The Little Things

Happy Birthday, Beta!

2012-02-02T12:26:00.004-06:00

I have been remiss. Saturday a week ago was Beta's 8th birthday. And I didn't post about it!!! So I guess it's time for some pictures.

But first.....a look back.
Baby Beta with her motorcycle blanket. :)

First Halloween - she was a pumpkin.

This is at the Old Mill in North Little Rock. I think she was 1. This is one of my all time FAVORITE pictures of the girls!

Dance Recital age 4.

Silliness!

Presents at home on her real birth day this year.

Her party at Fun City Pizza. Yes, she loves Justin Bieber. She claims to want to be "Mrs. Bieber." We've tried explaining that he's 10 years older than her, but she'll hear nothing of it. LOL!

The cool thing about being the birthday girl at Fun City. You get extra tickets which allow you to "win" an inflatable pink guitar! Ah well. She was happy and had a GREAT time. So it was worth it. Happy Birthday, Beta!

New Year New Stuff!

2012-01-30T22:45:00.000-06:00

Well, I had no New Year's Resolutions to work on. Not that I'd make them if I did, but you know.

But it IS a new year here so we got some NEW stuff!

It all started with a new BLENDER!
Our previous blender, a Black & Decker with a beautiful glass jar, met an untimely end at the hands of a "helping" 1 year old. Or maybe he was playing. All I know is when I tried to remove octopus-boy from the dishwasher, the glass jar came with him. It was like slow motion. I SAW it fall from about 5 feet up. (I had picked him up to get him away from it.) So now we have a new Waring Stainless Steel Blender that we got from www.hecticgourmet.com. (An Acumen Brands store!) It's awesome! I've made my 2 point smoothies in it several times now. It also has less parts to clean than our old one. You just put soapy water in it and turn it on! (with the lid on, of course....)

Next, I ordered a Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus 4-cup Food Processor! I've been seeing recipes in several places *cough Pinterest cough* that called for slicing and dicing things in a food processor. I asked for one for Christmas but Santa must have been busy with other things and forgot to make it for me....Of course, after Christmas I looked at prices. Holy moly! $200???? So I searched some more and found this one for $39.99 on Amazon.com with free shipping! I made Chocolate Covered Katie's Cookie Dough Dip last week. It is fantastic! Everything was chopped just perfectly. I can't wait to try it for more things. (and I would have posted a picture of the dip, but, um, we ate it. All of it. Every last bit!)

Moving out of the kitchen and into the home office..... Our old Lexmark printer had quit working wirelessly about a year ago. So Jim just plugged it into his computer and added it to our network. (the cabled kind) A few weeks ago, as I was trying to print out a recipe for Quinoa and Black Beans, it quit. I mean, quit. Just kaput. Zip. Zilch. Nada. The computer would say "Printing page 1" but the printer just sat there like my 8 year old daughter being told to go to bed. (yes, it was IGNORING us!) So I got to go printer shopping! I started with my favorite ratings place ConsumerReports.org. I read review after review after review. I finally settled on an HP Photosmart 6510 eAll-in-One. I actually bought it from the HP store for $119 instead of the list price of $149 AND I got free shipping. Yay! And here's the weird but best part...I ordered it on Friday morning about 10:00 am. It arrived on Saturday morning around 11:00 am! That's 24 hours! Talk about customer service. Maybe I can score some cool ink deals on there, too. Yea right.... (One cool feature of this printer...it prints from our iphones and the ipad! How cool is that?)

I know you won't believe me, but I have even MORE new stuff to talk about. But this post is long enough and the other new things are bigger. So I'll discuss them when I can get better pictures and not bore you any longer.

Pins, Pinning, Pinterest!

2012-01-11T11:12:00.002-06:00

So have you heard about Pinterest? It's the latest thing, I guess. It's both easy and hard to describe what it's like.

Easy --
It's a pinboard. Think pushpins or thumbtacks. In olden days of yore, you'd find a picture of something you liked in a magazine or newspaper. You'd cut it out and "pin" it to some cork board. A bulletin board. Message board. Things like that. So this website is just one big electronic cork board where people "pin" images of things they find interesting. (Pin + Interest = Pinterest! I didn't really have to explain that, did I?)

Hard --
Pinterest is filled with a million and one things to look at. There are "pins" for fitness, desserts, work outs, wedding dresses, outfits, hairstyles, photography ideas, baby ideas, kid ideas, teacher ideas, gift ideas, oh the list goes on. I saw one pin last night that said "Pinterest is like fantasy football for girls."

I resisted going there when I first heard about it because everyone said it was addicting. They were right! It's even more of a time waster than facebook, in my opinion. At least on facebook you are keeping up with news of your friends and family whom you might not otherwise talk with on a regular basis. On Pinterest, well, you're just wasting time. :)

HOWEVER, while it is a big time suck, it's not totally pointless. (haha!) By clicking on some pictures of things I liked, I've found a couple of new blogs to check out.

Can You Stay for Dinner?
This blog is by Andie Mitchell. She's a 26 year old who lost 135 lbs! She posts healthy recipes. Her story and take on exercising and weight maintenance is a great read. Since I'm in the middle of losing weight (15 pounds down!) I found it very inspiring.

Chocolate-Covered Katie -- the healthy dessert blog
I just found this one today by a pin of her "chocolate chip cookie dough dip." I totally have to try this now! It's made with chickpeas.....which sounds utterly gross but she took some to a party and everyone loved it! Being on Weight Watchers, I'm trying to find a way to have my cake and eat it, too. Or at least something similar.

So I'll keep checking Pinterest. Maybe not as much as I have been.....It's kind of like facebook in that you have to wait awhile for there to be new content. But there are some neat things to look at.

And who says girls can't have their own fantasy football team! LOL!

Point-less cake pops

2012-01-03T19:33:00.003-06:00

So I figured out how to make cake pops. They are so much fun!

They are also incredibly fattening.....

I calculated the Weight Watchers Points Plus value for a regular cake pop. I came up with 3 points per pop.

3 points!!!

Which was actually less than I thought it would be. However, I wondered if I could make them less "expensive."

Also, I have a confession. I've found the taste of regular cake pops to be......sweet. As in, they had no flavor except sweet. Now, did that stop me from eating them? Oh heck no! But they weren't just the most scrumptious things I'd ever put in my mouth.

So I also set out to make them tastier.

I've been making Yum Yum muffins from Hungry Girl and Weight Watchers for a couple of months now. All they are is a devil's food cake mix and a 15 oz. can of pumpkin. Mix together and bake for about 20 minutes. You can't taste the pumpkin and it makes an incredibly moist cake. If you make 24 muffins, they are 2 points a piece. For comparison purposes, regular cupcakes are 4 points a piece.

Also from a Weight Watchers meeting, I discovered a new product! It's called PB2. It is powdered peanut butter. Somehow these people have figured out a way to get all the fat and oil out of peanuts. Then all you have to do is mix 2 tablespoons of powder with 1 tablespoon of water and voila! A tablespoon of peanut butter with a Points Plus value of 1. (A tablespoon of regular peanut butter is 5 points! yikes!)

It also comes in chocolate!

(But for this recipe, I used the regular flavor.)

So, as I was eating the last batch of cake pops at Christmas, I thought to myself. Hmmm, how could I make these have less points? Then I remembered those muffins. I also thought, how can I make these tastier? Then I remembered the PB2.

Chocolate and peanut butter?

Yep yep!

Even though they were the absolute last thing I needed to have around, I made another batch today. I had baked the muffins in a 9x13 pan the other day. Once again, I used only half of the finished cake. (I don't need 70 cake pops even if they are less points....) I had no idea how much PB2 it would take. I started with 3 finished tablespoons and it worked great!

I made the balls as usual and placed them in the freezer.

For the coating, well, there really is no substitute. They don't make fat free coating. I doubt they make a sugar free coating, though you could always look for one. But it would have to have artificial sweeteners in it and I try to avoid those.

I used Wilton light cocoa candy melts. Once again, I had to add shortening to thin it.

It worked! And the cake was very moist. They taste kind of like a peanut butter fudge ball.

The Points Plus value??????

2!!!

Yes, I know. Big whoop. One freaking point. Of course, it means that if you eat 3 cake pops, that's only 6 points instead of 9. Every little bit helps, right?

I also had some left over red candy melts. So I used them to fancy them up a bit. Plus, I'm really getting into a Valentine's Day craft and baking mode. That can't be good. Well, for me, at least. My family and Jim's coworkers will love it! LOL!

And finally, I had leftover chocolate coating that I hate to waste. So I drizzled it over some pretzels. Yum!

(And if you want to talk math with me and see how I calculated the Points Plus values, ask me in the comment section. I love talking math with people!)

Resolution Rant

2012-01-01T14:26:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year's! It's January 1st. Time for my annual rant about the pointlessness of New Year's Resolutions!

Have you made any resolutions? Decided that Sunday was a good time to make a change? Thought that a new calendar brings with it skinniness, wealth, and happiness?

No?? Yes???

Ok, then. I have a secret.

It doesn't work that way!

Anyone who decides to change something just because it's January, the 1st, or they hung a new calendar is not going to succeed.

Unless you're my mother-in-law. One year, she resolved to "get fit". Or something like that. She began by dancing around in her kitchen to music she liked. Then she took an aerobics class. Then she TAUGHT an aerobics class. She ended up being an aerobics instructor full time. She even returned to college and got a degree! She's certified to teach many different types of exercise, swimming, and CPR. (I hope I'm getting all of these details right!) She also does personal training.

She IS the 1%.

The (approximate) 1% of people who make a New Year's resolution and stick to it. (The 1% is my number because you know that 79.5% of all statistics are made up on the spot, right? ;)

The rest of us, well, let's just say it doesn't usually work out that way.

So here are my 3 guidelines for making changes that will actually become CHANGES. That you'll stick with and incorporate into your daily life.

1. You gotta get mad!
To paraphrase Dave Ramsey, you've got to get sick and tired of BEING sick and tired! You have to put some emotion into it. You've got to get mad at the problem! You have to decide, once and for all, that you're not going back to that dress size, that food, that significant other, that job, that crappy situation. That whatever you have to do to change things is ok because it's easier than staying where you are.

2. Start small.
So I'm going to exercise every day this week. WRONG! You're going to tell yourself to exercise 2 days this week. Then 3 days next week, Then 4, etc. OR, you can also tell yourself, I'm going to exercise today. And not worry about tomorrow. Then tell yourself the same thing tomorrow. Take it one day at a time. Rome wasn't built in a day and these habits you're trying to change won't be changed in a day. We tend to get off course not by making one huge wrong turn but by making many small ones.

3. Describe your first step in actual words.
Make it a step you can do. "Yell at my family less" is very vague. Try something like, "count to 10 before calmly asking them to pick up their coats." Same thing with "exercise more". What does that look like? Rephrase it to say "walk on treadmill for 20 minutes while baby naps." (heh, heh, yes that's mine. Not off to a good start. I'm blogging instead!)

Change IS possible. New habits CAN be formed. They can even begin on January 1st. But they are more likely to begin when YOU decide they're going to begin. Whether that's January 1st, Feb 23rd, July 18th or any time in between. You'll change something when YOU decide it's time to change.

So don't feel bad if the resolution thing just doesn't work for you. It doesn't work for me. Nor for most people. But don't lose hope. Change is possible but YOU have to decide that it's possible!

YOU

2011-12-22T13:46:00.002-06:00

So in the mail a few months ago we got a report. It was on our natural gas usage. Now, they have started sending them to my email! So this is what I got today:

James F Kane

We are pleased to provide you with this personalized report for Nov 10 - Dec 08. Additional information is also available online.
You used more natural gas than your neighbors.

Efficient Neighbors 73 CCF*

All Neighbors 95

You 109

* CCF: Standard unit of measuring natural gas volume, also called one hundred cubic feet.

Sign in to see how your usage changes over time.

*********************************************************************************

The actual email contains big horizontal bars to illustrate the hugeness of "109" as opposed to those saintly souls who used *only* "73".

These reports piss me off.

I guess they're from our gas provider, although I thought that was Arkansas Western Gas. The reports come from SourceGas.

I wonder how true they are. Are they REALLY our neighbors' usage rates or are they just trying to get us to click on their website and read stuff about how to be efficient?

And who is my neighbor, dare you ask?

Our neighbors are empty nesters. Some are retired, some aren't. Others are young, married couples without children. We really don't have that many families with young children around here although there are a few.

We have 3 kids. And a dog. I do 15+ loads of laundry EVERY. WEEK. With a gas dryer, I might add.

DO YOU THINK MAYBE THAT'S WHY I USE MORE GAS THAN MY NEIGHBORS??????????

So at the end of the email, I read the fine print and saw a wonderful word:

Unsubscribe

Yes! I clicked it and now I will no longer be burdened with the guilt of ruining the planet because my family wanted clean clothes.

Cake Pops Success!

2011-12-04T13:57:00.008-06:00

I did it! I made ROUND cake pops! Pristine spheres of fluid candy sweetness. Mmmmm!

True to their word, they really were pretty easy. But the devil's in the details.

LOTS of details.

Regular reader(s) of my blog will remember my first attempt back in the summer. They turned out ok. They tasted ok. But they were gloppy and not very pretty.

At Thanksgiving, my cousin, Kayla, made some cake balls. YUM! I ate TOO many. (But I counted them on WW points!) We discussed how difficult they were to get right. We had both had the same problems with the stick not staying stuck and the coating not, well, coat-ing.

So last Monday I went Googling. I found a video by the master herself, Bakerella. When Bakerella dips hers, she goes straight down into the coating and then straight back up. She doesn't swish the ball around or use the spoon to pour the coating over it. She also sticks them into a styrofoam block instead of laying them on wax paper. Those two things totally changed the way my cake pops looked this time.

I also found a blog post by Pioneer Woman. Her Halloween cake balls were cute, but not as smooth as Bakerella's. However, I did find two secrets on her website....

1. She didn't use all the icing!

She said she only used about 3/4 of the can of icing. Aha! That's the mistake I made last time. I had so much icing in there that the sticks kept sliding out.

2. She suggested thinning the coating with shortening.

Eureka! THAT is how Bakerella gets hers to look so smooth and round. Her coating goes on seamlessly. With thinner coating, it really is possible to dip the ball into the coating and pull it straight up and have it be completely covered. Then you tap off the excess and put it in the styrofoam block.

So I took some pictures. You'll be amazed! LOL!

Ok, so this is a can of frosting. Not so amazing. But the secret is to start with a little frosting and only add more if you need it. You want to make the cake/frosting mash up to be about the consistency of playdough. I didn't measure my frosting exactly. But for 1/2 of a 9x13 cake (I didn't feel like rolling and dipping 70+ balls again), I used maybe 1/3 of this can of icing.

Here are my finished cake balls. With less icing, they rolled into perfectly shaped balls. I popped (heh heh) these in the freezer for about 15 mins per Bakerella's video instructions. From 1/2 of a 9x13 cake, I got 36 balls.

While they were in the freezer, I melted the candy coating. I tried two kinds.

Wal-Mart was out of Wilton white candy melts in bags, but they had this nifty dipping cup of them. So I bought it. I also bought some green ones which you can see in the background. Those are for later.

I also used up the rest of the almond bark from the ones I made in the summer.

Boy, was there a difference! I began with the Wilton melts. Wilton has been in the cake decorating business for DECADES! So I figured they would be better. But no. They weren't. The dip was so thick that when I held up my spoon, it glopped off. It didn't stream off or roll off. It took forever for part of it to plop off. I even tried heating it longer in the microwave thinking it wasn't melted enough. That didn't help either.

So I switched to the almond bark. Perfection! Oh my goodness! You should've seen it. It rolled off my spoon with the consistency of cake batter. It fell in perfect ribbons and was reabsorbed into the remaining candy seamlessly.

Another tip I picked up from Bakerella was to dip the ends of the sticks into the candy coating before sticking them into the balls. This was a big help. It helped the sticks to stay in while being dipped.

After the sticks had a minute to set, I started dipping. Like Bakerella's video, I went straight down and then straight up. Tapped off the excess and placed it in my foam.

Yes, I used floral foam. I didn't have time to go to Hobby Lobby and Walmart didn't have any white. I figured this was as good as anything. (And I love how it's labeled "desert foam". I thought it just needed another "s" to make it "dessert foam". LOL!)

When I ran out of almond bark, I turned back to the Wilton melts. I got some shortening and melted it in the microwave. I stirred it in to the Wilton melts and voila! Perfection! Here is what it looked like after the addition of the shortening. The almond bark looked like this, too.

And now, here are my finished, beautiful, perfectly round, cake pops!

To make the white ones, I sprinkled white sanding sugar over them. I called them "snowballs."

Aren't they pretty?

Beta and I decided they were almost too pretty to eat! Almost.......

Bah Humbug!

2011-11-17T15:59:00.003-06:00

So here I sit. November 17. The weather has finally turned cooler, but is nowhere near frightful yet, thankfully.

Thanksgiving is one week from today.
Christmas is 5 weeks and 3 days from today.

I've bought 3 Christmas gifts for extended family members. I've bought maybe 5 gifts for the kids.

*Sigh*
I hate christmas.

With a lower case "c". Not the big Christ-mas that helps us to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. That one I like.

But the whole shebang. The gift buying, the holiday parties, buying gifts for holiday parties. Shopping, wrapping, scheduling. All the STUFF I have to do.

I didn't used to be this way. But that was when I was younger and everything was done for me. Christmas was fun then! Now, though, I'm the mom. And the wife. So everything falls to me to make sure it's a "perfect Christmas!" To make sure no one gets left off the list. To make that list and check it 3, 4 times. Probably more. To make sure each child has personal, unique gifts that will cause her to squeal with delight when she opens them. They must be fun, useful, educational, and be something she'll play with beyond December 26. And they shouldn't cost too much either.

To figure out where on earth we're going to put all those gifts once they're unwrapped.

I feel trapped. Part of me wants to just say "to heck with it!" and go give all my Christmas money to charity. I think Jesus would like that.

But I think I'd be disowned. And my kids would cry. And maybe this will sound hypocritical, but I do kind of like getting some gifts myself.

In one of the first Financial Peace University lessons, Dave Ramsey talks about saving up money throughout the year and paying cash for Christmas gifts. About Christmas, he says, "Did you know it's in DECEMBER this year?" LOL! In that same rant he says jokingly, "Jesus said buy the little children plastic things!" He's kidding, of course. He's trying to make the point that you don't have to go broke every year buying things for people.

