Sydney

Taylin’s 5th Birthday – A Rainbow Water Party!

Published on January 12, 2014 by SydneyLeave a comment

My daughter requested a “rainbow, water party” this year. Her birthday is in August so we normally try do something in the back yard with family and maybe a couple of friends. I love doing fun parties for my kids but often I feel pressure…pressure to make it “Pinterest Perfect”, pressure to invite all her friends, pressure to get the perfect gift…these are the pressures of our culture. I don’t want to get wrapped up in all of that. So here are the pictures from our simple “rainbow water party”!

Water equaled our kid pool, and a slip and slide.

The rainbow part equaled some dollar store decorations, skittles & a very cool rainbow cake I made!

Just wanted to mention most of these pictures were taken by my step brother Phil. He has a knack for photography and blessed us with some great shots! Thanks Phil!

And now for the cake…it turned out WAY better then I expected and the kids thought it was SOO cool!! Taylin really wanted an American Girl doll. I got one on sale almost a year before her birthday. She was in heaven! My good friend got her and the doll matching dresses!

Now to share a few pictures of her cousins and friends! The kids had a blast and I didn’t kill myself making this party happen! I would call this simple party a WIN!

SERIOUSLY!?!? The emotions in this picture are amazing! These two are Taylin’s cousins…they are all gonna be something else when they are teenagers!! Somehow I didn’t end up in a single picture…I usually try to get a picture with the birthday girl or boy…fail! Oh well! Fun times were had and my daughter had a successful 5th birthday!

Bryson’s First Birthday

Published on January 11, 2014January 22, 2014 by SydneyLeave a comment

So I’m a little late (his birthday was in MAY!!!) but I just found a post about my son’s first birthday sitting in my drafts! Not sure how I never published it but I figured I would share the pictures anyways!

I really enjoy putting on birthday parties for my kids but I can’t justify a large budget…it’s just a party after all. Over the years I have tried to come up with cost effective decor and I think I accomplished that with Bry’s first birthday! I sewed a scrap fabric banner to hang in the living room and I made the number 1 out of cardboard that I painted with some acrylic paint I had on hand.

These decorative balls were made out of construction paper. They were super easy and a cheap way to add a pop of color to the party! IMG_5144_edited-1

I made a giant cupcake for Bry which I also did for my daughters first birthday.I added a cute bunting on top instead of a candle.

It was a simple and fun party to celebrate this sweet boy! I can’t believe how fast time goes! I guess I better start planning his 2nd birthday!

Roatan 2014…Giving Back

Published on October 29, 2013 by SydneyLeave a comment

Friends…it’s been a long time since I’ve posted…life has been crazy and my priorities have been my kids, volunteering at church and just enjoying life! I’m super excited to post about what I’m doing next year! Our church does a few different mission trips each year and his year I’m excited to be a part of the team heading to Roatan, Honduras.

Roatan is a small island off the coast of the coast of mainland Honduras. We will be building two houses for families in need. This island is an interesting place…on the water there are beautiful resorts and the cruise ships come in several times a week. If you really see the rest of the island you will see that there is a huge population of people who live in extreme poverty.This trip will be my 8th or 9th mission trip…I’ve lost track at this point. I feel like God has placed this desire in my heart to serve. Serve people locally and specifically serve people overseas. I’m not sure why but I always feel this tug on my heart to travel the world and help people! This year my husband and I agreed that I could go. He will be serving these families at home while he takes the week of off work to take care of our kids.

Our team will be building 2 houses in the course of the week. To learn about the families we will be building for take a look at this link. I am so excited to see all that God is going to do! The trip is March 1st-8th, 2014 and I truly can’t wait to get dirty, swing a hammer, shovel gravel and do whatever is needed to help get these two houses built!

We need your help in two ways:

Financially – The trip is roughly $1,500 and while I would love to pay for it on my own, we don’t currently have the finances to do that. I’m willing to clean houses, babysit, or do anything else to help raise some money. If you need help with anything let me know! I’m happy to workIf you would like to donate to my trip you can make a donation online through our church PayPal site. In the notes put “Sydney Ross – Roatan” http://tinyurl.com/lzykn3e
Prayer – Specifically pray for all of us going on the trip, for safety, for our hearts, and for our team to work well together. Pray for the families – that God will use these houses to glorify him!I’m excited for this trip! Excited for the new relationships that will be built and for the ability to give to these two families a safe place to call home! Below are a few pictures from my last trip in 2011

28 And Finding Joy

Published on June 25, 2013 by Sydney8 Comments

Today is my birthday…I’m 28 years old. Most people would be like “Oh…you’re so young!!”. True I am young but birthdays get me thinking. I’ve been thinking a lot the last couple of weeks about life, goals and being a stay at home mom.

