Kinda Granola: Thinking

Showing posts with label Thinking. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2011

Bucket Lists...

...I've never really had an official one. I suppose I'm always adding to a list that is somewhere up there in the dusty attic I call my mind. I try not to live with regrets. I don't ever want to look back and say "I shoulda, coulda, woulda..." If I were to die tomorrow, I don't want to regret not doing anything on some imaginary list, but rather want to know that what I've accomplished thus far was great and a mighty adventure in and of itself.

But today is the day I think I'll write some things down officially. Not really because I've been thinking about it or because I particularly want all of the world wide web to know about it, but because I want to enter this contest. Its all for selfish reasons, I know!

To enter I only have to list 15 things, so here they are (thus far and in no particular order):

1 - Travel (perhaps live) abroad with my husband and kids. I want to show them where history was actually made. What an amazing homeschooling adventure that would be!

2 - Learn to REALLY play an instrument. Guitar, piano...perhaps the fiddle.

3 - Get a REALLY nice camera and take pictures everywhere I go...annoyingly so!

4 - Go to Florida with my husband where he served a 2 year mission for our church and see it through his young 19 year old eyes!

5 - Design and build my own house with my husband.

6 - Live on a cattle ranch.

7 - Have a girl.

8 - Have an old big beautiful barn that I can throw fun, beautiful parties/weddings in.

9 - Learn a language.
10 - Sell one (or more) of my sewing designs to a big company and sit back and make lots of moola off of them without actually having to sew it all myself!

11 - Go back to school. Just for fun. I'd love to take some cooking, photography, design, sewing...classes...learn to do it all for real.

12 - Be financially stable enough so I can help others like me now.

13 - Make my own cheese.

14 - Get fit so I can keep up with my kiddos.

15 - Ride a white horse down the beach while wearing a white dress. Don't know why, but this has always been a fantasy of mine :-)

Well there you have it. The beginnings of my bucket list adventures!
What's on YOUR bucket list?

Thursday, October 6, 2011

8 is Great!

It's been a couple months since Marvel's birthday, but I STILL can't believe my baby is 8!

Eight, really?

I have an 8 year old?

It seems like just last year he was born. I remember it like it was last week.

{This is me pausing and reminiscing about my first born son's birth}

This is a big birthday for Marvel for many reasons.

He gets to start Cub Scouts. Believe me, this is a BIG deal in our household! He's been begging me to join scouts for 2 years now. This boy was born a scout (although he may be disappointed when he finds out its not ALL about shooting bow and arrows, catching lizards, canoeing, and building fires!).

For his birthday, my parents bought him a boyscout uniform (and new suit!!) and handbook.

It was probably his favorite gift of all!

The most important part of Marvel turning 8, was he chose to be baptized into our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is definitely important to Music Man and I to have our children baptized into the church that we hold near and dear to our hearts, but it is even more important that they make the decision themselves whether or not to join. Due to some "technical difficulties" (aka we basically had a hard time getting a date set in stone), he wasn't able to do it until a month and a half after his birthday. That was REALLY hard for him. He was SO excited and didn't want to wait.

(Marvel with our Bishop on his baptism day)

We believe that when we are baptized by immersion, our sins are washed away. We are made clean through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We talked with Marvel about this a lot before his baptism. Something to know about him, is that he has such a pure, tender heart. He can be a major stinker, but when it comes down to it, he is such a good boy with a REALLY good heart. He's a worrier. So he was so excited to have all of his sins washed away. He prayed every night that he could hurry and be baptized so he could be washed clean (seriously, this kid worries too much) and that he could receive the Holy Spirit so he would be able to make better decisions (I love my boy!).

Finally his baptism day came! He chose to have his dad baptize him and confirm the gift of the Holy Ghost upon him.

Three generations!

Marvel and his grandpas.

A proud mama and her baby!

Marvel's friend was also baptized the same day.

We had lots of family come to support Marvel (most everyone from both sides!), but of course I only got one picture with my parents and my 3 little sisters.

I am so proud of Marvel for the decisions he has made to strive his hardest to be the best person that he can be and to do his best to please his Father in Heaven!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Code Name Kids

After much deliberation, I've decided I should probably use code names for the fam. Its not like I'm gonna make it big in the blogging world or anything. I just figure its my choice to blog and not my families, so I should do what I can to protect them.

My boys helped me pick them, so don't judge...they were chosen by an 8 & 4-year old!

