And...we're back!

Well, as it is written, "All good things must come to an end." So it is true with our CC holiday. It was a GOOD thing! Lasting from the Monday before Thanksgiving until January 9. A very GOOD thing!! Of course, I was confident that THIS would be the year that we did the work required over the break BEFORE January 3. And of course, THIS wasn't the year and we found ourselves scrambling to get things finished the day before class. There's always 2017, right? And there was so much other great stuff to do... like play with brothers, and play with brothers, and then play with brothers (what else is there really?!). 

But we started it all up and I was so grateful to hear Josiah say on Sunday evening that he was actually excited about starting up. Well, his actual words were "I'm excited about seeing everyone again.", but I'm listening with an optimistic ear. In fact, it WILL be nice to be back in a routine where things actually get done in a timely fashion, especially since the only brother still here also has things HE needs to accomplish (and so does mom!). So, "back to life, back to reality". But in fact, I love my life and I love my reality. So it's a great place to get "back" to! 

And since I'm the director of Josiah's class this year, that means I can sneak a photo of him while he's working in class. :-)

Yep, that's Starbucks. It's our thing. It's conveniently located on the way to class, so it's our incentive to leave home on time, or a few minutes early. We've done this with Panera in years past. Good memories for sure! And just have to say, it's lots cheaper to do these morning fly-bys when there are just two of us in the car! And that Starbucks app! WAY TOO EASY! 

So what's on tap for the spring semester? Here's a list of a few special things:

Policy debate: Should US government ban sales of genetically modified foods? Already a hotly debated topic in our house. Jeffrey and I stand on opposite sides of this issue. Thankfully Josiah was chosen to argue the side I'm on! Happy to give you LOADS and LOADS of info on this one, Jo! 

Lincoln Douglas values debate: Rescuing great cultural and artistic achievements from theft or destruction is worth risking one's life. For this one, Josiah has to prepare both sides and doesn't know until right before the debate which side he will have to defend. 

Rhetoric walk: The students will take time to "walk together" and ask and answer big questions they have been asking various adults and teens throughout the semester: "What is rhetoric? flattery? justice? discipline? pleasure?" We are reading a book by Plato and then discussing what he has to say and comparing it to what people in today's culture have to say about those things. And of course, then comparing it to what the Bible has to say about it.

Spring Protocol: This is an evening we do each year when the CC high school classes dress up and go to a formal dinner and event to practice protocol. We believe that we are raising men and women who are going to have prominent roles in society and need to have these skills. Plus, it's just fun to dress up and go to dinner! This year our campus will go and see a play and then go to dinner. This'll be a blog post for sure! 

Great books: We are reading some great ones this semester! Something Beautiful for God (about Mother Theresa), Father Brown Mysteries, Alice in Wonderland, The Hobbit, Out of the Silent Planet, Screwtape Letters, and others. 

A trip to California!: Oh yeah! We are tagging along with Michael when he goes out to Natural Products Expo West in March. Counting down the days until this one!

Track meets: Jeffrey and Josiah decided to run track again this year. So track practice and track meets will fill up our spring (which just makes it go even faster!).

Graduation!!: Jeffrey promotes from this....

to the real deal on April 28. Big day for sure!! In the mean time, Jeffrey's racking up those college credits and looking for a job. 

Maybe there will be more chicks...maybe football spring camp...maybe me speaking at CC practicum...hopefully continued improvement on my back, ankle and shoulder...lots of great things to come for sure! 

The juiceman

One of my favorite things in healthy living is fresh juice. One of the things I don't like doing, making fresh juice. Well, actually, I don't mind the actual JUICING, it's the peeling the citrus fruits, rinsing celery strings that get wrapped around the blade and then the final cleaning up of the juicer. THAT'S what I really don't like. So what's a gal to do??!! Pay a willing servant to do all that for me! Yep, one of our "commission jobs" (thanks to Dave Ramsey for the idea a few years ago of moving from allowance to commission. The boys get paid to do work, not just getting paid to have lived through another week!) So, for $5/week, Josiah (usually is the one) juices for me. Which means not just the fun stuff, but all of it! Lemme tell ya, THAT'S $5 well spent!! 

And know what I love as much as just showing up in my kitchen to fresh juice? Getting great produce for cheap! Remember when I said I was doing this 100 days of healthy on a budget? Here's one of my favorite ways to cut the budget. Buy the produce that's on sale. What you didn't see in this photo was a HUGE bag of avocados and another bag of tomatoes that were also marked 50% off. Avocados and tomatoes...yep, guacamole. LOTS of guacamole! 

Here's part of what we juiced this week. 

And HERE'S the man of the hour! He just puts on his tune and juices away. He and Jeffrey also really enjoy drinking the juice. The chickens enjoy the pulp. Everyone's happy-and healthy!

