The McQueen's: 365 Project

Showing posts with label 365 Project. Show all posts

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Project 365 is Back... Finally! (week 26)

Oh Wow... I'm officially embarrassed that I've let this blog go over 3 weeks without updates. So, thank you in advance for those of you stopping by and reading up!

Where to start?

We have traveled already in the month of May
Hit the 100 degree temps during the day
Celebrated my 32nd b-day
Trying to stay well... as 3 out of 4 of us have been feeling "under the weather" recently.

About a month ago, we were blessed with a fun Saturday spent with friends! And our 2 kiddos were pumped to see their best bud, Lucy. I don't think they left each other's side! We "explored" Old Dubai and even rode a little boat, which of course was super exciting for the kids!

Day 177: Cuties

Day 178: Boat ride.. anyone? (yes, this is the kind of boat we rode)

Day 179: Souk (Arabic word for market or shop)

*this was definitely a "touristy" souk but thankful for its cleanliness

Day 180: Lanterns and Shoes

Day 181: Old Dubai

And as a continuation of my "Its All About a Balance" post awhile back... here are a few more healthy and tasty recipes...

Day 182: Carrot Cake Balls (thank you pinterest!)

http://www.cookincanuck.com/2013/03/no-bake-carrot-cake-granola-bites-recipe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+CookinCanuck+(Cookin'+Canuck)

Day 183: Chicken Salad (Mayo-Free)

I mixed plain yogurt and feta cheese instead of mayo or cream cheese (a lot less calories)

Homemade Pizza with a thin, whole-wheat crust

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-homemade-thin-crust-pizza-recipes-from-the-kitchn-45499

Breakfast of Champions!

Plain yogurt with homemade granola, tsp of flaxseed and fresh mango

(the mangos this time of the year are amazing!)

http://www.trueaimeducation.com/easy-healthy-homemade-granola-recipe/

If you try out any of these recipes, I'd love to hear your feedback! Or if you have a different recipe that you like, please share it!

Have a great week! And Happy Mother's Day!

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Project 365 (week 25)

No more apologies. No more excuses. I just didn't take my camera out as much the last 2 weeks.

But, I did commit to this Project 365 of taking/posting 365 pictures and I'm going to do just that...fulfill that commitment! Here we go...

Day 170: Colors! Colors! Everywhere!

Day 171: M&M's for Math? Yes. Please.

It sure motivated Micah to do his addition problems!

Day 172: Family TV & Dessert Time

Day 173: World's Largest Mother's Day Card

Of course.. only in Dubai! :)

Day 174: Nice visit with my friend

Day 175: Catching bubbles

Day 176: Puzzle Genius

AND... saved the best for last... Passion UAE 2014! Christ Tomlin and Louie Giglio came to the UAE and I was there!!! What a treat! And what a surreal night! Probably one of the few concerts that I will ever go to that I can sing 99.9% of the songs!

There were so many cameras, flashes, cell phones, stage lights, etc... that my camera kindof freaked out and unfortunately, I didn't get the greatest, most clear pics on my camera. I really need to play around with night-lighting... Nonetheless... It was AMAZING to sing "God of This City" and "How Great is Our God" in a place where most of the people don't believe this

I'm working on capturing some most recent recipes that I've tried out and hope to post in the next week or less. Stay Tuned...

As always... comments are welcomed! :)

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Project 365 (week 24)

Another week has flown by... and it was a busy one! We had a fun week, visiting with friends from out of town and going to visit friends in a different city. Our Spring Break wasn't much of a "break" as we continued school and Randall worked as normal... Nonetheless, it was a good week!

Day 163: Sleeping in socks really works!

(poor kid got my straight hair... so we have to work Extra Hard to get a wave or a curl to stay!)

Day 164: Dancing Fountains... we will never get tired of this!

(sorry if its a little grainy... I was playing around with night scenes)

Day 165: Sweet Friends (visitors from out of town)

Day 166: Homemade Pita Chips

The thing is, my kids LOVE Chips! And baked chips over here are super expensive and regular fried chips are the healthiest... So I decided to create my own "Cool Ranch" baked chips... Since bread is a staple in this part of the world and we can buy a big bag of flat bread for about 50 cents, I decided to try this out.

I tore the bread into pieces, sprayed olive oil on the bread, then sprinkled my mix (dry ranch dressing, onion powder and garlic salt) on top. Baked on 350 for 5-6 minutes. My kids LOVED them! I usually make regular baked pita chips with sea salt, but I thought I would flavor this batch and see if they could serve as a substitute for chips... We have a Winner!

Day 167: Love this precious family and their beautiful girls!

(we took a "road trip to visit our friends) This picture pretty much sums up our evening

Day 168: Curls and Minion Gargles...

