All Natural

I'll admit, I am not a huge label reader. But I try my best to make good food choices for my children, especially when it comes to the lunches I send with them to school. For a while I tried sending water bottles in their lunch boxes, but the lids were sometimes too difficult for them to open, and they wouldn't always drink all of the water, and then they wouldn't put the lid back on tight enough, and their lunch boxes (and backpacks) would come home a soggy mess. So then I started sending them with Horizon milk boxes. But I've got to tell you, with 3 kids, at $1 per milk box, they quickly got cut from our weekly grocery list. For a short time, Schepps was making milk boxes for 36 cents each, but after literally about a month, I couldn't find them anywhere for sale. So after searching for a good drink to send in their lunch boxes, I decided to go back to an "Old Faithful".... the Juicy Juice juice box. My kids like these juice boxes, and at around $2.30 for an 8 pack, the price was right too! And somehow, I felt good about sending them with one of these juice boxes in their lunch box each day because it says right there on the front of the juice box, "All Natural, 100% Juice." As a Mommy, I felt good about that. The words "All Natural" just made me feel like I was making a healthy choice for my children.
So today, when Hector and Avery came home from running some errands together, I noticed that Hector had bought Avery a 6 pack of something called Kool-Aid Bursts. It's literally a six pack of premade Kool-Aid drinks. I asked myself if Hector knew or realized that those things are loaded with sugar! I walked over to the Kool-Aid box and told Hector that I couldn't believe he would buy something like that for Avery's school lunches. I mean, we needed to see right then and there just how much sugar was in these things... I turned the box around to the label, and read that they have 9 grams of sugar per serving. Wow! That's a lot! And then, to really drive home my point to Hector, I pulled the box of Juicy Juice juice boxes out of the refrigerator and read the label on the All Natural, 100% Juice, Juicy Juice juice box container. And that's right around the time that a wave of shock came over me... Right there, plain as day...

That's right, folks. The "All Natural" juice has 22 grams of sugar per juice box! Over twice as much sugar as the Kool-Aid, and they are both 6.75 ounces. Now get this........ The juice box is 6.75 ounces, with 22 grams of sugar. That's 3.26 grams of sugar per ounce. A 12 ounce can of Coca Cola has 39 grams of sugar. So, how many grams of sugar per ounce are in a can of Coca Cola? Grab your calculators... Go on... Or you can do the math in your head... Go ahead, I'll wait. :-)

Shocked????? Because I was!

HOW could I have been so totally and completely unaware of this? Am I reading that juice box right? Because I think I'm still in shock. Hector and I have made a REAL effort to not let our kids drink sodas. Don't get me wrong, they drink them. But we don't buy them and bring them into the house. They usually only drink them on special occasions or family outings. I simply can not understand why I never read the label. I guess it just never occurred to me that all natural juice could have the same amount of sugar as soda.

So, I know that I always ask for comments on here, and that my loyal readers are busy moms like me. But I would LOVE your ideas, comments and suggestions on healthier drink alternatives for my kids' lunches.

I Caught A Bug

No, I'm not sick, but I did catch a bug... a redecorating bug. I caught the redecorating bug about 2 weeks ago when I found myself face-to-face with a clearance rack in Target. Those clearance racks can be trouble! On that rack I found the cutest bathroom set, and I knew it was time to redecorate. Of course, it didn't help that I had my shopping partner in crime (aka Avery) with me. "Oh, Mommy! We need that. It's time for a change. The boys can have the blue stuff and I can have the green stuff. Yes! We really need to get this now!" What can I say? She twisted my arm. I decorated the kid's bathroom in frogs when we first bought this house, 4 1/2 years ago. We affectionately called it "The Froggy Bathroom." I painted the walls white and put a fun blue "swishy" pattern all over them to look like a windy sky. I also painted a sun on one of the walls. And in the past 4 1/2 years, the froggy towels had faded, the shower curtain had been washed and dried so many times it shrunk by about 12 inches, the ceramic frog that lounged on the back of the toilet bowl had fallen off and been re-glued more times than I can count, the soap dispenser that had a frog and a sun on it had broken beyond repair, and everything started to look just a bit dull and drab.

Well, Goodbye Froggies. Hello Polka Dot Collection from Target!!! I must admit, I had fun with this!

I was going to paint the walls blue or turquoise, but I am SO GLAD I went with the lime green walls instead. I took an informal poll on Facebook and asked my friends if they thought I should paint the walls turquoise or lime green, and everyone said lime green. Oh my goodness, I think it turned out so cute! And a friend of mine suggested I throw in a completely random color like orange or purple. I went with orange, throwing in an orange picture frame and orange drawer knobs! The kids' towels also have orange borders on them.

