WARNING!! Mega Easter Photo Post! LOL!!

The first bluebonnets I’ve seen this season!! Spring in Texas is coming!

Colt & Riley on the shore of Lake Whitney

Colt, Riley & Marty above the Brazos River

Dandelion

Riley with dandelion

Riley blowing dandelion

Riley

Riley

Our Easter Picnic lunch. Colt (otherwise known as Mr. Hollow Legs!) fixing his first 2 sandwiches

Riley all ready to eat

Some silly woman making duck bills out of Pringles…hmmm…who could it be??

Riley imitating the silly woman above!

Marty & Riley looking at the Brazos River

Marty, Colt & Riley

The first Indian Paintbrushes I’ve seen this season.

This is behind the Whitney Dam (on the Brazos river). It’s a tree at the top of a cliff. I thought it was really neat the way the roots showed. The white rock looking things are stalagtites made from water dripping down the side of the cliff. Really neat!

another photo of the side of the cliff with the stalagtites

This is a close up of the stalagtites at the bottom of the cliff.

After our picnic at the lake/river we came home and Marty took the boys day camping in our 37 acre backyard. This is Riley carrying his play shotgun. Marty and Colt took their shotguns as well.

a picture of a pretty yellow flower that Marty took for me in our backyard

Riley and Colt warm up by the fire they built to cook their ramen noodles on

Colt & riley by the fire

This is a photo of the day camp Marty, Colt & Riley built. They try to do this on a regular basis, just to get some guy time. They always have a good time. They walked around the creek bottom on our place, built a camp, built a fire and cooked ramen noodles over the fire.

Sorry to be AWOL!

Sorry I haven’t been around much lately. Spring is a really busy time for us. This past week, we went down to visit my parents for Spring Break, the kids and I had a good time. Colt feasted on the computer and Grammy’s refrigerator and pantry! Boy, that kid can put the food away! Riley had fun playing and visiting. My paternal grandmother was there also, so the kids got to visit with her, which I know she enjoyed. We got back home today. Other than that little trip, we’ve been busy. Homeschool is taking up much of the day and I’ve also got the added responsibility of designing things for the shops I’m selling my digital scrapbooking designs in. I think I’m kind of caught up enough that I can get back to scrapbooking my own pictures finally. I also need to do some sewing and crochet. My Mom, sister-in-law, and I are planning on opening up an Etsy shop this summer, which should be really fun, we all have such different styles and tastes that I’m sure there will be something for everyone! LOL!

Well, I need to get off of here and get ready to pick up Marty from work. I’ll try to be better about updating, it’s just hectic here right now!

AWOB Conclusion

After 3 days of beans for dinner, DH said ENOUGH! LOL! The bean dinners were all delicious, but just a bit monotonous. What this experiment did prove, was that I can cook more often with beans, without them all tasting the same. I do plan on adding 2-3 bean meals into our menu (DH LOVE the lentil chili!). We will still be having mostly meat based meals, which is what DH seems to like the best, but I will be able to add in more bean meals, which are more economical. We’re pretty boring peole, we eat the same things over and over, so I’m going to create two weekly menus and switch off between the two of them. DH isn’t big on trying new things often, so I’ll leave one day open on each menu to try new recipes. That will help to add the variety that I like, but be routine enough to make Marty happy.

I’m back

Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop off the face of the earth like that! LOL! It has been a bit crazy here. My computer has been acting up horribly. This weekend, I finally decided to save everything off of it that I needed and just go head and restore it to factory. It seems to be working better now, but it’s been a slow process of getting everything added back on to it that I need. I think the real problem is that my computer is just not what I need for graphic designs…it’s just not fast enough processing graphics and so my graphics programs run REALLY slow, Marty say’s I’ll probably end up frying my hard drive..LOL! I’ve been told that I need a “gaming computer with 4 quad”, but we just can’t afford it right now (nearly $2,000!!).

Homeschool is going good and we’re all doing well. I’m going crazy with this weather. First it’s all sunny and warm and then it’s cold. It keeps flip-flopping and it’s driving my sinuses crazy! I need to get my sewing stared again. I need to make me a few things for the warmer months, as well as some shorts for the kids. Not to mention the quilted wall hanging that’s all cut out and waiting for me to put together!

Well, I’d better get off of here and back to work. Have a great day eveyone!!

Why I Don’t Eat Soy

Want to know why I don’t eat soy if at all possible? Read this excellent article!

SOY- The Abominable Bean

AWOB Day 2 – Gabanzo & Kidney Bean Salad with Tomatoes

Last night’s dinner was a BIG hit! And let me tell you, it fixed alot! Everyone ate their fill and there was enough left over to fill up a 6.6 cup storage container.

Guess what we’ll be having for lunch one day this week! I’m thinking the leftovers will be great over a baked potato!

Well, on to today’s bean dinner choice! Today we’re having Garbanzo & Kidney Bean Salad with Tomatoes. Here’s the recipe…

Garbanzo and Kidney Bean Salad with Tomatoes

1 lb. Organic Garbanzo beans
1 lb. Organic Kidney Beans
8 cups filtered water
8 tbsp. whey
2 cans organic diced tomatoes
1 organic onion, diced
Organic apple cider vinegar (with mother)
Organic Olive oil
Organic powdered garlic
Sea salt & pepper

Place garbanzo and kidney beans in a pot and cover with filtered water and whey. Let soak for at least 12 hours. After done soaking, drain off the water and cover with fresh water. Let cook until done. Drain and rinse the beans. In a large bowl, add the beans, tomatoes, onion and remaining ingredients to taste. Toss to coat well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Toss again before serving. Serve over a green salad.

I started the beans soaking last night and after lunch drained off the water and added fresh water. Here’ how they look now…

Now, I’m going to make 1 change to the recipe. Instead of making my own dressing with the vinegar, oil and spices, I’m going to use organic Italian dressing. I already had a bottle laying around and thought I’d go ahead and use it. Once the beans are done, I’ll drain them off and rinse them. Then add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Then I’ll pop it into the refrigerator to chill until Marty gets home. I’m going to serve it on a bed of organic lettuce.

4:45 – I just drained and rinsed the beans…they’re a bit smushy, thanks to my 14 year old over stirring them for me. I chopped up the onion and added it to the beans along with the canned tomatoes. I added the Italian dressing and mixed it all well. It tastes wonderful, but I just wish the beans weren’t mostly smushed! I’ve slipped it into the refrigerator to cool until dinner. Here’s what it looks like at this point

You know you’re a Mom to boys when you can slip tonights dinner into the refrigerator next to a tacklebox full of night crawlers! Anyway, other than being a bit smushed, it tastes and looks okay. The real test will be when Marty eats it. I had to fix a separate bowl for Colt, he requested for his not to have onions or Italian dressing. Now we just wait until Marty gets home and it’s time for dinner. I’ll tear up the lettuce then.

Here it is all served up. Everyone seemed to like it alright (especially Riley!). Marty’s only request was that he thought it would be better warmed up. But he did eat 2 helpings of it, so it must have been okay.

Well good night everyone! Tomorrow I will be making Mexican Beans!