Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Go Gators!

Here are some pictures from the UF Women's Basketball game that we saw on Sunday.  It was the last home game for the season.


Before the game.  :)




Hey, look.  TV people.  ;) 


See that girl on the bottom left?  She's about 6'4".  Hannah should be somewhere around there, too.  Yikes!


Time to start the game.


Hanging out with Alberta the Gator.


Here are all of my little seedlings.  The damn cat decided he wanted to eat my jalapenos.  Frick.  Hopefully they'll live or the cat might end up on the curb.  ;)  Just kidding - maybe.


Bread dough before rising.


Bread dough after rising!  I love this stuff.  Right now I have some resting on the counter so I can bake a loaf and turn it into some croutons for tonight.  Hannah's making a baked potato bar and salad tonight.  I'll have her take some pictures so she can update her blog!

Yay!

I literally just finished watching this video and felt I needed to share it.




This is wonderful! Both Hannah and Kali are little fidgets. :) Kali does at least half of her work standing up, or half kneeling on her chair, or whatever. Hannah has to have something else going on at all times or things are just not good in her world. I often wondered how they'd fair if they were in mainstream schools. (No no, that's not going to happen!) I love that there are forward-thinking people in this world who are willing to do something to change the status quo. I bet these kids are going to excel in many different areas because one teacher decided it was time for a change. Seriously, who needs to sit all day long? How on earth can you pay attention to what's going on when you're bored off your ass from sitting on it all day? You're not engaged in your learning, you're just sitting there listening to mindless information that you're not going to easily retain.

I've got some pictures from this weekend to put up; hopefully I'll get to that later on today.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

New Menu for the week!

Check out the menu on the right and click on it for the new weekly menu.

Alex and I went out last night; it was oh-so very needed. For those of you that live around Tampa and want to go to Sidesplitters, here's a big tip for you...order your tickets on line. There's a space to put in a promo code; type in MySpace (some shows don't allow discount codes). Our tickets went from $16.50 each to $3.00. Yes, three little dollars.

I have more pictures, but no time to put them up at the moment! The girls and I have some school work to do today since we had to go grocery shopping and stuff yesterday. I love having such a flexible schedule.

However, since Alex and I didn't get home until 12:30 last night, I am tired today! Think I can convince the girls that naptime is part of our school work??? I haven't run in 3 days, either; boy I'm slacking!

Tomorrow we're headed off to Gainesville in the morning to go watch the women's basketball game. Another cheap family day; tickets were only $4 for adults and $2 for kids. The girls LOVE watching the gator women's basketball games, too, so they're really excited. I have to make some bread so we can bring our lunch with us.

I think I'm going to go have an IV of coffee put in for me today so I can stay awake!

Enjoy the menu and please send me your favorite recipes so I can try them out. I'm challenging myself next month to only buy produce, milk/almond milk, eggs, butter, and cheese and to use up the millions of things I have in the pantry and freezer. Things could get interesting around here, but I'm always up for a good challenge.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Shop 'til you drop!

Or at least look as cute and sleepy as Kali did.....




She decided that this was the best way to start her Sunday morning - in our bed with a sleeping mask on. 

All of my little seedlings are now living in their own homes.  The girls and I finished moving them today.  I'm not sure what ended up with more dirt - the plants, the floor, or the girls.





Some didn't get in the pictures yet.  :)  Keep your fingers crossed that my 'black thumb' doesn't kill them any time soon.

I realize that I haven't blogged about any great shopping deals lately.  Oops!  I ended up going to CVS and Walgreens this morning.  This is what I came home with......







Here's what I got:

Walgreens:

1 Thermacare Heatwrap
6 Lysol Wipes (sure, chemicals....I know, I know.  But some days I'm so busy, it's easier for me.  Plus I don't let the girls run around behind me and lick stuff.)
2 Ajax Dish Soaps
1 Garnier Fructis conditioner
1 Bic Soliel 4ct Razors
2 Revlon Creme Lipgloss


Total before sales: $57.19
Total after sales/coupons/and the $10 on my rebate card from January:  $14.05!!!!  Plus I'll get another $17 on my rebate card next month.

