foods I now love that I used to hate + goals and menus {june 18, 2013}

Happy Tuesday! :) I intended to post this yesterday, but hey, we worked out in the yard instead! :) We are getting closer to my crazy nesting goal of having the entire yard redone! {it already looks so much better than this!!}

I was also very happy with the progress we made on the to-do list from last week:

pinterest source

• plan Ava's first party : it's going to be a rainbow princess party! {I'm pinning lots of pics here} 
• make a loose summer schedule {download a copy here}
• list two more items on Craigslist: listed and sold them!
• figure out house payoff schedule/timeline
• wash baby clothes we have, figure out additional clothes we will need to buy for his first few months 
• work on planting grass in the corner
• make wall decor for baby room 
• write a love note to my husband
• write a love/encouraging note to my oldest 
• take the kids swimming and to the library 
• reschedule midwife appointment 
• arrange Father's day plans/gifts :D
• buy summer homeschool books for each child 
• make lots of dinners at home {I was super busy last week, and we ate out a lot!
• teach pump Saturday

here's the baby list progress I made:

• make quilt/bedding
• make 1 wall decor piece for over the bed
• paint crib and dresser {still working on this, but mostly done}
• wash baby clothes
• buy diapers, wipes, and nursing supplies 
• wash car seat + bouncer covers
• hang curtains
• order or find a pack n' play travel lite on Craigslist {decided not to get this after all- will use old playpen we already have instead of buying unless we find a good deal}

and here's the new goal list for this week:

• hang curtains in the baby's room
• start cleaning out the attic
• make grocery list for Ava's party
• wash kid sheets and blankets
• list/sell 2 things on craigslist
• buy home birth supplies we need
• organize + purge kid toys upstairs
• sub extra BODYPUMP class {+ burn off extra cake and Mexican food...LOL}
• change phone plan
• organize husband's dresser/clothes
• add light fixture to bathroom {not me, LOL}
• put girls' bed together {not me again}
• take the kids swimming and to the library

Here are this week's menu plans- it's summer, so I'm shamelessly repeating most of last week. I've decided my goal this summer is to make as many paper plate /one dish/microwave meals as possibly I can. :) 

dinners:

• dinner with friends
• ground turkey tacos {I have pre-cooked meat in the freezer ready for the microwave}
• crockpot turkey spaghetti + bread
• seasoned grilled chicken, pineapples + rice
• griddle turkey sun dried tomato quesadillas + corn 
• beans and rice {crockpot + rice cooker}
• brown rice +/- lean beef {me}
• zucchini pasta with homemade marinara {I hope I can find good zucchini at the store now!}

lunches:

english muffin toaster oven pizzas

sandwiches

lunch out

pb + j with frozen fruit

breakfasts:

fruit

cereal {frosted mini wheats or honey nut cheerios now that it's summer! :D}

bagels for the kids {I stocked up at the discount bakery a couple of weeks ago}

Have you tried any good summer {no-oven required} recipes lately? 

I would love it if you'd share- we are trying not to heat up the house this summer with our electric bill getting so much higher already.

Sun-dried tomato basil lover or hater?

I used to detest basil and then sometime in my 20's I fell in love with it. My children don't really like it now either, but I have a feeling they'll come around after they grow up. Ha! :D

One food you used to hate as but now love as an adult?

tofu, mushrooms, onions, eggs, fresh green beans....and the list goes on! I can't believe how much your preferences can change over time!

change is coming, an eventful date weekend & father's day, + our summer schedule

quick reminder: don't forget to enter the Crunchy Mamas giveaway through tonight!! :D

I realized last week that we only have a few more weeks as a family of 6. Isn't that weird to think about? For 4 years, this is what we've known- having 2 boys and 2 girls, and at this point we've not changed a diaper in 1.5 years, or carried a carseat around in over 3 years. 

