Veggie Challenge

Do you eat enough vegetables every day?

I could always do better in this department.  I try to eat veggie packed salads, roast vegetables for dinner and then add them in for snacks whenever I can.

I set a goal for myself this year to eat more vegetables.  

My hope is that by me eating more veggies my family will also eat more veggies.  I'm planning to document my favorite veggie recipes and combinations each month.  I'll also tell you my secret to get your kids to eat veggies along the way.  And if we're being totally honest, winter fruit options are pretty sad in the Midwest this time of year so I'm trying to get creative with vegetables.

Let's cut to the chase!

1 // Fried Egg & Veggie Hash

I love this for breakfast or for lunch.  I fry two eggs hard, add in roasted sweet potatoes, sometimes onion and avocado.  Season it was anything you like.  SO good.  You can add in protein or cheese.  It's yummy with any add ins.

 

Anytime I make this for myself, Leo is determined to share.

2 // Broccoli Salad

I've been eating this broccoli, cauliflower, onion, bacon and sunflower seeds with a homemade mayo dressing.  It's a delicious side dish or a main course.

3 // Roasted Veggies in bulk

I love to roast veggies in big batches and then have them ready to eat all week long.  Diced sweet potatoes are so good with eggs, on salads and as a side dish.  My boys love these so much.  A huge sheet pan full of them don't last very long here.  I've had great luck doing this with sweet potatoes, onions, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

4 // Kale Salads

Raw kale is pretty tough to chew, but if you saute it for a few minutes, it is much easier to eat.  It softens up with some olive oil and is so yummy.  This salad had kale, blueberries, roasted sweet potatoes, beans, onions, sunflower seeds and a homemade vinaigrette.  I sauteed the kale, onions and warmed up the sweet potatoes.  Then added in the other toppings and drizzled on some dressing.  I ate it at room temp and it was so good!  I loved having this for lunch several days in a row.  Prep the veggies and then cook the kale fresh each day.

5 // Shop & Chop on the same day

I try my hardest to shop and chop on the same day.  I pick up groceries and before the produce goes into my fridge I wash, chop and prep it to get for the week.  We eat way more healthy foods when I take the time to prep them.  I store it in clear glass containers in the fridge and it's ready to grab and go all week long.  Meal prepping is the best gift I can give to myself all week long.

And bonus, my kids LOVE to help with the fruit and veggie prep.  They get super excited to help and snack on the fruits and veggies as they prep them.  Leo ate tons of carrots this day :)

What's your favorite way to eat veggies??

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  We got an unexpected SNOW DAY today so the kids are home and eager to play.  They typically get e-learning days .  A plain, old fashioned snow day feels like a big treat!  It felt good to get into some familiar routines this week just in time to get snow and keep life interesting :)

Snow //

We got our first snow at the new house.  I scrambled to find all of our snow gear and sleds - thankfully everything turned up.  It started snowing right when we woke up and then snowed a little all day long.  It is very chilly!  Leo refused to wear mittens and socks so he wasn't thrilled to be out in the snow for very long.  We got to meet some new neighbors while we were playing in the snow.

The kid's teacher's both took them out to play in the snow during the school day!  That was a surprise favorite from the day.  They were thrilled.  Then wanted to hurry home and play some more.

Organizing //

We've lived in our house for almost 3 weeks and things are starting to feel a little more organized.  Penny likes to check out the pantry shelves.

The Titanic //

Did you know that I'm a super fan of all things Titanic??    I got this in my stocking (to: me from: me haha) and I am really enjoying reading it in the school pick up line.

Upgrade //

After we moved, I realized how sad my Pyrex bowls/cracked lids were looking.  I picked up this big set of glass containers with snap on lids at Sams this week for $19.99.  It's on sale from $25 and seems like it's going to be great. 

Sunsets //

Our winter sunsets have been so pretty this week!

New Job //

Kevin started his new job on Monday.  It's been a great week of settling into his new office and getting to know his surroundings.  We stopped by to say hello after school one day this week.

Kevin's 1st day: He went back to school one day earlier than the big kids so they teased him about having to go to work while they stayed home to play.

