Split Peas with Rosemary

I have always made the boy's baby food, for no other reason, really, than economic. I will be honest and tell you though, that there is a satisfaction and pride involved. It is a very easy thing to do, it is so much cheaper to purchase fresh, frozen, or canned, unadulterated fruits and veggies and steam them and puree. So simple.

With Sawyer, yes, very simple.

With Dawson, still not difficult, just a little more time consuming.

With Landon, you would think I was trying to prepare food like that Mission Impossible chef does on the food network! (I have asked Ragan for new pots and pans for Mother's Day because I have miserably failed several times!)

Failure #1 ) I had purchased frozen carrots and started boiling the water and set them in the metal strainer above the water (see, you need no special tools!). I set off to do other things and forgot! I found myself outside with the boys, windows open, and I smelt the scalding pan through the carrots' own aroma. STINK! I screwed that one up.

Failure #2 ) A few successes in between, I then set out for green beans, which were fine, but I only pureed a little just to get through dinner. The rest set in the fridge for I'm not sure how many days and I had to dump them. (NOT money saving)

Failure #3 ) I boiled water without putting the veggies on top in the strainer once and ruined the pan (note to self...pans cost more than veggies)

So, most recently it was split peas. I bought them and a few other colorful beans in the bags. You've seen them in the rice and bean isle, the really cheap kind. I purchased them to go in these new apothecary jars I bought for my kitchen table. They look great.. by the way, and you can get the jars on clearance right now at Kohl's. Anyway, I thought, why not buy extra peas and use those for Landon! So the steaming went fine but they were so unbelievably NASTY! I don't like peas anyway, so I don't know why I tasted them. I added a little salt, which you are not suppose to do, and it didn't help. So I went back to the cupboard and desperately searched for something that would save this large batch of perfectly steamed peas. I found Rosemary. I sprinkled her all over the peas and put it in the magic bullet, and for the first time in my life, I decided peas weren't all that bad. As you can see by the pictures, Landon was a big fan. You won't find me eating them, but my 7 month old is now having gourmet veggies! And I get new cookware!

"This is so yummy!"

Family, Food, and Fun

We are so very happy to have family move here!! We never would've imagined we'd be here, much less have Rachelle and Will move this way! For those of you who don't know them, Rachelle is my newly wedded cousin and Will is her adoring husband. They drove up here Thursday and he had to fly out early Friday morning (he is a pilot). So Rachelle checked out their new area and then headed here for the weekend. Of course this was a great reason for Ragan to cook out, so needless to say, we ate well, she pitched several innings of the game that is played in our backyard every single afternoon that it isn't raining or snowing, and came to church with us this morning. We will head up to their place tomorrow after Ragan gets off work to help them as much as we can unloading their truck. I love that my boys will have memories of them while they are young. Here are a few pics...

Also, Landon is creeping and scooting (backward, see picture) and rotating, but I don't think I would say that he is actually crawling. He is talking and having conversations all the time. He LOVES to talk! Sitting up is going well, he doesn't suck his toes every time he looks at them anymore (only every OTHER time). He finally has an aversion to a food item...pear juice! Of all the nasty things he has tried, that is his only dislike. What a weird child. Watch him not like chocolate or something like that! As you can see, he does really love hanging with Saw and getting tickled. I love that too!

Here is a delightful Dawson first thing in the morning after bible study last Sunday night where he STOLE this LeBron James sweat band from our friend's house. He slept in it and I thought it looked really cute with the leftover kool-aid grin and Superman jammies. (We plan to return the stolen goods)

Baseball will start next week and we kick it off with an Indians game with the team and all their families. We are super excited for that. We are having beautiful weather here, hope you are too!