Change is coming. :D It will be a wonderful one, but I'm kind of trying to live in this moment, and enjoy having mostly big kids while it's easier to get around. :) 

On Friday, we went to the library, the pool to swim for a while, then stopped in for free ice creams with our coupons:

Our gym also had a date night this weekend, and they were thrilled to go play while we went on a date.  Win, win. :) 

I was feeling like Italian food- or more precisely, Italian Chocolate Cake with toffee and ice cream. This is #2 of my favorite desserts from a restaurant! :) {here's #1}

We walked the mall for a very short while. Honestly, it was fun, but I was ready to head out very quickly, which Rob was probably thankful for! hahaha. Shopping and/or walking long distances in high heels is not my thing right now, but I did find something cool for the baby's room I can't wait to show you. ;)

Then we headed over to a local store that has free live music on Fridays- and it was like God planned for us to go there, because these people were playing our very favorite kind of music:

We only caught the end, but it was long enough to listen to three of the most beautiful songs I've heard live. Somewhere Over the Rainbow was one of them, and it made for the most perfect date. Ahhh. :)

But really, it could have been the most perfect date because I got to go with this guy:

Over and over, I realize how blessed I have been to be given such a loving, kind, honest, hard-working man to be my husband and the father of my children. I've never met a single man who loves his wife and family more than he does.  I'm so, so very thankful for him. :)

So yesterday was Father's Day, of course, and we had plans to chill out after church and lunch. Instead, we came home to a terrible {read: gross} house emergency which he dealt with for hours until dinnertime. 

I was so in awe of him. He's such a MAN, you know what I mean? He faces a challenge head on, when I would faint and give up at just the sight of it. I love him. And I seriously have no idea what I would do without him. :) So after that, we took him out to the best Mexican food place in town- Chuy's:

It was a much better ending to the weekend than the afternoon... ;)

And today is our first day working our new summer routine:

download a copy here

So far I like it even though it's slowing me down quite a bit. The kids seem really happy to have an order of events, and to start in on their new school work. It's day one, so I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts. ;) {okay, never mind. That lasted less time than it took me to write this post...}

I'm thankful for summer so far- it's been a challenge to be at home all day with the kids and no school work/schedule, but I've also been able to get lots done before the baby comes. :) I'll update you with that list and our menus for the week later on today! :)

How was your weekend/ Father's Day?

What's your favorite kind of music to listen to live?

I love orchestrated music the most, probably, then rock style. :)

Or your favorite way to motivate kids to finish their work/chores in the summer?

giveaway: Crunchy Mamas organic skin care product package {ends June 17}

disclosure: this is a sponsored giveaway and review for Crunchy Mamas- all opinions are mine! :D

If you follow over in FB land, I posted on the {bh} page last weekend how excited I was to receive this little package of organic skin care goodies from the Crunchy Mamas themselves- two sister mamas, Katie and Ashley, who wanted to make organic, chemical free products you could put on your babies without worrying about it.

And even a week later, I'm still excited about them! :) We've tried/smelled/rubbed them all on, and I've been very impressed!

I love their mission Ashley shared on their blog about why they make their products:

"Katie and I began this quest several years ago.  After becoming fed up with commercial products and their misleading labels, we began making our own toiletries and such.  Countless hours have been poured into researching the best oils for various products.  We felt we had a right to know exactly what was being put onto our precious babies, and you deserve that same right.  That is why we include EVERY ingredient on our labels."

You know that wholesome, deep herbal smell you smell when you walk into a health store that makes you breathe in really deeply and relax all of the sudden? I have no idea which herb that is? {clueless} but that's what these products remind me of- they all smell so good, and you suddenly feel relaxed when you rub them on. That sounds crazy, I know, but I need more of that in my life! :)

Here's what Ashley and Katie sent me to try out:

Their natural grapefruit hand sanitizer, their scab stick, two beeswax lip balms, a menth head stick {natural vapor rub}, along with their bug off and about to pop balms:

They all have their organic ingredients listed right on the package- and their main ingredients are unrefined coconut oil and beeswax. I rubbed the about to pop balm all over my belly as soon as I got the package open- it's not greasy, it smells awesome and it doesn't freak me out to rub it all over my belly like petroleum does for some reason.

Now I'm not a super-natural girl when it comes to body products {confession: I like sunless tanners, Bath and Body works and non-organic makeup}, but for some reason I refuse to put any lotion on or near my belly because they all seem so chemically laced. {and I still put lotion on the rest of my body. I know, I'm weird! ha!} I wasn't worried at all to rub their products all over everywhere though, and the about to pop balm felt so good on my stretching belly.

My husband used the scab stick on a knee injury already, and I use the hand sanitizer ALL the time now- it smells awesome- I like to spray it on before we eat and the smell of citrus on my hands is SO much better than the normal hospital smell.

The lip balms are super thick and smooth too, and glide on without clumping. Their lime lip balm makes me crave lime- it's the real lime smell- not that fake icky lime smell that you normally find in lip products.

