{Loved}

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  It seems odd to say this with my husband out of town, but this may have been one of my best Valentine's days ever!  First of all, look out world, we are raising a true Casanova!  Jameson is going to be a real catch in the romantic department!  He tells me almost on a daily basis that I am beautiful.  He will often find something specific to compliment me on - such as my hair style.  So adorable!!!  But on this particular morning, he woke me up and handed me an envelope.  "Open it," he says excitedly.  I open the envelope to find a green piece of construction paper folded up inside.  On the paper he has drawn two stick figures.  "It's your 'balentine.'  I drew a picture of me and you.  Oh and look, the paper is your favorite color!"  Oh yes, I melt into a giant puddle right there.

Then we talk about what he's going to wear to school.  Over winter break, he went to an at class at school and they painted shirts.  Delilah was also enrolled in this class, but couldn't go the day they painted shirts because she was sick.  So, Jameson decided to paint a picture of Delilah on his shirt.  This in itself is adorable.  But, today Jameson informs me that he wants to wear his shirt with Delilah on it.  I asked him why.  He says "Because I wuv her and she's my balentine."  Oh my gosh, where did this kid come from??  I just love how much they love each other!

As if that wasn't enough, then my daycare kiddos start showing up.  Not only did my kids get spoiled by our daycare families, but I also got a little something from one family.  They told me that I deserve a little pampering.  So sweet to be thought of when I can't be with my Valentine on Valentine's day!  Then I notice that I have a little message from the hubby on my FB page.  This is very out of character for him because he's not a big fan of FB PDAs.  But he stepped out of his comfort zone a little bit to make me feel special.  In addition to that, I also received several sweet text messages today!

Now, I'm sure one of the reasons that I had such a wonderful day was that I had very low expectations.  I'm not saying this to be a jerk, but history has taught me that although my husband may have good intentions, his follow through can sometimes leave something to be desired.  (I will say, however, that when he gets it right, he definitely gets it right!)  :-)  But, I can't even describe my shock when I spy a woman walking to the front door carrying a GORGEOUS arrangement of flowers!  Let me just tell you that Russell has NEVER sent me flowers and I'm fairly certain that I haven't received anything floral from him for Valentine's day since high school.  I was expecting just a phone call today and I was showered with Valentine's day surprises all day long!  

Though we've definitely seen our share of ups and downs, as we navigate this roller coaster of life.  I can honestly say that today I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.  I am so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful people who made today a very special day.  I am definitely feeling loved today!  Although, the bar has now been set very high for future Valentine's days!!!  :-)

I think it's safe to say that a good day was had by all in the *B* household today!  :-)

Super Salad!

Okay, so the title of the post is from a little family joke that we have.  One day My Dad, Step-mom  Brother and I were out to dinner.  My brother ordered and the waiter asks "Soup or salad?"  My brother answers "Yes."  The waiter asks again "Soup or salad?"  My brother responds a little louder "Yes."  This happened so long ago that I can't actually remember how long this went on, but you get the idea.  But, eventually it got resolved and my brother told us that he thought the waiter was asking if he wanted the "super salad," so that's why he kept saying yes.  So, there you go.  A funny little story from the Perkins history that really doesn't have much to do with this post aside from the fact that it's about salad.  :-)

Instead of a super salad, I'm talking about my adventures in mason jar salads.  A while back, when I still worked outside the home, we had some training sessions and one included a talk on wellness.  Now, the guy who spoke ultimately was trying to recruit everyone to use his chiropractic services, but aside from that, I really liked what he had to say.  His philosophies were pretty much in line with my own - eat healthy, non-processed foods, eat as organically as you can, eat grass-fed meats, and use heart-healthy oils.  Love it!  Most of it was review for me, but I really do enjoy when people reinforce my beliefs.  Haha!  But, there was one thing that he said that I had never considered before.

He talked about all of the different nutrients in foods (protein/fat/carbs/etc.) and how our bodies use them.  He explained that carbs give us energy and the average American diet has it all wrong.  We eat super carb-heavy dinners and then go to bed shortly after that.  We don't use much energy in the evening or while we sleep.  He said that the way we should be eating is to have our carbs in the morning and afternoon, when we need the energy and our dinners should be low carb.  I had never thought of it like that before!  But, it made a lot of sense!  So, I discussed this with Russell and we decided that we should start eating salads for dinner (since that would be something easy for him to take to work).

