At Home with the Knights

Well, Blogger, you have me………

2011-05-29T10:58:00.001-07:00

and probably thousands of other users very, very irritated. We cannot log in – at all. Oh sure, the dashboard says we are logged in, but try to get to your blog and BAM, you are unable. This is not the first time, either.

I have cleared my cache, I have tossed my cookies, I have shut down and restarted, tried IE, tried Firefox, and nothing. But I have stuff to say! Well, at least I think I have things to say. And how am I posting this, you ask? Via my Windows Live Writer. But that doesn’t make it better for me, and seeing as though I have horrid PMS right now and can make very rash decisions at times, I am finding a new home for my blog.

So………..for those of you who follow me (and thank you if you do) please take a walk across town with me. New home of The Knights Please let me know when you get there. I am working on a new post and it will be up shortly.

Dang you, Blogger, for not responding to everyone’s complaints. A little TLC would have been nice. Silence is not always golden.

A long weekend trip.

2011-05-17T04:35:00.001-07:00

Kali wanted to go away for a night for her birthday, but we were lucky enough to have Aunt Michele give us her timeshare and we were able to go for 3 nights! We stayed at Vacation Village in Kissimmee. I know, a long, long way from home, right?! lol We were also lucky enough to have Mary spend two of those nights with us. Yay!

The unit had a full kitchen, so we packed up all of our food, too.

As always, here is our trip in pictures:

On our way! Though it was around this time that we realized our a/c wasn’t blowing very cold. Uh oh. This is not a good sign. Should I mention that it was Friday the 13th?!

Hannah was unpacking the food for me. Thank you, Hanny!

Kali and Daddy chilled on the couch for a while.

Then Kali found the big bed with the flat screen tv on the wall.

This was the view from our room.

Cast iron – can’t leave home without it! lol

I bought some bread *gasp* to make french bread pizzas.

And then evil Mary showed up with her chips.

But even evil Mary likes vegan pizza!

And then she demanded a foot rub.

See. Freshly rubbed foot.

The girls took the king size bed and Alex and I took the pull out couch. I will say I think we got the better end of the deal. The big bed was wayyyyy too soft and my shoulder is screaming at me today.

Mary had to go to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Saturday morning to volunteer at the Special Olympics. We decided to go to Downtown Disney for the Cars 2 promotional stuff.

But the a/c was not blowing very cold at all.

So we stopped here.

And they got some cool air.

While Alex tried to give us some cool air.

We finally made it to Downtown Disney. The Lego store is done being remodeled. Buzz and Woody are so cool!

This picture was so cool, too!

As was this car.

And this one.

Kali went shopping for a new Vinylmation.

Juuuuuuuice. It really wasn’t too hot on Saturday. I think it got to 88 before the big rain.

Damn, she’s gorgeous.

Uh oh, the sky is looking fairly dark.

We went into the World of Disney for some shopping.

Hmmm…….check out Kali’s dress. She seems to blend into the other Minnie Mouse stuff there.

Uh oh, it’s evil Mary again! She’s baaaaaack!

What the hell is in that cup, Mary?! And why aren’t you sharing it with me!!

Now she’s chasing Kali.

She looks slightly possessed here.

We got up the next morning and decided to spend the day at the pool.

The water was really chilly from the early morning thunderstorm that rolled through.

Kali decided to take a break.

That was our balcony.

These are two of 19 buildings that are there. There are also 6 pools.

Silly girl.

She kept finding leaves and twigs and building boats out of them. Most of them sank.

Mary was napping, as usual.

Really? She’s just so dang gorgeous.

And now evil Mary is trying to shoot me.

I bought these at Downtown Disney in the kitchen store. They just added a wall of spices, sugars, salts, and teas. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

After swimming and dinner, we headed over to the Boardwalk to hang out for a bit. This is where I ran Saturday and Monday morning. I love this place.

There’s a path that leads all the way to Hollywood Studios. It’s a great running path early in the morning.

Looking at the Swan and the Dolphin resorts.

Looking across to the Boardwalk from the Yacht and Beach Club resorts.

On the bridge overlooking the side entrance to Epcot. Or is that the back entrance?

She had lots of energy that night.

So she went running with Alex for a bit.

Sunset! It started getting really cool out and we decided to head back.

Okay. Seriously. What’s up with this girl lately!?!?! She’s only TEN!

Bye bye Boardwalk! (I was back the next morning for a run)

We got up early this morning, packed up, and went down to watch the shuttle launch. Um. Shuttle?!?! Where are youuuuuu??? Unfortunately, the cloud coverage was way too thick and we couldn’t see the shuttle at all. waaaaaa!

Shuttle?!

Sigh. The clouds were gorgeous though, but I am sad we didn’t get to see the shuttle at all. We went back upstairs, finished packing stuff up, and headed down to the car.

When we got home, we unloaded, put everything away, and then I proceeded to take a nice nap. We had such a great time this weekend just hanging out with each other. Thank you, Aunt Michele, for your timeshare!

Mother’s Day

2011-05-10T16:07:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day! I had a particularly lovely one this year; it was very nice.

I woke up early to get in a nice 5 mile run. Taking care of my health is a top priority of mine. I cannot be a good mom if I am an unhealthy mom, and I want to be around a long time for my girls.

I got home, hopped in the shower, and came out to a table of gifts and cute kids.

They made me wait a bit while they started making breakfast.

Shhhh…don’t tell Alex I have a half naked picture of him on here. lol

Kali was too busy being goofy to help cook. Dang, I really need to clean off the school shelves, don’t I?! That box on top needs to be sent out.

I couldn’t take it any more and had to open stuff.

The girls got me my favorite vegan candy and made me some sweet cards. Oh yummy! I also got an awesome card from my parents. They will be here in a few weeks! Speaking of girls, I did not see Mary on Mother’s Day (waaaaaaa). She was in Atlanta at the Bull’s game. I should see her some time this week/weekend. The Bulls lost that game, too. Not nice!

This is my most favorite Mickey shirt. The one I have has been well-loved and it’s starting to show it. Alex got me a new one! It was all wrinkled from the bag; I promise I do not go outside all wrinkly.

Kali had to go take a shower after breakfast. Here she is after I took her braids out. Gosh she’s adorable!

Unfortunately, Alex had to work, so he gave the girls some money and told them to take me to lunch. We ended up just going to Chipotle and eating outside in the cool shade. I love eating outside as long as I’m not melting. My girls are so much fun to hang out with, so we always have a good time. Then we went to the Sport’s Authority (running bra and shorts), Old Navy (found nothing) and Target (Kali got a new dress, Hannah and I got some shirts, and Hannah got a new bra – gasp!).

We got home just in time for Alex to get there and start dinner. I didn’t have to cook a thing all day long! After dinner I promptly took an hour-long snooze on the couch. Mmmmm…..so nice. Then I woke up and ate my awesome Mahalo bar.

And all these cool pictures on this post are taken by my most awesomely cool new dSLR!!! Oh yeah, baby! Mama got her camera (thank you, Mr. Tax Return!). I am now the most happy owner of a Nikon D3100. Now I just need to figure out how to use all of the setting on it. Anyone want to teach me?!

Mother’s Day this year was great. I got to relax, got some awesome gifts, didn’t have to cook or clean, and got to shop with my girls. Well, most of them anyway! Hopefully I will see Mary soon. ♥

Happy Birthday Kali!!

2011-05-06T14:51:00.001-07:00

My baby is now 8 years old. Eight! I can’t believe how fast the years have flown by. This has been a year full of awesome changes and my “little” girl has really blossomed recently. She is probably one of the funniest people I know and has lightning-fast comedic responses. We get whacked with Kali zingers all day long.

We are going away next weekend for her birthday; it’s what she wanted to do. Yesterday we just hung around here and had a nice, quiet day. I was thankful for that since my migraine seemed to want to stick around for another day. Blech.

