Soccer Fun

Lucy saw come children in our apartment court playing soccer and she insisted on getting out our soccer ball and joining them.  It was fun to watch her even though it was right before we had to leave for an appointment.  The few minutes spent playing was well worth it.

Horse Bliss

Olivia loves horses. Okay, Love is too simple of word for the way she feels about these animals.  Since Olivia was roughly 18 months old she was been so fond of horses.  She would look out the car window and search the nearby fields and beg to ride.

Last year I was searching for horseback riding lessons for her.  Disappointed in not finding something near our home or that lessons were offered for older children, I was grateful when a neighbor told me about horseback riding with a company that does free rides for special needs children called the Resolution Horse Company.  Since Olivia has been in speech therapy for nearly 2 years she qualified for this WONDERFUL experience.

Olivia with Dixie, one of the Ponies that she gets to ride.

Olivia gets to ride once a week for a half hour.  Our sessions start out with Olivia grooming one of the horses which is a great way for horse and rider to bond.  Then the riding begins.  Olivia is currently riding  on a bare-back pad which is much harder to use then a traditional saddle.  The idea is that once she learns to keep her balance on the bare-back pad she will move to the saddle.  Right now she has to be conscience of her posture and position on the horse.

Olivia giving Dixie some apples.  Yum!

After riding, Olivia gets to give the pony some alfalfa cubes.  Today we took a special treat to share, apples.  This was a welcomed treat by Dixie, Hope and Phantom.  We learned that horses consider apples like candy!  

Zoo

We tagged along on with some friends on Wednesday afternoon to the zoo.  It was very much needed to my sanity.  Wednesdays are particularly hard days for us with Ed being in class or studying practically all day and evening.

Our visit was short but still enjoyable.

Lucy posing.  I don't know what she was thinking at the time.

Animal show.  This one they talked about Food Webs.  This photo was taken by Lucy.  She took several of the lady's head in front of us as well.

Olivia and Lucy with the Elephants.  The baby was so cute!

It's starting to feel like home...kind of!

So I have a new apartment.  This is married student family housing at the university and the apartments are tiny.  But I won't complain, the people around me are AWESOME!

I've been working hard for the past week to unpack and attempt to decorate.  It's been extremely difficult trying to figure out where to put everything.  So many things that I love will go into storage and I may find them a new home soon.  I truly believe that simple is better or less is more.

I love decorating and I think that my living room is practically finished.  So here are some pictures of my itty-bitty living room.

First--this is the view from the front door.  You can see straight into the kitchen.  The kitchen still has A LOT of work.

The entire apartment is painted white with purple carpet; carpet which shows EVERYTHING.

The entry-way on the left heads to the bedrooms and bathroom.

I still need to have Ed hang the clock up.  We are in a basement apartment and I'm grateful for the large windows.

Even with the large windows, I had to go lamp shopping.  Found a great deal on 4 lamps for $50.

My new family wall!

I loved this picture set up in my last house and had to do it here.

Healthy Snacks

One of my hardest things is figuring out healthy snacks to feed to my children and myself.  Now with PCOS I must eat every 3 to 4 hours and that means healthy snacks.  I have been researching some simple snacks that we can eat at any time.  You will probably think that many of these are too simple, but honestly simple is good.  I plan on having a list of snacks that I can choose from when I am planning shopping trips and also to look at on those days when I don't know what to make.

With PCOS I must remember that all meals, including snacks, must have a low GI carb (this doesn't mean that I can never have a higher GI carbs, but I must limit them) with a protein.  I can have a protein alone, but never a carb alone.  Fruits and Veggies fall in the carb range.

1. One Apple with 1 T almond of peanut butter
2. 1/2 oz (or check serving size on package) raw nuts with fruit (apple, banana, plum, pear, orange, wedge of melon, cup of berries, 2 kiwis, 1/2 grapefruit, etc).
3. 1/2 cup whole grain cereal mixed with 1/4 c almonds and 1/4 c dried berries, apricots or raisins.
4. 1 cup cut-up sauteed veggies and stuffed into a small whole wheat pita
5. Cup-up veggies dipped into 4 oz plain yogurt or cottage cheese mixed with lots of dill, chives, ginger, red pepper flakes or other spices--your choice.
6. Yogurt (I like Greek) with 1/2 cup fruit and 1 T Flax Seed.
7. Green Smoothies (Still looking for a good recipe!  Please share if you have a good one!)
8. Mozzarella Stick or Cheddar cheese stick with a large orange or other fruit.
9. One Cup steamed edamame
10.  4 T Hummus and 8 whole wheat pita chips (I love it on pita bread!)
11. 8 baked corn tortilla chips, 2 T guacamole and 2 T salsa
12. Banana Smoothie:  3/4 C Greek Yogurt, 1/2 C Milk, 1 Frozen banana, 4 T vanilla Protein powder
13. 1/3 C guacamole and 12 baked corn chips
14. 1/2 tuna salad sandwich on whole grain bread
15. 1/2 C yogurt, 1 sliced apple, 1 T chopped walnuts
16. 1/2 C yogurt, 1 T flax seed, 1.2 C diced peaches or pears
17. Smoothie: 3/4 C milk, 1/2 banana, 1/2 c greek yogurt, 1/4 c sliced strawberries or raspberries
18. 1 hard boiled egg, 1 apple, 3 walnuts
19. Frozen berry nut parfait:  1 C Greek yogurt, 1/2 c blueberries, 1/3 c diced frozen strawberries, 1/2 packet sweetener (I will find the equivalent to aguava nectar or Stevia), 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 c chopped walnuts.  Put everything into food processor minus nuts.  Blend and then stir in nuts.  Put into container and freeze 30 min.  Makes 4 servings.
20. 2 hard boiled eggs, yolks scooped out stuffed with 4 T hummus.

More to come!  Please share your healthy snacks!!