My baby is turning 6!

It is truly hard to believe that it has been 6 years (on Friday) since she was born!  Where has all of that time gone???  Although if you were ever around her, you'd think she was older then 6.  She has this thing lately where she wants to be a teenager.  Fantastic.  She spent the rest of her Christmas money on new shoes, and she does not take them off.  Ever.  She walks around talking about them all of the time and how they make her look like a teenager.  She had a pretend conversation when she first got them, where I can only guess she was a teenager talking to another teenager.  The imaginary teenager asked "Who's on the inside of your shoe?"  And she replied, in her a sassy little voice "Oh, it's JUST Hannah Montana."  She is a riot. Oh yeah, and she is so excited for spring break so she can "go outside and play."  She just assumes that because it will be spring in 25 days, that the 20 feet of snow that we have in the yard will just magically disappear.  Like we will wake up in March to the birds chirping and the flowers blooming, instead of the huge wall of snow that keeps us from seeing the neighbors house.  I have a feeling this is how we will be spending spring break at our house:

Not eating cardboard!

I'm really "enjoying' Weight Watchers more this time around. Before, l never took advantage of all of the features of their site.  This time I am doing so much more, including recipes.  I am surprised at the number and variety of recipes they have on their site.  Here is a sampling of what we have had in the past two weeks:

Chicken Marsala
Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Baked Zita with turkey sausage
General Tsao's Chicken
Sesame Steamed Broccoli
Chicken Paella
Cheesey Chicken Enchiladas

And every single recipe so far has been a keeper.  My husband LOVED the General Tsao's chicken, especially with the Sesame Broccoli.  So far M and K have enjoyed all of them as well.  Some recipes may not be kid-friendly, since they are made of mostly fat-free products but so far all of these recipes have been very nutritious.  This week, our menu consists of:

Chicken Parmigiana with Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Salad
Turkey Burgers and Chili Fries
Chicken Marsala with Egg Salad
Sweet & Sour Meatballs with Garlic Herb Bread
Chicken Finger and Seasoned fries with ranch dip

I don't know if I'm allowed to share the recipes online, since you have to pay for membership to get them, but if anyone wants one email me and I will send it to you.  All of the recipes were EASY and rather inexpensive to make.  I had to splurge and buy sesame and peanut oil for the Asian dishes, but the bottles will last forever.

Today is weigh in and I'm down another 2 pound, for a total of 8 pounds and 6 inches lost so far.  I hope I can keep the momentum because it is SO much easier to be motivated when you're losing...I like being a loser:)

My Etsy store

I just wanted to put a post on here so everyone knows that I haven't forgotten about my Etsy store!  I have tons of fabric purchased and set aside, I just haven't had the time to actually make the items I want to sell.  K is now at the age where he is into everything so I no longer have the option to do any work while he's awake!  My original goal was January but as you can see I missed the deadline.  My new goal is to have the store up and running by summer.  I don't want to post the link and open my doors until I have a decent inventory for people to choose from.  My plans are to include stroller blankets, quilts, burp rags, and possibly Boppy pillow covers and toys.  But I also want to do non-baby items so I will add more as I have new ideas.  I have my wonderful Cricut machine so I would like to also add some paper crafts.  I'm all full of ideas!! Just lacking in the motivation department :)

Another brag

Seems like I am always bragging about my son, but I do have a wonderful daughter too!  It's only fair that I get to brag about her too!  Anyone who is friends with me on Facebook has already seen this, sorry to repeat myself!  Last night we attended an art exhibit that included M's artwork.  I tried looking around online to get numbers, because this exhibit included artwork from the entire Public School district.  The numbers I found were a couple years old but there were roughly 30,000 kids in the public schools that year.  I don't know how many schools there are but M's school has about 400 students.  Each art teacher had to choose 4 students from their school, and M was chosen.  Her artwork is an "African Giraffe."  I think she did fantastic! (Remember, she is only in kindergarten!)

 

She used a type of watercolor in the art.  It's really hard to see her details in this photo but I think she did a great job.  We like how the leg is bent in the front :)

We were slightly disappointed that her art teacher wasn't there so we could talk to her.  I am sure she had a valid reason, since all of the other art teachers were there, but we just wanted to find out what made her decide to pick this piece.

I have two other pieces of art that she has done at home that have really impressed us, I will try to scan them so you can see.

Boys will be boys!

Yesterday was our first experience with that saying.  K is really into climbing now, and he can truly get anywhere that he wants to get.  Right away in the morning he fell off the footstool and landed face-first on our giant roller coaster.  It was about 2 feet off the ground but he cried like he had just fallen down 3 stories.  After that, he climbed up on his train table, his favorite place, and in an attempt to walk on it, fell face first into a toy kitchen.  Probably wouldn't have been too bad, but he fell at just the right angle to get his head stuck in the toy oven.  He was flailing around trying to get out and I was frantically trying to find a way to get him out without taking off an ear.  We weren't working very well together...but I finally got him out.  But not without a few marks, both falls were on the same side of his head, so he has lovely battle wounds.  Then at dinner time, he took a huge bite into his dinner and instead chomped on his finger.  Poor, clumsy kid......he gets that from me.

