5th Annual Chili Cook Off and Pumpkin Carving Party

Our friends hosted their 5th annual Chili Cook Off and Pumpkin Carving Party. I had been working on my chili all month, and was really thinking I had a winner! Good news, a woman finally won!! Way to Go Stephana! And a very close 2nd place went to Tiff!! The Boobie prize went to Erin, so it was all girl power! Here's a few highlights of the night, and my recipe that people have asked for. It may not be a winner, but I like it!!

Black Bean, Lime and Cilantro Chili

1 pound ground beef, browned
2 med onions, diced
4 tbsp minced garlic
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp honey
1 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup chopped cilantro

Place all ingredients in crockpot, except lime and cilantro. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in lime and cilantro before serving.

Crazy Auntie!

Life has been very busy. I always say that, but I think I have been working more than I ever have (as a Mom), and with Dan being gone for going on 77 days......I'm running hard. So imagine my suprise last Friday when I realized we had no plans. Nowhere to go, nothing to do. Well.....the house needed cleaning, like bad.

So what do I do when the house is a mess, and I have no plans? I call my sister in law and offer to take her 4 kids overnight. Why not? I have missed those kiddos and needed some bonus Auntie points. And they really couldn't mess up things much more than they already were. (Wow, how do I forget the mess 4 extra kids make?).

I did do some prep before they came over. I made sure there were chocolates above the toilet (Halloween ones too!) and made a batch of cookie bars. For the record, those bars barely lasted the evening!! I think my brother stole the last one when he picked the kids up.

The kids had a blast playing, and for the most part it was an uneventful evening. Until bedtime. I let the kids build a fort to sleep in, and then gave them all glow sticks (I am the cool, fun Auntie!). What I didn't know was, you DON'T give Drew glow sticks. Within minutes of lights out, I hear Emma say, "Auntie, Drew broke his glow stick". I quickly got him to go wash up, and found that my floor, Emma's blanket, Lily's slippers, and the side of the chair were glowing. I cleaned things up the best I could, and ended up separating two of the kids to another room so that there was less talking, and more attempts at going to sleep.

The next morning was filled with questions like, "Why is Drew naked?", "Where are Drew's pants?", "Drew why don't you have pants on?" and "Drew, you just had your pants, now where did you lose them?".

It really was fun to have the kids over. I give kudos to my brother and sister in law for dealing with 4 kids all day, everyday. Next time, we will skip the glow sticks!

Fall Soccer

We have had  a beautiful fall, until today! Dry weather so far for the soccer season! Lily's team is doing great, 1 tie, 3 wins and 1 loss. It was a challenge to move up to the bigger fields this season, but they have been playing well. Coach has worked with them on playing their positions, and it's working well. Lily has scored two goals so far. She's great at being at the right spot at the right time. And she's a fast runner! The games are fun to watch and you can catch me yelling and cheering on the sidelines. One week I had my baby nephew with us for the game. He was yelling right along with me, and clapping when anyone else would. Tomorrow will be a wet game.....I'm ready to go with rain boots and umbrella!

Wellness Journey

A year ago I went to Boot Camp for Scentsy Directors. I had an amazing time, met new friends and gained so much from the training. I went there burnt out and feeling overwhelmed by my daily life. With Dan gone, and kids sports and youth groups, working at the school, volunteering at the school, and my Scentsy business, I was exhausted.

We are blessed at Scentsy to have a Wellness program. They truly care about us as people, not just consultants. Our wellness coach was very blunt and to the point (which I needed). He said that we need to take better care of ourselves, or we can't take care of our families and business. He gave us workouts, meal plans and the kick in the butt to get healthy. It was exactly what I needed.

I came home and started with small changes. My mocha habit (liquid booty as coach called it) had to go. I cut back to 2-3 a month, instead of 3-4 a week. I cut back sugar and added protein. I started walking more, and eventually started running.I now run 2-3 miles, 3 days a week.
It was difficult (and still is) to schedual my runs around my busy life, but it was well worth it. I gained so much more energy, giving me what I needed to keep up. I still struggle to make time, but I have never regretted a workout!

I set small goals to work towards. My first 5k was in February, and then did more in May, July, September, and have two more by the end of the year. This keeps me motivated to keep running, knowing I have something to work towards.

My favorite race was the Lake Padden Relay with my siblings. All four of us ran, and it's something I will treasure forever. While we were one of the slower teams, it was more about doing it together, than winning. Well.....our one goal was to not let my step brother and his kids (Team Because Dad said so) lap us (Team HARM- Holly, Amy, Rob, Marty). They did not lap us, but did beat us by about 20 minutes!












Besides the energy I have gained, I have lost 17 pounds this year. Losing weight was never the purpose of my wellness journey, but it has been a great payoff of the changes I have made. I'm down a pant size, (happy dance) and am rocking skinny jeans!!

I'm still working and learning. I had an injury this week, and the first thing that came to mind was that I couldn't run. I need to be more careful and avoid injuries. I need to work on my breathing while running. Having asthma as a child has really effected my breathing. I'm trying to focus on breathing patterns and it's just going to get harder as the weather cools down. I need to work on staying healthy. I got sick last month, and didn't run for 10 days.

