March Madness

It is always Madness around The Joiner house.  Can you imagine what it would be like if we were into Basketball?!!!  Im trying to think of a time of day or day of the week for that matter that we actually have peace and quiet around here...still thinking...still thinking...um, yay, there is NEVER a moment of peace and quiet around here (Im trying to write this while Im slamming my 2nd cup of coffee before my part-time kid, Payton, wakes up from her what seems like 5 min nap). 

I wouldnt change a thing!  It almost seems like we thrive on a fast pace of life.  Ask anyone and they will tell you that we never have a free weekend open to sit around the house.  GOD bless Aaron because he is right there with us even after working what seems like 24/7.  Even our poor parents have to call and give us a few weeks notice as to when they will be coming to visit because they know we are never still. (Ecclesiastes 10:18 -Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.)

We took the kids to see an A&M baseball game with our good friends the Ferris'.  Logan and Will are in the same class at School for Little People and Kendra brought one of her neighborhood friends, Adyson, with her.  They had a blast playing at Spencer's Corner and catching a ball from the opposing team.

Then there was the Girl Scout camping event that Kendra and I had to attend to get ready for our Camporee that we will be attending in May.  At first Kendra was not very excited about going to an ALL day event but in the end, I think she had a blast. 

For the first time EVER in Kendra's 7 years of birth have we spent a Spring Break at home.  We always go on vacation.  This year, we made it a point to be still.  (Psalm 46:10
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”)  And we did just that. 

I was able to finish up on a major project that I had been working on since before November (see pic below)  The kids painted their pallet while I worked on my table.  The kids played with neighborhood friends.  OUTSIDE (yeppee!!!).  I did a week's worth of Pinterest inspired receipes and we stayed at home. 

We had an amazing March!  Hope you all did as well.  We will be preparing for April.  Which means Easter, birthdays, birthday parties, soccer games and school functions.  It never ends.  I love it!

Pinterest Week Day 4

Day 4 was very interesting.  It was Saturday and we planned to stay at home and go no where.  You know the vision you get in your head of making this fabulous healthy meal for your family and having a picnic outside (que the Heavenly music NOW) with the birds singing and the wind blowing thru your hair and everyone is knodding their head in approval as they chew, yay, that did not happen!  This receipe took forever.  I had no idea how difficult these Quiona burgers would be.  One would like that the egg would make the Quiona stick together like it does when I use ground turkey, but it didnt.  Plus, Quiona is exceptionally sensitive when frying, at least in my opinion.

See how mine were are slightly burnt on the top and bottom?  They are not in the original receipe pic (curses!).  I think that might be because I used grapeseed oil to fry with instead of olive oil even though I have read that grapseed oil is better to fry with.  You let me know if you try this.  They were however still very yummy.  Even on the second day they were fab.

Here is the website:
http://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/love-my-quinoa-burger/


As a side I served roasted veggies.  These are always wonderful and we love any roasted veggies!

Here is the website:
http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/2011/04/roasted-new-potatoes-and-asparagus.html

In this receipe, I did not use the fresh basil to garnish with only because I did not have it on hand and didnt want to run to the store after everything I had already been through with my stupid Quiona burgers. 

Eat Well!!  Enjoy!

Pinterest Week Day 3

On Day 3 of our Pinterest receipes week, I made Fried Rice.  By far, voted the best by my family.  Time wise, it was the only one that we tried that really stuck by the mentioned time frame in the original receipe.

I got this one from this website:

http://www.food.com/recipe/benihana-japanese-fried-rice-71472

Eat Well!  Enjoy!!

Pinterest Week Day 2

To continue with my week of Pinterest receipes that we tried during Spring Break week, Day 2 was Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.  Now I have never made them before but they were so much fun to and the Kendra really like helping me make these.  I did feel that the boiling of the cabbage and seperating the leaves was a bit tideous but I do not know if there is any other way to do it.  I sure there is but I havent found it yet.  Still waiting for someone to Pin that on Pinterest. 

I found this receipe on the following website: 

 http://www.whattopin.com/topic/food-and-drink-blogs/?id=236757

The pic that is up on the website was taken prior to adding the sauce.  My pic was taken with the sauce.  There is also my shadow that wasnt helping at all.  Like I said, this meal was fun to make. 

Eat Well!!  Enjoy

Spring Break on Pinterest

Last week was the almighty coveted Spring Break.  While every year our little family takes a vacation, we decided to stay at home and just hang out.  Kendra asked Aaron if he would come home every night to see her (his work takes him out of town anywhere from 3-4 nights a week every week except for 2 weeks in December).  Although it was incredibly rough on Aaron, he made it home every night just as Kendra asked.  The kids loved having him around and I enjoyed the adult company.  And by adult company I mean conversations that do not include anything to do with Barbie, Star Wars, Ninjago, and Spongebob (I HATE Spongebob) a glass or two of wine and cheesy TV shows.

Normally I dont worry about what Im making for dinner during the week because the kids and I could live off side dishes.  When Aaron decided to come home every night last week, I thought it would be nice if I made something homemade for him every night he was here. 

While I LOVE Pinterest, Im NOT obsessed with it.  I do find it extremely helpful with finding new recipes I would like to try.  And that's exactly what I did last week.  I took 5 recipes and made them over the week. 

Monday night we had a Jicama bean salad.

