Here We Are Together

Beach

Here We Are Together — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:50:44 +0000

Sometimes, when days seem far too long, when everyone is far too tired and grumpy,
there is nothing like some time at the beach to make everything okay again, just like that.

Collecting seashells, pebbles and driftwood,

breathing the salty air,

little ones with red cheeks and wild hair,

life is good at the beach.

Wishing you a beautiful day.
♥

Green Smoothies Days 5,6 & 7
Well, I have learned a lot about myself during this past week.
I am not someone who likes to eat three meals a day, so eating that much throughout the day is a challenge.
I have lost one dress size and my skin has improved, even though I must admit I never had any problems with my skin or my weight, so I’m not sure how important this is, but I thought some of you might find it interesting.
I feel happier and have more energy. Getting up at 5 to fit in exercise has been easier than ever before, and I don’t feel tired by the end of the day.
But… I miss food. I ate a slice of cheesecake and I don’t regret it at all.
I realise that I have a real emotional attachment to food, (I think most people do?) and in a way having nothing but three smoothies a day has opened my eyes to that. Even though hunger has not been a problem, I can’t wait to get back to eating real food! I’m thinking about eating maybe 80% raw food and eliminating gluten and dairy when we are done with only smoothies. I will also definitely continue to drink at least one green smoothie a day.

Giveaway: Melissa & Doug Wooden Magnet Numbers and Lush Bath Bomb

Here We Are Together — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:26:32 +0000

Today’s Giveaway is brought to you by two fantastic ladies, La Dayna and Crystal aka the Fanny Packin’ Sister Wives.
La Dayna and Crystal are trying to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation by taking part in the Urban Challenge Utah 2012. The Fanny Packin’ Sister Wives are giving away one set of Melissa & Doug Wooden Magnet Numbers and Do some good and donate to these two wonderful women to support a fantastic charity!

For a chance to win all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what wish you would like to have granted.

Share this Giveaway on Facebook,Pinterest and Twitter for more entries!
(Just leave another comment saying “I shared this on …” for each one! )

You can come back every day to leave another comment and share the post on Facebook or Twitter.
The Giveaway will be open for seven days until the 21st of May, and it is open to absolutely everybody from absolutely everywhere!
The winner will be picked at random.
Good Luck!

Hello you two! Tell us about you and your team?
I’m La Dayna, I’m 27 and a stay at home momma to three kids ages 4,3 and 2. We live in South Salt Lake City, Utah. Our team is the Fanny Packin’ Sister Wives, which is funny because we live in Utah and the polygamist. We did a mud race where Crystal’s husband was the only man and there were 4 of us girls and that’s when we became Brother Brandon’s brides and that’s evolved into me and crystal rockin’ some sweet fanny packs, hot pink tights, and a lot of pestering our friends and family for donations.

I’m Crystal, I’m a stay at home mom to 2 kids. Mine are 7 and 4. La Dayna and I make up the Fanny Packin’ Sister Wives. It’s a bit of a cheeky name that we get a kick out of. We are both quite competitive and work together amazingly. We love to do races whenever we get the chance but our favorite is the Urban Challenge for Make-A-Wish. Its is definitely the most fun one we have done but more then that it is a fundraiser for an amazing charity.

How did you get to be where you are today?

La Dayna- Our good friend Angi told us about this race. Crystal and I both really want to be on The Amazing Race and this is kinda like a local Amazing Race.

Crystal – Like La Dayna said, our friend Angi told us about the race and we were both very excited. The race itself was enough to get us there but the fact that it was for Make-A-Wish made it even more special for me. My sister grew up with Leukemia and Make-A-Wish sent us to Disney World. I saw first hand the difference a wish can make. I know there are a lot of charities our there that are worthy of our time and donations but when it comes down to it, Make-A-Wish is the one who has my heart. You can see the difference your donation makes. You can read a story about a child who had all but given up then made a wish for something they never would have had otherwise and that change in their life can make such a positive change in their well being. If you want to know why you should donate to Make-A-Wish, go to their website and read just one of their wish stories and your heartstrings WILL be pulled. The drive to win at everything we do added to the knowledge that we are working for something that I truly believe in is what makes our team so fierce in this competition.

Who or what inspired you?

La Dayna- I try to do one charity a year and I hadn’t really found “the one” I would just pick one and do it’s walk or whatever but this is a really great cause. They do such amazing work for the most wonderful, innocent children.