What I'd really like to do is buy things for my friends and family that they REALLY need. Like a new washer and dryer. Siding for their house. A new (to them) car. Diapers for a year. Or something similar.

So here I sit. I'm just not in the Christmas spirit. Maybe that's because it's only NOVEMBER. I don't know. But for the last few years, it's just gotten to be too much work. And I really start questioning whether this is what God had in mind when He sent His Son.

Top Ate

2011-11-08T13:14:00.003-06:00

I'm borrowing (nay, stealing) from Hungry Girl today. She always lists her "Top Ate" lists. They're like David Letterman's Top 10 Lists, but have only 8 things (ate, get it? um, yea) and are about food.

So, here are the Top Ate Things I've Learned Since Starting Weight Watchers

1. I was eating WAY too much.
I kind of knew that already. Sort of figured that was why I was gaining weight. But I didn't realize how much of "WAY too much" I was eating. Wow.

2. We are bombarded every day in America with TONS of food images, shows, ads, suggestions, and the like. It's almost no wonder most of us are overweight. It sometimes feels like that's all we see! Food!

3. Jeans weigh 2 pounds.
Yep. A full 2 pounds. Found this out last week when I wore jeans for the first time and was up 0.8 pounds. I was probably down a pound last week but the jeans made it not show.

4. Have a light-weight weigh-in outfit and wear it every week.
So this week I put on exercise clothes which added a mere 1/2 pound. (weighed myself at home) I was down 3.4 pounds! Now I have to wear this same outfit every week. But that's what most of the women there do. The leader was discussing it last week and said that she would know we owned other clothes and that we had washed it. :)

5. Every Weight Watchers meal I have made for my family has been delicious! They have all loved every bite. Now, no one else in this house needs to lose weight (except maybe the dog who is getting pudgy from eating all of J4's tossed off morsels), but that doesn't mean they don't need to eat healthier. Of course, see my previous post for some discussion on what "healthier" means.

6. I don't need as much fruit now as I did that first week.
I'm not starving any more. My mom and I have long known this phenomenon. Your stomach seems to get accustomed to a certain amount of food. If you eat more than that, you feel full. If you eat more than that for a couple of days, your body starts to expect that amount every day. So if you have a couple of days where you overeat (cough cough, Thanksgiving, cough cough) when you get back to your normal routine, you are hungry! It works in reverse, though. Now that I've quit snacking so much during the day, I'm actually not hungry until nearly supper time.

7. I like Greek yogurt!
Never thought I'd say that. But I DO like Greek yogurt. Now, I don't like it plain. I treat it like sour cream and cream cheese. I can't stand those things plain, by themselves. Cream cheese on a bagel? yuck. Sour cream on a potato? Ew. But mix those things with salsa for the former and sugar for the latter, and MAN! I could eat entire tubs of those things. Well, Greek yogurt is now my go-to for a sour cream substitute. I think I'll make it a staple in our house like I had been doing with sour cream. I used it in poppyseed chicken casserole last night. An entire CUP has only 3 points. Wow.

8. Weight Watchers is awesome!
I saw a story on the national news back in September. (at supper time, no less) Someone had done a study pitting various diets and programs against one another. People on WeightWatchers lost the most weight and kept it off the longest. That perked up my ears and made me look them up online. It only costs $12.50 per meeting until you lose a certain amount of weight. (forget how much, maybe 10%?) Then meetings are free. Somehow, I just KNEW it was time. I knew I needed to get control of myself and get my weight under control. Like most if not all moms, I spend every waking hour taking care of my husband, kids, and house. I make sure everyone is fed, clothed, safe, and happy. But when I do I ever take care of myself? I've always avoided spending money on myself because there are so many other things we need to spend money on. But I knew I needed to do this. And I'm so glad I did!

As of today's weigh-in, I've lost 8.2 pounds. I'm excited, yes, but what I really want to do is lose even more. Of the 20 pounds I gained while pregnant with J4 and lost in just a few weeks, I had gained 16 of that back. To top it off, my pre-pregnancy weight with him was already 20 pounds higher than my pre-pregnancy weights with the girls. So while I'm very happy that it's headed down, I will be EXTREMELY happy once I pass the 16 pound mark. That's when I will start to lose some real weight that has been with me for about 5 years now. In fact, I predict that's when things will start to get very hard and just eating less will not do any more. But I've still got a ways to go until that point. And hey, 1 pound a week is still 52 pounds a year!

*****BONUS******
9. I tend to write more the longer the list gets......Hmmm..... :)

We ate healthy tonight! Uh, maybe.....

2011-10-29T21:17:00.002-05:00

We had a yummy supper tonight! It consisted of grilled trout, caught by Jim and his dad a few weeks ago, (and frozen since then), broccoli florets with parmesan and herb topping, and Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice. Yummmm!

But was it healthy? I don't know any more.

This all started a few weeks ago when I was bored one afternoon. I had some laundry to fold so I turned on Netflix. We get it through our Wii. Innocent, little naive me went searching for something interesting. I found a documentary entitled "Forks Over Knives." Ok, it's about food. I'm doing Weight Watchers now. Maybe this will teach me something.

Boy, did it ever!

"Forks Over Knives" is a documentary espousing the benefits of a plant-based diet. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I just accepted that idea and went with it while watching the whole film. It wasn't until about 75% of the way through the film that I started to wonder just exactly what they meant. It was also about that time that they first said the word...

Vegan

Yes, a plant-based diet means Vegan. I feel stupid for not recognizing it earlier.

There are several good reviews of this film on various blogs. I wouldn't even begin to try and review it here. My first overall impression, though, was WOW! You can REVERSE heart disease? That caught my attention. I've got a family history riddled with heart disease. I've been on Lipitor for the last 4 years or so (except when I was pregnant with or nursing J4). So I was intrigued.

But after reading Denise Minger's review on her blog, Raw Food:SOS and Rhys Southan's review on the blog Let Them Eat Meat, I'm coming down from the plant-based mountain.

And really starting to question whether anyone knows what's good for us or not.

The premise of this film was simple: ALL animal products are bad and will kill you. No, really. That's pretty much it. Watch the film and see for yourself. But what about fish? One time in the film, some guy (don't know names, but he was a professional looking fellow with credentials) says that if it walks, runs, swims, or flies, then it's bad for you. Really? Fish? I thought fish were ok.

So that's one view. Here's another:

My Weight Watchers program has you eating lean protein. (22 slices of Hormel pizza-style Canadian bacon are only 1 point! woohooo! Had them at lunch today with crackers and Laughing Cow cheese thanks to Hungry Girl.....) Fruit and veggies are all (well, almost all) 0 points. They figure that even though some are high in sugar or fat, no one ever really got fat by eating too many fruits and veggies.

Hungry Girl.com (my newest food find) claims to "provide a happy medium -- a bridge between the average junk food diet and the idealistic way of eating perfectly healthy at all times." Ok. Most of her recommendations are good, natural foods. But she lists some that are low fat and no fat. I thought we'd moved beyond the "fat is bad for you" stage. She also lists plenty of sugar-free foods. But these usually contain artificial sweeteners. While I'm nowhere near being a health nut, I still don't want these chemicals in my body.

Then there's the whole organic, local food movement. Strawberries from the corner of Joyce and Crossover? Good! Strawberries from Walmart flown in from California? BAD!!!

So what's healthy? What's "good for you?" When I was growing up, popsicles, cookies, and candy were all junk food. They still are. But Hamburger Helper was healthy! Today, it's not. (too much salt, possibly too much sugar, white pasta, red meat, processed, processed, processed!) But that's what I grew up learning was "healthy!"

Peanut butter is healthy! No, it's junk food, No, it's healthy!

Alpha had some dental work done the other day so I fixed her some jello. I've always heard that it's good to eat when you can't chew because it's a good source of protein. While calculating the WeightWatchers points on it, right there on the back of the box next to the 2g of protein it said, "not a significant source of protein." ****sigh****

So what am I "supposed" to eat? What do I feed my family? Am I killing my children by giving them chicken? Only if it's fried, but not if it's grilled? (oh, wait. Charred parts cause cancer...) What if it's already diced up and cooked and comes in a bag so that I can have supper on the table in about 20 minutes Tuesday night when I have to go to a meeting at 6:00? Is that bad?

I bought Pillsbury Halloween cinnamon rolls for our breakfast tomorrow. I'm probably going straight to mom hell for that one.

So I'm confused. I don't know what's healthy and what's not. It depends on who you ask. And no one group seems to have any better evidence than any other group. You can show almost anything with a "study." (I worked briefly in the biostatistics field. I've seen it happen.)

But for now, I'm going to enjoy having eaten our fish dinner! I'm going to try and have us eat more fruits and vegetables and maybe a little less meat. My family doesn't know it but they've all been put on Weight Watchers! Muhahahaha! (except that they've been able to eat almost endless amounts of early Halloween candy while I've had to count all of mine.....) Is this the best plan? Who knows? But it's the best I can do at the moment. I guess only time will tell.

Creamy Mexican Dip

2011-10-23T13:59:00.004-05:00

So I've been on Weight Watchers for a month now. I've lost 4.2 pounds! Isn't that awesome???? I can't wait until I lose more. I hope it continues. I'm afraid that right now the pounds are coming off b/c I was just eating SO much and have now gone back to a more reasonable amount of food. I think I'm going to hit a plateau at some point and then need to increase the activity. Which I'm trying to do now, but I'm still leery of doing too much with my knee. And I'm just lazy....(for those who care, I go back to the orthopedic doc this Thursday. Maybe he'll clear me for more activity.)

So each week at our meeting, we get a little brochure/magazine/handout thingy. The ladies at my regular meeting refer to it as the "weekly reader" because its title is Weight Watchers Weekly. I smiled when I told them I was old enough to understand why they'd call it that. :)

This past week, the weekly contained an awesome recipe! It's called Creamy Mexican Dip. I have just found my salvation from sour cream! Look at the recipe below:

Creamy Mexican Dip
1 cup plain, fat-free yogurt (Greek variety recommended)
1/2 cup salsa, hot chipotle variety suggested in the weekly. I just used medium heat Pace b/c that's what we had. Would also be good with homemade salsa, too.
1 medium avocado, diced
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (Walmart Market didn't have any so I just used dried.)
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste (I used Kosher salt.)

Garnish
1/4 medium avocado, diced
1 Tbsp fresh, chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp chopped red onion

In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt and salsa until blended.
Stir in remaining ingredients except garnishes.
Cover and refrigerate up to 1 day.

When ready to serve, transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with garnishes. Yields about 1/4 cup per serving. 1 points plus value per serving

This dip was YUM! I mean, I wondered how many 1/4 cups there were in the entire bowl b/c I wanted to eat the whole thing! (ok, so that's not exactly WW's intent.....) I've heard before about substituting yogurt for sour cream. Yogurt? Yuck! I hate yogurt. Can't stand it. It has this wang that is just disgusting to me. So I've never used yogurt instead of sour cream. But this time I decided that if it was mixed with enough stuff, I might like it. I did. I LOVED it! I will definitely be buying more Greek yogurt to have on hand and use in place of sour cream.

I even ate the avocado! I've never cared for avocado before either. Guacamole doesn't interest me. But covered in this dip, it was delicious! It added just the right amount of creamy, smooth texture. The onion was ok, too. Not a big fan of large pieces of onion. I like onion flavoring, but not onion pieces. But this red onion was ok. Bonus: I bought a container of already diced red onion! It was not that much more expensive than a whole onion. I've got plenty left over so I may freeze some to use the next time I make this dip. (like Tuesday......)

But the best part? THE GIRLS ATE IT! Yes! Both girls dipped chips and their quesadillas in it for lunch. So it's healthy AND the girls (and Jim) will eat it. WIN! WIN! WIN!

Turning a corner

2011-10-13T09:03:00.002-05:00

I can't believe this is happening. I actually missed vegetables last night.

On Wednesday nights, our church has a children's Bible study as well as several adult classes. It starts at 6:00 so they serve a meal beforehand.

Last night's meal was grilled cheese sandwiches and tater tots along with dessert and drinks. The food was good. Not great, but ok. However, as I'm counting points, I thought, "oh no! This is going to be a whole lot of points for not a lot of yum." Sure enough. When I got home I looked up the points. These sandwiches were two Texas Toast-style slices of garlic bread with a slice of cheese in the middle. One slice of garlic bread is 6 points. So 2 was 12 points. The cheese was an extra 3. So my total sandwich came to 15 points! Then there were the tater tots.....I tried to share with J4, and I did. However, the girls kept handing me theirs to feed him so I had a lot on my plate. I ate some. Not a ton, but more than a few. So I had to factor in those 7 points as well. I should've had water to drink, but I like their lemonade. Another 3 points. So my total meal came to 25 points! Yikes! Luckily my week starts over on Tuesday so I have those 49 weekly points to use, but still.....

What I noticed myself doing, though, was asking, "where are the vegetables?" The meal had none. Nothing even close! I ACTUALLY WANTED SOME VEGETABLES!!!! What is wrong with me? I NEVER actually WANT vegetables. I'll eat them if they're there, but I've never missed them before.

So I think I've turned a corner. By beginning to eat healthier, I actually WANT to eat healthier. Now, I'm not against the occasional vegetable-less meal. (Hellooooooo, cheeseburger and fries!) But I truly did miss eating vegetables last night.

This is new for me. :)

This is harder than I thought.

2011-10-05T13:03:00.001-05:00

Well, yesterday was Weight Watchers again.

And it went well!

I lost 0.2 pounds.

Which brings my total weight loss to 1.6 pounds!

So I didn't lose another pound this week, BUT I also didn't gain anything either. Yay me!

I did not get to exercise as much this week as I did last week. A rescheduled piano lesson, work, and a sore throat all conspired to prevent me from taking an hour long trek anywhere interesting. I did eek out 15 mins on the treadmill and a 30 min walk with the dog and the boy. But I still need to do more than that. Ah well. This week will be better!

Yesterday was interesting. From weight watchers, I headed down to my piano job. I had to stop and get J4 some McD's on the way b/c it was his lunch time. I did good and only got a smoothie. I wouldn't have gotten anything except that my throat (sore, as I mentioned above) was killing me and I was very thirsty. I didn't want a soft drink.

Ok, so I had a few of his fries. And his last chicken mcnugget that he wasn't going to eat. But I did better than I would have before WW!

Then last night, there was an ice cream social we were invited to. Jim took the kids while I was at PTO. Then I showed up later. AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE EATEN ANYTHING!!!!! But I did. I had half a bowl of mostly melted chocolate ice cream that Jim had gotten for me....and two cookies.

When I got home, I had to account for all that stuff. So I did. Thankfully, my "week" restarted yesterday so I had those 49 "extra" weekly points "so you don't feel deprived." I ended up using about 10 of those points because of the McDonalds, ice cream, and cookies.

So it's not like I went off the plan. Or even did that bad. However, that was basically just mindless eating. Well, maybe not the McDonald's. (I was STARVING.) But the ice cream and cookies I could have (should have) skipped. Basically, I hate to use those points on stuff that's not just "the most awesome thing you've ever put in your mouth!"

This is going to take more discipline than I thought. You just don't realize how many times you are faced with food until you have to count every morsel!

He's Great Fun at Parties!

2011-10-01T22:15:00.002-05:00

1 Down!

2011-09-27T14:08:00.002-05:00

Well, I did it! My small meals, no frills, and counting all those points paid off. I lost 1.4 pounds last week! So my first goal has been met: To Lose 1 pound.

Yep. 1 pound.

That might not sound like that big of a deal to the rest of you. But it is to me because of this story from my past:

Back in 1998, I worked at DHS. They had a company-wide healthy employee initiative to get their employees to lose weight and be healthier in general. You could register a team of coworkers so I did. Along with various other ways to be healthy, losing weight was a prime component. I resolved to lose 10 pounds.

So I started exercising. And exercising. AND exercising. The next week, I hopped on the scale and had lost.......0 pounds. So I changed my goal. I said you know, 10 pounds is an awful lot. How about I just try to lose 5 pounds.

So the next week I exercised. And exercised. AND EXERCISED! And I lost.......0 pounds. GRRRRRR!!!! I was so frustrated! I thought if you exercised you were supposed to lose weight. I got so mad that I exclaimed, "I just want to lose 1 freaking pound!! I just want the scale to MOVE!"

So the next week, I ate smaller meals. I cut out candy. I exercised harder and more intensely than I had the previous 2 weeks. I hopped on the scale and had lost.........1 pound! FINALLY!

Of course, then I realized just how hard it was to lose 1 pound. I was happy for that, but also frustrated because I had to do all that over and over again for 10 MORE TIMES! But then, I don't know if I read this somewhere or just thought it, but I realized: If you lose 1 pound a week, you'll lose 52 pounds in a year! Wow! Wouldn't losing 52 pounds be nice? (heh, back then I didn't have 52 pounds to lose but I might have that much now.....)

So from then on, I realized it's all about the baby steps. That's how babies learn to walk -- one step at a time. That how Dave Ramsey helps you get out of debt and get your finances in order -- one step at a time. So that is how I will lose weight and regain my health -- one step (pound) at a time.

176

2011-09-23T13:52:00.002-05:00

There. I said it. I finally admitted it, came to terms with it, and resigned to do something about it.

I joined Weight Watchers.

Never in my life have I joined Weight Watchers or even wanted to. Of course, never in my life have I weighed this much either. Unless you count the end of my pregnancies. I think I'm still under that ceiling. (I would always quit counting when it got towards the end so I don't know an exact amount.)

I went to my first meeting on Tuesday. It was good. It was all ladies which seemed to help. I wasn't even the youngest! There was at least one other lady there who had kids 13 and 11 years old. Most of them were grandmothers, though. But that's ok. They all seemed really sweet. :)

When I stepped on the scale, I was almost apologetic. I told the lady doing the weigh-in that I didn't know how or why I had allowed myself to get this big. She smiled and sweetly said that that is what most of them there that day would say, too. It made me feel better. Well, until the scale groaned. But at least someone understood.

So I've been counting my points and eating my fruit for 4 days now. Tuesday was fun. I had that initial energy. That newness about things. That "this time it's going to be different!" feeling. I also had to come home and bake a german chocolate cake for Jim's birthday. And eat a piece. Which I calculated using my nifty new PointsPlus (tm) calculator they sold me. It was 12 points. For one piece. My daily points allotment is 29. Yep. You do the math. Luckily, they also include 49 "extra" weekly points that you can use at any time during the week. So you don't feel deprived, they say.