Enter Pinterest where mason jar meals are running rampant.  I even have a Pinterest board devoted to mason jar meals.  I am, however, not so keen at following directions.  I often take a recipe as inspiration and then put my own twist on it.  The problem is, very rarely do my creations turn out the same twice.  Ask my college roommate, Kellie.  I once made this delicious concoction out of the leftovers from taco night.  I do remember that it consisted of rice, cheese, sour cream and taco meat.  We scooped it up with Doritos (hey, this was college, remember?) and it was freaking AHHHHH-MAZING!!!! Sadly, I have never quite been able to recreate it.  (That really doesn't have anything to do with salad, does it?  Oh well.)

Anyway, I read up on the basics of the mason jar salad.  You put the wet and sturdier ingredients on the bottom, like the dressing, the meat, fruits and/or veggies.  Then you put the things that need to stay for the most part dry at the top, such as the lettuce.  Then I put the things that you want to stay crunchy in a baggie - like croutons or nuts.  Then I perused the menus of some of my favorite places to get salads (like Panera, Runza, or Green Belly) and used that as a starting point.

My first go at this mason jar salad thing was two weeks ago:

#1 is an Asian salad - toasted sesame dressing in the bottom, chicken, green onions, Russell's had mandarin orange (or clementines, maybe?) segments, & greens. You can see the rubber band on that one, that held a baggie of chow mein noodles and slivered almonds to it. 
#2 is bruschetta on the bottom (tomatoes, garlic, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette) and lettuce. I did an Italian-style breaded chicken breast cut up and I made some croutons out of a leftover piece of garlic bread. 
#3 is poppy seed dressing, chicken, blueberries, strawberries and the "7 super foods" salad mix from Costco. 
#4 is buffalo chicken, blue cheese, diced celery & carrots, and salad. I added some ranch on the day of. 
#5 is chicken with a Thai peanut sauce, red bell peppers, cucumbers, green onion, salad mix and the day of I mixed in cashews and chow mein noodles.

I was quite pleased with the results!  The jars actually kind of sealed themselves!  You had to pop the lid off to eat them.  It was nice to just grab a jar, dump it in a bowl and dinner was done!  Plus it looks so pretty and colorful in the fridge.  I ate the last salad like a week after putting them in the jars and it was just as fresh as the first one...seriously!  I love, love, love this!  And my second go at it was much less cumbersome than the first one.  :-)

I do have a couple of repeats this week:
#1 Asian Salad, like above.
#2 Bruschetta salad, like above, but I forgot that I did the breaded chicken last time, so I added diced chicken breast.
#3 The poppyseed dressing with berries, like above...except Costco didn't have the "7 super foods" salad mix, so I just used lettuce.
#4 Once I realized that I was going to have extra Italian chicken, I threw together a Caprese salad (fresh mozzarella  basil, balsamic vinaigrette) with some lettuce and I'll add the chicken and homemade croutons on the day of.
#5 Salmon in balsamic vinaigrette and spinach.  On the day of, I'll add walnuts and dried cranberries.
I made 2 of each (I at one for lunch, leaving 9.  :-)  I should be set for the week!

And then, because I'm a show-off, you can see the smoothies that I have for breakfast on the right.  In case anyone is wondering, that includes: frozen berries, Greek yogurt, tart cherry juice (I SWEAR by this!!), and a scoop of protein powder.  I used to add either chia seed or flax seed, but I ran out and keep forgetting to get more.  So, there you go!  My adventures in mason jar salads!  I have a whole list of recipes that I want to try, so I'll keep you all updated!!  :-)

Ephraim is 6 months...and 7 days

 Oh man, I am even further behind on this than I was last month!  Anyway, so much has changed in just a month!!  As you can see, Ephraim can now sit up.  He was pretty wobbly at first, but now he's pretty dang sturdy...unless one of his siblings bowls him over!  He doesn't do so much rolling anymore.  He flips on to his belly and then that little bugger drags himself all across the room.  He wants so badly to keep up with those bigger kids!

