My Birthday is Postponed

Just want to inform you that my birthday will be postponed until further notice. Not because I'm putting off turning (cough) 31 but because  how I'm going to spend my day today is not how anyone should have to spend their birthday.

Tomorrow we are having the appraisal done on our house and after a weekend with a houseful of extra kids I'm going to be spending today cleaning it and in the words of Annie, making it "shine like the top of the Chrysler Building".

Bubs woke up around 4:15 AM came into my room and said "happy Birthday Mom" I said thank you and thought...how sweet. Well around 4:30 AM I heard him sobbing in his room. When The Doctor asked him what was wrong he said "I have the worst sore throat ever". Well, the only time people use that phrase is when they are suffering from strep. The Doctor to a look and he most definitely has strep. So, I will get to take my son to the doctors office today. The boy probably came into my room today to tell me he wasn't feeling well and then decided to suck it up and tell me happy birthday and let me sleep instead. After a dose of IB profen he is sleeping the morning away.

I cancelled my Birthday lunch with some girlfriends and my Birthday dinner date with The Doctor. So, if you want to wish me a happy Birthday today that is fine but just know, today is not my birthday, at least not this year. I will be celebrating later at a date that is TBA.  Now I'm off to go scrub some toilets while I still have 2 kids sleeping.

Use of Time

We have been in and out of town a lot in the last few weeks. Life has been hectic, as usual, and I haven't had the time to post here in a while. Well, that really isn't true. We all have the same amount of time in a day, 24 hours, and we all get to choose how we spend those 24 hrs. I have chosen not to post blogs but instead have chosen to spend time with friends before I move, keep my house clean for showings, and do some crafts.

The baby blanket on the left I made for my childhood friend who is having her first baby. The one on the right is for my niece who is having her 3rd baby.

Every year I think "I'm going to make teacher appreciation gifts early" and every year teacher appreciation week comes up and I have nothing. This years gifts I made pretty quick. I took composition books and re-covered them with paper.

The other gift I made but forgot to take a picture of was a sweet thoughts bowl of chocolate. I went into the kids classroom and spoke with each child and asked them what their favorite thing was about their teacher. Then I went home and printed off what they said on mailing labels. I then put the labels around a piece of Hershey's nuggets chocolate. All the chocolates went into a glass bowl I picked up at the dollar store. I then made a flower and had it stick out of the bowl. "Sweet thoughts for a sweet teacher" was written in the center of the flower. It was a big hit.

 I have finally finished crocheting an afghan for my father for his birthday. I will have to post a picture of it later because I don't want to spoil it for him. However, here are a few teaser pics.

 

Time Flies with Big Changes

Life has been happening so fast lately. I can't believe April is almost over and my kids only have 30 more days of school. In the last month some major decisions and changes have been made and planned for. Before I say what has been going on I need to preface a little.

The Doctor and I have been married for almost 11 years. All but one of those years one or both of us have been in school. That is the path we chose since The Doctor is well....a doctor. June 30th marks the last day of his medical residency and then we will finally be out in the real world. This is the first time it is up to us to decide where to live when we are done. Picking which medical school to attend was determined by which one out of two we got into would be cheapest. Then, where we did residency was decided by a "match". Well, now it is up to us.

We began by trying to determine what sort of lifestyle we wanted to live post schooling. We know we want to get back to a part of the country that has 4 distinct seasons with each one lasting longer than at least 2 weeks before it changed. We want to live in a place that is on average cooler than where we are. We love the cooler weather or at least having it cool down in the evenings. A place closer to family, not too close, but close enough we could still be involved in the big things. I would love to live on a small piece of land (bigger than a lot in a neighborhood) and have chickens or some other type of farm animal. We want to be close to mountains for camping, hiking, and fishing.

With these things in mind we knew we wanted to be back west. Last fall we started applying for jobs in Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Alaska, Idaho, and even Arizona (had to appease the parents). We received 2 job interviews (most of the others already filled positions or didn't have any openings) in Anchorage, Alaska. We were super excited about the prospect of living in AK. The interview with one of the groups went well, we got the job offer and signed the contract. For the last 5 months we have been making arrangements to move to AK. We bought plane tickets to go house hunting, reserved the moving truck, and sold quite a bit of furniture we didn't want to move. Things were moving along.