Wednesday was ok. Fruit is all 0 points. So you can eat as much of it as you want, within reason. I've never downed so many pieces of fruit in my life! (well, ok, it was only like 2, but I haven't eaten 2 apples in the same day in a long time.) I had to go out yesterday and buy more just so I'd have something to eat!

Thursday, I failed. I did ok until supper time. We were having spaghetti with meatballs. While it was cooking, I looked up how many points meatballs have. Two meatballs have 10 points! (gasp!) I'm used to having 4 or 5 meatballs. All of us are! J4 even likes them! (But that's ok b/c he's a baby and needs the fat. Oh to be 1 again!) I served myself less spaghetti than I normally do, but probably not as little as I should have. Then, I got so frustrated, I caved. I had 3 meatballs, parmesan cheese, AND a roll. I had 7 points remaining for the day, I think. I went in the hole about 13 points. And that was WITHOUT dessert, people!

I'm hoping this is just my body freaking out over having lots less food to work with. These 29 points are not very many. No wonder they say that if you stick to the program you WILL lose weight! They don't let you eat anything!!!!! Hopefully my stomach will "shrink" and I'll be happy with less food. Then I'll be eating normal amounts and get back to a normal size.

But tonight we're going out to eat like we do every Friday. This is what those extra 49 weekly points are for. But I'm down to about 15 of them. And they've got to last until Tuesday!

So I'm going to chronicle my journey back to thinness, or at least away from fatness for all of you who care to read about it. I hope I don't embarrass myself with these postings. Encouraging comments are welcome! But please don't tell me to start eating sprouts or asparagus. Life is too short, you know?

Why?

2011-09-21T09:51:00.002-05:00

This year alone, I have known personally 2 families that have lost a child. I've also known 2 others who had their babies WAY early. Like at 24 and 26 weeks.

As I sit here watching J4 pull all my papers off my desk and make a huge mess on the floor, I wonder why. Why did I have a healthy, full term baby while these other women did not? Why is my baby living and thriving while theirs did not? I feel guilty. Kind of like survivor's guilt, I guess.

These other women are very healthy. They aren't crackheads or on meth. They have college degrees and jobs. They are all Christians. They probably read the Bible and pray more than I do, too.

So, why?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Something (an update)

2011-09-08T12:20:00.002-05:00

So I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks. I should write something. So I did. (see title of my post)

I thought I would give everyone (all 4 of you) an update on my life and my family.

Jim
Jim is still working at Acumen Brands, and he is as busy as ever! He keeps websites like Scrubshopper.com, Toughweld,com, The Baby Habit.com and others running. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 well, you get the idea. It's not unusual to hear him up at 3am fixing something. He works so much, in fact, that they are considering hiring him some help. This would be great! Although, my mother reminds me that the fact he works so much is why they pay him the big bucks that allow me to stay home. Hmmm. She does have a point. I guess I'm like Joe Walsh of the Eagles, "I can't complain but sometimes I still do"...... :)

Alpha
Alpha has started 5th grade. At her school, 5th grade is considered middle school. She LOVES it! I think it is the perfect balance between elementary and jr. high. They have lockers and change classes, but they are in the same "pod" of rooms all day. So they don't have to trek all the way across campus to another building while stopping by their locker and the bathroom. She feels so grown up. It's cute to watch! At church, she is continuing as an acolyte and also playing handbells. This summer, we got her a book on how to play the recorder and she enjoyed furthering her skills in that instrument. (I enjoyed playing around with it, too!)

Beta
Beta has started 2nd grade. She is in a class with several of her friends so she's excited about that. She's also starting GT (Gifted & Talented) classes this year. So far she loves them! Jim and I are excited for her because we were both in GT. Over the summer, she was bitten by the music bug! We've been doing "piano lessons" for about 2 years now, off and on. She pushed herself to get past where Alpha was in the book, and then continued to push herself to learn music that was actually on a staff. She ended up finishing the Primer level book and is now in Book 1. I have to do lessons when she asks for them, otherwise she will be stubborn and refuse. But like I said, the music bug has bitten her and she wants to learn to play even more songs. Needless to say, I am VERY excited about this!

J4
As you probably saw a few months ago, J4 is walking! He's been walking for 3 months now so he's really getting good at it. Which means I'm getting faster, too. :) We've also determined that he loves cars and trains. Anything that GOES. He plays with his Thomas the Tank Engine toys several times a day. He also has to be holding a Hot Wheels or Matchbox car whenever he's not playing with Thomas. He is still not talking, exactly. However, he can say the first syllables of several important words such as: mama, dada, bye bye, girl, car, cracker, dog. He learned some of the baby sign language and uses signs for "more" and "drink" constantly!

Me
My life goes from one extreme to the other. I am either sitting around hopelessly bored, or am I so busy I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Staying at home this time around is different from 10 years ago. Back then, it was just Alpha and I. She didn't go to Mother's Day Out until she was 2. So we had LOTS of time together and I ended up BORED. This time, that's not the case. I didn't realize how busy it made you to have 2 kids in school. We aren't even involved in any after school activities, really. There's just so much more to think about and do now.

One thing I have started is teaching piano lessons. To kids who aren't my own. :) I've got 1 student so far and might possibly have 2 more. After teaching Beta this summer, it got me inspired to try and teach others. I've seen several requests from my friends on facebook for piano teachers so I know there's a need. I'm also seriously looking into doing taxes on my own for this upcoming tax season. I would love to do just enough to keep my skills up and earn enough to cover the CPE (continuing professional education) required for my CPA license.

Our schedule really starts up next week. Alpha's handbell practice got changed from Sundays to Mondays. So we'll be at church on Monday afternoons. I'm hoping to convince Beta to do piano lessons in one of the other rooms while we're waiting on handbells to finish. Otherwise, Mondays will be very long days. Next Wednesday, our church's Wednesday Nite Live starts up again. This is when the girls go to Timothy Team, the children's Bible study, and the adults take classes as well. Jim and I will be teaching another Financial Peace University class. This time, though, we'll be the only coordinators. We've very excited about that! Please pray that we'll strike the right balance between teaching and cheerleading (motivating) so we can really help the participants change the way they handle money. We also teach Beta's Sunday School class. That has been going on for 3 weeks now. We've had 27, 25, and 24 students! If these numbers stay high, they will split the class into 2 classes. Historically, the number of students attending drops significantly after Labor Day. Which is sad from a Christian perspective, but looks pretty good from a teaching one. :)

So there you have it. You knew we were up to "something", didn't you? ;)

Beta Back-to-School Retrospective

2011-08-21T22:31:00.004-05:00

Well, since it's the 2nd week of school I guess I should do the 2nd kid's photo retrospective. We got kind of busy last week. :)

I've got more digital baby pictures of Beta since we bought a digital camera right before she was born. So I'll include some early pictures, too!

The early months:
First Day of Mother's Day Out (she would have been about 18 months old here)
Pre-school graduation
Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Wow! I can't believe how much older she already looks! Doing these posts is going to make me cry.... *sniff*

Alpha Back-to-School Retrospective

2011-08-15T22:08:00.008-05:00

Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade (or as close as I could get....I looked and looked and could NOT find any pictures from that year. I wonder if I didn't take any? That wouldn't be like me...)
Third Grade (didn't have one of Alpha by herself...oops)

Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
And now, because I am feeling nostalgic, here are even earlier pictures of her:

Birth
Age 2
Age 3
Age 5

On the First Day of School, my true love gave to me.....

2011-08-15T21:56:00.005-05:00

Well, here we are. Another First Day of School done. Ours went smoothly around here. Having been at our current elementary school for 5 years now, and beginning our 6th, we are pretty familiar with how things work. Both girls walked themselves in this morning. Jim even dropped them off, like he usually does. The only noticeable difference between June 10th (last day of school) and August 15th was the girls' backpacks.

I still wonder if I should have walked them in. There really was no point. They don't allow anyone but kindergarten parents to walk their students to the classroom. Everyone else has to go to the cafeteria for the "Rise & Shine" Assembly. Then, they walk together down the hallway to their class. So it's not like I could have taken any cool pictures of them at their desks or with their new teachers or anything like that. But it won't be long before they don't want to be SEEN with me. So maybe I should have taken advantage of one more year.....ah well. What's done is done. C'est la vie!

So here are the pictures of them from this morning:

Here is what kept me busy the rest of the day:

Cardboard Boat Races

2011-08-04T15:00:00.008-05:00

This past weekend, I did something I've never done before. The fam and I attended the cardboard boat races in Heber Springs!

It all started when I got a call at 10:00 pm on July 2. We were sitting in the parking lot of the Northwest Arkansas Mall. The fireworks had just finished and we were waiting to leave. My brother starts telling me about cardboard boat races, math, formulas, and telling me he'll email me this thing. I'm like, what? My brother has a history of not really being a "math person" so I was a bit confused at first. I won't go into details here, but there are 2 formulas used to calculate how much the cardboard boat will sink when it's placed in the water with people in it. He wanted me to do the calculations for him. So I did.

And I had great fun! I made a spreadsheet and everything. I'm sure he thinks I'm even weirder than he thought. The truth is, I love doing stuff like that! Excel is my program for sure.

After putting in all that work, I told him he'd better not back out and that we were coming to watch. He said ok. So here are the pictures from that day. It was so much fun!

This is just a shot of the road we walked in on. It was a beautiful day. There were TONS of people there.

Here is my brother's cardboard boat:

It's the Delorean from Back to the Future. The races had an 80's theme this year.
The back of the boat. Note the license plate. :) They also put dry ice down the pipe when the race started so that it looked like smoke was coming out of it!

Here is his friend, Casey, dressed up as Doc.
He also had another friend, Drew, help him. I don't have any pictures of him, which is unfortunate. He was a real sweetheart.

Here is Matt. No pictures, please!

I got a few pictures of some of the other boats, too. This was from some Wal-Mart employees.

This was one of the other TV stations boats.

This was one of the other TV stations boats. (I have no idea which was which so I'm not labeling them.)
This one was just funny.
(it says "dead weight" on the side!)

The parenting highlight of the day came when I turned around and saw what was keeping J4 so quiet.
AACCKK! So THIS is what it's like having a boy. My girls never would have done that. Nor would we have let them. But he was quiet and I figured, if you can't play in the dirt when you're a 1 year old boy, then when CAN you play in the dirt? Besides, after the races, we washed him off in the lake. He got a bath later at home.

FINALLY, after waiting until the very last heat, they were allowed to race. Look at them go!
I'm sorry to say they didn't win anything. But it was great fun! My mother told me that Matt said it was the most fun he'd had in a long time. He plans to do it next year. We plan to be there!

Bakerella's Cake Pops

2011-07-28T12:25:00.005-05:00

So a few months ago, I stumble across a baking website, Bakerella.com. I think I followed a link from my Manic Mommies podcast. Anyway, she has these little desserts full of awesome cuteness that she calls cake pops! When I read the recipe, it sounded super simple. So simple, in fact, that I thought to myself, "how on earth did this lady make a whole website off of this? That's not hard or complicated, and doesn't take any skill!" Well, I suppose I am now about to eat my words, because these are a little harder to do than they look. :)

Well, the decorating part is. The recipe is still pretty simple. I will summarize it here, but you can go to her website to see how she makes cake balls and then how she turns them into cake pops.

1. Bake a cake and let it cool completely.
2. Get a can of frosting.
3. Crumble up the cake.
4. Mix in the frosting.
5. Roll mixture into millions of tiny balls. (I got about 6 dozen+)
6. Insert sticks.
7. Dip in Wilton's candy melts or almond bark or dipping chocolate.
8. Decorate however you'd like.

Simple, right? Well, here is how mine turned out.

I started with a Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix and Cream Cheese frosting.

Then, I crumbled up the cake.
Then mixed in the frosting.
I left some cake in the pan so we could all have a taste. This may become important later.....
Here is the mixture all balled up and ready to go into the fridge overnight. Her website says several hours, but it was getting late and I figured overnight couldn't hurt. Plus, I'd have more time the next day to do the dipping.

The next day......

Here is where it gets tricky. I think my first attempt at making the balls was not good. I made them too big. I also had trouble getting the sticks to STICK. They kept coming out of the mixture. My only guess as to why was in the amount of cake I used. I'm wondering if leaving that 2 inch wide piece of cake in the pan made the balls have too much frosting and not enough cake.

So I ended up cutting all the balls in half. I kept the sticks in one half, but then just dipped the remainder as cake balls, instead of turning them in to cake pops. I still had trouble with the sticks not sticking though.

Here is the dipping chocolate I used. On the left is Wilton's chocolate candy melts, in the middle is vanilla flavored almond bark, and on the right is chocolate flavored almond bark.

Wilton candy melt coated:
Vanilla almond bark coated:
Chocolate and almond bark coated:
(I had to get creative somehow!)

And lastly, the excess I removed from the sticks to form regular cake balls:
Here is Beta holding up her favorite: the Wilton chocolate coated ones.
How did they taste? Good! Incredibly rich, though. So I could only handle a few before my sweet tooth craving was more than satisfied. Today, the majority of them are residing at Jim's office's breakroom. Or at least they were this morning. :) I kept a few here for us. We all like them! Including J4 who had 2 last night and wanted more, but I put my mom foot down and decided he didn't need that much. :)

As for the decorating, go look at her site. Her Pop Stars page has TONS of cute pops! I guess these are professionals submitting these photos? I mean, mine looked fine for homemade, but the ones on her site (and that she does herself) are out of this world! How do they get the balls so round? How do they get the coating so smooth? How on earth do they decorate like that? Where do they find the time??? (these women must not have children.... or they are professionals and do this at work, I guess.)

Well, there you have it. My foray into the world of cake pops! I think I may stick with making cakes the regular way. It's easier and way less time consuming. But these were fun to try on a boring, hot, summer afternoon. Try some yourself!

Growing Up

2011-07-26T15:21:00.003-05:00

J4 is growing up! As you know, he started walking 2 months ago. Well, now, we finally turned him forward facing in his car seat!
With the girls, the "rule" was that they had to be rear facing until they were one year old AND twenty pounds. So both of my girls rode rear facing until they were about 13-14 months old. Well, J4 was 21 pounds on his birthday. So why didn't we turn him around?

Because just a few days before, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with new guidelines. They now suggest waiting until your child is 2 years old before letting them ride forward facing. 2??? Really??? Apparently, kids in Sweden ride rear facing until they are 4 years old and have much less fatal injuries than we do here. Not that I have any idea what Sweden has to do with the US, but that was what I read.

So I spoke with his doctor at his 1 year old check-up. The doctor said there was discussion and debate among pediatricians. He said rear facing WAS safer, however, you then had to worry about their legs being smashed into the seat in a crash. So the doctor recommended leaving him rear facing until his feet touched the seat. So that's what we did.

The next big change was in his eating arrangement. Since he was about 4 months old, he's been sitting in this high chair:
Remember this one? :)

As you can see, his head was starting to go above the backrest several months ago. His head REALLY goes above the backrest now. So we moved him to our famous "Kinderzeat"!

We got this chair for Alpha when she was 2, or thereabouts. (I feel old that I can't remember how long we've had stuff any more! It's really been a long time!)

It is by Stokke and was called the Kinderzeat. It cost $200 circa 2002. She sat in that until Beta was old enough for it. Then Beta sat in it. It has lately been residing in Alpha's room as her desk chair. Both platforms are adjustable and it can hold up to like 200 pounds. So we'll probably have it for a long time.

Interestingly enough, they still make the chair. However, it was redesigned and is now called the Tripp Trapp. The name in Sweden apparently means "step up" or something. Funny that here it doesn't come close to meaning anything safe....lol! The new Tripp Trapp has a baby seat and even a tray! (and colors, too! no fair!) You can even get one at The Baby Habit, one of the stores hosted by Acumen Brands, Inc, where Jim works. ;) (hint hint!) But this one is in good shape and seems to work just fine. So we're keeping it. I got the rubber, suction-cupped placemat at Toys R Us. It works ok. J4 has learned how to lift it up, but most of the time he doesn't.

The only problem we've had is Harper. Now that there's no silly HIGH chair in the way, her nose/mouth and J4's food-filled hands are only inches away. I go back and forth between "ew! dog germs!" and "oh well, it's good for his immune system." We've started putting her in the crate while he eats to cut down on some of that. Makes Harper mad, but she'll just have to get used to it. It's not like she's neglected. TRUST ME.

Vacation Day 1

2011-07-21T14:10:00.004-05:00

***I posted these in reverse order so they'd show up in the correct, chronological order. So keep reading after this post to see about Days 2 and 3!***

With lots of perseverance, and some luck, we managed to get an actual vacation this year! Our last one was in 2009. In 2010, we had a baby so we managed one night in Tulsa. So we were long overdue for some sort of family fun!

We ended up going back to Branson and staying at the Grand Country Inn. I like to go new places when I travel, so going BACK to Branson (that's where we went in 2o09) wasn't my idea of fun. However, it turned out to be perfect! The girls were excited to be going back and there were lots of different things to do than what we did 2 years ago.

Like......

The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum!
Their sign out front said "tonight only all tickets 1/2 price!" I don't know if we truly were that lucky or if it always says that, but I don't care. Half price is half price! (and thankfully, J4 is still FREE at MOST places)

And I think I've started a tradition....the silly picture:
Back in 2009, we played mini golf in Branson. They had a rock that looked like a skull that you could walk through. So I had everyone act like they were screaming. That's why the girls are acting like the building is falling on their heads in this picture!

And you gotta admit, just the building is pretty cool looking.
This is the World's Largest Ball of Twine.
(and Alpha made that face all on her own....with no prompting from me!)

I forget what we were supposed to believe or not about this but I think it's a neat picture:
They had a tunnel to try and walk through. The "bridge" through it didn't move, but the walls did. So you had to tell yourself that you weren't turning or falling.
It didn't work! We all came out nearly falling down!

Typos follow me everywhere!!!! Believe it........OR NOT!

Vacation Day 2

2011-07-21T13:58:00.004-05:00

Day 2 began with some AMAZING PETS! Our package included one of their shows and we chose the Amazing Pets show. There were trained dogs, cats, birds, a pony, and a pig. Yes, CATS. They trained cats! Jim said that was what impressed him the most. They didn't allow flash photography or video so I don't have any pictures from it. You'll just have to trust me when I say it was really cute!

After the show, we ate lunch. Then J4 needed a nap and I needed to ice my knee. So we went back to the room while Jim and the girls went swimming.

