summer fun and challenge hilights

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime.  We have been enjoying our summer and I hear we are over half way through with our summer.  Boo!

Here is a short review of what we've been up to the past couple of weeks.  Photos are taken from my iPhone.

Cherry Festival was the first week in July.  The festival kicked off with an airshow.  We found our spot on the beach and stayed most of the day.

The kids played in the water, we had lunch, and watched the airshow. 

We've had hot, sunny days.  With sidewalk chalk in hand I made this town and road on our driveway.

Also as part of the Cherry Festival, the boys ran in their first race, a one mile kids run organized by HGTV's Carter Oosterhouse.  He's a Traverse City native and loves to do things for kids.  There was a parade after the run and we stayed and watched.

We took one morning and walked around the festival.  It was hot, so we didn't stay past lunch.  It was fun to see the sites and eat some cherries.

My brother, Adam is moving to Boston soon.  Since I moved back to MI I've gotten to spend more time with him than I ever have since I left my parent's house.  It's been great having this time to reconnect with him and I'm going to miss him when he's far away again.  He came for a visit one weekend right after we got some outdoor furniture.

We've been enjoying our CSA share this year.  And saying hello to the farm cats.

We live about three minutes from a beach on a small lake.  The past couple of weeks I've taken the boys there before dinner, after dinner, for just an hour, or for 3 hours. 

We took a quick roadtrip to see my brother and to pick up a couple of old console radios.  My Great Grandparents owned them (so my brother says - I don't mean to sound like I don't believe him, I do, it's just that I didn't remember that they did), even purchased them new.  I was happy to take them in.
And we had a fun visit with my brother.  I got to see his house for the first time!

Imagine finding vegan, gluten free food at a restaurant! The tofu was a bit over done, but everything else was good.

My husband was gone over the weekend and the trip downstate followed by lots of outdoor activities made the weekend much better without him here.

Garden goodness:

 

Yesterday I headed to the beach yet again, only this time I was alone.  I drove to Lake Michigan, laid down my towel and did yoga on the beach while watching the sun set.

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Now, onto the food!  My cleanse challenge went great.  In two weeks I lost 4 pounds but gained a lot of insight on my eating habits, eating options, time required to make food, snack options, and what would satisfy my sweet tooth. 

You'll remember that potatoes were on my list of no-no's for my challenge so don't worry, I didn't make this Thai Corn Chowder until after the two weeks were over.

Since buying my ice cream maker attachment I've been making two or more ice creams per week.  Hey, I have five mouths to feed, and it's summertime!

This Raspberry Almond Torte (from Dreena's Let Them Eat Vegan) went great with the Vanilla Bean Banana Coconut ice cream (also from Let Them Eat Vegan).

And since my husband is not a fan of raspberries (what?!) I made a blueberry version for him, equally delicious.

Since my challenge ended I have continued to eat gluten free.  I heard that it takes a while for gluten to completely exit your system.  I've allowed a bit of sugar and oil back into my diet, but not like I was consuming before.  I have found other ways around adding oil and sugar to my foods and am very happy with the methods and the taste of my food.  All in all I think the challenge was a great way to take a better look at how and what I was eating.  Sure, I was eating a relatively healthy, vegan diet before.  But now I am taking it one step further.  I'm happy to continue and make my "challenge" a part of my daily eating habits.

thankful

It has been an interesting week, to say the least.  Three out of the five of us were sick (including mama) so we were house-bound pretty much the entire week.  We did get out today, since we were all feeling much better, having hot chocolate (and tea and coffee) with Grandma and my niece.  It was nice getting out amongst the living again and especially seeing my Mom and niece.

It's always easier to see the bad in the difficulties in life.  In light of the challenges I faced this week, I thought I would list the things I am thankful for instead...

     ~  two sick boys who were uncomfortable, tired, and unhappy...allowing us to slow down our pace and enjoy a relaxing week (not thankful that they were feeling this way, but thankful we were able to slow down...just thought I should clarify)
     ~  one middle boy who didn't get sick, but had to cancel three of his playdates
     ~  dinner tonight...a simple vegan meal that received no complaints!
     ~  family movie night where no one is complaining!
     ~  our trip to the doctor which confirmed an ear infection and strep throat and allowed us to treat our very uncomfortable and unhappy oldest boy
     ~  the day after beginning treatment when our oldest awoke as a new person...hooray!
     ~  a couple of inches of snow falling today, since we didn't experience much of a winter up here in Northern Michigan this year
     ~  my glass of wine that I'm enjoying while my feet are up on the coffee table
     ~  my husband who bought the wine a couple of weeks ago
     ~  "pet sitting" three dogs, two cats, and four chickens...allowing us to get out of the house and walk in the fresh air, even when we didn't feel like it
     ~  visiting with said pets (spread out between 3 homes, of which the humans are all on separate cruises!!) who made us feel as we were the best things in the world
     ~  my husband who worked late all week so he could watch a movie with me tonight after the kiddos go to sleep

Happy weekend to you all!

full circle

Today went from tea to yoga to sunbeams in February to lots of clean dishes.

I've noticed lately that my life is having many full circle moments after moving back to my home state.  My boys are attending the school that I used to work at in college.  Some of the same teachers still work there, and I love seeing their faces.  It's a dream come true having them go to the school where I began my love of the Montessori method. 

My niece always looks at my oldest son like this...adorable!

I took my two oldest boys to see The Nutcracker.  I remember when I saw The Nutcracker for the first time.  It was with my best friend and we had on lacy dresses and nylons for the first time.  The things one remembers!!  It was about 30 years ago and at the same theater where I took my boys.  I got teary-eyed several times during the performance.  It was fabulous.

My full circle moments come with even the simple things like grocery shopping.  There was a small health-foods store that I loved browsing when I was in college.  It was in an old house and very small, but fun to look at all of the different products they carried that they didn't have at the bigger chain store.  They've since moved and have a fabulous selection of produce and bulk items, which is usually where you can find me. 

I'm so happy we were able to move back to this place I love, but I miss our friends and community we had back in Wisconsin.  There are no regrets, only that maybe we can visit them more often.

I'm looking forward to finding more full circle moments.  Does anyone out there have any of their own they'd like to share?

happy weekend

It was a late night for us.  Daniel had his first sleepover with his best friend from school.  It was a fun night of movies, popcorn, and Legos.  They were up bright and early, ready to start their next day together. 

So far today brings more Legos, Nerf guns, and snow.  We're heading into town soon to stretch our legs and we look forward to Daddy's return home this afternoon.

Have a great weekend everyone, I'll bring you more fun, food, and boy stuff next week.  Time to head out and enjoy the softly falling snow.