back to the daily grind

Wednesday was Lauren's first day back to school after the holiday break. She was beaming with excitement and had a huge smile when the teacher came to get her out of the car in the morning. She had an even bigger smile when the teacher brought her back to the car in the afternoon pick-up line. Once she was in the car she was talking a mile a minute about her day. Normally, she tells me that "yes, I had fun and everything was my favorite." But today she was a total chatter-box. "Mommy, did you know that it is Winter now?!" "Did you know it is a new month and YEAR?!" "We have new homework and it's the letter "L"." and finally "We're going to be penguins tomorrow."

It was pretty cool to watch.

While she was apparently having a Blast at school Tyler and I went to his playgroup at his friend Becca's house. He stayed pretty close to me most of the time but about 15 min. before it was time to go he warmed up a little and found some cars to play with. Although I had Tyler on my lap, I was still able to kick some butt on Tetris Party on the Wii.

Here's a shot of an exhausted Lauren re-grouping after her fun day at school.

Shortly after lunch the kiddos took a nap/had some quiet time. While they were doing their thing I broke out my Denise Austin: Hit the Spot Pilates. Part of the "30 Days to a New You" program calls for some physical activity each day. I'm alternating mine between cardio and strength training.

I must say that I feel Great. It's just been a few days of this continuous exercise and it's already made a world of difference in my attitude and energy level.

The hardest part for me is counting calories. Yesterday I ate a pretty high caloric lunch and basically used up almost all of my daily calories. So I sacrificed my family's happiness and found a low calorie Minestrone Soup recipe. To the recipe I added a bag of chopped "Asian Style Veggies" I had in the freezer. To go along with the soup I made a loaf of "Quick Italian Bread." By the time I decided I needed to make some bread I didn't have much time left before dinner. This bread took about one hour total...it was a yeast bread and even needed to rise. Everyone agreed that this loaf of bread was delish.

ready to go into the oven

out of the oven and sliced

topped with mozzarella & pepperoni, broiled for a few and served along side my delicious Minestrone Soup.

Lauren's favorite part of the meal were the random lemon slices.

even Tyler got into the Lemon Licking excitement

After the kids went to bed Matt and I went downstairs and watched WALL-E on our new Blu-Ray machine. Honestly, I was ready to go to bed half-way through. Do kids these days really get interested in this movie? Did you?! Seriously...I want to know.

This morning was another school day for Lauren. She picked out her school outfit which was a sundress from Cozumel, Mexico given to her from Grandma Jan and Grandpa Michael. The dress; paired with a turtleneck and tights worked just fine. She told me she recieved lots of compliments on her outfit from her teachers.

While Lauren was at school I resumed my usual Thursday volunteering at our church. Despite the fact that on the drive there Tyler kept repeating that he just wanted to "go stay at home instead," he actually had a good time. He played with play-dough, had a snack (lots of snack they told me) and also colored on a huge coloring page.

Back at home and after lunch I put the kids down to nap/quiet time and took my new i-pod to the basement to do my workout. Matt, bless his heart, downloaded some music onto it before he wrapped it up for my Christmas present. Since I haven't taken the time to figure out how to download MY music onto it I had to rock out to Phil Collins. (...which I must admit wasn't that bad...just don't tell anyone I said that.)

Here's my new i-pod touch and the new arm band I just recieved today from ebay.

Also given to us today was some authentic French chocolates from our neighbors. All Matt had to do was drive Frederich, Maria and daughter Lea to the airport to catch their plane to France. The chocolate is SUPERB and if you're ever in the area Check Them Out.

For dinner tonight I made a Penne Pasta Casserole. I've made this before but since this was a "use what we have week" I had to make it again. It was still good though and I used the leftover Italian bread and turned it into garlic bread for this meal. Yummers but still controllable...calorie wise.

Earlier today I made some more hummus. This time with Black Olives, Chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin and some cayenne pepper. It was delish. I also made some more pita bread to go along with it but since this post has become unbelievably long I'll save that for tomorrow.

