Working on Food

I've been enrolled in this "Feed Kids Healthy Food" class, from Coursera, the last month.  It's been good and insightful, made me realize how far we've (me and my fam) have come... but still, we got a long way to go!

For the class I watch little videos, then take quizzes.  The videos have been pretty insightful, in how to prepare healthier meals, etc.  I was so inspired that I even retried a breakfast smoothie!  Holy smokes!
(I've had epic failures with smoothies for the boys.  Plus Eli hates all thing cold and sweet--he pretty much goes into cardiac arrest when I hand him a chocolate milk shake--so it's not exactly "fun" for me to serve them to the boys.)

IF ANYONE HAS GOOD BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE RECIPES, share please!!!

Titus's cup.  With his hands.  

Then at the end of the week we are supposed to upload a pic of a meal we cooked (given by assignment), explain the meal, then judge 5 peer's work.  This course is currently being taken by over 22,000 students, which lots of them are international.  It's been fun reading the forums, learning about different culture food habits, and trying to figure out what-in-the-world-did-they-cook? and how-do-they-think-that's-delicious?  Of course I give A+ to everyone... hard for me to see people fail.

Assignment 1:
a dish containing at least 3 veggies, which can be served alone or as a first course.

My first stir fry!  And it sucked!  But I got high marks, since the picture is amazing.  (Put too much plum sauce.  The Dudley Boys do not like plum sauce.)  

Assignment 2:
Breakfast containing a veggie or fruit, a good grain or carb, and a protein.

Half a bagel, half a banana, baked egg mini muffins.  Got high marks, though I'm pretty sure an international student tried to write something meaningful, but it got lost in the translation.  Boys loved it, since they eat this stuff easily anyway.  

Assignment 3:
A balanced dinner meal, with one protein, one veggie, one grain/carb.

Brown rice, steamed broccoli, creamy crock-pot chicken.   Did NOT get the best marks, seeing how the picture is soo sad.  (I'm at my parents' home, and quickly had to throw this pic together before we ate our Sunday Meal.)  Boys liked it, though!  

Okay, I've actually enjoyed this class. Though have gotten a little overwhelmed sometimes.  I tried to participate in a Google+  Hangout with other classmates, and it sorta was fun.  Mostly I realized "all the food ever grown is bad for us all," and that, "even if stuff says organic, it's probably not good for us."   Grrr... Things get out of hand quickly, when fear starts to control the discussion.  But from the class its self, a lot of good info.

I was pretty inspired, though didn't have to change our habits.  (I already serve the veggies first, the boys have learned that good stuff comes later if these green things are forced down.)  This course was like a boost of confidence!  I've come a long way!  Understanding general nutrition, CHECK!  When me and Matt first got together/married, I was very lost in the proverbial sauce.  It's been a long road, but I think we're finally in kicking in a higher gear.

Though Titus, who is a great eater, is not a fan of carrots.
He thinks he is so sneaky, saying he has to use the restroom, and then spits his mouthful of carrot in the sink.
"She'll never know," I'm sure he thinks. 

Here are some other foodie pictures I took during this last month:

No idea how the mango fell apart!  But it did.  Hilarious. 

Cheese, glorious cheese!  I'm happy to try it!
Tillamook is a beautiful cheese, and sooooo affordable in the West.  I so sad.  an 8oz for 6 bucks.  What?!
Glad it is stocked in coastal Georgia, though.  I now know where to get my special occasion cheese!  (<< yes, there is such a thing.) 

... i cry...

My last meal from our cleaned-out-for-the-summer-fridge:
A bite of chicken, a scoop of greek yogurt, a huge amount of kale!
It was actually all really good.  

Phone Purge: Adventurous Boys

I told Matt that I need to get the DSLR out, and he was very much in agreement.  This phone-camera-thing is just too easy!  And right now I love easy... but then I also love the quality of the DSLR.  This is all besides the point, since I did NOT even pack the big camera for our summer long hiatus from Georgia.  Trying to be LIGHT, Light, light.

I'm looking through the pictures on the phone and I'm trying to group them into themes.
Today's theme: life with boys.  My boys, specifically.  My boys are goofy, and funny, and playful, and creative, and mischievous, and pretty much up for a good time.  "Down Time" rarely happens.  (And when it does, you can bet your two cents that I'm crashed on the couch taking a 15 minute snooze.)


Isaac is a little builder, and loves for me to take pictures of his creations.  This one an AT-AT (Star Wars) he whipped up 2 minutes before school.  (Then Titus wanted a picture with his cup.)

They love to play "lava game."  Jumping from cushion to cushion, and trying to not get burned by lava-carpet.  

And there are too many trampoline games to count.  Seems like "Make Titus Cry" is a favorite, but really they do play well together.  Titus the Tiny is just so much lighter than his brothers that he easily gets thrown around and banged up. 

As a general statement, these boys aren't really into arts and crafts.  Titus is the only one who enjoys coloring and painting.  I pretty much have to force a crayon in Eli's hand, but Isaac's starting to realize that he can draw ARMY scenes which is helping boost his enthusiasm. 

A few weeks ago we were invited to a "paint party."  The boys' friend turned 5 and was throwing a party at the local pottery place.  It was actually a lot of fun, and none too disastrous.  Titus and Isaac picked out a tank to paint, while Eli got himself an elephant.  Isaac only wanted one color for his tank--forest green.  Eli and Titus were way too overwhelmed to choose any, so I picked them out.  It was fun watching the boys enjoy themselves in a new environment.  (We have the finished product at home, all glazed and fired, but I have not gotten pictures yet.  Just going to have to wait for 2 months!)

