Veggie Wraps & Green Smoothies!

Here's what we're eating around here this week! Veggie wraps, with green smoothies. Here's the great thing-you don't need a recipe for either! Just do something like this:

Open up a tortilla and throw in whatever fresh veggies you might have on hand, and if you don't have tortillas, use a cabbage or lettuce leaf as a wrap. Today for lunch we had cabbage leaf wraps filled with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, sprouts, green onions, lettuce, and some homemade Gyro sauce. In a blender, just throw in some chopped cucumber, fat free plain yogurt, and garlic. Yum!

And green smoothies? Easy! Just toss in any fruit you have around. Today we had fresh pineapple, banana, and some blueberries. Blend that up with some water, and once that's blended throw in your greens! I added baby spinach. I also added some stevia to make it a bit sweeter. The girls love this too!

So, veggie wraps and green smoothies are on the menu for most of the week. Dinners a bit more complicated, and I will post some new recipes we tried at the end of the week!

Now, go eat your fruits and veggies!

Sunday Reflections...

Thank you Lord, for this beautiful Sunday! As I reflect on all my blessings, today I think of family....and I see sundays as being a day to sit back, relax, be thankful, and spend quality time with family. That is just what I did today. After church, we did not go anywhere. I spent time with the girls, played with the baby, cooked two healthy meals, and took care of my family. This is how it should be. It is so nice to slow down, and even through the temptation of thinking we need to run to the store to get something we need, we were able to say, "It can wait". And it can.

This last week was full as M started up piano lessons again, we spent time with some friends, and homeschool was back in full swing. Looking forward to another week full of homekeeping, schooling the girls, snuggling the baby, and taking the girls to their activities-basketball, gymnastics, ballet, piano, co-op. It's going to be a full week!

My DH has jumped on the healthy eating bandwagon with me, and I am so pleased! He even wrote out a food menu for each meal each day this week! We are resisting eating out as much as possible, and filling up on fresh fruits and vegetables, and even hearty dinners filled with all kinds of nutrients (but no meat or cheese!) I plan to post more about what we ate near the end of the week! I am so happy he has finally caught on! And, another celebration is that my 3 yr old, L, took a bite of her salad tonight and declared, "Yummy!!! I love salad now!" Good thing for her, because we will be having lots of green salad this week! The other day when I went to pick up some food at the grocery store, M begged to go with me. So, off we went. We spent most of our time in the produce dept., and as I watched my 8 yr. old daughter running around the isles picking up oranges, and cucumbers, and apples, and potatoes, and squealing with excitement as she skipped and jumped up with happiness, I thought, I must be doing something right! I have always made it a priority to feed my family nutritious foods, and to see how happy these foods make her, it really hit me that she gets it! These are the foods God provided for us to eat that are closest to nature and the way He created them, and they are what feed and nourish each cell of our body, and what keep us healthy. To think that she loves these healthy, natural, simple foods, and gets excited when I tell her yes, she can have an apple at home makes me smile!

Here's to a healthy, happy week ahead. Blessings!

Gotta see this!

I love the blog Preserving a Generation-and right now there is a video that you have to see. I have known for awhile now about the agenda, but have just recently started hearing about the African American aspect to it. This is something we should all be aware of! Go watch here

A new friend for Lily!

Some people in our neighborhood just got their referral from China! Oh my goodness, she is cute!!

They waited a long time! When I look at how slow the China program has gotten, I am so thankful that we went with the waiting child/special needs program from the beginning. With a Dec. 06 log in date in China, we would still be waiting many years for our referral, and I have now seen on two different websites, including rainbow kids, that China has now stated that they are pretty much exclusively a waiting child program. They are slowly telling the world this, but if you look at the agencies, there are so many kids waiting! I looked at the website of the agency we used today, and there were over 40 little ones waiting!!! This is huge compared to how many used to be on their site in the past. There is also a large list of shared children that many agencies get. There are so many waiting children, and I am overwhelmed just being aware of it all! I signed up years ago on rainbow kids, so if there is a waiting child that matches what we were open to, they email it to me. For months I have been getting tons of these emails, and I look at every one of their little faces and pray their families find them soon! Please, if you have ever thought of adopting, or adopting again, now is the time to consider it, there are so many!!!