I refinished the cabinets using a technique my sister-in-law Jacqueline showed me how to do.

I also took all of the circular rings around the recessed lighting, and painted them navy blue. This was Hector's idea. Way to put in your 2 cents, Hec!

And when it was all said and done, I asked everyone to come and tell me what they thought of the new Polka Dot Bathroom. Samuel asked me when I'd done all of that. It would seem that he was unaware that I was redecorating the bathroom. Poor guy hasn't been able to use his bathroom for the past week, but he never thought to ask why. Isaac asked me where the sun went and burst into tears when I told him it was gone. Great! Hector said it looked nice and asked if he could go watch the game. And Avery threw her arms around my waist and said, "Oh Mommy, it's perfect. You did such a good job." Ah, my sweet partner in crime! I love that girl SO MUCH!!!

Obedience

Many of you may already know that I am the Curriculum Coordinator for the children of my Mother's of Preschoolers (MOPS) group. It's something that I enjoy doing. It's rewarding for me. But this school year, I made the mistake of over-committing myself. Not only am I the Curriculum Coordinator for MOPS, I am also Avery's Girl Scout Daisy Troop Leader, and I serve on the PTA as the Yearbook Coordinator. Plus, up until a couple of weeks ago, I was also tutoring a child every day after school. All this, while TRYING to maintain my home, take care of my 3 children and 3 animals, and spend time with my husband too. So you might be able to see how, when and where things in my life started falling apart for me when it came to spending time and keeping up with my friends, extended family, and, oh yeah, taking care of myself as well. This seems to be a problem for me... Saying no. The problem with saying yes to everything is that something has to give, and eventually what tends to happen is that you (meaning me, really!) wind up saying no to other, much more important things. I've had to say no a lot lately to some of the MOST important "things" in my life...

Not now, Isaac... Mommy can't do that right now, Avery... Sorry Samuel, Mommy's busy... I just don't have the time to do that right now, Hector... Sorry it's been so long since I've called... I just can't seem to find the time anymore to get together with you ladies... It seems like forever since we've talked... I can't exercise because I don't have the time and I'm just too tired...

Today at my MOPS meeting, the moms discussed becoming more disciplined in 4 areas of our lives: Physical, Emotional, Intellectual and Spiritual. And funny enough, the lesson that I had prepared for the children to learn about today was about Samuel and Eli. Samuel was obedient to God, and as a result, he grew in his faith and knowledge of God. In the letter that I wrote to all of the mothers letting them know what their child had learned today, I wrote, "Obedience means doing what you are told with a happy spirit." I read that over and over again to myself this morning. Obedience means doing what you are told to do (and what you know you should do) with a happy (and willing, I might add) spirit.

New goal for myself as of today... Start being more obedient! There are areas of my life that I have been "rebelling" against for a while now. I need to learn how to say no to the things that aren't so important, and start saying yes to the much more important aspects of my life. I need to spend more time with the people I love (emotional), spend more time reading the Bible (spiritual), start exercising and eating healthier foods (physical), and just take better care of myself in general by doing the things I love, like sitting down and reading a good book (intellectual). These are the areas of my life that I know in my heart I need to be more obedient/disciplined about. Because it is only when I truly start showing obedience to God for what HE wants for me in my life, that I will truly have a happy spirit.

New Recipe

Okay, so I'll admit that I was a little skeptical about trying this recipe, mainly because it calls for the use of mayonnaise. But I tend to be quite adventurous with my food, and Hector (God love him) will eat pretty much anything I put in front of him, just as long as he doesn't have to be the one cooking it. So, in my desperate search for something new and different to serve my family for dinner, I tried this recipe. And you know what? It was really good! It was easy to make, and it was different, which was really nice since I tend to get into cooking ruts with our meals. The chicken comes out super moist and flavorful. So, I thought I'd pass along the recipe.

Mouth-Watering Italian Chicken

Mix together 1/2 cup real mayonnaise (I used Hellmann's Lite Mayo) with 1/4 Parmesan cheese. Take 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, washing them and trimming off all excess fat. Lay the chicken breasts in a baking dish, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Salt the chicken, then spoon the mayonnaise mixture over the top of each chicken breast. Then take 1 - 1 1/2 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs, and sprinkle some on the top of each chicken breast. Bake in a preheated oven (425 degrees) for 20 - 25 minutes.

I served this with some angel hair pasta, tossed lightly with olive oil and basil, and Verde Bread (which was a recipe I got from my friend, Robin). Oh, the best part about the Verde Bread is that my kids are totally unaware that they are eating spinach. It really is SO yummy!