That night, we headed over to the Fun Spot to see the world's largest banjo!

They also had the "World's Largest Fiddle" in the Grand Country Music Hall!
The Fun Spot was a Chuck E Cheese kind of place, minus the mouse. Here is J4 watching Alpha as she does Dance Dance Revolution.

After supper, we did what to me was the high"light" of the trip.

Blacklight Mini Golf!

How cool is this?

I had to take this picture with the flash on so the girls' faces would show up. But imagine that it's all lit up neon and florescent, too!

Vacation Day 3

2011-07-21T13:43:00.004-05:00

We began our day with breakfast at the Grand Country Inn Buffet! Oh my goodness! It was rows and rows of all the breakfast items you could want. Except pancakes. I was bummed. Until I saw all the bacon..... We even had to wake the kids up at 8:30 so we could get there before lunch!

We spent our last day of vacation at Branson Landing. Or tried to. It was REALLY HOT! So the only place we made it to was Bass Pro Shops. We've heard about how awesome this store is so we were eager to see it.

It's pretty neat. I was impressed. For about 15 minutes. Then I was ready to go, as were the girls. LOL! We're not really an outdoorsy kind of family, you might say. But I did get some good pictures:

Ok, so the fish WERE cool. We left soon afterwards, though, because it was hot and my knee was not allowing me to do much shopping. We had had such a big breakfast that morning that lunch consisted of milk shakes from McDonald's! We got home in the middle of the afternoon and picked up Harper, who enjoyed her time at doggie day care, but missed us so very much!

Changing Earrings!

2011-07-10T20:57:00.003-05:00

The 4th of July weekend held another exciting event for us. It was time for the girls to change earrings!

Alpha wore monkey bottle cap earrings.

Beta wore bumblebee earrings:
Our first outing with earrings was to the NWA Mall Fashion Show. We watched it a few minutes, but then decided we'd rather shop in Claire's. MUCH more fun!

Fabulous Fourth!

2011-07-05T12:27:00.008-05:00

Well, yesterday was the 4th of July. For the first time ever, we celebrated it in our very own house! The first year we moved up here, 2006, we celebrated it in the "temporary house", as I coined it, where we lived while our current house was being built. The next 4 years, we were always down in Little Rock visiting family. But this year, with my knee being bummed and having 2 trips to Little Rock in the past month under our belt anyway, we decided to stay home.

We had a wonderful weekend! It felt like a stay-cation rather than just a weekend. Friday night, Jim and I went on a date. (Thank you whoever got us the Pesto Cafe gift card at Christmas!) Saturday, we went to a fashion show at the NWA Mall and saw the first round of an ice cream eating contest. The fashion show was kind of boring so we ended up shopping at Claire's, the girls' new favorite store. (earrings and all that.....)

Saturday night, the mall hosted a fireworks show. It was great! Free entertainment. We sat outside our van and ate snacks waiting on the show to start. Little J4 LOVED it! He clapped and stomped and squealed!

But right now I want to talk about last night. Well, or just show pictures. That's why everyone "reads" blogs anyway, right? LOL!

For starters, we had a cookout. Jim grilled some hamburgers and hot dogs. Since he was the one who went to the grocery store for me last week, he bought exactly what was on my list! Hence, we had no potato chips, potato salad, french fries, or anything like that. Oops.....my bad. We did have hamburgers and hot dogs and they were mighty tasty! Jim is definitely a grill master!

Then, partly because I'd been considering it all week, and partly due to my friend Amy's blog, I made a flag cake. Mine is hardly the "Best Ever", but it was good. At least Jim and the kids ate it.

After supper, we shot off fireworks. And with 2 girls in the house and a safety conscious father......

We shot off.......smoke balls!

We've even officially left our mark on this place: Oops.....

I was very proud of both girls. They each learned how to light a smoke ball safely. I'm also proud of J4 for not being scared of fireworks at all!
And for learning how to sit STILL in a chair and not stand in it:
Well, ok, maybe we're still working on that......(he later fell sideways out of this very chair. Didn't have time to get a picture of that one....)

Here is the front walk all set up:
The boys weren't totally left out with only "girlie" fireworks to shoot. Jim and J4 had 100 firecrackers! I think they shot maybe 30 or so.....and by "they", I mean Jim. J4 can learn how in a few years.

A firecracker:
A ground flower:
Tequila Sunrise Fountain, Stage 1:
Tequila Sunrise Fountain, Stage 2:
Alpha couldn't pronounce "tequila", and I was rather pleased at that.

To top the night off, we had 4 or 5 neighbors in various places in our neighborhood, who went all out. They bought the family packs. The BIG ONES! The artillery shells or whatever they're called. So we saw this around us all night:

We got to enjoy those nice big fireworks, like they had at the show on Saturday night, a second time! From our very own yard. Without paying a cent for them! Awesome!

I could have sat out there all night under the stars watching the big fireworks. But that's about when J4 fell out of the chair and started crying so I ended up going and putting him to bed. Ah well. It was still an awesome weekend!

Top 10 (er, 6) Things that People Say Won't Hurt But DO!

2011-06-28T11:06:00.003-05:00

6. Getting your ears pierced
5. Braces
4. Pulling a tooth
3. C-sections
2. Breastfeeding
1. ARTHROSCOPIC KNEE SURGERY!!!!!

Happy Father's Day (early edition)

2011-06-15T22:28:00.002-05:00

So Father's Day is this Sunday, the 19th. I wanted to surprise Jim. He has always surprised me with the nicest gifts that I wasn't expecting. (some more appreciated than others, hee hee.....)

So I thought, what is the nicest thing that he REALLY wants and that I could surprise him with?

Here is the answer:

I also wanted him to have his gift early so he'd have time to play with it. :) And quite frankly, I was too excited to keep it secret for much longer.

He's Walking!

2011-06-06T21:47:00.002-05:00

He's done it! He's done it! J4 is FINALLY walking!

He is 14 1/2 months old. I know that is well within the range of normal, but you have to realize that both girls were walking by their 1st birthday. From what my mom tells me, I walked at the beginning of 10 months and my brother walked at the end of 10 months. So 14 months is kind of late, in comparison.

But that doesn't matter now, because HE'S WALKING!!!!!!

Here's a video:

Needles and Choices

2011-06-02T13:06:00.002-05:00

So I was in Target this morning, buying a few things. As I stood in the checkout line, a woman with a tiny baby in a carrier got in line behind me. I remarked at how precious he was and asked how old he was. 9 days, she said. Wow, I replied. You're out and about at 9 days? You're doing really well! She said she had a 2 year old so this was really old hat to her. She also said she had not had an epidural and that she was feeling great! Oh, I had c-sections so I wasn't out and about at 9 days, I replied. She said, "Oh, see, I couldn't do that. I just don't like needles."

But in my head, I thought, did she think I had a choice? I would have preferred to avoid the whole needles in my back, surgery-thing, too, you know. I went in to labor on my own. I labored for 8 hours without drugs! I TRIED! I even pushed! For 4 exhausting hours! But the baby wasn't coming out.

Now I don't want anyone to think this lady was rude. She was very nice, especially for 9 days postpartum. lol! And I had struck up a conversation with her. So it's not like she forced her opinion on me or anything even remotely like that.

But it brought up the whole idea that women have a choice in how they give birth. I know. I know. You have a few choices. But labor and childbirth are so unpredictable! You never know when you're going to be the one needing the emergency c-section. Or the one with a huge tear. Or the one with a baby who doesn't breathe fast enough and needs oxygen. Or the NICU. I'm glad the lady apparently had a natural, uncomplicated, drug-free birth. That is certainly the ideal and definitely the best way to go. IF YOU CAN......

But then there's the rest of us.

I guess what irked me was the thought that, "well, I just won't have a c-section because I don't like needles." I had decided I wasn't having a c-section either because THEY WERE BAD. But when push came to shove, or rather, to nothing (i.e. no head) I had to have one or the baby and I would have died.

Finishing our conversation, the baby was sleeping and the mom said that he's been doing that a lot. I smiled and told her to enjoy it because she knows it doesn't last forever. She chuckled and said yea.... Then we both went on about our business.

Can you tell he's the 3rd kid?

2011-05-26T22:31:00.004-05:00

Tonight, we got treats from Rick's Bakery. YUM! Alpha had a postcard from her orthodontist that got her a free sprinkle cupcake. I had a $5 gift card that Jim and I got at Christmas for teaching Sunday school. With it, we got Beta a monster cookie (icing made to look like a monster), J4 got a frog cookie, I got a wedding cake cupcake and Jim got a chocolate ganache covered cupcake. Well, we didn't get all that for $5. I ended up paying $4 out of pocket, but it was still a good deal.

So after supper, we all had our treats! J4 is really in to feeding himself so I just gave him the cookie. I figured it was bath night anyway so what if he got a little messy?

Behold.........mommy's little monster

It had pieces of ground beef and cheerios from supper in it, too! Mmmmmm!

With no prompting from us, he played......peek a boo.....

It's so pretty! Double rainbow!

Hulk SMASH!

Oh, I'm gonna need a bath, right?

Milestone: Earrings!

2011-05-23T21:07:00.003-05:00

OMg! My babies are growing up! They both got their ears pierced on Saturday.

We were at Justice looking for bathing suits. Well, I was looking at bathing suits. THEY were looking at all the cute earrings and necklaces and bracelets and other assorted junk that store sells. At one point, Beta says she wants her ears pierced. This was the 2nd or 3rd time she's mentioned it in the last few months. Alpha said she wanted hers pierced, too.

So, I thought about it. I was feeling spontaneous, for some reason. I told them that if they REALLY WANTED them, we'd go that afternoon and get their ears pierced. Both girls said yes!

Next thing I know, we are headed to the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

We got them done at Claire's. I really preferred a store like Merle Norman, but I wasn't sure if there was one in the mall. (turns out there is) But I looked at Claire's ear piercing station and they had sanitizing spray, sealed earrings, and they wore gloves. Plus it was full of fun girl stuff to look at when it wasn't your turn.

We walk in and I tell the lady at the cash register that we'd like to get our ears pierced. (well, not me. Mine were done 25 years ago!) She says ok, gets the forms, explains everything and then asks who's first. Beta wanted Alpha to go, but Alpha said no. Since the whole thing was Beta's idea, we made her go first.

Well, sorta. We sat there and talked and reasoned and explained and had to wait on the lady to go check out some customers. Then talked, reasoned, showed, hugged, and prepared some more.

FINALLY, *sigh* we switched to Alpha. Alpha thought, unfortunately, that I had said it wouldn't hurt. So she got up there and sat with no problem. She was expecting it to feel just like someone "pinched her ears." Well, it didn't.

And now, in a scene that will go down in family lore forever, I will tell you Alpha's reaction.

Another employee had gotten there by then so they could do both ears at the same time. They counted to 3. Her eyes got as big around as saucers. She stared straight into my face with this surprised look. It was over with in a matter of nanoseconds. Then, with a wail worthy of her younger days, she started crying. She jumps down from the chair and screams (yes, literally, screams), "Don't do it Beta! They said it doesn't hurt but it DOES!!!!!!!!" Then she runs to the back of the store and cries.

The assistant manager and I just stand there, stunned. And trying not to laugh. And I feel guilty, too.

Needless to say, this does NOT convince Beta to get up there and give us her ears. It took another 30-45 minutes before she'd do it. Thankfully, another girl and her mother came in and were telling her that it wasn't that bad. That helped her get over the shock from seeing Alpha's reaction.

But we still had Beta to do. And time was running out. The manager had told the assistant manager to take only 10 more minutes and then she needed help b/c they were getting busy. I gave Beta 2 minutes to decide if she was really going to do it. She kept saying "wait...wait" Finally, I took hold of her arm and told her to get down b/c we were going home. She jerked it back and loudly proclaimed "No! I'm going to do it!" I had to get my mean voice on and say, "Then DO it. We've been here over an hour!" So the lady got prepped again. Beta was better but kept putting her hand up over her ear. So, against the wishes of the store, I held her hand in mine and put my other hand around her head. I looked the lady straight in the eye and said, "DO. IT." She did.

Beta didn't even cry....

She said, "oh, you know, that wasn't that bad."

The second ear was easier, although I still had to hold her down slightly. After that, she was all smiles! Alpha had calmed down some by then, too. I bought each of them a really pretty earring holder and we left.

And we never have to do that again!

Alpha got pretty emerald studs for her birthstone:

Beta got purple studs for (sigh.....) Justin Bieber *swoon*!!

What's in a Name?

2011-05-20T15:50:00.003-05:00

Hello all! I updated the "Blogs I Read" section. I have always been impressed with the various titles people come up with for their blogs. Since a lot of my readers (haha! like all 3 of you) don't know one another, I decided to put the blog name along with its author's name here on my site. Maybe these titles will entice you to go check out some of my friends' blogs. They are all very insightful and entertaining! Go check 'em out!

FewWords Wednesday

2011-05-18T09:25:00.004-05:00

Follow this link to a video for Acumen Brands, Inc. They launched a new order packing process using Kiva Systems robots.)

This is what Jim has been working on night and day for the past few months. (no, really. Night AND Day)

Happy 10th Birthday, Alpha!

2011-05-11T23:22:00.000-05:00

Today is Alpha's 10th Birthday!!!!

10 YEARS! I cannot believe it has been 10 years since I became a mother.

To say I've learned a lot since then doesn't even cut it. I've learned TONS. Which is possible because I knew NOTHING about taking care of babies when I had her. Nothing! Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Nowadays, it's old hat. Taking care of J4 is so simple. Of course, he's a MUCH easier baby than Alpha ever was. But that's another post.

Since I wasn't blogging way back when, I never told her birth story. Maybe I should do that. Briefly, at least. I'll spare you all the gory details....

I was due June 1, 2001. I was finishing up my last classes at UALR for my accounting hours. My last final was May 10. A few people were worried that I'd have that baby in class, but I knew better! I was due June 1st! I had PLENTY of time. (told you I was new at that....)

My water broke the morning of May 11 at 5:30 am.
At 8:00 am, we finally made it to the hospital. (We weren't packed....)
They checked me and I was already at 3 cm!!!
4:00 pm After 8 hours of labor, they checked me and I was at 4 cm! WHAT??????
I labored WITHOUT DRUGS for 8 hours and went a measly 1 centimeter????

I never planned to have a drug free birth. I had not read much about birthing, but I knew enough to know what was considered a "good" childbirth. Drug free was the way to go, "they" said. No, I said. So I got an epidural at 4:00 since the contractions were getting stronger.

At midnight, I think, they told me I could push. So I did. Or tried to. I couldn't feel a thing. I GUESS I was pushing. The nurse checked me while I did and said she thought she felt the baby's head move.

At 3am, my doctor suggested a c-section.
Nooooooooooo!!!!!!

Like I said, I had not read a bunch. I hadn't even gotten "What to Expect". I think I had just relied on Babycenter.com, and I avoided the "what could go wrong" sections. I knew about c-sections, but those were BAD! I was already bending the rules by having drugs. The "right" way to have a baby was, um, well, NOT via c-section. (see, I'm leaving out the gory details...lol!)

At 4am, I caved. The baby (Alpha) was at +1 station (wherever that is) and had been since midnight. She wasn't far enough down to use forceps or the vacuum. (Which later, thinking about those things, I was kinda glad they didn't have to use them.)

At 4:55 am, 23 1/2 hours after my water broke, 7 pound 1 ounce Alpha came into this world!

I was SO sleepy and SO drugged that I barely remember seeing her. I have an image of a bright light and an outline of a baby in it. I then remember wanting to hold her, but they wouldn't let me. I even asked in the recovery room and they said no. (Ok, ok, I was drugged. But it was my first baby darnit! I wanted to HOLD her!) It would take me about 6 months to reconcile all these disappointments in how her birth unfolded. While I WAS happy to have a healthy baby, I was so upset that I had made it to the VERY EDGE of giving birth and then not been able to. It's like making an 89% on a math test! A silver medal in the Olympics! Missing the cutoff by ONE whatever. (second, question, minute, day, etc)

The next day, I woke up around 8 am. Immediately, I asked to hold her. And I did! It was just so amazing. I mean, her little eyes looked up at me. A real little person! I'll never forget that moment or her eyes.

To say these past 10 years have gone by fast would be an understatement. I sometimes look at this budding young lady and wonder who on earth this kid is and where my baby went! I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring. Although at the end of them (ok, end of 8), she'll be headed out into the real world to make her mark. I think I'll cry. But at least I've got 10 years until I have to face that. :)

Age 2

Age 3
Age 4
Last day of preschool
First day of kindergarten
Age 7
Age 8
Age 9

Age 10 (or close to it, at least!)

Resurrection

2011-04-23T22:07:00.007-05:00

I have been busy today. With Easter tomorrow, I have been in the kitchen. Cooking! I love to cook. More importantly, I love to eat! That's why I like to cook. :)

First off, I made biscuits for our breakfast this morning. After those finished, I baked brownies for tomorrow's dessert. (we're going to use bunny cookie cutters and decorate them) Then I boiled eggs for deviled eggs. After that, I cooked a Petit Jean peppered ham in the oven, and some glazed carrots in the crock pot.

Then I went to Rhea Lana's and helped sort for 4 hours.

After I got home, the girls and I did a neat Easter food craft. Resurrection Buns! (If you don't feel like clicking the link, they go like this. You put a marshmallow in a biscuit and fold it over. As it cooks, the marshmallow melts. So when you bite into the bun, it is empty!)

I found the recipe on the internet a few days ago. I've heard of them before, but never made them. Until tonight.

I'm glad the girls are old enough to help in the kitchen with minimal assistance from me. FINALLY! I can relax a little and have fun with them instead of stressing over the mess.
I thought I understood the recipe so I didn't have it in front of me.

Maybe I should have. It mentioned putting the biscuits "seam-side down" so they wouldn't open in the oven. Ours weren't seam-side DOWN, but we pinched the edges together very well!

Well, never underestimate the power of a GRANDS biscuit!
S'more Jesus anyone?

Wait! A few worked! See?
The marshmallow melts which makes it an "empty tomb". Pretty neat, huh?

I also thought of a Bible verse for this one.
Revelation 3:16
But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!"
(see, it looks like a tongue....this marshmallow now resides on the bottom of my formerly 350 degree oven.)

Happy Easter Everyone! HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!

10 Years of Consignment

2011-04-21T12:25:00.002-05:00

This month marks the 10th anniversary of my first trip to a Consignment Sale!