Ephraim got his first taste of solid food.  His first bite was of avocado.  Although he made a face, he gobbled it up!  He has pretty much done that with every food he has tried - made a face and scarfed it down!  Come on, does this look like a kid who does like to eat?  So far, he has tried avocado, squash, apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes.  He broke out into a rash the day he tried banana, but I'm going to have to try it again before I'm prepared to rule that he's allergic to it.  This kids now thinks he's ready for steak dinners.  You have to watch him because he'll dive after any food within reach.  He also likes to hold the spoon and really tries to feed himself!

He still adores his big brother and sister.  He'll make little noises to try and get their attention and he's always flashing them his big goofy smile.  They are MUCH more likely to get him into a fit of giggles than his mommy or daddy.  Ephraim is starting to babble.  He's quite the little talker.  Big brother, Jameson, tells us that he's talking already "[Gasp], did you hear that?  He said Jay-Muh-Son!"  I don't hear what J hears just yet, but I doubt it's too long before he's chiming in with the other two!  Oh and Delilah is convinced that he should be talking because he now has teeth - Ephraim has cut 2 teeth already, BTW!

Happy half birthday, Ephraim!

Life.

I know it's been quiet over here.  Sometimes life can just get in the way.  I needed to take a little time for myself.  But, I'm back!  (I think, anyway.)  I plan to get caught up starting tomorrow.  A special someone turned 6 months old and we had a fun-filled weekend last weekend.  If I post this, then that means I HAVE to update tomorrow, right?  :-)

A Dream Finally Realized

Almost exactly 7 years ago, I quit a very stressful and all-consuming job as the residential coordinator of a few group homes serving individuals with developmental disabilities.  My job was so stressful that I quit without finding another job.  I had built up enough leave (because I wasn’t ever able to take any time off!) that I had 6 weeks built up.  I was confident that I could find something in that time.  This was the first time I remember looking up the requirements to become an in-home daycare.

Obviously I found a different job and did not follow through with the in-home daycare idea at that time.  But, I came back to it several times at various points in my life.  Generally, I would revisit it as I became dissatisfied with my job or following the birth of one of our children. 

After Delilah was born, we had to reevaluate our childcare situation.  In order to afford to pay for childcare, I would have had to switch to work full-time, which made absolutely no sense to me.  Russell switched to an overnight shift, that way one of us was home with the kids at all times.  However, after about a year of working nights and getting up earlier than he’d like so that I could go to work began to wear on him and a new arrangement was necessary.  We knew that we wanted to have a third baby; therefore we didn’t want to make any drastic changes prior to that.  But, the idea kept lingering in my mind and I just couldn’t let it go.  Could I actually go through with my plan to become an in-home daycare?

Then an opportunity arose for me to watch a few kids in the morning before I had to go to work.  I thought this was a good plan because I could get me feet wet in regards to the whole daycare thing and I could make a little extra money!  I had such a fun time doing activities with the kids, and my kids liked having friends come over every day.  I really felt like I was on the right path.

Once I became pregnant with Ephraim it was time to start planning the transition.  We decided that it made sense to just quit my job when I would have left for maternity leave and start the daycare process.  It took a few months after he was born to get back on my feet.  This made me nervous and I did, at one point, worry that we would never get everything together.  But, we did.  And once the worker called to schedule an inspection, I was ready to go!  Actually, I think she was impressed with how prepared I was.  And all of our hard work paid off because we were licensed later that day!  Little Sprouts Clubhouse is officially open!

It’s a thing of beauty, isn’t it?