Recipe Variations:
Omit the Italian seasoned bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, and instead use a blend of Mexican cheeses (Mont. Jack, Cheddar, Asiago, Asadero, etc.). Use plain bread crumbs, adding in 1/4 teaspoon of each of Cumin, Chili Powder and/or Garlic Powder to the bread crumbs.

OR...

Keep the Italian seasoned bread crumbs, but use Swiss cheese instead of Parmesan, and stuff each chicken breast with ham to make a quick Chicken Cordon Bleu.

3 Years

3 years ago today, I held my baby boy in my arms and I knew the answer to the question, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

My precious Isaac... Sweet-natured, adorable, lovable, easy-going, comical, always smiling, always laughing, with your wild and crazy hair, and a spirit to match! You bring so much joy and laughter to my life.

"God has given me laughter." Genesis 21:6

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

Question

What do you do with your children's clothing they have outgrown when the clothing is stained or ripped? I have tons of clothes from Avery that are all stained and/or have rips in the knees, that no longer fit her. In the past, I've given away everything I couldn't pass along to a friend or family member to charity. But recently I rethought doing this, because I wondered if it was insulting to the charity and people who would be receiving them. For the past several months, when she has ripped or stained something beyond repair, I've honestly just been throwing it away. This is a big issue for me, because Avery is REALLY hard on her clothes. If I kept everything she ripped or stained as "play clothes" for her to wear at home, her closet and drawers would be stuffed beyond belief. So this morning, I pulled a pair of sweatpants out of the laundry and told myself that I could never let Avery wear those ragged things ever again because they are 2 inches too short for her in the length and have a huge hole in the knee. So I chunked them into the trash can in my laundry room along with 5 or 6 other articles of clothing. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks... It seems so wasteful to me to just throw it away. But is it insulting that I donate ripped or stained clothing to charity? Which is worse? I really would welcome your comments.

I'm so happy!

Earlier today, Avery had an Awards Ceremony at school. Each six weeks, the teachers give out awards to students for things like perfect attendance, most improved, reaching their accelerated reader goal, etc. So, as Avery's class filed into the cafeteria this morning for the ceremony, Isaac sat next to me with his juice box in one hand and his blankie in the other hand. All five classes came into the cafeteria, all of the students sat down on the floor, and Avery's teacher announced that the ceremony was about to begin. For the first award, she was going to be recognizing students who were the Super Citizens for the third six weeks of school. A Super Citizen Award goes to a student who exhibits compassion towards other students, someone who is always willing to help out, and someone who cares about other people. The teacher announced that Avery had won this award, and Avery got up and took her award from her teacher, then took her place on the stage. While everyone waited for the next teacher to announce which student would be receiving this same award in her class, the entire cafeteria full silent, at which point Isaac screamed at the top of his lungs, "Mama, Mama! Sissy got award! I'm so happy!" And then he proceeded to bear hug my leg. The room erupted in laughter, followed by various comments like, "That's so sweet." and "That's so precious."

Yes, it is sweet... Yes, it is precious... Yes, it is a tad embarrassing...

Once everyone in the room gained their composure, the Awards Ceremony went on without any further incidents. :-)

You know, my kids are pretty normal. They love each other one minute and want to pull out each other's hair the very next minute. They argue. They fight. But they love each other, and they are happy when they do well. I was so proud of my kids in that moment. Ah, yes... I have done at least one thing right as a parent. My kids are happy for each other when they do well! Yes!!! And that makes me SO happy!

It's Cookie Time!

Next to Christmas, I would have to say that Girl Scout Cookie time is the most wonderful time of the year! Avery is selling cookies again this year. She is not allowed to start selling cookies until this Friday. But I do want to make you all aware of 3 things:



1) You can leave me a comment on here about what you might want to order from Avery - and I promise not to read the comments until Friday. :-)
2) They are $3.50/box.
3) Here are the varieties of cookies for sale:

The new cookie this year is called Thank U Berry Munch, made with real cranberries. Yummy! And, if by chance your New Year's resolution was to not indulge in such sweet delicacies, you can still support Avery by donating boxes of cookies to a wonderful program called Project Troop to Troop. They still cost $3.50 per box. All you need to do is pick whichever flavor of cookie you would like to donate. And we take care of the rest...

A little more information on Project Troop to Troop: Girl Scout Cookies donated to Project Troop to Troop are transported to Fort Hood, the USO, the American Red Cross and ultimately service men and service women at home and abroad. Girl Scout Cookies also reach local Veterans Organizations and wounded soldiers. In 2009, Project Troop to Troop generated roughly 127,000 packages of Girl Scout Cookies!

Avery was able to donate 6 of those boxes last year, because of generous friends and family members who participated in this program!

I can already taste the Thin Mint melting in my mouth........