Another award! Yippy!

I love all my new bloggy friends! I just love them. They make my day, even when I'm really under the weather. I just opened my email from the last two days to discover this pretty little thing. Isn't she purdy! A great big THANKS to Meme! I need to list 10 things that make me happy and then pass this award on. And I will, just as soon as I can sit here at the computer a little longer than five minutes!

Fit Friday - Week 7!

Holy cow, I can't believe it's Friday already - the week just flew by. We had an awesome Thanksgiving with a great meal and lots of new family memories. Here are a few pictures of the kids in their turkey shirts!

Papa & Sloan

The inspiration for the first turkey shirt!

Then three more shirts!

What a great group of "turkeys!"


Thanksgiving 2008!

Now on to Fit Friday! I started the week off with a grand plan for gym time. I really wanted to get four days in before Thursday. Well, I got three in! And I just got back from my body pump class today! So that is four 1-hour classes for the week and I can be happy with that.

I totally feel like I did okay with all the food I was surrounded by. I ate a small helping of most things and just one (yes, I said one) helping of mashed potatoes. Yeah Me! Everything we had was delicious and the bigger problem for me is going to be all the leftovers and keeping those portions under control.

Ready for my BIG problem of the week? "Mommy drinks" Yep, I said it for all of Blogworld to hear. I spent way too many calories on cocktails this week! I had enough this week to last me several weeks.... (maybe even into 2009!)

So my plan for this week:

More gym time, more water, watch my leftover portions, and NO Mommy drinks (wish me luck!)

Check in with all my friends over at It's Almost Naptime and see how their week was!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Maggie's Thankgiving Feast!

Oh we had such a wonderful time today! I think I had more fun than Maggie. It was so fun to be there and hang out with her class. I loved how the kids called me, "Maggie's mom!" Both morning classes combined together for the feast! Maggie's class were the Pilgrims and the other class were the Native Americans!

A big thanks to Miss Cox for letting me come in and help!

Oh, and the pilgrim hats were a hit! All 65 were gone! (That is including the 12 sent to Max's preschool class)

Here are a few pictures from this morning!

What a great group of kids!

They watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie!

The feast! They even made their own butter yesterday! I was surprised how many kids tried it and liked it!

They went around the table and told what they were thankful for!
(can you see Maggie's turkey shirt? turned out to be pretty cute!)

Maggie was thankful for friends!

Pilgrim Hat Cookies!

I saw these super cute cookies the other day on the Family Fun website! Don't they just look so cute and easy!

Today after school, Maggie and I went to the store to get the goods to make these super cute cookies!

I am going to help with her "feast" tomorrow at school. This is what I've been waiting for for my entire life. To go and help in my child's classroom, I just can't tell you how excited I am. So when I found this cute little recipe, I thought it was going to be the icing on the cake! (Or in this case, the marshmallow on the cookie) Maggie and I could make the cookies together and share a special mother/daughter moment as we did.

Well, that didn't happen! I totally have NO patience for cooking with my kids. I honestly think that it is a God given gift and that I got skipped on that gift! The girl had chocolate EVERYWHERE! Plus she was licking herself like a dog (well, not as bad as a dog). I couldn't take it anymore. I ended up doing them by myself and grumbling the entire time. Don't you just love my Thanksgiving spirit.

It took me about an hour and a half to make 65 of the super cute cookies. (There are two morning kindergarten classes plus 10 kids in Max's preschool class.) On the bright side, Andy did the frosting buckles for me. The Lord also chose not to give me the ability to frost anything. So thanks to Andy, the turned out to be pretty cute!

So what do you think?

Tonight as I was going through the blog reader ..I saw them! Rocks in my Dryer made these cookies too! Go check it out here! Looks like she has several easier recipes too!

Random encounter!

While I was at the gym yesterday afternoon, I kept looking at this lady, trying to figure out where I knew her from. I have seen her at the gym several times, but I just couldn't place it. Don't you just hate that feeling. Usually it will hit me sooner or later, but it has been several weeks since I first saw her and it still wasn't coming to me.

So toward the end of class yesterday, I finally just asked her.

Me: You look really familiar to me, and I just can't figure out where I know you from.

