Lunch.

Meals get a little boring around here. We tend to do the same things day in and day out. I was thrilled to find these tortillas while grocery shopping yesterday!

Today I used them to make a tortilla roll up for Landon's lunch. 

Ingredients needed:

~ Tortillas of your choice

~ Almond butter (you can use any nut butter you like)

~ Honey (I prefer raw and local)

Spread a layer of almond butter on your tortilla. Add honey, roll it up and make your kid super happy! 

What is your go-to lunch? Do you switch it up or do the same things? 

Thankful.

We spent the day in Kansas City for Landon's continued medical treatment. As far as that all goes, things are good. His labs are excellent, he constantly impresses his doctor there, he's brave, strong and on a good path of healing. He's kicking UC's ass! Pun intended. 

These trips are always emotional for me. I keep thinking it will get easier, but it hasn't so far. It's more tolerable but definitely no less difficult. 

Tonight, I'm feeling incredibly thankful. I decided to make a list. Here it goes, in no particular order. 

- My husband who is my rock. I'm a pain in the ass, especially on these days. He understands, is patient and loves me for me. Also, he drives the whole way to and from KC, which is super awesome.  

- Landon's continued healing and good health. 

- Shiraz. 

- Our home. 

- Our beautiful network of support we are fortunate to have in our family and friends. I would be even more of a mess without them!

- Chocolate. 

- Google Navigation. 

- Nurses who truly care. We have a great team who make Landon feel special and care for him in extraordinary ways. 

- Our GI doctor. She doesn't always agree with us but she does respect and support us. She believes in us as parents. That's pretty awesome. 

- Did I mention chocolate? And Shiraz?

- Trader Joe's. For realz though. I am no longer a TJ's virgin as of approximately 3:00 this afternoon and I'm officially IN LOVE! And OMG they have $2.99 bottles of wine, Y'all! It ain't no Boons Farm either. It has a cork and is 12.5% alcohol by volume and stuff. Plus, it actually tastes really GOOD!

- Bedtime songs. I cried tonight while singing to Landon. He asked, "Why are your eyes wet?" Gah. I love that boy. 

- Landon. Tonight as we were driving, the sun was setting and shining right on him. He said, "Mommy, can you please put the sun away for me?" Goodness. How freaking cool is it that he thinks I have the ability to "put the sun away"?! I very quickly turned the van, making it so the sun was no longer shining in his face. I DO have that ability! 

- Kindness. 

- Smiles. 

- Hugs. 

- Laughter. 

- Love. It makes this works brighter. 

Goodnight, my Friends. Have a super fabulous weekend! Cheers!

Happiness

I came across this super fabulous article about happiness today and it really resonated with me. Often times, we get caught up in the silly things and forget to slow down to enjoy the life we're given. I mean, truly enjoy it. 

Forget about how your butt looks in those jeans, if your make up is perfect, what someone will think if you laugh a little bit too loud or whether your house is big enough, fancy enough, clean enough, etc. NONE of those things even matter. Read that again. None of those things even matter. Do you know what does matter? How you feel. The way you make others feel. Being kind. Loving fully. Living life and soaking in all the moments, even the not so enjoyable times. It's all life experience. The legacy you leave behind will not include the house you lived in, the car you drove, the purse you carried or clothes you wore. People will remember how you treated them and how you made them feel. They will also remember if you were boastful or humble. You get to choose which you would rather be.

Happiness involves actively living in a way which brings good, content, joyful feelings. It doesn't just happen. It's up to you to choose happiness. Once you've made the decision to truly BE happy, make sure to share your happiness with others.

The End.

  

I LOVE this quote!

Eggs.

We were able to reintroduce eggs to Landon's nutritional plan a few months ago. It's been great to have this as an option for breakfast. Plus, it gives him that punch of protein to start his day; six grams per egg, to be exact!

For the last few months, we have been scrambling an egg or two every. single. morning. Today, as I was scrambling those eggs, I decided to make my life easier by using a muffin tin to make 12 eggs at a time! Genius! I'm sure I'm the very first person EVER to come up with this brilliant idea! I mean, it isn't all over Pinterest or anything.



I prefer organic cage free eggs. They are more expensive but so worth it. Try them once and you'll never use the others again. Oil your muffin tins with coconut oil or olive oil, scramble your eggs individually and add one egg per muffin compartment, add a touch of salt, pepper or any other desired seasoning. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Whallah! Eggs for the next week! 

The Letter's M and T and a Radio Interview.

This post is brought to you by the letters M and T.

M: Maniacal meltdowns by the Munchkin.

T: Tantrums, time outs, tears, tired Mommy!

Post meltdown:

Yes, I realize that's an incredibly pathetic little face. It breaks my heart to see him like that. Sometimes, we have to let him figure things out, as difficult as it is. 

What a morning! He's much happier at this exact moment. It could change with in seconds so I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

Wanna hear a story about something completely crazy totally funny? I thought so. 

