Busy day.

Getting the kids geared up for back to school. The college doesn't actually start till Sept. 19th (kinda cool) but there's still stuff to get done now!

First, Kent had an appt at 9:00 am with the off- campus people thru our school district- for home schoolers. We had to get the permission slip/form signed by Kent's counselor to be able to continue thru running start that allows high schoolers to go to college- tuition free!!! Awesome! So Kent is technically a senior in high school- I cannot believe that... but he'll be attending college for the second year now. He's a pro.

Then I had an appt for Kent at 10:00 at the running start office at Olympic College to make sure he's all squared away. Done!

Then the kids and I walked over to the cashier at OC to pay for both kids.... Well, Kent's isn't too expensive cause it's tuition free, but they still have misc. fees, security fees, and one of his classes had a "class fee"... nice and vague. Anyway not too bad, then there's Jade, who's a full time official college student, no freebies for this kid! We had to pay tuition in FULL! Ouch- my poor check book! So now the kids are all paid up... of course not counting books for both of them which is several hundred more $$$ but that's what's nice about school not starting till Sept. 19th, I have another payday to look forward to to pay for books pheeewww!

Fall Quarter 2011 Jade is taking:

Child Development 1: Birth to 8

Multicultural Education

Practicum 1 ( don't know what that is)

And an online class called "Survey of Centers"

All these classes are aimed to get her Early Childhood Education Degree in June.

Fall Quarter 2011 Kenton is taking:

Precalculus 2: Trig

Spanish 1 (he's taken 4 years of Japanese,

now he wants to learn a new language)

Karate (he needs a PE credit and he wanted to take this class!)

Technical Writing

He was in line to get a digital media degree, but now he's thinking more broadly to possibly get an engineering degree- I think that would hugely open the doors of possibility for him!!!

So after leaving OC, we were all dressed and ready to head to the YMCA! Jade and I both did our 6 miles- woohoo we rocked it today!!! Kent was still taking it a bit easy after his major oral surgery. So he did the bike and then walked on the treadmil for a while.

I'm looking forward to this Saturday. We doing the "Over the Narrows Run". The kids are running the 2 mile course, and I am running the 10 mile course over the bridge- I can't wait, I know the views are going to be amazing! I think my cousin Kyle is going to try to run in it, too! Come on Kyle!!!

Anyway just taking it easy right now. Had another one of those amazing shakes today- soooo darn good!

Shortly here I'll be getting ready for work, but don't feel bad for me, I have to get thru today and tomorrow then I have...

FOUR

DAYS

OFF

IN

A

ROW!!!

A healthy shake.

After Jade and I did our cardio workout, I was wanting to try this shake recipe I read in my "The Raw Truth" book. I didn't have everything it listed but close enough!

I put in frozen strawberries and frozen raspberries! I added half a banana to mine- Jade doesn't like bananas. Then added about 1-2 teaspoons of raw honey- made locally down the road from us. I also added ground flax seed. Also kefir milk- which I'm trying for the first time, it has the consistency between milk and yogurt so a great added ingredient to a shake. Then I added some of Jeromy's yummy vanilla protein powder since we just worked out. Then blended till smooth.

Here's Jade's...

She's not too sure about it... but she did like it.

I loved it! A little bit different taste with the protein powder in it but I knew everything in it was good for me, and I love the seeds of the raspberries and strawberries...

Avocado idea and lunch with some cousins!

So my last blog I was asking for ideas of what to do with an avocado... and I found a pretty simple recipe on line. I just took an English muffin and toasted it...

Then mashed up half the avocado and mixed it with some salsa (the avocado didn't mash as well as I wanted it too, it wasn't really ripe enough yet)... then spread it like a paste on the English muffin halves...

Added chopped up onions...

Then added some delicious RAW cheese (aged cheese that is sooo delicious- full fat- my friend Anna would be proud!)...

Then broiled it in the oven for 5 minutes. Then I cut it into little pizza bites for fun- I shared one half of it with Jade. I could have eaten 5 of those halves- but I'm working on portion control so one half.... and it was delicious!!!

