30

  This year has had it's share of firsts for me, first child starting kindergarten, second child starting preschool, and first time I'm approaching a new decade without the zeal and excitement that accompanied me from the leap from 19 to 20.  I was thrilled to be out of those teenage years.  And of course the hop from 9 to 10 was awesome, I was in double digits, baby.
But 30.....how does one handle 30?  I would like to say I would handle it with grace and an 'I'm so blessed' sentiment (which I am).  But I feel a little unsteady.  Like maybe I would have my life a bit more together at this step.  And then I laugh at myself realizing that that is exactly what a girl in her twenties would think. Only a twenty-something year old would have the naivety to think life could be 'together', let alone halfway figured out at the ripe old age of thirty. Cue furious bits of uncontrolled laughing followed by bouts of weeping on my part.  So, in an effort to calm my anxious aging heart, I thought I'd make a very short list of some of the things I have come to terms with in my last thirty years (maybe not always put into practice, mind you), probably for the main purpose of looking back on it in my forties and giving myself a good hard laugh.....the kind with snorting.

1.  Every age is rough and wonderful.  My four year old is completely thrilled about the prospect of baking cookies, gets to lick the spatula and doesn't have to clean up afterwards.  He also has to go to be in bed at eight..... I guess that's a bad example.
2. Expect to get wet at bath time.  I would (and still sometimes do) get so upset when the kids splash water all over my yoga pants during bedtime bath.  But, water happens.  Just plan on changing socks afterwards, or better yet, don't wear clothes at all.
3. Don't make a trip to the Y with a potty training two-year-old in the middle of winter.  More on that here.
4. Still haven't figured out what's better for my health, staying up late to watch comedies with my hubby, or going to bed early and actually feeling somewhat rested in the morning.  The jury's still out.
5.  There is something extremely therapeutic about soft scrubbing the stains off of a porcelain sink.
6.  Getting up earlier than the kids really is a good idea. Nothing brings order to my day like a good shower, a little bit of makeup and a made bed.
7.  Its important to not hold it against anyone when getting up before the kids doesn't happen. Try and smile anyway, remembering that my attitude will affect my day (and everyone elses) a whole lot more than a clean head of hair.
8.  Kindness matters.
9. So do words, and tone, and facial expressions.
10.  There can be great joy in chaos.  There is something truly wonderful about having neighbor children over, running around the house like rabid bunnies while I'm trying to fix dinner.
11. FB, Pinterest and blogs are time and attention suckers, boundaries are a good thing.
12.  Finally accepting the fact that my children associate dinner being ready with the smoke detector going off, and laughing about it.  Almost. Every. Time.  Fortunately I have trained them to grab a dish towel and whip it around below the detector until it stops.  Noble is a pro.
13.  My children are getting older at an incredible rate of speed, but so are we all.  Make time for those you love. People matter.
14. Let go of the guilt.
15. Reassurance in my imperfection.  Nothing I do or don't do will change my Heavenly Father's love and view of me.  At my worst, He sees me as the complete person I am in HIM.
16. In order to be positive, I need to stop dwelling on the negative and make my thoughts positive, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8
17.  God's plan for my life is perfect.
18. The world is wrong.  God is right.
19.  Exercise and eating healthy really do make you feel better.  So does sleep.
20. When I'm in a really horrible mood, stopping, hugging the nearest child (or dog) and putting on some happy music to dance around the room to does wonders to lift it.
21. Actions do speak louder than words.  James knows I love him, but he really feels it when I pack him a lunch, or get up early to fix breakfast, or make dinner (notice I said or, not and-now that would be a remarkable day!).  Which leads me to the realization that the statement, 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach', is remarkably true.
22.  Good friends are rare, wonderful, and a real sanity saver.
23. I can (and do) learn how to handle life from my children.  Case in point, after unexpectedly passing gas in the car, my daughter giggled and said "Oh, my! That sounded like a plucked dove."
If only I could handle embarrassing situations with that much light hearted humor and poise.
24. I wash my hair much less frequently than I ever thought I would.
25.  I have mastered the art of brushing my teeth/showering/dressing/'styling' my hair and applying makeup in under 10 minutes.
26.  Changing out of flannel pajama pants and into yoga pants is now the standard of getting 'dressed'.
27. My relationship with James grows sweeter every year, and my love and appreciation for him deeper.
28.  Children really did make me realize that this world does not revolve around me.
29.  I will constantly be trying to make them realize it does not revolve around them either.
30.  Saturday evenings are now spent all piled together on our bed, watching Disney movies and getting tiny pieces of popcorn scattered underneath the sheets, not out on the town.
 And I wouldn't have it any other way.


So there it is. I'm officially 30, and life is very, very good.   And earlier, when I mentioned the whole responding to life with an 'I'm so blessed sentiment', well, in an effort to do that, the fam and I have a special way to celebrate the big 3 0 this weekend.....more on that later.......:)

Four

My baby is four.  Officially out of the toddler years and on to the age of big boy things, like soccer, walking over to the neighbors house without mom (but with big sister), cracking eggs, rockin' preschool and loading up his library borrowed learning pack to go on 'adventures'.

And he's lovin' it.

Off to our family tradition of breakfast with dad.