Today we made 3 quarts of carrot, grapefruit, orange; 2 quarts of "Caribbean C" (pineapple-which I got on sale 4/$5-orange, lemon), 3 quarts of "Mean Green" (spinach, kale, green apple, celery, cucumber-I LOVE this one!!) and 1 1/2 quarts of tomato, zucchini, celery. I also made 4 quarts of Singing Canary, another favorite that is lemon with tumeric and some collagen and protein. 

Here was the shot from my fridge. I figure all these juices would cost $5-6 each jar from Whole Foods, so at least $50. Even considering what I paid Josiah, I think I probably paid a total of $20 for the produce and labor. Almost all of the produce was organic. 

And now I just get to kick back and read a book and drink some yummy greens!

A great day to celebrate

Today is a GREAT day to celebrate! First and foremost, we celebrate the best.dad.ever! 

This amazing man turns 70 today! Happy birthday, daddy! I can't begin to tell all that he has meant to me! Sooo many laughs, stories, happy memories, hugs through tears, words of wisdom, life lessons...I could go on and on. I'm just so thankful for him! And thankful that he didn't just stop at being an amazing dad, he's grown into the best Pop any grandkids have every had! He's so intentional about sharing all those laughs, stories, memories, words of wisdom, along with fishing trips, hunting trips, football games, even trips to see the Nutcracker (with Julie's daughter) just because he loves his grandkids and wants them to know it. And they do, they KNOW it! 

And I know it! I appreciate you even so much more than I did on this day. And I was so grateful for you even then! Being a mom has caused me to grow exponentially in my appreciate for my own mom and dad and family! 

Today, we also celebrate another great one, our sweet puppy, Jackson. January 8 is the day we rescued him from the pound. So today marks 12 years that he has been a member of the Dagerath clan! That makes him a whopping 15 years old! I'm glad he never listened when people mentioned that larger dogs aren't supposed to live that long! I seriously think living in the country has extended his life! He's chilled out a lot in the last 8 years. 

Check out these cuties!

That's how long ago we had Jackson! Look at how black his snout and ears are here. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't have the photos. Now he's as gray as I would be if I didn't like NOT looking old as much as I do! Back in Jackson's black snout days, he used to run. ALOT. He would run after squirrels all over the golf course. In fact, he's probably looking at one in this photo! We even had a song that we would sing when we went looking for him in the neighborhood...again. We would sing (to the tune of "My Bonny lies over the ocean)

My Jackson runs after the squirrels

My Jackson runs out through the trees

My Jackson run more than he ought to,

Oh bring back my Jackson to me!

Bring back, bring back, bring back my Jackson to me, to me.

Bring back, bring back, O bring back my Jackson to me!

(What can I say? You see how young Josiah is here and this is a couple of years after we got Jackson. I HAD to come up with something fun to keep a lot of boys from crying as we hunted!) 

In fact, there was the time our first Christmas with him that he ran away at a cabin in Arkansas. It was a miracle we found him. Christmas miracle for sure. Then there was the time he ran away and was gone for TWO WEEKS! We were sure he was gone forever. Then, on a whim (or a prompting from God, I'm sure!) I looked on the Bartlett Animal Shelter website and THERE HE WAS! We went straight from church the next day and sprung him from the clink! You should have seen how high he jumped when he saw us! I still get teary thinking about it. It was so sweet! He was as relieved to see us as we were to see him!

Since then, there's been running after goats, kittens, deer. He's torn ACLs, learned to adapt (because surgery is too expensive when there are four boys still living at home!), gotten very gray, slow, increasingly deaf, but sweeter and sweeter. He still loves to go on walks and run after deer. He's convinced the deer here have gotten exponentially faster over the years! And he won't admit it, but Joy has actually added years to his life (and taught him how to hold down a pan with his paw when he's licking it out-true story!)  

He doesn't like the camera, but here's to you, sweet old man! 

Football...I'm a fan!

One of the fun things about the football season is the evening when everyone gets to don not stinky (I mean awesome LOOKING!) football pads and jerseys, but instead dress up for the end of season football banquet. As a senior mom, I got the chance to put together a memory board for Jeffrey that was displayed at the banquet. Here's the one Jeffrey and I put together. What fun to pull up all these pictures and put the board together. Shout out to Tony and Gin-Gin for the cute Christmas ornaments that found their way to the board! :-) See the one with the boy in a cast? It reads "Jeffrey football 2016". Yep, that sums it up. What isn't shown in the board is how proud we are of Jeffrey for his stellar attitude after what was potentially the worst and hardest season of his life. We ALL had high hopes and were so excited to watch Jeffrey play his senior season. It wasn't meant to be, and Jeffrey handled it all like the champ that he is! Jeffrey, you da real MVP! 

Here's what it looked like on the table at the banquet. 