As I previously stated, the Boy Wonder has been a hot mess this morning. We decided getting out of the house was a good idea and might save us from going out of our minds. Ha! It was a good thought. We packed up in the van with a screaming kid. Before we even left the drive way, he was crying about wanting his Froggy. I told him he could have it, tried to hand it to him, only for him to turn in to a total animal cry even more as he threw it back at me. Fine. Whatever. I backed out of the drive way. He cried, I drove. He was screaming about how he DID NOT WANT FROGGY!!! Ok. Fine. Whatever. I pulled on to a side street, rolled down the window and threw Froggy out. Yep. I totally did that. My husband was shocked as we both stifled laughter. Very quickly, Landon calmed down and began to inquire about the whereabouts of Froggy. Before you judge, rest assured we turned around immediately and retrieved Mr. Froggy. You know what? It worked. Landon stayed calm because he "did not want Froggy to jump out of the window again!" We may or may not have told him Froggy jumped because of his crazy tantrum. Desperate times call for desperate measures, People! I had to do something to keep him from breaking out in hives again!

So, anyway, Happy Friday and stuff.

OH, here's something cool! I did a media interview earlier this week with a local radio station regarding the importance of donating blood. You can hear it by clicking HERE. If you're able to donate blood or platelets, please do so. The need is higher than normal right now. 

Paleo Bread Review

As most of you know, we are mostly grain free and totally gluten free in our household. Well, Landon is anyway and I mostly am with a few indulgences here and there. We're still working on Scott. Ah-hem, that may never happen, by the way. 

I ordered this Paleo Bread from Julian Bakery and it arrived on our door step last week. Landon was excited and so was I! We immediately grabbed a couple of slices to try. He was VERY impressed. Me, well, it's definitely not the yeasty gluten filled bread most are used to eating. Personally, I love almond flour. I like the full feeling it provides and how it feels as you're chewing. It's satisfying. 

Landon likes both of the varieties equally. The almond flour variety (which actually contains almond flour and coconut flour) is softer. It's far superior to the yeast free rice loaf I have been purchasing. The rice loaf is very dense and not at all soft. The crust is so hard that Landon would always leave that part so I began cutting the crust off; something I said I would never do for my kids! *sigh* Back to the almond flour bread. It is delicate. I leave it on the counter as I'm spreading our desired filling on to it so it doesn't fall apart. Once it's put together, it holds up well enough. It doesn't have a big flavor, which is great really. I load it up with almond butter and raw honey or apricot jam. Landon devours it, crust and all. Win-win!

The coconut flour variety isn't a whole lot different except it does hold together better. The crust is a bit harder but still pretty soft all in all. I like it with a bit of Nutella. Yum!

Bottom line: This bread is a wonderful alternative for those who are seeking a grain free/gluten free option. It's pricey at $7.99 per loaf, especially when you factor in shipping. Next time I order, I will buy more in order to save on shipping costs. I may even attempt to make this on my own! 

UPDATE: I found this bread at a local health food store, {Food for Thought} for just $7.99 a loaf! I don't have to start making my own just yet. 

Perfection.

It's a crazy world we live in. People all over the place, striving to be better than the person next to them, chasing the idea of perfection, knocking others down in their attempts to achieve this unattainable idea. 

Perfection does not exist. Period. As humans, we aren't designed to be perfect. We're designed to live, to make mistakes, to learn and to grow.  

Social media lends people the opportunity to pretend to be something they very clearly in real life, are NOT. It allows people to live a fantasy, only sharing the things they choose, most often being what makes them look and feel better about their lives. The thing is, I tend to gravitate towards those who don't only show the happy, seemingly "perfect" side. It's comforting to me to know I'm not the only person out there struggling with real life stuff. 

I strive every day to be authentic. Actually, at this point it comes naturally. I don't put up fronts or pretend to be someone or something I'm not. It's just too freaking hard to keep up that kind of facade and I'm uninterested in doing so anyway. I used to care an awful lot about what others thought of me. I remember all too well what that felt like. As long as we're being real, I still do care, to an extent, just not in the way I once did. I used to be terrified of others seeing me vulnerable, hurting, lost, unsure of myself...the list goes on and on. I've learned through the years, by allowing others to see me in my very real, authentic state, I have been able to forge solid relationships. In those moments, others are able to let their guard down as well. It's truly a beautiful thing. 

It isn't a lot of fun to be close with someone who is always pretending everything is perfectly in it's place. It's easy to feel like your life is somehow less when you're in those situations. Guess what? It sure as hell isn't! We have to learn to accept others just as they are, forgive when it's necessary, live without judgement of ourselves and of those we are surrounded by.

Independence Day

Happy 4th to all of you! I hope you all have a fun holiday!

I really want my party table to look like this one.

Have a patriotic day, enjoy the freedoms we are blessed with in our beautiful country and don't blow any fingers off!