I tried the Bug Off, and I didn't have as much luck with it as the other products- I liked the citronella and the lack of DEET, but we have major mosquitos at our house and they love this pregnant girl with a passion, so it only worked for about 20 minutes before it absorbed and I became a mosquito buffet again {seriously, I can't even walk from the car to the house without being bitten normally}. We don't have other bug problems like flies and chiggers so I can't say if it would work for those. I would recommend it for light use, or for use on the babies you don't want to spray with bug spray. {fyi: here's a testimony from someone who used it and had great success though. I might live too far south!}

I really was impressed with all of their products- the smell and feel of all of them especially! I am actually afraid I'm a little hooked on all of them! :) I can't believe they can make such good products homemade!

They have offered some deals for you guys too- they're giving away a package of these four products to one lucky winner!



And they're offering a special discount to {bh} readers through July 14. Use the one-time discount code BIBLICAL when you check out to save an extra 15% off your order!

To enter the giveaway, hop over to their shop and look around, then come back and leave a comment telling me the product you'd want to try most- preferably one I didn't mention already! :D {or the one you find most intriguing- they came up with the best names!}

You can also check out their facebook page to get to know these two sweet mamas even better, get more discount codes and find out about other giveaways!

The giveaway ends on Monday night, June 17, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. CST.

thrifty outfit: $10 Walmart dress + thrifted Banana Republic {+33 week pics}

Remember the $9.97 coral Walmart dress from Tuesday? Here's how it looked on with my $4 Banana Republic thrifted sandals:

I wouldn't necessarily call it the best maternity dress with the elastic hitting mid-waist, but I really, really liked it anyway! It's super soft, has adjustable straps, doesn't go too low in the chest, and hits the knee so I don't have to wear something under it! 

I was very impressed, and the hubs loved it too. He said I looked cute! :D

I'll take "cute" these days- especially when I don't feel super cute with this growing 33-week belly all out there... :) 

Hey, I will say the belly makes for an excellent armrest while I'm thinking/speaking though... hahaha! :) This baby armrest/bowl holder/toothpaste catcher just keeps getting bigger and bigger! :) {a good thing, for sure!}

I was at a shower for our sweet friends here last weekend- and I had the chance to get to know a new friend, Carol, who writes children's books! We had so much fun chatting about writing and blogs we both read! :D 

And oh my goodness, the shower was so gorgeous! It was an adoption shower for our pastor and his beautiful wife who are adopting a sweet preteen girl from Ethiopia this summer. I'm so excited for them! :) If you think of them, will you pray for them and the big transition that they will be going through this year?

{many thanks to my friend Danielle B. for taking all of the pics!! she did such a great job! :D}

So I have a question for you- have you adopted before? Do you have any advice for friends of adopting parents of an older child? How can we help them best? I'd so love to know your thoughts!

What's your favorite flower? 

Hydrangeas are mine- indoors and out. Aren't those purple ones gorgeous? ahhhh....

Any tricks for getting babies to move out of your ribcage? 

This one is either really, really high or really low, all the time! :)

p.s. stay tuned for a big giveaway later on today {Lord-willing!}! :D

homemaking hack #7: how to measure portions easily

I may say this every time I post a homemaking hack, but I can't believe it took me so long to think of these two! :) I use these two tricks every day now and they both work for me and save me time and lots of calories in the kitchen! :)

These hacks have changed the way I see and estimate portion sizes, especially when it comes to things I love to eat {and overeat!} in bowls like soup, beans, watermelon, yogurt, oatmeal, and cereal.

Here are two easy ways to keep an eye on your portion sizes:

1. Use thin metal measuring cups to cut and scoop out your foods. 

Of course using measuring cups always makes sense for portioning out foods, but I never considered using them as a scooping and measuring tool for my favorite melon fruits at the same time! :)

I don't weigh or specifically measure my food portions out normally, but one day I was trying to get an idea of how much watermelon I was actually eating {it felt like several servings at one time!}, so I decided to use my metal cup to cut and scoop out my watermelon. I was shocked it was so easy to cut with a measuring cup! 

