Mom's Secret Recipe

We are big smoothie fans at our house. Every summer we pick blueberries and freeze them in anticipation of year round smoothies. Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying their smoothies.

Now, you might be wondering why I am blogging about smoothies. Is it just an excuse to post cute messy face pictures of my kids? Nope. Am I obsessed with smoothies, and trying to use the word "smoothie" as many times as possible in one post? Well...maybe. Actually, all the moms out there will understand my enthusiasm when you find out the secret ingredient in my smoothies is SPINACH! That's right ladies, each and every batch of smoothies contains half a bag of spinach. Here is the recipe just in case you would like to make your family a "smoothie." Enjoy!

1 c frozen blueberries

1/2 bag spinach

enough milk to blend everything together, about 1/2 c

1/2 quart peaches

1 big scoop of psyllium fiber (yep, that's Metamucil)

1 big scoop of ground flax seed

Put everything in a blender and let it rip. Happy blending!

I Feel Pretty! Oh So Pretty!

Most of the time I like to write a little ditty explaining the pictures, or giving background information, but I'm thinkin' these pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!

It Never Fails

This morning I got out of the shower to find Claire redecorating the bathroom with toilet paper. I have to say, as the mother of four crazy kids, I wasn't even surprised. Over the years I've found much worse--like the time Jackson completely covered my bedroom with ALL the wrapping paper, (unrolled and ripped and crunched, of course), or when Lauren found the extra shampoo under the sink and squirted it onto the carpet, rubbed it all over herself using the toilet brush, and smeared it down the wall all the way to her bedroom, or Dallin, hiding behind the couch, eating an entire bottle of applesauce using his bare hands. Ah memories...

As you can see Claire is quite pleased with herself. I can't wait to see what she gets into next!

Air Jackson

Jackson played his first season of basketball this winter. The kids start out with skills for the first half and then a quick game at the end. Jackson did a great job learning to dribble and shoot. The coaches were big on teaching zone defense, so during the game, the kids would run down and take their spots, ready to defend their goal. They would plant themselves on the black line ,wave their arms like crazy, but their feet never moved. It was hilarious! Here are a few of Jackson's sweet moves...

We plan to enjoy this Saturday, it's the only one we've had for months with no sports. Next week Lauren starts soccer, and then it's Little League for Jackson.

Meet Joel's Evil Twin

Most of you know that we are BIG fans of the TV show 24. It is always a happy day at the Mattingley house when January rolls around, and the 24 season begins. This year was no exception. We were thrilled to see some of our perennial favorites--Chloe (how does she make those faces without laughing!!!), Bill, and Tony, but we were also pretty excited about the new characters, namely Joel's look-a-like at the FBI. I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed when Joel's stunt double turned out to be a creepy-having-an-affair-traitor-to-our-country/MURDERER!!! Oh well, Joel enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame via his evil twin. (Thanks Shauna for providing exhibits A & B!)