Her: Well, most people know me from Weight Watchers, I am a leader there. Did you ever do Weight Watchers?

Me: Yes, I did, several years ago, right before my wedding. But I did it at work and the WW people came into our office once a week! I was working at ***** credit union at the time, but gosh that was almost 7 years ago.

Her: That's weird, cause I filled in for a girl for a couple weeks at ***** credit union and that was back in 2002. It's kinda funny that I remember that, but there was a girl in the program at the time who was getting married on February 2, 2002 (02-02-02) and I just thought that was too cool.

Me: Oh my gosh! That's me! I'm the girl! I got married on 02-02-02!

Her: What's your name?

Me: Traci, you would have remembered me, cause I wore a uniform (a very unattractive uniform I might add - I was working in the vault at the time counting money all day and money is VERY dirty!). My friend Sue and I were the only ones at WW that didn't wear normal credit union business casual attire. We kinda stood out!

Her: Yep! Her name was Traci and I totally remember Sue too and the uniforms! (Yes, they were that bad! - but boy did I saved on laundry!)

It was just crazy how I would remember her after only a few times meeting her and even crazier that she remembered me! Weird!

So now I have another gym buddy to keep me accountable and she just happens to be a WW coach too! That can't be all bad right!

Fit Friday - Week 6

Let's just say that this week was much better than last week - thank goodness!

It still wasn't a perfect week, but is there such a thing?

I haven't been that concerned with the whole scale issue, but when I do check, it hasn't been too different. I tend to fluctuate between three different numbers depending on the time of day. I'm really hoping that the reason the number isn't changing is because I'm gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. I really hope that is the reason. The number honestly doesn't bother me, because I am starting to feel a difference in my clothes and that is what really makes me happy.

I only got to the gym three times this week, maybe I'll still go this morning. I've had a sick kiddo this week and today while she is at school, I have a lot of errands to run. Hum, errands, does that count as exercise? I'll park way out in the parking lot...I promise!
Rambling...sorry....Three times at the gym is my goal, so I'm not totally slacking, but I would really feel better to get one more in. We'll see!

Still haven't had soda. Well, I did have a sip yesterday. Poor Maggie (the kiddo that has been home from school the last two days) wanted Sprite. I poured some into her cup and that is when it happened. I took a sip! And you know, it wasn't that great. So now that I've had my fix, I'm hoppin' back on the wagon!

So next week is going to be the true test. I'm talkin' about Thursday here, people! You know, the holiday that all you do is eat, eat, eat! Complete torture I tell you!

I'm going to try really hard to get to the gym several times before Thursday. I'm going to try to really watch my portion control and I'm going to drink a lot more water and maybe a little less "mommy drinks." Oh, who am I foolin'!

But friends, on Thanksgiving Day, I will be cautious and aware, but I am still going to eat my mashed potatoes. My most favorite thing ever is mashed potatoes and gravy, in fact...I might just have seconds on the potatoes and skip the pie! Oh yeah, I love them that much.

So to all my Fit Friday sistas, enjoy the time with your family and be thankful for all you have! You are all beautiful to me! Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out my turkey T-shirt!

Maggie was sick yesterday and stayed home from school. She's still home today. We were very bored. We could have either cleaned out the linen closet or try to make a turkey shirt for Sloan. My niece is 6 months old and I love to make her little holiday onesies. She is so stinkin' cute and they just look adorable on her. So while Maggie was resting, I whipped this together. What do you think? I think it turned out pretty cute. When Maggie saw it, she insisted that she needed one as well, followed my Max announcing that he and Quinton needed one too! So it looks like I will be making a few more of these today.

(I still have to give the turkey some eyes....but I think you get the idea!)

Maybe I'll get to the linen closet tomorrow!

I guess I'll keep it!

Remember a few weeks back, the Maggie and Mommy day at the ceramics shop. My ugly attempt at creating a family heirloom with the sage green plate. Well, we used it the other night.

It was totally too big to have her eat directly off of, but it did turn out to be a nice charger plate. I placed her regular dinner plate on the square plate and she was so excited.

