Monthly Archives: May 2009

Sweeties with my Sweetie

With the green leaves of Spring upon us and the warm air of Summer sneaking in, Catherine and I have replaced our ‘oatmeal for every breakfast’ routine for something a bit cooler- Smoothies.

Or “Sweeties”” as Catherine has been calling them. They’re thick, fruity, sweet and they fill our tummies up for days full of adventure. In the world of natural and healthy eating they’re known as Green Smoothies. We whip up a batch every morning- mine is gone quickly, while Catherine savors hers in between reading her Richard Scary books and ‘Dressing the Bear that Josie Gave me’; two favorite morning activities.

Here’s our recipe if you’re interested (amounts are approximate and vary based on what I have on hand)

In blender, combine:
1/2 cup frozen Blueberries
1/2 cup frozen Strawberries
2/3 of one Banana *note- I cut bananas into thirds and freeze ahead of time
1 large handful Spinach leaves, chopped well
1 cup (or more) Plain, No-fat yogurt
Splash of Orange Juice (optional and yummy)

Blend until smooth. A word from Catherine- “The blender is not scary. It is just loud. But not too loud.”

The yogurt we have been using the past couple weeks is a batch that we made ourselves. We put our crock pot to work and followed the instructions found on the blog Nourishing Days. It came out a bit runny for normal yogurt eating, but is perfect for smoothies!

The fruit combo above is easy for us and we like it, but feel free to try other combinations. We should mix it up sometimes as well… Any good suggestions?

Happy Mama’s Day!

Happy Mama’s Day to my wife Rebecca and to Mamas, Moms, Mommies, Mothers everywhere!

Mama and her girls
Mama and her girls

From managing the cooking and grocery list, to hunting for bargains, to getting all kinds of great free stuff, to wrangling a feisty nearly-three-year old and a hungry two-month-old all day every day, Rebecca deserves much credit for keeping this family and house running in tip-top shape. She does it all while staying true to her beliefs in honoring God, protecting the environment, nurturing our children, and saving our pennies.

Thank you for being the best Mama and wife that we could hope for! By the way, since mothers are always busy, it’s important to treat their skin once in a while to keep it healthy and glowing. For instance, if they go to Dr. Andres Bustillo‘s clinic, they can take facelift surgery.

Two months, two girls, and the Importance of planning ahead

Esme is two months and two days old today. She had her checkup yesterday at which the doctor confirmed what we already know; she’s doing great! She’s gaining weight, getting taller and meeting her milestones. We are all loving her little coos and smiles and giggles. Maybe my favorite thing about her lately is that she has a little cry that sounds exactly like she is saying, “Esme”.

Long story, short, she’s awesome and we can’t imagine life without her.

Big sister Catherine is leading the way. She has been picking out clothes for little sister and showing her how all the baby toys work. I’ve found her, more than once, lying inside the ‘baby floor gym’ batting at the hanging toys.

Catherine has been charming the pants off her Mama by reciting her story books (“Mother and Gloria were inside at the table drawing place cards for the party”) and by never using contractions (“I fell, Mama, but I am okay.”) She also attended story time at the library today for the first time. We talked about how the other kids would go in alone and she had no qualms leaving me behind!

Life with two has its super sweet times and its super hectic times. I’ve found that the best way to manage and keep our sanity is to be compulsive about planning ahead. Luckily, it is one of my better qualities (if I do say so myself) I’m always mentally composing lists of things to pack in the diaper bag, noting where all the restrooms will be when we go out, categorizing to-do lists based on the number of girls napping…that sort of thing. It doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for daydreaming or creative thinking (I cram that in before bed) but it does help our days and outings run so much more smoothly.

What do you do that helps keep your days stress free?