Remembering Neil Armstrong and His Mother

     Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong inside the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. NASA photo.

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Some people remember where they were when they heard that John F. Kennedy had died. Others Elvis. And for us southerners, Bear Bryant.

I will always remember where I was when I heard that Neil Armstrong had passed away. I was at beautiful Smith Lake with my family, checking for weather updates of Hurricane Isaac, when I saw on Twitter that Neil Armstrong had died of complications from cardiovascular surgery.

   
When I heard the news, I thought of his mom, Viola. I thought of raising the boy who would become the first man to step on the moon. And that made me think of my own kids.

My oldest daughter just turned 15 and started driving (with a permit.) A couple of weeks ago, while at my parents' house, she asked to drive around the neighborhood with her grandmother in her grandparents' new car.

After they pulled out the driveway and my dad and I went back into the house, tried to flip through a magazine, and said to my dad, "When we started driving, I don't see how y'all stood it! Weren't you nervous?" Of course, he guffawed and said, "Well, sure!"

After a few more minutes I said, quite squeamishly, "I'm going to have to go sit in the driveway!"

It seemed like an eternity before they turned down the corner and into my view of the street from the driveway. I sweated until they pulled into the driveway, safe and sound.

How did Neil Armstrong's mom feel about sending away her son to go to the moon? 

I wanted to know if anyone had written about her then. How did she do it? What did she think? How did she muster the courage? As I tried to research and learn more about his mom, I ran across this blog post which confirmed that Neil had learned his strength of character from his mother.

Viola Armstrong

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Neil Armstrong was is a hero to me. He represents courage and nobility, humility and grace. I will always remember him. And his mother.

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I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.

~Neil Armstrong

Time Management Tip - Weekly Menu Board

Time management is so important. Right? I thought I would share a tip on how to manage time. Right now I am in a season of my life where time is very limited. I'm always on the lookout for and trying new ways to multi-task, delegate, plan, and organize so that I can make the most of my time and have quality time with my family. 

Here are my girls on the first day of school...

They're both really busy with their schedules, too, so one way that I maximize our time is by using my DIY Menu Board. Hubs is usually the one who's at home to start dinner for everyone, and by having a menu board, I don't get the call late in the day of "What should I fix for dinner?" (Do you ever get that call?)

Last Saturday I had to go into work for a few hours, and I had my daughters to go with me.  I asked them to create the dinner menu for the week. Then we took a trip to the grocery store to get what we needed for the week (using a shopping list is one of the best time-and money-saving tips!)

Can you read it? Lots of "kid" food on the menu, but Hubs knows how to adapt for the grownups in the house. For example, Sunday night the kids wanted tacos. They get beef tacos, Hubs and I bake Tilapia and have fish tacos. We also bake extra fish to have for lunches the next day(s). (We created "fish bowls" which are brown rice, corn, black beans, and fish on top. Yum!)

On Monday, lettuce instead of a bun with the burgers, and sweet potatoes instead of fries.

Thursday is volleyball game night, so we made it pizza salad night. Easy Peasy for us and quick when we get home from the games. For Hubs and me, we'll have leftover grilled chicken. All we'll have to do is cook some rice or quinoa and stir fry veggies while the pizza is in the oven.

Friday night's menu is salmon croquettes. I grew up eating these, and now my girls love them as much as I do. When we go visit my parents, the girls usually request this for dinner. Because I have an event to attend Friday night, I'll make these Thursday night and they can be reheated Friday night while I'm out.

Notice that there is something green on the menu each night. The girls did that, too. I guess my harping on them about eating vegetables really **is** sinking in! 

By using the menu board, we can create our menu for the week, create a shopping list according to the menu, prepare extra for the next day's lunches, build in "easy" dinner nights, and cook ahead based on schedules.

Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

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6 Tested Recipes and Birthday Party Recap

What have I been up to?  Well... I've been cooking up a storm! Only one recipe didn't turn out, and that was the roasted cabbage.

Here's what I've cooked this weekend and early this week:

• Grilled Balsamic Flank Steak
• The Magic Sausage Supper
• Warm {Paleo} Chickpea Salad
• Hearty Beef Stew
• Simple Baked Meatballs
• Jamie Eason's Turkey Meatballs
• Roasted Cabbage

It's been a busy time around here, gearing up for school to start, and I realized that I hadn't posted pictures from my daughter's birthday party from last week. The party was a huge success, and the local country singer we hired was terrific! The girls love country music, and I think they really enjoyed having Trey Thomason perform for them. 

I started the decorations at the door, by creating a wreath with my daughter's initial in it. 

I used flowers in mason jars around the house to add to the country feel.

Pizza's not a country picnic food, but teenagers love it and it's easy. :)

The Indoor S'Mores were a huge hit, too.