When I asked her to tell Daddy why she was special today, she replied, "because I helped pick up all the toys today." "Nope!" I said. Then she said, "Is it because I used my good manners like Quincy today?" "Nope!" Then I reminded her about what she did at school today, and she said, "Oh, yeah....I said the Pledge of Allegiance for the whole school today, over the intercom!"

Folks, that is a big deal in my book! Big enough to get to use the You are Special Today plate!

Max even asked what he had to do tomorrow to be able to use the plate!

So, I guess we're keeping the plate, even if it's big and ugly!

It's more about all the little and BIG reasons why we are using the plate than what it looks like, right!

WFMW - Christmas budget!

With the economy so uncertain these days, I have been thinking a lot about Christmas and cutting back on what we give. With only two children, it's so easy to get wrapped up in getting them everything they want on their list, to a certain degree. They are still little and don't usually have super expensive items on their lists, but that will change as they get bigger, and so I'd like to prepare for that now.

We have a lot of family that buy for our kids, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. So they ALWAYS end up with a ton of stuff. I want my kids to understand the real meaning of Christmas, and to know that it isn't just about presents!

So, a friend of mine (with 5 kids) uses this idea and I LOVE it. Each of her kids get 3 gifts. She once told me, "If three gifts were good enough for Jesus, then three gift will be good enough for my kids!"

The kids will still get plenty of "stuff" and our budget will be better off....we may even be able to do more charitable giving this year which is what we should be doing in the first place.

Craft time Tuesday!

Maggie had a little friend over today after school. We all went to lunch and then came home to play. We did a little craft and played some games. They giggled and giggled, it was just too cute. It's so fun to see how your kids interact with their peers. Maggie's little friend was using all her good manners and when I made a comment about it, she said,"My mom told me to use them today!" What a good listener she was....her mama would be very proud.

While we were skimming through magazines for our craft project, I remembered this nifty idea and got inspired to make my own. From the October 2008 issue of Family Fun on page 37, a mom wrote in about their "Family Mail System." She used a small craft mail box, like the ones I'm ordering here for each family member, including mom and dad. This is what she wrote:

"For years, our family has exchanged notes and surprises via an indoor mailbox system. Each person has his or her own mailbox and enjoys receiving birthday and holiday notes, as well as notes of encouragement throughout the year. As our kids have gotten older, these mailboxes have proved invaluable and have helped us keep the lines of family communication open and strong. "


I LOVE the idea of this! Even for hubby and I! I would LOVE to get little messages from my husband and the kids. Put your note in and put up the flag.....how totally cute is that. Can you tell what my love language is???

Sounds like this project is more for me than the kids, but really I just love the entire idea. Not something everyday, but when you least expect it.

So I'm placing my order for the mailboxes! Like the idea too??? Order with a friend and save on shipping!

More youth stuff!

Last Saturday night, Andy and I (along with another couple) took our junior high youth group to a hockey game and post-game concert. We had a great time.

Andy and I met with the other couple to grab something to eat before we went, and on our way he mentioned how weird it was that we were the chaperons. That these parents trusted us with their teenagers, not that we aren't totally trustworthy, just that it made us feel old, that we were chaperoning a group of junior high kids. I had not thought of it until he mentioned it and oh my gosh...we are so OLD!

We got some group tickets through a mom of one of our youth who works in group sales. It's always good to have connections! And when we got there, she found us and asked the kids if they wanted to go on the ice during the second intermission to pick up pucks. Apparently, there is some sort of marketing tool where people buy these foam pucks and throw them onto the ice and try to hit a certain target. She needed the kids to pick up the pucks once they were all thrown on the ice. Can you tell how often we go to hockey games? It was so cool to be able to get out on the ice and slide around.

She also asked Andy to do a shoot-out during the second intermission. He had to shoot a puck into a teeny tiny hole and if he got it in, he would have won a year worth of Arby's. Thankfully, he didn't make the shot, or Fit Fridays would have turned into Fat Forever! Someone was lookin' out for me.

The Christian bands Stellar Kart and Superchick played after the game! It was a great night full of fun, laughter, loud music and a great bunch of kids!

Here are some pictures from our night:

Hope the kids had a much fun as us "old" chaperons!