So for your reference, here's our new code names

My husband - Music Man -Seeing as music is his passion and profession, it only seemed fitting.

Baby Boy #1 - Marvel - He's seriously an expert in all things Marvel Comics....annnnd a little obsessed.

Baby Boy #2 - Captain America - As of right now, this kid lives and dies for Captain America. The other choice was Woody...his other obsession is with Toy Story!

Baby Boy #3 - Monkey - This baby is a MONKEY! "Curly" would have worked too. "Trouble" was my 1st choice, but Monkey's a little nicer. He gets into everything! And the kid CLIMBS! It's a PERFECT fit for him!

And for me, they named me: Queen Bee - Not too shabby! My boys know what's up!

Okay, so there you have it...our new found names!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Taco Soup

A few weeks ago my husband's church group was asked to feed the homeless. Since he is the current el presidente, he was in charge of organizing it. Of course he didn't find out about it until 10pm 2 nights before he was supposed to do it. And it was just our luck that 99% of the group (and their wives) were all out of town running the Napa Ragnar. Sooo it was just our luck that the responsibility, therefore the entire work load fell entirely on my husband's shoulders (aka MY shoulders!). We scurried to figure out what was something good, but easy to make, that would have something in it that most people might have in their cupboards already. Luckily people dropped off food as they headed out of town for the race! So my hubs and I...okay really just me...spent the afternoon cooking Taco Soup for what we assumed would be 120 people max. Two missionaries came and helped us serve the food and of course my mom was out of town, so I had to drag all 3 kids with us (definitely didn't help things much). As things hardly ever go in our favor, this turned out to bed the BIGGEST turn out they'd seen there and our soup for 120 people had to feed about 175. It was like Jesus feeding the 5000 with only 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish (or whatever it was). We miraculously had enough food for everyone (even with some coming back for seconds) AND we even had a good amount of leftovers. Either I'm really bad at calculating food for large numbers (which is most certainly the case), or there were major miracles happening that night! :-)

All of the hard work we put into it was worth it to watch our oldest son so eager to help out. He couldn't really serve the soup, so he whipped on the gloves and handed trays to those who were serving!

Helping those who are less fortunate then us, really puts our lives into perspective. The thing that effected all of us the most, was seeing the little children go through the line. Some of them had no clue of their unfortunate circumstances, but some were so sad. You could read it in their faces that they have gone through hell and back. I just wanted to swoop them up and take them home with me. Definitely makes me grateful for the things that I CAN provide for my children and stops me griping about what I CAN'T!

Here's the recipe:

3 cans beans (I usually use kidney, garbanzo, and black beans, but you can use whatever you choose)
2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
1 can corn
2-3 large spoonfuls of taco seasoning
Grated cheese, for garnish (optional)
Sour cream, for garnish (optional)
Tortilla chips, for garnish (optional)

Dump everything but the garnishes into a big pot on the stove. (You may rinse the beans first if you want to, then add 2 cans of clean water to the pot for more liquid.) Cook until heated through. Crunch up some chips in the bottom of a bowl. Add taco soup. Top with cheese and sour cream.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Great Sites

Here are a few of my favorite sites (I say a few, but really there's a lot, but there are SOOOO many more good ones out there! Believe it or not, this is a VERY condensed version!). This list will definitely grow...and grow...and grow... So be sure to check back periodically for new ones!

Cooking ~

Cleaning ~

Schooling ~

Growing ~

Making ~

Building

Ana White

Sewing & Crafts

Party Planning

Thinking ~

Living ~

Health & Beauty ~

Home Design ~

Frugal Living ~

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Welcome, Welcome!

I'm kinda granola. I admit it. And kinda proud of it. What's "kinda" about being granola? Well I love nature, but don't like to rough it. I like to eat healthy, but enjoy my sweets. I recycle, but sometimes throw it in the trash. I garden, but spray Miracle Grow on it occasionally. I love to cook, but I enjoy eating out. I'm a mama, but only to boys. I use cloth diapers only when I'm at home. I homeschool 3 days a week and send my kid to school the other 2. I am a little bit right wing and I'm a little bit left wing. I'm religious, but not a fanatic. I don't wear make-up, but I can't live without deodorant. I'm frugal, but not much of an extreme couponer. I'm a little of this and a little of that...I'm not a fence sitter, I AM true to myself and others...I'm just kinda granola!