BSMSL

The girls recently performed some violin and piano pieces downtown, at a benefit for Buckeye Ranch.  It got us talking and we decided to create a Be Someones Miracle Summer List (BSMSL) to complete this summer.

I let them create the list completely on their own.  Here are some of the things they came up with:

* Invite a random family to dinner (and cook a great meal!)
* Bake and deliver cookies to a nursing home
* Pay for a stranger's meal
* Buy a stranger ice cream
* Cook breakfast for Hazel's House of Hope again
* Make another blanket for a child with cancer

Here's a picture of Lauren performing.  On our way home that night Madeline commented, "Well, I've officially performed at a bar!"

Spring Piano Recital

The girls had their spring piano recital last night and it was wonderful.  It was such a proud moment for me to watch them performing with some of the best students in the city.  Hundreds of hours of sitting through piano lessons (yes, I am required to sit in on all lessons!) and a gazillion hours of daily practice (on 2 pianos!) truly paid off.

This year, Madeline competed in TAP through the Royal Conservatory's Development Program and all 3 girls competed in Guild, a national audition program.

Madeline received a trophy for "Top TAP score" and also for "Outstanding Student."  Truuust me, these girls are up against some stiff competition.  You wouldn't believe some of the performances we heard last night.  Abigail took home 3 trophies last year (a record!) so Lauren said next year.....is HER year.  GO BUG!

Just found a quick clip of 2 of the students who performed a duet together:

3rd Annual HHI Trip!

We made our 3rd trip to Hilton Head Island and it was the same as the previous years.....spectacular.  I think I love it most because it's 9 days of completely uninterrupted time with our kiddos.  No distractions, no meetings, no sports, no school, nothing.  We even all agreed (ok, girls may have been a tad reluctant ;)) to turn off our phones except a quick 4 pm check each day.  That was even more incredible.  

We stayed at Shipwatch this year and loved, loved it.  Already booked it for next year!  Did I mention we loved it??  We rented bikes (obvi!) and biked all over, per the usual.

Bike rentals this year:
1 tandem (Abby and Lauren)
2 bikes with alley cats (Mads and Linc and Daddy and Gabe)
1 bike with a baby seat (Kendie and me!)
Trust me, we are quite a sight traveling around the island!

I managed to capture this moment of 2 of my beauties (no pose!) as we walked around Harbor Town in Sea Pines one evening.  I stopped right there and thanked God for all the incredible memories we have been able to make on these trips.  They are so very precious to me.  I am blessed beyond words.

Easter 2014 - Forget the Frock!

A friend shared the Eyes That See organization with us today and we were intrigued.  They are all about breaking traditions in the name of love.  Forget the Frock is about passing on that new Easter outfit for a much cheaper tee shirt, and donating the money to feed children.  For a month.  

I am only all about this kinda thing only if it comes from the heart.  And no guilt!  Please know that there have been many a year that I go out and buy exactly what I want for my family so we all look adorable for that perfect Easter picture.

I traipse through the mall looking for that perfect dress.  Oh and shoes.  And a sweater -- we do live in Ohio -- which means probably tights.  And let's not forget I need to times this all by EIGHT.  It's exhausting.  And expensive.  So when I read through their website today, it took about .8 seconds for me to be.....IN!  SIGN ME UP!  YES, PLEASE!

I wanted to run it by the family though and I was so proud of them for taking about as long to sign up also.  We showed them the website and read the mission to them.  One of the kiddos said, "So no fun new Easter outfit?"  And another said, "But, we do get to feed a child for a month!"  And then they all said, "LET'S DO IT!"

Love this gang.

So, when you see us on Easter, we will be in our blue jeans, flips and these lovely tee shirts.  Anyone wanna join us?  :)

Incredible Gluten Free (and Grain Free!) Bread

I've followed Danielle Walker's blog, Against All Grain for some time now so when she recently debuted her recipe book, I Two-Day shipped that book right to my house. (thanks, Amazon 1-click shopping!)

This morning I made her "world famous sandwich bread" which is grain free.  I've tried a few GF breads and to be honest, they aren't great.  This one is fabulous!  I'm going to mess around with the rise a bit on the next round (I failed to add the milk until the end, oops!) but all in all, it is fantastic.  The only thing I will say, it's a bit pricey, however I found a few bulk cashew butter options online that my grocery budget is going to love.

Here is the link to the recipe: Best GF bread, right here!

(P.S. I substituted raw cow's milk for the almond milk)

NBC Interview

Beet Smoothie!

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We have lots of lots of beets from our CSA so I've been making beet smoothies the past week.  Beets are a blood purifier, improve digestion and have a significant amount of fiber.....and that's just 3 of the many beet benefits!

I make them similar to my green smoothies (and I even add greens) and grind away.  Here's what I did this morning:

purified water
frozen organic blueberries
organic lemon (cut off outer peel)
handful of organic beets (locally grown from our CSA, yay!)
a few large handfuls of organic greens (your choice!)

Grind in the BlendTec and serve!  Yum.

*thank you stock internet photo.  We drank ours before I could snap one!