Pearl // 

She's gotten herself into trouble several times this week.  She climbs everything and I find her in the highest places she can find.  She loved my new baskets :)

YES Day //

The kids had been asking for a Yes day (where I said yes to their requests :) so I planned a bit of a yes day on their last day of Christmas break.  We headed to the mall for some fun and then went to their favorite lunch spot - Jason's Deli.  Lunch was delicious and it was fun to be out and about with them.  They helped with Leo and we all had a good time.

Their top requests for the mall were to 1. Ride the animal scooters and 2. Spend some of their Christmas money.  They each found stuffed animals at Claires and they picked out animals to drive around the mall.  We strolled around and browsed at their favorite shops.

They took turns driving Leo around.  It was so cute.  He loved it and they were pretty good drivers.

We paid to rent them for 20 minutes and they easily could have ridden for longer.  Next time :)

It was fun to spend the morning doing all the things they wanted to do.  It was definitely a highlight of our Christmas break and a good reminder for me to pay attention to their favorite things.

I hope your 2022 is off to a great start!  Linking up with Momfessionals today

2022 Word of the Year

I hope your new year is off to a nice start!  Have you started a new planner, set any resolutions, made any goals or picked out a word of the year?  I've done a little bit of all of those things.  I love a fresh start and a chance to work on things in the new year.

This is my 10th year to pick a word of the year.  I look forward to doing it every year.  It helps me set goals and make plans for the year ahead.  Some years work out much like I imagined.  2013: Change - we moved from UT to AR and I was a first time mom learning to be a stay at home mom.  2016: Invite - We moved to a new city and I had to work hard to invite myself to new things.  2020: Family - While that year went nothing like I could have imagined, our family spent tons of extra time together and welcomed Baby Leo to the family.  2021 threw us a curve ball so I'm interested to see what 2022 has in store for us.

Here's a walk down WOTY memory lane:

2021: Focus

2020: Family

2019: Listen

2018: Grow

2017: Care    

2016: Invite

2015: Enjoy

2014: Thrive

2013: Change

 

2022: Home

We are living in a brand new HOME that we are anxious to make our own.  We've got projects and wish lists and are eager to make our house a home for everyone who enters.  The kids are missing things like a play set in our backyard and we are eager to put up a fence so that our outdoor space feels a little more usable.  The kids have big ideas and wish lists of their own. 

We are going to work hard to make Evansville feel like HOME.  We grew up about 20 minutes away so parts of Evansville are familiar, but our family has never lived in the area before.  We have lots to figure out, lots to learn to love and lots of favorite spots to establish.  We need all new doctors, libraries, stores, grocery pick up options and I can't wait to not have to plug every address into my van navigation system.  In my experience, that takes about a year to feel super confident navigating a new city.

Life outside of our HOME feels a bit uncertain with new things at every turn.  New schools.  New friends.  New jobs.  New cities.  New routines.  New stores.  Etc.  It's exhausting being the new person.  It's really important for me to work on making HOME our happy place just like it was in other cities.  We're setting up cozy family rooms.  Working on making bedrooms familiar to the kids and establishing our routines.

I want to do things at HOME like enjoy prepping food for my family, meal plan, grocery shop and bring back our familiar routines of home.  We have done fun things like family game night, movie nights, we eat together nearly every night and I think we are all craving those familiar routines again.  I'm eager to put down my phone more and scroll social media less.  I would love spend more focused time with my people at HOME.

We are working on finding a church HOME.  Luckily, we have several church options near us so we are trying to visit them to see which ones would be great for the kids and for the adults.

We will have more opportunities to do things with extended family now that nearly all of our family lives 20 minutes away.  They aren't all in the same spot, but all the little towns that they call home are all about 20 minutes from our HOME.

 

Fletcher helped me draw my word of the year this year :)

 

I would love to hear your word of the year, goals or plans for 2022.  I'm cheering for you!

 

 

December Highlights

December really was a blur of Christmas festivities, school, packing, moving, buying/selling houses and all of the chaos that comes with relocating.  We had plenty of fun times in the midst of all of that and I didn't want them to go undocumented.

