cookin' with a 2 and 3 year old

My mom gave my kids the Paula Deen's My First Cookbook for Christmas this year. We haven't used it yet till today : ) Caden and Casey made Porcupine Balls for dinner tonight. They got to get all the measuring cups and spoons and ingredients out and put them on the counter. Then I read the instructions and they then put all the stuff together and got to mix it with thier hands. They really loved it like I knew they would and now they just can't wait for dinner! It is so much fun to get to watch them get excited about cooking I always cooked with my mom and it was some of my favorite memories.

Cooking with my kids is actually nothing new my mom has been putting them up on the counter at her house and has them help her all the time with her dinner since they could sit up! and Caden for the last couple days has been making the scrambled eggs in the morning (with just a little help from me of course) and has been doing a great job! This morning actually he even added a dash of salt by himself...which was more like a pouring LOL but his daddy ate them without complaint I was so impressed. Casey prefers to make desserts or mashed potatoes so she can lick the spoons and bowl.

I just can't wait to see their love of cooking grow <3

this week in our life

This week we are having a fun filled week. Yesterday we just had fun cleaning and playing. We also signed Caden up for t-ball which he is super excited about. His little friend Alyssa is signed up too so it should be a lot of fun watching them play! Today we just relaxed and cleaned some more. The kids seem to be slightly under the weather  so we needed these two days to relax and just have fun before we go to the beach tomorrow!!!! They are really looking forward to it and we are meeting Jay, Ashley and Kirsten there for lunch  : )  We also need to make a trip to the library either tomorrow or Thursday. So really it is a pretty boring ,for the outsiders looking in, type of week but it is a fun one for us and not stressful : )

So about all the cleaning I have been doing. Well I work so much better when I have a schedule and that includes a cleaning schedule....so I am doing what "the sidetracked home executive" book says and I made a chore box. I have used it before right after Casey was born and it was a life saver I felt very in control and didn't mind when people just stopped by because everything was clean (well except for toys being everywhere but really who can control that?). So I just had to update the box and reorganize. Now I have a schedule and my house is starting to look much better. My house was never actually bad but I felt tired because I would try to do everything at one time and now I can get everything done with a less intense freak out feeling LOL


I  have lost another pound so down to 136 when doesn't sound like much but really I am surprised because I have beens so bad what with Joe's birthday and everything in the house. I have only 3 months left before the cruise so I need to get myself in gear. I haven't been exercising at all. That is so bad but I haven't. I have every intention of starting tomorrow so wish me luck!

fun weekend ahead!

This Sunday is Joe's 32nd birthday. Last year I was actually out of town for it so I am super excited to be here this year. We are going with some of our friends tonight to DaRuMas this nice resturant I have never been too but Jeni says is amazng and it seems like just the thing Joe wants to do so I am really looking forward to it. Tomorrow we are going to have the family party at Noodles and then having cake and presents back at the house and I am making him a special breakfast too : ) I think he is really gonna have a great birthday.

Today was really fun and it's only 2! this morning Joe had to go to work so I had McKenzie come over and we made cupcakes. I have this really fun book called Hello Cupcake and it has tons of different was to decorate Cupcakes. Today we made Panda Bears for sunday school tomorrow. they turned out pretty cute but not great so I will be practicing some more. I think if I want them perfect  I can't just do what the book says which is to use ziplock bags and just snip the corner. I am gonna start using actual tips and everything so that it comes out neater. I will post pics later

I am loving this weather we have been having! I put the kids down for a nap (which yea they so didn't sleep they played) and then I went and laid out by the pool. I love that our house is set up with the kids rooms having sliding glass doors that face the pool because I can go outside and see right into their rooms and make sure they don't get out and get into something bad LOL

talking to a snickers and self control

So I am trying to do this 1200 calories a day thing. It is supposed to be just a healthier way of eatting and a way for me too lose the 10 to 15 lbs that I have been wanting off. My start weight was 140 lbs my goal is 125 so that when I go on the cruise I have a little extra room for gaining in my clothes LOL! Well I have lost 3 lbs since last friday when I started and I am very excited but today I am having a bit of a struggle : ( I sooooo really want a candy bar and chicken nuggets. I ended up eatting 2 nuggets that Casey didn't eat at lunch and then made a hot dog (which is really high in calories by the way who knew?) and now having remorse about it. Guess the soup I was gonna make for tonight will go uneatten by me but we do have an extra person eatting with us tonight so she can have my portion.

