Goal for the Month

I regularly blow my grocery budget. The combination of my love of cooking and our family's consumption of produce presents a challenge for a family closely watching its dollars!

I do my share of couponing, but we don't eat a lot of processed food, so there aren't many coupons that make a big difference in our bill. What we really need is a cow, especially if it could automatically produce pasteurized whole and skim milk! Farmers market starts soon, and that will help the cost of produce. But in the meantime...

I asked my friend Lindsey what some of her tricks are to feeding her family so healthily on a budget, and the first thing she mentioned was cooking a whole chicken. Did you know that the best part of a cooked chicken is all the fat and juices that cook off? Apparently the marrow is extremely nutritious, and you should save all that junk to make a fantastically good-for-you broth. Who knew?

So there you have it. My goal for the month of April is to cook a whole chicken, creatively use all the chicken meat and make some of that crazy good broth. What is your best trick for cooking healthily and CHEAPLY?

Back to the Cabin

Last weekend was the second annual Gross family weekend with Jake's parents and sister Betsy's family at The Cabin. It was blessedly dry when we arrived, so we wasted no time getting right to work playing!

The sights and sounds of being up there are just echoes of my childhood and SO SO indescribably sweet to share with my family!

Cade (4) getting a bootful of cold March creekwater!

He wasn't the only one who didn't mind that cold water!

Blythe literally was impossible to keep out of the water- the kid ended up sitting down- fully clothed- in the creek to splash.

Then we got on dry clothes and moved into the pasture. Here is Luke (2), showing enough security in his manhood to ride a pink bike.
J.O.Y. (see Dad and Blythe catching a football in the background).
Blythe, Bop Bop, and said football.
Joy took Bop Bop down.
Of course there was some "marshing" as Abby Jane calls roasting marshmallows.
Just enjoying the fire and warmth inside on a rainy Saturday! Right around the fire is where the adults spent some great quality time during kids' naps and after bedtimes. We had a great time enjoying good food, good drink, serious game playing, and some good times.
Decorating Cade's birthday cookie!
Uncle Paul's lap attracts kids of all sizes.
Eventually it was decided to venture out, despite thunder. This was somewhat short-lived, but still nice to get out.
Sunday morning's fabulous hike up into the national forest. The kiddos did a GREAT job hiking, and Abby Jane lasted longer and more enthusiastically than she ever has. It was so, so fun.
Betsy helping Cade across one of the water crossings from Saturday's rain.
The little ones rocked the backpacks.
Seeing the beginnings of spring up there...
The whole crew! Five kids ages four and under.
Everyone else left on Sunday afternoon, so it was just our family for the after-nap walk to the lake.


After the walk, we planned to go into town to grab a bite to eat. The first two places we wanted to go were closed, so we ended up at Harvest on Main- SUCH a delicious treat! The kids were very well-behaved, but we were still invited to come back without our kids for a romantic evening out sometime. I don't THINK it was a hint...

Playing on the porch after breakfast Monday...

On our morning walk...

Blythe LOVED seeing the cows!!
Trying unsuccessfully to coax the horses over to the fence...

Another perfect weekend at the cabin- came home refreshed, reconnected, and utterly wishing we were still in Blue Ridge... means you had a good time! Thank you, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Boo, for being so generous with that sweet place!

The Other One

On Sunday was the other half I got to do this month, the Georgia half marathon. Because Jake had to be away at his retreat, gigantic thanks go to my family who added my three to the other six children who were fed and loved on while my mom and I went to the race.

Joy sends a special shout-out to her Uncle Chris who manned up to a really epic diaper when he retrieved her in the morning. Par for the course for his level of uncle-hood, but still deserves some recognition.

The pre-race was the exact opposite of our Seaside weekend. That weekend, we ate just right, slept soundly, and had a calm organized morning of the race. This weekend, I enjoyed all the birthday treats of the day before, the babies were up almost hourly that night, Mom overslept 25 minutes (though somehow still it out the door on time), and on the way to the race, I discovered that not only was my phone dead but calamities of calamities...

I had forgotten my iPod. I might as well have forgotten my running shoes.

But when we arrived to the race and I saw the sign of a 2:00 pace group float past Mom and I, and decided to latch onto them. I'm so glad I did! It was amazing how exact their splits were, and I will always look for a pace group in the future!

I kept up with them until 12 miles, when I peeled off and ended up finishing at 1:59:04. Ironically, I was less exhausted than I was just two weeks ago- because I actually ran a steady pace the whole way instead of having a three minute difference between the first and second half of the race like I did at Seaside.

It was so fun to run into the Rutherfords at the finish and see sweet little Cooper again (see Wednesday on this post). Way to go, Lynds, to get out the door, maneuver Marta and watch your man run... all with a newborn!

Mom had a great run as well- she also got a special shirt and bib for it being her FIFTH year in a row to run this race. Way to go, Mom! It was so fun to share the morning with you!

March Extravaganza

All the Elliott side of the family descended on Mom's house last weekend to celebrate two March birthdays. Jake had to be out of town, so I took the girls down on my own. After I put the Blythe and Joy to bed, Abby Jane and I waited out on the back deck for everyone to arrive...

We were really excited that they were coming!

This pic of Maggie from Saturday doesn't look like she was too excited to be there, but she actually was. She had new 11-month-old walking legs to show off!

Katie and Scott, the mostly inseparable oldest two...

Those who aren't swinging, push...
Enjoying beautiful weather with Grammy...
"Feeding ducks" a.k.a. throwing entire pieces of bread out into the water to two disinterested geese...

Trying to get poor Mags to perform...

It's convenient now that the older kids can read... and can read bedtime/naptime stories to the younger set! Katie (7) and Janes.

My lovely littles- check out Blythe's signature bling around the neck AND a tutu. I promise she is not as girly as she looks- this morning she was the first to make a beeline to play in a pile of dirt a chipmunk made next to my flower pots...

Celebrating Ryan's 5th birthday that afternoon...

"Top of the Hill" ice cream cake I made for Greg, who is turning 39 next week. Get it? Because next year, he'll be 40 and over the... yeah, you get it. Had to be mint chocolate chip, randomly all my siblings' and my favorite ice cream flavor and randomly hated by all our spouses.

A late-night pic of the siblings and Mom...
The kiddos did not sleep well- all three of the babies had runny noses- so we were somewhat sleep deprived. But those sweet, sweet memories all of us share are worth it! Sunday gets its own blog post, and I'll leave that for tomorrow.

Last week in review

Monday...

Tuesday...
Wednesday...

Thursday...