Fabulous Five Friday Update

1. This week I am grateful for- My little bit of vacation time. My summer has been jam packed with  summer school, workshops, institutes, and training's. This past week was the first one I was able to spend at home with my two little ones. We have had a blast playing, enjoying each others company and ignoring most household chores. Basically we have been having a staycation which is fun and cheap.
2. This week I enjoyed- turning my backyard into a water park. The kiddie pool, water hose, and backyard slide offered exciting and hilarious relief from the heat.  My children love the water and their giggles are so contagious. 
3. This week I learned-  How hard it is to be a woman in other parts of the world. I have been reading Half the Sky, a very well written book about ways in which women are still oppressed around the world and what type of programs help them. It is a very graphic book and I can only read a little bit at a time before I start crying and wanting to adopt all of the little girls in the world. but I am plowing through. We cannot make the world a better place until we face the realities of what holds us back.
4. This week I accomplished - pretty much nothing and it was flipping fabulous.
5. I am looking forward to -  finding our next home. We have been house hunting for a few weeks, made offers on two homes and didn't get either one. Am I disappointed? Yes, very much so, but I know that means the right place is still out there waiting for us to find it. Right now most of our evenings consist of doing a drive by on different homes to see where they are located and if we want our realtor to schedule a showing. My son told us the other evening he likes falling asleep in the car. I am ready to start packing.  

I totally swiped the idea for todays post form upward not inward, but I had to because I just love it. I think their five question questionnaire is an excellent exercise in self reflection. You can do it too! You can also check out How the ladies at upward not inward answered their questionnaire by going to their site here. What is going on in your world this week? You can share your own reflections there or in the comments here. I hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

Take care,

Mrs.PJ

Please, pretty please, click, clickety, click. Thanks so much!

Fab Five Friday Round 2!

Here we go again. I was worn out last weekend trying to meet the demanding requirements for that dang Leibster Award. This past week I have been busy with work and domestic duties, so now the chance to unclutter my mind with the fab five. Remember, I totally swiped the idea for this post from upward not inward, but I had to because I just love it. I think their five question questionnaire is an excellent exercise in self reflection. You can do it too!

1. This week I am grateful for-  My Mom's talents on the organic farm she operates with  my Stepdad. They sent us a big box full of awesome goodies and our bellies couldn't be happier. We are talking about homemade pickles, jelly, bread, and honey from their own bee hives. They sent us loads of fresh veggies and inspired me to cook from scratch one night.
2. This week I enjoyed- My children. Just hugging those tiny people somehow has the magical power to make any day fantastic. I might be a little weird, but I love the way my tiny tots smell. Not to mention the way they crack me up when they play together.
3. This week I learned- That my strengths are Creativity and Caregiver. You can find your strengths by taking the online quiz at http://stronglifetest.com/  Just scroll down until you see the pink box. I am reading the book right now. I was skeptical at first, but now I am totally into it and a believer.
4. This week I accomplished- Creating a new dinner from scratch! I was inspired by the fresh veggies my Mom sent (see question 1) and the picture on the box of linguine. We had warm pasta with fresh chopped tomato, fresh basil, a dash of garlic salt, italian dressing and olive oil. We also had garlic bread that I made with slices of the homemade stuff my Mom sent. It was a party in my tummy and I think everyone else enjoyed it too. 
5. I am looking forward to - My son's soccer practice tonight. He is just so cute in his jersey. It is adorable watching three year olds trying to stop a goal. So Proud :)

You can check out how the ladies at upward not inward answered their questionnaire by going to their site here. What is going on in your world this week? You can share your own reflections there or in the comments here. I hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

Take care,

Mrs.PJ

Please, pretty please, click, clickety, click. Thanks so much!

A Win & A Fail

A Win

For the past several months I have been looking for the perfect bookshelf for my children's room. We read every night and acquire new books on a regular basis because we want our kiddo's to enjoy reading.  By new I mean new to us. Most of our books are yard sale and thrift shop finds. As a teacher I can testify that being able to enjoy a book is something that can make the difference between students who struggle and those who are successful. Anyway, the book situation was getting a little out of control in their room.  We are talking piles of books creating a trip and slip hazard of ridiculous proportions. Every bookshelf I found was over priced or cheaply built. This morning I stopped at an estate sale and picked up the perfect shelf for less than half of what they had it priced for. I ended up not putting it in the children's room because it was a little wobbly on the squishy carpet, but there was a good spot for it in the living room. My little dude was super excited to help clean it and put the books on it. It is big enough that it also holds most of the toys that are usually randomly strewn around the living room. Score one for Mommy!

A Fail

I am vegetarian and I am outnumbered in my home by people who are not. Sometimes we all eat vegetarian and other times I make a combo meal. Vegetarian spaghetti with frozen meatballs on the plates of those who partake (heated up of corse). Portabella fajitas with chicken strips thrown in the pan after I fix mine. Point being, I gotta get creative sometimes. Sometimes I get carried away. Tonight's meal was supposed to be vegetarian, a simple pasta dish with some added veggies from our garden. It started out decently enough with some sautéed diced bell pepper. I started adding tomatoes from our garden, because they are really sweet and I thought they would make a good sauce. I should have googled  "making spaghetti sauce" but I didn't. That was where it started to go downhill.

Mr.PJ informed me later that sauce can take a day. I wanted to be done in half an hour. After destroying  dicing five perfectly good tomatoes I decided they weren't cooking down fast enough and I threw the whole mess in the food processor with some garlic salt. The result of that was orange runny tomato soup. Not being one to give up easily I just named dinner tomato soup with pasta and served it with a wheat roll. My husband quietly pretended to be too busy feeding the baby to eat. My toddler son loudly announced he didn't like it and began to play with it. I don't know if you have ever smelled real fresh parmesan cheese, but it is on the somewhat stinky end of the cheese spectrum. Our pasta was parmesan tortellini served in warm watery tomato juice that was slightly chunky. I have made some cooking blunders before but tonight was an all time low. The meal I tried to serve my family tonight looked and smelled like bowls of vomit. I've got to get some sort of meal plan together.

The good news is I went grocery shopping today so I have lots of ingredients I can use to follow a real recipe tomorrow.

Take care,

Mrs.PJ

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