Fit Friday - week 5

Well, so I knew it would come. The dreaded week of bad, bad eating. This has been it. It's not pretty....prepare yourself.

Let's just say that when it comes to trying to be good while going out with the same couple twice in one week to places that only have "bar food" is impossible. At least for me.

So here's how it went, remember the hot wing dip at scrapbooking last Friday night? It was so yummy and since I only had a Fiber One bar for lunch and no dinner, I could justify the many scoops (platefuls) I had. The one good thing about that is that I did NOT eat after 8:00 that night. Oh, and that is so hard when all the goodies are just sitting there waiting to be eaten. Thanks again Princess for the dip, I think I've had my fill for a while, so you won't need to make that anytime soon.

Saturday night, we took the church youth group to a hockey game and Superchick concert. Andy and I and "the other couple" stopped to grab a bite before we left. We went to my favorite "hot wing" place. This is my favorite because their wings are not messy. I feel that it would truly be a sin for me to go there and not eat the wings....so I did. And they were yummy as usual.

Do you see the pattern here....it's not good.

Sunday wasn't much better....I picked up the kiddos from spending the night with their cousins and stopped to get them some lunch on the way home. Yes, I could have just ordered something for them in the Culver's drive-thru, but did I? No!

I next few days weren't too bad....but then last night we went out with the above stated couple again. (The youth event doesn't count as a "get-together" since there wasn't any beer involved) We went to another "bar food" place where I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich...okay not too bad you say, but really I only ordered that out of quilt after sharing the platter of fried everything. It was fun, the beer was good and I will start again today at trying to be good.

So that is all the bad stuff.....there is a little bit of good stuff:

I've been to the gym 4 times this week. Sunday afternoon pump class (Culver's quilt), Monday AM body step, Wednesday AM body step and today (Friday AM) pump class!

Still NO SODA! Yippee! Oh, but just let me tell you how much I love the sound of that soda can opening...I so miss the bubbles!

No eating after 8:00 p.m. And thanks honey for helping me out here....the smell of the microwave popcorn about 9:30 and then your comment, " You can't have any of this right!?!?!" I stuck to my guns, but can you try to do your munching AFTER I'm in bed.

This goal of not so many of the "mommy drinks" just isn't going as planned. However, I do feel a little better for drinking the beer with only 64 calories. Somehow their marketing tool has worked on me, seeing the 64 on the label just makes me feel like I'm doing good.

So there is my sinful week with food! I hope your week was better, you can check in with all my Fit Friday friends over at It's Almost Naptime.

Tidy up Tuesday!

We have played every game in the game drawer today. It's just one of those cold and rainy days that you just want to stay in and play. While we were getting them all out we decided (we, as in I) that it was time to clean up the game drawer as well.

My handy hubby made this nifty little drawer under our stairs and it has become the perfect spot for all of our games.




And of course, I had him build it big enough for my favorite orange containers! The game saver is the best thing ever, if you have a LOVE for containers as I do.


After the drawer was all tidy, my little Star Wars fans got out their "indoor" light sabers and gently let out much of their bottled up energy!



It was a fun and productive day! These are my favorite kind of days!

Silly sayings!

Last night while we were eating our very healthy frozen fish fillet dinner (NOT!), Max says, "I need some more TARGET sauce please!"

It's almost as cute as his famous, "sunshine seeds" instead of sunflower seeds!

You gotta love what these little people come up with!

Fit Friday - week 4!

Well, lets just say that Halloween (or any holiday for that matter) should be like the "free spot" on a bingo card. It shouldn't count! All that candy just callin' your name! It's just NOT fair! I ate a Butterfinger and a 100 Grand bar (oh, those are soooo yummy!) all in the same day! And they were delicious!

On the other hand, I did throw out the four pieces of left over cake from our Halloween get-together! Just seeing it sitting there waiting for me to eat it, was just too much. And the kiddos picked out their 10 items of candy and the "witch" took the rest! Oh, how I LOVE that witch! Thank you for saving me (and the kids) from all that candy goodness!

So the week has gone well, except for Halloween night!

• I still have not had any soda! Yeah Me!

• No seconds at dinner

• I've been to the gym three times already this week and am also attending a class later this morning. My goal was to go 3 times a week, so this is above and beyond!