Crystal – My inspiration has always been my mom. She is so strong to a point that it astounds me. She has had more then her share of trials and tribulations and she is still so strong and sweet and supportive. As a mother, my nightmares are made up of watching my children suffer and she lived through that (and so much more) She didn’t give up, she didn’t back down. She held my sisters hand and got her through. If I can be half the mom my mom was then I will count myself as a success.

What are your wishes for the future?

La Dayna- well in the near future we would like to go back to Mexico, which is the grand prize for winning this race. The HUGE goal is that I would like for Crystal and I to get a real following and people to really back our team, raise awareness for this cause and deepen our friendship. Plus… Go on the Amazing Race and win!

Crystal – I want to raise even more money this year then we did last year. We have a good start going too! I want to win the Urban Challenge again with La Dayna then start planning our trip to Mexico! And my big goal is I would love to make it onto the Amazing Race with La Dayna as my teammate. Every time I watch the Amazing Race I visualize us on it and decide who would be best at each challenge. I think that we would rock the race!

What do you hope to gain by being featured on my blog?

La Dayna- We hope to of course help your readers know more about the Make-A-Wish foundation and hopefully drum up a few more donations. Please donate to us!

Crystal – I want to get the word out for a great charity and I hope that some of your readers donate something to our team. Every little bit counts! And I hope to get the word out about our cute little team also. You can like us on Facebook,too!

Please help us any way you can! Spread the word about our team!

Read some more about the Fanny Packin’ Sister Wives on Cystal’s blog and find out more about the Urban Challenge and the Make a Wish Foundation here.

Good Luck!

Grateful Friday

Here We Are Together — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:09:55 +0000

This week I am grateful for friends who forgive easily, who understand what life can be like sometimes, and that it can be difficult to get or stay in touch.
I am grateful for this beautiful necklace my friend June of Goddess Jewels sent to me as a surprise, three little eggs n a nest, each bead as unique as my own little ones.

I am grateful for a sunny day, for little ones who giggle, for open windows and fresh fruit.

I am grateful for lovely neighbours, for a husband who cooks dinner every single night, for coconuts and for the gentle breeze playing with the wind chime Emily made.

What are you grateful for?
Have a beautiful weekend!
♥

Green Smoothies Day 4
Day 4 was rather uneventful, we enjoyed adding cucumber and ginger to our smoothies, but other than that there is nothing much to report. My clothes are starting to be a bit too large for me, which makes me think that maybe I am not getting enough calories, so I will be experimenting with adding more things like avocado and bananas.

Green Smoothies Day 3

Here We Are Together — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:46:11 +0000

Day 3 went far easier than I expected, I was not hungry, I did not have a headache and I felt no need for cooked food.
To be completely honest with you, though, by mid-afternoon I was just about ready to never drink another smoothie in my life, but luckily that feeling passed in time for my dinner smoothie.
We have been adding fun ingredients like mango and pineapple to the drinks to add a bit of variety, coconut for the extra fat and hemp seeds for protein.

Maybe tomorrow we will try some cucumber in a smoothie, what do you think?

Have a lovely day!

Green Smoothies Day 2

Here We Are Together — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:03:01 +0000

Wow, day two was tough! The morning went well and I felt great, but by afternoon I had a pretty bad headache.
I hate to think how much bad things I have been feeding my body that eating nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables would make me feel so awful.
As I could not be a happy Mama feeling that way I talked to a lovely friend who knows a lot about nutrition and detoxing. (Thank you, Vikki!) I decided to eat some rice and see if that would help, so even though I was not hungry I ate the rice and pretty much instantly started feeling much better.
What I have been finding funny is that many people have already told me to make sure I get enough nutrients / vitamins / variety, but considering this is what our mid-week shop looks like for Anthony and I, I don’t think we need to worry much about that!

When the little ones bedtime came around we stayed up two hours longer than we usually do, we just were not tired at all, and I am really looking forward to seeing in how many other ways this is going to change our life.
Have a lovely day!
♥

Green Smoothies Day 1

Here We Are Together — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:38:09 +0000

Well, day one went far better than I expected, I kind of assumed it would be the most difficult day, but I guess in 29 days I will look back and think it was the easiest!
I did not feel hungry at all, and did not miss cooked food.
When it was time for the kids to go to bed I was not tired, which I usually am now that it gets dark at around 9pm. (The little ones just are not able to sleep when it is light outside! I can’t wait for the days to get just a little bit shorter again!) Emily liked trying our different creations and I’m looking forward to a whole lot of new recipes to try during the next 29 days.

