juice day

Today I've invited a friend over to do juicing together.

Sara and her husband want to start eating healthier and hopefully loose some weight in the process. We'll spend the morning working with her juicer (that she has never used) my faithful Hurom Slow Juicer along my newest kitchen gadget, the Nutribullet. 


I stopped at the fruit market yesterday and grabbed some fruits and veggies to add to those already in my kitchen. We have berries and leaves, nuts and seeds, heads and bunches, roots and recipes all waiting to we whipped and squeezed into yummy healthy creations.

multiplication

My single homeschool student has been a blessing....
so two students should be twice the blessing... right? 

After a visit from my two self-proclaimed grandchildren on Sunday it was agreed that Tessa, now four and a half, will join our little homeschool routine next week. Although both girls are excited at the prospect of learning together the teacher is feeling a bit daunted by the challenge. 

thumbs down

One of my favorite things about ending one year and starting the next is the "best of" lists that pick the cream of the year and lets it float to the top. I was excited to see a list of best recipes on the Choosing Raw blog that I recently started following. Unfortunately, the two recipes I've tried from the list have received a thumbs down review from my number one food critic.

This weekend I tried Toasted Almond Quinoa Bake . I was excited to find another way to include Quinoa in the kitchen but alas, it didn't pass the test.

the end

The last day of 2012 was packed full of fun and games.

The day started with a chilly run and ended with a quick hike up Silly Mountain to watch the sun set. Sandwiched in between there was basketball, Frisbee golf, four square, table games, a little bit o' shopping all together with a generous helping of authentic Mexican food. It was a good way to end the year.

six

Natale celebrated her sixth birthday on Thursday 

with a pretty pink hat cake 

topped with white roses 

and unfortunately, 

an undiagnosed case of pneumonia.

day two...

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho it off to hike we go...

three days, four nights

As the Earth finished yet another lap around the sun we had the privilege of being the merging point for seven members of our extended family; fathers, mothers, husbands and wives, sons, daughters, sisters and brothers, cousins, aunt, uncle, nephew and niece all playing, hiking, eating, laughing, and sleeping together. 

How blessed we are. 

Arrivals were staggered so the first night our count was only three but by mid-day on Saturday our numbers reached seven. 

We toured our Indiana family 'round the homestead as this was their first visit. 

  
Then we packed them up and traveled a couple miles down the road to our neighborhood tourist attraction, Goldfield Ghost Town. 

Day one concluded with the first of several battles for dominance in the card game Rook. 

 

 

 Stay tuned for day two and three of our adventures.