Here’s Kali’s day in pictures. Mind you, she refused to get dressed at all, so all her pictures are with her pj’s!

Mary came and spent the night with us. She did the big chalk board for Kali.

And then snored right next to her sister. This is just so cute.

Someone was happy to have her whole bed to herself.

I made some blueberry pancakes and then she wanted to open gifts.

Mary got her Sirius Black’s wand from Harry Potter. I feel a wand fight coming on soon.

And then Mary got her movie passes so she can see the next Harry Potter movie in July (or is it June?). Kali was thrilled.

We got her a new game for her DSi

Hannah got her a Tangled doll. I almost caught the hug!

Mary doesn’t like me. At all.

Oooh look! It’s pumpkin face Mary! I’m diggin’ her new nose piercing. Very cute.

Kali opened up Grandma and Grandpa’s gift. Oh my!

She was so happy!

They hung out and played the new DSi game.

Hannah made her an awesome birthday banner.

Someone didn’t like getting up so early, so she went back to sleep. She left right before lunch. Bye Mary!!!! And may I add that my awesome oldest child just got 4 A’s!!!! She’s a rock star and we are so proud of her.

Kali asked for my cinnamon coffee cake as her birthday cake. Yay!

I was able to ‘veganize’ is and it was incredible!

The twins.

After dinner (I made General Tso’s Chick’n) it was time for cake.

OMG. This was just a huge pan of sugary goodness. I think we were all on a sugar high afterwards, especially since we also had vanilla ice cream with it. Then we crashed. Hard.

Happy Birthday to my awesome, silly, sweet, loving, funny, to-the-point, creative, sarcastic, smart, beautiful, and full-of-light Kali Olivia. I love you, I like you, and I am thrilled to be your mom.

Rethinking the plan.

2011-04-21T11:53:00.001-07:00

Another school year is coming to an end (can you believe it?!?!) When the next year starts, I will have one in 3rd grade and one in 5th (not to mention a college senior!).

I’ve spent quite a few years using certain curriculum and it has worked well for them. We’ve done Story of the World, First Language Lessons, Writing With Ease, Math U See, and other miscellaneous stuff. I’ve checked a ‘typical’ course of study and both of them already know the majority of what they should for next year already.

I’m feeling rebellious. I cannot sit here and pull out another textbook; I may lose my mind or stick my head through the wall – or both! Certainly my brain would shoot out of my head if I put it through a wall, right? Hey, there’s a good physics lesson! I think they might go crazy, too. We’ve mastered the art of diagramming sentences, learning verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, etc., etc. It’s time for a change.

We have 2 co-ops that we belong to and they have been wonderful. The girls have made some great friends (as have I), learned many things, and had a great time playing. I know I will keep up with at least one of the co-ops, as it’s a much needed part of our homeschooling.

However, I am ditching the textbooks next year. Be gone with you, stinky textbooks! Okay, I am keeping our much-loved Math-U-See, but the rest is going. Instead, we are going to do unit studies on a variety of subjects – history, grammar, geography, and ancient civilizations. I asked the girls what they wanted to study, and Hannah wants to study animals and biology. Kali is my history nut, so she is happy already. Hannah also wants to learn to sew and she will keep up with Spanish on Rosetta Stone.

Animals, huh? Different countries? Those who know me best – can you see where this is going?! I have now justified Disney passes as curriculum! Oh yeah! Kali has already told me she wants to be an Imagineer when she grows up. She is constantly building and creating things. (Some of which I inadvertently step on and try to scream silently - ouch!)

If our most-awesome tax return comes though, I may just be able to swing it.

These girls are growing up so fast. I think now is the perfect time to have a year of out-of-the-books homeschooling. Before I know it, they will be going off to college.

Sharing again…..

2011-03-31T10:04:00.001-07:00

Here’s something I just read from Jillian Michaels on my Facebook page. I had to share it here.

__________________________________________________________________________

Jillian Michaels
Unlimited Tip: Many of us are taught to settle & made to feel guilty if we are single-minded about going after something we want. We go on to believe that our desires are selfish, our self-love is arrogant & pompous. Society tells us it is okay to want things, but only within reason & at a price. We're allowed to want comfort, but in due time & within limits. Ask yourself this: how much deprivation, how much self-effacement must you suffer through before you act on your desire for meaning & fulfillment? Before it’s your turn to thrive in your life, instead of barely surviving it? Some people live their dreams. WHY NOT YOU?

___________________________________________________________________________

Yes, why not you? Why are you still wanting whatever your dream may be? Why have you given your dreams up so that someone else can do what they want? Comfort? Okay, I’m sure she’s not talking about sitting on the couch and being comfortable. My comfort is my running. I am comforted by the fact that my health has improved, that my weight has improved, and that my stress levels have improved. My comfort is the way I eat. I have drastically cut down my risk of getting many types of cancers. My cholesterol level is down, my fat intake is down, my vitamin, mineral, and other awesome good for you things - that has gone wayyyy up. I didn’t wait for this to happen. If I did, it would never happen.

So get up, realize that it is never too late for your dreams, and go get them.

Just read…..

2011-03-25T14:38:00.001-07:00

What a story. Sure, the food looks great (and that is exactly how I make my banana ice cream) but read the story following the food. Totally made me tear up and makes me wish that more people would realize how important the right foods are. What you eat can determine how long you live.

Post-race pics.

2011-03-10T09:41:00.001-08:00

Just snagged this off of the Run Disney site.

And this:

and this:

I am not very photogenic after 13 miles!

One week.

2011-03-06T17:15:00.001-08:00

It’s been a week since the half marathon. I so wish I would have been able to enjoy the ‘post marathon glow’ but I was saddled with a freakin’ migraine for nearly the whole week. It came, it went, it came back, it lingered. Damn migraine. I’m sad I missed that celebratory time.

I didn’t realize how long my legs would be ticked off at me! I did 6 miles on Saturday and I thought after the first 2 miles that I was going to stop! Very interesting. I’m scheduling my workouts again, because if I don’t, I know I will make too many excuses to sleep in and then get off track again.

I really want to do the Disney half marathon in January. I need to start a “mama’s half marathon fund” jar; these things are not cheap!

Disney Princess Half Marathon–Part 2

2011-02-28T16:17:00.001-08:00

The night before the race, I ended up with a horrific migraine. Seriously folks, this one had me crying in bed at 9:00 at night wishing for the speeding meteor of death to take me out. This race happened to be scheduled at the worst time of the month for me, and all my hoping and pleading with the universe didn’t reset my body’s clock. I finally fell asleep with an ice bag on my head around 10:00.

My first alarm went off at 1:45 am. I cracked my eyes open and realized I had no pain. Oh thank the gods. Of course my nervous energy kept me awake and I got out of bed at 2:00. Alex got up then and woke up the girls. Hannah got right up and Kali took a bit longer. Mary was awake at this point, but not up.

I will say, I cannot remember a time when I have had coffee, toast, and a banana at 2:15 am. That was interesting.

We geared up, got in the van, and headed out to Epcot!

Traffic was busy for that time of the morning/night, and we realized that lots and lots of cars were going to the same place we were. We saw a sign on I4 that said "runners parking – next exit.” OMG. I was really getting nervous.

We parked, got out, and followed everyone else. There was a ton of stuff going on at this point. There was a DJ playing some awesome music, tons of big spotlights, a few different picture backgrounds to choose from (we chose the princess one and got in line) and lots of port-o-potties! Yay!

Sure, I look excited now. By mile 10 I was not looking this happy anymore.

We were quite awake for 4am! The energy there was awesome.

Alex and the girls went to go find a viewing place while Mary and I went over to our corral. As we were walking there, we ran into some friends of ours! Amazing since there was about 15,000 people there. Mary can spot anyone in a crowd. It was nice to catch up with them and we all hung out together before the start of the race.

Finally, at 5:45, the first corral started! Fireworks went off after the Fairy Godmother counted them down. She did that for each corral and there were fireworks for each one, too.

