This day..

I keep reading how fast everyone feels June has snuck upon us. It has. There is a quote I love that keeps running through my brain.. "The days are long, but the years are short."

Isn't that so so true?

I am sitting here, listening to the quiet hum of the air conditioner. My desk is a mess. There is a book on the dangers of MSG I have yet to crack open. There are papers scattered about. My daughter left her tiny white bowl here instead of placing in the sink. She is easily distracted.. much like her mamma. The bowl has little dots of blue, red, and yellow from her handful of m&m's she was blessed with for dessert.

Sidenote... I'm a big proponent of little treats a couple of times a week. My children are happily satisfied with 20 dark chocolate chips, or the rare handful of m&m's. May it always, always be so. :)

I don't have a huge theme for this post. I was simply overwhelmed with much love for my sweet, ordinary, wonderful family. I have thoughts such as these all the time, and figured I should "pen" them lest I forget.

Thoughts like..

My pre-teen boy-man.. who is the most handsome thing I have seen. His heart is so tender.. I am already afraid of what I shall have to restrain myself from if some girl dare to break it. On the flip side, helping him not become a heartbreaker himself will be a worthy goal. Loving the fact that after a delish BBQ Chicken Salad dinner, he wanted to go play on the elliptical for 20 minutes. Loving even more that he still thinks it's playtime, and not mandatory.

My "8 year old going on 13" sassypants of a daughter, who also has a sweet tender little heart. I fear even more what I shall do to the boy who chooses to casually play with that fragile precious thing. Sometimes (read multiple times a day) her tenderness gets buried under a loud voiced tyrant.. Yay... ;) Jesus obviously knew I needed to pray more.. thus He blessed me with her. Oh what He has taught me. Love that she came home from school and put on one of her fancy dresses to get ready for a concert. She wrote her own song, put on her heels, and was too adorable for words. She is quite shy, so the fact that she feels comfortable enough to do that warms me.

My hubs, who is so stressed right now. Who melts me when he gets a certain tiny smile on his face. It's the smile that makes him look about 5, and I just want to hug his neck off when I see it. He is all man though, so he might not be too thrilled I feel that way... ;) Loving that he loves my super healthy chocolate pb banana smoothies and requests one nightly. (Recipe to follow)

Please don't mis-read. We here at the Tolson house have had more ups and downs in our 12+ years as a family unit that I would care to explain. In fact, we are in a down moment as I type. But, I am still choosing to be grateful for the great things. God's blessings can still be found, they are just harder to locate sometimes.

So, that is this day. Thanks for letting me share a little of it with you. :)

How was your day?

Chocolate PB Banana Smoothie

1 cup of Ice
1 cup of milk (we use rice milk)
2 tablespoons Organic Natural Peanut Butter
1-2 Ripe Bananas (depending on how banana-y you like it)
2 tablespoons Organic Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Dash of Stevia (optional)

That's it.. pop in a blender and blend until smooth. I came up with this as an alternative to the highly caloric Jamba Juice Chocolate PB Smoothie.

Gluten Free 5 minute dinner..

You know those days where you just don't have the stamina to cook dinner?? Which is mostly every day for me... haha. Well, tonight was one of them. My delighful daughter woke up at 1am with a bad headache and decided not to go back to sleep until about 5am.

Guess who woke up with a sleep deprived migraine??

That's right.. ME! :)

I think the weather must have had something to do with both of us getting ill, but all is well now, so I am going to stop complaining about it!!

If you know us, you will know that we have been gluten free for about a year and a half. It has been a challenge to find easy suppers that this tired/migrained/fibro-flared up momma can make. I praise the Good Lord for Trader Joes and that gf living has become quite mainstream. It makes it a bit easier. :)

So, imagine my delight at finding a gluten free, preservative free, nitrate free roast beef hash that isn't too expensive! The current price is $2.49 a package and I love that! I mean, I might have danced in the Trader Joe's aisle a bit over this one. It may even have been to a classic Beach Boys song, but one cannot be certain.

And I may have embarassed my children in the process, but really, isn't that my job as a mom??

So, when the migraine/fibro flare knocks at my door, and my sweet hubby is working (read.. I can't call him to go and get In N Out..) I love having a 5 minute, healthier than fast food meal at the ready.

Honestly, I flash fried the organic eggs, wilted the organic spinach and warmed up the hash, and it was on.

And my sweet son inhaled it and proclaimed me the best cook ever... Poor unaware lovie.. :)

Here's a link to the pic. Happy Eating!!

Shout out to Gluten Free Girl...

Well, I sat down to write a post a few hours ago, and I am just now getting to it.

Forgive me blogspot.. I was enraptured by reading about other people and what they are doing today.

I love this time of year. My business side has usually slowed down considerably from the Christmas madness, and I can breathe, take photos when I want, nap, re-connect with friends, cook, read, just enjoy living. I mean, who wouldn't like this season??

One of the blogs I love to read is GlutenFreeGirl's site. When our family first went gluten free, hers was the first site to pop up in my searches. She is such a phenomenal writer that I spent a week devouring her blog from start to finish. And then, I went out and got her book. I'm not sure I would have made the transition as easily if it weren't for people like her.. willing to share their journeys, the ups and the downs.. so I could learn and grow too. Thanks Shauna!

I wish we still lived in WA, so I could go meet her. Maybe one day.

If you are gluten free, beginning, or seasoned.. take a moment to stop by her site. It is a veritable wealth of gf knowledge freely shared. :)