Camping with kids (Also filed under "Parenting on Display")

No but seriously, camping with kids is the best thing since sliced bread.

I had to push aside my fears of "inconveniencing others" and parenting on display for the world to scrutinize and judge. But hey, I'm willing to be fodder for your sinful conversation if it means I get to do this all weekend!! (I know I look like I'm in pain. I'm not. The flash BLINDED me!!)

Jason and I have wanted to camp since before we got married. We had all the awesome stuff for camping on our wedding registry, but I guess when people saw that we didn't even have cutlery, a pot, or a vacuum, the camping stuff was less urgent. Looking back, it is better that we were gifted this stuff or we would still be washing and reusing plastic forks because we are both money hoarders so frugal.

Anyway, we were gifted a tent by a large family looking to upgrade. And FINALLY were able to plan ahead for camping. Jason's Christmas stash looked like an outdoors store threw up under our tree. And he was itching to get a chance to use it all. Backyard camping is fun, but you don't really need your propane stove and mini axe.

But you know where a mini axe comes in handy? In the wild!! NATURE!!!!

I think it was right about this time that an older couple pulled into the campsite next door to us. While they were scoping out the perfect location to put their tent, I jokingly said, "You should put it as far away from us as possible!"

HAHA. Right?

Our ever-so-tactful neighbor replied with, "Yeah, when we pulled in, I said to my husband, 'Oh no, a baby.'"

She was met with an icy cold stare and awkward silence. Because what do you even say to that? Once I recovered, I told her she didn't need to worry about the baby. It was the loud 3 year old that might drive them insane. Cue awkward laughter...

And I told Bridget to go wake them up bright and early each morning.

KIDDING!!!!

Aside from the stress of parenting my children in front of 200 strangers (it was packed!), our first camping weekend as a family was amazing. I'm antsy to go back. Without the rain ending our trip early next time! I sat outside reading, sipping coffee, watching my kids play, and talking to my husband. And when I got cold at night, I grabbed a couple kids and sandwiched myself in between them. What is better than that???

Okay so let's talk real quick about the awesome camping gear we had and what we wished we had!

We brought my beloved cast iron skillets for cooking over the fire, but there wasn't enough room over the fire for the entire meal, and it just got too smoky and hot. This outdoor kitchen is awesome for the extras! We put our Propane Stove on top and were able to make pancakes, sauteed veggies, and campfire coffee (which is all you really need, amiright?!).

Okay there were only a couple other things we had that were ESSENTIAL!

A basic kitchen utensil kit. This little kit has all the cooking essentials. Except garlic. Never leave the garlic behind!

God bless this portable fan.

We won't need it for fall or spring camping, but it was 95 all weekend and we would have been too uncomfortable to sleep without this fan!!

We actually don't need a ton of stuff when we go camping. Our kids were so well occupied all weekend with activities and meeting other campground friends that any other stuff we brought was ignored. Most of our activities centered around cooking.

Fact: Bacon cooked over a fire tastes better.

The kids spent a ton of time in the stream catching crawfish, reading books, canoeing, learning from the Park Rangers, hiking, and catching (and naming) crickets.  It makes me wish we had gone camping SO much sooner!! 

And the only thing that would have made this camping trip more perfect (aside from a large tarp so we didn't get rained out...newbie mistake):

A camping hammock! Or 3. We are going to try to buy at least one of these before we head out camping again in October. They were all OVER the campsite! I assumed they were too expensive for us, but they are actually affordable!

I have 1 month of prep time before we go camping again. What am I missing? What are your camping must-haves?

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Is it time to resurrect the blog?

PART 1: 

I'm wondering if it is?!

We just moved across the country from Tyler, Texas, our home for the last 3 years, to Dickson, Tennessee!

I suppose that major life change is worth of a blog post or two. And we had a baby! I should update the header...

Updates:

Jason & I: 

Jason was offered a job as the Director of the Catechist Formation Program at Aquinas College in Nashville. Although the job is an absolute dream job for him, we agonized over the decision to leave Tyler, Texas because of our awesome relationships and community there. We made a lot of life-long friends and are going to miss them SO much!  (*sob...boo...* I miss you all!!!!!)

Just a few of the amazing friends I made!!

Me: I started my own business this past January! I am the Virtual Desk Assistant! I combined my experience as an administrative assistant for years in Corporate America with my experience running the foodclub for over 2 years in Texas and decided to stop giving away my services and start getting paid for them! It is going better than I could have imagined and I am gearing up to find and add a few more clients as soon school starts for the kids! 

If you know of any small businesses who could use a little administrative help, website help or marketing help, send them my way!