 Every banquet has a few things in common: A highlight video that the seniors put together. It was a fun one, as always.

Jeffrey introducing the highlight video that the seniors put together every year.

Another great thing each year is letter jackets being awarded to seniors or players who have completed at least two years of FEAST football. Guess who got one this year??!! At long last...it's Josiah's turn! And as God would  have it, the evening of the banquet a super cold front came through. Temps in the 20s! Just in time for a nice warm letter jacket! Josiah was super excited that he finally has a Patriot jacket! Looks good, doesn't he?! Josiah's grown up a lot this season, and not just in stature. This football season was filled with a lot more than just football for him. Lots of helping Michael pick up the slack at home, play nurse, cook meals, fold laundry, etc. Josiah, we are so proud of you and the young man you are and are becoming!

Here's a proud group of underclassmen who were awarded their jackets. 

Another great moment in the banquet is when THIS guy, the amazing Coach Dagerath, personally speaks to each senior, share their stats, personal memories of them and tells which character trait (that the boys have studied all year during the "half time of practice" devotional times) that senior especially exemplifies. Michael does such an amazing job at this task! He takes such time to think about each player before the banquet. I've seen him do it for years. He's such a great coach! And it's always special when he is talking about one of our boys! 

We had possibly the largest senior class in FEAST football history. But here's my favorite senior...

 Here's Jeffrey listening to Michael share his thoughts about Jeffrey this season. There were tears! Jeffrey's character trait was "Dependability: Fulfilling what I consented to do, even if it means unexpected sacrifice." This was certainly a season of unexpected sacrifice! And Jeffrey was an amazing captain for this team, even when he had to be absent from the field. Proud of you, Jeffrey!

I'm so grateful for FEAST football and the opportunities that it has given our boys to be mentored by amazing men! Sure, there's football and that's fun. Sure, it's fun to win. But the bigger life lessons are worth so much more. Thank you, Michael, for investing in not only our boys, but so many others!

I know there will come a day when my garage isn't hosting stinky football pads and helmets, when dinner each evening from August-December isn't a green smoothie at 9:00, when Friday nights aren't already booked, when Michael comes home straight from work and spends the evening at home, when HUDL and watching film aren't a constant, but that's not now. And honestly, I'm very glad! I'm such a FEAST football fan!

This week's menus

Here's what I'm planning on eating this week. I think I'll have three boys home this week. Woohoo! So they may be eating not what I'm having (like homemade donuts, pizza, tater tot casserole, etc.), but at least they will be getting the stuff out of my pantry and freezer that I should really not be eating. But I have to give a shout out to Josiah who has been home with me and been such a trooper in trying new recipes with me. You de man, Josiah!! :-)

Breakfasts this week are all going to be The Beauty.
My snack #1 this week are all fresh juices with some collagen added for protein. Stay tuned for a post featuring my handsome juice maker!
My snack #2 this week will be a spinach powder and greens smoothie. Remember, I'm eating out of my pantry. Michael got this spinach powder last year at a trade show. Gonna get rid of it! :-)

Here's the variable meals:
Tuesday- Tuscan Tomato soup, salad for lunch; Ranch chicken wings and super salad for dinner
Wednesday-turkey chili and crackers, carrots and apple for lunch; creamy mushroom pasta and broccoli for dinner
Thursday- left overs for lunch and we have a football banquet for dinner
Friday- loaded fotato soup (meaning it's made with cauliflower, not potatoes), salad and apple crisp for lunch, pot roast with onions, carrots and radishes (that cook like potatoes) for dinner.

There you go, mom. :-)

Getting moving...

As I continue on my 100 days toward health, and as I get stronger and my back pain gets more and more manageable one of the things I'm excited to add back into my regular routine is moving. Not moving house, just moving my body. When my accident happened, I was a mover and a shaker. Well, not much shaking, but moving yes. I was training for a 10K (that was scheduled for two weeks after my accident), so I had been walking 6 miles a day and I was also doing other things during the day. Obviously, that all came to an abrupt halt on September 10! I think one of the hardest things for me to accept during my recovery is that my body, at least up to this point, has NOT been in a position to move like it did. As a result, I've gained back all of the weight and lost all of the tone muscle that I worked hard to earn over the previous six month. And believe me, it's much easier to gain weight and lose muscle than it is to lose weight and gain muscle...much, much easier! In the past, when I've gained weight, I'll just start training for a half marathon, do P90X or something and get it done. Guess what, not this time! My back, hips and ankles now say "No way!" So what's a girl to do? Especially when my chiropractor and acupuncturist (yep, done that!) and spinal doctor all agree that sitting still is making me worse. Ok, let me get this straight, moving makes my back hurt, and not moving makes my back hurt. Hmmm...what do I do? I guess, just get up and move. 

So, here's what I've been doing and what I'll keep doing. 