The memorable moments of December:

I got to visit Kevin's new office and meet some of his colleagues.  We got to pick out his office location, visit the bookstore and enjoy being on campus before we closed on our new house.  My parents had our kids for the day so we could get as much done as possible.   This was also the same day we closed on our new house, did walk thrus and toured the kid's new school.

Olive's hair is growing nicely and she's so thrilled to have longer hair.  She's seeming so much older lately with big thoughts, opinions and ideas.

Fletcher is such a funny guy.  He had so much fun playing with rolls and rolls of masking tape this month.  I had a huge stash and he went through all of it.  He made cat forts, ninja traps, barbie things and these hilarious tape socks.  He was very proud of his invention.

Leo plays hard and naps hard.  Look at those cheeks!

Even though lots of life felt chaotic, I made sure to keep many of our routines in place for the kids.  I packed lunches the whole month and kept life as consistent as possible for them.

We finished our 16 slot Santa frame!  I worked really hard last year to print out all the Santa photos I could find starting with Olive's first Christmas in 2013.  I adore this big frame!!  Each photo is 4x4 and I LOVE looking back at all these sweet Santa moments over the years.  I'd highly recommend doing this.  I know it'll always be one of my favorite Christmas decorations to put out each year.

It's not too late to finish up those Christmas crafts.  I bought these wooden frames at JoAnns for $1 each and used gingham ribbon from my stash to add a bow to each wreath.  I couldn't wait for the kids to decorate them.  I had big plans to have them paint, but markers worked great.  They each decorated their wreaths and then signed the back of their frames.  I added in a recent photo from our Fall family pictures.  I can't wait to hang them on the tree next year!

I took all 3 cats + Leo with me to their yearly vet appointments.  Sometimes you've just got to make it happen when you're in a time crunch.  They all needed their yearly shots and check ups.  They all got good reports and were mostly well behaved.

I went to a really fun Favorite Things Party with friends before we moved.  There was a $15 gift budget and everyone brought appetizers or desserts to share.  We had a blast!  I came home with a bath set and brought my favorite eye shadow pallet to give away.  I love these kind of parties!

Leo and I spent a lot of time in the car running errands, having to be out of our house, waiting on pick ups, etc.  He was a total trooper.  Also, he could sit in the van and press buttons all day long. 

Some of the sweetest moments happened as the kids were wrapping up their last weeks at their old school.  Olive cashed in her reward tickets to read to Fletcher's class one last time.  His teacher sent me this picture and I cried.  It wasn't easy to move them mid year, but we're optimistic that they'll be really happy and settled in their new school soon.

Olive's class had a weekly Mystery Reader.  She'd asked my mom to sign up and I promised I would do my best to get her in town before we moved.  We managed to pull of a little bit of a surprise (although Olive said she totally knew it was Mimi) and my mom got to read to her class.  Kevin and I got to read to her class in October and it was such a fun experience for all of us.  I'm so happy this happened!

SO many boxes!!  We're still unpacking and working to get settled, but reflecting back on our December, I can say that without a doubt, Kevin and I worked tirelessly to make it the smoothest transition possible for our whole crew.  I've got a long list of moving tips I'll have to share with you this month.  They're updated since our last move in 2016 now that we had 3 kids and 3 kids to move.

Thanks for reading and focusing on all the highlights of December with me!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!  I hope that you had a great time celebrating a new year over the weekend.  We did!

I picked up NYE supplies at the grocery store and the kids were thrilled.  Headbands, noise makers and sparkle.  Kevin found some confetti poppers for them, too.  They had so much fun playing with that.

We kicked off the day with a sweet Christmas brunch with friends.

We enjoyed 2022 charcuterie all weekend.  The dark chocolate covered cashews and berries were my favorite parts.

This confetti was really easy to clean up and so fun for the kids.  We'd definitely do these confetti poppers again.

The big kids stayed up until 10pm.  I made them Candy Corn (microwave popcorn topped with all of our favorite candies).  We watched Night at the Museum.  It was great!

Aren't these sparkly cookies so pretty!?  I loved making them for a festive NYE treat.

Notre Dame had a big bowl game and lost - boo!  I only saw the first series of the game.  We looked great and scored.  So I'm going to save that memory from a really fun start to the game and pretend that we won :)

Cheers to a new year!