A couple of days after we got back from Spring break another physician that The Doctor had worked with during medical school called to say they had a position open up with their group and asked if we wanted to come out for an interview. The job is in Idaho and at first we completely wrote it off because we had already signed a contract with Alaska. And come on, who lives in Idaho? It is way more fun to tell people you are moving to ALASKA then it is to tell them you are moving to Idaho. The reactions to AK range from "are you crazy?" to "awesome, I'm coming to visit".

Well, after letting it simmer for a couple of days we decided to go ahead and head out to Idaho. We only had 2 full days there so we had to make it count. The Doctor spent the first day interviewing and touring the hospitals and surgery centers while I went out with a realtor to check out the area. I think I had a more fun day doing walk throughs on 10 houses. The next day we both went out with the Realtor to show The Doctor the 2 houses I had narrowed it down to (assuming we were to move there) as well as one more house that we found the night before driving around.

The third house (the one we found driving around) was the perfect house. I was in love. The Doctor also fell in love with the job. Sure it pays less than the one in AK but the cost of living is less. If we move to AK we would not be able to afford buying a house that would meet the needs of our large family. In Idaho though we could buy my dream house. The house I would want to live in the rest of my life. I was sold right then and there. The job has the types of cases The Doctor wants, good hours, and a great working environment.  The house is on 1.45 acres, has chickens, a garden, and fruit trees. Plus it is located at the end of a culdesac with neighbors that are members of the LDS faith like us. The small city is 6 hours away from our family which is much closer than if we were living in AK. Things seemed too good to be true.

Well, a couple of days after we got back we were given the job offer and decided to accept. We are still sad that we will not get to live in Alaska but, vacationing to Alaska could be better. We wouldn't have to deal with the dark winters. We are mourning the loss of the adventures we had planned in our minds of camping, fishing, and hunting moose and bear in Alaska. However, we feel Idaho would be a better situation for our family and they have pretty great fishing and camping there too.

So, the reason the blog has been lacking in posts is because we have been busy making some pretty big decisions. We are content with our decision and are so excited to be moving onto our next adventure.

wow this post was really long. If you stuck with it thanks.

Spaghetti Splatter

WARNING: Do not leave spaghetti sauce unattended on the stove heating while you go check FB "really quick"

Yoplait Review and Recipe

Yogurt and I had a love hate relationship. I loved the flavors but could not stand the texture of fruit chunks in the cup. For this reason I used to pass up on yogurt. That is until I discovered Yoplaits dessert flavored yogurt. No need for me to worry about the fruit chunks here and I get to enjoy the flavors of my favorite desserts at a fraction of the calories. There are so many flavors to choose from like: Apple Turnover, Red Velvet Cake, Boston Cream Pie, Bannana Cream Pie, Black Forest Cake, Lemon Cream Pie,Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Raspberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Shortcake, White Chocolate Strawberry, and my favorite Key Lime Pie.

Since March is National Nutrition Month I encourage you to snack on your favorite Yoplait yogurt instead of cakes and cookies. Maybe you aren't as interested in the dessert flavors as I am. Well, with varieties like Yoplait Light, Yoplait Original, Yoplait Fiber One, Yoplait Kids and Yoplait Delight Parfaits. Each product offers different benefits, and loads of variety, to make eating well a no-brainer. Here are five great ways to ‘get your snack on’ with Yoplait this March!


Start spring off right with Yoplait Light’s Two Week Tune Up Plan – Replace breakfast and lunch with a cup of your favorite flavor of Yoplait Light, a whole grain and a piece of fruit and you could lose 5 pounds in two weeks. Go to Yoplait.com for full diet details.

Get more calcium with Yoplait Original style yogurt - Now with two times the calcium of the leading yogurt (50 percent of the Recommended Daily Value) in one convenient 6-ounce cup*, Yoplait Original style yogurt is committed to women’s health, offering a product that has even more of the calcium women need for strong, healthy bodies. Grab a free cup while supplies last during the Million Cup Giveaway on Yoplait on Facebook!

