Monday, August 31, 2015

The Great Salt Plains

On Saturday we woke up early and loaded the girls up for a surprise road trip! 

 We drove the 2 hours to Jet, Oklahoma to visit the Salt Plains.

 We went into the visitors center and the girls had fun seeing all the animals. We also watched a video about digging for Selenite crystals and that's when they got really excited.

 It is such an amazing view! You drive a few miles down this dirt country road lined with cows and trees and all of a sudden you come onto this vast land that looks like white sandy beaches.
 We grabbed our shovels and walked out to find a good spot to start digging.
 The girls had a blast digging and getting dirty.



 Even Aaron got in on the fun :)

 It didn't take too long and we hit the jackpot! Tae and Hensley took the crystals and washed them in little water puddles.
 After we filled a cup full of crystals, we had a quick picnic lunch in Cherokee. 
 After we finished our lunch, we headed back to the city. Hensley slept the whole way home and Tae watched a movie. 
 Here's our collection of crystals. I bought a shadowbox frame and decided to make this Oklahoma shape to hang on our wall. I'm very happy with the way it turned out!
It was a great little road trip and I can't wait until we go on another. It's truly amazing to see the joy in your child's eyes and you know that they will hold onto these memories forever. 

Monday, August 3, 2015

Summer Fun and Tae starts 1st grade!

 My sweet little Tae-bug started 1st grade today! We took about a month off from school, but she was definitely ready to be back at it. The picture above is some of the curriculum we are using this year. I bought this great homeschooling planner at Mardel's during their homeschool sale and so far I love it. I'm a really organized person and this helps me keep on top of what work we need to accomplish.

 We started our first day of first grade with Reading Rainbow! I'm so happy this is on Netflix now. I remember enjoying this show growing up and I know Tae will too.
 Can't believe this one will be 7 in a few months.
 We took Hensley to her first movie a couple weeks ago. We went and saw the Minion movie. I think she did pretty good for only being two. She sat still for about the first hour and then she was done, haha. So, her and I went out and walked around the theater. Tae and Aaron really enjoyed the movie too!
 These girls love feeding the ducks! This was after the movies at the Bricktown canal, but we've also been going once a week down to the Myriad gardens to feed the ducks and fish.
 Hensley having fun playing with the doll house. 
 We recently celebrated my grandparents as they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. My mom planned a great get together at a local Mexican restaurant. She spent a lot of time working on the details, making the cake, and inviting the whole family. She even rented a limo to bring my grandparents to the party. They had never been in a limo before.
 Hensley LOVES her cousin Bella. She looks forward to every opportunity to play with her. 

 We took the girls down to the Myriad gardens to watch Big Hero 6 during their Summer Movie. Hensley hadn't had a nap that day and fell asleep pretty soon after we got there. We ate pizza from a local food truck and then had ice cream from another food truck. Hensley woke up about the time the movie started, but too many people had gathered in front of us with camping chairs and the girls couldn't see the screen.

 We stayed about 20 minutes after the movie started and decided to head home. It was still a late night even without staying for the whole movie. 
This girl. She is so smart and so silly. She has the habit of getting her big sister to do things she shouldn't do. This is one example. She decided to color all over her face one day and big sister also colored all over her face. They told me they were making themselves be kitties. They both keep me very busy, that's for sure!              

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Another week with the Gray's: Food Edition!

I had such good feedback from my last food post, that I'd thought I'd do it again. This time I used my camera instead of my Iphone for the pictures, so maybe they will be better quality, haha! If you would like to see my first post, you can do so here. The first post gives a lot of information about where I shop, how much I spend, and what all we eat during a week. Again all things are organic unless stated otherwise and I spend roughly $130/week to feed our family of four.

Day 1

Breakfast: Cascadian Farms organic cereal (with organic whole milk). Both boxes were about empty so one got chocolate and the other got the honey nut. They also had kiwi with fresh blueberries
 Lunch: I made half a grilled cheese and half a peanut butter and jelly because they each wanted one or the other, but I knew they would want what the other had if I made it different, ha! They also got some pickles, a plum, and Simply Balanced fruit strip (not organic, but non-GMO)
Dinner: Tonight's dinner was all done on the grill. I made foil packets for the brussels and the potatoes. The potatoes I just diced and added an onion, olive oil, and salt and pepper. The brussels have olive oil, and S&P. The kielbasa is Coleman brand from Natural Grocers. It's fully cooked, so it only takes about 5 minutes on each side. 