We were the last corral to start, and the closer we got to the start line, the more nervous I got! I knew I could do it, but I had those last minute “OMG, I’m not sure I can do this” jitters, and was really hopeful that my migraine would stay away and Aunt Flo wouldn’t be too much of a hassle during the race.

We were off! I hit the start button on my Garmin and we took off. Mary and I had decided we’d each run our own race. She wanted to take pictures, I wanted to go. No sense in me trying to get her to go and her trying to get me to stop. We saw each other a few times along the way; that was really cool.

There was so much entertainment along the route! Bands, music, performers, characters. It was incredible! I loved seeing the green army man from Toy Story, Stitch, all the Princesses, and the different bands. There were other characters out there, too, but I couldn’t see who they were as I went by. The gospel choir at the end was awesome, and I really liked the drummers from Japan in Epcot.

Along the way my parents and Alex called a few times to see where I was. At mile 5.2 I got to see Alex and the girls! That was sooo cool!

Look! You can see Space Mountain on the left.

Hannah and Kali took pictures as they went from place to place…..

Kali made signs for me and Mary. Isn’t she adorable, even in the middle of the night?!

I love her.

Hannah was rockin’ the picture taking! I love her, too.

Alex made me a sign, too. So did Hannah, but she didn’t take a picture of it! I love all of my signs, and the book and letters that the girls made for me.

She took this one from the monorail.

There’s our friends Katie and Julie! Emily finished ahead of all of us; she’s a running rock star.

Go Mary, go! Youth is a good thing to have.

Around mile 5.5 we entered the Magic Kingdom. If I remember correctly, we came in through the back side of Main Street, through Tomorrow Land, past the Speedway and Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, past the Carousel, and then around to the back of the castle. The Castle! It took my breath away. I realized that when I was training, I knew that when I hit mile 6, I’d be at the castle and here I was. I got a little teary-eyed. I saw Mary stopping to take a picture (dang, how did she get up there already?!?!) and I went through. Running traffic got a bit backed up with everyone slowing down for pictures. Mine must look weird since I had this confused ‘why the hell is everyone stopping’ look on my face. At this point I knew I might finish under 3 hours and I was going to try my best to do that, so I wanted to go!

I totally forgot where we ran after we left the castle. I should probably look at the map, right?! When we left the Magic Kingdom, I knew that half of the race was already over and I was still feeling good. Yay! This run/walk/run thing is awesome!

Alex called and said they just got to 8.1 and wanted to know where I was. Uh oh, I was at 8.3 already; I had just missed them! The crowds were so big, that he was going to head off to the finish, but he wasn’t sure he’d get there in time.

When I saw the green army man at mile 10, I knew the end was close. When I saw the pirate boat at 11, I was getting happier (though really tired!). When I saw Epcot, I got teary-eyed again. Alex called and we knew they wouldn’t get to the finish in time. He joked and said I should slow down and walk so they could make it. HA. Nothing was stopping me now!

We went through Epcot (okay, my only beef here is that Epcot was open at this point and guests were trying to cross in front of the runners. They had it roped off, but the cast members were letting a few people cross, but too many went and we nearly ran them over. I was not happy about that at all.) around Spaceship Earth, and then we were off to the finish line.

Hannah took this one – not sure where they were though!

I checked my Garmin and realized I could still get in under 3 hours. At this point the heat had gotten to me and my chest was a little wheezy as I was running. Geeze! I think that even though I had water at every stop, Gatorade with me, and GU along the way, I was still a bit dehydrated from the heat. The weather was unseasonably warm (a high of 86 that day) and I was a big salt lick by the end.

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 2:58:55. I had done it. I did it!!

(excuse the blurry picture – sorry!)

Mary came in at an awesome time of 3:06. Rock on, my favorite 20 year old!!!!!

We made it to the sweaty end. I grabbed some water, a banana, and a Luna bar and then headed off to a much-needed potty break!

I found Mary shortly after that, and then Alex and the girls got there. We took a quick picture with our friends, and then we went to find the van. I could not wait to sit down, get some a/c, and take off my shoes!

I am happy to report that I only got 1 little blister. I love my Asics. My legs feel great today, too! However, Mr. Migraine came back last night and I’ve been suffering all day today from it. I haven’t been able to enjoy the post-race afterglow yet, damn it!

My medal is hanging up and I need to put the 13.1 sticker on my van. I have earned it.

I loved the race. I loved training for the race. I love the way running makes me feel. I love being vegan. I don’t want to lose all of the progress I have made, so I need to find another race to do. Kali said I should do the Space Coast half in November. I think I want to do the Disney half in January. The Princess half is scheduled for the same weekend next year, and I am terrified that I will be saddled with another migraine then (mine come at certain times of the month). Plus, it’s colder in January and maybe I can run faster!

Thanks for the best birthday and Christmas present, Mary! I love the benefits of a healthy life ♥

Disney Princess Half Marathon–Part 1.

2011-02-28T12:24:00.001-08:00

Oh wow, where do I begin?! This half marathon was the awesome reward of a loooooong few months of training and a gift from my favorite 20 year old in the world. Thank you, Mary!!!!!

First of all, if you’ve known me for more than a few years, you may realize that this is something that I would have never even tried to do at one point in my life. Hold on….I must find a picture to share…..

Holy crap, I look like I ate poor Kali! (Oh man, isn’t she freakin’ cute?!?!?! Gosh I love this girl.) I was content to sit on my ass and eat. I didn’t move, I didn’t do anything. Hell, I didn’t have to eat much to look like this since I sat all the damn time.

Then I woke up.

I’ve run two 5k’s with Mary, both of them at Disney. As my birthday/Christmas gift, she signed us up for the Princess Half. My long runs used to be 4 or 5 miles, now this would end up being my short runs. How on earth was I going to run 13 miles?!?!

I listen to Podcasts on my iPod when I work out. One of my favorites is The Extra Mile podcast, and I started following The Extra Mile Podcast Experiment. It was about training for a full or half marathon using Jeff Galloway’s method of a run/walk. I figured, hey, I can do that! I then read all I could about it. Meanwhile, Jeff became the trainer for all of Run Disney and had put out a training schedule for the Princess Half. I was hooked.

My long runs went from 4 miles, to 6, then 8, then 10, and then I did 13. Thirteen!! I was floored. Okay, so I couldn’t walk much for a few days after that first 13, but I did it. I did some cross-training on the ellipticals here, and also ran on the treadmill.

Meanwhile, I had been talking to Alex about giving up meat and dairy. Actually, we had talked about this on and off for a few year, but never did anything about it until now. So, at the end of October, we stopped eating all meat and dairy. I was amazed at how good I felt and noticed tons of changes in Kali, too. By the end of January, we gave up eggs, too. I’ve lost somewhere around 12-14 pounds since we gave up all of that, too. Food has never been so good, and there is so much more variety! We haven’t lost anything, but instead have gained lots of new and awesome things to eat.

On Friday I went over to the running expo with Hannah and Kali…….

Hannah was my official photographer that day, too.

And I got to meet Jeff Galloway!!!! Do I look completely overly excited here or what?!?! I was really happy to get to talk to him for a few minutes and thank him. My running times have improved so much since I started using his method.

I picked up our packets, and then started shopping. Oh yeah! Mama had some mad money with her and I went completely insane.

Maybe this is Kali’s impersonation of how insane I went! lol

My friend Sarah had come over to hang out with us, too.

My photographer ever got pictures of herself! Good job, Hannah.

Do you think I could run in these shoes?! I’d look good in them, at least.

I want one.

I finished shopping (completed my outfit for the race) and then we went home. On Saturday we went back there with Mary. I am soooo glad we got our race packets on Friday since the line on Saturday was past insane. It was sooooo crowded in there; there was just no room to walk anywhere!

The whole race report is next. I will try to get that done tonight after I finally get rid of Mr. Migraine. He won’t go away!

10 more days!