Meaningless Nonsense

I've been tagged once again...a little different and kinda fun to think about! Thanks Ashlee, it was interesting hearing how much you like the new bachelor! (I agree completely!)
What was I doing 10 years ago?
In 1998, Ragan and I had been married for almost two years and I was finishing my second year of teaching at Nixa Junior High. Karen taught across the hall from me and we were usually giggling about something. I was the assistant coach to the accomplished 8th grade girls volleyball team (having never played in my life). I was also realizing my talents and doing a few craft fairs with Jayma! We had it in our heads that we were really going to make it big selling embellished lamp shades and painted flower pots and who knows what else! We had a little of everything creative that popped into our heads (which I will say was A LOT) out on a table at Kickapoo's craft fair fund raiser and I'm not sure we sold much. Truthfully, though, we always had the cutest and trendiest crafts no matter where we were! Our talent was just a little over the top for the venues we selected. We even had a checking account together! How funny to look back at that! I miss you, Jayma!
Around that same time I ask Mom for her old sewing machine she got for a wedding gift from her parents. I wanted to start sewing curtains for our quaint little apartment on Mac's Court behind Outback Steakhouse in Springfield. I kept the first ones I made because I am proud of them and hope to show (well, I always though I would have said daughter here) my daughter in laws.... you know... I think I will pitch them or put them in the stack for Good Will soon. Like they will care! I do love sewing and am so glad that Mom wasn't stingy with a very special gift. That machine served me well!

5 Favorite Snacks in a Non Weight Gaining World :
1) CHOCOLATE!
2) Scramble at my parents at Christmas (it's what my family calls homemade Chex Mix )
3) more chocolate
4) there is really nothing else that great
5) OK, maybe sonic onion rings

5 Favorite Snacks in the Real World:
1) big fan of Fiber One bars
2) Dried cranberries dipped in chocolate- just kidding!
3) Diet Coke!
4) Soy protein shake with fruit (Dr. Oz's recipe)
5) Frozen fruit with splenda

5 Things I Would do if I Became a Billionaire:
1) appoint a secret lawyer/accountant that we could trust, have him quit his job and work for us and help us give our money away through the years.
2) set up all family with college ed funds and trust funds, and set up free homes and vacations for the rest of their lives.
3) buy more land for Green Valley to grow and build a winterized set of cabins and worship area/ other scholarship and community assistance programs as well
4) Of course I would need to do some serious shopping, body rearranging, and meaningless stuff like that...
5) travel and do mission work, not necessarily together all the time. There would definitely be some leisure involved!

5 Jobs I Have Had:
1) I helped corn reproduce every summer of my teenage years at Pioneer Hybrid
2) Hoeing beans for my dad started when I was probably 11 or 12
3) Sonic car hop (about a month)
4) I was called "tuxette" at a suit shop in Springfield where I prepared tuxedos for wedding parties each weekend my Sophmore and junior years of college
5) Cheddars!! The absolute best bar and grill ever! My first and only waitress job. Lots of fun!

3 Habits I Don't Think You Know About:
1) Everything hanging in my closet is facing the same direction
2) I comet my sink after every meal I clean up.
3) Because Landon usually eats somewhere between 4-6 am, I turn on the TV in the middle of the night to see if there are any new developments in headline news since I last checked. I have had to fight off the urge to turn it on when I get up to go to the bathroom and am amazed at the fact he hasn't woken up. Pathetic, I realize.

5 Places I Have Lived:
1) Carrollton, MO
2) Springfield, Mo
3) Rogers, AR
4) Wadsworth, OH
5) I have only lived 4 places!!! wow!

I just tagged a few of you, but here we go!
The rules:
- link the person who tagged you
- write the rules in your blog
- link the people you are tagging
- comment on the blog of the people you tag letting them know you tagged them
I tag Dallas H., Sherry, and Missy

Spring Break Fun!

OK, here is a recap of the big and not so significant events at the Price household last week. Landon sat up for an extended period of time all by his lonesome!!

The boys made a pile of corncobs from the field behind the house and used them as guns, baseballs, and then just a large pile to jump into. The girls next door joined in and it was quite a jumping party!
I fixed breakfast most every day...because I could do it at 9:00 instead of 7:30. Pancakes are always better when you have time to enjoy them and not just scarf them down.
Landon is so expressive! He loves saying "Ba ba" which his brothers interpret as "bubba" and it just thrills them!
Sawyer got some new shoe strings that he has been begging for only a week before his teacher told me that he complains every day that his shoes don't fit! So this mother of the year that I am went this morning and bought him new shoes. Thanks for letting momma in on that big guy!
Just in case you didn't quite capture how cute Landon is looking these days, here is another glimpse. Notice the quilt with the trains? Thank you Grandma J.