Day 169: An Oldie but a Goodie... on a plate

I've been trying to stay away from baking... (even though I love it)... to keep our figures in check... but I gave in when I found a bag of hershey kisses in the cabinet (I forgot about these as I now remember buying them for Valentine's Day... but then we went camping instead!)... Funny how I hide things from myself and then find them a month later....Maybe I'm getting old? (haha)

Thanks for stopping by... As always, comments, posts, jokes, new recipes, etc... are always welcomed! :) Have a GREAT Week!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Project 365 (week 23)

Where has our week gone? I usually try to update on a regular basis... but every time I thought about updating the blog, something else came up! Oh well... better late then never, right?

Well, we have a 7 y/o on our hands now!

I can't believe our first born is 7 years old! This year was different then previous years as we have only lived in Dubai for 8 months and have homeschooled the entire time... and are making friends (slowly)... but living in a big, busy city as ours isn't always the easiest place to meet people...(sounds cliche, I know... but its been true for us). But thankfully, Morgan didn't care about having a "Big Birthday Party" this year and was happy to spend time with our family... and her friend, who happens to be our next door neighbor!

So... I kindof "cheated" this week as most of my pics revolve around Morgan's big day... so technically, most of the pics weren't taken daily.. but in the same day. Enjoy!

Day 156: Waffles= Birthday Cake

Morgan didn't want a b-day cake or even ice cream... but she did request waffles and strawberries!

And so we sang... first thing in the morning!

Day 157: So Big and Grown Up!

Day 158: Peek-a-Boo!

Day 159: Sunset= breath-taking!

Day 160: Brave Girl got her ears pierced!

Day 161: Practicing ABC's via Goldfish

Day 162: Sibling Love

Happy 7th Birthday Morgan! You were God's present and blessing to us 7 years ago and we are so thankful to call you our Daughter! We love you so much and are proud of the young lady you have become!

Please leave Morgan a Birthday Note and tell her how much you love her!

Monday, March 03, 2014

Project 365 (week 22)

"I Spy" are 2 words I hear often in our house, car, the mall, etc... esp having a 5 y/o and a 6 y/o (almost 7 y/o) who Love to Talk... Morgan and Micah love playing this game and it keeps them entertained for quite a while, which is great when you're stuck in Dubai Traffic or in what seems like an "endless" line at the gas station! (But that's just my dramatic side coming out a.k.a. impatient side).

So I decided to take the "I Spy" game and apply it to my photography this week... Enjoy a look at our last 7 days!

Day 149: I Spy... something yummy

(I found dried pinto beans & made my own charro bean soup! So good!)

Day 150: I Spy... something sweet

(babysat for a friend)

Day 151: I Spy... something pink

Day 152: I Spy... something green

Day 153: I Spy... something brown

(my first attempt to homemade ice-cream sandwiches... Micah's request)

Day 154: I Spy... something blue

Day 155: I Spy... something relaxing

It was a fun week! We enjoyed a day at the beach... Randall surfed, the kids played, and I caught up on some reading, while enjoyed a nice cup of coffee (and the view, too!) We're still having decent weather... so trying to soak it all up before the summer temps hit!

Would love to hear how your week went! Until next time...

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Project 365 (week 21)

Did I mention that camping will wear you out? Goodness, I must be getting old... after camping just one night last weekend and loosing some sleep from being cold.. I couldn't get through this week fast enough...or something is going on with my sleeping patterns... who knows? Needless to say, this week kindof dragged on for me. BUT NOT the kids! They always seem to have double the energy that I have (and more).

We had a good week (aside from one tired Momma)! Continued with school as normal, lots of time spent outside (soaking up as much cool weather as possible before the summer heat hits) and even tried out some new recipes... Perhaps feeling tired brought on strange cravings...? Nonetheless, enjoy the pics!

Day 142: Colored rice... great for fine motor skills

Day 143: Beauties from My Love

Day 144: Craving #1 Girl Scout Cookies (Samoa wannabes)...Tasty for sure!

Day 145: Sometimes, you just need to fry something up!

Craving #2 (fried onion straws)

Day 146: A great day for a run! (and to Run OFF those cravings)

Day 147: Tooth #10! Poor Morgan has just as many spaces as she does teeth!

Day 148: Gorgeous Hair! (result of a french braid)

It takes a LOT of work for us "straight hair" girls to get wavy or curly hair!

Come back next week! Hoping to get more pictures of outside things or more places around our city!

Have a great week! Comments are welcomed!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Project 365 (week 20)

Emotions! Fun! Firsts!

This best describes our week. We had a great week in school and its such a privillege to teach my kids Bible verses, spelling words, math problems, explain why you add an extra "n" to run when writing the word "running", etc. AND then get to see their reaction/smiles when the light bulb turns on and they get it! One of the Best things about homeschool is the creativity in learning and exploring the lessons as written.

In addition to a great week in school, Morgan asked Jesus into her heart on Monday, February 10, 2014! Definitely the BEST part of our week!

And to top off the week, we went on our first camping trip in the desert. Seriously, we've lived on this side of the world for nearly 5 years and haven't even taken advantage of the camping opportunities? We had a great time in the desert and will definitely camp out again!