Favorite Friday: Brown Rice Chips and Guacamole

These are my most favorite tortilla style chips. They come in a lot of flavors, but I'm partial to the Sea Salt flavor because I can dip them in anything (anything healthy that is)!

You can probably find these chips anywhere. I get them at Walmart. Even my kids love them! Below you can see the ingredients and the nutritional information.

I always have a few avocados on hand to make guacamole, but you want to be careful with portion control. Avocados are loaded with good for you goodies, but they are also high in fat and although it is the good fat you still have to be careful with your portion sizes. If I'm in a hurry I just toss in a packet of McCormick's Guacamole seasoning. If I have time I make Guacamole with fresh ingredients.  I have also been known to just eat avocado plain...

Enjoy!!

A Museum, A Train, and a Happy, Happy Day

My friend Rachel and I were talking this morning and both admitted to feeling like we were uninvolved parents this year at our children's school.  Both Rachel and I started working this past fall and then I decided to go back to school which left very little time to devote to classroom parties, etc.  In past years we've been very involved so this took some adjusting by all of us... I'm not sure Rachel and I adjusted... We were very happy that the end of the year field trips were being held on days that didn't conflict with anything else.  Today was Jacob's second grade field trip to the Ann Arbor Natural History Museum and a train ride from Ann Arbor back to Jackson.  It was a great day.  I'm so glad I was able to go spend this time with him.  Often in the hustle and bustle of life one on one time gets put on the back shelf.  But it is so important to stay connected with our kids.  They need to know how much we love them. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day...

This is the group of kids Rachel and I were in charge of... So much for a small group!! haha...

This is looking down to the second floor from the third. The second floor was our favorite, but we had to move through it pretty quickly to make it through the whole museum. We might have to go back and take a longer gander...

This is the ceiling of the entryway. I completely missed this until we were leaving. I don't even know what made me look up, I mean really, who looks up... but I did and thought it was beautiful.

This is Jacob and a couple of classmates with his teacher, Mrs. Wilkerson.

Rachel and Gracie... I loved spending the day with them.

Me and Jacob. I think this is one of my favorite pictures of us EVER...

Waiting on the train. We got to the train station on time, but it was coming in from Dearborn and had been trapped by a freight train. We had to wait about 30 minutes before it showed up. Jacob spent the time eating all my snacks!!

Here we are on the train... facing the opposite direction than we were traveling... NOT A GOOD IDEA!!

The train station in Jackson. It has some beautiful woodwork on the inside.

Our train... not exactly Polar Express, but it was a fun ride...

For Mother's Day...

I know I am a tad late posting a picture of what Ethan made for me in his Kindergarten class for Mother's Day. But it is still May... and that counts for something, right?

I think he was most proud of the little card that went with it though.

Isn't precious?

Lunch... It's a Wrap!

Ingredients:
1 wrap (I use the FlatOut brand, whole grain light)
3 oz. grilled chicken cut up
2 Tbsp Spinach and Artichoke Hummus (Sabra brand is my fave)
4 cherry tomatoes cut in half or thirds
a handful of mixed baby greens
spoonful of beans, drained and rinsed (I used navy beans because I already had them open, but any beans would work)

Directions:
Lay the wrap of your choice on a plate. Place a handful of greens on top of the wrap. Mix hummus and chicken and place on top of greens. Top with tomatoes and beans. Wrap it up and enjoy!!!

Ethan's Been Working on Something.....

He actually can ride on his own now, he just needs a little help getting started. Two days after these pictures were taken he road 3 miles while Curt and I went for a run with some friends of ours. He did really good, except for the part where he ran over a dead rat, freaked out and almost ran over Rachel... and the part where Rachel and I stopped running and he almost ran into both of us... but other than that, he was GOLDEN!!

Ya Might As Well Do It ALL and a 5K...

I just don't even know what to say about today other than it was one of the busiest, most stressful and most fun filled days!