The other day I did so much better about fighting the cravings. I had put the kids to bed and was doing the dishes when I totally heard a snickers calling me from the pantry. Seriously I mean it was yelling at me to come eat it. Well I pulled the snickers out and put it on the counter and continued doing the dishes while telling the snickers (yep out loud) that I was NOT going to eat it. I kept telling it this but it wouldn't listen to me it kept insisting that I eat it sooo...I did the only thing I could think of to shut it up. I opened it up and took a bite, which I am gonna say it was the head of the snickers because it stopped talking to me after that, and I threw the rest away. I think I totally won that battle : )

Today not going as well but I am still in my range of calorie intake and I will have a salad with my yummy fat free Ceaser salad dressing on it and say the kitchen is closed. I love this diet mostly because if I do go over my calories for a day I can just work out to burn the calories that I over ate and then I am good!

Tonight I am going to start my Couch to 5K in  6 weeks again because I only did week one last time because of a crazy schedule and getting sick. No excuses this time I am gonna be able to run 3 miles by the summer!!!!! Wish me luck and pray for me because I am trying to use self control and rely on God for it instead of turning to food when I am sad, happy, upset or just bored. I have heard a total of 3 sermons on self control and I am thinking God is trying to tell me something so I better listen!!!

Monday

Yesterday was Monday and it was a GREAT day. We didn't really do anything terribly special or crazy. My mom came over in the morning and asked what I had planned on doing for the day. My plans were...clean the bathrooms,kitchen, floors, take kids to the Dr., laundry, and bible study at night. She decided we needed to go to Belk instead : ) When she called to tell my Grandma that we were going shopping my Grandma decided she really wanted to go too (my Grandma has alzhimers so I will confess my mom and I were thinking it would have been easier if it was just us and the kids). We picked her up and headed to Belk.

We had such a great time!!! Grandma was having a great day and she really just enjoyed the kids so much. We all tried different stuff on and just had fun looking at all the stuff in the store. After shopping we went out to lunch at Red Robin and had a fabulous lunch. (yea my diet was shot yesterday but actually looked up the nutritonal value of everything and I didn't do too horribly) In all the day was amazing and I am so thankful my Grandma came because even if she isn't going to remember this forever I know that I will and I know that my kids had a wonderful day with their Great Grandma. So I am so thankful God allowed us that great simple day together and I am looking forward to more like them. This taught me a lesson of realizing that easier isn't always the way to go.

I did end up getting everything done that I needed to except my floors and I had a great time of learning and discussion at bible study. I LOVE MONDAYS LOL

Quick Catch Up

So it has been a really long time and a lot has happened but I am not going to go through it all. I will just start at the most recent activities...

We with to Dallas last week for my niece's 3rd birthday! Joe unfortunatly couldn't come and neither could my dad because of work so it was just Mom and me off with the kids. It was a 22 hour drive from Naples to Dallas. I know what ya'll are thinking "Crazy people with 2 kids under 4" but really it was awesome! Caden is doing so well right now it is like he is all grown up. He listened and actually seemed to enjoy the drive for the most part I will say he was very ready to get out after the trip back home. Casey slept when she was tired and sang and talked when she was awake so it was really quite pleasant.

We left on Wednesday night at 10p.m. and drove through the night so the kids would be asleep for the most part getting there. I slept a little or tried to anyway because I wasn't feeling well and my mom drank Red Bull and of course drove the whole way because she just can't give up that control LOL it is a joke in our family. We stopped in Alexandria, LA around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and stayed at a great hotel with the nicest maid ever! She made sure the pull out couch and everything had sheets on it for the kids and she was very helpful. Now I have friends that live in LA so they know a little better than I do the good things about that state...but I really don't have any desire to be there. The people other than the maid, were pretty cranky and tended to be on the scary side and the food actually kinda stunk. So Louisanna I will not be living there if I have my way. We slept in the next morning a little and headed to Dallas. We got in around 12:30 and Mom went to pick up Anna from daycare.

I just have to say that my niece is sooooo adorable. Seriously she is. She is gonna be a star one day I just know it. She thrives in the spotlight and I know she will be singing with her Mom in church in just a few years. Heidi bought her a microphone the sunday we were up there and while Heidi practiced with the church band Anna sang and danced.

We got to hear Dave preach (mom had already heard him before but I hadn't) he is really an amazing pastor. I loved t sermon on self control and he did a great job presenting it.

We went shopping a little and went out for food a lot. It was a very fun trip especially going to IKEA I love that place! Heidi was sick so she was not near as active this time but we still did a lot and it was very very fun.

I will post pics soon. The ride home was really great too we didn't leave at night we took a full 2 days to drive it and the kids were great again. We are all happy to be home in our own beds though since Casey now has a cough and fever.

Testing

Got a new netbook so just testing to see how this shortcut to my blog works