Dawson on the tree swing in between corn cob throwing.
Awesome air, Sawyer!
Sawyer got a rather big boo boo in Bible Class at church Sunday. He was running (yes, he knows this was entirely HIS fault) back to his chair to color after story time on the rug and tripped on his chair that came up pretty quickly because of the rate of speed he was traveling, and hit his head(his ear) on the table. This picture was taken on the Tuesday after. It was really bad. If there was a way to break you ear, he did it. He still can't lay on that side and will hurt you if you get near it. It did let everyone in on the fact that he needed to clean his ears out that morning and clearly forgot.
Dawson and our neighbor friend Emma with their home-made teeter-toter. How inventive!
That is it for now. Hope all of you are having some great Spring temperatures like we are. We love and miss all of you we haven't seen in a while!

7 Random Things About Me

It has been a while and I have some pictures to share but I will do that next. First things first! I have been "tagged" ??? I am suppose to write 7 things about myself and then tag others, so look out! I try really hard to live up to expectations of myself, even if I don't know how to go about it! Here we go!

#1 Our Bible Study is reading and discussing an awesome book called, "Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture" by Mary E. DeMuth. It is a fantastic resource that we can't stop thinking about (and I hope we never do). Here are some topics:
*engaging your kids in conversations instead of issuing ultimatums
*seeing your children's behaviors as windows into your own spiritual life
*coaching your children instead of lecturing them
*modeling the transparent, authentic lifestyle you want for your kids
*demonstrating a life of thankfulness, creativity, and service
Worth checking out!

#2 I loved our Spring Break we had last week, with my oldest off of school and home with me. We went to the library, the park a few times, and played outside a ton. On the rainy day we got our pictures taken at Penney's, spent last birthday's gift cards at Barnes and Noble, and ate at McDonald's and played as long as they wanted. I loved having freedom to do as we pleased with no time constraints. We are making precious memories! Corny, I know.

#3 Here is one I don't think many of you know. I am decorating a house for someone that I met in Sherwin Williams picking out paint colors. I ended up picking out paint colors for the main rooms of his house that day in the paint store! Crazy, I know! He asked if I would tackle a few rooms of his house that he felt needed the most help. I never gave him any information and he left me with his info and I thought about it, for about two seconds, called him a week later and now, three rooms later, he has asked me to do another floor. Apparently, I have great taste! My friend is cleaning for him now. He has even come to church a few times. If any of you need work and would like his number...give me a call.
#4 I eat vanilla/almond Special K cereal (almost) every morning with a sliced banana and vanilla yogurt instead of milk. Yummy! Sometimes I add Fiber One powder. It is cheaper than buying the yogurt with the added fiber and I can put it in anything that I want!

#5 Speaking of cheap....I have become quite the coupon collector. I loved Melody's last post and I printed off several of the coupons that she linked. It is so thrilling to get a great deal! Also, I am really trying to save every penny that I can ... for the sake of being a good steward, but also because I appreciate beyond what I can express, my ability to stay home and I really want to do something that shows Ragan I am trying to do what I can to help. Maybe that will make up for my phone bill last month. ouch!

#6 During our Spring Break, I managed to clean windows and move at least one piece of furniture around in almost every room of our house. Considering that I had zero help doing this, I consider it an accomplishment. Actually, Dawson helped with some of the windows, but as you might guess, they were redone. Ragan called me from the airport on Friday afternoon, and I rushed around for an hour getting everything in absolute perfect order so that he could see how hard I worked all week. I felt like I was having real company. What is up with that?

#7 Lastly, God has blessed our family so richly. Even though our measure by which we have guaged that has changed, we are made aware daily how God continues to grace us with his presence each and every day and deliever direction to our lives. You should definately know that about us.

So here are the rules:
- Link the person who tagged you
- List the rules in your blog
- Share seven interesting, weird, or otherwise facts about you
- Tag seven people to do the same
- Link their names in your blog
- Leave the people you are tagging a message on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.

