Being home with the kids means

Getting to be silly playing with playdoh...among other things :)

Things

It's been a bit since I posted last. Not because I am neglecting you, but because I have been preoccupied. Which, I just realized is the same thing. So sorry, faithful four. Since getting home from the retreat, so much has been swimming around in my mind. I'm honestly not sure I have been able to post a complete thought. There's a lot of good stuff going on up in there (in my mind, that is, and no thanks to me), so I am still trying to sort it all out. 

And then I didn't want to deal with Monday. Laundry, a messy kitchen and housework catch-up loomed over my head, but I just pretended it didn't exist. That Monday itself didn't exist. Even through my not-so-subtle but complete denial of Monday's existence, I realized I couldn't sit around ALL day. So, I did a little housework (just a little), went to Zumba to shake my bootay and cooked tacos for all my mens. Speaking of my mens, you know you want to see them...and I can't resist showing them off. :)

I had to get pics of Ezra this past Sunday in his cute little button down shirt. Doesn't he look so grown up??? My, that boy is getting big so fast.

 Jude's expression and hands say, "but why Dad???" This kid is so darn cute, what did we ever laugh about before he came along?

And a few books to read to your little ones for Halloween: I can't get these book pictures any bigger, so I included the names of the books and the authors also.

Ollie's Halloween by Olivier Dunrea. Cute book with cute pictures that had a sweet message at the end about sharing.

Trick or Treat, Calico! by Karma Wilson. Karma, really? A lift-the-flap book that Jude really enjoyed.

What's Under the Bed by Joe Fenton. The illustrations in this book are quite interesting. It was dark grey and black mostly, but with small splashes of color makes it neat to look at, and the story itself was cute too.

Enjoy!

Tonight's menu

I think I am going to try this tonight. And maybe steamed veggies (squash, broccoli and carrots). What do you think?

The long waited for bread recipe is in the making...it will be posted here very soon! Woot woot!

Things that make me smile today

Smooshed baby face

baby hand fat---I looove me some baby hand fat

Not only babies in Halloween pjs, but babies in dinosaur pjs too ("silly" stitched on the arm makes it even better)

 And cute boys with silly grins

I could use some things to smile about today. After all, it is Monday.

Oh! To those who have so missed my food posts (all 2 of you), don't fret. I haven't forgotten about posting my menu and recipes. It just takes lots of time. I will hopefully post my menu for this week later on today. Happy Monday to all!

My confession

I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with children's books. There. I said it. There is just something so cute and fun about those hardback, picture filled, fun-loving story books that make me giddy. I search and search for ones at the Children's Library until I have found the perfect ones, take them home and can't wait to read them...to Jude, that is. No, I am not THAT person. You know,  the one who reads children's books by themselves, just for fun. (but I have been known to look through them on my own a time or two). 

In fact, I think I love them almost as much as the books I get for myself! 

And what do I love more than just regular children's books? Topical, seasonal or holiday children's books! Jude is at that age where he is learning soooo much, so this year, I wanted to get him some Halloween books to get him familiar with the subject. Right now, I am really into monster books. Don't ask me why. I'm not even really that into Halloween. And not that I'm trying to scare my kid or anything. They are just cute! I personally won't read any vampire or ghost books to my toddler who is easily impressionable. But for some reason, I don't feel that monsters are all that bad. Here is our first stash of Halloween/monster books.

Most of them are fun monster stories, not scary at all. A few I liked. A few weren't good enough to read twice. And that one was really creepy, but true to the Halloween vampires, werewolves, mummies and dead people theme. We'll be going back for round 2 tomorrow. So, there you have it. My confession, photo included. It's all out there for the world to see now! eeek!

Another confession:

My love for babies in Halloween pajamas...

 They love each other. Promise.

Fergus boy photos

I usually take photos every day of the boys. You moms know what I'm talking about. You do it too. So, with all the pics I take, I always have cuteness to spare!  Here are recent photos of both my bundles of sweetness. Ok, not always sweet, but cute nonetheless.

