Playlist

Our weekend:

• Attended Blog Sugar...more details to come with pictures. Let's just say, lots of awesomeness, and I left home with SWAG! So fun. Met so many great women including her, her, her, her, her, and her to name just a few. Fun, Fun, FUN.

• Worked here for a few hours.
  
• Went ice skating
• Had them over for dinner
• Went to the Long Beach flea market and got some vintage goodness
• Went to church
• Went to an herbal remedies class
• Had the parents over for dinner
• Had a regrouping meeting with Art. Bottom line: we need to get back on track with a schedule for the kids. Chaos has been abundant round these parts and we need to get back on track. This includes meal plans again for me. More on that later...
• Made an awesome worship CD playlist for me and the kids. Mix of kids and grown up worship songs for us to listen to in the car. Some highlights: How Great Is Our God by Chris Tomlin, Mighty to Save and Hosanna by Hillsong and Every Move I Make by Cedarmont Kids. Listening to it right now and it's awesome!

Phew, I'm tired!

Coming this week, pictures from Blog Sugar, pictures of my vintage finds and a new weekly subject post. I was inspired at Blog Sugar and am going to finally do a post about something that I have wanted to do for a long time!

Until next time my friends...

What brings you Peace?

This weekend was a very long moment of peace for me that I thoroughly enjoyed. I felt like I accomplished so much, yet felt relaxed while doing it. I got to see pure joy in my children's eyes and was fully present for it instead of being distracted.

I was able to take part in an amazing fund raising events that benefited animals (we also were able to take part in an event that benefited a little girl that has touched so many hearts since the day she was born).

I got to connect with a dear friend over a common interest and had a great time doing it. At the flea market I scored an amazing old cast-iron corn bread muffin tin so I had to give it a trial run.

What goes better with corn bread than soup? Butternut squash soup to be exact that I made with butternut squash grown in our garden.

The recipe was something I kind of came up with on the fly but overall was really easy and the results stupendous. If you have a soup tureen that never gets used, this is the perfect time to break it out and make an occasion out of it.

Butternut Squash Soup
Cut stems off of 2-3 medium sized BS and cut in half. Place flesh side down on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes - hour at 400 degrees

Let cool, then scoop out flesh into a blender and puree along with 2-3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth.

Heat 3-4 tbsps of butter in a large stock pot and add:
3 diced carrots
half diced onion
4-5 diced green onions (use bottom halves only and save top greens for garnish)
Sautee till soft but not browned

Add butternut squash puree and about 2 cups of frozen or canned corn to the sauteed veggies
Also add about 2-3 more cups of chicken or vegetable broth till it's the consistency you want (more broth for a runnier soup, less for a thicker soup)

Simmer till heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste

Other moments of peace included realizing that we have friends that love and accept us even when we are over an hour late to an event! And to my relief, getting a call from a friend that I thought was mad at me.

Then MONDAY came...
and after sitting on the 405 freeway en route to Tanaka Farms for Taylor's preschool field trip, thus delaying our pumpkin patch ride over an hour, resulting in two hungry, cranky and at times, screaming kids, followed by flu mist doses that were administered to more screaming kids while being pinned down, my weekend of peace has passed.

My assignment is to find a little more peace to mix into what is starting off as a crazy week. Yo peace, I want you back. Ready or not, here I come.