Same Car, Different Wreck and Repair

Matt and his once again shiny and new car

I haven't mentioned it earlier because I'm sure you're bored with all of these "Matt wrecked his car again" posts but 17 days ago Matt wrecked his car again.

(remember this time? and that time? oh and also this one?)

Ok...not all were his fault but I'm pretty sure his car is cursed.

He was driving to work in awesome Atlanta I-85 traffic and some drivers in front of him slammed on their breaks because they were wimps and were afraid of some boxes that flew off of someone's truck.  Matt wasn't a wimp and he slammed on his breaks anyway but, obviously not soon enough.  Dang it!

To top it off he he was ticketed for following too close.

The silver lining is that we now have 4 punches on our Corbitt's Collision frequent customer card.  If I understand correctly we only have one more repair until we get the next one free.

And the Favorite Parent Award Goes to:

Once Again their DADDY!...(*mostly)

A friend of mine noticed that in my last blog post the kids were playing the new Nintendo 2DS (instead of their regular DS.)  She is correct and I thought I'd elaborate.

Last weekend A.D.D. DADDY (sometimes we call him that because it just fits) decided in the spur-of-the-moment to take the kids to GameStop.  He had them bring their Nintendo DS gaming systems.  I stayed home to mop the floor but in hindsight that may have been the wrong decision.

The kids came home with their own brand new Nintendo 2DS gaming systems!!

(they each received a whopping $20 credit for trading in their old DSs)

Why wait for CHRISTMAS when you can make the kids think you're their favorite parent right now?!! 

Look at these smiles!  Daddy is definitely winning.

When the kids got home from GameStop with their loot I jokingly rolled my eyes and asked them what it would be like if Daddy was always in charge.

*Lauren (my sweet girl) said it would be "horrible."

She said, "we'd be able to do screen time all the time but we would get chubby and not do good in school."

(love this!  She's repeating what the Pediatrician said about the common consequences from excessive screen time.)

So even though Daddy has the Favorite Parent Award, I'm going to hang tight to my *asterisk* and consider myself a runner-up.

(Daddy Disclaimer:  In our family I, Momma, am the main disciplinarian because I am home with them all day.  Daddy is the main provider who works hard for our family all day, everyday.  When he comes home from work he would rather play with the kids then scold them for any misdeeds from the day.  It works for us even though I may jest occasionally about them liking him more.  They respect us both in unique and different ways.)

A Typical After-School Day 2013

School Days are so Typical that I often don't think to blog about them.

But for future reference, here is what our after school days look like these days.

When the kids get off the school bus they get a snack and then start on their homework.

After their homework is done they each do a "screen-time." (20 minutes in front of a screen/ipad/DS/computer/tv/etc.)

This is so typical that I didn't take a picture.

After the screen time is over they find something else to do.

Such as...

Work on Operation Christmas Child boxes for church...

Or make Minecraft papercrafts...

Then they wrestle.

I think Tyler has finally realized that he weighs more than Lauren and can take her down.

When it's ready we eat dinner, and then change into PJs, brush our teeth, and do another screen time if we have time.

(Screen time with their new 2DS)

Finally, it's 30 minutes of reading before bed.

(an optional 30 minutes of reading is allowed in their bedrooms before lights out)

Tonight Lauren is reading Nancy Drew: The Clue of the Tapping Heels

(She loves all the Nancy Drew books and must be close to reading them all.)

(Romy loves Lauren.)

and Tyler is reading Hungry Hungry Sharks.

His reading has absolutely taken off and I'm very proud of him.

After the kids go to bed Matt and I typically watch a show or two and then hit the hay ourselves.  We definitely keep up the rock star lifestyle if I do say so myself.

And this concludes a typical after-school day in our house. 

Tuesday Totals

pounds lost this week  = 1.4

total pounds lost =  22.4

(It was a nice surprise to lose this week since I missed 3 days at the gym due to evil Fire Ant bites.)

With this week's loss I have reached my Thanksgiving Day goal!

My next goal is to lose 4.8 pounds by Christmas.

A big thanks to all of you (especially my husband) for your support.  Your feedback, comments, e-mails, flirty glances (Matt,) mean so much and keep me going.

I'm within ten pounds of my ultimate goal (like my 23 year old) weight.  Let's do this.

Weekly Menu 11-4-2013

Last week was a bit rough (healthy-living wise) so it's time to get back to basics.  Starting with posting a Weekly Menu which I haven't done in awhile.

Last Monday night I stepped on an anthill and my right foot was ferociously attacked by evil fire ants. By the next evening my foot had swollen up to a freakish level.  Because of the evil ants, I missed 3 days at the gym. (My tennis shoe would not fit over my foot.)

(I apologize...even with picmonkey edits my feet (swollen or not) just aren't attractive.)

And then Halloween with extra candy left-over...  And then Bunco with a bunch of food and adult beverages....

It's time to get back to basics!

Weekly Menu
Monday: Slow Cooker: Coconut Thai Curry Chicken Breasts
Tuesday:  Tortellini in Garlic Broth with White Beans and Greens
Wednesday:  Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Thursday:  Easy Ziti
Friday:  Bunco  (l/o or pantry meal for Matt and kiddos)
Saturday:  Football party with friends
Sunday:  Sweet and Sour Chicken


I promise to never again show my feet and list my weekly dinner menu in the same post again. =)

Well Visit with Dr. J

Standing next to their growth chart.  They look awfully close to me.

Today L and T had their 9 and 7-year-old check-ups with Dr. J.

This may be the last year they can have their check-up at the same time...in the same room.

They giggled and fought over who would be checked out first and who would get the first shot.

(No one got a shot today...just the Flu Mist vaccine to the nose.)

Vitals:

Lauren: age 9, height 4'7" (70th percentile), weight 66 pounds (39th percentile)

Tyler: age 7, height 4'4" (91st percentile), weight 68 pounds (90th percentile)

Tyler has officially passed Lauren in the weight department.  Soon he will be taller and then he will really be able to thump her around as payback.

Everything was going great until Dr. J started asking me all these questions about if Lauren was approaching the big P word.  ((puberty))

"Are there any physical or emotional signs you have noticed?"

Nooooooo!  And not for a long time I hope.

He said it typically (but not always) happens when a girl approaches 100 pounds.  He thinks Lauren is quite a few years off.  

Thank goodness!!  I want her to be my little girl for as long as possible and then some.

So, before I go play Barbies with my sweet baby girl, check out how brave Romy has gotten.

He likes to be outside as often as he can sneak out and he prefers to chill out on the railing of our back deck.

(sweet keey keey)

Happy Halloween 2013

 Halloween seemed to sneak up on us this year.

We have a couple of things going on right now and the holiday got put on the back burner.

I didn't even buy pumpkins to carve!  

(for the first and last time)

But, I brought out our electric jack-o-lanterns and the kids picked out AWESOME last minute costumes from Walmart and I think we totally rocked it!

Zombie Southern Belle and the Glowing Eyes

I'm sure she has a great personality though.

Nah...she's just down right scary!

Tyler's glowing eyes flash on and off.

I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark suburban neighborhood.

Our trick-or-treating crew

We stayed out way too late and ate way too much candy.

Best Halloween Ever!

Sneak peak at what L and T are doing while I'm typing up this post.

(Tyler is checking out Lauren's stash and seeing what trades he might want to make.)

Hope you all had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN...now go brush your teeth!