 Noble was kind of all over the place when it came to deciding what he wanted for a birthday cake.

I think all he really cared about was whether there was frosting and cake involved.

Finally he settled on killer whales, but parrots were a close second.

I love how he jumped up after every gift to dole out the love.

He gives out the best hugs.

The kid looks like he's accepting an assignment overseas.

I guess you gotta take this blowing out the candles business seriously.

I am a big fan of store bought cakes.

Happened upon this blue baby at the Edmond Homeland.  And the lady heading up the bakery department was kind enough to whip out her icing bag and add some waves and the script.

Put the pre-purchased killer whale on top.  Boom.  Done.

And after hand cutting out 36 killer whales for his preschool party, a cute home made cake was not going to happen.

Let's face it, an ugly one wasn't happening either.

I'm an even bigger fan of home made cakes not made by me.

Behold Honey's butter batter cake. Delicious.

Noble was in agreement as he put down his fork and used both hands to get it into his mouth.

He was a fan.

And here he is sporting what this birthday was really all about.

And he hasn't taken it off since.  Literally.

It goes on in the morning and the shoes, mind you, just the shoes, come off at bedtime.

This boy is excited about some soccer.

I felt that it was wrong not to share

And I will never be able to go back to regular oatmeal again. Ever.

I'm not really sure what to call this, I guess the best name for it would be:

'Peanut Butter Pecan Maple Syrup Cinnamon Oatmeal that you will wake up on time (or even a little bit early) to make'.

Just a  side note to explain why I even stumbled upon this little piece of breakfast heaven.

James and I have been trying to wean processed foods and animal proteins out of our diet.

Well, except eggs and dairy; we haven't got there yet.

And we both love meat. And will probably (or certainly) continue to eat it, on occasion.

At least for now, (and probably forever).

Anyway, we just felt like we need to take better stock of what we put into our (and our children's) bodies.

And after watching one too many food documentaries, and jumping on the juicing bandwagon, we decided to make some (very small) steps in the eating 'plant based, whole foods' direction.

So there it is.

I'm officially making myself more accountable.;)

Anyway, back to the yummy food.  

After about a week and a half of eating a lot of raw veggies, I got a little (or a lot) desperate to eat something that wasn't cold, raw, and in the form of a salad.

So I got online, and got some ideas.

And I also later realized that this was body's desperate attempt to get some form of sugar, which, I'm apparently addicted to.

And it did.

It's very clever, that serotonin makin' brain of mine (it wants sugar and it wants it bad).

So here is the recipe and some pictures that don't do it justice. 

1-2 bananas

1/2 TBS butter (or dairy free butter)

2TBS peanut butter

1 cup rolled oats

1-2 tsp chia seeds 

(and if you're like me and have no clue what chia seeds are they are this teeny tiny little seed, that absorbs 10x their weight in water.  Apparently they are the best form of omega 3 around, help control blood sugar, lower blood pressure, and they do a lot of other wonderful things that I don't really know about.)

1tsp cinnamon

2 cups milk (or almond milk)
1tsp vanilla

Topping:

1-2 TBS peanut butter

Pecans

cinnamon 

Milk

 (or almond milk, or I've also used coconut milk)

Maple syrup 

(1-2TBS, or you could go a little crazy and add a couple more)

It's super simple, first, dice up your banana and put into medium pot on medium heat along with the butter.  Cook for 3-5 min.

Then add the peanut butter, oats, chia seeds, cinnamon and milk.

Continue cooking and stirring for about 5-7 minutes.
Add the vanilla,

then dish out, add the toppings and relish making something that is not only 'whole' and healthy, but also  extremely yummy!
(This recipe serves 2 heaping bowls of oatmeal).

The original recipe is from here.  And a word of warning: this blog will make you incredibly hungry; I would advise not making a grocery list for the week on an empty stomach while perusing through all the amazing pictures of food she has. 

You will come out of Whole Foods a lot poorer.;)

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

(I also think my husband's love for me grew a smidge the morning I made it).;)

Snow Days have their benefits

One of which is catching up on the ol' blog.

I guess I will start here.

Ahhhh, Colorado.  

It reminds me of when I was training, in decent physical shape, and had an extended weekend away with my hubby and good friends.

All good reminders in the middle of winter, when all I want to do is take a hot bath, curl up under a warm blanket and consume homemade cinnamon rolls in very large quantities.

I can still feel the inner-peace that was radiating from us in this photograph.

Still can't tell you what's happening here.

I love eating pictures. 

So humbling.

Gorgeous.

My dream backyard contains something similar to this.

Race day

Running around my backyard as a kid, jumping hurdles with my chocolate lab, Buddy, finally seems to have been useful for something.

I love the ferocity; there's no holding him back.

We made it!

And we're smiling.

Which is amazing considering I couldn't breathe at all up there.

Come to find out, it's probably a good idea to train for high altitudes.

I've filed that one away.....for next time.

And after swimming through really cold mud, we cleaned up and enjoyed the sights.

James will never live down finding the only gentleman that had never used a camera phone.

He seriously hadn't.

Makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Nothing beats getting the whole drum of ice cream.

Except maybe running a 5k in Colorado with this guy by my side.