Try the newest flavor from Yoplait Fiber One – Yoplait Fiber One’s new Blueberry flavor yogurt is packed with filling fiber, calcium, vitamins A and D, real fruit and the great taste of blueberries. With only 50 calories, 5 grams of fiber and 0 grams of fat, this deliciously creamy yogurt won’t break your calorie bank.

Stress less over snack time with Yoplait Kids yogurt – With a wholesome and fun snack like Yoplait Kids yogurt in the fridge, you can feel good about what your children are eating at snack time. Yoplait Kids provides an excellent source of calcium and vitamin D, and has 25% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt**. With yummy flavors, and favorite friends like Dora and Lightning McQueen on the packages, Yoplait Kids is a hit with moms and children alike.



End the day with a Delight Parfait from Yoplait – Even with two luscious layers providing a double shot of rich and creamy yogurt, these 100 calorie indulgences from Yoplait contain only 1.5 grams of fat per serving. Now available in two new flavors, Chocolate Éclair and Cherry Cheesecake, you can enjoy a dessert that’s 100 percent guilt-free.

*Leading yogurt has less than 25% Daily Value calcium per 6 oz.
**Yoplait kids has 9 grams of sugar per 3oz. the leading kids' yogurt has 13 grams of sugar per 3oz.

As is the case with most things these days, Yoplait is on Facebook. If you "Like" Yoplait on Facebook you can keep up with the latest news and great opportunities to save on your favorite Yoplait products.***Coupon offers for Yoplait yogurt are not valid in all states.

I am a fan of Yoplait both in life and on Facebook however, by posting the above information I have a chance to win a prize provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.

You don't just have to eat Yoplait yogurt from a cup. You can incorporate it into your recipes to make some delicious food for your family and friends. I was browsing through the recipes at Yoplait.com and came across this recipe for Layered Caribbean Chicken Salad. My mouth started watering when I saw it.

Layered Caribbean Chicken Salad

Ingredients

Dressing

1 (6-oz.) container Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free Piña Colada Yogurt

1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon Caribbean jerk seasoning

Salad

3 cups shredded romaine lettuce

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 (15-oz.) can Progresso® Black Beans, drained, rinsed

1 1/2 cups diced peeled ripe fresh mango

1/2 cup chopped seeded Italian plum tomatoes (1 to 2 medium)

4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (8 medium)

1/2 cup cashews

Fresh edible flowers, if desired

Directions
1. In small bowl, mix all dressing ingredients until well blended.

2. In 3- or 4-quart clear glass serving bowl, layer all salad ingredients in order listed, except cashews and flowers. Spoon dressing evenly over salad; sprinkle cashews over top. Garnish with flowers.

4 Years of Living

We have lived in our current house for 4 years. Looking back and the changes we have made has been fun. Here is a picture tour of our house 4 years ago and now. The left side is 4 years ago and the right side is current.

 

We put flower beds in front and along the sides of the house. The tree is a crepe myrtle and is fire cracker red when it is blooming.

 The kitchen. For showing purposes we took the leaf out of the table to make it smaller. The chairs that are on the right in the current picture get taken out of the house. We have replaced the vinyl floor with tile and added a few decorations.

We sold the coffee table, old tv, and entertainment center and upgraded to a newer/modern version.

 The game room has had quite a few changes. We re-arranged furniture. Sold the futon and the rocking chairs. got a different entertainment center and a new tv.

 The table is now in our bedroom serving as The Doctor's study desk. We no longer have the computer upstairs and all the craft stuff is in my bedroom closet. The room is really big and spacious for the kiddos to play.

 The girls room was painted. new bedding was purchased and the crib is in storage. KMae sleeps on a crib mattress that gets pushed under Na's bed during the day. We look forward to getting her, her very own bed with the new house. Most of the baby toys were sold at a garage sale.

 Bubs room went from bright colorful toddler room to a room with a cal king bed. He is the one that gets kicked out of his room when company comes. We were going to buy him a new bed then decided to get ourselves a new bed and move the old one into his room. He likes a big bed and I frequently find him sleeping with 10 cars circled around him.

