Nothing de-stresses me more than sitting down and watching my kids play and explore. I smile at their innocence and ability to use their imagination to play for hours even if they are just jumping on a rock.

Since they were toddlers, we would take walks in the woods, and I would pretend that I saw the magical creatures in movies, like “Princess Mononoke.” Watching them makes me realize there is still something about this life that is still worth it.

It’s been a rough year but by just watching my children play, I know that I will one day know happiness again.

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Isabelle, Ethan, and Cebastian

Originally uploaded by dreamingindc

Super short video of the kids. In a second, these kids will be teenagers.

Awhile ago, I wrote about Isabelle having some difficulty with reading. I placed her in a tutoring program that was going to work with her teacher to get her caught up.

She has been going for a couple of months now, and I am amazed how much her reading has improved. Before, she had no confidence in reading anything. She would start whimpering that she didn’t know how to read. Also, her writing also suffered because she didn’t know how to spell what she was writing.

Now, she loves to read. She always asks if we can sit down and read. When she is reading, she can read sentences without stopping. In the past, we would struggle in putting more than three words together.  I am so proud of her.  One thing that this has taught me is to never give up, and teach your kids to not do the same.  Even if it’s hard, you will eventually get it, so keep on trying.

Also, money isn’t everything.  When you die, you don’t take it with you.  I’m glad that I paid for the tutoring even if I didn’t get any help from anyone else.  In the end, it doesn’t matter how much it cost, but that my daughter has the love for reading and books that I’ve always wanted my children to have.

Cebastian went to his first cub scout camping. It was also Isabelle’s and his first time camping. I made a video of Cebastian making a fire with his dad. You can tell by some of my comments that if I were stuck in the middle of the wilderness, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

This year, I have been cooking more than I have in years.  For some reason, I had gotten lazy, and so the kids and I had been eating out way too much.  It got to the point that they wouldn’t touch food unless it was made from a restaurant.  Last week, I made this Shepherd’s Pie with potatoes and sweet potatoes. I got it out of this book, Healthy Cooking for Your Kids.  It has great recipes that help you make yummy food that your kids will actually eat.  It worked! My kids couldn’t stop eating it.

After that, I decided that I wanted to create this Coconut Chicken that I saw in my The South Beach Diet book.  It didn’t stop there.  I wanted to continue cooking, so I made two Spinach and Mushroom quiches, one for tomorrow and one for later.  It makes me feel good when I cook.  I am taking different ingredients, and using my hand to create something that others will savor.  It’s something that I love to do.

Cooking and food is a way to bond families. If you talk to people, you will usually get a story about how a certain recipe reminds them of a beautiful memory that they had with their family.  It’s one of the other reasons that I love food so much.  It’s something that I want to pass my love for cooking on to my  kids.  Whenever they have a chance, I have them in the kitchen with me stirring something on the oven (while I supervise, of course).

What food makes you think about family?