A Small Snippet

just popping in today to show you a little randomness from our lives lately.

i’ve been in major spring cleaning mode, so the other day i tackled the closets and drawers…a LONG overdue task.

the Boy came home from school with this in his folder the other day:

his school offers a challenge at the beginning of the year to read a large number of certain books and take quizzes on them to get points. if you reach a certain number of points, you get to be the Principal of the Day. if you give my boy a challenge, he’ll work his little tail off to complete it. i’m happy for him, and am now in need of finding some “professional” clothing for my almost 8 year old beach bum….hmmm…

and speaking of beach bums, the hubs did a little sunrise surfing this morning:
with a few of his buddies:
and i have something to confess to you. this is where we cheat on our Clean Eating food plan:
i cannot find any ketchup without sugar, and i am a HUGE ketchup fan. there are just simply some things that you can’t eat without it. i have found recipes to make ketchup, but i think i’d have to make a big batch and because we don’t eat it everyday, i’m afraid it will go to waste. i have a thing about wasting food. most likely because i know people personally who don’t get enough everyday as it is, and the thought of wasting what we do get drives me crazy! but i also think its been passed down from my dad. he hated wasting food, so much so that he was known to sneak leftover Grape Nuts cereal, that he bought on sale and that none of us would ever eat, into taco meat, thinking he could get away with it. he didn’t, and hasn’t lived it down to this day. but i now totally see where he’s coming from, and have been known myself to be a little sneaky in the food department too!!

the Hubs and i took a little road trip a few weekends ago to attend a conference with the rest of the staff from the ministry he works with. instead of stopping for fast food in the car, which can be challenging when trying to eat Clean, we opted to pull over at a Super Target to buy some lunch:
and snacks:
and this might make you chuckle, like it did me, in the middle of the conference. do you ever have those moments where its totally inappropriate to laugh, but you just simply can’t hold it in? yeah…this one did it for me.

i texted jake, who mind you was sitting right next to me, during the conference, after a few hours of listening to theology and doctrine: (my bubbles are the green ones)

that may only be funny to some of you, but it was hysterical to me!! and in case you are wondering what i chose as our afternoon activity…it was shopping…at IKEA!

and as a side…i totally love theology and doctrine, and justification, atonement, and imputation, but i just am not one who can talk about it all the live long day!!

on the way home from that conference, we stopped in for a quick visit with my little bro who’s finishing up his senior year in college. he’s a meterology major, and has massively crazy mathematics and scientific stuff he’s working on. i had to take a pic of how he studies…SO impressive!!
and this is just for fun…but did you know that i have a thing with eyelashes? i think its people’s best features. if you have long eyelashes, i almost don’t give a rip what the rest of you looks like…i’m probably gonna think you are beautiful. the hubs and both crazies have great eyelashes, and i prayed alot (for real) for long eyelashes for my kids when i was preggo (i wonder what that says about me??)

unfortunately, i myself did not get a good eyelash gene, and have been known to throw some false ones on when fancy-ing up for weddings and such…until that is, i found this:
i’m a skeptic when it comes to stuff like this…beauty products that claim to do certain things. but i’m telling you…its the best mascara i’ve ever used…hands down. go try it, and then let me know if you agree.

and speaking of beauty products…this is the best makeup i’ve ever used…period!
i’m totally a drug store and WalMart kind of cosmetic girl (for $$$ sake) but bought Bare Minerals starter kit last summer and plan to be a complete lifelong customer from here on out! (and no…i am not being paid to advertise for them…although i wish i were!)

this is the Bug’s birthday week, so today she got to bring in cupcakes to share with her class. i don’t know what it is about me and birthdays, but they are a GINORMOUS deal to me, especially my crazies’ special days! so this week holds alot of fun for our fam!

and i’m prepping for her party next weekend. any guesses as to a theme?
i found this little note stuck in the door jam when i arrived home from dropping off Bella at dance the other day:
my precious boy! i love the earrings in my ears, don’t you?? forget about where your ears happen to fall on your head…if you’ve got good earrings, it almost doesn’t matter

i bought these shoes this morning…at Good Will…did i just gross you out?
i thought they were just simply fantastic, and couldn’t leave the store without them. i plan to wear them to a wedding this weekend (after i sanitize them…don’t worry!)

and this…is my lunch…that i’m eating…as i finish this post!
that’s about all the randomness i’ve got for you for today.

remember how i mentioned that i’ve got a new dress idea up my sleeve that i can’t wait to show you? well…that idea is still up my sleeve, because i can’t seem to find the fabric that i have in mind. so can i enlist your help? will you be on the lookout for me for a somewhat stretchy knit in a thin stripe, preferably grey and white or pink and white?? and its gotta be fairly inexpensive. once i find this fabric and knock out this dress (if it works) i promise to post a tutorial that i think you’ll love!

PS: if you are wondering about the new navigation bar on my blog, i just did that the other day. however, i have zero clue how to get it to link to my pages, so if anyone out there has a tip for me on how to do that, i would be forever grateful!!!

i was editing some pictures this morning from some recent photo shoots, and thought i’d take a break from all the recipes to show you some pretty people!

my brother in law is getting ready to be deployed overseas, so before he left, i snapped some pics for him and my sister in law:

i’ve got a some more recipes coming up, and i’ve got a new dress idea up my sleeve that i think you might like! presently, i am in the midst of some sewing projects for the Bug’s upcoming bday party, so check back in for all the details!

to note…the recipe calls for 2 bananas. both bananas are absolutely key. add in only one, and you’ll taste more spinach and kale. we have found that 2 bananas really offset the bitterness of the greens.

also…don’t skimp on the greens. you can really add alot without tasting them much!
it doesn’t look all that appetizing, but take my word for it. i am neither a raw spinach nor a kale fan (at all!!) and i have no problem downing this smoothie. i don’t even have to work at it. its seriously good!
and i’ve shared a variation of this granola recipe way back here, but i’ve tweaked it recently to eliminate refined sugars. we use this in everything…as cereal in the morning, as a quick snack, as dessert, sprinkled over fruit or yogurt.