2011-02-17T17:16:00.001-08:00

Only ten days until our half marathon! I can’t believe it. I hope I have trained enough to get over the finish line a) alive and b) before the sweeper comes to get me.

I did a nice 8 mile run this morning and will do 6 on Saturday. Next week I’ll do a few 4 milers and end it on Friday. Saturday I’ll just enjoy the day off and get ready for Sunday, when we have to wake up at 2am and leave here at 3am! Crazy. I wonder how good coffee will taste at 3am?? I’ll let you know.

I ordered a pair of waterproof ear buds with a mic on it so I can answer my phone during the race. As slow as I am, it won’t be a problem (too much) to talk while I’m running. Feel free to call me any time after 5am! If I don’t answer, I have passed out on the course and am waiting for Mickey to come rescue me.

I will update more next week after packet pickup on Friday!!

Miscellany :)

2011-02-06T15:43:00.001-08:00

Just a few miscellaneous ramblings from me while I watch the start of the Super Bowl.

I did my 2nd 13.2 mile run today. Amazing. I managed to shave off 4 minutes from my first 13.2 mile run and my legs feel much better tonight than the did the first time. Go me! I swear I have ADD, so doing anything for 3 hours straight takes lots of concentration. Thank goodness for great podcasts and great music along with a fairly decent sunrise that was mainly hidden by rain clouds. I’m glad I was able to accomplish that distance again and feel fairly ready for the big race in 3 weeks. Three weeks!!!! That was my last long run before the race, too. Next week I’ll probably do ten, the weekend after – probably 6, and then 4 on the Friday before the race.

I made my first vegan cake tonight. It was awesome. So awesome that I think Alex scarfed down half of it and the girls each had 2 pieces. I had one piece and it was really yummy. I also made snobby joes (the vegan version of sloppy joes) which were really good, too.

I’m really glad we made the decision to cut out meat and dairy, and now it looks like we’ve cut out eggs, too. I know I feel so much better, I never get that after dinner bloated gross feeling, my migraines are much shorter now, and weight is still coming off of me. Kali has really improved, Hannah is glad we made the switch, and Alex seems to like all the new stuff I’m feeding him. It’s all good!

We are hoping to see a Betty White commercial tonight, too.

My ramblings on food and health.

2011-01-25T13:13:00.001-08:00

I truly believe that ‘you are what you eat.’ No, I don’t think if you eat cake you will turn into a cake. But if you eat healthy, exercise, and generally take care of yourself, you will be healthy. If you eat processed foods, sit around all the time, and don’t take care of yourself, your body will not be healthy. It will not be able to fight off germs and diseases since it’s too busy trying to deal with all the processed food stuff you are shoving into it.

I’m sure you’ve read my posts about Kali’s “issues” and those of you that know her, know what I’m talking about. We know she can’t have food with artificial dyes in them, unless you want her head to spin and then have her melt down in a puddle for hours. My poor baby. But I realized something the other day, though I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out. We gave up meat and dairy at the end of October, and since then she has improved 100%!! No hours of crying (though those were thankfully few and far between at that point), no sadness, no hiding under the kitchen table, nothing. Just usual kid stuff. OMG! Amazing.

How many people keep medicating their kids because they find that the easiest thing to do? Sad. Here kids, eat this fake food, have issues, and then we’ll medicate the symptoms instead of getting to the root of the problem. Ugh.

Then there’s me – the old chick. I run, I eat fairly well, and I do my best to stay really active. But I was tired. Oh so very tired. And cold. Or hot. And foggy, you know, like when you first wake up in the morning. And crabby, amongst other things. Did I run my butt to the doctor and say “fix my symptoms?” No. I did some research on my old self, came to the conclusion that my thyroid was falling asleep as much as I was, and gave it what it wanted – iodine. So I take kelp and bladderwrack every day, and within a few days, I was up before the alarm as usual. Why can’t my body be low on chocolate?!?!?

So do me a favor, if you aren’t already putting yourself first, do it now. Don’t wait. Don’t wait until you’ve neglected yourself so much that you just keep neglecting yourself. Sure, it might not be easy, but easy is hardly ever the best choice.

Eat healthy, take care of yourself, and exercise. You might live long either way, but don’t you want to live instead of just existing?

Double digits!

2011-01-22T16:44:00.001-08:00

My middle baby is 10. TEN! I cannot believe it. How on earth did she get to 10 so darn fast?

We woke her up with some Stevie Wonder “Happy Birthday to you” music; it’s a tradition around here. Here’s what she looks like when we storm into her room while she’s sleeping……

She finally got out of bed.

There were gifts and cinnamon rolls on the table……

She got money, gift cards, a Build-A-Bear dog (that she will go stuff tomorrow), and books. She got Mary’s gift later on that day.

I promise there were more than 5 cinnamon rolls, too! I made 2 pans and the bigger one was still up on the counter.

She got dressed and I finished making frosting for her cake and we put our lunch together for the day. I am no cake decorator. At all. Not.

Can I tell you how much I love these containers?!?!? They are da bomb! I made a Quorn roast and sliced it up for sandwiches. I made the focaccia bread, too. I also made pasta salad and broccoli slaw. Yummmmmmmm. Alex got some blue corn chips, too.

It had been storming all morning. I thought it would clear up, but it rained on and off the entire day. Not good! We had originally planned on having a picnic in the field by La Nouba, but the rain forced us over to the Polynesian. Gee, such a pain. Lol. We enjoyed our lunch and then Hannah wanted to shop.

She bought some perfume at the Polynesian and a keychain over in Downtown Disney.

Mary joined us around 2:30. We met her over at Downtown Disney and then went over to Baby Cakes (in the spot where McD’s used to be – now it’s Fresh A Peal and Pollo Camparo). We ended up getting some chocolate chip cookies from there.

Check out the many faces of my girls:

I think Hannah wanted Kali’s cookie!

Um, Hannah, no drinking until you’re 21!

See how much they love each other?

Uh oh, maybe I was wrong!

Yep, there is no love here!

Then they started playing with my phone.

My starving college student was, well, starving! She talked us into going to eat early. Off to House of Blues we went!

Didn’t I tell Hannah no drinking?!?! I don’t think she listened to me.

She almost ended up on my dinner menu.

After dinner Mary had to take off and get home. She had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn for work today. She’s coming over tomorrow for cake and hopefully a good football game! Oh yeah, I nearly forgot! She gave Hannah tickets to Universal. She is soooo excited! We’ll go in 2 weeks when daddy has a Friday off of work again.

We all went home after some more shopping and had cake. Really yummy cake.

She wanted strawberries on her cake. I only put a few on there so it didn’t get the icing all soggy. I have more in the fridge waiting for her!

And she also wanted strawberry ice cream. OMG. This stuff is awesome!

And so is this girl.

Happy 10th Birthday to my most awesome, beautiful, funny, smart, and creative daughter. You are my favorite 10 year old in the whole universe.

Check this out!

2011-01-16T09:09:00.001-08:00

If you are like 99.9999% of the people in the world that have no idea what this is, I will tell you.

This is my map of my run this morning. All 13.2 miles of it. Yes, 13.2 That is .1 more than a half marathon. Say what?!?! MORE. And I didn’t die, though I do think my legs are still somewhere along that route. I did the lake/run to Hollywood Studios path about 6 times for that 13.2, though it could have been 7; I don’t really remember now.

The weather was lovely, the sunrise was gorgeous, and I am glad that I am done and home now! I will admit – I got slightly teary-eyed when I hit the 13.1 mark. At least I know I can finish without the sweeper truck getting me.

Off to run errands now and come back to watch the Bear’s game. I think I will take a small nap, too.

My taste buds are very happy tonight.

2011-01-15T17:10:00.001-08:00

Alex decided we needed to go out to dinner tonight (could be because I might be “slightly” pms-y?!) so we all piled in the family truckster and went to try out a new restaurant.

