Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A few of my favorite things...


I've never made a real dedicated study of poetry. Most of it mystifies me to be completely honest.  Once in awhile though, I find a poem that spears me right in my heart as words of truth.  They stick in my brain and stay with me!  This has been one of my all time favorite poems for the past 10 years at least.  Enjoy!


I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart) I am never without it (anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet) I want no world (for beautiful, you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart(I carry it in my heart)

e.e. Cummings

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Swimming and Harry Potter

Alexis has been loving the swimming lessons she and Daniel have been taking!
 Daniel has been less enthusiastic, mostly because he has zero body fat and the water is too cold!
 He refused to go in Tuesday, and was content to take pictures of a girl in his class lol

 After reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone," we were ready for our Harry Potter movie party!
In honor of England, I made bangers and mash,
 
Then for the Harry Potter fare, I made Pumpkin Pasties!

 And baked brie!
We also had every flavor beans, and butter beer.
The kids loved the movie and even Gram enjoyed it!

Monday, August 8, 2011

"Time" Akiane Kramarik





Once upon a time, in an island there lived six feelings and emotions: Happiness, Knowledge, Love, Sadness, Richness and Vanity. One day they discovered that the island began sinking! So all of them built boats and canoes and left, one by one. Except for Love. Love wanted to delay abandoning her beloved island as long as possible.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a boat. Love asked, "Richness, can you take me with you?"

Richness answered, "Sorry, Love, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat, so there is no place here for you. With both of us in here we will sink for sure."

Love next asked Vanity who was also sailing by, but Vanity offered the same answer.
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by, so Love asked, "Sadness, take me along with you."
"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!", sadness said in a gloomy voice.

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so preoccupied with her happiness that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you."

It was an elder with a tattered head scarf. An overjoyed Love jumped into the boat. When they arrived at a dry land, the elder went her own way. 
Love looked around and saw the Knowledge who was the first to have landed there a while ago.

"Who Helped me?" Love asked.
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time? Why time?" Love was surprised. 

"Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is." The Knowledge smiled.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I've discovered:

I am a juicing wimp.  I love juicing, but I always expect it to taste sweet and good, not like the crazy disgusting messes I've been making lately.  They generally involve kale, that may be my problem.
After watching "Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix, I found the connected website and juicing programs called "Reboot" and signed up for their juicing community.  These people are hardcore juicers!  Their recipes turn into concoctions that I can't even bear to smell, let alone drink several times a day!
So, I'm turning to friends and family for their yummy juice recipes, in hopes I can find a few I like.  What are your gems you enjoy drinking?

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Today...

Outside my window...I can see David Suggs car lol
I am thinking... I wish I had a maid
I am thankful for...modern medicine, and the NuWave oven
From the kitchen... Quorn
I am wearing... jeans and a tshirt
 I am creating...a photoshop project for my design and communication class
I am going... to take a nap soon!
I am reading... Little Women (again)
I am hoping... Daniel keeps feeling better and Alexis doesn't catch anything we've got!
I am hearing... The Ups and Downs Derby
Around the house... Lincoln logs
One of my favorite things... coke in a can
A few plans for the rest of the week... city market

Friday, May 6, 2011

Eating Organic

For the past year or so, I've made a commitment to provide the best food possible for my family.  We bought a quarter cow from a local farmer who uses no hormones or antibiotics. I buy chicken that came from Middleville. Milk and butter that comes from Lincoln Park, eggs from Bath, and produce from local growers at the City Market. It's like the 100 mile diet mixed with as many non-gmo's I can find. In the beginning, it really hit my budget hard and I had to adjust BIG TIME.  But soon, I realized the stuff that I had to cut out were basically the junk.  No more 12 packs of coke at the ready (we cut HFCS anyway lol), boxes of ready made dinners...basically convenience foods.  Cutting out those processed foods and stocking up on good sales has made buying local/organic totally possible. 
Tonight, Daniel wanted Mac and Cheese.  Here's the cost of regular old mac and cheese, made with milk and butter vs. the organic batch I made tonight!

Kraft total cost $1.51                             Annies total cost $0.89
$1.29 box of mac and cheese                 $0.44 box of mac and cheese
$0.09 butter (1 tbsp)                              $0.18 calders butter  (1 tbsp)
$0.04 1/4 c milk                                     $0.08 1/4 c organic milk

I happened across a sale of Annies Mac and Cheese at Kroger and got them for 44 cents a box!  I bought 50 lol
To sum up, it's not hard to eat well!  It does take effort to know what you're buying, and learn how to make some convenience foods at home:)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Super Saturday!

Saturday started in MSU at the Veterinary College, for Vet-a-Visit!

 
 We met some sweet doggies, one promptly rolled over for a belly rub:)
After we'd had enough animal fun, we headed over to Koney Island in Hanna Plaza. Daniel inhaled a 1/2 order of pancakes which was still FOUR pancakes, and Alexis enjoyed fish and chips.

Full of lunch, we all decided walking sounded good so we headed over to Fenner Arboretum for the Maple  Syrup Festival!






Alexis tried on a raccoon fur (it had been a stole in a former life)







The kids took turns learning how to tap a tree for sap



How does THAT become maple syrup??






Friday, March 11, 2011

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him

This morning, as the kids and I sadly watched the footage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I took the opportunity for us to pray as a family before we left for school.  We specifically prayed that people who were looking for loved ones would find them quickly.  Minutes later in the car, we were listening to Air1.com and heard a man calling the station to let them know, after calling earlier for prayer to hear from his brother in Japan, he had just received word from his sister that she had gotten a facebook message from their missing brother.  It was literally less than 5 minutes from when we had prayed!  I glanced back at the kids and saw their wide eyes and smiles.  Amazingly, a terrible tragedy has been used to show 2 children that their prayers are heard and answered.

Monday, March 7, 2011

It's almost SPRING!

Today's mail brought the Spring/Summer Parks and Recreation Activities Guide. The trick is, finding something for each kid that is at the same place, at roughly the same time so mama isn't driving all over hells half-acre!