Chopped!

After playing Chopped a few months ago, we mentioned this idea to my Mom and she said our kids could have a round in her kitchen! It was SO fun! Seriously, if you don't want to cook and you want a fascinating opportunity to observe your children - this is amazing. We had such a good time!

The things they say while cooking! The creativity and thought they put into it, the confidence it is building in the kitchen - needless to say, I'm a fan :)

Round one ingredients for the appetizer were: broccoli slaw, apple, hawaiian rolls
Round two ingredients for the entree were: grilled chicken, alfredo sauce, heart shaped pasta
Round three ingredients for the dessert were: cake mix, marshmallow peeps, granola bar

They have 20 minutes per round with a break in between where we judge/eat! We talk about creativity, using the ingredients, presentation, taste and more! One thing that impressed me so much was that we gave them one cake mix to split. They each scooped some out and did different things with it. The girls both mixed it into batter and baked a mini cake. They used different ingredients {Emily mixed with only milk and Rachel added milk, egg and oil} but they both turned out. I'm not sure I would even feel confident doing that! Samuel mixed his with melted butter {he had help with this idea!} and made it into sort of a crust - we didn't add enough butter but I was trying to take into account that one of our judges does not like butter!

Really fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon! Great job, chefs!

Spring Snow

The best kind of snow! A fun surprise, we had a little bit of snow by the weekend! Streets and sidewalks clear, just enough to play in and melted quickly - it was lovely to have a slow, snowy morning.

The sun was just beautiful as it rose for the day and streamed through the bare trees and showered the snow-covered blossoms with warmth and light.

Weeds

Earlier this month, I planned on taking one photo a day in my search for ordinary beauty - it has been fun and I look forward to sharing that post soon. One morning, Grammie offered our kids the opportunity to earn a little spending money by pulling weeds. We all worked together and it was fun, the pile of weeds with sun shining on it was beauty to me.

The colors of the kneeling mat, shovel and weeds together, the representation of hard work, the visual of our spiritual life and rooting out the things that need to go. Watching my children work and serve.

I just started this Flourish study from Well-Watered Women and I'm loving the parallels between gardening and our hearts.The study is about the Fruit of the Spirit and is great timing with Spring budding out all around us.

It doesn't hurt that our day started with these:

I'm asking God, my Heavenly Gardener, to tend and cultivate, plant and prune, weed and nourish the soil of my own heart to bear fruit for Him!

Slow Day

Fun day together filled with sweet and slow moments:
* Traditional Breakfast Hunt! Grammie hides components to breakfast and the search begins!
* Walking with Pepaw.
* Adorable paints my Mom had!
* Picnic lunch in the backyard.
* Village Inn for free pie Wednesday: my Dad and a friend of his go almost every Wednesday and our kids have heard so much about it, we made our own memory and had free pie too!
* Nature time.
* Hamburgers grilled out + after dinner game and then Parent Trap!