Beauty of Wintertime!!

 

WINTER IS HERE AND SO VERY BEAUTIFUL TODAY!!

 

We had our first winter snowfall!

This mornings run was full of beauty!

The snow was coated on the trees and everything had a fresh blanket of white!

We had no school delay though. We hoped for one but maybe next time. The roads were mostly sloppy by bus time so off we went.

 Running along the side of the roads right in the slop of it this morning is what it was. Only about a two mile run but enough to enjoy the beauty around me and get a sweat going.... I couldn't help but snap a few phone pictures along the way... The snow makes everything feel so fresh and as the sun came up to shine on the fresh white blanket it made for some breathtaking beauty sent only by our creator... This type of beauty is what makes our Northern winters bearable...:)

So Javon is home with me today... We played many games of Guess Who already this morning... (he won all but one game!) And we played Sequence to. (I won at this game!)

Last weekend he had a fever. He snapped out of it pretty quick but a few days later he complained of poison ivy on his hands and feet. I didn't really take it off of him because he is not out in poison ivy right now and we rubbed some lavender and sent him on his way... Yesterday when I went to school to do the Thursday lunch duty he seemed miserable with pain/pressure in his hands and feet and he had been sent to the office earlier for cream for his itchy cheeks. We did lunch duty but then I took him out and checked out his feet closer... It hit me... Hand-Foot-Mouth!

I brought him home with me and did some research. Yup it has to be it!

 By afternoon he was crawling because his feet hurt on the bottom so bad. Jordan's hover board got him around on his knees!...:) He is so good on the hover board!

He took lots of Epsom salt/oil baths (which helped like crazy with the pain in his hands and feet!) He slept good last night and seems better today but I'm keeping him home for now. It seems this affects younger children more but this is something that Javon got a lot as a smaller child. I'm not sure why he is still getting it!? His immune system seems to struggle during winter months. Never anything major but colds are pretty common for Javon. We have upped the supplements and we hope he stays well the rest of the winter!

Dave is much better although he still has pain in his side. We are thinking about x-ray or thermo image to see what is still going on in his side. After all these weeks he had hoped he would be back to 100%. He is back to running which has helped his lungs so much but the pain in his side is still persistent and I see it and he feels it when he gets in and out of chairs or bed. Think that pony got him good!

Ginger the pony is getting good care by the eleven year old neighbor boy. He drives him behind his cart and rides him. He gets his coat brushed and he has a cozy barn with other horses and ponies. He is lucky but Jenika will show me tears as soon as I mention just letting the boy keep Ginger! So for now we plan to get him back when it gets warm outside.

January is here... The new year is here... We probably all have goals to strive for in this new year.

We were gearing up to eat better once the new year hits! This week I have heard "What is for dessert?" way more then I like to!! If its not here they will find something somewhere to calm that sweet tooth! Sugar is our toughest jump but I'm determined to conquer it one day!...:) "Lord help us!"

Yesterday after grocery shopping it was chopping for about an hour! What is an hour for many days worth of chopped healthy veggies to use in everything!?

I find that if I chop the veggies instead of throwing them into the veggie drawer they are much more apt to get all used up. If the veggies are chopped already it is super handy to throw healthy meals together!

This time I chopped up... Cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, mushrooms, onions and beets. (the onions and beets each go into a separate glass container)

Pretty much every meal we make gets a handful of these veggies...

Soups are the perfect wintertime meal!! With these handy veggies and homemade bone broth the soups come together so fast and are so tasty! They go into lunch containers to make a handy lunch.

This week I also made pretzel logs... I know the pretzel itself sounds unhealthy but with organic ingredients and plenty of healthy meat and veggies wrapped up on the inside I tell myself these are way better then the store bought "hot pockets" and they look just the same...:) The kids love them in lunches! Justin can fit them perfectly into his little on the road crock-pot!

The things that got made with the chopped veggies yesterday... Seriously I would have figured this pot of soup would last for awhile but its already gone... And Justin is not even here! (he is out of town on a job since Tuesday morning and we miss him lots)

To keep it real... Jenika won't touch the veggies. I seriously don't know what to do with this girl. If it were not for her daily dose of supplements she would hardly get nutrition. She does eat soup but only with pasta, corn and teeny bit of chicken or venison. She don't mind the bone broth but she won't finish it after her pasta is gone from it.

She likes cereal, pasta, pancakes, oatmeal, corn and mashed potatoes and other then pretty much any kind of fruit this is pretty much it! I keep thinking she will outgrow this limited diet of hers but nope she hasn't yet. We tell her she is ten now and we think taste buds change every seven years so lets try everything again!! She seems pretty convinced she will never in her lifetime like veggies:/

I don't like to cater to her and let her eat differently then the rest of us but I still do. I hate drama just as much as she does...:/  I do try to sneak in nutrition when at all possible like in the smoothies or the soups but she seems to know it every single time and then she won't touch it! (I freeze them into pops though when she is not looking and she thinks they are a great treat later!..:}) She for real will live off of apples before she has to eat a supper with veggies.

She don't like onions and mushrooms and this is frustrating because the rest of us love them and they go into almost every meal! She has to have her sweets! Brown sugar in her oatmeal! (we tried coconut sugar but nope) Syrup! We won't even go there! (she will use the whole bottle unsupervised) Be it pure maple syrup or raw honey for sweetening things she still uses TONS!

I sigh and continue to look on the bright side. She is healthy. Most days she don't eat things from boxes or bags. Its a process that just seems to be at a snails pace for her but that's okay, at least she is connecting the way her body feels with what she puts into it...:) Dave's favorite line is this "Trash in... Trash out" If you eat bad... you will feel bad. If you feed your mind bad... it will produce bad results.

Belize... It's coming up.

We are mostly excited.

 I know it will feel like a short trip compared to last year but we are okay with it and shorter is better for this year. That tropical weather will be great!! It looks like to pool is done at MBV. It looks like more retail stores and shops are open. Restaurants and taco shacks are now on site at MBV. We have a fresh market that comes to the village once a month and I can't wait to see this! We won't have to leave the village for everything this time! This is super exciting!

School will be coming with us. Alley will teach the kids at MBV. Dave will not be as busy working this year (so he says...:)) but he does have lots of investor friends coming for a visit while we are there. It will most likely be a busy few weeks in Belize and a field trip Dave is putting off will sum it up. Dave is doing a (his own group) Belize field trip/Uranium Mine investment opportunity with some guys from Peru during his last days in Belize. If you want to learn more about this contact... "Therealassetinvestor" since I don't know the details...:)  I do know Dave is anticipating a great group! This means the kids and I will be flying home alone again. I don't like airport travel without Dave but Justin will again be my much needed support! I'm "Thankful" for a teenager that travels well with me when I get nervous...:)

Well I have a little guy here begging me to pull him on a sled... He seems better and we are thankful so fresh air it is!...:)

Jordan has a home basketball game later this afternoon that we hope to get to. He loves his basketball time! His steel plates had him busy these past few weeks. In order to play basket ball he has to fill his steel plate orders. His life is kept stepping but it is so good for him to have this steel plate business! He hires help sometimes (his cousins) or pays the Little's to stack his plates for him. He likes it best when Mark or I help him because we go faster but all in all it is a great side job for Jordan and it has been teaching him real life skills...:)

Enjoy this beautiful snowy day!!