Spinach, Hemp Seed, Banana and Strawberries with coconut:

Anthony decided that he won’t be able to continue this completely, but he will replace his breakfast and lunch with a green smoothie and then have dinner with the children.
I am not sure if I will be able to go the whole 30 days, but at the moment I feel brilliant.
I will be back tomorrow to tell you how day 2 went!
Have a lovely day!

Green Smoothies

Here We Are Together — Mon, 07 May 2012 07:57:09 +0000

In the past few days Anthony and I have decided that we really need to put our health first, and as much as we enjoy cooking together, something had to change. For the next 30 days we will attempt to eat nothing but green smoothies made from fresh, raw vegetables and fruit.
We are hoping that it will be a good start to a 100% raw food transition for us , and hopefully by the end of the 30 days we will be healthier,happier and have more energy.
The children of course won’t be joining us on this challenge, even though they all love to drink a green smoothie in the morning. We like this one a lot.

Of course we are no nutritionists, so we will simply listen to our bodies during the next month and see how it goes.
If we feel unhealthy we will adjust what we are doing, but I think that 30 days are an achievable goal, after all we are not juicing, we are simply blending a whole lot of good things together.
I will keep you up to date with how we are doing and probably share a few recipes with you if we find something we really like.
For breakfast we kept it simple, our smoothie was made of spinach,banana,hemp seed, berries and apples.

It really is a brilliant way to start the day!
Have a wonderful day!
♥

Banana Pancakes from Jamaica – Recipe

Here We Are Together — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:58:29 +0000

Every Sunday Grandpa gives Emily bananas to take home, and every Monday Emily and I cook Banana Pancakes together.
We first tried these many years ago when our Jamaican friends made them for us, so I was really happy to find this recipe, even though our Banana Pancakes are a little different.
They are our go-to recipe when we have bananas that need to be eaten or we want a quick and tasty lunch.

Banana Pancakes from Jamaica
You will need:

4 ripe bananas
1 egg
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup of sugar

Start by peeling your bananas and putting them into a bowl.

Mash them up using a potato masher.

Add the egg to the bananas and stir it well.

Now add the sugar to the mixture and keep stirring until it is nice and smooth.

Put in 2 cups of flour and stir it well.

Add the milk to the mixture and prepare a frying pan with oil. When the oil is warm enough add 1 tablespoon of baking powder to your dough and stir it well.

Fry the banana pancakes by dropping a large tablespoon full of the dough into the hot oil until the edges start to bubble, then flip them over and fry until they are brown.

They taste great with a sprinkle of cinnamon or with spicy Jamaican sauce!
Have a lovely day!
♥

Grateful Friday and asking you for a favour!

Here We Are Together — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:18:58 +0000

Dear friends.
Today I am asking for your help. Please vote for “Here We Are Together” in the Sainsbury’s Family Blog Award. The prize is an iPad, and those of you who have children with special needs will know what a huge change this can make to a child.
It could help George to communicate with us, it could give him more independence,confidence and , most importantly, a voice. I don’t usually ask for votes, but if you could spare a few seconds of your time please help us out and possibly help change Georgie’s life.

This week I am grateful for my little ones who are slowly starting to feel better, there have been boardgames, crafts and even a little trip.

I am grateful for new books, friends who spend time with us even when we are ill, Georgie’s love for Bob Marley and a whole lot of lemon and honey tea.

What are you grateful for?
Wishing you a lovely day!
♥

Better

Here We Are Together — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:11:31 +0000

We have spent this past week doing so many different things, seeing doctors, decluttering,organizing,learning, working on four different projects at once.
We try to do it all, juggle all our responsibilities, making it work, and sometimes we don’t realize that we need a break.
But I can tell you this, three children waking up ill and in a bad mood can really help you to figure that out.

I will be back on Monday, I have a lot to share with you, fun recipes, crafts and an exciting new project,
but for now we just sit, sleep, drink tea and sleep some more. Hopefully soon my sweet little ones will be feeling better.

Have a lovely weekend!