Oh, and you might want to take a peek at this precious angel, Lilyann's new little friend, here .

Sunday Reflections...

I've been wanting to write a post like this on a Sunday for a few months now. Each Sunday brings me so much inspiration, and a time for me to reflect on the past week, and all that God is doing in my life and the lives of those around me. I want to use this post, and the upcoming posts on Sundays to reflect on what I have learned that week, that Sunday at church, or to just journal my thoughts about what I am seeing around me.

• Today as I was worshipping at church I looked around and saw something that I saw for the first time a few weeks ago. At that moment, I was overcome with tears, and my heart was full. There is a young man who goes to my church now with his parents. He is around 18 yrs. old. I have known him and his family since he was very young, but they just started attending our church a few months ago. So, as I was worshipping, I looked over, and noticed this boy, as he was worshipping God. His hands were raised as the music played, and we were all singing our hearts out. The worship at our church is amazing, and the music is so good. As I watched this young man during worship, my heart was so touched, and the tears in my eyes began welling up. You see, this young man cannot talk, in fact, he is basically mute, so singing is not something he can just do. But, at that moment, I swear, it didn't matter. I could tell that he was singing with his heart, and he looked just like the rest of us. I used to have him on my caseload at work years ago for Occupational therapy. He has a genetic condition that is so rare, there is no name for it, as there is no one else in the world that has the exact condition he and his sister both have. At that time, communication was an issue, but it was something he was working on. I remember one night I had a dream, and in this dream, he was speaking! I didn't know if I should, but I ended up sharing this with his mom, and she was in tears. Oh, Lord, forgive me for taking for granted this voice you have given me. Most of my life I have complained about this voice, covering my ears if I hear myself recorded, but Lord, I take this moment to thank you now for the voice I was given, and the ability I have to sing, and praise you! This child I am talking about taught me an amazing thing just by who he is. I need to share this with his parents, as this boy has truly touched my heart in more ways than one! I hope his parents know that even though he cannot speak, he is speaking volumes to those around him as he is seen worshipping the Lord and singing praises to Him with his Whole heart!
• Another thing that amazed me in church today was that the girl leading worship has been married only a few years and in the last year as her and her husband have been trying to start a family, she has lost all 3 of her babies. They were either born way too early, or stillborn. She has been through so much, so much loss and so much pain, but continues to trust and praise God through it all. So many people would lose thier faith through trials like that, but she has remained strong in her faith. Incredible.
• The last thing that impressed me was something I heard early this morning as I was working out on the eliptical before church. I was watching a preacher on t.v., and one thing he said was that God talks to all of us, it's just that most people aren't listening. He was saying that when you pray, you do a lot of talking to God, but how much listening do you do when you are done? He reminded me to sit and listen for the answers we are waiting for, and also to make sure that we are daily in His word, because he will speak to us through His word.

Best wishes for a week of many blessings as you begin 2010!!!

New Year...new ambitions!

Happy New Year!!! This year has been such a blessing. Today, our last day of 2009, came a gift of beautiful white snow covering our world. We spent the day with friends sipping hot cocoa and watching the snowflakes fall while the children were sledding. I have so many new ambitions and ideas for the new year. Here are some of them:

• New creations-these are already in the works, can't wait to reveal! M and I have been busy in the craft/sewing room, and faithfully attending the church sewing class!
• New habits-more organization, consistent healthy eating, consistent time spent with God, and reading!
• New blogs-the revealing of not one but two, coming soon!
• New adventures
• New skills-farm skills, like goat milking, soap making and more! Also working harder on newer skills acquired in the last few years-knitting and quilting.
• New travels
• New recipes-mostly raw and vegetarian
• New babies to love-hopefully, foster care has been such a blessing!
• New studies
• New farmyard babies!
• New friends
• New attitudes-always a need to improve these!
• New volunteer opportunities-looking forward to this.
• New opportunities every day to grow in the Lord, to grow as a friend, a mother and wife!

Then He who sat on the throne said "Behold I make all things new, " And He said to me "Write , for these words are true and faithful".

Rev 21:5

Merry CHRISTmas....

From our home to yours!!!