I never took a before picture of our bedroom because it was never fully unpacked until last month. That's right, I still had boxes from when we moved in sitting on the floor. Plus, our bedroom was always the dumping ground for the last of the stuff that needed to be cleaned before people came over. Ahhhh it is so nice to have a clean and organized bedroom. Yes, I should have done this 4 years ago. The cowhide and the longhorns were our treasures picked up from our time spent living in Fort Worth.

Vacation at Last

I have been so busy lately getting my house from this....

 to this...

  that I have negelcted blogging.

Actually, that first picture was from when we retiled our kitchen floors last year and moved everything into the family room. It has not been that bad since then...at least I don't think so. We are moving this summer and I have had my work cut out for me in preparing my house to go on the market. I didn't realize what hoarders my husband and I were. We got rid of so much stuff and probably will have so much more to get rid of just before we move. I finally have my house the way I have wanted it for the last 4 years. Ahhhh it is nice. I will do a picture tour later. After all the work I put into it I needed a vacation bad so we went here...

The beaches of Destin, Florida were welcoming. It was our first family vacation in 8 years where it was an actual vacation. No work, weddings, or funerals involved. Just my family, the beach, pool, and a condo. It was amazing. I'll post pics later. Until then, just look at this white sand beach and crystal waters and imagine you are there soaking up the sun.

Fantasy Job

Last night I had the opportunity to participate in a paid focus group. If you didn't already know, you can get paid for your opinions. Anyway, the moderator asked us to introduce ourselves by saying our name, where we were born, and what our fantasy/dream job would be if we weren't doing what we are doing now. The first thing that popped into my mind was be a stay at home mom and raise my kids. This is something I have always wanted to be able to do and I'm doing it. I couldn't use that as my fantasy job. I was put on the spot and could not think of me so I said a "marriage and family therapist". What? how boring. What kind of fantasy is that? Sure I want to go back to school in the next 2-3 years and become a MFT but is that my fantasy job. I still couldn't think of anything...until others started saying what they their's was and then all sorts of ideas popped into my head. Here they are in no particular order.

• Author- children's, or mystery novels.
• massage therapist
• Chef
• I would love to have Samantha Brown's job and travel the world.
• Food critic
• write reviews on spas and retreats
• Singer (this is a big fantasy because I really can't sing)
• Dancer

What would be your fantasy job?

TROUBLE=KMae

I'm quite certain that if you look up the word Trouble in the dictionary there will be a picture of my youngest KMae right next to it. I think it is her mission in life lately to make sure we do not get our house in perfect condition before we sell it. In the last couple of weeks she has managed to:

• get into wet paint and paint her bedroom furniture.
• paint her body.
• Draw on my bedspread with a purple sharpie.
• Draw on the recently painted wall with a ball point pen.
• Pee on pretty much every surface in my house (been my worst yet to potty train)
• Put gobs of shampoo on her hair and all over the bathroom floor sans bath time
• Dump gold nail polish on my bathroom floor.
• Dump out Grandpa's pill box (fortunately she only partook of the Vitamin E)
• Color with oil pastels and crayons on Na's bed spread.

Kmae and KBaby six months ago getting into my Scentsy testers.

Yesterday I was folding laundry and enjoying the company of my parents who are in town.

Kbaby (KMae's best friend) and KMae were upstairs playing with the doll house and their baby dolls....or so I thought. My dad went upstairs and discovered the girls had dumped the contents of his daily pill box all over the floor. Pills were scattered across a 3 foot patch of carpet. There were big brown ones and itty bitty pink ones and a slew of colors and sizes in between. A few we could tell had been tasted (they were slobbery) but not consumed. I count my blessings only a Vitamin E was not recovered.

While my dad was cleaning that up I was on my way to put the girls in time out when I discovered they had taken about 20 of my Scentsy bars from inventory and had them all open and arranged on the floor so they could smell them.  I am glad I have such little fans of my business but, I wish they would wait for me to assist them in smelling the scents. When they got done cleaning up that mess I see Na's art kit open and laying on her bed. Next to it were scribbles in crayon and oil pastel.

I am sure there are many more things I have yet to discover. This child is a walking tornado. It is compounded when Kbaby comes over to play. Most of the above occurred with her friend. These two should not be left alone together.