OMG

We went to a new (to us) vegan restaurant called Ethos. First, I will say how great it was to order anything we wanted off the menu without having to worry what was in it. I ordered a pizza with spinach, sausage, and onions. The girls ordered a pizza, too. Hannah’s half had pepperoni and broccoli, Kali’s half had chicken, roasted red peppers, and ham. Alex got a philly cheesesteak sandwich. Kali was a bit freaked at first and had to double check that the ham and other stuff was really not ham! Funny.

The food was excellent. Seriously excellent. My normally quiet husband kept saying “This is ridiculous!” It was ridiculously good. So were the cookies and cake we got when we were done inhaling our food.

Yummy vegan food, lots of laughs, and mama didn’t have to cook!

If you live in the area down here, go check out Ethos. If you don’t live in the area but are coming down this way, make a pit-stop over there. It’s well worth your time.

Food, fun, and ……..

2011-01-01T15:16:00.001-08:00

Fruit? Fireworks? Freaky kids?

Hope everyone had a great New Year’s celebration. We ate our way through the end of 2010 and into 2011. I had a serious sugar high going on and then I nearly slept until 10:00 this morning. Oy!

Alex had to go to Whole Foods last night and he got me the most awesome vegan peanut butter smores from Sweet & Sara. OMG. Seriously. Go get some of those for yourself. You most certainly won’t regret it. Sweet & Sara products

Then, while he was making some rice crispy treats with marshmallow fluff (has no gelatin – yay!) I had taken some pie crust dough I had in the freezer, defrosted it, and did this with it:

I filled half of them with some homemade apple butter, and the other half with some raspberry jam. Then I did an egg wash on top and sprinkled them with some coarse sugar in the raw. Mmmmmmm.

Yes, they really were very, very good.

Tonight I made some tofu fried rice. Totally made my taste buds happy.

I think I’ve rolled my way into the new year. Alex took some of the leftover brown rice and just made me a small bowl of rice pudding. OMG. I am going to have to walk my 12 mile run tomorrow. This holiday eating binge has to end!

My goals for 2011

2010-12-31T05:24:00.001-08:00

Okay, so now that y’all know what I learned this year, let’s delve into my goals for the upcoming year.

1. Keep on training for the Princess Half.

2. Finish the Princess Half – still standing upright and not dragging my legs across the finish line. I am not hoping for any particular time since I will be having too much fun to worry about that. I just don’t want the sweeper truck to get me.

3. Get more organized. Isn’t that always a goal?

4. Be more patient. I have no patience. None. I need to get some. Can I get that on Amazon?

5. Win the lottery! Yet another goal everyone always has. ;)

6. Be a better mom and wife. I could use some upgrading in these departments.

7. Grow something without killing it. Stop laughing. It could happen!

8. Lose more weight.

9. Eat more ice cream. Kinda contradicts #8, doesn’t it?

10. Run more, so I can do #9 and #8!

11. Enjoy each day. Every day. The little moments that we all seem to take for granted. The sunrise. My kids laughing like crazy people. Good food. Quiet moments. Loud moments. Time is fleeting and my kids are growing like weeds. I don’t want to miss anything.

Hope you all have a happy, healthy, and memorable new year!

What I learned in 2010

2010-12-30T14:19:00.001-08:00

Here’s a list of the things I learned in 2010 – in no particular order.

1. My kids are awesome.

2. My husband is awesome.

3. You can never have too much packing tape.

4. You can never have too many boxes.

5. Running brings me sanity.

6. Giving up meat and dairy was a great decision.

7. I hate migraines.

8. Homeschooling rocks.

9. The glass is half full, even when there’s only a drop left.

10. Being without a car for 6 months is not a fun thing.

11. I will never, ever take having a vehicle for granted again.

12. I will never, ever take the roof over my head for granted again.

13. Homeschooling can make me crazy some days.

14. You can never have too many friends to help you pack said boxes with said tape. ♥

15. The Winter Park farmer’s market is da bomb!

16. Disney makes me feel like a kid.

17. Hummus makes me happy.

18. I don’t miss having cable.

19. I do miss having a dvr.

20. Less is more.

21. I love cooking.

22. I love baking.

23. I love my family.

24. I love my friends.

25. I need to be more organized.

26. I will always homeschool my girls – until they go off to college. Well, at least that’s what they said and I agree with them.

27. I wish I had a magic wand.

28. My grey hairs are multiplying at a really fast rate. Damn.

29. I need to blog more.

30. I like Hannah’s new v(egg)an word. She rocks.

Okay, I’ve learned more than 30 things, but my brain cells are fried right now.

V(egg)an

2010-12-25T15:19:00.001-08:00

No, not vegan, v(egg)an. That’s my new word from Hannah. We are not vegan, since we eat eggs. However, if I say were vegetarian, most people assume we still eat dairy. So Hannah came up with v(egg)an

Tonight’s v(egg)an dinner was tacos! Oh so yummy.

I think I’m going to do a new project for 2011 with a short blog post daily/weekly/every other day/when the wind blows/etc. about our v(egg)an dishes! I got a great cookbook for Christmas from the girls and am eager to use it.

Do you think Webster’s will put v(egg)an in their book? On their website? In the trash?

Stay tuned for some yummy food posts!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T15:09:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays! We are having a lovely day here at home. The girls got some fun stuff from Santa. We’ve been playing games, watching movies, singing, baking, cooking, and slightly napping! Here’s a few pictures for you.

Alex reading The Night Before Christmas to the girls. I needed the usual crazy girl pictures while he was reading. I got them.

She’s so mean! Watch out for her. Hannah kept cracking up.

The children were nestled, all snug in their beds. I thought they’d sleep until noon! We finally woke them up right before 9:00.

She was very happy that Santa left dye-free candy for her in her stocking. Santa likes to make her happy.

I think they are on a total sugar high today. I think I am, too. It’s all good.

I made tacos for dinner – refried beans, black beans, brown rice, soy crumbles, Daiya cheddar cheeze, Tofutti sour cream, spinach, and salsa. It was sooooo good! I have tons of leftovers for tomorrow night, too. Yay!

Hope everyone is having an equally fun-filled day! I keep trying to email out a bunch of pictures, but I seem to be having some technical difficulties.

A random something.

2010-12-21T04:35:00.001-08:00

I’m sitting here having my morning cup o’ joe and surfing the ‘net. I came across a great little blog and and equally great cartoon on their site.

The blog is www.stuffnoonetoldme.blogspot.com

Go check out his blog for some other really funny, but true, cartoons about life.

‘Twas the Monday before Christmas

2010-12-20T07:50:00.001-08:00

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring………we were too tired!

We had a great visit with my parents. The kids were totally spoiled when we celebrated Christmas on Wednesday, and we all had lots of fun. I think I could have left mom on Park Avenue for the next month.

Here are a bunch of pictures for your viewing pleasure!

I would caption them all, but right now I have dough that needs my attention. I am sure you can figure out where we are and what we are doing.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Field trip!

2010-11-29T17:19:00.001-08:00

Alex and I took the girls on a field trip today. He had a vacation day today, so I thought it would be nice to so something slightly educational yet really fun.

What? You’re asking where we went?? You must not know me very well then.

(As a side note, if anyone out there knows the Disney fairy, will you please ask him or her to put some passes under my pillow please?!)

The Christmas decorations are up at the Disney resorts. So, armed with a bunch of miscellaneous facts, we set off on a field trip.

Our first stop was the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

This was a huge tree!

The decorations were really pretty. FYI – since 1996, all Christmas trees at Disney have been artificial. See, there was education thrown in there somewhere!

Each resort had a spot where you could sit by the tree and take a picture.

Look! I do exist!

Then we went to the Wilderness Lodge.

Another equally large tree with more great decorations.

The girls walked around with their little notebooks today taking notes.

Did you know that the wreaths at Disney vary from 12” to 25’?! Well, you do now. The largest wreath is hanging at La Nouba in Downtown Disney.