My wellness journey has really been about taking care of me. Once I do that, it's much easier to take care of everyone else. I want to set a good example for my kids, and also have pride in myself and be happy with where I am at.

Fair Time!

It's fair week here in Whatcom County! I will be at the Scentsy booth all week, stop by and say hi! Nate entered a Lego creation in the hobby barn, along with a million other Lego entries.....good luck finding his!

Snow Family

We were thrilled to have our family from California come visit. We haven't seen them in a few years, and had yet to meet my youngest niece. She made this Auntie's heart very happy when she came right to me, and was my little buddy for the day.

Summer Job

Nate has been mowing our lawn for the last two years. He doesn't always do the best job, but he's getting better. This spring, when my Grandpa passed away, there was talk of hiring a lawn care company to mow the lawn for Grandma. I told them Nate could do it, for way less! I'm over there every week to work in the garden, so it has worked out great. Nate was shown how Grandpa liked the yard, and has been expected to do it right, or do it over.
It's been a great learning experience for him. He has been very responsible and has done a great job. We talked about how if he does good work, others may want to hire him also. He is saving some of his money for Fair week, and the rest for a Wii game.
I am a firm believer in teaching kids life skills. They need to learn these skills before they leave home. They need to take on responsibilities, and suffer the consequences if they don't follow through.
Pretty proud of my kiddo!

Camping

We had a fun weekend camping along the river. I am so thankful that Dan took all of July off to spend with us. Friday night was filled with thunder and lightning, but we were still able to sit outside and watch. Dan packed the BBQ and smoked a brisket on Saturday, and it was amazing. My Grandma came out on Saturday and played cards. Nate and Lily are now happy to take your dimes! Nate packed his new BB gun, and was shooting targets and pop cans all weekend. Lily had cousin Bailey to play with, and I got to relax!

Happy 12th Birthday, Nate the Great!

Happy 12th Birthday to my Nate the Great!

Small Town Fun

We spent the week of the 4th of July at my Dad and step Mom's house on the Oregon/Idaho border. The week was spent doing small farm town things. BBQ's with friends, riding motorcycles and four wheelers, and water balloon fights. We rode Dad's tractor through a small town parade, and went to a rodeo that night. I love that the kids get to experience these things that I grew up with.

Velata, So Easy, A 9 Year Old Can Do It!

You know you have a Velata addict in the house, when she's always on the hunt for things to dip in chocolate.
Last week I brought home a half flat of local strawberries (LOVE local berries!) to make jam. I was stirring a pot of strawberry rhubarb jam when Lily came in and saw the extra berries. She grabbed the Velata chocolate, microwaved it for one minute, then plugged in the warmer. She was dipping strawberries in chocolate fondue and had half a pound devoured before I could stop her! It's seriously that easy, and sooo yummy!
Need to try it yourself? Check out my website, easy-fondue.com.

Grandpa's Pedal Tractors

When my Dad first became a Grandpa, almost 12 years ago, he had many dreams about the future. He wanted to do a "Grand Kids Camp" where they all came to visit for a week. He started collecting pedal tractors, one for each grand kid. Most of the time they were old and rusty, and he would clean them up and paint them. He dreamed of pedal tractor races between all the grand kids.
What he didn't think of was the age difference between them all. As of this week, he has 10 grand kids. And there will be more (not from me!). So he decided that the kids all need the pedal tractors now, while they are young and will enjoy them. He came up from Oregon this weekend, and brought all 10 tractors. The kids had no idea.
Last night we gathered at my sisters, and told the kids Grandpa had a surprise. He opened the garage door and the kids had to find the tractor with their name. The jumped on them, and didn't get off (even for dinner!). Our favorite quote from the night came from Grant. "Grandpa, I don't like the tractor, I LOVE it!".
Even the "big" boys had to jump on and give the tractors a try! Missing from the kids picture is two day old baby Alana, who isn't even home from the hospital yet!
Lily's tractor is the one that I rode around the barn as a kid. Dad gave it a pink makeover.

What wonderful memories were made last night! Thanks Dad for sharing your love of tractors!

Memorial Day Weekend

May was just a little crazy around here. I was pretty much in survival mode. I was working every day, and trying to keep up with every day stuff, with Dan gone the whole time. He was due back by Memorial Day weekend, but that didn't happen. We were supposed to go camping at the river (it's tradition!), but by that week, I didn't have the time or energy to get the trailer cleaned up and packed. I had decided to just go up for the day, and not camp.
Poppa Wayne heard my plan and pretty much told me to get my butt in gear and get the trailer packed. The other challenge was that Dan's truck was in Seattle, so we didn't have anything to pull the trailer. My brother in law, David came to our rescue, and with Poppa's help, we got the trailer to the river.
We were so lucky to have a beautiful weekend (until Monday morning), and of course we had a great weekend. The kids flew kites and played hide and seek in the dark. My 3 year old nephew, Firefighter Jack-Jack, tried to drive the motor home. Lily complained that the river was too cold, and too rocky (isn't that the definition of a river?).

A big thanks to my family for helping out, and making memories!!