Then yesterday my cousin Kimmy called and invited me to lunch, but I didn't get the message till way after lunch time. So she asked about today, and I thought that would be great right after church! So we were meeting at Apple bees at 1pm. I found out later that my cousin Laura invited herself- which I thought was awesome cause I love hanging out with her. Then Kimmy said she was going to try to get Patty to go! No way! And Patty showed up, too!!! I should have called Misty, too, it would have been great to visit with you Misty since I missed Kelsey's amazing party!!! Kimmy said she was going to send the picture to cousin Kristi saying "wish you were here".

Here's Laura and Kimmy...

And Patty and me...

It was funny cause Laura and Patty ordered the same thing, and Kimmy and I ordered the same thing...even down to the salad with blue cheese dressing on the side! Kim and I also ordered our lunches with NO MUSHROOMS- Kim was like "I don't eat mold". Then when they brought our food out... big nasty mushrooms on both our plates- I should of taken a picture of the food- NASTY MUSHROOMS. So they remade our lunches and then said dessert was on the house for us all!!!!

Sweet! So we all got dessert! Check these out... Laura's is on the left and mine is on the right... isn't hers huge compared to mine??? Now on her face book or Kim's it may seem like my dessert was bigger... well maybe it was... but it was sooo gooood!

Here we are all leaving...

So after I totally gorged myself, even after I recommended Apple bees cause they have the "weight watchers" choices on their menus, I felt so full and guilty- cause I did not choose something healthy. I went home and took a nap with Jeromy for about an hour which was awesome.

Then....drum roll... I went to the YMCA and ran 5 miles, I think I burned about 1/3 of the calories I ate for lunch. So I feel a little less guilt LOL

Anyway it was great seeing you all today. Maybe next time Misty and Kristi can be there, too!

What a great weekend, God is good!

More baking last night.

But first a picture of Jeromy and I.... love that guy...

Here he is off to the fair to tell who ever will listen about Jesus Christ. People need to know!

Well, here's Kent, he's feeling alot better today. In this picture you can tell his left side cheek is a little puffier than his right side... poor baby! His appetite is definitely back so that's good!

Ok, so I was going to make some use of that huge zucchini I was given. And I had looked up a oatmeal chocolate chip zucchini cookie recipe on line. It looked pretty good. But there were alot of steps and separate bowls... really? Is all that really necessary? Really???? Well, I followed the directions and they didn't really turn out like the picture showed, but I thought they tasted pretty good! I don't think this picture shows how GOOD the dough looks! I got mini chocolate chips so they would be more spread out thru out the whole cookie- also only used half the bag cause Jeromy can't eat too much chocolate with out having... issues... but with the oatmeal, chocolate chips and shredded zucchini... the dough looked soooo yummy...

Mmmmmm cookies...

I bagged them up in 2's then threw them in the freezer... just call me the "P.C. Police" that's for "portion control".... of course we all sampled them first before they went into the freezer....

Then I relaxed for a bit, then I made Jeromy's banana bread- that makes the kitchen smell soooooo goooooood! He was happy!

So that's about it! Jade and I went to the YMCA today to do our long runs for our half marathon training! Jade jogged/walked 6 miles- woohoo! And I ran 7 miles! I have "ICY-HOT" on my calves right now, feels good!

Have a great rest of the day!

Anybody have any ideas what I could do with an avocado???? I got one but I don't know what to do with it LOL, maybe I'll look up on line for something to do with it!

Another 3 day weekend...

And the weather is cooperating!

Today I had the day off from work cause Kent was having all 4 of his wisdom teeth pulled and I wanted to be home to baby him... and to take the funny pictures/videos after surgery! Kent's a good sport about it! He's such a cutie.

I got his prescriptions filled and some soft foods for him...

Here he is just before we left for his surgery. He had to fast all morning and early afternoon.

Here he is right after they wheeled him from the office to the car in a wheel chair, they won't even let him walk to the car... his cheeks look extra puffy cause of the gauze in his mouth...

A quick video, he said he felt pretty good just a little out of it. The doctor said it would take about an hour but they were done in 30 minutes cause he's so young and healthy, the 4 just popped right out!

