Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Pixy Cubes


I keep looking for new games to play with the kids but also want something that is going to help teach. One day I came across Pixy Cubes which is meant for 6+ kids. I decided that I was going to buy it for my kids anyways. 
Yasser loved it and after 20 minutes of explaining her the point of the game she finally got it. The boys are a little trickier. Gill-G understood matching the card part of the game but the time and beating people was difficult. 
So we altered the rules a lot. We gave them longer study time. The best part is classroom use because it is problem solving!! 
I just gave Gill-G cards and the dice and let him think through which ones he needed and put the puzzle together. He loved it. Hulk man like stacking it more than anything but it was nice finding a game that did not cost a small fortune and has a variety of uses for me. Looking forward to our next game.  Check out Pixy Cubes!!


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Moorish crunch salad

I love Jamie Oliver and really started learning about him when he started the food revolution with our food in schools (Pilot). He talks about the process food industry and what is in the food. You really should take the time to watch it might make you think twice about the theory "we all have to die sometime".  His shows are part of the reason I started taking a close look at what we were eating. The more we looked at our health the more I decided it was time for a change. Recently I started running out of ideas for ways to feed my children and picky husband. I love almost any vegetable but I seem to be the only one in the house. I decided to look up Jamie Oliver cook books to see if I liked it. I started with the library and found Jamie's Kitchen. Best cook book ever!!! We love it so much that I may buy it soon. Well the first recipe we tried was the moorish crunch salad and served it with roasted chicken and homemade orange soda.
Dinner family style


My thoughts : minus the raisins (I have a thing with raisins, they are way to sweet and weird) This was delicious.
Yasser did not like the dressing but loved the salad.
Little Man loved the dressing and would not stop dipping things in the jar.
Hulk Man could not get enough of it.
Justin like everything else it was just okay.

Salad stuff before tossing
Moorish Crunch Salad
My pretty purple and white carrots next to the normal orange we are use too. 


4 carrots
3 radishes
1 large or 2 medium apples
rasins
( The recipe calls for 1 handful for fresh chopped parsley and mint. I only used parsley but I put it in my dressing jar.)
4 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tahini
salt and pepper
2 tablespoon sesame seeds.
Close up


I found a really cool bag of organic multi color carrots and Trader Joe's (you would think they pay me but they do not I just love them). I then peeled and thinly sliced the carrots. Thinly slice the radish and quartered and chopped the apples. Toss together and set aside.
This is a great fall mix


In a small mason jar I made my dressing. I put the vinegar and tahini in a jar and shook it. Then I added the parsley and salt and pepper. After shaking it really well ( okay that was a kid job so they would leave me alone) I added the oil. You can just add it all at once and shake but this entertained the kids for a longer time period.
Dressing
I kept the raisin and dressing out and let everyone add what they wanted. This also means I can save the salad and make a left over green salad the next day. 
I think this dinner is a total win and plan on making it in the fall but maybe with pork.
Dinner time!!



Peanut Butter

Math lesson of the day was measuring and we got yummy peanut butter out of it. All you need is a food processor and dry roasted peanuts. 



We use the Ninja Master Prep (QB900B) and I spent maybe $3 on peanuts at Trader Joe's. 

We only did 1 cup but if you want a larger amount on hand feel free to use more. 

Yasser measured the nuts out and poured it in. Then she put every thing together and went for it. 


Just keep going

Just keep going

going 

going 

Now is when you start to see a change but its not peanut butter yet

It's closer

At this point I thought it was done but Justin feels it could have used more its not super smooth.
But it is gorgeous and the best part is it is process free and low amount of salt. 


I recommend having a food processor if you want to live an all natural life and you can do so much with it. Soon we will be making pesto so it will be getting pulled out a lot more. Another food processor to look at is Black & Decker FP1600B 8-Cup Food Processor, Black. The space capacity is bigger than what I have for my ninja. 




Sunday, June 15, 2014

Becoming parents

The day we brought Yasser home

Sometimes becoming a parent is not a planned decision. At times when that happens you do not end up with the right person. I am one of the few lucky ones, we accidentally got pregnant but almost 7 years we are still going strong. He is my best friend and the one who knows the best way to calm me down. Some days I really really need it to but today is not my day or about me. Today is the one day a year that we celebrate the amazing fathers in the world.
Hiking with our 6 month old baby