For some people being a stay at home mom seems to come comes naturally. For others, like me, it hard. I watch both my sister-in-laws and feel like they have it down! They don’t sweat the small things, they seem to enjoy the little moments and don’t mind if their houses gets a little messy :). These things don’t come naturally to me…at all!! I get anxious when my house is a mess, I like order and routine to my day and I’m not a spontaneous person so when things don’t go as planned it’s hard for me. You might be thinking why are you sharing? Because it’s my reality. I love my kids but being a stay at home mom is very hard for me. It’s a very draining, and never ending job…this year I want to try to focus on finding the joy in it.

I want to enjoy the small things. Look past the blocks and barbies everywhere and see the joy of my two kids playing together. Look past the chores of the day and decided to find joy in serving my family. I know this is where I’m supposed to be. God has blessed us beyond anything I could have ever imagined to make it possible for me to be home. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

The last year has been a hard one for me. Lots of good times and great memories with the kids but also lots of hard, and extremely draining days. I believe that God puts us in an uncomfortable place to help us grow and learn…to make us be stronger, better people. Instead of being frustrated with my situation I want to find the joy.

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24

Tiny’s Organic Produce…They Deliver!!

Published on April 12, 2013 by SydneyLeave a comment

So today I got my first box of produce from Tiny’s Organic delivered to my house! I ordered from them because my friend recommended them and they have a delivery option. Here in Seattle we have a lot of options for produce but a lot of them require me to pick it up. Let’s be honest trying to pick up a bunch of produce with two small kids is just not super practical so I was okay with paying a little more for delivery.

I ordered a “small farm box of fruits and vegetables” from Tiny’s. It was $25 and that included the delivery fee. I ordered mine on a Tuesday and they delivered it on Friday. From what I can tell they do deliveries on Tuesday and Friday.

My daughter and I were really excited to see what was in the box. She requested this picture…and then immediately ate an orange!! They don’t tell you ahead of time what will be in our box…this could be a good or bad thing…I’m hoping it makes me try new things (like the kale!!).

My box contained the following items:

One bunch of kale raab (not sure what to do with it…hmm)
One bunch of cilantro
A Lg head of romaine lettuce
4 Lg carrots
2 russet potatoes
1 sweet potatoes
1 yellow onion
1 red onion
1 Lg avocado
3 satsumas
6 assorted apples

I felt like this was a good amount of produce and the quality was great! Everything looks really nice. I ate an apple with my lunch and it was really yummy! I also cooked the sweet potato for Bry and he ate it right up! This box is meant to feed 2 people -I think- not a family but I still feel like it was a good amount of food.

I will likely order from them again – but I’m also thinking of trying out some other companies as well! I’ve heard a lot of good things about Bountiful Baskets but they don’t deliver so next up I think I will try out Full Circle – I’d like to compare a few companies and see which one I like the best!

If you have a yummy kale raab recipe I’d love to hear about it!!

Baked Mac & Cheese

Published on March 26, 2013March 25, 2013 by SydneyLeave a comment

Hey Everyone – I thought I’d share what I made for a couple of weeks ago! It’s a super easy baked mac and cheese. I first had this recipe at my friend Melissa’s house. I was shocked when she told me it had cottage cheese in it. It seems weird but I promise it’s super yummy! Trust me!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb macaroni noodles (I was out of macaroni noodles so I used whole wheat penne)
1 C. Cottage cheese
1 C. Sour cream (I prefer Daisy brand – it doesn’t have a bunch of additives)
1 Egg
1 1/2 C. Shredded cheddar cheese, divided
A pinch of nutmeg
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×9 Square pan or something similar in size.

Cook noodles until al dente, drain well. Meanwhile in a large bowl combine, sour cream, cottage cheese, egg, salt, pepper, nutmeg & 1/2 the cheese. Add the well-drained noodles to the cheese mixture and mix well. Transfer to prepared baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Veggies {Asparagus & Broccoli}…How To Cook Them

Published on March 25, 2013 by SydneyLeave a comment

So I wanted to post my two favorite recipes for veggies. A lot of people say they don’t like veggies but what they really mean is they don’t like steamed, mushy, butter drenched veggies.

I’ve learned that everything can taste gross if you don’t know how to cook it! So I’m going to share my two main ways I cook veggies.

Asparagus

20 Spears of asparagus, washed & ends snapped off
1/2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1/4 Tsp sesame oil (optional – but super yummy!)
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a glass pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the asparagus are tender and slightly crunchy. My asparagus were pretty skinny so if yours are thicker they may take a little longer to bake.

Roasted Lemon/Parmesan Broccoli

DSC_1316 (640x403) Photo Source

6-8 cups broccoli florets, washed and completely dry (this is really important)
1/2 – 1 TBSP minced garlic (I like a lot of garlic but you can do less if you want)
1/2 a small lemon
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 TBSP olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Coat the broccoli with olive oil. Then mix in the garlic, salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The broccoli will get dark and crispy on the edges. You want it to be browned but not burned. Once it’s done baking squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over the top and then top with the Parmesan cheese. Toss it all together and serve hot. You will never make broccoli any other way after you eat it this way! Trust me!!