Once I got him home and comfortable with a movie and pillow and a blanket, I wanted to get some food in his tummy so he could take one of his pain pills. I can't stand how cute he is...

But a video would be even more fun... he couldn't feel his bottom lip...

Kent also wanted a picture of the inside of his mouth so he could see it. So here's your warning if you don't want to see it...

Scroll fast past this last picture...

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It's not too gross....

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Last chance.....

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Ok, the doctor said he put stitches that would be absorbed overtime in his mouth. You can kinda see the stitches in the bottom right side... and it's like that in all 4 areas. Poor baby!

Just babying Kent the rest of the day. He fell asleep watching the Lion King.

Jeromy's about to head out to the kitsap county fair. Our church has a trailer there and people are working different shifts handing out tracks. He's working the fair today, tomorrow and Sunday- he's in his zone!

My mom has taken Jade to my niece, Kelsey's, 3rd birthday party today... I can't go cause I'm taking care of Kenton! Wish I could be there to see her cute self. But my mom is taking lots of pictures and will be blogging them tonight, so it will almost be like I was there... sorta...

Then Jade is leaving with my cousin Laura, who is also at the party. Laura's church's youth group is having their last get together party thing at the pastors house before school starts back up and she invited Jade and Kent. Jade wanted to go but Kent has to stay home and be babied and eat ice-cream! But Jade's going and then spending the night at Laura's! How fun! She spent the night at grandma's last night, then Laura's tonight. I miss her.... :'o( that's a sad face with a tear drop LOL funny!

Anyway, for me, tonight, along with caring for Kent, I'm going to do some baking. I'm making Jeromy's banana bread made with love. And I also found a recipe on line "Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies", to use up some of that zucchini I got. Hope they turn out good!

I'll take some picture of all that baking but those will be for another blog!

Have a great sun shiny weekend!

Yummy Snack!

Reading this book right now called "The Raw Truth". It's about eating whole raw foods. I'm learning alot about how vegetables are good for you. We all know they are good for you, but sometimes I feel more motivated when I learn exactly why it's good for me and how it's benefiting my body.

After reading about celery, I was craving it so I bought some on the way to work yesterday! Now the kids and I are all having organic peanut butter on celery right now for a snack- YUM!!! Of course one of my other issues is portion control, I can even over eat the good stuff. So I'm trying to chew every bite slowly and really enjoying the food instead of scarfing it down while thinking about what else I get to eat. I'm getting it tho!

Vegetables.... for Breakfast???

I'm trying here people!

I've been eating pretty good for a while, and exercising pretty regularly. But I know I need to be eating more vegetables. I eat a ton of fruit, probably too much actually, but it's hard to get all those vegetables in, especially since I hate eating most cooked vegetables. Like them mostly raw, but you can only eat soooo many salads before you want to throw up!

Well, a lady from church said she started adding them to her breakfast, and that just seems WRONG to me! Not really big on vegetables, and I love my breakfast time, why would I want to add something gross to my favorite meal of the day and ruin it????

Ok, of course I'm probably exaggerating.... ok probably not. Anyway, I thought I would tryyyy...

It just so happened that when we dropped off Aurora last night, that her grandma gave us this massive zucchini fresh from her garden. I've never really eaten zucchini except for the few times I've eaten it when my mom has made chocolate zucchini cake! YUMMOOOO!!!

So this would be a new experience. I thought I would shred some zucchini- I find if I finely shred or shop things it's easier for me to eat instead of big nasty chunks of stuff. Then I chopped up some onion and some red peppers. This is sooo not me people, this does not look like breakfast food to me...

I put some yummy coconut oil in a pan and added the vegetables to start cooking. I also added some cut up turkey sausage... starting to look more like breakfast.... a little bit anyway...It did start smelling pretty good, but I'm still used to these smells at lunch/dinner time NOT breakfast time! Guess I gotta retrain my brain if I'm going to add more vegetables to my day. Then I added 2 fresh eggs from our chickens. Now it's really looking more like breakfast... also trying to trick my brain into thinking I'm eating alot of food by putting my food on a smaller plate- wow brain look at all that food you get to eat... sometimes it works LOL...So after adding some pepper and salt it did taste pretty good. Just weird. Breaking out of my comfort zone one little bit at a time. It's not even 9 AM and I've already had 3 different vegetables- I've never been able to say that before!!!