It all started with a Physics Final. Final review with the professor and class started at 9am. So, right after I dropped the boys off at school I very gently and slowly drove Bessy (my parents car that I was borrowing -- whole other story) to campus for the review.  Which I didn't actually participate in because I had homework to do... Yes, I procrastinated... Whatever people, IT HAPPENS!!!  Back to my little story here... geesh... So I caught up on a couple homework assignments, scribbled a few things on a note card, ate a very good egg white sandwich from Subway and was ready for my exam at 11am.

Now, the last 2 exams I had I would have told you I bombed it or something miraculous had taken place because I wasn't confident about either one of them.  This exam is a whole other story... I think I did pretty well.  Which could go either way because the other 2 exams ended up being B's.  So either I am really, really wrong or I just got myself an A- in PHYSICS.... I will let you know as soon as I know.

The other BIG thing I was waiting on today was the results of my MTTC which is the Michigan Teacher Certification Exam.  When I signed up for the exam in January I was told I had to pass all 3 parts so I could do my student teaching this coming Fall.  So, I signed up for the Basic Skills, Social Studies Major and Integrated Science Minor tests.  When my instructor found out what I did she said "NO, NO, NO... you have to pass 3 parts of the Basic Skills Test: reading, writing and math."  Well, they were going to charge me half of what I paid to take the exams to get out of them so I just went ahead with them anyway chaulking it up to experience.  Funny thing when I got the email today with my results.  I passed ALL 3.  Not just the 3 parts of the Basic Skills, but ALL 3 EXAMS!

And it was such an AWESOME day I went out and ran my first 5K.  I didn't have a great time, I finished in 34:21ish... Curt snapped a picture of me at 34:21 but I still had 3 or 4 steps to go.  But I finished and that is huge for me.  Especially considering that I have only run 5 times this Spring and 2 of them were this week (including the 5K).  And today was only the second time I've attempted 3 miles... So I think I did pretty good.  Now I'm training for a Duathlon at the end of August... Crazy I know!!

Here are pictures from the 5K...

Me and Rachel before the race

Just before I rounded the corner to finish

Just before crossing the finish line

Apparently me running doesn't just wear me out! He fell asleep in the car on the way home. So precious!

Ethan's Kindergarten Field Trip -- To the ZOO!!

This past Wednesday Ethan's Kindergarten class went on a field trip to the Binder Park Zoo. This is the 3rd time I've gone on a school field trip to this zoo. Twice with Jacob and this once with Ethan. Over the last 3 years I have found certain things to be true.

1. If at the beginning of the week the weather man calls for sunshine and warm weather. Don't believe him. It is going to be cold. It is going to act like its going to rain and you are going to wish you had packed a 3rd jacket because 2 just aren't cutting it.... but you will not need the umbrella... it was a hoax just so you'd pack it and carry it around all day in the 50 pound backpack.
2. As much as you would like to just hang out with your best friend and your 2 children, the teachers like you both and are going to put you in charge of 5 children!!
3. You will think you packed enough food to feed an army, but you will realize (for the 3rd time) that you can not pack enough food. And going more than 5 minutes without eating is a really hard thing for a kindergartener to do!!
4. Money for hot chocolate is a must since all of you are feeling the effects of hypothermia.
5. There is nothing like going on a special outing with your child. And no matter the weather, how many children you are in charge of or how hungry they seem to be, these are the BESTEST memories!!

Rachel and Me

Ethan and Hope

The 5 Hooligans (don't let those innocent faces fool you!)

Ethan and his best friend

The 5 Hooligans and an Elephant

The 5 Hooligans and Rachel (those innocent smiles are very misleading!)

The 5 Hooligans and a scale... apparently they weigh as much as a zebra!! (although I think the scale may be off a smidge because it said the same thing when I stepped on...)

The 5 Hooligans and a Cow

The 5 Hooligans and a VERY large ant

My Hooligan and his teachers Mrs. Walker (left) and Mrs. Bowden (right)