Drummer Girl

Princess took drum lessons a couple of years ago. The teacher came highly recommended by the place we had purchased her first drum set. Here is a sample of her lessons.

She took lessons for about a year and never went beyond that practice pad. Princess chose to stop lessons. 

Back in September Princess decided she wanted to start up again. I wanted to find a new teacher and posted to our homeschool community, asking for recommendations. We received a recommendation and found an amazing teacher. Here is a sample of a lesson. She started in October. (Keep in mind you can't hear the drums completely since they're on the headphones.)

Her drum teacher is impressed with how quickly she is picking up the drums (especially since she rarely practices). I can only imagine how well she'll do once she decides to practice. The Lizard King was so impressed and proud, he started searching Craigslist for a good set of used drums. It took a little while, but he found this set. He was only too happy to wake up at 3am and drive to Seattle to buy them. It's a great used Roland set. This set does make practicing more fun. :)

Rock on, Princess!

Creative Play

A cannon, 4 coasters, a pig with a stack of pancakes, Skylanders, a fairy house with beanbags inside and Tinker Bell. Hmmmm . . . .

I have no idea what happened here, but I'm certain it was a lot of fun.

She's a Cattish Dog

 Yes, more puppy pics. I just think it is so funny how she lays on the back of the couch!

King Peace on Earth

Princess' best friend and his family have a collection of nutcrackers that they put out every Christmas. Princess has wanted one for a couple of years now and this year we finally got one. 

Princess has named him, King Peace on Earth. He has joined our festive holiday decorations in storage, waiting for next year. Of course, we had to wait until the best friend got back from his trip to Germany to show him before hiding him away until next year.

Word of the Year

My word for the year is ORGANIZE. It turns out that my bloggy friend, Sheri, has also adopted that word and made it even cooler. Check it out!

Sheri and I have decided to make this a project for the year and to post updates each month about what we have done that month, including before and after photos. I posted this pic to the right, but have no clue how to make it into an HTML button. If anyone can help, please let me know. :) I'd like to have a button so that Sheri can grab the button, and we would love it if others would join us!

It doesn't have to be a big organization project. Start by cleaning out your junk drawer. You can keep it small if you'd like or do something bigger if you're up for it. Just be sure to take before and after pics.

Since we're doing this monthly, I was thinking the first Monday of the month, beginning February 4th. What do you think? Are you in?

Update: OMG! I so cannot figure out how to make the code thing that Sheri sent work. How about this? Whoever would like a button for their blog, send me an email at shady lady @ maintcc . com and I will send you the picture. Then you can save it to your blog and link it back to this post. How does that sound?

Wild West Adventures

Princess has a lot of toys and she doesn't like to get rid of anything. The truth is, she still plays with all of it. It goes in cycles, but everything still gets played with. After not touching her Lincoln Logs and Frontier Logs, she got them out, along with some Sesame Street friends and other random things to create a very interesting adventure.

Paleo Style Beef Stroganoff

1# ground beef, cooked
1/2# white mushrooms, quartered
1/2 onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. garlic granules
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 can coconut milk
1 T. arrowroot powder
s&p to taste
bacon grease
1 bag broccoli slaw

Melt bacon grease in two large pans over medium heat. Sauté the broccoli slaw in one pan with a lid and diced onion in the other pan. Cook the broccoli slaw until done to your liking, then turn off heat. When onions are translucent, add mushrooms. Add garlic powder, garlic granules, nutmeg, salt & pepper. When mushrooms cook down, add ground beef. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add 1/2 can of coconut milk. Stir and let cook another 5 minutes. In a small container, mix arrowroot with a small amount of water. Add that to the mixture, stirring until it thickens. Plate the broccoli slaw and top with the stroganoff.

Enjoy!

CM Again

Yes, we went to the Children's Museum again. This visit was quite artistic.

I'm certain we'll be back again soon.

Dog Days

Check out the royal dog, having a royally good time. She is such an important part of our family. We are so grateful that Princess chose her. She fits our family perfectly!

48

Yesterday, I turned 48. I started my day with a crossfit workout. That's right. I played like a girl.

