WHAT I COOKED

    We love love a good pot of Zuppa Toscana. But I just never know what to do with all the kale... The bags of kale, in our grocery store, are just enormous. And there is just no way, I am putting all this kale into one pot of Zuppa Toscana. Then the rest of the 3/4 of the bag sits in our fridge until it sends I unpleasant aroma throughout the fridge...

    Well this time I decided to be creative, and not let the rest of the kale go to waist. I put together bunch of ingredients I had in the fridge, and that's how this recipe was born. 

     For this recipe you will need

3/4 (or the whole thing) bag of kale

6-8 slices of bacon

1 can of white beans 

1 cup of sliced mushrooms 

2 large cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp of olive oil

1/2 tsp of salt

Start with heating up some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté until golden. Add the beans in and mince the garlic, keep sautéing for couple of minutes. Meanwhile in a separate pan fry cut up bacon until crispy. After 2 minutes add the kale into the large pan and let it wilt for few minutes. Add salt to taste and finally add the crispy bacon. Enjoy! 

I also had some yummy pitta bread with it. 

  

OUR OILY JOURNEY

    Last winter season wasn't nice to our health. My poor kids have been through so many cycles of antibiotics that I just had enough! So my search for more natural treatment had started... After so much research I stumbled upon Young Living Essential oils. I found a girl on Instagram who used them. Madison was very patient with me, answering all my questions, and pointing me to the right source to learn more. When I was ready, Madison helped me to purchase the Young Living essential oils. Ever since the oils arrived, our lives have been changed. We absolutely love them!

    If to be honest, the love for oils didn't start right away. I was skeptical and lazy to give it my all to use them. Until in July, my poor Adrian came up with Fifth disease (aka hand, foot and mouth disease). Little guy was screaming on a top of his lungs all morning long. He couldn't eat, play or do anything at all... At one point when he was screaming with his mouth wide open, I noticed that his whole throat area is covered in white blisters. Then I took off his socks and saw huge watery blisters. I knew right away what it was! But I had no idea what to do to make my boy comfortable, that's when I remembered I have oils ( I have neglected them for few weeks). I remembered Madison telling me about Pinterest having lots of recipes, and sure enough I found that a few drops of Thieves mixed with coconut oil should help. That's exactly what I did. I am not kidding you, after I dipped Adrian's pacifier into the mixture, minutes later he stopped crying. Then I tried giving him a drink, he took it. Then some food and he ate. I kept on reapplying the Thieves and coconut oil on his pacifier as soon as he showed signes of discomfort, by evening I didn't even have to do it so often. I also put some Laveder oil on his feet, as I read that Laveder can help heal faster. Couple of days later blisters from Adrian's throat and feet were gone! We had our happy boy back! And that's when this momma right here started to believe that oils do work! 

   I have so much more to share with you, about our oily journey, but that's some other time. Stay tuned for more oily adventures!

A happy mail day! 

 

Our collection is sure growing... 

 Thieves is also our favorite go to remedy when we have sore throat! At first signs of sickness, I add 1 drop of each thieves and lemon essential oils to my tea, and no cold can stay around! 

IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG!

Hi, I am back! I know it has been so so so so long since I blogged last... But I am back and hoping to appear here, with a blog post, more frequently. Oh boy, do I have a lot to post on here?! Well stay tuned for all the exciting stories.

CHRISTMAS RECAP IN PHOTOS

My husband and I are all about building traditions and memories. Ever since we got married, we set a goal to have at least one day during the holidays all to ourselves and our kids. This is our sixth Christmas together, and we are still sticking to our goal.

    This year we had " our own" little Christmas celebration on a Christmas Eve eve, December 23rd to be exact. We had some simple dinner, which followed by decorating a ginger bread house and ginger man cookies. Then we read the beautiful story of Jesus' birth. And then of course the gift opening. This year I felt like my heart will burst from happiness! Because it wasn't just me and husband, and not one, but two sweet little munchkins were giggling by the tree. 

On Christmas Eve, we had my in laws and my sister in law's family celebrating with us... Unfortunately I don't have that many photos... When I host a party or a dinner, I tend to forget about the picture taking. But nevertheless, we had a wonderful evening together! 

Table set, and waiting for the guests to arrive. 

This is my husband's parents with all four of their grandchildren, two of which were born in 2013. 

On Christmas Day, we woke up early in the morning, got dressed in our church best, and headed to Binghamton to celebrate the holidays with my family. First we stopped by their church, it was a beautiful Christmas service. After church we all went to my sister Sveta's house, where we ate lots of yummy food and had good time just chatting away. Kids, as always were super loud! Just because they miss seeing each other so much... And again, I had such a good time, that I forgot all about the pictures! So I have only a handful to choose from.

The kids were so excited about opening their gifts, it was difficult to get not a blurry picture.

My sister Oksana got same dog for all three girls. You can only imagine how much barking we had at once. These dogs are bettery operated and bark like crazy... 

Over the holidays, Alexis got a chance to participate in a Sunday school play. She gets super excited about it. 

     As always Christmas was filled with lots of joy and laughter and good times with family. But the biggest joy of the Christmas season, is the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ! 

HALF A YEAR

    Time flies, especially fast, when it involves little once... I wish I could stop the time and keep my children little for a little longer. But unfortunately it's just impossible! Thank God for modern technology, with which we can at least capture the moments and milestones are tiny humans go through.

    I can not believe that our little man is already half a year old! It seems just recently, we were crying out to God to bless us with another baby miracle... And now here we are, are tiny miracle boy is growing up way too fast. In his six months of life, he brought us lots of happiness and cuddles (he is the most cuddly little guy ever). His big sister absolutely loves him, and keeps on telling us that he is her best friend! 

The first time I held our second bundle of joy! I look so tired, but so content and overfilled with happiness! 

Daddy holding his son. I was so happy, when at 28 weeks we were told that the baby in my belly is actually a boy! I remember that very day, my husband started dreaming of hunting trips and four wheeler drives... 

Alexis meeting her baby brother for the first time. Her best friend! I pray that they always remain best friends and never stop loving each other! 

The day we were taking our little Adrian home.

I absolutely love the stage, when they are so little and have the cutest facial expressions! 

At 5 months Adrian had his first Thanksgiving. And we are truly blessed and have lots to be thankful for!

At 6 months it was Adrian's first Christmas. 

If I could, I would stop the time! Since its impossible, I'm just going to take in one day at a time with my kids and husband. With God's help, we will make memories and make best of it...