In the mean time enjoy this picture of Lauren with her dirty finger-nails thanks to some left over black olives I didn't use in the hummus.

"30 Days to a New Me"

Before I talk about my next "30 Days," let me show you some of the bounty bought by Lauren and Tyler with their Christmas Target gift cards. (courtesy of PaPa and MeMa) It was a Thomas party up in the Tar-jay in Peachtree City yesterday. Lauren adamantly picked out a DVD; "Thomas and the Jet Engine" while Tyler brought home a new engine named "Stanley." And as of yet today we aren't quite sick of watching the DVD nor playing and fighting over "Stanley."
Tyler's new thing is being sad..."I'm just sad Mommy." So I asked him to give me his sad look while he's watching the Thomas DVD and seriously, here it is. It's a little Brandon Walsh sad to me...you think?

Dinner last night was the, before mentioned, Saucy Shrimp and Grits with Fried Okra (turned casserole) on the side. Shrimp and grits were just fine on their own but add the okra (which I forgot to dredge in the cornmeal mixture before frying...and decided to add said cornmeal to the oily mess just added too much carbs/thick oily stuff) and it couldn't be fully appreciated.

Here it is anyway with a side of HOME-MADE HUMMUS and HOME-MADE PITA BREAD on the side. I plan to make more pita bread tomorrow so perhaps I'll share with y'all my super duper recipe I found.

And before I dive into my "30 Days to a spectacular ME" let me show you my new towel hangers that go over my cupboards. Pretty snazzy eh? (thanks go out once again to MeMa and PaPa)

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I made home-made pizza tonight using some home-made pizza dough I had in the freezer. Matt, the former Pizza Hut wizzard, happily rolled the dough into an almost perfect circle for me.

I then added my special tomato sauce (which I made from a bunch of leftovers in the fridge,) and then mozzarella cheese and pepperoni (for the kids;) and Canadian bacon, pineapple and jalapeno peppers for Matt and I.

going into the oven

and out of the oven

It was Super Delish! I was even able to control myself and stick to a single serving but that might be due to the "30 Days to a New Me" program that I am beginning TODAY.

Pastor Ken at our church has written a new booklet titled "30 Days to a New You" (or something like that) and although it isn't published yet he requested a group of people to try it out and provide him with feedback. My community group volunteered and I'm so happy because I'm ready, so ready to become a new me....health and fitness wise anyway. Each day of the next 30 days has a lesson to read and Action Steps to follow along with a Bible verse to draw strength and direction from.

I'm instructed to count calories (which is hard for me but I'm doing okay so far,) drink 64oz of water/day, pray for strength to change, eat 5-6 times per day, do an aerobic or strength training exercise everyday, eat breakfast and get plenty of sleep at night. Doesn't sound so hard, huh?

Today I took my measurements. ...no I won't be sharing them with y'all quite yet... And I kept a food diary and also started my exercise log.

I look forward to updating my progress and being accountible here on this blog.

Weekly Menu

psyche

(is that still "cool" to say or does that word date me?)

Anyway...this week is "Wing It" week

I loaded up at the grocery store with some staples

(be sure to admire once again my new tiled back splash)

After tonight's Saucy Shrimp & Grits with Fried Okra which was left-over from the last menu I made I will use the staples and stuff I have stockpiling in the pantry. Should make for an interesting week as I'm used to knowing exactly what I'm going to make each day. oooh, I love challenges...sometimes.

My New Kitchen!!

Matt always requests Home Depot gift cards for Christmas, his Birthday and for those times you just want to put a smile on his face. It has been awhile since he's had any extra money to do any home projects and so the day after Christmas he cashed in his Home Depot gift cards and got to work.

Thanks to gift cards from cousin Kyle, Grammy and PaPa and MeMa, he decided to give me a much longed for tiled back splash and pretty much transform and improve the look of my kitchen.

