Ouch!

Last night while I was cooking dinner, Amber was doing something very dangerous, as it turns out. She was bouncing a ball! Somehow she tripped over her feet and fell down...splat! She hit her wrist on the retaining wall as well as the ground. Amber cried and Steve brought her in for an ice pack. She complained her tummy hurt but mostly seemed fine. No selling or bruises or scrapes. This morning she was having trouble playing the game boy because she wasn't using her left hand very well. Time to call the Doctor! Because Amber has sensory integration disorder, she doesn't feel pain in the same way most people do. In fact, she has had to learn to interpret a number of sensations that our brains just automatically do on their own. Pain and hunger being the biggies. Anyway, her wrist is fractured. She was put in a splint today and we are waiting to hear back from the Dr. about getting it casted. Fortunately, due to her lessened pain perception, she has very little discomfort and is doing fine.

I am learning so much about the Positive Parenting techniques. This is a great positive parenting blog that I came across. Kelly does such a great job of putting things into easy to understand and use perspectives! For today, I am working on connecting before correcting. Listening to my children, especially Tyler. He often has a lot to say around his misbehavior but usually is not permitted to say it all. Finally, encouraging the process all along the way with all the kids is something so easy to do and so good for all of us. Even if Ian has to go back and vacuum the floor 6 times, he needs to hear that the fact that he is doing the chore is appreciated. Does that make sense? What are your thoughts?

• Connect Before Correct
• Listen all the way through, uninterrupted.
• Encourage the process rather than praise for the end result.

Our beef and pork is being delivered tomorrow afternoon! Finally! But you know it will have been worth the wait!!!  by the way, I love the changes Da-Le Ranch has made to their website...check it out!

If Only I Understood the Game

I was playing a game with Tyler and Amber this evening of Tyler's creation. It involved randomly moving your finger around on a tic tac toe board that had all the  X's and O's pre-placed. I lost every single turn. So did Amber. Tyler won. Bet you didn't see that coming! LOL! But isn't that just the way life is? Just when you think you have a handle on the game it changes!  If only I understood the game, I could win. Right?  What would "winning" actually be? Actually, I think I like not understanding the game after all!

So far, eating healthier is costing us less. I am thinking this is due, in part, to buying more foods in bulk and therefore making less trips to the grocery store. Also, junk food is expensive! "Real Food" is also expensive and mostly there are not coupons for it. I am talking about whole grains, beans, produce...the good stuff.  Cooking everything from scratch is certainly a lot more work but being able to take out all of that sodium, preservatives and dyes from our diet is worth it for me. I have the time and I love to cook so it is working for us thus far. When we were in Las Vegas and had to eat out, our bodies were really feeling it!  On that note, let me tell you about dinner....

LENTIL SOUP in the big crock pot
6 cans chicken broth
med onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped,
3 garlic cloves, chopped or whole
1 tsp thyme, 1 tbsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup V-8 juice
1 lb bag lentils
1 cup  finely chopped green beans, (or any other veggie you care to use)
4 oz dry alphabet pasta
1 cup chopped summer sausage (any sort of meat will do or leave out the meat)
water to fill the crock pot, about 6 cups
Crock pot on low about 8 hours.
Garnish with Parmesan cheese.
I expected to have a few bowls worth left over but there was only one bowl of soup to put away in the fridge!

In other new....Ian got a promotion in JROTC! He is now and "Airman"! Way to go Ian!!

Crock Pot Meatloaf

I just took a meatloaf out of my crock pot...my first try at cooking a meatloaf this way. It turned out perfectly!  I lined the crock pot with foil first so I could just lift it right out and it worked!

I still have one more pot of beans to cook in the crock pot and then I will have all the beans cooked and put up in the freezer. It cost me about $3.50, including electricity and freezer bags for what would have cost me over $20 in canned beans. It was super easy! I got the 5 pound bag of pinto beans for 1/2 price at Food 4 Less for only $2.00 and the 2 pounds of black beans were less than $1.

Amber and I made a fast trip to Costco today, armed with a list. We zipped in, got almost everything on our list and got of there in record time. The place was packed with people...of course! Costco does not carry whole wheat flour as it turns out. I will have to pick some up at Sprouts on Wednesday. Sprouts has double-ad day on Wednesday, (this weeks and last weeks sale prices).

The Taco Braids turned out beautiful and delicious! I just made wheat dough in the bread machine and added 2 tbsp of taco seasoning in with the flour. I rolled out the dough, spread cooked ground meat (1/2 beef & 1/2 turkey), shredded cheese, re fried beans and salsa down the center 1/2. Then I cut the outside edges in strips and alternated pulling them across the filling. Let rise 30 min. Bake on 400 degrees for 30 minutes. The kids devoured it!

Steve brought me some beautiful flowers today. :)  I love that he does that for me! It is very nice to be appreciated!!

Emily has a friend that has a "ripstick". She has learned to ride it fairly well and has been teaching Amber and Tyler to ride it today too. It takes a lot of balance and coordination!

We are so very lucky to be living in San Diego, where it was a beautiful 84 degrees today! I hope you have enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend!