whale sightings, foothills, wine country and ate an amazing lunch at a café right on the ocean.  We sat outside to eat our lunch…in the sunshine.  California in December has its perks!   I am posting our top pictures from the trip in order of our day.  We don’t claim to be photographers in any way…we just have a really great camera. 

We stopped at a large foothill with a trail.  We took turns climbing it to see the coast from the view at the top.  These are pictures from the top.

Here is proof that we were actually there!

At one point in the drive we went inland a bit and found an adorable rest stop/campsite by a beautiful river.

And then we went back to the coast again.

These photos were taken at our lunch spot.

We tried our hand at taking some artsy shots of each other.

There is a particular beach along the coastal drive that houses elephant seals.  There were hundreds of them laying in the sand.  It was a sight that I will never forget.

And finally, our last stop, was at a beach.  We were clothed for the cooler weather and not expecting the water to be warmer. Mya got in the ocean with all of her clothes on and Sara dug in the sand with her clothes on.  Dan was wishing he had a surfboard and a bathing suit. Needless to say we went home with just a little bit of sand in the car.