Today I want to write about the long difficult journey that my husband I went through that makes us cherish being a parent. We first started dated and got pregnant right away with our very first child but that unforntuelly was not meant to be. Although it is sad I learned that are worse things in life than losing a baby before the end of the first trimester. For a short time I was depressed and sad but later found we would out we would be having our lil miss Yasser.
Daddy trying to convince Yasser to try some food
 After that first few days of completely freaking out it then hit us that we were becoming parents. Thankfully this pregnancy was easy no special or traumatic things would happen. This was followed by a fairly easy labor too. After my water broke she was here in 12 hours.  She was a good baby and by the time she was a month old she would be sleeping through the night. I would tease and say had I only known how easy and great she was I would have never had another kid, but that would just be a lie.
Looking at ducks on the lake
 Months after Yasser we found out we would be having Mya. This was the hardest time period not just for me but us as a couple as well. From the very beginning something was wrong I was sick day and night and there was nothing that could make me feel better. Even water made me sick and I was just losing weight like crazy. If you knew me you knew how that was not a good thing because I am tiny. Not just short tiny but super skinny tiny. I was so sick they had to put me on medication in hopes that I would finally start gaining weight.
Gettysburg!! (Miss living near it)
At about 6 months we went in for an ultrasound and thought we would be surprising our family with if it was a boy or girl on Thanksgiving( it was only a few days away). Instead we found out there was no water around her they were hoping my water broke because if it was that then she may have had a fighting chance. We were not that lucky she had potter syndrome. If you have never felt what it is like you are lucky because sitting there pregnant feeling this little life kick away and knowing you will never be able to hold or watch this little baby grow is heartbreaking.
Baltimore zoo
 This was a really difficult time for us both, dealing with it was nearly impossible at first. Mya never developed lungs or kidneys or any of her GI track and we had to decide to end the pregnancy or finishing it knowing what the out come was. We decided to end it, it was hard enough as it was. I lost my mind and my poor husband (fiancé at the time) had to deal with me and the after math. All I wanted was my baby. It would be a few months before I came to my senses and try healing.
We were told it would take us a year to get pregnant again and we wanted to have a kid again so we went off birth control the month we were getting married me. On our honeymoon we had the biggest surprise ever, it would not take a year, it took a month (I had both the depo shot and the pills at the same so the fact it took a month was really surprising).
Seeing our baby for the first time (little Man)
When I tell People my little man was planned I mean I planned on having him a year later not within a month, this was the closest to a planned pregnancy we ever had. Gill-G was an easy pregnancy and super easy uncomplicated birth too.
Labor is never fun 
 Actually I love his birth story. We went in to get induced Feb 9, 2012, it was a training for nurses and we agreed to let them in our room. I even agreed to let the only male student take care of me ( Justin said yes before I could decide) because no one else was okay with it. They broke my water at noon. I was going slow and around 5 I told my nurse I was having horrible pressure. We were not expecting him yet so she was shocked to be seeing a head. Everyone rushed in, and all of the students. Dr. Scout ( I love that doctor) said something that made me laugh and the next thing I know everyone is telling me jokes. All I remember was laughing and then being handed my little man.
Students
 After his birth is when things got hard. This poor kid was miserable day and night for the first 11 months of his life. As he got older we started learning why. Gill-G was maybe 3 months when we found out I got pregnant on the pill again.
Nicu with Hulk man
Hulk man like Mya was a difficult pregnancy. Crazy Both of my Febuaray due dates were easy and my April due dates was horrible. They did not think he was going to make it. At 20 weeks I started dilating, it was a battle to keep him in. My water starting dripping early Feb 26 and by late that night I was starting to contract horribly.
My poor baby 
We were in the middle of a move that day. I was at the new house with my older two. Justin was bringing over more stuff when my water decided to completely break (talk about timing). Hulk man and I had some serious scares during the labor the 28 they almost did a C section but things corrected its self and a few hours later he was born. We thought we were out of the woods with him but at 6 weeks this kid nearly died. He was getting sick and we had an appointment with the doctor in the morning just needed to get through the night.
He was so sad looking 
 Justin agreed to take watch and let me get some sleep. The next thing I know here comes my husband flipping out Hulk man was dead and he hands me this blue lifeless looking thing. I had to calm him down and make him find the phone to call 911. I did CPR ( if you do not think taking that class is important, it really is you never know when you might need it) if I did not try he would not be here today.
Getting better 
 I sent Justin and Hulk man to the hospital while I figured out child care for the other two. The poor child stopped breathing and had seizers for 5 hours. They had to induce a comma (we are debating how to write this so if you know the correct way to word it please let me know) in order to mercy fly him into D.C. Hulk man remained on life support for 3 days until the swelling in his brain went down. I have to say I have never been so thankful to have such a strong willed and determined little boy.
Hard to believe this cute face nearly died 
He pulled through and has not stopped moving since. After Hulk man we decided never again will we have another biological child (I still want to adopt one day). I may or may not adopt some days these kids make me want to hide but I would not trade them for anything in this world. Looking back on this I am thankful that I have the right person by my side. This post has taken me almost a week to write and reading through it I still cry. Having kids has been one of our hardest journeys and most heartbreaking but I would not want to trade it. I love my kids and my husband that made all of this possible. With out him I do not know where I would have ended up.
All of us