Ephraim is 5 months...and 6 days... :-)

Sorry, things have been a bit hectic and I got a little behind on E's monthly posts.  Eek!  So, as usual, my Buddha buddy is a big guy.  I recently found the stats from Jameson's 9 month appointment.  At that time, J weighed 18.8 lbs.  What??  Ephraim weighs over 19 lbs at 5 months!!  Craziness!  Anyway, as I posted earlier, Ephraim is a rolling fool.  He easily rolls from back to tummy, but he gets frustrated on his belly.  He CAN roll from belly to back, but he has to get mad first.  At bedtime, I let him his fuss for a little while, and he usually goes to sleep on his own.  However, it cracks me up because I'll lay him down with his head facing East on one side of the crib.  Then later, I will go check on his and his head will be facing South West on the completely other side of the crib.  Apparently he's really on the move, but only in secret!  :-)

Ephraim looooooooves attention.  He'll make noises until you look at him and once you do, he'll flash you his big gummy smile.  He also started doing what we call his "happy dance."  He'll shake his head back and forth super fast while flashing a huge smile.  It's pretty much the funniest thing that I've ever seen.  Ephraim seem to be a lover of music.  If he's not happy, he'll often cheer right up if one of his siblings sings to him or if Daddy plays the guitar for his.  At bedtime, I can get his to settle down and relax into sleep by singing softly to him.

Poor buddy has had a rough few weeks lately.  The kids have all been battling this upper respiratory junk for a while.  A couple of weeks ago it developed into a yucky cough.  All of that, plus he's working on his first tooth.  But really other than just before bedtime, he doesn't let it slow him down too much!

Next month, Ephraim will be 6 months and starting solid foods.  Simply unbelievable!

New Year, New Me!

I'm surprised by all of the hate toward New Year's resolutions that I have seen over the past few days.   It's funny to me because it goes something like this - I hate New Year's resolutions, but here are mine...  Honestly, I don't really get it. It's just coming up with a list of goals that you hope to accomplish in the next year.  It's up to you how lofty you want to make them or whether or not you actually follow through.  Maybe it's the life coach in me, but I feel lost if I'm not working toward something.  And although I don't think it's necessarily essential to make a New Year's resolution, I do think there is something cathartic about starting fresh and looking forward to a new year.

For me, 2012 was...educational.  It was a twisty, turvey, and at times, painful journey, but I believe that it ultimately led me right where I needed to be.  I also feel like, for the first time in a very long time, that I'm on a clear path toward becoming my ideal.  I take great comfort in both of these things.  In thinking about my resolutions for the New Year, I am struck by how different this year is starting than prior years.  In the past, I'd set the typical "I want to eat less, exercise more, and organize my house" -type resolutions.  But not this year!  I'm already well on my way with those things.  (Yay me!)

But here's the big area that I plan on focusing on in the coming year (and beyond) - myself.  I have always been a caring person.  In fact, I have been known to give and give to those around me at my own expense.  Up until this last year, I was under the misguided belief that people were inherently good.  I did anything in my power for the people around me and I truly thought that, if the situation arose, those people would do the same for me.  I was wrong.  A chain of unrelated events occurred this year that nearly brought me to my breaking point and I needed to rely on strength from my support system.  There was a very distinct divide between those who were willing to support me and those that were far more concerned about themselves and their own selfishness.

This discovery made me realize that I needed to get the negativity out of my life.  I came to the realization that I was more concerned about the needs of others more than my own.  I was sacrificing myself for the benefit of my circle of trust - no matter how poorly they treated me.  Once this all became clear to me, I decided that it was time to focus my energy on the positive and uplifting people around me.  I need to make myself a priority and treat myself as well as I treat others.  I'm to the point now that I've let go of the hurt and anger - which is HUGE for me because I have a tendency to hold a bit of a grudge (I'll pause to wait for anyone who has heard the story of my 8th grade solo to stop laughing...).  Anyway, I now know that their loss is far greater than anything I'm missing.  Because I have come to accept that I'm a good person and a fantastic friend and everything that went down was in no way a result of a flaw in myself...other than choosing to associate with negative people, I suppose.  :-)

So, the short story is that my resolutions are to continue what I'm doing.  I want to continue to track my food, make getting some sort of daily activity a priority, continuing to streamline and simplify my house, continue to put some effort into my appearance, to focus my energies on the positive people in my life, to continue cutting the toxic people out, and to continue treating myself with the love and respect that I show to others.

As you can see, 2012 was a wild ride for me.  I am so excited to see what 2013 has in store.  Happy New Year to you and yours!