Titus' tank

Eli's elephant

Isaac's itank.  I mean, tank.
Seems like there was a pattern going, but apparently not. 

 Me and the two littles spend lots and lots and lots of time together.  And they also have to run errands with me too.  I had to go into the mall the other day, and low and behold, a HUGE merry-go-round was before our eyes (two levels tall!).  These two were extremely set on riding.  And I'm like, "Why not?  I should buy my children's happiness anyway, since their father is gone."
Eli had his eye on riding an alligator, and Titus was stuck riding a zebra.
Eli was scared at first (needing to hold my hand), and Titus never had any anxiety, feeling free as a bird.
They both threw an enormous fit when it was over, enjoying the 5 minutes of dizziness so much.

They are all pretty determined little buggars.  "Don't play in the 4runner!" I say (yell).  "Whatever," is the apparent reply.
They drag their own chair out of the house, open the doors, and have a blast for 2 minutes before it gets too hot.  Mother knows best, boys.

And Titus.  He won't hesitate for a second in taking his pants off and peeing on the fire ants.  That child hates fire ants, and loves to watch them suffer in his bodily waste.  And he doesn't do a straight stream, BIG swopping motions--going back and forth, creating large soaked areas.  After he's done, he proudly says, "I pee on 'da Fire Ants."

Mother's Day 2013

Two weeks before Mother's Day I get a message from Matt saying that he sent a present for Mother's Day.  "Um, sweetie, Mother's Day is like 2 weeks away."  Haha, good laugh.  So I got these Irish earrings from my main man in Afghanistan.

Isaac's school took care of Mother's Day for him.  A nice card, saying: "Happy Mother's Day.  I luv you.  I mis Dad."  Plus a little pottery bowl.  Lovely!  

The Last 4 Days

I'm a flake, let's just put that out there right now.  I think it's going to be a big trend during this deployment: flakiness.  I'm going to try and be disciplined, but no promises ;)  


Saturday, wow!  What a day.
10:30am...  There was our first tball game, and actually our LAST tball game of the season.  It was a bit like pulling teeth towards the end, but at least Isaac and Eli both hit the ball and ran the bases.  They had to blend the teams since not enough people showed up to form the teams.  (FYI, we will NOT be doing Y tball next year.  It was a hot mess.)

12:00pm...  I needed us to get out of the house.  Somewhere away from our small town, and into adventure.  Fort Pulaski did the trick!  It's a national monument, and free admission for military members.  It was crazy at times though.  Seriously: cannons, military walls, hidden rooms, military soldiers.  The boys went nuts, and I lost them at one point.  "Where are the boys?!"  Old people point and say, "There up on the walls and there are no rails!"  AHHH!  It's like trying to herd squirrels, I swear.   When the cannon demonstration began Eli about had a heart attack--not a fan of the BIG BOOMS!   <> 

1:00pm... We needed a treat.  We ate at Five Guys.  We loved it.  Eli ate a whole burger, Titus ate half a burger, and Isaac ate 1/3 of a burger.  We all loved the fries.

Sunday, wow!  What a day.
8:30am... 5 minutes before we leave for church Isaac spills juice all over the clean and iron church clothes.  Yay!  But we still mad it to church on time, in wrinkled polos.  Also, Isaac showed me bites on his legs!  Later in the day I borrowed Benadryl from a friend.  Isaac must be allergic to all these bugs (benadryl did the trick!).

11:00am... I taught Relief Society (the women's group).  It went well!  Seeing how I didn't find my manuel till 8:15 that morning, and when I tried to print the lesson the printer was jammed.  (I got this feeling at 1:20am to wake up and try the printer again.  It worked.)  I had read the lesson about 4 or 5 times, on my phone, but I love the physical feeling a manuel and I love to annotate as I go.  But since the lesson was on the Temple, I couldn't mess it up too bad.

1:20pm...  The hometeachers come for a quick visit.  2nd month is in row to have hometeachers over--they're on fire!

2:00pm... Picnic lunch/snake with a couple in Savannah.  The boys had a lot of fun playing with their dogs!  However since the rain seemed like it was going to be extreme, we went inside their home.  There we chatted, and had a great time getting to know each other better.

Monday, wow!  What a day.
I don't remember what we did, but I'm sure it was tiring.

9:00pm till 11:00pm... I made and decorated cupcakes for Isaac's K party.  Then creeped on my kids, watched them sleep.  Probably cried a bit too.  I just want to be a good mom!  And I don't know how!

Tuesday, wow!  What a day.
8:15am... Dropped Isaac off at school, then me and the two littles ran some errands.

11:30am.... Dropped Eli and Titus off at a friend's home, and I headed over to Isaac's school for his end of the year party.

12:00pm... Isaac's program started, and it was really cute!  Isaac participated, sang, did hand gestures, etc.  The teacher then handed out "diplomas."  The theme was "What I Want to be When I Grow Up." Each kid had drawn a picture what they want to be as an adult, then the teacher took a picture of them dressed up as "what they want to be."  Isaac wants to be a sniper, so he can hide in the bushes.  Awesome!  There was ice cream afterwards.

3:00pm... I took the boys to a Chick-Fil-A to play.  It's been rainy and stormy all day and we needed to get some energy out.  We had a lot of fun!  Didn't actually eat too much of the food, but bought a large drink order to make us legal to play for an hour and a half.

5:00pm till 9:00pm... The boys watched a Captain America movie, we ate dinner that consisted of fresh green beans and cheese, played outside on the hammock, then came in and wrestled hard!  Fun night.  Boys went to bed at 9pm--I'm trying to get them off of "eastern time zone," so that we'll be prepared for spending the summer in "central" and "mountain."