I often have to remind myself how far I've come, and also where I've come from. Yes, I changed my way of eating to Paleo/Primal way of life and lost more than 40 pounds. I'm thrilled with that, especially with all you hear about once you're a certain age (and especially if you're menopausal) your metabolism slows down and it's so hard to lose. Eating a Standard American Diet (SAD) yes, it is. Go Paleo and watch how it changes. But that isn't the point of this post.

I go to the "box"for my WOD (crossfit lingo: box=gym; WOD=workout of the day). There are people of all ages and fitness levels. The thing is, I don't really run into anyone who I can realistically compare myself to . . . not that I should compare myself but I'm human. There are people my age, but I haven't met anyone my age who is really working out for the first time in their lives.

I have to look at the fact that I'm going, regularly. I work hard when I'm there. I feel great afterward (although often breathing heavy and sore the next day or so). I'm getting stronger. I'm feeling more fit. I still love crossfit! I even got past my funk and brief feeling of wanting to quit. Thanks to my best friend and one of my biggest supporters, Ute.

So what if my weights are significantly lower than everyone else's. So what if my rounds are lower or my time is slower. So what if it takes me six and a half minutes to run a half mile. So what if I have to modify most of the exercises. So what if there are some exercises that I just can't do. I'm still lifting weights. I'm still doing the WOD. I'm still running. I'm still doing the exercises. I'm still finding a good substitute for the exercises I can't do. And I'm still loving it. I have great trainers and great people who I work out with . . . and I'm having fun, getting stronger and more fit.

48 feels great!

The Reveal

Here is what was happening behind the curtain . . . step by step. Okay, so the curtain wasn't up the whole time, just for the painting part. Check it out.

It's not completely done. Crown molding will go along the top, then it will be completely complete. Isn't it amazing?! I absolutely love it! I love organization. I wonder what else the Lizard King has up his sleeve? He is so talented, isn't he?!

Scallops with Cauli Puree

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun I am having creating delicious Paleo/Primal recipes. This one is Primal, because of the dairy in it. It could be very easily modified by using coconut milk instead of heavy cream, subbing another healthy fat (like bacon grease or coconut oil) instead of butter, and skipping the parmesan on top (as noted in the recipe below). We really enjoyed this one. I hope you do, too!

1# bay scallops
1 head cauliflower
bacon grease
butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
heavy cream or milk or coconut milk
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. garlic granules
salt & pepper
Grated parmesan (optional)

Cut up cauliflower. Toss in bacon grease and salt. Roast at 375º until slightly brown (about 40 minutes). While the cauliflower is roasting sauté onion in butter (or fat of choice). Combine scallops, sautéed onion, with dried parsley, garlic powder, garlic granules, salt & pepper. Remove cauliflower, turn oven to broil and put scallops in to cook. Cook about 10 minutes or until done (opaque). While scallops are cooking, puree cauliflower, adding cream or coconut milk to thin it a bit.

Plate the cauli puree and top with scallops. Sprinkle with parmesan. Enjoy!

Note: next time I want to do a bed of wilted spinach with the cauli puree and scallops on top.

Back to Class

Princess is more than ready to get back to her classes at Village Home after our 7 week break. Me? I love the break . . . but yes, I'm excited to get back, too.

Princess is taking drama, Druidawn (a writing class), Destination Imagination and film making. She has scaled back this term to just those four classes. Still, our schedule is busy. I will be teaching a class at Village (with Princess as my helper) and taking two classes myself. Princess also has swimming lessons, drum lessons, crossfit and she is starting ballet soon. Whew!

It's going to be an exciting term!

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

The Lizard King has begun a new project that should be completely complete any day now.

It looks amazing already, it just needs one or two more things and then I'll be ready to share. I am so excited!!!

Our New Year Getaway

We went to the

 We brought some entertainment . . .

a few board games . . .

and spirograph! I've been looking for this forever and it's finally available. I loved this when I was a kid.

Because of our food issues and the need to avoid gluten, we bring our own cooking supplies with us.

 

There was a lot of down time, something the Lizard King needed. You'd think I would have gotten a shot of that, but no. 

How did you celebrate the new year?