It was April 2001. I was 8 months pregnant with Alpha. I had heard about the Duck Duck Goose sale a few times, but never understood what it was. Once someone explained it to me, I knew I had to go.

So after class, I headed over to the old Expo Center and went inside. Since I was new to this kind of thing, I didn't know anything about consigning, or pre-sales, or how to get the good stuff. So there wasn't much left when I went. I bought a baby bathtub, a wind-up swing, and a package of diapers. I didn't need clothing because I had had a baby shower at church and had plenty. Now imagine an 8-months pregnant woman dragging a box of swing parts, a baby bathtub, and the diapers around. Yea. It was hard.

We used the bathtub for both girls, finally selling it in 2006, I believe. The swing came in VERY handy for a new baby. It didn't last as long as the tub, though. For Beta, I bought an open top, battery powered swing. I figured I should move into the 21st century, baby equipment-wise.

Every fall and spring since then, I have shopped at a consignment sale. I have made out very well! The best thing to buy at those sales is baby equipment. Those exersaucers that cost $50-$100 in the store? $20. A little 409 to remove the few spots the consignor missed, and you're good to go. Bumbos, that new-fangled infant chair, cost $35 (!!!) brand new. The tray is another $10. I got a Bumbo with a tray from a friend of mine. J4 used it for about 4 months. I sold the chair and the tray for $10 total. Someone got a GREAT deal on that one.

My best purchases have been strollers. Back in 2003 or 2004, I found a Peg Perego stroller for $40. They cost $360 new (well, in today's dollars). We used it until we sold all that stuff in 2006. At this most recent Rhea Lana's sale, I bought a Maclaren stroller for $60. They sell for around $200 brand new.

Since that first sale 10 years, ago, I've learned a lot. A lot about consigning and shopping and getting in early. In short, the rules of the game and how it's played. I could go on and on and on with tips for consigning, working, and shopping these sales. But we'd be here awhile so I won't. I will, however, reference another post I made when we had first moved to Northwest Arkansas where I compared Duck Duck Goose and Rhea Lana's. I didn't think anyone read my blog except maybe 4 of you. Looking back through some old posts, though, I found that RHEA LANA, the lady herself! had commented on that post! I was then embarrassed that I had said I liked the other one better.....but hey, I had just moved, and I didn't sell as much at my first Rhea Lana's as I did at Duck Duck Goose. But I've been a loyal Rhea Lana's consignor ever since!

Musings

2011-04-12T15:33:00.003-05:00

I love what I do. I am very blessed. Both Jim and I are. Jim has an awesome job that he loves more than (almost) anything that challenges him and interests him and, most importantly (to me), pays him well.

Which allows me to stay home with our baby boy and watch him grow and play and love on him every second of the day. As well as be home when the girls get home from school so I can watch them grow and love on them, too. (and mitigate fights, but that's another post)

But sometimes....I start feeling...I don't know. Like I should be MORE. Like I should have done, or should do, more with my life.

I see other people my age who are successful. Accomplished. I mean, they've DONE SOMETHING. Besides change diapers and quit their jobs. They have titles. Or clients. Or students. Or patients.

I'm not sure I ever had many goals in life. Well, I guess I did, but I'm starting to wonder if they weren't big enough. I knew I wanted to get married. I knew I wanted kids. Beyond that, I wasn't sure. I figured I'd go to college and get a job. I did that. It's funny that I NEVER pictured myself as a full-time stay-at-home mom. (or housewife.....I hate that term.) I remember realizing in college that I really didn't want to set out to be the CEO of a large company, even though I wanted to work in an office.

And sometimes I wonder if I should have set out for that goal. The thing is, of all the goals I've ever set for myself, I've reached every one of them. Which is a cool thing to say until I realize I'm 36 and done. I've done everything I ever wanted to do. Well, I mean, there is the whole "raise 3 children" thing that I'm still working on. But as far as personal goals, I'm there.

I also realize that to be in the places where some of my friends are, i.e. they have clients and patients and students, etc, I would have to give up some of the things I enjoy now. Like getting to watch J4 grow and play and loving on him every second of the day. Like helping the girls with their homework or listening to their after-school stories.

So, I love what I do. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Honestly. Also, and Jim can vouch for this, if I didn't love what I did, I would change it. I'm a horrible liar and actress. If I don't like what I'm doing, it shows. Big time. I know I'm doing what is best for me and my family at this point in our lives. But sometimes, I still wonder.......

Blast from the Past Wednesday

2011-04-06T21:25:00.003-05:00

I need to post something, but nothing is running through my head at the moment. So I opened up iPhoto and pulled up one of my favorite photos of the girls.

Alpha was 3 and Beta was not quite 1. I LOVE this picture. I also miss my baby girls. :( I'm having fun with a baby boy this time around, but I miss these little sweeties. I know they still live with me, but they were so much fun at this age! (well, mostly....) I loved the innocence of the preschool years.

Happy First Birthday!

2011-03-27T22:20:00.006-05:00

I know this post is delayed. And I feel bad about not posting anything on here or even facebook on the big day. But he's only 1 so hopefully he won't find out that I didn't post anything until he's older. And knows how to look up blog archives. (That I may or may not keep or erase, if such a thing is possible.....)

J4 turned one last weekend! We went down to Little Rock for Spring Break and to celebrate. He had two parties -- one at Grandmother's (Thibault's) house, and the other at Gramma & Pop's (Kane's) house. For the girls, I threw a big party with both sides of the family when they each turned 1. But that was when we lived 20-30 mins away from each grandparent and didn't have to transport 3 kids, 1 dog, a bicycle, a scooter, 2 sleeping bags, luggage for me & Jim & J4, and a whole bunch of other stuff on a 3-hour car ride.

So this time, he got 2 small parties. But we have pictures and he got presents. Isn't that all that matters? :)

We actually started the birthday celebration on St. Patrick's Day. We got him the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Police Car! Isn't it cute?

Here's the first birthday celebration at Grandmother's house:

Two of my mom's friends, Bill and Greg, came over. Here is Bill helping J4 walk! He is not officially walking yet, but this picture shows the first time he finally figured out that he could walk with help.
He got a toybox from Grandmother!

A blackmail picture if ever there was one!
The next day, we had a party down at Gramma & Pop's. Mimi and Poppy even came over!

This last picture was taken over Spring Break at Grandmother Thibault's house. I really like it so I wanted to show it to y'all.

I figure this picture will be one of those that, 20 years from now, we'll pull out and marvel at how everyone looks! (leopard print pants, anyone?) Then, 50 years from now, J4's grandkids can look back and wonder who everyone (and the dog) is. LOL!

Laundry List

2011-03-16T10:44:00.002-05:00

One day, I added up the number of loads of laundry I must do to consider all laundry in the house "done."

1 load jeans
1 load whites
1 load lights
1-2 loads darks
1 load reds/purples/dark pinks (yes, with 2 girls and red as one of my favorite colors, we have enough red things to do an entire load of laundry. WEEKLY.)
1 load dark towels
1 load light towels
1 load bibs
1 load napkins and placemats (We have been using cloth napkins for several months in order to save money and not fill up as many landfills with paper napkins.)

When summer gets here, the darks will go down to 1 load but the lights will increase to 2 loads. The bib load is about to go away because J4 will be using the vinyl toddler bibs instead of the cloth infant ones. I also can make it about 1 1/2 weeks before we run out of towels. So I do two towel loads about every other week. I also end up washing the placemats and napkins about every other week. We have 12 cloth napkins and 4 people using them. They don't always get too dirty at one meal so we just fold them over and use a clean side the next time. Unless they get really messy at a meal. Then they head to the laundry room.

So all total that is 10 loads of laundry. Per WEEK. But I don't wash just once per week. For clothes, to keep everything that is wearable clean, and since we have a baby, I need to do laundry about 2-3 times per week. My main laundry days are Mondays and Thursdays. That's how long it takes for the darks/lights (depending on season), whites, and jeans to fill up. I only have to do reds once per week.

So there you have it. My laundry list.

Blast from the Past Wednesday

2011-03-09T09:00:00.003-06:00

I needed a blog post but couldn't think of anything. So I was uploading some videos taken with my iphone to iMovie. I ran across this video (taken with my camera) from June 2008. We are on our way home from Gulf Shores. At this very moment, we are crossing over Mobile Bay. Enjoy!

Open up and say, "aaaahhhhhh"

2011-02-28T21:38:00.006-06:00

Did you like going to the dentist as a kid? I sure did. It was one of the only boring, adult-like places where you got a toy! My brother and I loved getting to pick a toy from the box after we were done with our appointments. It was even better than getting a sucker at the doctor's office. (b/c if we were at the doctor's office, it was because we felt like crap.....)

My girls like the dentist. Mostly. Now, at least. Alpha has always been a dental trooper! Never had a single problem or complaint. Beta, well... Let's just say that I am FINALLY able to take her to the dentist and not have to pray beforehand. (or apologize to the office staff afterwards.....Pediatric Dentistry is not for the faint of heart. )

So I took the girls for their regular cleaning a couple of weeks ago. Our dentist has moved to a new building. They, in fact, BUILT a new building. And you wouldn't believe what it looked like if I told you. So, I'm going to show you. It's almost worth a trip up here JUST to see our dentists' office.

(Note to grammar conscious readers: This practice has 4 dentists. All in this one office. That's why I wrote "dentists' office" instead of "dentist's office" or "dentists' offices".)

Here is the outside wall facing the street:

From there, you enter.....The Jungle!!!!
Alpha loved the spherical chairs.

The snake holds video game consoles and controllers.
Their previous office had an ocean and fish theme. (Complete with jumbo shark holding a toothbrush and toothpaste.) So they had to bring the fish over. Look what they did:
That's a fish tank surrounded by a (fake) waterfall with a monkey and elephant on top of it!

You can even watch a movie while you wait.
(Seriously! Is this not the coolest place????)

Once you are called back for your appointment, if you can bear to tear yourself away from all the fun, here is what you have to look forward to:

First stop - X-rays

And the area where the dentists scrub up:

Next step - long hallway to exam rooms.

Movie complete with headphones shown on a monitor in the ceiling.

And sunglasses so the light doesn't shine in your eyes.
And they STILL get to pick a toy out at the end of the appointment!

Springtime!

2011-02-21T22:11:00.001-06:00

I don't care what the calendar or weather reports say. Here in my little corner of cyberspace, IT'S SPRINGTIME!

Blog Post #3 of 3 "Pink snow"

2011-02-20T22:18:00.004-06:00

Sometimes, I'm a good mom.

Sometimes, I actually let my hair down a little, quit worrying about cleanup, and let the girls do something fun.

Like mix food coloring with water so they can "paint" the snow!

I've seen a fancy set of squirt bottles and dyes that you can buy to have this particular kind of wintertime fun. But some old sport bottles and Wilton icing colors will do in a pinch.

When we got back from the Chocolate Festival last Saturday, the temperatures were climbing into the 50's. But the snow was still around. So it was the perfect day to go outside and make a snowman! Or various snow sculptures, as the case may be.

This snowman/girl has pink eyes, nose, and a mouth.

This sculpture is an artistic wonder. I could hold a contest to see who could guess what it was, but no one would win it. Want to take a stab at it? I'll make you scroll down a bit.......

It's a bottle of hand sanitizer. It has a pink cap, and is filled with purple anti-bac liquid. Do you see it now? (Boy, her kids are WEIRD!!! is what you're thinking right now, isn't it?) Well, this was inspired by a trip to the mall last week. I needed some hand sanitizer for the diaper bag. Beta and I went to the mall and ran by Bath & Body Works. They have the small bottles of it for 5/$5. I let each girl have a bottle. Then I took one for the diaper bag and I have 2 in reserve. (unless the girls find them, that is....) They enjoyed their hand sanitizer so much, it brought out their creativity. Who knew?

Here is Alpha on top of Mt. Snow.

And here is Beta, beginning her ascent to the pinnacle.

Don't eat pink snow.....

This last picture has nothing to do with the pink snow. I made a winter wreath to hang on my front door from January until March. Do you like it?
(Ok, ok, I know it's clearance Christmas ornaments....but they are blue and I have snowflakes in the middle. Winter! Winter!)

Blog Post #2 of 3 "Chocolate Festival"

2011-02-15T21:16:00.006-06:00

Saturday, we continued a Kane family tradition and attended the Eureka Springs Chocolate Festival. I first discovered this festival back in 2007 from an ad in the paper. CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL! I mean, who can resist that, right? We attended in 2007 and 2008, but 2009 and 2010 were taken up with tax season. Now that I'm not working tax season, (wooohoooo!!!!) I figured we could go again.

The festival is held on the Saturday before Valentine's Day. It includes a chocolate dessert contest and a tasting. For one price ($10/person) you can sample treats from numerous vendors with various chocolate goodies and 4 chocolate fountains. Some vendors are not chocolate-specific (Pampered Chef, a Vacation Rentals place), but they put out something chocolate nonetheless. (no point in getting all technical....)

But enough of me and my typing. Let's show the cool pictures!

This is a tree stump made out of chocolate. With two little owls. Isn't it cute?

This wedding cake was beautiful. Everything is made out of chocolate. (but look at that humongous silver ring.....I thought it was tacky.)

This one comes complete with a white chocolate Christ of the Ozarks statue.

This one is what I wanted for Valentine's Day. I told Jim, but I'm afraid it wasn't for sale.

These would have been neat except that the chocolate looks EXACTLY like a paper bag. I'm pretty sure they used a paper bag as a mold. It didn't make me want to eat any of it, really.

This one is cute! I've made these mice before, but never thought to place them on some Ghiradelli chocolate squares as mouse traps.

I didn't get too many pictures of the kids. But here is Beta eating chocolate in front of J4. I'm glad he's not old enough to be jealous yet. We did let him have a little, but most of it he couldn't eat. I'm sure he'll be raring to go next year!

UPDATE: This last picture is not of Beta eating CHOCOLATE in front of J4. It's of her eating a strawberry. They had strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows, cheese, pretzels, butter cookies, and a few other things to dip into the chocolate. Beta liked to get the strawberries and pineapple pieces and just eat them. She would occasionally dip them into the chocolate fountain. But most of the time, she just ate them plain.

Blog Post #1 of 3 "First Haircut"

2011-02-12T22:20:00.006-06:00

We've had a busy and fun Saturday around here. So much fun, in fact, that I can get 3 blog posts out of it! You'll have to check back tomorrow or Monday to read posts #2 and #3. Because it's more fun that way! (and because it's 10:21 pm on Saturday night and we haven't looked at our Sunday school lesson that we have to teach in the morning.....)

***************************************************************************************

We knew this day was coming. It was obvious from the start and only became more apparent each day. We put it off as long as we could, but finally, we could wait no longer.

J4 needed a hair cut.

In fact, he needed a lot of hairs cut.

As you'll recall (and I'll help you), he was born with a full head of hair.

Which only got longer as the months went by.

And resulted in him looking awfully cute, but kind of shaggy.

So today was the day! Jim goes to a barbershop in town. It has an actual barber pole outside! Inside are 6 barbers ready with scissors and clippers....

The barber we got was named Bobby.

"You're gonna what?"

Not too sure about this......(but notice there was no crying!)

This is why mommy shells out the big bucks. I couldn't do this myself.

All done! He was smiling. He didn't fuss even once!

Thanking the man for his time.

High and tight! He looks so grown up!

When J4 was done, Jim got his hair cut, too. Here they both are with the barber pole I mentioned above.

Snow Days, Snow Days

2011-02-05T20:47:00.005-06:00

Dreary dark and cold days.......

We were snowed in last week from Tuesday until Friday. The girls missed 4 days of school. You would think with that amount of time off, my house would be spotless, clutterless, and organized. You would be wrong.

Instead, here are some pictures of how we spent our snow week.

The beginning of the snow. It got much worse than this.

J4 loves to pull up on things now. He'll be walking before too long!

I baked homemade chocolate chip cookies. Yummmmm.....and of course we had to give J4 his first taste of one. He enjoyed it. Thoroughly.

Harper is an inside dog. She loves to chase bugs and birds, but when all is said and done, she'd rather be curled up on the couch instead of in the grass. So the girls decided she needed some protection from the elements.

The trees were eerily reminiscent of the ice storm from 2009.

Alpha was trying to climb this tree branch to see over the fence. I guess snow makes you do silly things.

Beta is showing me that the top of their playset is frozen.

After a not-so-great first snow experience a couple of weeks ago, we were more prepared this time to take J4 out into the winter wonderland.

Our brood on a bobsled.

Snow ice cream! By the end of the week, I was sick of it. I wanted something warm.

The girls enjoyed playing board games like Life and Clue.

But by the end of the week, we all looked like this:

Another Cool Blog!

2011-01-20T22:12:00.003-06:00

I found another neat blog to add to my list. Well, ok. I didn't "find" it. I saw a link to it on facebook and clicked.

It's from my friend, (and husband's boss's wife) Amy James. She's blogging about their dinners and how she fixes supper. I've read the first few posts and it's great!

The blog is titled "Our Everyday Dinners".

Go check it out!

Cool Blog

2011-01-08T22:12:00.001-06:00

I found a new blog to read!

It's Almost Naptime

A friend on Facebook shared a post from there and it was hilarious! So I'm adding this blog to my list on the side here of "Cool Blogs and Sites".

Go check it out.

Why Our Weekend Sucked

2011-01-02T21:36:00.005-06:00

On Thursday, my wonderful husband surprised me with something I have wanted for a long time. A DYSON VACUUM CLEANER!

We tried it out. Like many others have said, it got tons of dirt and dog hair off our living room carpet. However, I was curious. Just how much better was it than our current vacuum?

Fast forward to today.

KENMORE VS DYSON!!!!!!!

In this corner: The Kenmore Elite

In the next corner: The Dyson DC28 Animal
To make it fair (or more fair, at least), we emptied both canisters and cleaned the filter in the Kenmore. We then roped off dirty carpet in Alpha's room.

And.......GO!

The results, please...

Kenmore Elite

Dyson Animal
Can you tell which one won?

Well, the Kenmore put up a really good show, but we're going to have to give it to the Dyson. I'm actually quite proud of how much dirt the Kenmore picked up. It means we've had a pretty good vacuum cleaner for the last 9 years or so. (Just asked Jim and he can't remember either when we bought it!)

Part Deux
Due to an unfortunate stomach virus incident on Wednesday, we needed to have our carpet cleaned. We tried using the Dyson on the stain. Let's just say, the Dyson is GOOD, but not THAT good.