Big Party Weekend!

Yup, my baby girl- JADE turned 19 years old Saturday... officially at 6:46pm.

But first, Friday, Jade was invited by her friend Eli and his mom and another friend to go to Sol Duc Hot Springs. She had a great time! She did get a little sunburned on her white skin!!!! Bad Jade! She remembered to put sunblock on her face... just not the rest of her! I was smothering Aloe on her all evening! Even sunburnt she's adorable- LOVE THAT FACE!!! OOOOUUUCHHHHH!!!

Anyway, here's a couple pictures Eli's mom, Jane, had taken. Jane also said I could go with her sometime.... I'm thinking Sept 2nd..... :o) Jade, Eli and Josh...Also, Friday night, we had been meaning to pop open Kent's bottle of champagne he was given as a gift from his home stay family in Europe! Of course, we don't condone underage drinking, but this was a gift! Anyway, I told Kent we would open it and have a few small drinks then dump the rest out. Jade, Kent and I all toasted his trip to Europe than had a few drinks in a glass. Kent also used his fancy glass he bought in Europe (it's actually a set of 2, with real gold plated leaves on the blue glass).

Ok, one more funny thing about Kent before we get to Jade's party. All you out there who are in your 30's or you who have kids in their 30's- how many of you remember the Monchichi cartoons? I do, it was one of my favorites! Well, Kent reminds me of them. I call him my little monchichi sometimes. The kids just look at me funny when I do, cause THEY don't know what I'm talking about or what a darn monchichi is. I was trying to explain it was a cute little monkey thing with crazy hair like Kent has. They still weren't getting it, then it dawned on my I could probably find a picture of one on the Internet. And I did! It was so funny cause I had the kids watch and old cartoon episode... funny! Ok, for those of you who don't know what a monchichi looks like here you go... (then scroll back to the picture of him holding his champagne bottle- identical I tell ya! Bushy hair over the ears, see it???)Then Saturday we were having a party for Jade. Even tho she's all grown up, she's still my baby and I love throwing parties for my kids! We had Aurora this weekend so she was able to help me do the shopping! Here she is helping Jeromy with the decorating...

Aurora and Jade frosting the cupcakes- love all this help!!!It's not a party without balloons...

I asked Jade what kind of food she wanted for her party and she said: strawberries, cherries, BBQ potato chips, regular potato chips, carrots, red and orange peppers WITH ranch, chocolate and dark chocolate. Oh and sushi.... I got everything but the sushi (yuck!) so I'll get that for her later this week at Costco! But for the most part it was great healthy food! Oh and she wanted yellow cupcakes with vanilla and chocolate frosting, oh and vanilla ice-cream. Gotta love a girl who knows exactly what she wants!!

Grandma and Grandpa and Jade...

Aurora and Kent...

Jeromy and Hannah...

Love these boys: Kent and Kyle...

Sweet girls: Hannah, Alyssa and Kelsey...

More cute girls: Camille and Phoebe...

My cousin Laura and her mom Mary...

Me and my mom...

And myself, cousin Laura and my sister Misty...

Party goers...

Phillip, Eli and Kent...

Jeromy wrasselin' with Shane and Max... poor defenseless kids...

Eli and Jade...

Just love all these teenagers... Phillip, Kyle, Kent, Jade and Hannah...

HAPPY 19TH

JADE LORRAINE!!!!

So today, after church, our friend Jane had invited us to dinner! She BBQed flank steak- yum! We had a great time eating and visiting. Thanks Jane for a great afternoon!

Afterwards, we headed over to Jeromy's parents house to drop off some stuff and visit real quick.

Then we dropped Aurora off, then headed home. A long day people!

Actually a long weekend! I'm glad I had 3 days off! It was awesome!

Good night!