I should add that, with the exception of the pill box, I take some responsibility. The items gotten into should have been placed out of reach of tiny hands. The pill box was placed on the top of a dresser but the girls flipped over a tub and climbed up to get it.

Click here to read about a lesson learned.

Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!

The Prompts:



1.) Lesson learned!

2.) What did they get into now? Describe a time your toddler got into something they shouldn’t have.

3.) Describe a time when someone was proud of you.

4.) Write a poem about something you are looking forward to.

5.) Watcha’ cookin? Share a recipe.

OWOH Winner Winner!

I am so sorry for not announcing this yesterday. Things are a little crazy in my house right now. We are having the carpet replaced in the entire house and I have been boxing up all the loose ends as well as trying to clean because my in laws are coming in town today. So, for the moment you all have been waiting for. The winner of this lovely hat is....

Number 111

CathyH from Cathy Horner Collage Art.

I have notified Cathy so hopefully she will contact me. If I don't hear from her in the next couple of days I will draw again.

Our Love Story

BYU Preference March 2000

In honor of Valentine's day I've decided to share "our story". It all started one fall semester 12 years ago at BYU. I was a sophomore and The Doctor was a fresh returned missionary. For some crazy reason I was a declared Biology major which meant I was taking 2 Chemistry and a physics class in one fun semester. I'm sure any of these classes on their own would be fine but when your first priority was a social life it made studying and learning quite hard. The Doctor was a pre med major so naturally we had to take some of the same classes.

I sat nervously in the middle of the lecture hall of my first chem class on the first day of school and in walked this tall, handsome, lean machine. And I mean tall...6'7" tall. Compared to my 5'4" he towered over me. After mentally taking note of how good looking this man was I chided myself and said "you wouldn't have a chance. Tall guys go for tall girls".

Later that day I settled into my seat in physics and low and behold the same guy walked in. Once again I told myself he was out of my league.

Wouldn't you know it, the next day I found myself passing him on some stairs, he was going down and I was going up, and he smiled and said hi. I held composure even though my insides were jumping all over the place. I was on my way to get a drink. When I made it back to the classroom who was sitting there? The Doctor. I couldn't believe it. This class was a much smaller class so I knew we would have to meet and talk. Well, as the semester progressed The Doctor and I became good friends (after all, he was out of my league). He, another guy, and I ended up having 4 classes together that semester. The 3 of us became study buddies. Because I did not feel I had a chance with him I totally let my guard down. During study sessions we would talk about people we were dating and give relationship advice back and forth. If he had a bad date I heard all about it. By mid semester I had a steady boyfriend and I went as far as setting The Doctor up on a date with my taller roommate. We doubled and went and saw some Disney cartoon I believe at the $1 movie. I didn't find out until later but it drove The Doctor crazy to see me with my boyfriend. At the time he didn't understand it either because he had told himself that I was too short to date. He had a strict 5'7" or taller rule.

Shortly after Thanksgiving my boyfriend and I had broken up. The day after we broke up The Doctor took me on my first snowmobiling adventure. It was a blast until I crashed. That is another story all together. This little adventure was the first time the thought of me and The Doctor dating popped into my head.

Christmas break came and a guy I dated in HS was getting home from his mission. The Doctor of course new all about him. As is typical for most foreign return missionaries the guy was a little weird (sorry if you are reading this but you were). I remember calling The Doctor the first night I saw this other guy. I didn't know it at the time but he was on a date with his girlfriend but he still spoke with me.

After Christmas I changed majors which  meant no more classes with The Doctor. I assumed our friendship would wither. One time in January I remember running into The Doctor in the library and asking him when he was going to ask me out. He replied "when are you going to grow taller".

In February there was a holiday weekend. HS guy drove me and another friend of his home for the weekend. We had a great drive and I thought finally the weirdness was ending. The Doctor took his girlfriend to the family cabin (with the rest of the fam of course) for a weekend of snow mobiling. When I got back in town The Doctor called me and said he had just had the worst weekend. Apparently his girlfriend stayed inside the cabin the whole weekend knitting and didn't go out and play. I told him that's what he gets for dating someone 9 years older then him. He then told me he needed to go have some fun and he was coming by to pick me up and we were going miniature golfing. We told ourselves this wasn't a date because he still had a girlfriend. We were just 2 friends going to have fun together. For the next 2 weeks we "had fun" together. We went bowling, played pool, went roller blading,....basically everything his girlfriend wouldn't do. 

