Pool LOVE!

I posted a couple months ago that we had decided to put a pool in our backyard and it is finally complete. I am so excited to show the before and after! It was a much bigger project than I ever expected [don't know why I thought it was going to be simple :) ] and took up a ton of my time but now that we are enjoying it I couldn't imagine our backyard without it!

Here is our backyard before and right after they finished the pool and filling it up with water

And here is the after ...

Looking at all my inspiration pictures together I love the way everything came out..  I love the steps across the whole pool for B to sit on.  Its also probably hard to see in the pic but there is a 5 foot sun ledge on the far side of the pool with an umbrella hole in the middle so we can have plenty of shade in the pool. I was so torn over the fence but in the end knew I had to do it for safety for B. I was going to do a hedge fence but ended up planting pink knock out roses all the way down a rod iron fence. They will be perfect when they are fully grown and blooming. We can' wait to have our first party on Friday!!

Toddler Nibbler Tray

I think all parents struggle to make sure that their kids get enough fruits and veggies in their diet. Lately I have seen this idea of a toddler niblbler tray everyone.  Dr Sears suggests it in his 9 Steps to a Healthier Family video and flipping through Parenting magazine last month I also saw it as a way to get your kids to eat more fruits and veggies. 

Photo credit http://www.ontobaby.com/2012/03/easy-diy-nibble-tray-for-your-picky-toddler-eater/

So what exactly is a nibbler tray? Find any type of tray you have your house like an ice tray or muffin tin and fill with yummy veggies, fruit, and cereal.  Add peanut butter, hummus or yogurt and you have a fun colorful snack tray to set out during play time for your kiddos to eat. Get them involved in making it and they are more likely to eat it!

I can't wait to make these for B when he gets a little older. He isn't quite old enough to eat completely solid food yet and has been super picky to rough textures but I make sure I pick all colors of baby food so he gets all types of fruits and veggies and I also make him shakes with fruit, cocunut milk, yobaby yogurt and the Juice Plus shake mix to make sure he gets all the nurtients he needs!  He loves it as you can see below :)

DIY Outdoor Rug

We got some new outdoor furniture the other week so I was on a hunt for a new outdoor rug.  C and I were cleaning out our garage and I came across two Ikea outdoor rugs I bought years ago. I was about to throw them away but decided to do a quick search on Pinterest and saw that you can paint outdoor rugs with outdoor paint. I figured why not, and I actually am thrilled with the way they turned out! 

Here is the before (I started priming one of them before I took the pic, oops)

First I primed the rugs and then taped them in the design I wanted. I used masking tape and duck tape since painters tape can get a little epensive.

After taping I got semi-gloss outdoor paint from home depot and rolled it on! Depending on the rug, it might take two coats of paint. I then took off the tape while it was wet and let it dry. I went back and touched up with white outdoor paint where the tape was but you could always do another base color if you didn't want white. I plan on going back with a polyurethane, but here is the final product.

Considering I was about to throw these away I think they turned out great. I also love that I could put whatever design I wanted on them! 

Family Love

Hope everyone is having a great summer! We spent 4th of July at the Jersey Shore with my family and had such a good time. It was a good time to sit back and just slow down and be so thankful for our little family we have created. Its easy to get wrapped up in the little stuff but at the end of the day no matter what happens we always have family to fall back on and that is true Happiness :)

Pool Inspiration

So after 6 HOT summers in Texas I think C and I are going to take the plunge and build a pool in our backyard. I am so excited, especially since B came along and his bedtime is around 7:00 we are now finding ourselves home a lot more than usual with a very different social life, so it will be the perfect little oasis in our backyard. Here is some inspiration for the pool, I will be sure to keep y'all updated on the progress once it gets going!