Today, first thing this morning he did the exact same stunt as yesterday morning...face first into the roller coaster.  So, my guess is that in about 4 hours he will have his head stuck in something again.

He is really developing quite the little personality!  Although he isn't talking as much as he should, he knows how to get his point across.  If he is doing something he shouldn't be and I tell him "no" he will do one of two things.....blow raspberries at me.....or do it again, in slow motion, to make sure I see him.  Or if he's going somewhere he shouldn't and I tell him "no" he speeds up. Here is a video of his little mood swings, watch how quickly he can go from ticked-off to happy.  I think he really put that carrot in it's place!






And here's a picture, because I love this one!  If you look closely, you can see the two bottom molars that have been ticking him off lately.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to those who celebrate it....and Happy Anti-Valentine's Day to those who hate it!! 

 

 

 I am celebrating this Valentine's Day with my first weigh-in!  Technically today is only my 6th day but I weigh-in on Sundays.  I lost a whopping 6 pounds already!!  I always seem to lose quite a bit of weight the first 2-3 weeks when I start a new diet, before it tapers down to 1-2 pounds a week.

Back on the (WW) wagon...again!

So I finally decided it was time....back to Weight Watchers!  I am too embarassed to even type what my starting weight is but lets just say that my ultimate goal is to lose 100 pounds.  Yes, one HUNDRED!  Is that even possible?  I'm sure it is, but it just sounds so daunting.  I have always had good luck with Weight Watchers, I honestly think it is the best diet/program that I have ever tired.  But in the past I've totally lacked motivation to stay with it.  This time is different.  I do not want to be on insulin the rest of my life and I want to have energy to play with my kids.  I think it takes a pretty big person (no pun intended!) to post on a public message board that they are on a diet and want to lose 100 pounds...but it keeps me responsible.  It's always harder to fail when other people are watching.  So keep watching!

Hey, guess what? It's snowing!

Hard to believe, I know.  I think this marks the 1 billionth snowstorm this season here in Iowa.  I'm anxiously sitting here watching the news to see if schools are letting out early.  I think all of the schools in this area have closed already, other then public schools.  Maybe that has something to do with the fact that they already have a gazillion days to make up.  And yes, I'm using legitimate statistics here, 1 billionth snowstorm and a gazillion snow days.  I actually don't mind the shoveling, I try to keep up with it by shoveling several times during a storm.  I'm sure my neighbors think I'm crazy, shoveling snow as it's still falling....but I'd rather shovel 1/2 of an inch a few times a day, compared to shoveling 6 inches one time.  Probably because I'm old now.

On a happier note, K started walking this weekend!  I set him down in his "cage" :) and he just took off!  By "took off" I mean that he took three steps and toppled over, but it was a good start!  He can go about 6 steps without falling, and he is really good at getting himself back up to walk again.  So now our house looks crazy....coffee tables pushed up against the TV stand (so he can't play with the Wii, Xbox, etc) chairs pushed in front of doorways, baby gates at both stairs....  But it doesn't matter, he still figures out how to find the stuff that he can't have.  And even better, he can climb on any peice of furniture waist-high.  Somehow, I don't remember this stage with M, but we also lived in a single-level apartment then.  I'm really looking forward to spring now, because he will be able to run around in the yard.  I'm so thankful to have a big yard that is fully fenced, and fully shaded!

Early Spring Cleaning

I don't know why, but I've been really motivated so far to get this house in shape!  I'm sure it's partially because Mom and I have been talking about our next garage sale and partially because we are inheriting a new bedroom set so have to clean out a whole room to create a guest bedroom.  I'm totally organized and made a list of what needs cleaned in each room.  I'm not talking cleaning like Windex and Pledge, I'm talking about taking all of my "secret hiding spots" and cleaning them out. The drawer where I always shove receipts, the kitchen cupboard where I have a gazillion spices, etc.  This weekend I cleaned out all but one of the kitchen cupboards (the one I'm dreading is for last) and created a whole new tote for the garage sale and also filled up the whole trash bin. It's amazing how many lids I have accumulated that don't have matching bowls?!  It's also fun when I find things that I've been looking for, for years.  I wish I had tons of money (don't we all?) because I would love to buy all of those fancy shelf organizers.  Especially something to organize spices....how did I end up with 3 containers of paprika anyway?

I'm officially selling all of my baby stuff.  So that answers the question that we get regulary "so, are you going to have more?"   I sold a few things on Craigslist, but will sell the rest at our garage sale.  I really think we will have so much stuff, between Mom and I, that we will have to borrow the neighbor's driveway and yard!