March brought Preference (BYU's girls choice dance). All of my roommates were going and I wanted to go to but didn't know who I preferred. I couldn't ask anyone from church because tongues would wag and my last boyfriend was in the same ward (congregation). I decided to ask The Doctor because we were just friends and he wouldn't read anything into it. Plus, he still had a girlfriend. I knew The Doctor didn't like to dance so I picked the Heber Creeper for our date. The Heber Creeper is a train that moves slowly around the mountains by Heaber and Dear Creek. They had a couple of cars set up for dancing and a couple passenger cars for sitting and talking. The Doctor and I spent most of the evening sitting and cuddling on the passenger train. No kissing, no hand holding. We just sat with his arm around me and talked non stop for hours. This night I knew there was chemistry between us and I wanted more then friendship. I found out later he felt it too.

The next day was a Sunday. I was in my apartment and really wanted to see him again. My roomies were there along with some of the guys from another apt. They all told me I should call and invite him over. So, I did. He sounded distant and pre-occupied while I spoke with him. I invited him over and he hesitated and then said sure. I hung up feeling deflated. When he arrived an hour or so later he told me he was in the process of breaking up with his girlfriend when I called.

Tuesday we skipped classes and went to Nutty Putty Caves together. We had our first kiss in the middle of a dark cavern. It was an awkward first kiss that left plenty of room for improvement. We practiced a few more times in the cave.

Friday I remember doing dishes in the kitchen and he was sitting at the table. I was discussing how excited I was that I got into an Apartment with my freshman year roommate that was close to campus and affordable. He looked up and asked "what if I ruined your plans?" He then told me how he has been getting the impression he should marry me. A couple weeks later I took him home to meet mom and dad. He asked Dad for permission to marry me. We got engaged officially engaged one month later on April 13th.

Nov 2010

I am so glad he decided to change his rule about dating 5'7" girls. I did however receive many bad looks from tall single girls on campus when we walked hand in hand. The way I see it, my sister married a man who was shorter than her so I was completely justified in marrying someone taller. The best part of the whole thing is we were always just naturally ourselves together. There was no awkward new dating because by the time we started dating we already knew so much about each other. He had even seen me in my glasses which is a very BIG deal. Things just flowed naturally and they do still today. We complete each others sentences and speak just what the other is thinking.  I now know why I was a Biology major for 3 semesters. Had I not been I may have never met the perfect man for me.

I Survived Paint Ball

We went paint balling on Saturday and I survived. It was fun. All the girls in the group were pretty apprehensive at first. It of course helped that the first person we talk to said it hurt way worse then she thought it would. Once we got the safety training and geared up it was game on.

Our group of 6 got mixed in with a bunch of other small groups making one large group between 30-40 people. We divided into teams and went to battle. At the location we went to you have 10 minutes of play where you try and shoot other people while they are taking aim at you. One hit and you are out. What really stunk was the fact that my gun got hit to knock me out twice. I suppose I should be grateful it was my gun that got hit and not me because one of the times I was walking to the dead box and I wasn't paying attention and I got hit by "friendly fire" on my mask and my hand. Getting hit on my fingers hurt worse then child birth. It stung and bled. My little pinkie is still bruised and tender today.

I wish we had more time to play and I wish we had purchased more paint balls.  It would have been more fun had I known everyone playing. It also would have been great if there was more of a point, like play capture the flag at the same time. I wouldn't think twice about going again. I highly recommend wearing baggy clothes as a beginner. They tend to cushion the blow.

WW Points Plus is Still a Plus

You know how sometimes you are so excited about something in the beginning but then the "honeymoon" phase wears off and you are not as excited? I have previously written about Weight Watchers Points Plus program and how I loved it. Well, I have been doing it for just over a month and I still love it. I started the program on Dec. 28 and since then I have lost a total of 16.4 lbs.  I have been losing on average 2.3 lbs per week. I haven't even started exercising yet. I was going to throw fitness into the mix 2 weeks ago but then my kids got the flu and then I did. As soon as I'm recovered I'm going to start Zumba and biking. I need to get my body toned for the beach in March.