Watch out for those bears!

The weather was perfect for a swim today. Wish we could have hopped in!

Someday I hope to stay here at least once!

It is such a gorgeous resort.

I told the girls to show me how much they love me.

Goofballs.

We then headed out to the Polynesian. We ate lunch before we went to check out the decorations.

Mmmmmm………wraps.

The ducks were looking for food. They were so cute to watch, but we didn’t feed them.

The tree wasn’t so big here and the decorations were somewhat lacking.

The flowers on the tree were pretty though.

Can you see my reflection in the little green ball?

Gosh I love these girls!

Next stop – the Grand Floridian!

This tree was huge!

And the gingerbread house was equally as huge (excuse the blurry picture).

Now that’s a lot of ingredients!

Miiiiiiickey!

The details on the gingerbread house were awesome!

This santa was made entirely out of chocolate! Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Yep, the gingerbread house is also a little store! You couldn’t go in, but you could go up to the window and buy cookies and stuff like that.

Off to the Contemporary!

Okay, so the gingerbread tree was cute. However, this is a huuuuuge resort, it’s on the monorail stop, and the decorations were sadly lacking here.

This was the tree. Massive resort – tiny tree.

We then got back in the car and drove over to the Boardwalk.

Loved the tree.

If you read the sign, there were 14 hidden Mickeys to find in this chocolate and gingerbread gazebo (is it a gazebo? what is it?!). We found them all.

I bet you’re wondering what happens to all this stuff when the holidays are over. Yes, you are. Well, it all gets stripped down and thrown out. Bye bye chocolate, bye bye gingerbread. When June rolls around, they start preparing for the holidays again.

The wen went outside to walk around the boardwalk and hit a few other resorts.

There were lots of outside decorations here.

The tree was pretty nice, too!

Next stop – the Beach Club resort.

There were 11 hidden Mickeys in this carousel. All of the horses were made out of chocolate.

What an amazing amount of talent!

I was trying to figure out how to sneak this out and take it home with me.

We then went next door to the Yacht Club. Um, has anyone ever been to the Yacht Club?

The train was really nice.

The detail was fun.

The tree – interesting.

But the ambiance in this resort was enough to suck the fun out of the day! I realize that there are people with inordinate amounts of money that act like they own the world. They all stay here. Stuffy, stodgy, and about as loud as a library after closing. We got out of there as soon as we could!

The Grand Floridian is also stuffy, but at least there’s life in there!

We walked over to the Dolphin resort. I had never been there before (nor had I been to the Yacht or Beach Club, either!)

This white poinsettia tree was amazing! There was also this wonderful scent floating in the air there. It was a combo of vanilla, caramel, and something I couldn’t quite place. I wanted to bottle up the air.

What a gorgeous resort. I’m sorry it had taken me so long to go check it out!

Hmmmm……wonder if that would fit in here!?!?!?

Last stop – the Swan resort.

This book was sitting right in front of the huge chocolate sculpture they had there.

So amazing! Santa, the tree, and the fireplace were made from chocolate!

Oh my, is Kali rolling her eyes?!?!? Noooooooo!!!!!!!!

We had so much fun today! The girls learned lots of stuff and they will be doing a project tomorrow about their field trip. I’m looking forward to see what they come up with. I will report back with pictures soon.

Thankful Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T18:46:00.001-08:00

Well, now that the food is done, leftovers are almost extinct, and I have awoken from my post-Thanksgiving coma………….

here is my Top 10 List of Reasons I am Thankful this Thanksgiving.

1) My kids are healthy, Alex is healthy, and I am healthy. Health is priceless. It is not something that is just a given, and if it’s important to you, you need to work on it.

2) My husband has a job. No matter what the news prints/reports/etc., our economy still sucks and the unemployment rate is still high. We are very thankful.

3) Homeschooling, no matter how much I lose my mind over it, is awesome and I am thankful for the ability to educate my girls.

4) Running. Keeps me healthy and reduces my stress. Of course, that makes everyone else around here happy!

5) Coffee. ‘Nuf said.

6) Growth. No, not my waistline, but my brain. If you do the same things all the time and never change and grow, you’re just stagnant. Stagnant is bad. Anything worth doing takes effort and time; don’t let time pass you by while you’re being stagnant.

7) Dairy-free chocolate. ‘Nuf said again.

8) Hope. Yep, that’s what the girls named our van. Without her, how could we get to all the fun places we go, pick up our groceries, run our errands, and get to the gas station.

9) Cooking. I love to cook. I love that I know I am feeding my family healthy foods and I love that they like nearly everything I make.

10) Last, but certainly not least, my friends. I am thankful for each and every one of you. This has been one heck of a year and without you guys I think I would have gone completely insane.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T12:53:00.001-08:00

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving today. I’m taking a moment in between rounds of food to post some pictures of our dinner (late lunch? early dinner? whatever.) Soon it will be time for pie!

Except for the cinnamon rolls that I made this morning that had egg in the dough, everything else is totally vegan. And I must say, it was all (so far – haven’t had those pies!) totally delicious!

The cinnamon rolls were waiting to be iced.

Pumpkin pie.

Apple pie before it baked in the oven.

After. What? You expected some other decorative cutout on my apple pie?!? For shame!

This is a super yummy whipped ‘cream’ that I made with coconut milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a little bit of cornstarch. I cannot wait to have this on my pie!!!!!! (Can you tell I’m really looking forward to those dang pies?!)

Hannah made the table look gorgeous. Thanks, Hanny!!!

She watched a napkin folding video and liked this one.

Someone was just having fun watching her sister do the work.

Time to eat!!!

The rest of the food was up on the counter.

I bet you can almost smell this!

Okay, from top left – stuffing with apples, mushrooms, and soy sausage; baked sweet potato; Quorn turk’y roast, roasted carrots and peas, mashed potatoes with no-chicken gravy. Mmmmmmm……I am stuffed and happy (though still looking forward to, you guessed it, PIE!)

I have more pictures but will put those up later. Mary got here last night and stayed until she had to leave for work. I’m glad she got to put the ornaments up on the tree with her sisters. The girls are happily playing in their room right now, Alex is cleaning up the huge mess I left in the kitchen, and the football game just ended. Later on we will be watching a movie. What movie you ask?!? Did you have to ask? What else would we watch today? I’ll give you a hint – let me know if you know what movie it is………

“Grace? She died 30 years ago!”

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery.

2010-11-22T06:04:00.001-08:00

I am fortunate enough to homeschool the girls. This means we have the freedom to do our school work wherever and whenever we want to. On Friday I decided that we needed to do our work (why do I say “our work” when it is clearly their work?!) outside. Now, knowing me, there is only one place for us to do that.

Downtown Disney! There’s a great little field right by La Nouba that is wonderful for having a picnic, running around, and now, doing schoolwork! I found these great big clipboards at JoAnn’s (thanks for the idea Patience!) that work wonderfully for stuff like this.

Hannah was working on a Thanksgiving poem. Hmmm…..funny how the toys ended up coming with us, isn’t it?! ;)

Not sure what Kali was doing here.

After we were done with math, grammar, writing, lunch, history, and whatever else I brought for them, we put our stuff in the car and decided to walk around for a bit. Some of the Christmas decorations were up.

I think Hannah was trying to talk to me while I was taking the picture.

Someone was being really goofy.

I think she was trying to attack us.

Or maybe she thought someone was trying to get her?! Silly girl.

I bet they were saying “hey, lets see if we can ditch mom for a while!”

She wouldn’t tell me.

We had lots of fun, the girls got their daily dose of smarts, and the weather was absolutely wonderful. We will have to do that again soon.

On Saturday (because I’m too lazy to put this in a separate blog post) I made some veggie ‘fritters’ with carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, russet potato, garlic, and some other various spices tossed with some flour and an egg. They rocked! We had these with a huge salad. Mmmmmmmmmmm. I want more.