Here is Jude with bread dough all over his face and hands. He kept calling it a donut. So funny!

 Car-jamming!

Snuggled in mommy and daddy's bed watching The Incredibles. A great way to start out any morning!

Educate yourself about food

I used to buy a lot of boxed foods. A lot. Hamburger helper, macaroni and cheese, frozen pizzas, even boxed instant mashed potatoes. I was ignorant in my knowledge about food, and frankly, I had no one to blame but myself. Not to mention, I was not a very confident cook, so easy was my mantra. As the woman of the house, it was (is) my job to feed my family, and feed them well. Not Mr. F's, or anyone else's...mine. And to feel them healthily. So, I began asking God to show me ways I could feed my family better, more healthy. Little did I know the wealth of information I would come across after that. I was told about this woman's blog, who has helped and inspired me a ton in many ways (not just with food, but mostly). I started reading up on things like fast food, artificial sweeteners, processed foods, high fructose corn syrup (most of which was everything in my fridge and pantry) and I learned so many things about them that made me swear off them forever. Let me share with you *some* the things I learned...

Fast food is a given. We all know it's not good for you...at all. But, the reason I stopped eating it for good was because I watched this video. Take the time to watch it. It will make you never want to eat another french fry again. 

Splenda and other artificial sweeteners (aspartame included)- Everyone knows how bad Sweet-N-Low is for you. And to be honest, splenda is no better. You know why? Because these things have so many chemicals in them. And we all know chemicals are not good for you. Chemicals are things that aren't supposed to be in your body, and in fact, gave one of my friends horrible migraines. That is not a good sign! What irritates me about artificial sweeteners is that they are marketed to be GOOD for you. No calories, no calories! Don't be deceived. It's bad stuff. If you must have a sweetener, try Stevia. It's more expensive, but it is natural and better (I think!) than all the others. Let me get off the soap box to move on to the next thing.

High-fructose corn syrup - This is in everything, it seems. I went through my fridge and pantry ripping out and disposing of everything that I had that contained it. I even just recently stopped using jelly that had HFCS in it, which I didn't realize, and bought some new jelly-HFCS free. Here are a few facts I found about HFCS:

• The chemical make-up of HFCS differs from that of glucose in that fructose isn't broken down before it arrives in the liver, and is instead converted to fat.
• Also, research has shown fructose to have a negative impact on insulin and leptin - the result being greater hunger.
• It can make you sick. It has been known to contribute to many health problems from diabetes to heart disease. 
• It makes us fat. It contributes excess calories to our diet. 

And I am sure there are many more, but these are reason enough to stop eating it. Oh, and I recently heard that food companies are switching the name on their products to "corn sugar"...I guess too many people figured out how bad it was for you. I want to tell them, quit trying to trick us into killing ourselves!

And this is just to get you started. There is a ton more out there about what foods to avoid and what foods to eat. You can never go wrong with fresh vegetables (steamed is so, so good), fresh fish, eggs (organic brown are the best!), whole grain breads/pasta/rice, and other things I'm forgetting to mention, probably. I am still reading and learning all I can on how I can make our family a healthy family, and my hope is that you will too. 

Oh, and please try not to let cooking intimidate you. I used to and it crippled me. I have been given a new courage to try new things, cook new things and the result is extremely gratifying! So please, go try new, healthy recipes!

New!

I have so many posts I want to share, but sadly have no time to these days. I am using all my *free* time getting a new blog together. YES, I said a new blog. I am super excited about all that is to come, but it is taking me a lot longer than I expected to get it together. This blog has been in my thoughts and desires for a very.long.time, and I know it will be worth it. I've longed for my blog to be more than it has been in the past, and hopefully it will be. 

Oh, I will continue to post here until the new blog is ready to go. So, don't forget about me just yet! :)

(I am so frustrated with blogger right now. I keep getting error messages, the page won't load or work, and sometimes my things just disappear. Has anyone had better luck with wordpress?)