The reason I'm still excited about WW Points Plus is it works. I don't feel restricted. I have the power to choose what I eat and how much I eat of it. I don't know about you but if I tell myself I can't have something I want it even more. So, instead of telling myself I can't I say I can but just a little. I'm really learning what foods I can have self control with. My homemade chocolate chip cookies are dangerous. I have a hard time stopping at one portion. I did however buy Girl Scout Cookies and I have found that because they are in a box I can seal up and put out of sight I can handle stopping after just 2.  We still order Papa John's Pizza every weekend. Instead of eating the Hawaiian BBQ (which happens to have one of the highest point values) I eat the Garden Vegetable pizza. And not just one slice either because, who can stop at one slice? I have 2 slices then I usually eat a small salad or some fruit along with my pizza.

Adding flavor to food helps too. Every morning I eat an English Muffin with a scrambled egg inside. To add a little flavor I substitute flavored Laughing Cow Cheese (usually chipotle or sun dried tomato) for butter on my English Muffin. Before I baked Sweet potato wedges the other day I drizzled a little olive oil on them and then sprinkled them with Italian seasoning. So much better then plain sweet potatoes.

My point is, it is totally doable. You can have your pizza and cookies. The choice is yours.

Snow Day

I would never have thought I would have lived to see a snow day in south Texas. Hell really has froze over. It only snowed a 1/4 of an inch but it was the layer of ice beneath the snow that caused the problem. I guess there is no real need to have plows and sanding trucks when you only get measurable snow once every 20 years. Needless to say, my kids were thrilled to not have to go to school. The added bonus was The Doctor was post call so he got to spend the day playing with us.

Unfortunately I pulled my camera out only to realize the LCD screen had been busted and the thing won't take pictures. I believe my kids were using it to stand on to get a little taller. So, I had to take pics using my daughters camera which is not the best quality.

First we bundled up in our warmest clothing and took a picture to prove that we did actually have snow. See how my son isn't wearing a coat? Crazy head. He did put one on later.

One of the kids came up with the idea to have a snowball fight. That lasted as long as it took for one of them (Bubs I believe) to get hit in the neck (on the first throw). He came in crying about it being cold. The snowball fight was his idea too.

Na gave making a snow angel an honest try.

Then when the Doctor got home he made a little ramp at the bottom of our driveway. The kids took turns riding their tricycle over it. Then we pulled out and under bed storage bin and tried to sled. Didn't work out so well. But you know what does make a good sled? The huge city issued recycle bins. The Doctor took pics with his phone and they haven't been uploaded yet. But, picture flipping the big blue recycle bins on their sides with the wheels facing down. Hop on like you are riding a horse and you are good to go. The kids did that down our driveway for around 45 minutes. Great times.

I did burst Na's bubble though. We are moving to Alaska in June and I had to make sure my kids understood that this would probably be the only snow day they got in a really long time. When it snows in AK they don't cancel school. Na started crying and stomped up the stairs yelling "stupid Alaska. Stupid snow, I don't want to move."  She has been so excited about the move until this point. Hopefully when she sees they make ice rinks with the basketball courts on the playground she'll be happy again. Here is one more difference. When the weather is below 40 degrees F. here they make the kids stay inside for recess. In Alaska, when the weather reaches -10 degrees F. they cancel recess. I am definitely going to be spending some big money on winter weather accessories next fall.

Everything was of course melted by noon but it was great having an extra day to just play together.

One World One Heart

Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in One World One Heart: OWOH. It is and event where bloggers from around the world get a chance to meet each other by hopping around from blog to blog. To encourage people to travel the WWW participants do a giveaway or a door prize for those who leave a comment. I found so many wonderful blogs last year and am always impressed with the creativity and the writing styles of so many. I am very excited to participate again this year. This is the fifth and final year though so hopefully it will go out with an incredible amount of participants. Lisa over at a Whimsical Bohemian is the creator. If you are interested in participating please visit her blog and follow the instructions. The event only goes until February 17th so you better hurry along.

