Our Faith, Our Family, & Our Friendships.: August 2021

Brooklynns turn !

First day of 4 year preschool!!!

So many tears on my end, But Brooklynn was all smiles and so ready to give it a try!

I'm also vollenteering in the Lunch room so I can be in the building and near both my kids while they are in class! It's an exciting new change for us all and I pray huge blessings on my precious children as they grow in education and spiritually in our Lord! I love the fact that their school has a church service every morning and several Biblical classes a day! In fact, One of Brooklynns classes is called JESUS TIME!!

Thank you Father for the freedom to send my kids to a school that they can hear about him every single day!

Her teachers!

The prince, Mrs Gurney
Aka "the boss" (joke from when Ben was in preschool that stuck! Lol)

6th grade!

Here we come!!

This is the best picture we got so far. Lol

But, I pray it's a year full of our Lord blessings in your life! That you honor him in all that you do and say and Live to be an example of him always!!! Reach souls for Christ, be a shining light for him!

I love you Ben!

End of summer spurge!

This week starts school for Ben! We went to ice cream as a fun thing to make his last weekend of summer special!!

Sugar overload for the win! ....or not. I'll let you know tomorrow. Lol

Homemade chicken nuggets

In my efforts to feed my family healthy I recently decided to try my hand at making chicken nuggets from scratch. Not knowing how they would turn out I made a small batch for lunch...they were amazing!! Taste was exceptional and better than any store bought ones I've ever tried! My kids raved over them and matt said they were great!

So next time I found chicken breasts on sale, I bought a huge family pack and went to town. The goal was to make dinner and then freeze some for a later date, same as I would buy a bag of frozen nuggets for a quick lunch.

They were more cost effective, and I knew all ingredients added since I made them! It made me feel good and I was pretty proud of myself. Tried something totally new and it was a success!

Its almost that time!

So you can bet its nothing but deer talk, hunting shows, gun shooting, bow sighting in, and tree stand climbing practice and all things safety in the Nocella household.

Its like a holiday for the guys around here!

Dirty hands and dragon flies

This is what country living is made of.

20 dozen ears of corn!

Yes! You read that right! 20dozen!

husked, slightly Cooked, cut off the cob, and bagged up!

What a job it was but sooo nice to fill my freezer with farm fresh for winter!

I was so blessed to have the inlaws help with the whole process, start to finish.

Thank you pa and gigi!

I need this...

Lol.

My mother-in-law knows me well.

And I love that about us. She' knows my likes and styles and always picks me up little things that make her think of me, or that she knows I'll like.

She is a treasure to me, Her Love for our Lord. Her Godly example of the Proverbs 31 woman, Her willingness to listen to me, to hear my heart, to not judge, and share our growth in Christ together... that's not something to take for granted and I know what a gift from God she is in my life.. and her love for my family, it knows no end. I know she cares for us deeply and would do anything to make sure we are OK.

This week she surprised me with hand towels that she knew I'd love. I'm very patriotic, and I like to decorate in red, white, and blue! And then put God, family, and farm life in it! They spoke my language! I smile and think of her each time I use them...which is allot!

Healthy banana nut bread!

When we entered this journey of trying to eliminate sugars, food colorings, and processed foods we knew there would be allot of effort on our part and somedays it would feel very overwhelming, as eating healthy DOES TAKE extra time and dedication.

But man. When you pull fresh banana bread out of the oven, the smell is devine, and it's such a good feeling to know exactly what my kids are eating and the ingredients involved!

Fresh laid Eggs, over ripe bananas, grape seed oil, walnuts, dark organic chocolate chips, and sweetened with 1/2 cup each of honey and maple syrup! A perfect breakfast and snacks for all my peoples! And it took less than 10 minutes prep, Bake for 50 minutes minutes and healthy eating!

Monroe county fair!

Both Matt and I grew up enjoying our local county fair. It is very fond memories for us both and something we look really forward to each year still as adults. We love taking our kids and enjoying all the stuff we remember from our childhood! The kids loved the animals and Ben is very much interested in getting involved with 4H in the near future. I was excited that he showed an interest!

After the animal barns, we splurged and got the kids some wrist bands to ride the rides and they had a blast! It was such a fun night full of smiles, greasy food, and fair adventures!