Benecki Homes

I love the pool and concrete pavers surrounded by the grass, simple and classic

At Home in Arkansas Magazine

Lots of chaises and umbrellas on one end of the pool and again set in the grass: LOVE

Martha Stewart Living

 

 

Love the stairs going across the whole pool, perfect place to relax

Summer Quinoa Salad

Sorry some time has passed since my last post. Every week I had intentions on posting and then the week seemed to slip away and when I looked back I wonder what the heck I accomplished that week (I know there are some stay at home Moms out there that feel me right? ) Here is a little pic of what has been taking up my time. My 7 month old B has now learned to walk in his walker thing and I have a glimpse what a terror he is going to be :)

B trying to help with the laundry

Anyways, back to a very yummy summer quinoa salad recipe that I took from a friend. If  you don't know what quinoa is, its kinda like couscous but I think its better and it is loaded with tons of protein. You can find it in the rice aisle and its gluten and wheat free!

Summer Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup of traditional Quinoa (make sure you get the pre-washed, it will say on the box)
1/2 can of black beans
1/2 cup of peaches (I get the plastic cups on peaches you can put in kids lunches)
1/2 package of cherry tomatoes diced
1/2 avocado cubed
1/4 onion diced
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Instructions:
1. Cook the quinoa according to the package
2. Add all the rest of the ingredients except the avocado. Just add a couple dashes of Olive Oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. (If you don't put enough salt it won't taste right so make sure you check it)
3. let it come to room temperature.
4. Add avocado right before you serve and Enjoy!

This recipe is so easy and if you don't like some of the ingredients then just change them out with veggies and fruit you do enjoy. You could also make an Asian version with green beans, sprouts, edamame, sesame seeds and add meat if you want. Get the kids involved and they can use their imagination!

Did you know there is no longer a Food Pyramid?

Last weekend my husband and I watched the documentary Forks over Knives and I have to tell you it seriously changed my perspective on what we put in our body. The documentary was packed with a ton of scientific information, too much to go into in this blog (I would recommend watching it if you are interested, it's on Netflix) but the overall gist is that eating a whole-food plant-based diet can prevent or reverse disease. In the documentary, one of the largest studies conducted was called the China Study, which showed that eliminating meat and dairy from your diet and eating a more plant-based diet could prevent and sometimes reverse heart disease and several forms of cancer.  One thing discussed in the documentary was that the food pyramid has been replaced by a MyPlate program promoting more fruits and vegetables. Created to resemble your dining plate, it is divided into four differently sized sections:

• Grains—approximately 30%
• Vegetables—approximately 30%
• Fruits—approximately 20%
• Protein—approximately 20%

I thought I was fairly educated on nutrition, being an athlete my whole life, but I was not aware of this change and all the research that shows that more fruits and vegetables are not only good for us but are absolutely necessary for our health. The statistic that the leading cause of death in the US is unhealthy eating and physical inactivity in the form of heart disease and cancer is startling. But the information that most of it can be prevented by eating healthier was new to me. What? I thought cancer and heart disease were genetic? apparently not... Even more surprising to me was that the recommended fruits and vegetables, which was the 5-a-Day campaign, has now changed to a new program called Fruits &Veggies - More Matter which the USDA recommends 7- 13 servings a day of fruits and veggies. Don't know about you, but with our busy life I don't think that is going to happen.  That is why I am so glad that I add to my diet with Juice Plus (disclaimer: in case you didn't know I am a distributor so I do have a bias) which gives me 17 fruits, vegetables and grains in a whole food supplement with a food label, not a multivitamin.  This makes me feel better about getting those servings.

Being a meat-eating Texas family, I don't think eliminating meat from our family is completely possible, though the documentary was convincing, I am for sure reducing it greatly. I am also going to be buying almond milk instead of regular milk for our family. When I tell people this they say, well don't you need to eat meat for protein and drink milk for calcium, and the answer is No. Watch the documentary and it can answer it much better than me! Most people don't make a change in lifestyle until they have a health event in their life, or in the life of someone they love, but knowing the research, why wouldn't you make the change now?