So Jim got a wild hair and went out this afternoon and rented a Rug Doctor!
For about $50, he cleaned the living room, tv room, and hallway. I must say, I was impressed! The Rug Doctor ACTUALLY WORKED! It got out stains that have been on there for 4 years! Stains that we couldn't even remember what they were! Best $50 we ever spent!

The kids were not so impressed. They were worried that they would be spending the night on the couch because we wouldn't let them walk on the wet carpet. They did manage to find some fun in the day, though. (They were dancing.)

Back to the Future, er, Past

2010-12-31T15:04:00.004-06:00

So this week is vacation week. The girls are out of school. Jim is off work. I'm not off of anything, though Jim has been handling a lot of J4's mealtimes lately. Christmas is done so I can relax more.

Thanks to Facebook, I got a notice Wednesday morning from Starlight Skatium. They were going to be open that afternoon from 1-4pm. This is a big deal because they have very limited hours. Our first experience with this roller skating rink came two weeks ago at a birthday party. The girls went and loved it! So when I saw the quick ad, and the relatively low admission fee ($5/person), I told Jim we were going skating that afternoon.

Alpha was totally into it! She's the most athletic one of the 4(5) of us. She can go around the rink at a moderate pace without holding onto the wall and without falling down. She was even dancing to the music! Jim and I couldn't help but smile. :)

Beta is a tad more timid. She clung to the wall several times, but did manage to make it around the rink. Jim actually got her to hold hands with him and get into the mainstream. She loved it! But only if he was there to hold her hand.

J4 had fun sitting with daddy and then mommy. We brought some toys and he seemed to enjoy himself.
So, you might be wondering.....did I skate?

Well, yes. YES I DID! It took a few times around to get my roller-legs back on, but I did make it around plenty of times. I spent a lot of time trying to coax Beta off the wall. It didn't work. I also went around worried that some small child would fall or cut in front of me and I wouldn't be able to stop. Thankfully that never happened. I don't think I was going fast enough for that anyway.

The outing was surreal. Here we are at a ROLLER RINK. Many girls there are wearing SKINNY JEANS with GLITTERY ACCESSORIES. It wasn't just a flashback. I truly felt like I was back in the 80's! Except I was the parent this time, not the kid. FREAKY! It was like something out of "Inception".....

But there was a totem, of sorts. Something to remind us what time we were really in. This sign was posted on the wall:

Blogging is so 5 minutes ago

2010-12-06T21:51:00.004-06:00

Does anyone blog any more? Has everyone left and gone to Facebook or Twitter? From the looks of my blog, it would seem so.

I could write a million things about what I've been doing the last 2 months, but I'm tired. So I'll just post some pics.

Back in October, we went to the Ozark Corn Maze. Everyone had a blast!

Then, of course, that was followed by Halloween!

In November, it turned cold. J4 refuses to wear his coat when he's fastened in his car seat. So I've had to take his coat and cover him up with it instead of putting it on him. Here he is at Walmart in one of his baby hats.
Isn't he cute???????? (sorry...I'm a bit biased.)

Now it's Christmas! We attended the opening night of Lights of the Ozarks.

And finally, I got my new ornament for 2010.

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

2010-10-14T21:49:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy month! With school back in session, as well as church on Wednesday nights and us teaching Sunday School (oh, and taking care of a baby), I haven't had much time to sit down and think, much less blog.

Plus, I've been ill. I've had stomach pain off and on since about June. It got worse around the first part of September so I went to my doctor. He recommended a gallbladder ultrasound. Apparently, the gall bladder has been known to go haywire in women who have recently had children.

It came back normal.

So he sends me to a GI doc. (oh Joy!) Who recommends me for an EGD. (don't ask me to write it out...it's a long word) Otherwise known as an upper GI scope. I had it done today.

It also came back normal.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about today. Nope, I'm here to talk about doors. Specifically, stuck doors. In hospital rooms.

So I'm sitting on this bed, in my lovely hospital gown. The first nurse's assistant came in and asked me some questions and took my blood pressure. After she was done, she left. As she left, she closed the door behind her. HARD! It was difficult for her to shut it, but she got it shut.

Fast forward about 5 minutes. Nurse #2 comes to the door and knocks. I nervously say "come in." She tries the door. It doesn't move. So I say louder, "come in!" She tries again. The door won't open. I ask if it's locked. Jim gets up to go open it for her.

The door is STUCK! I'm talking, it won't budge. Not moving an inch. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

First of all, DON'T PANIC!

Jim and the nurse keep trying, but the door holds its ground. It is NOT budging. So the nurse gets other nurses to help her. Jim tries some cards from his wallet. The nurses try. Jim tries. The nurses leave to go get help.

At this point, the reality of the situation starts to sink in. Jim and I look around the room. There is no other way out. There is one window to the outside, that doesn't open. (We're on the 3rd floor....) There are two windows into the hall, which don't open either. (You know the kind. It's a typical hospital room! Can't have people escaping or jumping or anything.)

The nurses say they have called someone. I'm picturing maintenance taking an hour to get to us....thankfully, they showed up about 5 minutes later. The bolt was totally broken. They ended up taking off the handle and pretty much breaking the door down. I think the guy used his shoulder and just threw his weight against it to finally bust it open.

All in all, I think we were only stuck about 10-15 minutes. But it was a harrowing few minutes! One nurse said she'd worked there 10 years and that had NEVER happened before. The girl who shut the door said she'd worked there for 2 years and had never seen that happen either. I have to say, it was a first for me and Jim as well.

A picture of the door with the bolt removed.

We had to plug the hole with the sheets so I could get dressed to leave! LOL!

Happy Birthday(s)!

2010-09-19T21:39:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to the two special men in my life, Jim and J4!

J4 is 6 months old today. I can't believe how fast it is going!

Jim will be mumble mumble years old tomorrow! I'm sure his mother thinks the time is going fast as well. :)

In honor of these two, here is a video we shot about a month ago. It's nothing special. Just what happens at our house after bath time and before bedtime. It involves me, Jim, J4, Beta, and a cow. Things can get kinda crazy 'round here!

(Alpha was in the girls' bathroom drying her hair. She is "practically on her own" you know...) LOL!

We're Famous!

2010-08-28T21:56:00.003-05:00

That's what the girls said tonight when they learned that Jim had been interviewed on 4029 TV at a gun show this afternoon. He got to shoot a machine gun. He was VERY excited!

1st Day of School!

2010-08-23T21:06:00.003-05:00

Well, now that we're 3 days in, I figure I finally have a moment to post some pictures of the first day of school. This year, the girls are in 4th and 1st grade. So the drama of the first day of kindergarten is a year behind us. Still, though, it's hard to see them both getting to be so big!

Here is Beta, always momma's girl!

And here is Alpha! She is looking way too old for my comfort level....

And now......back to the 80's Retro Pop Reunion!
Yes. Both girls are wearing essentially the same outfit. Beta had the foresight to see that leggings on a 98 degree day might not be a good idea. (When I picked them up, Alpha had taken hers off and put them in her bag. )

How about those leggings and sparkly skirts? Alpha also purchased her first pair of high tops. All of the styles are making me think of the 80's and some of the stuff I wore. I can't wait to see their reactions in 20 years when I pull this picture out again.....

Lies! Deceit! Grrrrrrr.......

2010-08-09T09:44:00.002-05:00

EVERYONE SHOULD CHECK THEIR BANK STATEMENTS!!!!!

We found fraud charges on our checking account this weekend. They were small, but fraud nonetheless.

One was for $4.92 from Fericulgames.com.
Another was for $14 from T Trepanier LLC, a construction company in Oregon.
A third was for $6.99 to www.newpetsmark.com.

One was Jim's debit card number. The other two were mine.

So, even if you are not "nerdy" like me and religiously check your account balance and bank statement, you should still look. Don't trust the bank to look out for you. They have no way of knowing which charges you made and which you didn't.

Don't be stupid and trusting! :)

The Hundredaire

2010-07-26T22:04:00.003-05:00

We had a celebration in our house tonight.

Alpha has saved up $100!!! With a combination of birthday money and hard work, she managed to save up $100 to buy various and sundry things. She has forbidden herself to spend even $1 until she hit that magical round number.

In honor of this wonderful occasion, Beta threw her a party!

Here she is! She was the one who coined the term "hundredaire".

They made her a crown out of silver ribbon and sparkly foam stickers.

J4, Jim, and I were invited. Here is J4 playing "Pin the dollar bill on the, um, dollar bill." (It was 1/2 of a crayon-printed $100 bill and you had to match the other half with your eyes closed.)

And one last picture of J4 in his cute little onesie. (Yes, it says "ipood".)

Solids!

2010-07-21T09:15:00.004-05:00

J4 is now 4 months old. So the doctor gave us the go-ahead to start solids! Yay! (You know, it's funny....with this third baby, I've been trying to slow down and enjoy the infant stage more than I have in the past because I know how quickly it will pass. When he went to 3-6 month clothes, I was actually kind of sad instead of happy. So you'd think I'd be that way about starting solids. But no. I'm very excited! It's always fun to see what kinds of foods they like. Plus, this puts us on the road to being able to eat normal stuff when we're in the car. No more stopping to nurse! LOL!)

Here he is in his new high chair!

He was actually kind of tired when I first fed him, so he kept putting his thumb in this mouth. I hope that helped the cereal to go down.

All messy!

And in the tried-and-true tradition of babies everywhere, he cried when I tried to wipe his face.

Here is a picture Beta took of us the other day. I like this one.

This next one is my favorite snapshot of him to date!

My Morning - Stream of Consciousness Style

2010-07-16T13:17:00.002-05:00

6:45 am
Jim: Good morning, honey! I thought you were going to get up at 6:15 and shower after I got up at 6:00.....
Me: Mmmm, sorry.
Beta enters with pouty face.....
My tooth is still in the tooth pillow....
(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) CRAP! crap! crap! crap!
Jim: Well, there was a huge storm last night. The tooth fairy couldn't fly through all the rain. I'm sure she'll come tonight.
Bad mom. Bad mom. What kind of mom totally FORGETS the tooth fairy????
Alpha: What do we have for breakfast?
Pancakes, cereal, do you want me to make a smoothie for you again?
Yes.
I think I'll have some of this cake for breakfast. My mom used to do that all the time. :)
Take a shower.
Baby cry.
Change diaper.
Darn! Forgot to make the smoothie.
Make smoothie.
Feed oldest child.
Feed youngest child.
As soon as I'm done feeding him, we're heading to Walmart to buy groceries!
Beta: I'm going to use my money at the crane machine!
$1.50 later _______
Waaahhhhhh!!!!! pout pout pout
I'd like to return this alarm clock. It blinks and seems to be always lit up.
Ask for money returned in $1's. Think vaguely of tooth fairy.
Head to dental aisle. Refuse to pay $5 for special floss.
Start buying groceries.
No, we can't buy a coconut. No, we don't need eggplant.
Waaaahhhhhh!!!
Shh..shhh....
No.
No.
No.
Waaaahhhhhh
Dang, 10:30, naptime.
Ahhh, he's finally asleep.
We'd better go so he can take a nap at home.
Gotta figure out meals for Sunday lunch.
Handle dispute over lettuce.
AAackk! We forgot to get another alarm clock!
Head to alarm clock aisle. The cheap $5 Back to School (college) ones are gone!
Look all over store.
Ask clerks.
They don't know.
Mom, can I have this alarm clock for my birthday? It has an mp3 spot!
We'll wait until it's your birthday.
I want this one.
No, it's $19. You can have these $5 ones.
But they aren't pink!
Why don't we wait until they get more in? Our food is defrosting!
Waaahhhhhhh!!!!!
Head to checkout lanes.
Get in one lane.
Man, this one is not moving AT ALL.
Get in other lane.
Get in third lane.
Ah, next in line.
11:45??? How did I spend 2 hours in Walmart?
Person ahead of me to clerk: um, I had a coupon for $2.50 off a box of cereal, but it ADDED $2.50 to my total.
Customer Service Mgr to me: Did you buy some cereal?
Yes.
Cereal got rang up on my bill AND on hers!
Thankfully, not my problem to fix.
Maybe next week, I'll go on Thursday night and leave kids at home with Jim.
Will be much faster and cheaper.
Baby wakes up.
Waaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!
Girls, would you go get a 2nd basket to put our groceries in?
Scuffle over who's going to get it and push it.
(in blazingly hot parking lot) Who remembers where we parked?
I want to push it! No, me!!! No, I GET to!!!!
Darn, I knew it wasn't this aisle.
Can y'all push the basket between the cars without hitting them? I mean, not even hitting ONE of them!
Whew. It's a miracle they didn't hit anything.
It's hot in here!!!!
I know, give me a minute to get the groceries in and I'll start the car.
I hope we don't have a wreck on the way home. That would be fitting to how this morning has gone.
Enter garage at approximately noon.
Unload kids.
Unload groceries.
Feed children.
Put one down for nap.
Plop down on bed.

By Request.....

2010-07-11T21:29:00.003-05:00

I ran into a former coworker of mine today in Walmart. She said she had a bone to pick with me. I hadn't posted any pics of J4 on my blog!!! Well, since J4 is one of my most favorite subjects, I must remedy this! Without further adieu.......

Newborn, approximately 3 days old

1 month old

2 months old

3 months old

All 3 kids!

That's all I have time for right now. I'll try to post some here more often. I've been posting a lot to facebook, but I should post some here as well. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

The Locals

2010-06-29T21:43:00.008-05:00

We had a very local kind of day today!

Since I'm home now with the kids, I was looking for stuff for us to do. (Besides watch that friggin' TV!) The Fayetteville Farmers Market is downtown on the square every Tuesday and Thursday. (and maybe Saturdays) Alpha had gone there last year with the summer camp she attended. She loved it! She would always come home with the neatest stuff to either eat or display. So I thought we'd take a trip there and see what we could find.

We bought peaches, blackberries, and a whole quart of blueberries. Beta used these, along with some strawberries and an apple (purchased locally at Harps....lol!) to make a wonderful fruit salad for dessert tonight.

We also bought some cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots for a dinner salad to accompany our hot dogs. :) It was very good as well!

Lastly, we bought a bouquet of flowers. They are VERY pretty. They remind me of my wedding flowers because of their various bright colors.

Here is a picture of the fruit salad Beta made:

Here is a picture of our lovely bouquet:

While the girls were playing in the fountain on the square, I had a funny experience that needs sharing. I overheard two people talking about rainbows and how one was just up there in the sky even though it wasn't raining. Curious, I looked up and sure enough! It was a fire rainbow! We saw one back in April 2007 on our way out of town one weekend.

It looks like this:

Anyway, I turned around and said to these people, "wow, that is a cool rainbow!" I tried to say it was a fire rainbow caused by water droplets high up in the sky, but they began telling me that it was "because of all that stuff they spray" and that a rainbow like this appeared above Haiti right before the big earthquake occurred....So anyway, I just, um, moved along.

Since we were done shopping, and to get away from the crazy people, we stopped in at a little store off the square called Bliss Cupcake Cafe. Oh my goodness! The word "bliss" is in the name for a reason. These cupcakes were heavenly! They were tender and truly did melt in your mouth. They will only be an occasional treat, however. They were $2.75 each! Plus 11.25% tax! Yikes! I ate mine slowly..... You should click on my link and see their menu. It's like gourmet cupcakes! We'll have to go there the next time any of you come to visit.

Gina's Homemade Lemonade

2010-06-27T22:12:00.002-05:00

Y'all have GOT to try this. I made Gina's Homemade Lemonade this afternoon. It is absolutely delicious! Gina is the wife-half of the Neely's on Food Network.

I ended up only making 2 quarts instead of an entire gallon. It calls for 2 cups of lemon juice. I used an entire bag of lemons (total of 9) and I only got 1 cup of juice. Now I know why Simply Lemonade is so expensive.

I probably won't make this on a regular basis. Squeezing the lemons was very labor-intensive. Not to mention painful! (I found every paper cut on both of my hands.) But the fresh lemon juice made it WAY better than any other lemonade I've ever tasted.

That's Why I Married Him

2010-06-23T13:04:00.003-05:00

With the girls camping with their grandparents, and J4 at a babysitter's, we decided we could finally go out and celebrate me getting my CPA license. So Monday night Jim & I loaded up the mini-van (oooh sexy!) and headed out on the town. Specifically, we went to "a very expensive place." LOL! It was a nice restaurant on Dickson street that people rave about. Jim had told me once that when I got my CPA license, he'd take me there.

We were dressed up and ready to feel like adults rather than just parents. The place was decorated with very modern and trendy decor. We had to wait a few minutes for our table, but were soon seated in a very dimly lit room at a small table with nice linens.

Jim said we should go all out, since it was a celebration, so we began with an appetizer. I guess the menu listed it correctly, but I was still surprised when our crab cakes consisted of ONE crab cake. Yes, the menu had listed it as "crab cake", but you know, I figured there'd be at least two. Anyway, the two of us split this crab cake (singular) that was about the size of a hockey puck. It was VERY good. But small.

Next came our entrees. I got seafood linguini and Jim got a steak. I forget which kind of cut. As expected, the food was absolutely DELICIOUS! But the portions were small. Now, this was not necessarily a bad thing. Too many restaurants pile on the food nowadays to where it's way more than any one person should be eating. But for the price each of these entrees cost, I wished it had been just a bit more food.

Finally, we saw a dessert menu. The only dessert that really appealed to us was gelato. We LOVE gelato! However, it was listed as $6. At this point, despite the food being fabulous, my price-to-value radar was going off. I figured we'd pay $6 for one SCOOP of dessert that we'd have to split.

So split we did. Right after paying the bill, of course. As we were leaving, Jim asked how I liked it. I told him the food was delicious, but the price was just way too high for what you got. He immediately blurted out, "Next time we go to Doe's!" as if he had been waiting to say it all evening. My thoughts exactly! I breathed a sigh of relief as well.

The next day, he was telling a coworker about our experience. When he told him about my agreement on Doe's, he said, "That's why I married her!" For that reason, folks, is why I married him!

Like the new look?

2010-06-22T14:54:00.002-05:00

Blogger had some new templates to play around with.

Hesitation pays off!

2010-06-03T13:44:00.003-05:00

My bargain guardian angel is back! This time with a vengeance!

I was shopping at Dillard's a few weeks back for J4's baptism outfit. I found some cute newborn boy outfits, but not exactly what I was looking for. One of the outfits had pants and a little sweater vest. It was $25. I decided to think about it.