I just lined baskets with bandanas for the chips. The girls who spent the night we appreciative of the late-night snack!

No cake this year. My daughters are not big cake-eaters, and she wanted these bite-size brownies from Costco so that they could make individual servings of heaven.... spoon ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream on top of the brownie in a bowl. {Like that tiered stand?}

It's a family tradition to use 3 candles. One for yesterday, one for today, and one for tomorrow.

We moved everything around and brought out some barstools, Trey set up under the covered part of our deck where the ceiling fan is!

The girls are ready to listen to some country music!

Look at her face. I think this was right after she sent me a text to go inside!

Trey sings to one of my daughter's friends.

Notice all the cell phones out! I think they're texting each other. 

All in all the party was a super night (even when I had to go to work the next morning!) I think tomorrow she's going to go try for her driving permit!

Thanks for stopping by,

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Warm Chickpea Salad

I'm gearing up for August's 10-Day Challenge, and along with doing a Pantry Rehab, I'm collecting and trying Paleo recipes. The 10-Day Challenge is about cutting out sugar, exercising, and making healthy food choices. The Challenge is not about eating Paleo, although this month I'm cutting out gluten as much as possible, as well as carbs in forms of pasta, breads, etc. 

This weekend I tried several new recipes that I've collected on Pinterest, which has led to my new favorite snack, Warm Chickpea Salad. 

On a side note, a reader reminded me that garbanzo beans are NOT Paleo, because they are a legume. Want to see the list of what IS and what is NOT Paleo? Click here. 

I found the recipe at StoneSoup. If you haven't been to the website, check it out. There are some tasty and easy recipes there.  Here's what is says on the website:

Welcome to Stonesoup! I'm Jules Clancy. I love food especially veggies. I have a degree in Food Science and am the author of 5 ingredients 10 minutes. 

Stonesoup is a weekly blog about fresh,healthy, delicious food.The fact that most recipes here contain 5 ingredients and can be made in minutes is a bonus.

Perfect, huh?? 5 ingredients or less and healthy! 


Here's the recipe for the chickpea salad:

1 clove garlic
1 sprig rosemary, leaves picked
pinch dried chili flakes, optional (I used chili powder)
small handful whole almonds
1 can chickpeas, drained (14 oz) 

Heat medium frying pan over a medium high heat. Add 2T olive oil.
When the oil is hot, add garlic, rosemary, chili and almonds. Stir fry for a minute or so until the garlic is just beginning to brown.

Toss in the drained chickpeas and continue to stir fry until the chickpeas are warm and starting to brown up a little as well. Season with salt and serve warm.

Are you eating Paleo? I would love to hear about your experiences!

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Indoor S'Mores {how-to}

Tuesday was my oldest daughter's birthday. She turned 15. Yikes! Many of you read about the ideas I had collected for decorating and food... so I wanted to share our Pinterest-inspired treat that the birthday girl made for her friends.

Here's the birthday girl with her birthday wreath...

Since she was having a local country singer to come and play for a few hours for her and her friends, we kept the decor "country-western." The wreath is just a Dollar Tree pool noodle taped together at the ends and wrapped with plaid ribbon from the Dollar Tree. I found the letter K at Michael's for 40% off and used a bandana to hang the letter and wreath. Score!

It's waaaaay too hot in Alabama right now to toast marshmallows around the fire pit, so we created "Indoor S'Mores," inspired by this picture found on Pinterest:

Source: eventolistas.com.br via Jennifer on Pinterest

I went on a crazy shopping spree to Wal-Mart in the pouring rain to get the supplies. I love my daughter that much. :)


Here's what I picked up:

The first step was to skewer the marshmallows onto the lollipop sticks. 

I wasn't sure how many chocolate chips to melt, so I just guessed and used about half a bag. I could have used a little less... there was a little leftover that didn't get used. 

While I was manning the microwave and stirring the chocolate chips, the 15-year-old was pounding on the graham crackers. We used 2 sleeves... 1 sleeve would have probably been enough. 

Next step, dip marshmallows in the chocolate and then the graham crackers.

I picked up this styrofoam rectangle at Wal-mart, too. I knew which basket I wanted to use for the S'Mores, and luckily this piece of styrofoam fit perfectly. 

When they finished cooling off, I added them to the basket and used bandanas to create a kind of "filler." 

I really liked the way they turned out, and the girls said that they tasted "awesome." Can't get much better than that!

Dear Daughter calls them "smores," with one syllable. I say them like "suh-mores," with two syllables. It drives DD crazy! How do you say it?


I'll share more birthday pictures soon... I haven't had the opportunity to edit and sort all the pictures from the party. 


Have a great weekend!

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