I also just started attacking my health. I wasn't able to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight after Bridget was born last summer. I have tons of excuses but won't bore you with them. So after months of thinking about getting started, I finally bit the bullet and bought my first supply of Plexus Slim.  I was finally able to kick the sugar habit by killing the candida overgrowth. I no longer have sugar or snack cravings and I'm able to control my eating daily to stay in a healthy calorie range for weight loss! I am working out, feeling great, losing weight and ready to shed the extra pounds! And now I'm starting with Trim Healthy Mama and I'm absolutely loving how it blends with traditional and whole foods eating. I even get to resurrect my sourdough starter :)))

But they were worth it!!!

(...stay tuned for the update on the kids in Part 2!!)

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Updates Galore

So what have we been up to??

The better question is what haven't we been up to?!  Life is getting crazy around here but all in a good way.    Spring is in high gear and we are taking advantage before the heat of a Texan summer kicks in.

I am so excited to be a volunteer for our local Farmer's Market again this year.  I am trained by the City to distribute our nutritional assistance vouchers - this program is amazing because it keeps our local dollars right here by spending WIC money on produce from local farmers.  The Farmer's Market situation in our city is a little rough.  I try to do my part to promote and support our local farmers.  The local food movement is strong here but unfortunately, the competition is fierce.  Last year, a member of our market quit and started her own market to compete with ours.  It breaks my heart because the farmers split between the markets and now there is a weird and unnatural division in town.  And the farmers are too busy growing, cultivating and harvesting to worry about social media and promotion of their market!  So let me brag on our market real quick.

Each farmer who sells at our market sells only what they grow on their land.  

  No one is allowed to re-sell produce that they purchase and it is strictly monitored by the farmers themselves.  So if mother nature doesn't cooperate and they are left with no harvest the morning of the market - this is what their table looks like.  This is the real risk of farming though!!!

Our market is farmer-run and operated.  The farmers run the show and aim to serve the community.  This is what local really is!!

It doesn't get more fresh than this.  Have you ever had a strawberry that was all red throughout - absolutely NO white?  These true red strawberries are the real deal.  

And this year, I was able to participate as a "vendor" at the Market Bakery table because of the Texas Cottage Law! I spent all day Friday preparing and baking 8 loaves of sourdough bread to sell at the market.  It is a bit of a process and I need all the help I can get.  First step is grinding the wheat:

The finished product was pretty amazing.  I use this recipe without the added yeast.

It took over 24 hours to finish but I sold out completely!!  

I'm not cut out for farming (my idea of enjoying the outdoors is usually reading a book in the shade...) but I can bake the hell out of some bread!  The market season will end early for me since the baby is due June 28th, but I'll be there every week until then!  

Oh yeah - I'm still very pregnant with #4

And even though this is the most unflattering photo in the history of pregnant photos, it is the only one I have.  The kids are giving me a "spa day" at home.  Foot soak with epsom salts and herbs, hand massage, cardboard fan, and Roman promised not to jump on my belly one time while I was laying down (for the record, he lied).  I'm 2 months away from having the baby and too busy to stay uncomfortable.  Although I am pregnant in Texas and it is starting to get really hot so talk to me in a couple weeks!

So let's talk about the important updates:

These kids are amazing.  I really am too lucky with them.  We finished our homeschool year with Leo and now they spend hours each day playing together coming up with all sorts of games.  

Do you see her up on her tip-toes?  I'm not sure that her heels have ever touched the ground.

This third trimester has been SO different than the last two in the best way.  The kids are older and require a lot less time and attention from me (unless you count the 3,938,462 fights I break up throughout the day).  They play hard all day, they have chores, they clean up after themselves, they help me out when I get stuck on the couch and can't get up (Roman's only chore) and they are all so sweet that I am not stressed out at all about bringing another baby into the mix.  She is lucky to have these three as older siblings :)

We were able to get some seeds and plants in the ground to try our luck at another Texan garden!  Last year was a fail because of bad soil and lack of water.  This year, we are getting serious!

Some of their favorite jobs are watering the garden and sprinkling diatomaceous earth all over.  This stuff kills fire ants within a couple hours - I love it!!  And it is edible so it can't hurt the kids or our property one bit.

We had an awesome Easter Sunday celebration.  The kids were spoiled rotten but what better day to really have a celebration?!

We were supposed to participate in the post-Mass Easter Egg hunt at church, but as it turned out, if you stayed until the actual end of Mass, you missed the party.  The Creaster Catholics scooped up all the eggs before my kids even exited the Church!  So we redid an egg hunt at a party later in the day.

Lastly - wish me luck as I prepare for the first annual Foodclub picnic this evening!!  I have been running the foodclub out of my house for over a year and we have yet to have a group party.  So this is our first one and I'm a wee bit nervous we will forget something important...like the 3 huge chickens I have slow-roasting in the oven all day today??  Surely a pregnant woman won't forget the food right?