High Five for Friday #5

  High five for Friday!  Another week is behind us and I can't believe how fast it's gone by.  This one was another good one, which we appreciate so much more after the hard ones we've had recently.  Here's some highlights from our week:

#1

Auntie is visiting!  The reason for her visit, to finalize Uncle's paperwork with the company and collect his life insurance, isn't a happy one but we're so glad that she's here.  I can't believe how much I've missed her.  She has such an amazing sense of humor and we find ways to laugh about the hard things.  I'm so lucky to have this woman in my life.

#2

Sky had her dance recital this weekend and she did great.  She memorized her routines all on her own and wasn't shy on stage at all.  The pictures above are her formal ballet pictures from this year and I think they capture her perfectly.  The picture on the top is how we see Sky at home: bold, colorful, strong, and full of life.  The picture on the bottom shows her public side: shy, quiet, and hiding just a little bit.  She's so full of life and we love that girl to pieces. 

#3

Our family got the sad news this week that D's grandmother had passed away.  His Grandma V was a strong woman and was the last of his grandparents.  We're so blessed that she got to meet all of our children and that we have pictures of them together.  D has always said that the family she raised (five kids on a farm) was his inspiration for wanting a large family of his own.  Because of the distance, we won't be able to attend the funeral but we're holding her, and D family, in our hearts and prayers right now.

#4

Sky lost her first tooth!  (and I lost the battle with blogger so there's no picture for this one).  She actually pulled it herself after we'd put her in bed so it was pretty surprising to us when she ran out with a bloody smile and a tooth in her hand.  Since her adult tooth was already coming in behind her baby teeth and because her birth father had some similar dental issues, we took her to see the dentist this week.  He told us that "shark's teeth" are pretty common and that while they sometimes correct themselves, Sky will probably need braces.  That's not the answer we were hoping for (D had extensive dental work done as a teenager and we'd really hoped to not have to do any for the kids), but it's years in the future so we're just enjoying our gap-toothed girl for now.

#5

Our second 6-week fast is over!  We've been eating vegetarian meals for the last month-and-a-half in an effort to help us see food differently and to force us into trying new recipes.  It really wasn't as hard as I expected it to be and I really enjoyed some of the new meals we discovered.  We did eat meat a few times but only twice did we have meat-centric meals (steak for my birthday and corned beef for St. Patrick's day).  Sky only asked for meat once and Fire never noticed the change. The kids favorite meals were homemade buffalo mac and cheese with broccoli, fried wanton ravioli, and quiche with seitan, cheddar, and roasted red pepper (that one was a surprise- I totally expected a fight at that meal and they devoured it!).  The biggest change we saw through this fast was in our grocery bill- because we weren't buying meat, we were spending about $50 less each week in groceries.

Our next fast is from TV.  I think this one is going to be a challenge for D and I because we've gotten into the habit of watching something every night after the kids go to bed. 

And just to finish with some adorableness:

How was your week?  Got any plans for the weekend?

See where I'm linking up here