A Day in the Life...

 My job is for sure the craziest busiest job I've ever had. A part of my responsibility is to credential/certify in the intervention that my team offers. I have to credential in 100 items, and that's a whole bunch of work. Balancing it between the live work I have to do with a family whose child has complex mental health needs, supervisory responsibilities, community partnership responsibilities, and coaching my team is no small feat. Today it happened!! I got this email this morning! And yes, I took a screenshot from my phone 🤣 The completion of this means a lot in the long run as far as opportunities to move up within our organization. In the short run, it takes a little off my plate of responsibilities and hopefully sends a raise my way...

We are not Valentine's day lovers. I did get the girls a gift, which I gave them early cause I thought they'd love it, and I came home to a fun surprise. Orange roses... Man alive! And a note from Tim- notes are my language and I love 💕 it.  I wrote the girls a note and I love how Tim followed suit 💕 And, a nacho bar for the super bowl, which we've also never cared about until Micah insisted we watch. She asked for nachos with salsa, to sit by Tim and watch, and for all of us to cheer for the Bengals. So we did.  

Tim turned 40 on the seventh!   It was a Monday, so a bit of a crazy morning.  I woke up at 5:00 to make him fresh peanut butter bars and decorate the kitchen, and none of the stinkin' kids would get up with me.  Oh well.  We had the usual work/school day but skipped karate that night to go out to dinner at Mi Ranchitos.  Here are 40 things about Tim: If you ask him what his favorite color is, he'll tell you "death" He actually likes green Sometimes he chops foods in the air with our kitchen knives He is an excellent dad His favorite food is Alice Springs Chicken (and I make a killer -and healthier- homemade version) Desserts with peanut butter and chocolate are also his favorite He loves to shoot the kids and the pets with Nerf guns He works very hard He loves audio books He loves God and Christ He'd rather be home than anywhere else He wears white shirts in the summer and a black hoodie in the winter He prefers mountains over cities He loves water He take...

 I have been studying the human body's microbiome.  Essentially, it's trillions of bacteria that live in your body.  Some of this bacteria might be disease, but lots of it is really important for healthy body functions- like immune systems, digestion, nerve function, brain health, and lots of other areas. It affects gut health, blood sugar, weight, and heart health.  Your gut microbiome has to be fed, and it improves with variety and diversity of foods, particularly plant-based foods with loads of fiber, and fermented foods. The magic number is 30 different plant-based foods in one week. Plant based foods are: all veggies and fruit, all (raw) nuts and seeds, legumes, and whole grains.  I limit whole grains so there's nothing with gluten, but it still leaves plenty of options. Shandee and I have been challenging each other's "plant points" to hold each other accountable.  This past week I invited my own little family to join us in counting and it's been fun...

Lookie what I made today!  I'm so happy about it and proud of myself.  Tim hung the hooks in the ceiling but I did the rest, and I sure love it!  Hoping the twine I bought is strong enough... I started buying myself flowers every couple of times I hit the grocery store.  They make me smile. David the Chia Pet is out of control.. Red's had a rough day of doing absolutely nothing... Miss Copper being a goofball.  Sure love this beautiful girl of mine.  She's a Harry Potter lover still, would rather be with her friends than home (most of the time), and is a silly, loving, and just a down-right good human.    This guy next to me is my favorite person in the whole wide world. Couple of cousins acting silly at Oma's! Proof: Kota does  shower, wash her hair, and curl it on church days... And she still steals my phone to take selfies... Miss Micah's shoes.  She grew out of her Vans and it's the only thing she'll wear.  She picked out new wh...