Weekend birthday party



We had a great weekend.  We had family over to celebrate Emma and Gary's birthdays.  We had the party here at our house and I made food and Jess made the cakes!

 

 

She did a amazing job!  She wants to study culinary arts in school! Its nice having someone else that likes to cook around the house although she prefers to make deserts I think,  Which is fine and dandy unless you ask my waistline. LOL

It was nice to have everyone over to our house.  I'm so glad everyone could make it!  The kids both got things they wanted and everyone was happy I believe. 

 

My family has been begging me to make granola bars again... that's right, we don't buy those anymore either.  this is the recipe I have been making.  Everyone likes it accept for Gary, not sure why.  I cut them into 24 bars and they come out to 120 calories.  I do want to try some different things out and see if I can make them healthier.  This recipe uses butter,, I'm wondering if I could replace it with coconut oil.   Here are the bars setting up before I cut them

 

 

 

And here they are in the "cookie jar". (which we never have cookies in)

12

Playing video games, one of his favorite things to do

The middle child. I hope little man doesn't feel that cliche of being looked over and forgotten about. Being the only boy and stuck in the middle Im sure can be hard. He isn't really the mama's boy I dream of having but that's ok. Hes defiantly a daddy's boy. They go hunting and fishing and play video games together, all that boy stuff. Im pretty sure if it came down to him choosing
between me and his dad he would for sure choose his dad but I guess thats ok. I know I love him and Im pretty sure he loves me. Ill just keep working on him trying to root into his life lol.

Hes actually home sick from school today. Running a low grade fever :(. Not a fun way to spend your birthday.
For dinner tonight we are having meatloaf, cheesy potatoes, and corn, his favorite! And this weekend we are going to take him to a local seafood restaurant that serves sushi. He loves it and so do I. One of the things we have in common :)

Emmas 5th

5 years ago today my beautiful little baby girl came into this world.  She awoke me this morning by coming into my bed around the same exact time that she arrived 5 years ago, before 6am.   I was a nice mommy and since Ben had left for work decided that I'd let her lay in our bed and falls back to sleep,, it was her birthday and all :)  

She requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, so I made some, they were super yummy!  I used this recipe and just added the chocolate chips after I ladled them onto the griddle.  I love my griddle by the way, Id be lost without it!

 Then the poor doll had to wait until daddy got home from work before she could open her present from us. And once she could have it she dug right into it

 MarioKart!!  She has a new love for Mario and she loves racing so we thought she would like this gift and she defiantly did! Shes playing it now as I type.  We also got her a couple things that were on after Christmas clearance. LOL  little bath sets and stuff.

 Then we had told each kid that this year they could pick a place they would like to go out to eat for their birthdays since we are limiting out out to eat trips.  She of course chose Mc Donalds!!  Here she is at play land.

Tomorrow is Garys birthday, he will be 12!!   We are having a combined party for family for them next weekend.

Homemade is the only way

Oh, I really need to start doing better with this blogging business. . I just cant decide if I wanna do it or not, I can totally write the post in my head while I'm folding clothes or making dinner, but to actually take the time and sit down to type it out and upload pics is hard.  

Anyways we have been doing fabulous not eating out and  making things from scratch.  In fact if I mention buying something from the store, for example tortillas, Ben about goes crazy.  He says why buy something when we can make it ourselves.  Its all good and dandy, but geez it sure is a LOT  more work and a LOT more kitchen clean up for me!  We have been making all kinds of pizzas, we've done tortillas

, I made some breakfast hot pockets that went in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast for the the kiddos before school.  We made homemade egg rolls the other day and they were delish!!!  All this yummy food and we are still trying to lose the weight.  Its coming off still, slowly but surely.  43 pounds down,, it was 50 but I gained some over the holidays.  We try to fit in our exercise most days.  I've decided without it I wont be losing any weight.  So elliptical and weights it is along with some exercise videos thrown in here and there.  And counting my calories on myfitnesspal.com  feel free to add me on a friend on there!

2013

Jan 2, 2013!  Seems so strange,, I can't believe another year has come and gone.  So much happened last year, we prepared our house to sell, then at the last minute changed our minds because the 2 oldest kids ended up getting their braces....  Priorities right?  I quit smoking!  Yay!   I lost 50 pounds!  Over the holidays I gained a little back but its gonna go away fast,, this morning started me recommitting to healthier eating.   So right there were 2 resolutions from last year,, quiting smoking and losing weight.  I have more weight I want to lose but I'm heading in the right direction!! 

This year my main focus is going to be going strong on paying off our debt,, that is a goal every year, but Im going to try my hardest to make it work.  By the end of 2013 I will be debt free accept for my vehicles and home!  I know I can do it!  
I will also keep focusing on eating healthy and exercising and hopefully be down to where I want to be weight wise by the end of the year. 
I will continue to use my time wisely and be resourceful with the things we have.  I want to keep making as much homemade as I have been and learn even more!  I also want to try to do more freezer cooking to help out when I dont really feel like cooking. 

Here's to a new year!

Almost a year

Holy Moly its been a long time!!  Almost a year since I have blogged!!  Life...it has been busy, crazy, good, bad, and everything in between.  So much has happened in the last year, so many plans, things I thought were going to happen, and yet here we are, right where I left a year ago.  Everything is pretty much the same, accept for the fact that I am now almost 50 pounds lighter!  That's a good thing. I still have more to go and its been a real struggle lately.  I fight with my inner self constantly,, what to eat, when to exercise.  See I know the answer to all of this, its just mind of matter and its also a fact of me not wanting to be so obsessed with everything I put into my mouth.  I want there to be a happy medium.  I want to be able to eat healthy but still let myself enjoy some of the bad for me stuff also.  Its a happy balance and I'm trying to find it.   The exercise things is just me needing to do it, stick with it and get it done.. When I don't exercise its just my pure laziness.  I'm working on that.  Anyways, as far as blogging I'm just gonna start again and take up where I left off.  Its a good release for my mind and I kind of miss the outside communication with the world. :)

Life is good

Hectic but good.  We have had 2 pretty great weekends.  Weve gotten out at least for a little bit 2 weekends in a row!  Thats big for us.  This past Saturday we went to a really nice restaurant and I had sushi for the first time.  It was good,, different but good.  The whole atmosphere of the restaurant was so nice, defiantly not a place I would take my kids due to the prices but just a really nice place to get away for some adult time.   Plus it made me feel so sophisticated.  lol

Sunday we got a new kitchen table!  I love it!  It kinda makes the rest of  my kitchen look a little crumby though.. But the plan is to paint the walls, get new counter top and replace the floor.  I'm so excited for this to happen,, you have no idea!  I've wanted to redo the kitchen forever! 

Yesterday I started watching a new childcare kid.. He is a 5 month old little guy.. He's super cute!  A lot of work though,, its a lot harder to get things accomplished around here but so far its going pretty good.. My husband being on 2nds is home in the mornings and he has been a great help with the baby.  He loves him and now says we should have another one!  NO thanks I said.  I love little ones but they are a lot of work and take a lot of money and I just feel that I'm to a point in my life I don't really want to add to our family.  Its hard enough with the 5 of us.  Watching this little guy will give me plenty of babytime without having to have our own. :)    I hope that doesnt sound to selfish!  

There are so many things I am starting to want to accomplish, do and get right now.. I'm trying to figure out how to make it all work.   Patience  that's what I need to remember. :)