For those who have found my blog via OWOH, welcome. Let me introduce myself. I am a stay at home mom married to The Doctor. We have 4 beautiful children ages 3-9, Na, Bubs, LuLu, and Kmae. This blog is really my way of sharing my random thoughts on motherhood, housework, and everything else associated with my home and family. Some stuff is just my opinion and other stuff is fact based. If something I share helps at least one person then I am grateful. For last years event I had just learned to Knit so I gave away something knitted. This past year I learned to crochet so guess what? I will be giving away something Crocheted. How about this cute hat? Actually, not this hat but one just like it.

So, here is what you need to do if you would like to win a hat like this one.

Leave a comment by 10:00 PM CST February 16, 2011 and include and email address where you can be reached should you win. I will announce and contact the winners on February 17, 2011.

 If you would like, please specify the size you would like the hat to be.

Happy blog hopping!

The 5 Senses

 

Taste, touch, see, hear, and smell make up the 5 senses. It isn't until one or more is impaired that I truly appreciate the fact that most days I have all 5 senses. I had the flu this last week and the only sense that remained fully intact was my sense of touch. I have severe congestion so I haven't been able to smell and oddly enough, the congestion has affected my ability to taste as well. Food just doesn't have the same flavor. I'm blind as a bat with out my contacts and I managed to get pink eye so I wasn't able to wear my contacts. I have a pair of glasses but they are the wrong prescription. They help some but I would not trust myself to drive with them. I also lost a bit of my hearing to the congestion as well. I feel like I've had earmuffs on all week.

These senses work hand in hand to allow me to enjoy life. They can also keep me safe.  I learned a lesson this week too. If I don't have my sense of smell or sight, sometimes taste is not my best option.

It was a very cold (for South TX) morning. Around 20 degrees out. My neighbor's cat, Pumkin, looked so cold so I let him come in to warm up. He promptly ran upstairs and made himself comfortable on my bed snuggled up to my sleeping toddler. Because I was sick, once my older kids got on the bus I went back to bed. I didn't want the cat in my bed so I carried him into Bubs room and placed him on his bed. 5 minutes later Pumkin made his way back to my room and snuggled in by my feet. Whatever, I was too cold and sick to care.

An hour later I jumped in the shower and got dressed. My eyes were feeling better so I put my contacts in. I went downstairs to turn on the TV. We got a nice big TV for Christmas and an entertainment center to put it on. The rule is, nobody touches it or placed anything on the entertainment center. Well, I was horrified to see something wet and dripping down the right side of the screen. My thoughts immediately turned to my kids and the bubbles they were blowing in the house the night before. I suppose I could have easily missed it if I had my glasses on. I went up closer and couldn't visually tell what it was so I decided to touch it. It was not the consistency of the bubbles. It was a little thicker and maybe a little sticky. I then thought maybe it was cough medicine. Why would cough medicine be on my TV you might ask? Well, with KMae anything is possible. I tried to smell it but with no luck since I was all stopped up. So, I couldn't tell what it was by touching, seeing, or smelling. Obviously I couldn't hear it so I decided to taste it. I stuck my finger in a little bit and licked my finger. I can't really describe what it tasted like because gratefully my taste buds were clouded but I can tell you this, it was a little bitter and I knew instantly that it was not anything my kids had put on the TV. I had an image pop in my head from something I witnessed a couple days prior.

We had a garage sale and were cleaning up. In my lawn were some boxes. Pumkin walked up to the boxes lifted his tail and sprayed the box. He was marking his territory on the box. Never in my life had I seen a cat do this before.

With this image in my mind and a bitter taste on my tongue I knew instantly that what I had just tasted was not bubbles or cough medicine, how I wish it were, but in fact cat urine. What solidified my discovery was when I let my cat in the house she went over to the spot (post clean up) and was sniffing it like crazy. Apparently Pumkin was not too happy with me removing him from my bed so he decided to let me know by marking my brand new TV. Well my dear Pumkin, you are no longer allowed in my house no matter how cold it is outside.