So I am tagging:
Melody
Ashlee
Rachelle
Missy
Sherry
Lisa
Marshall

Hiding the Spinach

I know most kids probably eat spinach, lettuce, or some form of the vegetable. Mine do not. If salad is our main dish that night, I make them eat two bites and then they can have the chicken. I try to always make them eat two bites of something new, and much to Sawyer's surprise, he usually ends up liking it, and then Dawson follows. Not the case with spinach. So I have been trying out recipes in my favorite new cookbook, "Deceptively Delicious", by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, it is Jerry's wife). I have tried several and have had a lot of great luck, the sweet potato pancakes are our favorite. Anyway, last night I decided to be adventurous and try the chicken nuggets. Each of her recipes call for some vegetable puree that you can "sneak" into things they love to eat and they are not even suppose to know the difference. Slowly, they begin to develop a palete for veggies they normally don't touch. Veggies become just a part of meal time and not the ememy. Now, you must also remember that we can't use eggs so I had to substitute a few things and so please know that if you tried the recipe, it would look just like hers I am sure. I just want you to see how interesting it looked when I substituted only the egg. Would your kids eat green chicken strips?

Now I got a little scared and thought I can make them eat two bites, but there is no way they are going to get full on this. So instead of the spinach and egg sub mixture, I threw a bunch of applesauce in a bowl (the skillet was hot and I had to think fast) and then put it in the breading. It looked much better. You could still see chunks of the spinach from the breading, but much more appealing to the boys. It was really good and I might do it again sometime for a salad.

Now, this is what little Miss Jessica's look like, my perfect example...
Now, you must know they ate it all and it was actually very good! A great lesson in "looks are deceiving"! Here is the recipe:

Chicken Nuggets

1 cup whole-wheat, white, or panko

1/2 cup flaxseed meal

1 Tbsp grated Parmesan (we omitted)

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 cup broccoli , spinach, sweet potato, or beet puree

1 large egg lightly beaten (we substituted a package of plain geletin and 1/8 c. warm water)

1 pound of chicken cut into strips or chunks

You combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl and the egg and vegetable of your choice in another. Dip in veggie/egg mixture first and then in the bread crumb mixture. Lay the strips in a hot skillet coated with olive oil.

Hope yours turn out great!

We've Got Teeth!

Landon got his first tooth this past Sunday! It popped out right as we were droping him off in the nursery at church. Would you believe that he was all smiles!? It is so crazy how content and laid back this child is. The other bottom one started coming in on Tuesday and has hasn't bled yet but will make it's complete entrance very soon. He has been a little fussier with this one. Here is a picture of our growing baby!

Vanilla Wafers, Bath Time, and Lame Easter Pictures

Just a few things I wanted to share..

Sawyer ate (Wal-Mart brand) vanilla wafers for the first time ever yesterday! I have been amazed at how much this boy is eating and he is always complaining that I never have any good snacks for him after school. We love apples, but without teeth, they are not at the top of the list anymore! So.... looking for a new snack takes a time commitment on my part because I have to have participating partners that are in the mood to really shop, like read labels for a long time kind of shopping! So, I remembered fig cookies we hadn't had in awhile, and just for the fun of it read the vanilla wafer box, not thinking for a second it would work, but yeah! We have a new snack! For the record, the brand name has milk in it. Ragan says with the comodities like they are, a lot of companies might begin replacing ingredients such as milk, wheat, soy, etc... Great! more manufactured subtitutes going into our bodies. Anyway, I just thought it was picture worthy to see a 6 1/2 year old eating this for the first time.

Just some fun bath time photos. We sent these to Daddy while he was away and it made his day.

And since we were gone for Easter, they got dressed up this past Sunday for the "Easter Picture". This is a pathetic excuse since you really can't see them that well, I know. I am making an appointment for next week to go get a nice picture made at JCPenney.

The other one is Sawyer and his great friend, Phillip Stauffer. We do Sunday night bible study with their family and so we often trade kids for the afternoon.

We are so thankful for their wonderful family!