CVS:

3 Suave Cucumber Melon Body Wash
2 Colgate Total toothpaste
5 Gillette Shampoos
2 Gillette Venus Razors
2 Neutrogena Sunblock Sticks
6 Stayfree 'damnit I hate my period' packs of women's 'stuff'

Total Before sales:  $111.66.  Holy hell!
Total After sales, coupons, etc.: $56.51
Amount of Extra Care Bucks I have to use next time I shop: $46.00

I had rolled my "ECB's" for as long as possible, which was about 3 months.  So I went again today to buy more stuff (that we'll use) and get as many ECB's as I could.  Next time I shop, I can buy $46 worth of stuff and not pay a dime.  Plus, I'll buy stuff (that we'll use) that will give me more ECB's and roll them as long as possible again.

That's the end of my shopping update. 

I have some garlic herb bread rising in the kitchen to go with our pasta and meatballs tonight.  Yummy.  Though right now I'd love nothing more than a nap.  Hmmmmm.....

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hair today, gone tomorrow!

Someone got her hair cut yesterday!!!


She decided that she had many faces for her new hair......













Her hair was wayyyyyyyyy long and the ends were getting fried.  I think this is either the 2nd or 3rd haircut she's ever had. 

The other day she was being really goofy and fairly sarcastic (in a funny way).  I asked her what happened to the little girl that loved to cuddle with me all the time and who never would have been so bold.  She said "mama, I grew up!"  OMG.  Tug at my heartstrings, why don't you.  She'll be 6 in a few months; I can hardly believe how fast those 6 years have gone. 

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  I hope y'all are having a fun day like we are.

Want to see my Valentine's Day gift?  I know you do.


Alex made me a chalkboard for the kitchen.  I LOVE IT.  The white board was making me crazy. 


Seems as though I need to make a change on it already.  Mary said Alex and I have to go out on Friday night.  No biggie.  We're going out for dinner, though I don't know where yet.  Did I mention how much I love this board?!?!  Thank you, honey!!!!

I made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast today. 

Tonight I'm going to attempt heart-shaped burgers.  That ought to be interesting.

Yesterday I took the girls to Busch Gardens for a while.  The weather was perfect!  Here's a few pictures for you....












We went and saw Katonga while we were there; Kali insisted.  It's such a cute show.




Want to go on that?!?  Me, neither.  See the slope going up?  Yeah, that's NOT the drop.  The drop is the straight thing going down.  Wayyyyyy down. 




Check out this hippo we saw! 




The girls got some slushies before we left, and they were sharing with each other.  Awwwww...


There's nothing like a cup of high-fructose corn syrup and red dye!  OMG.  I so paid for this later on and I'm still paying for it today.  Smack me the next time I think of doing this.  There has to be a better alternative - really. 


We were reading about the Pharos Lighthouse in history last week.  I had them build one out of sticks.  You should have seen their construction setup.





Hey, my seeds are still alive!  I might plant some in pots today; we'll see.

I made it out for a 3 mile run this morning.  I thought it was never going to end!  But it was good and I'm glad I got it done.  Tomorrow I'll do some more strength training stuff for my thighs; they seem to need the most work.

Hope everyone enjoys the day!





Tuesday, February 10, 2009

She did it!!!!!

My middle child may be bold, brash, and beautiful, but she can be quite timid, too.  That was the case when it came to riding a bike on 2 wheels.  Until now.....


Please excuse the fact that I was talking.  I HATE hearing my voice (other than in my own head!) and was really trying not to talk. 

Hannah is so excited that she can just go out and ride her bike now.  I'm excited that she finally learned.  Oh yeah, and that big thing on the back was a handle for Alex to try to hold her up on the darn thing.  It was worthless.  When you're the size of an average 11 or 12 year old and wear a woman's size 8.5 shoe, your daddy cannot hold you up on a bike.  I have the handle if anyone would like it.  :) 

I have more to update on, but haven't had any time this week to do it!  But I wanted to get this up there because I'm so darn proud of her. 

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Frozen Thursday

I swear I moved south about 10 years ago. Really, I did. But when I woke up this morning, it was about 23 degrees. In February. In FLORIDA. Okay, so I'll be bitching when it's 95 in the shade soon enough, but dang it, I don't like 23. There was no way I was going to run; I'd end up with icicles on my eyes!

