Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Got this one from Becky

Pay it Forward
here are the details/rules:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!SO, REMEMBER... Pay it forward

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Alright, well, Becky just asked me for my blog link, so I guess I should update it. We have had some beautiful Spring like weather lately and it has made me want to do some more things with the house. In particular, I want patio furniture and a new kitchen countertop. Our deck is our favorite room in the house. I want to find something nice that we can eat on, but fold up and put away when not in use. Any suggestions? As far as the countertop goes, I can't decide if it would be worth it to replace them just because I don't like the color. I chose the paint color in the eating area based on the idea that I would replace the counters, so right now they don't match. One of them will have to be changed. Decisions, decisions.

Last week, Lance's sister sent the kids some gifts. Lawrence got an Armour of God playset. He put it all on (a painful process) and said he was a Knight of Columbus, a Catholic men's organization. He saw them in full regalia at church once and thought they were really cool. They had swords and looked like pirates, so of course they were cool! Lance took the day off last Tuesday so I took the oportunity to crawl in bed with a glass of wine and a book for some quiet time when Annabelle went down for a nap. I was barely under the covers when Lawrence came in and said"Hey, Mrs. Knight of Columbus, do you want to serve God with me?". When your kid says that, your quiet time is over!

The mushroom lasagnas turned out good! I used chicken broth, sherry and evaporated skim milk in the sauce, so it was pretty low in fat. I need to tweek it a bit more, then I will post the recipe. I made lettuce wraps this week that were also really good and low fat. I cooked ground chicken, garlic, carrots, Chinese 5 spice, and hoisin sause together and served it in Romaine leaves. Good, good, good. As best as I could calculate, it was about 5 WW points for two stuffed leaves, so Becky, you should try it!

We have a very busy weekend coming up. Lance and Annabelle are going to their first Daddy-Daughter Dance on Friday. Lawrence is going to have a playdate with a little boy whose sister is also going to the dance. Saterday Lance and the kids are going on a train ride while I get a facial and a scalp massage. Then I'll be making chicken parm for Lance for dinner. I'm jealous of all of you out there who will get to be alone with your husbands Saturday, or any day for that matter!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Monday, February 2, 2009

So, last week was pretty good. I seemed to have more energy, probably because I have been eating better. The kids and I played a lot. Miss Annabelle's personality is growing by leaps and bounds. She is becoming so playful. She has all sorts of games that she plays with each of us. I love the year between 1 and 2. It is like Mother Nature is giving you a break between the overwhelming trials of the first year and the terrible twos. She is talking a lot more, too. At lunch the other day she pointed to herself and said "Belle." I got so excited, but, of course, she still hasn't said it around Lance. She is such a girl. She LOVES clothes and shoes! Lance's mom sent her some footed pjs and she was so happy and tried to put them on.

Lawrence started a new semester of Kindermusik on Tuesday. This class is different than his last two. Lance doesn't go in with him this time except for the last 15 minutes. The kids are expected to sit still and listen and they even have homework. This is definately a mixed blessing. I have been struggling with whether or not to put Lawrence in preschool. Lance is so against it that we just shelved the idea for now, even though I think it would be good for him to be in a different learning environment. Well, one of the points of this semester of Kindermusik is to help prepare the kids for school! It is more structured than previous semesters and the kids are expected to act like big kids. Of course, of the first night of class, Lawrence gets put in time-out! I think he will be better next time because now he knows what to expect. I happy with this new structure, but I'm sad for Lance. Kindermusik was always a special time for them to spend together. They still go for pizza afterward, so that's good, at least.

I didn't do much reading last week. I did come across an interesting passage while I was researching prudence. In Amos 5:4-23, God is angry with Isreal and is calling for them to repent. These passages, I believe, mirror what is going on in our country right now. If you read these passages, do so with Obama and Pelosi and there massive spending package, abortion, and the far left wing attacks on traditional family in mind. I think you'll see what I'm talking about.

This week will be somewhat busy. Lance is taking Annabelle to campus on Tuesday to be observed in a Psy. class. He and Lawrence are going to a production of "Rave On" on Friday--Lawrence loves Buddy Holly. On the menu this week--individual mushroon lasagnas with salad and Italian style zucchini, Lance friendly Jambalya, mac and cheese with Italian sausage and tomatoes (in half of it), BBQ chicken with potato salad and baked beans, and stuffed cabbage. The lasagnas and jambalaya are first tries, hopefully everything will taste ok.

I now have to put up clothes--yipee!