Fairy Tale Ball

Not yet sure where we are going...

Tonight we surprised the kids and went to the Fairy Tale Ball. This is such a fun and wonderful event that benefits the children and families served by Child Care Resources. Jason's Aunt Beverly works at Child Care Resources and was so generous and invited us as her guests to the Ball. The kids (and adults) had such a fun and magical evening. We didn't tell the kids where we were going, but did give them hints all day. Finally on the way (as we were about to park) Gracie couldn't take it anymore and asked where we were going. We told her and her face was priceless. She was so excited! 

We borrowed this Ariel dress from Gracie's sweet friend Allie and it was perfect. Gracie finally got to have her picture made with Ariel at the end of the evening and she was just beside herself!

Gracie danced more tonight than I think I've ever seen her dance. James started dancing once the sugar kicked in...They had a Willy Wonka "candy store" with enough candy to last a long time. Both kids got bags full of candy and James ate a few extra pieces while Gracie was off dancing. 

James was a little tentative when it came to having his picture made, but Gracie was eager to have her picture made with all the characters. We had such a great time and are already looking forward to next year! Despite the lack of smiles from James, he really did have a wonderful time. When I was putting him to bed tonight he was sure to say the candy was his favorite part =)

Here are A LOT of pictures...

I'm fairly certain Gracie had her picture with this same Princess Leia last summer.

Eating some of the "treasure" that Peter Pan took from Captain Hook

Gracie absolutely loved dancing! She had a blast dancing with (near) different characters. This is one of the dwarfs.

Oh, the choices!

Dancing with a large gum ball shoved in her mouth

Walking the plank

Llama Llama was there too. Cinderella's stepmother was reading a book nearby.

On our way out...a little punch for the road.

The newest Cook

On Saturday we welcomed Ziggy into the Cook family. Our little family of four visited the humane society for what we thought would be "just a visit" that turned into a full on adoption. We walked around for a bit, not totally certain of what we wanted. We filled out the paperwork so we could visit with a dog (Gracie really wanted to pet one) and walked around a little more with the worker talking about the dogs we were interested in. We decided to visit with Ziggy first. Her sheet said she was a border collie mix, around a year old. We have since learned that she's a lab mix (which isn't hard to tell) and maybe a little closer to 9 months. We had a wonderful visit with Ziggy. She was great with the kids, which was our biggest concern. After our almost perfect visit with Ziggy we visited with a puppy and very quickly decided a puppy was not right for our family. James climbed up on Jason's back and wouldn't get down. Gracie wanted so badly to cuddle him, but the little pup was all over the place like an active puppy is. We ended up leaving that afternoon with Ziggy and all the supplies we would need to have her at home.

The last two days have been great having her here. She is a great dog and is definitely settling in. She sleeps great at night and only whines for a few minutes when we put her to bed. Tonight when I went to help Jason put the kids to bed she stayed laying down and didn't even cry when we were all out of the room. Gracie can't get enough of Ziggy. She keeps saying "I can't believe we have a dog!!" James is taking a little more time getting used to her. They are pretty close to the same height and she does jump some and that scares him (we're working on it).

Here are a few pictures since we've become a family of five :)

Homemade

Granola, chocolate chip granola bars, and cinnamon raisin bread all in one day...I feel productive :)

Here's hoping the bread taste "normal".

Baby Steps

 flour, cheese and butter

Who needs goldfish (or bunnies or any other cheese cracker) when you can have stars! I can't get enough of www.100daysofrealfood.com! And the kids love them too. Here's the recipe. I used my food processor for the first time today (got it at least 3 years ago for Christmas) and loved it. I dropped a block of cheese in it and it shredded it for me and then mixed the remaining ingredients together. I did add a splash of milk, but I may have just not waited long enough for the mixture to "ball up".

While Jason was at band practice last night I watched Food, Inc. Here's the trailer. (I'm kind of new to this whole linking thing...is what I'm doing right?...anyone?) I was disturbed, to say the least, about the "quality" of meat and other dairy products that are in our grocery stores (not to mention the facilities where they are being produced). The price of organic, real food is higher, but I'd rather pay for it and cut out something else than continue to consume (and fill my kids) with what's cheaper and not healthy. After watching the documentary I see so much more value in buying local and organic. I'm on a quest for such. I love learning new things...especially when it comes to food.

This is not going to become a food blog (I'm not that good at it and there are plenty of wonderful food blogs out there already)...this is just a big part of my life right now and I want to document what I'm doing. On that note, here's a picture of what I had for lunch =)

grilled tomato, mozzarella, and basil

Making bread is next on my list...

Not much of an update...

Today I tried four new things. I'm not against trying new things, I just usually get in a rut and don't.

I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot and have at least two meals planned for it (I'll probably have it on a sandwich for lunch too). I've now got the juice cooking and will have a stash of chicken broth ready tomorrow. Here's where I got the idea: http://thehappyhousewife.com/cooking/whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/

I made apple chips. They were a little crunchier than I expected (I cooked them too long), but they were delicious! Yes, you read that right...were delicious...I just finished them off :) http://www.delightedmomma.com/2011/09/baked-apple-chips.html

The kids made apple, peanut butter and raisin sandwiches. I'm not sure why we've never made these before, but I think they will quickly become a favorite afternoon snack. This was a great snack they could make themselves and had fun putting together. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/08/12/real-food-tips-10-ways-to-switch-up-your-kid’s-lunch/

Tonight for dinner I made quinoa. I've been wanting to try this, but just kept forgetting about it. Julie bought some last week at the beach and we didn't cook it, so I brought it home. Delicious! The kids even ate it and that's big for James because he's not big on tying new things.

I've been reading a lot lately over at 100daysofrealfood.com and am inspired to eat more real food in our home. My biggest hurdle will be breakfast food and snacks for the kids. I'm excited to try new recipes and see the kids try new things.

Here's what I plan to make next: http://www.delightedmomma.com/search/label/recipes

And here are a few pictures from our day...