Decorating!

We've been having fun putting up the Tree and other Decorations this past week.  The boys put up our christmas lights while Daddy supervised this year.  Way to go boys!  We all enjoyed getting the tree up and decorated.  Miss C put the star on the tree this year.

Chickens!

Our kids have been wanting Chickens for a LONG time.  They've been reading up on how to care for them and clearing a spot in the yard for them.  The last couple of weeks we kicked our preparations into high gear when we acquired a hen house from friends who are moving.

A friend has raised some great hens from eggs, and they just started laying.  She was willing to sell a few to us.  We just picked them up last week and have been thrilled to be enjoying eggs from them right away.

The kids are enjoying letting them out of the hen house in the morning, feeding them, checking for eggs and locking them up in the evening.  When we first brought them home they were a bit shy as they adjusted, but they are getting used to us and our new home.  The kids are enjoying getting to interact with the hens a bit more now that they are settling in.

 

*We are getting 3-4 eggs a day right now though that number may go up to 4-5.  These hens do not provide all the eggs we need, but they supplement us nicely and are a great experience for all of us.  We also love knowing that the eggs we are eating are from healthy happy hens.  The eggs from our chickens (and every other home raised chicken egg we've had) have BRIGHT yellow/orange yolks, as compared to the dull yellow from store bought.

Non dairy peppermint Mocha

Help us win some more Saddleback Leather!  Be sure to enter our giveaway on my other blog!

For over a year now I've been mostly dairy free as an act of love for my dear Mr. K who has a nasty dairy intolerance.  It's been a struggle for me, but it has also helped me lose the "baby weight" that has stuck around for the last 5 years.  I'm also finding that my body is not liking dairy when I do have small amounts now. :/  That reality means I have to find new favorites.  This week I thought I'd try to make a dairy free, soy free, sugar free peppermint mocha (yea, thats a tall order after taking all of the good stuff away!).  After looking around on the web and playing around a bit this is what I made up.....

Dairy free Mock Peppermint Mocha

About 5 cups of water

3 Starbucks via single serve packets

3 peppermint tea bags

1 cup Coco nut milk

Combine in a pot and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  Remove tea bags then stir in.

3 Tbsp honey (I use raw)

about 1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips (I use enjoy life brand)

Yes, this is way more than I can drink in one sitting (and I'm not sharing with the kiddos right now).  I put the left overs in a pitcher and I'm keeping it in the fridge.  I can warm some up whenever I want some!  

FYI, since I've been dairy free for so long and really try to avoid processed sugars this tastes great to me, though it really is not as creamy as the dairy alternative.  Rob and Mr. M were not so sure about it so don't try to pass it off as the "real thing" ;)  Maybe I'll give Eggnog Lattes a try next?

Help Us Win Saddleback Leather (Again!)

Rob here. You may remember how Gabe won the awesome Saddleback Leather "Beast" for me with her funny video about using Saddleback Leather straps. Well, they're having another giveaway. Look at all the loot!

Please click through to their homepage using this link (opens new window). The counter resets each Wednesday for three weeks. "Click early, and click often!" to misquote Mr. Wrigley.

-Rob

Thanksgiving visit with Nana!

My mom came to visit us for Thanksgiving!  Nana brought some fun little goodies for the kids and it seems it was just enough to help Mr. K warm up to her.

The kids were having so much fun hanging out with Nana and Rob was doing well enough, that we thought we would take the opportunity to go out.  We went to see a movie.

 

On Thanksgiving we enjoyed a light brunch (or was that Elevensies?) before heading over to spend the day with friends.  Miss J had set it up as a sweet little tea party.  She is getting so good at putting together tea parties for us.

*We were not sure how Rob would do getting out, but he was doing well enough to go spend a few hours on someone else's couch by then!

 

We didn't take many pictures, we were having too much fun eating all of the yummy food and enjoying the blessing of fellowship.  I did manage to take a picture of Mr. K after he had polished off his first plate of food and was starting in on his seconds.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our family to yours.  May your day be filled with much love and joy as you reflect on all you have to be thankful for in the past, present and future!

"Oh give thanks to the LORD for He is good, his mercy endures forever!" Psalm 107:1

knee surgery

Rob had knee surgery this week.  It was an all day affair, and since Mr. K is still nursing he had to spend the day with me.  Mr. M came along to help.  It was great to have both of these guys along with me.  After getting daddy settled in  right away we were off to play the waiting game.

Since the hospital was in an area we were very firmiliar with we took a walk.  Half an hour later we were seated at starbucks enjoying drinks while Mr. K napped in the stroller.

After lunch we headed up to the waiting room.  We wanted to be there early so we would not miss the doctor coming out to let us know how surgery went.  Mr. K enjoyed the little table available in the waiting room.

 

When we were called back Mr. K enjoyed checking out the area while keeping quiet and avoiding pushing buttons or pulling cords.

The kids have been happy to hang out with daddy and get anything he may need too.  He has been listening to some reading lessons and cuddling too!

*Oh, if you are wondering what he did to need knee surgery.  It was an on duty injury.  He had a bad landing (he is in the AirForce you know)....during a game of volley ball.  It was a team building game of volley ball.