Extremely yummy in my book and super easy to make at that.  I didnt do anything different than what the recipe called for.  I didnt see the need for it.  We (and by WE I really mean ME) are trying to eat a little "Cleaner" and I find that can be hard with some of these Pinterest recipes.  This one was all fresh ingredients.

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  Im not a photographer nor do I even try to be but it will work for this purpose.  This is the web link for the recipe.
http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/09/recipe-for-black-bean-salad-with-jicama.html

I recommend trying this with a glass of your choice of white wine.  Aaron and I had Yellowtail Moscato.  This little combo probably would be great for a date night picnic.  Think Im gonna take my own advice and try that one.  Enjoy!!

KONY 2012

For those of you that are reading this probably know what KONY 2012 is about.  Im on a mission to understand more about the issue myself. 

Aaron first sent me a Tweet about the KONY 2012 project just 3 days ago.  Now it seems like it is everywhere.  Talk about lighting a fire and watching it spread.  By NO means am I saying that I started this revolution and by NO means is this little blog that has 2 followers gonna stop Joseph Kony and the LRA.  Im saying I find the matter interesting and want to know more about it (the good and the bad) so I can make the correct decision to support the cause or not.  I will not be posting any of my own opinions on this matter.  Instead I will only be posting links to other websites. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

http://kony2012.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/mar/08/kony-2012-what-s-the-story

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/life/kony-2012-why-im-opposed-to-the-campaign/

  

Logan Reading????

Logan has not been reading very long.  I will be honest, I havent worked with him anywhere near as much as I worked with Kendra.  In fact, I havent worked with him at all (not Mother of the Year award nominee).  So when he stated he was ready to start reading, he hit the floor running.  Literally, he ran to get his box set of BOB Books.  Pulled out the first one and started to read.  Im so proud of him.   

My sweet Kendra

I thought since I was posting some things about Logan I would take a few more mins and brag about my sweet daughter Kendra.  Most you reading know my sweet, yet strong willed, independent, yet still needs me to kiss the boo boo's away, Kendra Lynn.

There is never a day that passes that she doesnt make us proud of her.  She is so smart.  We love to watch her talk about things she finds interesting.   

Kendra also has a wonderful fun loving side to her.  She has an imagination that never ceases to amaze us.  I wish I could keep her young and innocent forever.

GGGGGOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!

Logan is finally old enough to play soccer for College Station Soccer Club.  Yeeppee!!  He was so excited to go to practice and could not wait to play in his first game.  Aaron and I are his coaches this season and we are having so much fun!!  Trying to "coach" 6, 4-5 yrs is hilarious!!!  Our first game went great.  Although we did not win the kids had a blast playing and did a great job of cheering their teammates on.  I am loving this season of life with the kids. 

Movies, Toys and the Gym oh my!

What a great weekend!!  My little brother Cole (and those of you that know us, he is anything but little) and his fiance Jessica (LOVE her) came to visit us.  We always have such a great time with them.  They got in Friday and we just hung out around the computer watching my brother's newest movie, Pumping Iron.  Not really my style but still fun to watch and listen to Cole's commentary.  Finally around midnight I called it a night only because we were going to be attending the FREE bootcamp at our gym (Aggieland Fitness Dome) the next day. 

We got up and had a very lazy morning sipping coffee and eating the fabulous breakfast that Aaron had made (on the weekends Aaron likes to make breakfast because he never has the time during the week).  We headed to the gym.  Between the 4 of us, there was enough sweat to fill up an Olympic size swimming pool.  Ok, maybe not literally but it was a lot!  Aaron and I had a blast but my poor sweet future SIL and brother probably wanted to kill me.  After our workout, Aaron took the kids back home to get Logan ready to go see Star Wars Phantom Menace with his best bud Will.  Cole, Jessica and I stayed at the gym for another hour for more punishment in the form of lifting weights with Cole.  My entire upper body still hurts!  It was great spending one on one time with my brother.  We dont get to do that often.  We didnt talk about anything serious but just enjoyed each other's company.  It was awesome!

After torturing our bodies and ripping our muscles, we came back to the house and got ready to go shopping for dress shirts and pants for Cole.  I will have to admit that shopping with Cole is a task.  Poor guy.  Since he is so big we had to hit every single store in the Woodlands Mall.  Finally made it home around 9 pm.  I was exhausted!!!

Sunday morning came and Cole and Jessica went to church with us.  I loved the fact that Jessica enjoyed all the singing. Cole didnt like the singing as much because he likes music but I think he liked the lesson.  Something for everyone at Austin's Colony Church of Christ.  We came home and had home-made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and asparagus.  Yummy!!

And no visit with Uncle Cole would be complete without a trip down the toy aisle at ANY store that sells toy. Thanks Uncle Cole!!!

All in all, I cant wait until we can hang out with my brother and Jessica again.  Which Im sure will be sooner rather than later.

    

Welcome to the Blogging World

I have a fabulous friend that has this amazing gift to blog.  And not just blog, but blog well.  I would be lying if I said that she has not inspired me to take up blogging regularly (I have a hard enough time # marking on Twitter.  Let's see how this goes).  Ive had one in the past but I used it all wrong. 

I would like to use this as not only to share bits and pieces of my life, but things I find interesting and or dear to my heart. 

Thanks for all your love.