And even better than that shocking discovery {ha}, for the first time in history, I actually overestimated how much I was eating- the calories in my average bowl full of watermelon were far less than I thought! {Does that EVER happen? not to me! yay!}

So these days, when I don't use my metal cup scooping method for watermelon and everything else I want to portion out- I use option two- which is:

2. Pre-measure the capacity of your favorite bowls for easy portion estimation {and use the same bowl for everything!}.

My anthro bowl is 2 cups exactly from what I can tell- so I know if it's 1/2 full of dry cereal, I am eating more than 1.33 servings of my favorite Honey Bunches of Oats. {and who could ever just eat 3/4 of a cup for one serving?? That makes me sad.} 

Or if I am eating a bowl of oatmeal or greek yogurt in the anthro bowl, I know if I fill it up, that's 2 or more servings I'm eating at one time! {that's why I stick to my 1/2 cup bowls for ice cream and sweets- if I put them in a 2 cup bowl my brain feels deprived- but a packed 1/2 cup? I have to use a baby spoon then, and it's like eating gelato at the mall- special and filling! :D It's all in the mind!}

So the moral of option 2 is this: if you're trying to get an idea of how much you're eating- keep an eye on your dish size at home! It works for me! :D

What are your favorite tricks for measuring food portions? Please share!

Do you stick to portion sizes? Or is eating more of a "how hungry am I right now?" thing for you? 

I'm an option 2 girl by nature- especially when it comes to sweets! I still eat as much as I want when it comes to natural fruits and veggies, but I cut back majorly on ice cream, yogurt, and dessert portions a few years ago, around 25 or so. The older I get, the more processed things seem to affect me negatively! :D Back when I was a teenager I could eat 1/2 of a huge bag of M&M's and Taco Bell and not feel a thing! :) Ah, the days!!

Do you pre-cut your watermelon or keep it in the rind?

I find it tastes so much better straight from the source! I keep the whole melon in the fridge to scoop out servings as needed! :)

8 cute + thrifty walmart finds i love this week {summer 2013}

I mentioned yesterday one of my goals this week was to make a plan to pay off our house.... I'm super excited about the idea, but it wasn't all that long ago that we were on the Dave Ramsey plan to pay off all of our consumer debts and student loans.

I remember the gazelle intensity like it was yesterday, along with all the time and effort it took to save money to snowball on our debts. It was intense! I'm trying to mentally prepare to do it again- which means I'll be avoiding Target and the mall like the plague for a while. :)

When it comes to clothes and decorating, I'm a Goodwill girl mostly, and I love Target to pieces now that we have a 5% off debit card there, but sometimes even GW can't beat Walmart prices! :D I know I was shocked to find some cute stuff there this spring in round 1! :D

I couldn't wait to share the new finds I spotted at Wally World this week. {don't worry, I didn't buy them all! I just thought I would pass along the deals in case you needed to save some dough too!}

And I'm not sponsored by Walmart in any way, but I do spend a good percentage of my money at their store...hahah!

1. Coral summer knit dress for $9.97.

I picked this one up without trying it on yesterday, but I will let you how it goes. It's super cute in person! :D It comes in all kinds of colors too!

I loved it because it reminds me of this Ann Taylor Loft $40 sale version, {except the Walmart version is longer, yay!} what do you think?  :D 

2. Color block Maxi, $15.44.

It's too hot for maxi anything when you're 8 months preggo in the Texas summer heat, but if you live somewhere a bit cooler and/or aren't preggo, you might like this maxi! :D

And it comes in this cute color combo too! I really LOVE this one!

Here's a similar Gap version for $69.95 {wow}:

3. Adorable pouf ottomans, $29.97.

While our Dave Ramsey house payoff plan probably won't include buying any poufs anytime soon, I thought these were incredibly cute and a good size for the price!

I didn't see this ikat one in the store, but I found it online- isn't it colorful? It's my favorite, I think. :D

4. Starter men's dri-wear workout shirts, $8.47.

My husband loves to wear shirts like this to lift weights in! We normally buy the Nike version for $20-$25, but these are almost exactly the same. {shhh... don't tell- Rob's getting this for Father's Day!}

5. Colorful ties for $10. {in-store only}

We know from experience that it's so hard to find bright colored ties for a reasonable price! I LOVE these! {I was so tempted to buy one for Father's Day, but he doesn't use them often!}

6. Industrial-style TV console, $179.96.

While this isn't necessarily a "cheap" find, it's far less expensive than the World Market version. The only downside is that it's not real wood. But I couldn't resist snapping a pic. I really thought it was cute, even with the laminate wood, and it gets decent reviews! 

7. Multi-colored floral plates {in-store}.

I've seen plates almost identical to these at Dillard's for way, way more! :) These are bright and fun, and go with a range of colors you might have in your kitchen. $5 isn't too bad for one of these to hang on the wall! :D

And I loved their melamine plates {maybe even more} for $2.38. Aren't they adorable?

8. Drawstring dri-wear exercise tops for women, $5.96.

You already know I'm a big fan of Walmart's workout shorts, but I fell in love with these yesterday too:

I got this burgundy/purple version since it's a BODYCOMBAT color, and is long enough to hide my belly for the next few months. Even better, these tops are like 1/10th of the price of Lululemon! Unreal! :D

So those are definitely my favorite wally world finds right now! :D I am always surprised at the cute stuff they have if you dig around! :D

What are your favorite finds there recently? Any luck with cute stuff in round 1? :D


Are you on a Dave Ramsey/Walmart/beans and rice plan too? hehee

monday goals and menu plans {yard progress pics + nesting to-do lists}

It's a much different Monday than I'm used to here! :D

Instead of my usual living room, this is my view:

The kids are at VBS this morning, and my amazing husband is watching the youngest so that I can get some Starbucks time. :) {thank you, honey!!}

VBS means this week is going to be a little different than our normal summer week, but I really wanted to use the extra time I have to plan out a summer schedule for the kids. The first couple of days out of school they had no idea what to do, but last week they finally caught a little groove of play, eat, and swim. :) I wanted to let them go free for a couple of weeks before we did anything too structured each day.

This weekend was productive- we had the chance to get some work done on the "redo entire yard" part of my list! :D When we bought our foreclosure a few years ago, we knew the big yard needed lots of work. It's been decently kept, but it really needed some tlc after all the years of being rented/let go. 

Here's what this deep forest-like corner looked like when we started {or maybe worse, since this was a few weeks back!}:

And after many hours of hard manual labor {on the part of my husband and boys- I was the water bearer!}, here's the progress we made, which is exciting! 

They spent hours and hours digging up trees and even had to use the truck to pull out some of them- the overgrowth was so dense! I am so amazed at how much they did! Next up, we are raking and pulling out the borders to plant grass and put in a new fence. 

So the pre-baby to-do list is getting shorter. :) I'm excited about our progress- even though the baby won't care one bit what's done when he comes, I feel like it all has to be done before he gets here in 6-8 weeks! {It's insane and unreasonable, I know, but somehow it feels so necessary! Did I ever tell you I have a REALLY patient husband? He's such a good sport to deal with his nesting wife. :D}

here's the baby list progress:

• make quilt/bedding
• make 1 wall decor piece for over the bed
• paint crib and dresser {still working on this, but mostly done}
• wash baby clothes
• buy diapers, wipes, and nursing supplies {bought a package of newborn diapers/wipes two weeks ago!
• wash car seat + bouncer covers
• hang curtains
• order or find a pack n' play travel lite on Craigslist

and more we have to do:

• redo entire yard {many hours spent here already!}
• build a new fence
• mulch and plant flower beds
• host birthday party for Avalie {planning is this week!}
• finish painting house
• redo/finish girls room -needs 2nd coat of paint, and a bed makeover is waiting to happen in the attic
• redo boys room- paint/reorganize
• finish the stairs
• add light fixture to bathroom
• find a new-to-us washing machine to replace our 10 year-old one

So here's my to-do list for this week:

• plan Ava's first party
• make a loose summer schedule
• list two more items on Craigslist
• figure out house payoff schedule/timeline
• wash baby clothes we have, figure out additional clothes we will need to buy for his first few months
• work on planting grass in the corner
• make wall decor for baby room
• write a love note to my husband
• write a love/encouraging note to my oldest 
• take the kids swimming and to the library
• go to midwife appointment {every 2 weeks now- which means we are getting so close!}
• arrange Father's day plans/gifts :D
• buy summer homeschool books for each child
• make lots of dinners at home {I was super busy last week, and we ate out a lot!}

And here's our meal plan for this week:

 {keeping it SO light and easy- I don't want to do much cleaning...or cooking...hahaha!}:

east texas caviar {above} + rice

ground turkey tacos

turkey spaghetti + salad

sandwiches + chips

quesadillas + black beans

beans and rice

brown rice +/- lean beef {me}

zucchini pasta with homemade marinara {I hope I can find good zucchini at the store now!}

Summer is so different! :D I'm excited to try to attempt to hit all those goals this week!

What are your goals for the week? {if you say none, I don't blame you one bit! :D enjoy your summer days!}

Do you like zucchini pasta?
I had never tried it until last year- and I fell in love, hard!

Do you do any schoolwork/bookwork in the summer?
We've never done any before, but I think the kids will be bored shortly. :) They've been told they would do some new school work in their upcoming grade, and they were actually excited. We'll see if that sticks when the work is here! :)