Spinach Can Soothe The Soul

Smoothie season is upon us and I have utilized this machine more than ever.

I am currently participating in an eight week challenge of health to better one's mind, body, and spirit. It has been an amazing experience for me and couldn't have come at a better moment in life as the stresses and trials of selling our home were about to overtake me. :)

I was in desperate need of drawing my attentions to more important and uplifting avenues and this challenge has brought all things back into their proper perspective - and I'm only on week four!

Don't let the color of the above smoothie fool you either.

It delicious in it's taste, and if you don't believe me we have four children under the age of eight who suck it down in all it's entirety and then proceed to beg for more. There are a number of great smoothie recipes too, all of which you can add a few handfuls of fresh spinach, and no kid will be the wiser.

Spinach Smoothie Recipe

Baby Spinach stacked to the top of the blender - just pile it in.

1/2 Can of Pineapple (*in pineapple juice, not syrup)

1 Banana

1 Cup Water/Pineapple Juice

1 Cup Ice (or you can freeze the banana/pineapple and skip the ice)

Sprinkle in a little Splenda

Enjoy!

Quick Update

Sun, Sprinklers, and Smiles.

What more could you ask for?

Ryley's class field trip to the Botanical Garden's.

We celebrated the 10th anniversary of Steven's 25th birthday!

I brought home Thai food and made creme brulee.

Yummy.

I also had the opportunity to attend a conference this past weekend.

It was amazing to say the least.

A big "thank you" to my wonderful husband for a weekend of major multitasking.

(His huge OKAP test is this Saturday too, and he still sent me off)

Lessons Learned

I recently made these "bees" to give our primary children, but the experience made me recognize so much more.

They have been short of teachers for the primary classes at church due to a large number of moves that have recently taken place. Due to this I have been filling in as an honorary sub to assist a girl who teaches a class of nine 3 year olds - known as sunbeams. The lessons are of course wonderfully simple and each Sunday our focus is to keep them in their chairs and, above all, teach them that their Heavenly Father knows and loves them.

The girl I am assisting (Suzie) is one of my greatest friends and their family has many roles that interact with ours. She is an amazing pianist and has taught Ryley for the last two years. Her teenaged girls are wonderful examples to our children and have been their regular babysitters. Her younger sons are around Ryley's age - but play with all of our children with great kindness and love. Suzie was recently released as Stake YW President - where you interact largely with girls ages 12 to 18. She is now teaching a rambunctious group of 3 year olds and her abilities to do so are an amazing thing to watch.

We focus all lessons around a large amount of music and Suzie has every item imaginable to keep them entertained. If the lesson is about rain - Suzie has cloth raindrops hooked to strings and each child gets one to sing songs about rain and earth. If the lesson is about insects she has spiders made of yarn, string, and eyes so that each child gets one to climb up their leg during songs. She has birds on sticks, frogs for their fingers, fish for the sea, bees in a "hive", and much more. We trade off lessons each week and she continually offers her talents and creative ideas.

I look back at these past (almost) three years and am truly amazed at the things that women in this area have taught me. It doesn't stop with my above example either - teaching me about music and creative ideas is just the beginning. Different women have taught me how to garden, keep food storage well, stay organized, do family history, cook even healthier, use coupons and shop smartly, and the list just goes from there. I am so very grateful for all of these women who have truly made an impact on my life during our short time here. Memphis will be missed!