I am tired and dirty, but my garden is finally in. I have some bare spots, but hoping the cantaloupe, pumpkins and watermelon will fill in the gaps.
I planted seeds back at the beginning of April and kept them happy in the greenhouse. The seedlings were getting way too large for their containers and decided this weekend was a good day to finally plant them in the ground.
Here are several reasons….
So in essence I haven’t had the energy to do much and that included keeping up on my Blog.
Does that mean I am going to stop posting? Of course not! I will post when and as often as I can.
I just wanted to let you all know why my Blog slowed down, and I apologize.
I am the “Party Mom” for my daughter’s classroom. I basically come up with Party ideas and then implement them… well today we are having a Rainbow Party!! I hope it goes well… I even made Fruit and Veggie trays this morning from a generous donation. I think I will need to have the classroom write a thank you note!!
Anyhow, here is my attempt at putting together a colorful tray or two!
On the trays are a variety of fruits like Watermelon, Grapes, Strawberries, Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Bananas, Mangoes and then a nice selection of veggies like Carrots, Celery, Green Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Cherry Tomatoes, Olives.
Hope it is colorful like the rainbow and the kids enjoy the treat!!!
I find that buying pre-made all purpose gluten free flour is very expensive at the store per pound so I basically make my own.
Also, living at an altitude of 4,750 elevation requires a little more protein in my mix to help with that sponginess you would get from all Wheat Flours.
When I make my flour blend I love using Teff Flour as one of my blends. It is high in protein — which most GF Flours lack.
I also prefer using Bob’s Red Mill brand and tend to go with that brand when making my blend.
So on Monday my husband and I packed the car, then the kids and ourselves into the Prius and drove 400+ miles to Anaheim to visit Disneyland. We normally would stay for 3 days at the parks, but decided to save money and bought two-day park hopper tickets this time instead. Uh, having two days seemed very rushed. And even though we didn’t make it onto every ride we had planned, the kids still had an awesome time!
Once we arrived into town we went to Walmart and bought lunch supplies and dinner supplies for one night. Even though the food is quite tasty at Disneyland, and being gluten intolerant isn’t even an issue — the only food we purchased inside the park was a Dole Whip cause you can’t go to Disneyland without having a Dole Whip!
While this isn’t our first time at Disneyland nor is it our first time there eating Gluten Free, I am quite excited to go and be there and see what they have going on for the 60th Anniversary!
My Husband, Kids and I have saved up our birthday and Christmas money to make this trip happen. And for the last 3 trips (over the last 6 years), my parents have joined us at the Happiest Place on Earth!
SO, it is official… WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYLAND in 30 days! Total countdown mode now!!!!!
My son Aden is very excited cause we’ll be in the Happiest Place on Earth for his birthday… Yeah lucky kiddo! 🤗💓
I am thinking I will have to celebrate my son Arik’s birthday as well since his Birthday is only 5 days prior to Aden’s and well we are leaving for our trip 3 days after his birthday. SOOOO, I will have to see what I can do to make it special for Arik as well.
We didn’t plan ever to go on one of our kids birthdays… it just happens to fall on the week Disneyland is deemed to have the least crowds of the year. So we picked that week to avoid waiting in massive lines.
Now mind you the last time we went to Disneyland, we went on Christmas 2013 – THE BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR. And will NEVER do that again. Nevertheless, we used Touring Plans (touringplans.com) and the app mapped out our best wait times and stragedies for which rides at what times for us including meal breaks and fastpasses. So the most we waited in lines on the Busiest day was 20 minutes.
Even though we are heading there on a least busy day, I am still gonna use Touring Plans App again cause it was a snap to use and I rather get through the park with ease, especially with three kiddos!
I love everything Disney and wish I could live at the Happiest Place on Earth. I mean I wouldn’t starve there especially since they are up on their Gluten Free awareness and you can go to City Hall and get a listing of where to eat Gluten Free. AND we already have a Character dining reservation at PCH Grill for the night of my son’s birthday and they are making (for an additional fee) a gluten free birthday cake to bring him out after dinner. I can’t wait to see how they present his cake!!! I am just beside myself!
Anyhow, T-minus 30 days.
Today I hosted a Girl Scout Christmas Party at my house and Santa was invited as well.
My kids simply had a wonderful time. I feel blessed to have great friends like Kate to thank for it — so Kate, thank you for co-hosting today’s Girl Scout Christmas Party at my house with me and then having a roller skating adventure at the Community Center with us and other families from the Troop!
As I tucked my children in bed, I asked them what the best part of today was and they replied….
My oldest son Aden said, “Roller Skating, Santa and Pizza (Cause Mama I really LOVE Pizza)!!!”
My youngest child Arik said, “Roller Skating and Santa.”
And finally my oldest Alexandria said, “Roller Skating, Santa and making the Owls.”
So I can safely say it was a really great day and evening for all of us!!
Well we finally got some snow that decided to stick around… <<sigh>> it has been many years that the snow has been this good here. The ski resorts opened earlier this year and the skiers are quite happy. I on the other hand just love the scenery!
I don’t think the chickens are liking the snow all that much, but they adapt quite nicely once the sun is fully out.
And my dogs just love the snow… LOVE it! My older dog Molly — doesn’t want to come in the house even if it is 17º F outside. Silly dog!!
Anyhow, it looks like the white stuff will be sticking around for Christmas.
Last week I hosted a kids Halloween Party at my house and have to say I was a little stressed over it even though it was Potluck. The reason is I have a small home and a large backyard. In Nevada where I live, the weather can be hit or miss… the saying is “Wait 5 minutes and the weather will change.”
Nevertheless, I wanted to host an outdoor party and was stressing on how the weather would fair that Saturday. Luckily, the weather turned out perfect. However, the next day was horrible, cold and windy. So I truly lucked out.
Since we were going to be outside, I went the minimalist route for decorating. And the dollar store AND Walmart were my main stops for decorations, my true friends for the event.
A year ago June, I made an outdoor buffet table from pallets laying around the backyard. I have to say it is one of the best things I have ever made. I can’t tell you how many times I have used it for BBQ’s, birthdays and now I can say for a Halloween Party.
I decked it out with cobweb, a festive plastic tablecloth and then waited for all the guests to start arriving with their food they were contributing.
Since the weather was nice the kids enjoyed playing on the Trampoline and the swingset… as well as playing with the cornhole board that I borrowed, and a bowling sent. I even put together a craft table so the kids could make cut-outs and just have another level of fun. But they thought the tire swing was THE BEST thing since sliced bread, LOL!
But it made me happy at how much fun all the kiddos had… and was thrilled with all the food the parents contributed even though I supplied the main dish of ghoulish hot dogs and condiments. AND one of my friends made Gluten Free Cake Pops cause she didn’t want the kids and I to miss out on the desserts!! Now how cool is she!?
Crafts made at the craft table…
I placed an extension cord outside and placed all the hot dogs in the crockpot with hot water so no one had cold dogs.
All in all it was a great turn out and the kids and adults alike had fun. I call that a success!
Congratulations to Autumn Bree Haberland she is our Lantern Fest Winner!
Small Town Living in Maryland 