• I have had some mommy drinks, but haven't overdone it!

• And this week I haven't eaten anything at all after 8:00 p.m. - although tonight, I'm scrapbooking with friends at church and we always have some great ol' snacks....but that will be next weeks confessions right?!?!? I will try to be good, but when that hot wing dip calls my name, I can't be rude!

This Fit Friday has been great! Missy @ It's Almost Naptime and all the girls involved have provided some great motivation for staying on track!

But I felt I needed a little more! Remember a few weeks ago when the TV crew was here to interview me about "Moms who Blog!" Well, the segment aired last night! I will share it with you here.

If seeing myself on TV isn't enough to motivate me to get this weight off, just knowing how many others saw this clip, should!

WFMW - Zingo game!

I found this game last year and got it for my kids for Christmas. They LOVED it! And they still do! It's called Zingo! My kids play this game a lot, and it's really great for pre-school age children, up thru grade school. You don't have to be able to read to play this game. It says age 4 and up, but if your child can match, he/she can play this game!

Here's how one website describes the game:

"Bingo with a Zing! ZINGO is a fast-paced variation of bingo. Players try to fill their ZINGO Cards with matching Picture Tiles from the ZINGO Zinger. The first player to fill his or her card wins! Two-sided ZINGO Cards allow for more or less competitive game play. ZINGO teaches shape and pattern recognition, and improves observation and short term memory skills."

As I was getting a link, it looks like they even have a Spanish version now too! I'm sure you can find it many places, I just happened to link to Target because that is where I bought it.

Hope this helps with your holiday shopping! Check out all the other toys/games at Rocks in my Dryer! Only 49 days till Christmas!

Did you vote?

I did! And I didn't even have to wait. That was the most exciting part! Here's my proof!



Want to vote again?!?!?!

Go over to Marci's blog and check out the pictures she took and then come back here and let me know your favorite!

She did a great job, it's going to be hard to decide what to order! Thanks again Marci!

I totally messed up!

Today has been beautiful! The extra sunshine this morning has kinda been playin' with my head. I thought we were running late this morning, but it's just cause this darn daylight savings time has ended and I'm not adjusted yet.

The weather here in the Midwest is awesome. Today's high is going to be about 75 which is just fabulous for the beginning of November. We have been enjoying the beautiful weather all weekend. Bike rides, hikes in the woods, playing at the park and playing with friends in the leaves! It was great!

Last night, we got in our get-ready-for-school-mode and got all the clothes laid out for today, backpacks ready, baths, etc. I like to have it all ready to go. It just makes our morning run so much smoother!

So this morning, Maggie got up, dressed, ate breakfast and off we went. She wanted to be let out across the street so she could walk with some other kids with the crossing guard. It is just so cool when your in Kindergarten.

When I picked her up, I stood there for a few minutes talking with another mom about car pool. When we got in the car, Maggie said, "There's a note in my bag for you, mom!" I LOVE getting notes, but a note from school, hummmm, I couldn't even wait to get home to read it. I opened it up and as I started to read it, my blood began to boil. Apparently, I need to read pages 58 & 59 of the dress code. Shorts are NOT allowed in the 2nd quarter of school. And it never even occurred to me! I totally got my kid in trouble.

I began to ask Maggie a million questions. Did you have to go to the office? Did anyone else have "shorts" on? Who is the letter from? Did you get in trouble?

Here's the funny thing. Along with the letter stating that my kid can't where shorts in the 2nd quarter was another letter. This letter stated that due to the nice weather the next 2 days, the kids are allowed to wear shorts. What's up with this! She got in trouble today, but tomorrow and Wednesday it's fine! Whatever!

I felt like a horrible mom. I totally got my kid in trouble. It honestly didn't even think that her pants would be an issue. I have calmed down a little, but I'm still a little annoyed with the letter. I mean, come on, it's going to be 75 today!

As the kids and I pulled into the garage and were getting out, the mom I was talking to at school pulls up. Her daughter got the letter too! So at least I'm not the only horrible mom on the block.


I wouldn't even call them "shorts." They're more like short capri's! Oh well! The poor kid!

Some of our favorite pictures from Halloween!