Now I’m sitting here while the girls do their math. I’m trying to figure out when I have to cook certain parts of our Thanksgiving menu. I think I will make the pie crust dough today and freeze it until I bake the pies on Wednesday.

Food, food, and more food.

2010-11-20T16:11:00.001-08:00

We’re on week 4 (I believe) of no meat and no dairy. My scale is 6 pounds happier at the moment, and I feel fantastic.

So I was thinking of doing something……..I’m thinking of doing a blog project for next year following our food journey. We’re not vegan, but if I say vegetarian, people think we still eat dairy. So Hannah came up with Veggan – she said that’s vegan with eggs.

Tonight we had some yummy salads with all sorts of stuff in it (my favorites were the sunflower seeds and the sundried tomatoes) and some veggie fritters. The fritters had carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, russet potato, onion, garlic, an egg, and some flour – oh yeah, and salt and pepper, too. I sprayed some olive oil in my cast iron skillet and made ‘em nice and crispy.

I’ve got some pictures, so as soon as I feel like plugging my camera into my computer, I’ll put them up here! I have some great pictures from our fun school day yesterday.

My morning.

2010-11-06T16:19:00.001-07:00

I woke up around 3:00 this morning, hopped in the shower, had a cup of coffee, and headed out to Downtown Disney for the United Way benefit sale. So did many, many, many other people.

Lines were forming everywhere! One of the stores had certain Dooney & Bourke bags at 50% off! I try to be a nice mommy every once in a while, so I waiting at the line by the toy store. I froze my butt off! I think it was about 44 degrees in the middle of the night – which was when I was standing in line.

I got in the toy store when they opened at 5:30. Thank god for heat! I did a little shopping, walked over to the back park of the store, and this is who I saw…………..

Yay! Minnie and Mickey at the toy store! I was quite the happy camper.

I did my shopping at a few of the stores there, loaded up the van, and headed home. I’d tell you what I bought, but some certain kids of mine might read this.

After I got home, I promptly took a nap. A nice, long, cozy nap. It was worth getting up at 3am for this and I hope they do it again next year!

A little bit about nothing.

2010-11-05T16:46:00.001-07:00

I’m trying to keep my blog current, but my brain seems to be lagging behind! Here’s a quick update on some miscellaneous stuff.

1. Training for the Disney Princess half marathon is right on schedule. This week was a little wonky for me, but I’m on target with my miles.

2. Tomorrow I’m going to Downtown Disney at 5:30 am. No, I’m not crazy (well, not noticeably so). There’s a benefit sale for the United Way and I’m hoping to score some inexpensive (read: cheap) Christmas gifts. I am looking forward to a few hours alone in the morning.

3. I so totally love being meat and dairy free. While I knew I’d like it, I didn’t think I’d love it as much as I do. I’m having lots of fun with some new recipes and looking forward to making a bunch more.

4. We have cooler weather! Tomorrow’s high is going to be 66. Yes, 66! I’m giddy. My Sunday morning run is going to be awesome.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T19:09:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe Halloween is over already. This year has flown by so fast already, and now it’s about to go into warp speed.

Alex and I took the girls (even Mary came!) to Downtown Disney for some Halloween fun. I’ll let the pictures, once again, do all the talking.

Look! I found Tinkerbell in her forest.

The candy corn witch, the sweet vampiress, and Tink. Gosh my girls are gorgeous.

And slightly goofy.

Some spooky storytelling over by the pin trading store.

It was uber-crowded! We figured it would be, so we got there early just to find a parking spot. We brought our dinner with us so we could eat there. I will say that being meat and dairy free making bringing your food with you a bit harder. Not crazy hard, not “oh hell no I can’t do that hard,” but just “hmmmm…I need to think about this for 30 more seconds” harder.

We took the boat over to the other side so we could keep on hitting the candy spots.

The costumes were so cute! We loved seeing all the little kids getting excited and the big kids having just as much fun.

I think Tink was trying to cast a spell on me. I think it worked.

We have packed up the Halloween decorations, and now it’s time to get ready for the warp-speed holiday season! I do love this time of year and am really excited to see what the area has going on for this season.

Food update

2010-10-27T17:44:00.001-07:00

There is no more cheese in the house. There are still 4 chicken breasts in the freezer that will probably go home with someone. I have no desire to make them.

I am pouring over vegan and vegetarian books from the library and filling up my Plan to Eat site with tons of recipes. Baked tofu ROCKS. We’re trying out some various things that we find at Publix, Target, or Whole Foods. Tofurkey italian sausage is a big fail, but Gardein ‘chicken’ nuggets are really yummy!

I like that our veggies aren’t an afterthought, that we’re not eating stuff loaded with unhealthy stuff, and that eating healthy should keep us happy and healthy for a very long time.

Today I made a huge pot of black, cannellini, and red beans in a super yummy chili sauce with diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. I served those over some elbow macaroni and topped it with Tofutti sour cream. The kids inhaled it. Yay! I think the leftovers will end up in a roasted butternut squash tomorrow.

My day with Hannah

2010-10-20T14:07:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday, Hannah and I spent the day at the Magic Kingdom. Why Hannah and not Kali or both?? Hannah finally decided to listen to me and she learned how to swim! When she realized that she was swimming by herself, she started crying. Awwwwww. I had won two tickets back in February that were burning a hole in my wallet, so I figured that this was a great reason to go and celebrate. Kali was just happy that her sister got to go – seriously. I’ve never met a more unselfish child in my life. Well, unless you try to take her fruit nuggets from her, then she might bite you.

Here’s a ton of pictures from our most fun day!

Do you know that I have never seen any of the parks decorated for fall?! This was cool to finally see.

Hannah had never been on Space Mountain. She loved it. :) We went on it 3 times that day.

I kicked her butt on Buzz Lightyear – 3 times.

She is not allowed to get her license until she’s 18.

We did that 3 times, too! The thought it was great that she could drive something.

She loved Thunder Mountain, too. We did that twice.

We went on Pirates of the Caribbean. :)

At the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor. We laughed. A lot.

Sitting in Minnie’s house.

I want to try out her machine! ;)

Mickey’s house is messy! Dude, clean up.

She really liked the Haunted Mansion, too.

We took a ride on the train. I don’t think I’ve been on that train since Mary was little!

We watched the fire works, then sat down to watch the 2nd parade of the night.

Sure, Spectro Magic is great, but the Main Street Electrical Parade makes me feel 10 again. :) I love this parade!

The park closed at midnight, and we stayed until just before the end. We rode a bunch of other rides that I didn’t get pictures of, had some awesome pineapple floats, lunch and dinner were great, and we hit up the candy store. Fifteen hour of Magic Kingdom magic with my most favorite 9 year old in the world. I’m so glad she had a great time and I’m so glad she learned how to swim.

I’m still here!

2010-10-19T18:42:00.001-07:00

I am sorry for not updating in what seems like forever. I have so much to blog about and I’m not creating any time to blog at all. I have tons of pictures to share, lots of stories, and I promise to get to that in the next few days.

Right now we are making some more food changes around here (what else is new, right?!) We have decided to finish eating all the meat and dairy around here and then that’s the end of it. No more meat. No more dairy. Oh how I will miss my masala sauce from Trader Joe’s. Dang it, can’t they make it without cream?!?! We will, however, keep buying (what we hope are) free range eggs. I’ve also cut down on my coffee consumption (gasp!) and after 4 days of no coffee, I had some tonight. I do love my chai tea in the morning now. :)

I am on schedule with my half marathon training and it seems to be going well so far. Once the runs get longer on the weekend, I might not say that it’s ‘easy’ anymore, but it will still be doable.

Keep checking back for a big blog post from my day at the Magic Kingdom with Hannah this past Saturday. All I can say is, it was 15 hours of Magic Kingdom magic with my favorite 9 year old in the whole world. :)

Video

2010-09-19T18:44:00.001-07:00

Here’s a video of the girls in the pool. My uber-slow internet would only upload one to you tube. I’ll try again, later, for the 2nd one. Hannah was trying to see how long she could hold her breath. :)

Happy 10th Anniversary to us!