1. Walking. Old faithful. Not even close to six miles at this point, but I'm going farther and farther each day. I'm up to about 2 miles. My goal for this week. Is at least 20 minutes, 5 times this week. Jackson and Joy keep me honest on this one. They get SO excited when I even look at my tennis shoes or even open the drawer where I keep my socks. So, because I feel sorry for them, I'll strap the shoes on and just get walking out the door. 

2. Riding the recumbent bike. We bought one of these after the accident and Jeffrey's ankle surgery. It's currently part of our living room decor. My plan is to ride it 2 miles at least, 5 times a week. 

3. THIS....

This is so.much.fun!! I loved doing this dance workout before my accident. Josiah and I actually did one together last week and I so loved it! It was so much fun to get back into the groove (literally!) of this workout, that doesn't feel like a workout. 

4. Holy Yoga. 

Stretching is something that seems to really be helping my back and hips. And really, that's what this workout is. It's not Eastern religious practice. (One of my boys recently said something like "Yeah, didn't you always teach us mom that if it's Eastern it's evil?!" Sweet boy, was that after I gave you the homeopathic remedy or after I got home from acupuncture? Come on! Obviously, we had a conversations of what I REALLY said!) But the thing I love about this set of videos is that it is very intentional about focusing on worship and relating the stretches to Biblical spiritual truths. And it helps! So, my goal is to do this video 3-5 times this week.

5. And finally (can't get my picture to load) T 25!! This is probably one of my all time favorite video exercise routines. I love that it's 25 minutes long! I love that it's pretty fun (but not like 'Cize!) and mostly I love that it works! Both times I've worked through the program, my massage therapist notices. Any workout that has your massage therapist saying "I can tell you've been working out!" is a program worth doing! (And it's not because I'm so sore, if that's what you were thinking.)

So, I'm starting over. I did one this week. It was such a delight! I know that may sound bizarre, but to be able to do something that I wasn't sure if I would be able to do again any time soon is such a relief. Of course, I had to modify. But I'll take it. My goal is to get through T25 week one over the next two weeks.

Anybody else wanting to move a little more? I'm learning, slowly but surely, that even doing little bits over a long time is worthwhile. Slow and steady wins the race!

A Peek in My Pantry

You KNOW you have it good when your husband and son take a Friday night to clean up your pantry. Look at it! Isn't it a beaut!! I wish I had remembered to take a "before" shot. Picture all of this, more stuff, chaos on the floor and mouse poop! GAG!! Let's take a moment to examine my lovely pantry and then I'll go into even more detail about how amazingly awesome my husband is!!

Yep, mice prompted this cleaning. Off and on over the last year we've battled those nasties. We've even put a bounty on their heads..$1/mouse. The boys love catching and killing them (read: taking the glue traps out to the trash and "finishing" the job if needed.) Who wouldn't pay $1/mouse to NOT have to carry a trap out??!! Well, in the last few weeks, we've (mostly ME!) noticed "evidence" of their presence in our pantry. We've trapped a few off and on, especially when the weather turns colder, but we never could seem to get them all because they never showed up on the traps, but still left behind their "calling cards". Once, a couple of weeks ago, I went to grab some spices and saw one running along the shelf I was headed toward. We made eye contact! BLECH!!! Personal victory: I didn't scream! But the battle went to the next level, let me tell you! 

So enter my knight in shining armor and his valiant side kick. We spent a couple of hours Friday evening taking food out of the pantry, cleaning boxes, wiping down shelves, finding what the creeps were eating and getting rid of it. Shocker: they didn't eat ANY of the roasted sea weed! :-) But the candied pecans were an obvious hit! When we reached the box with my Lily's chocolate bars in it, I said "Now, if they've gotten into my Lily's candy cane bars, I'm gonna kill them with my bare hands!" Josiah laughed..out loud! He said, "Mom, I think I just heard the mice laughing!" Clearly, he doesn't know how much I value those delicious (expensive!) stevia sweetened chocolate bars...only available during the holidays!! Thankfully, my bluff wasn't called. Lily's chocolate was all safe! 

After scrubbing my shelves and the floor, Michael placed four MORE glue traps (for a total of 8 in our pantry! We're serious, I'm telling you!). Next morning, four mice down! That's gross. I know. But better out than in, right?! Next morning, nothing, but there was poop. So Michael went into strategy mode. He moved the traps so that they mice would have to go full American Ninja Warrior mode to not be step on the traps! He told Josiah "These mice will NOT see 2017!" Gosh, I just love him!! Next morning, BIG mouse gone. 

This morning...all clear and no evidence of activity. Stay tuned, but I think Michael is right and they didn't make it to the new year. That makes it a happy 2017 already!! 

And in case you were wondering....

Trixie and Snowflake were unavailable for comment...hmmmmmm....