Smoothies

Ian has a thing for smoothies lately. Can't say that I blame him, they're fantastic. Except I had no real way of making him one and I'm not willing to pay good money for one. Somewhere out there, I read that I could use my food processor to make them. Yeah, not a good idea. Nothing really pureed well enough and they were too thick to drink.

So, what to do now? Smoothies are so healthy & any way I can get more fruits & veggies in my family is great. I decided I was going to research blenders. There are way too many choices for blenders! I read reviews, compared features & thought I might lose my mind! So, I just gave up & decided to go get one.

My mom gave me $50 for Christmas, so I set that as my budget. Have you checked blender prices lately?!? For something that just makes food drinkable, they want an awful lot of money! Anyway, I found one at the local bed & bath store in my price range (-ish). AND, I had a coupon (which turned out to be expired & I pretended I didn't notice & they used it anyway!). So, I spent $51.83 on this beauty (IN BLACK), and we've used it just about everyday since we got it. It's fantastic.

Cuisinart® SmartPower™ 7-Speed Electric Blender

My next wishlist item is a good Belgian Waffle Maker. Any suggestions?

So, what have we been up to?

It's been almost 6 months since I last posted! Needless to say, we have been quite busy. Ian started Kindergarten in September and he's had a wonderful experience. I am so glad we chose a private Christian school. Driving back & forth to school has taken up most of our time, but has been well worth it. There have been field trips, parties, a Christmas program & a book fair so far. I love being able to help at school!

Addison & I have had some great Mother/Daughter time while Ian's at school. We really haven't had much time for that before. She is quite the little princess & loves to pretend!

I have also been busy with Northgate MOPS as I continue to help as the finance person on the steering team. The fellowship with other moms is awesome! It's a great time to just recharge & grow. We have also participated in some wonderful service projects this year, including making food baskets for our Teen MOPS moms.

Keith still works at the farm. Not much has changed in that respect. His boss seems to be gone quite a bit on business, so that keeps Keith on call and has been difficult on family time. I am thankful he continues to be a valued employee in this crazy economy. He did recieve a nice Christmas bonus this year, but alas, it is already gone as we try to push ourselves toward financial freedom.

We had a nice Thanksgiving & Christmas. My brother & his family came to visit in between. The kids had a riot playing together. I love how they interact now! I wish they didn't live so far away.

We've contiued to stay pretty healthy in our immediate family. Our extended family has had a rough health year, though. From cancer, to broken bones, to life threatening falls, and other ailments along the way, we continue to pray for improved health & safety for both sides of the family.

We have set some goals that we'd like to work on throughout 2011. The biggest one being for our finances. We really want to go credit card free. It's a major step & is awfully scary! But, I know it will free us considerably.

Another goal that I have, is to try a new recipe every week. My cooking passion has grown considerably & I'd like to step outside my comfort zone a little more to try things I normally wouldn't.

So, that's a little snapshot of what we've been up to. Hopefully, I can get back on the blogging train!