Day 2

 Breakfast: Today's breakfast was a little bit of a treat because I got a box of organic toaster pastries on clearance. They also each got a tropical smoothie made with mango, banana, strawberry, coconut milk, chia seeds, honey, and oats.
 Lunch: Ants on a log made with almond butter, Barbara's cheese puffs (not organic, but non-GMO), mango and strawberries, and Natural Grocers brand yogurt covered almonds.
Dinner: I grilled wild caught Alaskan salmon on the grill in a foil packet with just butter, dill, and S&P. I also made Simply Balanced brand organic macaroni and cheese. I grilled the carrots on the grill in foil after marinating them in dijon, blasmaic vinegar, thyme, and salt and pepper. They also had kiwi.

Day 3

 Breakfast: I made overnight oats which is a very simple and yummy breakfast. You combine 1/2 cup of oats with 1/2 cup of milk, 1 T plain yogurt, 2 tsp honey, splash of vanilla, a handful of raisins, a handful of sliced almonds, and a good sprinkling of cinnamon. Leave in the fridge overnight and eat cold the next morning. It reminds me of granola with yogurt. You can add in different combinations to get different flavors. Peanut butter with banana is another good one or blueberry with almond, etc. They also each had a banana with their oats.
 Lunch: Tuna salad made with celery, onion, Just Mayo brand mayonnaise (vegan), mustard, and S&P. They also got Late July brand organic crackers, organic grass fed sharp cheddar cheese, and strawberries with blueberries.
Dinner: This was Imagine brand organic potato and leek soup with grilled cheese and raspberries. The soup was vegan, but we added a dollop of sour cream to the top.

Day 4

 Breakfast: This morning the girls decided to sleep in late, so I made a slightly bigger breakfast and we did without lunch (just snacked) today. They each got a frozen organic and gluten free waffle with almond butter and organic syrup, scrambled eggs, and blueberries.
Dinner: Aaron and I had some leftovers from last week for dinner tonight (they needed to be eaten up!), so I made frozen organic chicken nuggets for the girls. They also got cheese, roasted broccoli, and strawberries.

Day 5

 Breakfast: Smoothies again! This time I combines fresh squeezed orange juice with frozen banana, yogurt, milk, oats, chia seeds, and honey. They also got toast with jelly.
 Lunch: I made these frozen cheese pizzas (Plum brand, uses a lot of organic ingredients) for lunch today. they also got peas and mango and blueberries.
Dinner: Everything was done on the grill today! I sauteed mushrooms, potatoes and onions, corn on the cob, and organic grass fed steaks (bought on discount at NG). I topped them with some super sharp Irish cheese. The girls also had fruit. There were leftovers of steak, mushrooms, and potatoes, so I made a frittata that we had for another dinner. The steaks are not something we normally buy because of the steep price, but being that it made two full dinners, I think it was a good deal.

Day 6

 Breakfast: Plain, full fat yogurt (Nancy's brand) with raw local honey. I topped it with Cascadian Farms organic granola and some frozen blueberries.
 Lunch: The girls requested macaroni and cheese again, ha! They also had frozen peas and mango. They love eating frozen peas!
Dinner: I made cheese quasadillas and served them with rice and black beans (seasoned with cumin, paprika, garlic, cilantro, and chili powder), tomatoes, and grapes.

Day 7

 Breakfast: Today's special treat was this yogurt (gingered pear flavor) and they loved it. They also had strawberries and blueberries.
Lunch: Tuna salad again (made the same as before). Served with cheese, Back to Nature spinach crackers (not organic), and grapes.

Dinner: We went out to eat for this meal! We try to only go out to eat once a week. We also try to pick a local restaurant or some place that has good organic options.

Grocery List

Dairy

1. Butter, no salt
2. Cheese, specialty
3. Eggs
4. Milk, whole
5. Sour cream
6. Yogurt, plain
7. Yogurt, specialty
Vegetables

1. Broccoli
2. Brussels sprouts
3. Carrots
4. Celery
5. Corn
6. Mushrooms
7. Onions
8. Potatoes
9. Tomatoes
Sea Food

1. Salmon
2. Tuna
Meats and Deli

1. Steak
2. Kielbasa
Canned Goods

1. Beans, black
Snacks

1. Barbara's cheese puffs
Bread & Baked Goods

1. Sandwich bread
2. Tortillas, flour
Fruits

1. Bananas
2. Blueberries
3. Grapes, red
4. Kiwi
5. Mangoes
6. Oranges)
7. Plums
8. Raspberries
9. Strawberries
Frozen

1. Berries and Tropical fruit blend
2. Chicken nuggets, organic
3. Pizza (Plum brand)
4. Waffles
Packaged Goods

1. Crackers
2. Mac&cheese
3. Potato and leek soup
4. Rice, long grain
5. Raisins
6. Toaster pastries
Condiments & Sauces

1. Jelly
2. Peanut butter
3. Pickles
4. Syrup
5. Honey
6. Just Mayo
7. Mustard
Baking Supplies

1. Oatmeal, regular
2. Oil, Olive (Virgin)
3. Almonds
Cereals

1. Organic cereal
2. Organic granola