I have this strength training dvd that I've been using for the past 2 days (because of living in the arctic down here). I really didn't think it was going to do that much for me. I was wrong. Oh so very wrong. More wrong than I've been in a while (women are never wrong though, are we?). My thighs and my butt are on fire! Ever muscle in my body, besides my big toe, hurts like hell. It's good though. It's that good hurt that you get when you know you're making some sort of progress. I like it. I'd like to be able to sit down without wincing though. Hannah keeps laughing at me. Laugh it up big girl, mama will get you when she can feel her legs again.

Hopefully tomorrow it won't be so cold and I'll try to get a few miles in.

I just pulled a loaf of bread out of the oven. It's cooling off nicely on my counter. The only good thing about freezing is that you can bake and not worry about the a/c going on! I have some white bean rosemary soup for dinner tonight, too. I'll be feeling fat and happy when I'm done with that. Yummmmmmmmmm.

Hannah and Kali did a drawing for history today of the gods and goddesses of Greece. Somehow, Elvis ended up living on Mt. Olympus with the rest of them. My girls are goofy.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Seedlings and Sleeping

Well, I was supposed to get up and work out this morning. Supposed to. That is, until a migraine the size of, oh, a speeding meteor, slammed into me yesterday. By 4:30 I was on the couch dying and promptly fell asleep. Thank goodness for Alex who swooped in and took over while I slowly died. I woke up somewhere around 7:00, ate a bit, and snuggled back under the blankets while begging for drugs. I think morophine would have been lovely at that point. I settled for a few Excedrin and some cal/mag. Of course, with all that sleep I got, I was up until nearly 2:30 am, and there went my morning workout. Tomorrow I shall go running and hopefully get in at least 2 miles.

I am, once again, feeling overly ambitious and decided I'd start some plants from seeds. Have I mentioned that I cannot grow things? Children? Yes. Plants? Nope. I did manage to keep my basil alive last summer and my rosemary is still going strong. Maybe there's hope for me yet.

So here's what the girls and I have done over the past 2 days.
This was yesterday's seeds. I managed to get this much done with them, and then croaked on the couch. Since I have no clue what I'm doing with these seeds, I hope I've at least done them right. We'll see.

The one on the left is from today and the other one is from yesterday. I think I have a mini-greenhouse going in the kitchen. Hey, it's warm and away from direct sunlight like the directions said to do. It's also under a 'plastic dome' like I could have bought but decided to use my fabulous bread bags instead. ;)


Hannah and Kali are both taking pictures of what's going on and recording things in their nature journals. Yes, it seems as though I have another photography monster on my hands; Kali asked me to set her up a blog, too. She told Alex that she'll pick out the pictures to put on there and ask mommy for help in typing stuff in since she can't do that yet. Awwwww.

Google Earth has a new update (go get it!!) and I installed it earlier today. On it, you can "fly" over to Disney and check out all the parks and hotels. Literally you can go down to street level and check everything out with great detail. The kids are having a blast on it and Kali cannot wait to go to Epcot for her birthday.

In my next life, I'm coming back as Tinkerbell.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Monday, Monday

I know, you're singing the Mamas and Papas song in your head right now, aren't you? If you weren't, you are now!

I failed to get my hiney out of bed to workout at all this weekend. I can't make any progress while I'm sleeping, now can I? Thankfully, I managed to get up this morning and out the door by 6:20. I got in 2.6 miles before the gas ran out in my tank. Tomorrow I'll do some strength training stuff for my abs and legs so that my knees and ankles aren't trying to over-compensate for my lack of muscles. Plus, I need flatter abs and cuter legs. ;)

I'm going to attempt to start some herbs from seeds this year. Once again, I'm feeling overly ambitious - like I know what the heck I'm doing here. I don't. I do not have a green thumb. But I'm going to give it my best effort and hope that I don't kill all of them. It will be a great science project for the girls and I'll have Hannah keep a picture log of all the plants.

Did y'all enjoy the Super Bowl yesterday? I loved most of the commercials and the girls loved the 3D ones they played right before halftime. The game was good, but the end was terriffic!! Too bad football is over for the year; we all love football season around here. I made some mini burgers (and mini buns!) for us and Alex made chocolate chip cookies. Yummy! The little ones stayed up until the end of the game; I think Kali was sleeping about 3 minutes after she went to bed.

If you still have your 3D glasses from yesterday, don't forget to watch Chuck tonight; the whole episode is in 3D.