BEFORE

(ignore the loaf of bread and focus on the boring, non-existent, back splash)

IN PROGRESS PICS

jack of all trades, master of ...let's just say jack of all trades and call it good.

modeling for the partial job

I'm still able to bake my "time to try something new" cinnamon rolls.

notice my under cabinet lights, he wired them to a switch so I no longer have to burn my hand trying to turn them off

looking good, ready for grout

Tyler (aka Tile-er) ((ha ha...I'm so not funny...))

helping to mix up the grout

almost finished...just need to clean and seal

AFTER

doesn't it look AMAZING. Some simple tile just adds so much to the kitchen.

GREAT JOB MATT

and many thanks again to Kyle, PaPa and MeMa and Grammy

New Years Week recap

We are sure missing Grammy and Uncle Brian today!! Uncle Kevin and Aunt Mili left last week and Grammy and Uncle Brian flew home to a once again snowing Oregon yesterday.

Today I had to wake up at 7:30 with the kids instead of taking advantage of Grammy and letting her get up with the kids while I slept for another Three Hours. Welcome back to reality.

Even Tyler is missing Grammy. He woke up today saying "I'm just sad." I asked him if he missed Grammy and he said, "yes, I miss him." Poor guy. Grammy come back!!

Although we're sad now we sure had a lot of fun since my last post. Check it out!!

After giving Kevin and Mili the boot we went to Philips Arena on Tuesday to see the Hawks kick some basketball butt. The company which owns Matt's building (and most of the other buildings in Atlanta) sponsors a court-side suite and had 4 extra tickets for the game.


the suite was A-mazing. It was full of free booze and free food and just a short walk to our Court-Side seats. (the food was around there somewhere...and it was good too.)
We were 3 rows behind the comfy seats enjoyed by the players' families and other famous peeps. We had these same seats for a Hockey game not too long ago but sorry no offense to any Canadians reading this...hockey just DOESN'T compare.

check out how close we were

I got your tush, Carm

We had a low key New Year's Eve in our basement with Mike and his kids, Tyler and Tera. The kids played and we munched on appetizers (home-made spicy boneless chicken wings, black eyed pea salsa and chips etc. etc.) and watched a lot of football. I brought the New Year in with my favorite daughter relaxing on my lap and Matt did the same with my favorite son.

It was perfect.

Happy 2009!!

New Year's Day started off with the best sausage and cheese omelets Matt has ever made.

this picture makes you want to lick the computer doesn't it?

no? ok, then just me.

[Imagine a picture of Matt and Uncle Brian watching football all day long.]

and that brings us to our traditional New Year's Dinner. Collard Greens (for wealth,) Black Eyed Peas (for luck,) baked herb crusted tomatoes, corn bread and fillet mignons. Tradition says we need to have Hog Jowls (for health) but I'm just not a jowl kind of girl...(and who is this Tradition person anyway?) I counted the pound of bacon I used in the collards as my "healthy" dose of pig.

yummers

Friday we wanted to get out of the house and explore some more of Atlanta. We chose the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

the light is shining on Mr. King Jr.

at the tombstone

I can't believe we've been here for over 3 years and haven't visited. It was very informative for all ages. I had an occasional tear in my eye while looking around.

After a lot of walking around and excellent behavior from Lauren, Tyler and Uncle Brian we celebrated at the Varsity. We stopped by for chocolate shakes but somehow Matt and Uncle Brian got a hamburger and 3 hot dogs and then forced all of us to eat some onion rings.

Saturday afternoon, we went to the Family Place to Play Fun Center in Newnan. Lauren and especially Tyler had a blast.

going up

coming down

even the toddler room was fun to play in

Boy were we tired after such a fun day of running and jumping around. This is probably the first time Lauren has ever fallen asleep on the sofa.

Matt and Uncle Brian couldn't rest though. Those lucky ducks got tickets to another Hawks game this time in the Coca-Cola suite thanks to neighbor and poker buddy Wiltey.

Here's the view from the Coke suite which is on the upper level.

a view of the suite and Brian enjoying free food and refreshments

cool half time entertainment. can you see this guy is horizontal to the ground?!

Did I mention how sad we are that all our guests have left. When will we have as much fun? Anyone want to cheer me up and come visit?? We have plenty of room.