Fast forward to last weekend. The girls, my mom, and I headed to the mall. I had decided to get that outfit since I didn't find any other outfit I liked. When we got there, it was gone! AACCCKK! I was worried. Thankfully, I turned around and saw the clearance rack. It was on there and priced at $15!!!! My hesitation saved me $10. (Well, ok, mom bought it....but I saved her $10!)

Also a few weeks ago, I got J4 a bathing suit at Baby Gap. (Click to see it!) I didn't buy the matching shirt because I wasn't sure we needed it. Thinking about babies and sunscreen, though, made me think we did need it. I went back this morning. Amazingly, they not only had the shirt to match his suit, but it was in his size and was only $7.99 instead of $14.50!!! Another $6.51 saved!

A similar thing happened at Children's Place. I had bought the girls some clothes one week. Two weeks later, they were on sale! Now with that one, I was partly annoyed. We had paid full price. But that didn't stop us from buying more of our favorites for less the second time around.

Now, we are hopefully done with summer clothes shopping!

Food Rant

2010-05-24T07:37:00.002-05:00

I'm sick of this!!!!!

I was just listening to an episode of the Manic Mommies podcast. On it, Kristin mentioned that she was going to eat at McDonald's, and one of her friends had said "ewww! Do you know what's IN that?" She had told the person that no, she didn't know, and she didn't WANT to know.

I think I'm the same way. I'm sick of hearing about which foods are "healthy" and which are not. I feed my kids Lunchables. There. I said it. I feed them Lunchables and feel good about it. Why? Because when I was growing up, we had meat, cheese, and crackers as meals all the time! What's so wrong with that? Oh, yea. The meat is processed. Processed = bad.

Then there are the naysayers about school lunches. People say the federal government is feeding our kids junk and that we could pack much healthier meals on our own. To that I say, codswallop!!! My girls have been eating school meals for years now. They get a vegetable every day. They'll even get SALAD! If I'm packing a lunch, it's not gonna be salad, that's for sure. (See paragraph above re: Lunchables.)

Then there's the health nuts. First, salt was bad. Bad bad bad! So everything became "salt free" or "low salt", etc. Wait, wait, no. The REAL culprit is cholesterol. Cholesterol-free is the only way to go!!! What's that? It's really FAT? FAT is the real bad guy here? Oh, ok. Well, um, actually, it's just trans-fat. Wait, no. Story on the nightly news. It's salt again. Or maybe high fructose corn syrup. Bad! Evil!

So maybe we should buy and eat organic. Won't THAT be healthier? Maybe, but have you seen the price of that stuff???? Geez. It's enough to make me want to just buy a package of ramen noodles and call it a day. (oh wait....salt....)

Speaking of organic, do you know where your food comes from? Now it's not enough to just eat "healthy" and organic, but now I must eat food that's only been grown in my local town. That I got at a Farmer's Market or food co-op. Shipping food = bad.

That's why I'm sick of this. In deciding what to feed your family, you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't. (and yes, I meant to cuss. Sorry.)

When I was starting to write this, I showed it to Jim. His idea is that it doesn't really matter what we eat. We all should just eat less of it. Good idea! And start exercising, too. I'll get started on that, um, right away. :)

Facebook

2010-05-18T09:09:00.004-05:00

I've found a new way to do Facebook. I turned off all the email notifications except those commenting on my own status or writing on my wall. Then, when I'm in Facebook, I click on the Notifications icon in the upper left-hand corner. It'll show who else commented on things that I commented on. If I want, I can then click on the statuses to see what other people said, but I don't have my inbox filling up with comments from people I don't know. This way makes me feel like I'm in control of Facebook instead of the other way around.

My bargain guardian angel returns! In reverse, this time.

2010-05-01T21:40:00.002-05:00

While shopping, I have been known to stumble upon some really good deals every now and then. When this happens, I refer to it as my "bargain guardian angel." Well, she's back!

Since the weather is warming up, I've been pulling out the sandals. I still own a pair of crocs, but they are starting to look old. Plus, they look more like shoes you should garden in rather than go to the mall in. So last Sunday, I headed to JC Penney's shoe department with a $10 off coupon. I looked and looked and finally found some white sandals that fit. (the ones in the link aren't the exact ones but they are close) They look very nice for church or work. They were originally $40, on sale for $24.99. I had the $10 off coupon so that made them $14.99, and then Penney's was running a special where they would "pay your sales tax." So I got them for around $14 total.

BUT WAIT!!!! THERE'S MORE!!!!

That was a good deal, but that's not where my angel came into play. I wanted some sandals to just wear around town, and these look too fancy for that. I wanted to keep looking, but my shopping buddy was hungry. :) Fast forward to yesterday. My summer shoes are crowding out my winter shoes so I started putting the winter shoes away and getting the rest of the summer ones out. Lo and behold, there was a pair of brown sandals with a comfy sole. Perfect for wearing around town and not too dressy! I must have had the same thoughts last year and actually had the time to shop.

So this time, my bargain guardian angel SAVED me about $25! How cool is that?

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T09:55:00.003-05:00

Our first outing to church on Easter was a success! I guess, anyway. We did manage to make it there by 10:45 for the 11:00 service. But we rode the shuttle to give other guests more space in the parking deck, and ended up entering the service at 10:59. But we made it!

J4 did just fine until about 11:45. He pooped in his pants during the prayer AND the sermon. And let me tell ya.....this boy does NOT like poopy pants. So I had to take him out about 11:45. Then I wasn't sure where to change him. I chose the parlor behind the sanctuary. Well, we won't ever do that again! Unbeknownst to me, you can hear things in the parlor if you are in the choir. So my choir friends who saw us after church were wondering whose baby it was that was screaming so bad during the sermon? Oops.....

Usually, after he wakes up and gets changed, he eats. I thought I might could hold him off, but I was afraid he'd start screaming again once we were back in the sanctuary. So I started looking for a place to nurse him. I ended up in the bride's room in the building next door. It has a nice, comfy couch. So we nursed in there. I missed the last hymn and the Hallelujah chorus. :( But oh well. It's not like I've never heard them before.

I thought I was safe in the bride's room, but at one point this lady came in to use the restroom located there! There is another restroom just down the hall but apparently that never registered with her......I also had not packed a blanket so I had to use the burp cloth to cover myself up. This whole incident resulted in several "notes to self" posted in my mind.

And I haven't even mentioned what it took to just get TO church. My girls don't understand the importance/good taste of wearing the correct hosiery with their dresses. One ended up in dress socks, which was ok, but she only did it after a fight. The other ended up wearing her navy tights because her mother DARED to suggest that she wear her regular panty hose. Sigh....

For posterity, I've got the pictures to prove it!

J4's first Easter basket! It was surrounded by a camo hat which will probably fit him when he's about 5.

Beta wanted to take a picture of me, Jim, and J4 so we let her. Didn't she do a good job?

For lunch we had Petit Jean ham, deviled eggs (now that I know how to make them), macaroni & cheese, green beans, and rolls. We finished with a yummy cheesecake I made from a recipe in Southern Living. Then, we rested the remainder of the day!

Finally!

2010-03-31T15:52:00.003-05:00

How It's Going

2010-03-30T09:49:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting here pondering how my life has changed over the past 11 days. So I thought I'd write about it. Keeping everything in small, short snippets, of course.

1. I am loving third-time motherhood! Yes, you read that right. The first time around was such a shock to the system. I had endured 24 hours of labor to end up with an unwanted c-section. But also a beautiful baby girl. Who proceeded to scream and cry and have reflux for several months. I love Alpha to death, but my induction into motherhood with her was similar to baptism by fire. :) With Beta, things were definitely easier, but I had this hurried-ness that made me wish those early weeks away. With J4, I'm actually happy and enjoying this! Ok, I'm still sore and would love to sleep from 11-7 straight. But I'm ok with all of this because I know it doesn't last forever and things will eventually return to "normal", whatever that is.

2. We've had more jealousy from the dog than from either of the girls. The poor dog didn't know what on earth this screaming, smelly "dog" was. She hasn't bothered the baby, but she still looks at him funny. As a matter of course, I never leave the dog and baby alone in the same room. Never.

3. I am loving my Graco Travel Lite crib! We are using it as a bassinet in our room for now. When we finally make it down to Little Rock, that'll be his bed until he's older. This thing is small enough to actually fit through a doorway and be lightweight to carry. It has wheels so we can easily move it through the house. Very happy with my purchase!

4. I love being a stay-at-home mom. Really. I do. But yesterday was boring. I watched tv from 8-noon. I watched A Baby Story on TLC and SuperNanny on the Style Channel (or something like that). I have only ever watched one episode of SuperNanny, and strangely enough, that was the exact episode that was on yesterday! I work for over 2 years to come back home and watch.....the same thing? Anyway, when J4 is old enough to go places and the girls are out of school, it will be WONDERFUL! But yesterday was boring.

5. Do I put on make-up or not? I remember one key to staying at home. Get up, get dressed, do something. Don't just lie around in pajamas. It is good for your soul and mental health! But yesterday, as I applied my make-up, I thought, "you know, no one is going to see me. I'm not going anywhere. Should I waste an application of this?" But I finished applying it. For the record, I'm wearing make-up today, too.

6. Just this morning, I hit my pre-pregnancy weight! YES!!!! I'm very excited. But before anyone thinks I'm lying around all skinny and stuff, let me remind/inform you that I started this pregnancy 20 pounds higher than my last 2 pregnancies. So I still have a good 20-25 pounds that I need to lose. I'm hoping some of it just keeps coming off....The rest will probably leave me when I take baby in a stroller, dog on a leash, and 2 girls on bikes or scooters for a walk this summer.

7. So now that I've hit my pre-pregnancy weight, I should probably try wearing some pre-pregnancy clothes, right? Heh, heh...... Um, let's just say I'm kinda nervous to even try.

8. We are still planning to make it to Easter services this Sunday. J4 will be 2 weeks old....But I'm ready to get out of this house. Plus, I was smart enough to buy the girls' dresses and shoes before he was born. He's got an outfit as well. I'll post pictures. :)

9. J4 is, so far, an easy baby. He is still sleeping a lot. WAY more than either of the girls slept at 11 days old. I don't mind, really... He also only fusses when he's being changed or when he's hungry. We've had a few moments that seemed like colic. And don't think I'm naive enough to believe we're going to get to skip that part. He's only 11 days old. Give him time.

10. I'm doing ok with this whole boy-thing. Honestly, the only time I have to do anything different than I did with the girls is during diaper changes. Jim, my mom, and me, were all "baptized" last week at one point or another. The girls would do the same thing, but their showers would just go down and hit the floor. J4's hit the ceiling! Other than that, taking care of a baby is the same no matter the gender, at least for now.

I could probably go on, but, with perfect timing, he's starting to wake up now and it'll be time to eat. Hmmm....he just tooted as well.....Back to work!

He's Here!

2010-03-27T10:52:00.004-05:00

Well, after nearly 13 years, we are finally able to welcome J4 into our home! I've posted some pics on facebook, but I thought I'd post some here, too.

The Nursery

2010-03-10T21:56:00.005-06:00

Finally! Here are some pictures of the nursery. I think we've got just about everything we need and some things we just wanted. :)

Here is the view when you walk in the door. Note my new glider. I LOVE this glider. I hope it is with us long after I quit using it to rock babies. I told Jim I was going to keep it forever. He said, "to rock grandbabies?" I said no, for myself! It is sooooo comfy.

This is our changing table/dresser.
This is a wonderful gift from my coworker, Kylie. She made this after modeling it from the other wall art I picked out.

Here is the window valance and wall art the above picture was modeled on.

Here is the crib complete with frog mobile and frog sheets!

This is our expensive car seat! It's a Chicco Key Fit 30. Jim picked it out and is very proud of it. :)

Here is the awesome diaper bag! We got this at The Baby Habit, a store our friends, John & Miriam Lein, own. Go check it out!

This blanket was another gift from the shower they gave me at work. It is soooo soft! I've thought about taking it with me to the hospital so that I can use it as my own security blanket.

And Beta had to get in on the action as well.

Just for reference, here I am, 37 weeks pregnant.

Ch-ch-ch changes

2010-03-05T21:22:00.003-06:00

Things are a-changin' 'round here. Not only have we all switched rooms, brought in several large pieces of pastel-colored equipment, bought a mini-van, sold the car, etc, etc, etc.....

We got hair cuts!

The biggest change is Beta. Her hair has been super long and super tangled for many, many months. Combing it out after bath time usually results in both of us crying and yelling at each other. Not fun.

So we got it cut today. I mean, CUT. She wanted it short and now she's got it. Let's just hope it looks like this in the morning.

Without further a-"do":

Isn't she cute????

I'm worried it will not look like this ever again. I did try and explain that those ladies in the salon know how to style hair, and her mother doesn't. The stylist even used a Chi flat iron to make it straighter. (look mommy! That's what they used on my hair! You can buy them!!!) I'm not sure she understands that I am NOT going to be straightening her hair every morning before school. Hopefully the good old round brush and hair dryer will make it like this at night.

The stylist did say it should be really cute curly, too. That would be wonderful! At least it's shorter for now.

Alpha got her hair cut. But just barely. Tiny. Minute. Minuscule. She had a cute little bob similar to Beta's from about 1st grade up until now. We haven't had time for a hair appointment so it's gotten pretty long. She's decided she likes long hair and wants it to stay that way. Since she now does her own shower, complete with shampooing, and combs and dries her hair ALL BY HERSELF, I figured she can wear it longer if she wants to. (I think it looks cuter shorter, but what do I know?)

Anyway, she asked if she could have a centimeter trimmed. I told her an inch. She kept saying centimeter so I said how about 2.5 of them???? She replies, "Wait! That's an INCH! You wanted me to get an inch cut! No, a centimeter!" Darn public schools.....

We told the lady an inch, but she ended up, SERIOUSLY, only cutting about 1/2 an inch. Or close to a centimeter. Alpha still thought she had incredibly short hair and almost cried when it was done. This was all payback to me for the things I put my own mother through....Touche', mom. Touche'.

And due to sadness and other technical difficulties, we do not have a picture of Alpha's "trim."

I got my hair cut as well. It's shorter, but not too short. I had Beta take a picture of me, but it didn't turn out right. I'll try and get a good one tomorrow and post it then.

But hopefully, Beta will be MUCH happier. And so will I!

7 Things

2010-02-21T21:15:00.002-06:00

Borrowed from Not That You Asked, here are 7 things going on in my life recently.

(Ok, there are WAY more than 7 things going on, but this is all I have the energy for right now.)

1. We bought a mini-van! woohoo! It's a 2006 Honda Odyssey. Yes, I know that when we got engaged, I made Jim promise me we'd never buy a mini-van. But that was before we had 2 kids and 1 on the way and had to transport all their STUFF.

2. We sold the Mercury. The old geezer car is gone! And you know what? I miss it!!! We sold it yesterday, and it didn't hit me until AFTER it was gone, that now we only have 1 car that will hold all 5 of us. We kept the Honda Civic. It'll transport 4 of us, but not a 5th one. ESPECIALLY not someone in a car seat. So now I'm sad and feel kinda stupid. But since that didn't hit me until after it was sold, maybe there's a reason we still have the Civic.

3. Last night we all went out to eat at Shogun's. It's the place where they cook the food in front of you at your table. Alpha got her 2nd H1N1 shot on Thursday and didn't get anything (ice cream, candy bar, etc) for it. So we let her pick and this is where she wanted to go. Both girls LOVED it! I was worried at first that it would be too expensive, but then I realized that we won't be going to places like that for awhile after the baby is born. So we splurged.

4. The girls sat in front of Harps today helping their troop sell extra Girl Scout cookies. They had a BLAST! When we came back to pick them up, Alpha was WEARING one of the cases some cookies had come in. Beta and one of her friends from the troop had made up a song. They were singing it at the top of their lungs to every customer who walked by! It was one of the cutest things EVER!!! They are selling again next weekend and both girls are really pumped.

5. We have been crazy busy buying baby stuff! To date, we have a crib, car seat, dresser, glider, baby book, "Big Sister" shirts ordered, nursing pillow, mobile, bassinet/travel crib, sheets for travel crib, valance and wall art for nursery, bumbo, lamp, and some clothes. It's been hectic trying to get all this stuff since I'm working extra tax-season hours. But somehow we've done it. The only thing I'm missing is a diaper bag. But I've got a lead on one of those and will probably have it soon.

6. Baby stuff we still need is a baby monitor, baby bathtub, stroller, and a few other little piddly things like diapers and wipes.

7. Last, but certainly not least, we think we have a date for the c-section! Provided the baby and the Lord don't have other ideas, our first son will arrive on either March 18 or 19. I will be 38 weeks pregnant then. This time around, unfortunately, I have placenta previa. This means the placenta is covering all or part of the cervix. Apparently, if you go into labor with the placenta first in line, that is really bad. So my doctor doesn't want me to have any chance to go into labor. And I'm ok with that, having experienced it twice. (at least the start of it)

Thus begins our final countdown. Less than 1 month! We are all tremendously excited! I'm a little nervous. But that's for another post.

Hope everyone has a good week!

I love my nitpickin' husband!

2010-01-28T20:16:00.002-06:00

Saturday, January 16, we encountered a heretofore unseen menace.

Head Lice.

ICK!!!!!! EWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

I have heard of head lice. I remember lice checks during school. They NEVER found them on me or my brother. I have somehow managed to make it 35 years without so much as an egg or nit showing up in my hair.

But on that fateful Saturday night, I discovered what millions of moms all across the world fear. Both girls had head lice.

We skipped church the next morning (the other moms will thank us) and shampooed the girls' hair. Then we began the process of using the "nit comb" to comb through every square inch of their hair! It took us about 2 hours PER GIRL! Thankfully we did them concurrently. We also washed EVERYTHING that their hair could have touched. The washing machine ran constantly from about 10:00 until 6:00.

The saddest part for the girls was having to bag their stuffed animals. They both cried and cried. We told them that yes, it was sad, but they wanted the bugs to go away, didn't they? That helped them a little bit.

For our next move, we weren't sure what to try. We got several suggestions.

We ended up going with the Robi Comb. Jim saw it at Walgreens. It sounds farfetched, but I'm happy to report that it worked! You use it on dry hair so there's no pesticidal shampoos or greasy things to try and wash out. It takes about 15 minutes per kid. It zaps adult lice with a small static-electricity charge that either kills or stuns them. It also detects eggs and nits (empty egg sacks....I know....this is all just SO GROSS!!!)

