Case for a gym membership

I am slowly building my case for joining a gym. I have worked out at home 4 days in a row now. Yea!!!! I have been recording shows off the FIT TV channel and doing them in my room. Last night Mike came in the room after my workout and said it stunk (like sweat I guess.) That's why he won't move the elliptical trainer from the garage into the house. If it was in the house I'd use it. Anyway, I figure if I stink up the bedroom enough he'll be more supportive about me joining a gym. I'll keep you posted.

FBNO

For those of you in the know, Tuesday night was FBNO. For those of you not in the know, FBNO is "Fabulous Babes Night Out" sorority lingo from my college days. (Mike likes to call it "Former Babes Night Out" Ha, Ha!) (He's just kidding by the way!) Anyway, once a month I go out to dinner with Cynthia, Debbi and Darla. We were all in the same sorority in college and now all live in the same area. This month we were joined by 2 other sisters who were in a few years after us. Alli and Shannon. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and had a great time. It's so good to get out! See ya'll next month!

Magnets

This is a picture of a magnetic strip with circle magnets that used to hang on the wall in Maddie's room. Monday night Tori got ahold of it and swallowed 1 magnet for sure, possibly 2. I was very upset (freaking out) and called the dr. who said to take her to the ER for an xray. The concern is that if a child swallows more than 1 magnet they might connect inside the body and cause some blockage or damage. I took her to Urgent Care but the wait was 2 hours and it was already past her bedtime. By this time I had calmed down somewhat so I decided to take Mike's advice and wait until the next day and see if the magnets passed. Yesterday was the magic day and one of the magnets passed. What a relief! Needless to say, this magnetic strip is no longer on the wall.

Flower Power

This is the pinwheel Ryan got at school today. He put it in the backyard. It looks like a flower, don't you think?
I read somewhere that if you see flowers when you first wake up in the morning it puts you in a better mood and helps you have a good day. I had been struggling with my mood a few weeks ago so I bought these tulips at Costco to try it out. They hadn't bloomed yet when I bought them. I put them on my bathroom counter so they could get the sunlight from the window there but be too high up for little reaching hands. This is what they look like now. I think they have been definite mood booster. Since I've had them I've been getting up earlier so I'm not in such a rush in the mornings. I FINALLY worked out after thinking about it for months. I organized my bathroom cabinets. And I've been trying out some new recipes. I think I'll continue getting flowers every few weeks.

The weekend

Tori has been fighting a cold all week and I finally took her to the dr. on Friday. The flu test was negative but the dr. said she looked soooo bad that she was going to give her an antibiotic anyway. She is still sick, even after being on the antibiotic 3 days. She has fever, diarrhea, and a very gross runny and congested nose. Last night we were up with her constantly until around 1am when we finally turned off the monitor and decided to let her cry. I was in a blissful sleep when around 2:30am, who shows up but Ryan. "Mommy, I'm sick. My ear hurts." So Ryan got some medicine and got to sleep with Daddy while I went to sleep in guest room to listen for Tori. By some miracle, Tori didn't wake up again until 7am. Woohoo! I peeked in on Daddy and Ryan and Ryan was sideways across the bed. (he's no fun to sleep with.)

Maddie and Ryan went to a birthday party at a park Saturday morning for our friend from playgroup. The weather was not cooperating (see pics) but the kids had a great time anyway. It was really really cold, maybe in the 40's?, and windy.

I taught Sunday School this morning so Ryan and Maddie went to church with me while Mike stayed home with Tori. I taught the pre-k class so they were in there with me. Then we went to the church service and Ryan pulled his usual shenanigans. He threw a pencil and 2 pieces of paper up in the air while we were sitting in the pew. We're lucky the pencil didn't poke someone's eye out. I was so glad I knew the people behind us who caught the pencil. He only let out one yell this time so I guess I can be glad about that. I counted down the minutes until children's time when I could take them out of the service and put them in "children's church." Thank goodness for children's church!

Ebay report

I'm up to $57 towards my $150 Ebay goal but oh no, today I bid on an Easter sweater vest for Ryan. Maybe I'll be outbid. I have to save my money for the deep cleaning. But now I'm thinking of spending it on a gym membership instead. Would I really go to the gym? Vote in my poll!

Let's Bowl

Maddie bowled for the first time at a birthday party Saturday. It was our 2nd party of the day and the bowling wore her out. She ended up falling asleep on the couch in her party dress right after dinner.

Check out the Weather Pixie

Look to your left and check her out. She has the current weather for my location and her clothes change depending on the temperature. Thanks to Cynthia for telling me how to do this.

Current bible study

Right now I am in week 6 of a bible study called "Seeking Him, Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom. It is a neighborhood study at a girl's house who does this periodically. This is a GREAT study. It is very intense and really makes you think. The first few weeks of it are pretty difficult and make you feel pretty low but then it starts to bring you back up again. Hopefully by the end I will be "revived." Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

Valentine's Day

Maddie and Ryan gave a haircut to the monster he got from one of his classmates.

I made this cup for Mike and put it in the cupboard so he would see it when he got his coffee Valentine's Day morning. You can see I am NOT an artist but he said he loved it.

Ryan made this hug at school. If you look close you can see that he wrote "I love you" on it. How cute is that!?
This is the valentine that Maddie made for us at school. She wrote her name on it. I love it!

Maddie and I made cupcakes for Mike's birthday. Here they are! Yummy, yummy!

We had a babysitter last night and we went to eat at Pappasito's. I think we have had Valentine's Day dinner there 3 or 4 times now. We like to get the "Plato Amor" which has fajitas, shrimp, lobster tail and chocolate covered strawberries. It was soooo good. Thanks Mike!

Ebay goal $150

I am on a mission. I am trying to sell $150 of stuff on Ebay so I can get my old housekeeper to come do a deep cleaning on my house. So far I have $23. If anyone has suggestions for what might sell please let me know!

Deceptively Delicious

Cynthia posted a comment about sneaking vegetables into my spaghetti sauce. I've made a TON of vegetable and some fruit purees from the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. (yes she is Jerry's wife.) I made so much that my food processor called it quits on me. I have been putting cauliflower puree into the kids macaroni for weeks. Banana puree goes into my chocolate chip muffins. Sweet potato pancakes were a hit too. I put carrots into the meatloaf and no one said a thing but when I told Mike, the meatloaf suddenly caused him stomach distress and he wouldn't eat any leftovers. There are lots of good recipes and I highly recommend the cookbook to anyone with kids. The purees are easy to make and once they're frozen you just pull them out of the freezer to thaw (or run them through the microwave for 30 seconds like I do!). Happy cooking!

Tori's spaghetti mess

Here is Tori eating spaghetti for dinner the other night. It's one of her favorite meals. The best part about it was we got through the whole meal without one complaint out of Dad. He hates it food messes and especially when I let Tori feed herself. Last week he got so frustrated he said he was taking over feeding Tori at all 3 meals. It lasted a day. However I think he has since mellowed out and dinner is now a more enjoyable experience. Thanks Mike!

Princess Maddie

Maddie got some makeup for Christmas and yesterday she put some on. After looking at herself in the mirror she said "Mommy, I really DO look like a princess!"

Tori ate cake for the first time a few days ago. Look at that smile!