Do you have a favorite way to cook veggies? I’d love to know!

Banana Pancakes

Published on March 13, 2013 by Sydney2 Comments

So I found this recipe on Pinterest for banana pancakes. It looked so easy which made me want to try it. Although I could probably cook just about anything I really don’t enjoy cooking, it’s more of a chore then anything else. So when I try recipes I like to try the ones with minimal ingredients. This one only has two ingredients.

One banana & one egg…yes you read that right!

Mash up the banana, scramble the egg, mix together and cook just like you would cook any other pancake. I topped mine with fresh strawberries and a really light drizzle of honey. They were so delicious & so easy!

This recipe only makes 1 serving of 3 small-medium sized pancakes so if you want more then double or triple the batch.

Enjoy!

March Meal Plan….Or Lack Thereof!

Published on March 12, 2013 by SydneyLeave a comment

Hi everyone! So it’s been awhile since I’ve posted! Life has been crazy! My sweet little man is crawling & walking on furniture so I feel like I never sit down! I’ve also been participating in a bible study called “Unglued” which is amazing but has taken up a bunch of my free time.

So the March Meal Plan…I went back and forth about whether or not to post one and I ultimately decided against it…here is why. Recently I’ve watched a few documentaries about food (Forks Over Knives, Vegucated, & Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead)…and they are really challenging me. Normally I make a lot of casseroles, and soups that start with cream of whatever or other canned items. The more I learned, the more I’m realizing I need to change the way I cook for our family. My plan is to eat “cleaner”. If you don’t know what that means clean eating is basically whole gains, organic meats, no processed foods, no refined sugars and lots of organic plant-based foods (fruits, veggies, beans, & nuts). The blog, “100 Days of Real Food” has been an amazing source as I navigate what this means for our family. Check it out here if you want more info (and recipes!!).

This may sound extreme but the more I learn the more I feel like it’s a good thing to do for my family. What I want to say is – I’m going to try to do better, not be perfect! As a whole I’m trying to cut out most canned and boxed foods but I will likely still buy some from time to time (I totally bought a pizza at Costco yesterday – I’m not perfect people!!).

My daughter loves mac & cheese and I have not be able to find a homemade version she likes so we will probably just cut back on how much of it we eat. It will be more of a treat instead of a staple in our lunches.

Yesterday I stocked up on fruits and veggies a Costco. I’ve started educating myself on the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 15” lists and shopped accordingly. When I got home I immediately cleaned the strawberries and prepackaged them for easy snacks for my daughter. I also filled my Little Green Pouches with applesauce – again for easy snacks.

I wanted to set some goals for myself:

Cut out as most processed foods
Add more fruits & veggies to our diet
Eat more organic foods (the Dirty Dozen, Milk, & Eggs)
Tweak my current recipes to fit these guidelines
Teach my kids to like healthy foods – this may sound hard but really it’s about learning to cook yummy, healthy foods. My daughter LOVES green beans, & broccoli when cooked the right way.
Cook healthy food that is just as yummy as the other food I used to cook! I’ve had a lot of gross healthy food. It doesn’t have to be that way and I’m determined to figure out how to make it yummy!
Encourage a healthy lifestyle in our family!

This isn’t going to be easy but lucky for me I have a couple of other friends that are on this same journey!! Hopefully we can support each other and share recipes! I’d encourage you to think about what you are feeding your family and start reading labels. If you have some healthy recipes you would like to share I would LOVE to have them!

While I’m navigating what this means for my family I will not be posting meal plans. At this point I don’t even know what to cook for dinner tonight let alone what to cook for a whole month! As I try new recipes or tweak old ones I’ll try to post those. Tomorrow I’ll be posting a really easy recipe for banana pancakes!

February Meal Plan

Published on February 4, 2013February 4, 2013 by SydneyLeave a comment

Here I am, month two and I’m already behind! Sickness hit our house all in the midst of my husband working 19 days straight (with long hours). Basically I was playing mom & nurse and trying not to lose my mind! So the blogging/meal planning had to be put on the back burner. We are almost better but my son has a cough that won’t seem to go away! Prayers are appreciated!

Here is the Link to the Google Doc that has the meal plans.

As a reminder a couple of tips for printing:

Check the box that says “no grid lines”
Layout – select “fit to width” and “landscape”

I’ve already heard from a couple of people that they tried some of the recipes and loved them – which is great!! I hope this can be helpful for people! To be honest I probably only made about half of the recipes I planned. But it was still really nice to have the ingredients in the house and not have to put too much thought into the question “what are we having for dinner tonight?”.

Is there a certain recipe you and your family love? I’d love to know about it! I always love trying new recipes and would love to put it into our rotation in the next couple of months!