Jim is now an expert nitpicker! It all started with the shampoos. Since they are really just pesticides for your hair, we decided that I should stay away from them. (and...quite selfishly, I was ok with that......) So he had to wash both girls heads.

Then, with the Robi Comb, we used it at least once a day, sometimes twice. Since it takes me longer in the mornings to get ready than it does him, he always ended up being the one to comb their hair out. He has become an excellent spotter of all stages of lice! He can tell at first glance if it is an egg or a nit and can chase down live ones with amazing accuracy!

After much painstaking work, as of tonight, we are declaring the girls LICE FREE!!! They got their stuffed animals back and are very happy to be sleeping with them again. We are happy the lice appear to be gone. We owe it all to Jim! What an awesome daddy!

I've said many times before, that if other women knew what kind of husband I have, I'd have to fight to keep them off of him! LOL! I am so thankful and feel so blessed to have been lead to such a wonderful man!

Love you honey!!!!

The main website we used was HeadLice.org.

Did you know there is an entire non-profit set up to educate parents about headlice? Weird.

She's destined for great things.

2010-01-16T19:32:00.003-06:00

This is Beta all dressed up to go buy party supplies for her birthday party next weekend. She's wearing hot pink boots, brown leggings with green and blue dots, a green striped skort, orange shirt with sparkly silver butterfly, white sweater, hot pink Hannah Montana hat, and carrying a blue velvet purse (blocked in the picture by her baby doll).

Paying for Peace of Mind

2010-01-11T22:01:00.003-06:00

I got to take a little trip yesterday. We went up to the good ole labor and delivery floor at the hospital! I wish it had been a sight seeing trip, but it wasn't. I had a slight concern.

But it wasn't labor!

Ever since about Thursday, my left leg has been KILLING me! My left inner thigh was throbbing in pain most of the time. The pain only went away maybe 2 or 3 times and it wasn't for that long when it did. Some tylenol helped a tad, but not much.

Fast forward to Saturday night. I've been complaining to Jim that my leg hurts and I don't know why. This starts to concern him because the pain had not gone away or gotten any better. He gets on webMD and pulls up a page about blood clots. I was under the mistaken opinion that you couldn't feel blood clots. Oh, no. There is tenderness, redness, swelling, etc. So we check my leg. I had none of that. But Jim says I should probably have it checked out. I told him it was too late to go to the emergency room tonight and besides I was tired. So we just went to bed. :)

Sunday after lunch, I realized my leg was still hurting SO BAD. I was ready to cut it off. So I called the after hours line of my doctor. Surprisingly, the doctor who was paged called me back in less than 5 minutes! Once I described it, she said I'd better come on in and get it checked out because she can't diagnose anything like that over the phone.

DARN! DARN DARN DARN! I was looking forward to my Sunday afternoon "Sabbath" time.

Getting the 4 of us ready and out the door proved to be a daunting task. It has made me nervous for when the real time actually comes. We will have to have some advanced planning.

At the hospital, Jim stayed with the girls in the waiting room while I was sent back to an actual labor and delivery room. Once back there, they HOOK ME UP TO THE MONITORS! I had a doppler on the baby's heartbeat, a contraction monitor on my belly, a blood pressure cuff, and the finger-thing that monitors your oxygen level and heartbeat. (Or something like that.) I was sitting there thinking "holy cow, this is like the real deal!"

All they did, after asking me a million stupid questions (do you do recreational drugs?) was an ultrasound of both legs and some blood work. Everything came back normal or negative. So thankfully, there was not a blood clot in my leg. YAY! It was nice to know I was not going to be admitted for a life-threatening condition.

But that was my whole Sunday afternoon darn it! Plus, I'm sure they charged us for the privilege of using their facilities. I sat in their bed, watched their tv, rode in one of their wheelchairs, saw an actual ultrasound tech, and had blood drawn. I'm no health care expert, but I'm an accountant. And that stuff ain't free. Jim keeps reminding me that at least we know it was nothing and not life-threatening. I agree. If it had been a real blood clot and I hadn't gone to the hospital, something bad could have happened. So I guess it was worth it for that. It's still annoying though.

It was a good trial run through the whole process, though. We learned a lot. Some parts of it scared me, but it was neat to get to see everything back there under a (mostly) non-stressful time.

Lastly, in a wonderfully ironic twist, my leg today is PAIN FREE! How's that for timing?

First Post!

2010-01-03T14:57:00.004-06:00

Welcome to my first post of 2010! We will start this year by showcasing

SNOW!!!!!!!!!

Since we don't watch the news on the weekends, we had quite a shock this morning when we woke up. The entire world was blanketed in white, puffy stuff. The roads weren't really bad at all so we managed to make it to church. The girls were excited because I let all of us wear jeans. :)

But enough from me.....Here are some pictures I took when we got home. Enjoy!

For starters, here are my new rain/snow boots! I got them for 1/2 price at Shoe Carnival back in the fall. Yes, they're zebra print....they were the best of the worst and I got them for about $10. So don't knock 'em! haha!

Inkblot test! These are the girls' snow angels. Can you see them?
The rest of these are from the front yard.

LIghts! Camera!

2009-12-21T22:08:00.005-06:00

We went down to the square tonight and got some pictures of the lights. It is supposed to be the warmest night of the week. The temperature was in the 50s. We still had to bundle up, but it wasn't freezing cold like it has been or will be.

The girls got to see the lights up close and ride the ponies! Thankfully it was only $5 a ride. We topped the evening off with some yummy hot chocolate when we got back home. I love family outings!

Here are the pictures you've been waiting for. Click on each picture to enlarge it.

Christmastime is Here!

2009-12-13T21:51:00.005-06:00

We finally got all of our Christmas decorations put up today. It really feels like Christmas now! I thought I'd take pictures of some of our things and share them with you.

These first two pictures are of the girls up in the attic "helping" Jim get the decorations down. They only have bike helmets on because they were riding their bikes. We're not THAT safety conscious!
These next ornaments are my "year ornaments". I get one every year that has the year on it. I started this quite innocently the year we got married, 1997. Some of them have been gifts for my birthday, and others I have just bought on my own. (or with birthday money :) And before any of you get picky and point this out to me, some of them have the year on the back. So you can't see it. :)

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Ok, so 2007 doesn't have the year on it. It is also a "licensed character" ornament which I FORBID to be on my tree. HOWEVER, Jim and the girls picked this one out for me. It is Linus reciting the scripture from Luke, "To you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, the Messiah, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11." He concludes with "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." So I let this one stay. :) It has actually become my favorite one of all of them.

2008

2009

Last but not least, this year's has a picture of Harper on it. I like that this is supposed to be a treat jar with the dog's picture in it.

Trying not to think about it.....

2009-11-29T22:38:00.004-06:00

Today was a celebration day! A good celebration day.

It was my 35th birthday.

Yep. It's been 20 years since I turned 15. TEN years since I turned 25, which was, like, soooo old.

We had a birthday lunch for me yesterday at mom's house. The girls made up games and mom decorated a cookie cake.

Today, we went to AQ Chicken House for lunch after church. Then we got an ice cream cake from Maggie Moos. (YUM!!!!) When we got home, I got to open my gifts. I got some Mary Kay skin care serum (just what I wanted!) (heh heh, I bought it and told Jim to wrap it up.....), more lipstick, a devotional book for moms, and *sniff* one of the sweetest gifts EVER! It was a book called "Prayers for my little boy". Yes, I cried immediately upon seeing the title. Jim started laughing and said he knew I'd cry instantly, but he also said he knew he had to get me that book.

I had asked for a devotional book to read during pregnancy. I had no idea if those existed or not. Jim said they do, but they are really more for first-time moms. That's why he got me the book for moms and then the one about little boys. I haven't read much of it yet. (I keep crying!) But I definitely will in the coming months.

Here are some pictures:

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T22:25:00.004-06:00

Well, believe it or not, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had an awesome time down in Little Rock with our families. Here are some pics:

The girls came up with this idea on their own. They drew a "thankfulness tree" on some paper, used popsicle sticks for branches, and drew leaves, clouds, a sun, and turkeys. They had each of us write what we were thankful for on the branches. It was very cute! Here are some pictures of what people wrote. (But not everyone.....didn't know how many people would want theirs posted)

Here is one of the lone pics I got down at Gramma & Pop's house. The kids are playing in a collapsible tunnel. It's very fun!

We had a wonderful time seeing everyone. Can't wait for Christmas!

Drum Roll Please.......

2009-11-12T18:46:00.000-06:00

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch This Space!!!!

2009-11-11T21:57:00.002-06:00

Important announcement possibly coming tomorrow evening!

Could be pink, could be blue!

Awesome and Terrifying. All at the same time.

2009-11-10T16:43:00.003-06:00

See, now this is what I'm dealing with:

Beta asks for oreos after school. I tell her she can have two. She opens the package and nonchalantly tells me that she has learned to start counting at zero. I think nothing of this until dessert tonight when she asks for two more oreos. She tells me again, "I start counting at zero, mommy! See? Zero, one. I need another oreo to get to two."

Awesome and terrifying. All at the same time.

Update: This afternoon, she again says she'll have two oreos. She counts "zero, one, two." Well, momma wasn't born yesterday nor was she an Underwater Basketweaving major. I told her "no, if you're going to count that way, you can have ONE!" It took a swift hand, but I got them away from her. And she only got 2 oreos. The right way.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T14:20:00.003-06:00

Beta as a pink unicorn.

Alpha as Wonder Woman!

Getting ready to go!

Of course, mommy and baby #3 couldn't be left out. I put on my one Halloween shirt on the one night of the year I can safely wear it. I was surprised it covered my belly.

So baby #3 went as a...............

pumpkin!

And mommy went as, of course, a mummy!

This picture didn't turn out too good, but it is Jim and Harper watching us leave through the window. If you look in the lower left-hand corner, you can see Harper's eyes.

Our street probably had the most houses that were lit up for treats!

This was an awesomely decorated house down the street. They even had spooky sound effects playing from a cd player in their closed garage. Awesome!

Afterwards, Beta had to try on the new vampire teeth our neighbor got them.

Alpha had to get in on the action as well!

I've been shot!

2009-10-29T17:57:00.002-05:00

With the swine flu vaccine, that is! Beta and I got up in the middle of the night to go stand in line and get a shot. If it wasn't so important, it would have seemed silly.

The day started at 5:30 when I, well, wait. Let me back up. The day started at 4:00 am when Beta came to our room and said she'd had nightmares and was scared. Could she get in our bed? Since I was scheduled to get up at 5:30, I figured it would be easier to just say yes.

At 5:30, ok 5:40, I got in the shower. Somehow, we managed to leave the house at 6:30. Beta was surprisingly awake and happy. I think it was the promise of breakfast from McDonald's....

At 6:45, with breakfast in our hands, we headed to the Jones Center. Beta commented that it was still dark. She was right. It felt like the middle of the night and like we hadn't slept at all!

We got in line at the Jones Center at 7:00 am. The flu clinic was scheduled to start at 8:00 am. As soon as we got in line, Beta says, "I left Buddy in the car!!!!" This was her stuffed animal she brought to hold while she got a shot. So, I leave her in line, and RUN back to the car. While I'm there, I grab my jacket (good idea). I also realize she didn't leave Buddy in the car. He was in her backpack!!!!

It was cold. And rainy. I forgot this morning that when Jim says it's not cold outside, it doesn't mean it's warm!

Thankfully, at 7:30, they opened the doors and let us stand in line inside. We moved around several times. At one point, some official-looking person came by and asked if anyone had their form already filled out.

FORM????????????????????????

One person did and she got to go to the front of the line......people were NOT happy.

The next time we moved up, we were all given forms. The government can't do anything without a form, you know.

When the people would look at our forms, they would look at me and say "you're pregnant?" I was like, um, the belly? Hello???? (I had worn one of my shirts that made me REALLY look pregnant so there would be no question! haha!) Then they'd look at Beta and say "how old is she?" because they were only giving H1N1 to kids ages 5-18 with underlying conditions. So I repeated the phrase, "Yes, I'm pregnant and she has asthma" about 3 times.

But we got it! Both of us got our shots. Beta did NOT cry! She is so brave. She told me she was going to be brave. They told me she'd need a second H1N1 shot in 4 weeks. I said, "um, are there going to be any?" They were like, um, uh, well, um, just keep calling your local health department.....

I feel better now. I hope these vaccines work and don't harm us. I think I made the right decision. I feel at peace. I hope everyone who wants the vaccine can get it. It's so scary right now with all the reports.

So hopefully we will be pig-free this winter!

7 things

2009-10-18T15:23:00.002-05:00

1. It's official. My kids have the WHINE flu!

2. I'm not fat. I'm just pregnant. (Repeat until I believe it....)

3. There is no limit to the things a dog will chew.

4. The Hendrix Alumni magazine that shows up every 6 months just makes me feel inadequate.

5. I'm still scared about the swine flu and asthma, but the tornado threat has largely disappeared.

6. I had an awesome time shopping with the girls and my cousin yesterday! We found everything we were looking for.

7. Christmas will be here before we know it. Please post your gift requests in the comments!

Swine flu! Asthma! Tornadoes! Oh My!

2009-10-08T21:58:00.003-05:00

I'm worried. What am I worried about? Just read the title. :)

Note: This is long. I've got a lot on my mind and I want to get it out. Nothing too depressing, but if you want to skip this, that's ok. :)

Swine flu!
So I had a dr's appointment yesterday afternoon. The baby is fine. All they did was listen for the heartbeat. It was there! Such a reassuring sound. I am now 15 weeks pregnant.

I asked my doctor what she thought about this swine flu vaccine. She said "they are recommending it because of all the complications in pregnant women." I told her I was leery of it. I think it has been rushed, they don't know what the side effects are, and I'm not so sure I want it. Thankfully, she agreed with me! Well, not technically, but her expression changed and she said she definitely understood my position.

I tried looking up information on the internet. I know.....not so smart. Actually, it didn't scare me. I found a lot of places where people commented that they weren't going near the vaccine. I was trying to find updated data, but most of the articles that came up on Google were dated back in July. The best statistic I could find in more than one place was this: Of the 266 deaths from the swine flu that they have well-documented, 6% were pregnant women. Since pregnant women make up about 1% of the population, they (we) are overrepresented in deaths from swine flu. I assume they have done a study and found that, with a 95% confidence interval, this fact is statistically significant. (See, I DID learn something at my first job!)

They are expecting doses of it at the end of the month so I guess I will wait until then to finally decide what I'm going to do.

Asthma!
Beta had an asthma attack today. It came on very suddenly. I had picked the girls up from school. We went to Harp's to buy Harper a Halloween costume. :) (I'll post pics sometime) Then we went to Sonic to get $1 vanilla ice cream cones. (I was craving soft serve....) Right as we got home and walked in the door, Beta started crying. She said her throat hurt and it hurt bad! I wasn't really sure what to do. She went to the bathroom and sat down. I had her drink some water. She said it had really not hurt until she ate the ice cream. Weird. She also started that high, dry cough. Uh oh. I got the inhaler we still have (thankfully) and used it. Within about a minute, she seemed better and wasn't coughing. Within 5 minutes, she was back to her normal self.

She had another episode right before bedtime. She was chasing Alpha through the house trying to dry her wet face on Alpha's pajamas. (I run a tight ship around here, can't you tell?) She slipped on the floor and fell down. For some reason, this started her coughing again. I took her to the bathroom to calm down. Once again we used the inhaler and it seemed to help. By then, though, she just felt awful. So I got her in bed as quickly as I could. I plan to check on her a bunch.

So now I don't know what to do. She first had asthma when she was 3. It has practically gone away. She is not on any daily medicine. She has needed her inhaler a handful of times. Once was back in the spring. Now it's the fall. There must be something that causes it, but we haven't figured out what that is yet. I will probably take her to the doctor tomorrow and see what he has to say. We may be on antibiotics and steroids again. Sigh. I just can't stand it when my babies hurt. Especially when it is kinda scary for me, too.

Then in my readings about swine flu, I run across this wonderful gem. Swine flu is usually pretty mild in children unless they have an underlying medical condition LIKE ASTHMA!!!! Stupid internet.

Tornado!
The girls wanted to make cupcakes for dessert. So we did. They wanted to decorate them with sprinkles. Ugh. I hate sprinkles. I don't like eating them or cleaning them up. I also didn't feel like making a powdered sugar glaze. So Jim kindly offered to go buy some frosting at the grocery store down the street. While he was there, he called me. "Get the girls and go into your closet. There is a tornado coming on [big street we live near]. I'll be home as soon as I can."

I'm like, what? It had been kinda sunny before it got dark. So I grab the girls, who were getting done with their showers, call Harper, and shoo everyone into our bedroom. I turn on the TV. Dan Skoff is on there giving instructions. He mentions our street again and the girls school!!! He says if you are in these areas to TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!!! Well, I don't want to scare anybody. So we just continue combing and drying hair. Jim gets home a few minutes later. Instead of stupidly standing outside looking for a tornado (it was dark), we stupidly stand there listening to Dan Skoff! Until the rain fade knocks out our satellite signal.

Long story short, if there was a tornado, it passed over us. The KNWA storm spotter didn't see one. He said there had been rotation but nothing ever dipped down. By 8:00, the tornado warning was over and the storm had moved on to the east. Well, the tornado-producing part of it anyway. We are still having major rain and thunder even now at 10:30 pm.

I probably scared the girls. But they wouldn't be quiet so that we could hear the tv. So I told them that we might have a tornado. Not a good idea......Thankfully they didn't panic. Just cried a little bit. I never know where to draw the line between not-scaring them and letting them know when things are truly getting serious. It helped that we were all crammed in our bed watching the news. :)

So my worries for the day started out fairly remote: swine flu in pregnant women. Then I have the very real possibility of an asthma recurrence. THEN, forget all that! I have the VERY VERY REAL possibility of dying in a tornado this very night! I guess it kinda puts things in perspective. I mean, why be fearful of swine flu when there are tornados about? I probably have a better chance of getting killed in a car accident on the way to work tomorrow than of dying from swine flu.

I keep trying to repeat this verse to myself over and over.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I'm not sure if that scripture exactly fits, but going through my mind all day has been "God has not given us a spirit of fear....." So I'm trying not to be afraid.

But it's hard.

Cute dog pics

2009-10-04T14:50:00.003-05:00

Talk-less Tuesday

2009-09-28T21:09:00.002-05:00

Watching the rain.