2010-09-19T18:40:00.001-07:00

Alex and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary on the 16th. Ten years! Can you believe it?! It sure has been an adventure-filled 10 years; some of it fantastic, some of it smooth sailing, and some of it just totally stress-filled and crazy.

We were able to go out yesterday and celebrate. Mary came to watch her sisters so we could escape. Thank you, Mary! I wasn’t exactly sure what we were doing, but I had a fairly good idea. I grabbed my camera before we left so I could document our day………

First we went to Lake Eola. This was the first time that I had been there.

What a totally gorgeous place.

I cannot wait to run here soon.

We sat on a shady spot on the lawn, had something cold to drink (it was hooooooot), and stared at the geese and the water for a while. Then we left to go to dinner. Alex wouldn’t tell me where we were going, but after the clue he gave me, I had it figured out.

No, he didn’t take me to the salon or AT&T. You can barely see the sign, but we ended up at The Melting Pot. Neither of us had ever been there, but I had heard great things about it.

We ate lots and lots and lots of food. Holy cow. It took us 2 hours to have dinner. It was all wonderful, too. We started off with a cheese fondue. Yes, for those of you that know that Alex cannot have dairy, here was a huge pot of cheddar cheese with beer and garlic. He did end up eating a few pieces of it, and thankfully it didn’t bother him too badly. I’m not sure if the cheese or the beer sucked him in. ;)

Then we had a salad, but I totally forgot to take a picture of it. Oops! It was good, too. We were seating in a really quiet section where the booths were all separated and there was only one row of them. It was nice and private and oh-so cool.

Then we moved on to our main course. We had beef, chicken, lobster, shrimp, and spring vegetable dumplings. There was also potatoes, broccoli, and mushrooms. We went with the broth/wine cooking pot, and there was also a bunch of different sauces. I was in food heaven. It was fun taking our time, cooking our own stuff, and just hanging out and talking without kids. I really want to do something like this at home now……Dear Santa, I would like an electric fondue pot for Christmas – thank you. :)

We ate, and ate,

and ate. We ate until there was no room left.

And then we had chocolate. Fabulous dark chocolate with caramel and pecans.

I swear I gained 10 pounds at dinner.

and I will have to work extra hard to get it off, but it was sooooo worth it. Dinner was just fabulous. Just having those two uninterrupted hours eating and hanging out with Alex was great.

Then we hopped – no, walked very, very slowly – to the car and headed out again. This time I had already figured out where we were going. :) I knew Mary was involved in the planning, and since the two of us happen to think alike at times, I figured out what she suggested to Alex…….

The sunset was so beautiful. The picture does not do it justice.

Can you tell where we are yet?

Blue Man Group!!

We had never seen them, either. We had no clue what to expect.

The show was awesome! It was so loud that my insides were pounding. :)

After the show ended around 11:00, we headed home. We were totally exhausted! We talked to Mary for a few and then fell into a coma. I didn’t wake up until 7:30, which is totally sleeping in for me!

Today we hung out at the pool with the girls this morning. They turn into fish when they hit the water.

Gosh, she’s growing up fast.

So is she. :)

Then we ate lunch, and took off for the Lake Eola farmers market. I will say that I like the Winter Park one much better, but it was nice to take the girls to the lake that we went to yesterday.

Then we went grocery shopping and came home. Tomorrow I must become one with the elliptical machine to get rid of all the food I ate this weekend!

I had a fabulous time, I am married to a fabulous man, and I now know that every once in a while, he does listen to me! ;) Thank you, honey, for 10 crazy, wonderful years. I am looking forward to many more. ♥

Etsy

2010-08-30T19:08:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note before I go to sleep for the night (gosh I’m tired today!). I just loaded up my Etsy shop with some awesome grocery bags. Go check it out!

Domestic Goddess Designs on Etsy

G’night all!

First day of school! First day of school!

2010-08-24T12:04:00.001-07:00

For those of you that have kids and watch Disney movies, what movie is the title line from?

I’m not sure I was prepared enough for starting a new school year, but oh well! I’ll get more organized as the days go by and I’m sure no harm will come to the girls over it. Hannah would be especially happy if I had no clue where the dictionary was; I think that book makes her eyes twitch.

We’re starting at 9:00 this year. We have more work to do and I want more time to play and go do stuff. I had to wake up my late-sleepers at 7:30 and they were not happy with me at all. I should have gotten a picture of them then, it was not a pretty sight.

Someone was trying to get back in bed! Noooooooo!!!! Get out of bed, Kali!

I stuck some postcards in their mailbox. Kali’s said “Welcome to 2nd grade!” She thinks I’m cheesy. I am.

See how cheesy I am?! It was a fun way to start the day.

I am good about keeping fairly detailed records just incase I need to show someone that we’re not just sitting here picking our noses.

Well, it wasn’t rough, but who can pass up Mickey?!

The girls did their math, grammar, writing, and then we sat outside to start history. They LOVE history. Why is the little child on the big chair and the big child on the little chair?!? Maybe Hannah is wondering the same thing.

I do believe Story of the World only goes up to Volume 4. OMG. What are we going to do after that!?!?! We all love Story of the World – the book, the student pages, the extra reading suggestions, and all the other stuff it has.

The girls ended the school day by playing a game. It’s more for Kali, but Hannah likes to drive her crazy with it. I figure it’s a win-win. See all that stuff next to Hannah?? Alex brought it back from the house the other day. NO MORE STUFFFFFFFF! It has since found a home here, but I swear I have no more room!

Today was equally as fun. Hannah wants to learn Spanish, so I’m going to have her use Rosetta Stone (I had used it with Mary). She’s excited about it; hopefully she’ll stay excited about it after she starts it tomorrow!

Plan B

2010-08-08T09:43:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we had planned to go to Typhoon Lagoon. However, Alex had ‘technical difficulties’ at work and then it started storming. By the time we finally got out, it was about 4:00, traffic on I4 was horrid, and it was still raining, so we came up with plan B. :)

Luckily, we still had money left on our Disney gift card that we got from my parents at Christmas – yay! We decided to go eat at T-Rex in Downtown Disney.

The food was so cute that I had to take a picture of it. Alex and I got fish and chips. Yes, I ate a plate full of beige food; the only thing green was soemthing they stuck at the top. Oh well. Today I will eat lots of green things.

Then we went over to the big, grassy field behind La Nouba. The girls love running around there.

Alex chased them around and wore ~~them~~ himself out. :)

Yep, daddy’s down for the count!

This was a woman over at Downtown Disney acting as a statue. She was really cool.

For some reason, Kali still cannot figure out how to drink out of a water fountain. It was funny. :)

Then we went over to the Boardwalk.

Alex got sucked into a magic show there. The guy cracked us on our “vacation destination” since we live so close.

After the sun set we started walking over to the side entrance of Epcot (which is right by the Boardwalk). I think this is a view of the Swan or Dolphin resort that’s right over there, too.

We finished off the night with Epcot’s fireworks. I think next time we’ll stay on the bridge, I think there’s a better view from there.

It was so nice to get out, kick back, and have lots of fun. :) The girls had a blast and are ready to go back, oh, today. Speaking of that, I hear I have a hot date on Wednesday night……..might end up watching some more fireworks!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

2010-08-04T15:34:00.001-07:00

I found a recipe for dairy free chocolate ice cream. I had originally set out to make this for Alex, but the girls and I attacked it and ate it all. ;) Good thing, though, since he said he doesn’t like coconut milk anyway.

The recipe called for 1 can of coconut milk, 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder, and 1/3 cup of sugar. I doubled it, (knowing my ice cream junkies over here) stuck it in the blender for 30 seconds, and then poured it into a container which went into the freezer for about an hour.

After that I poured it into the ice cream maker which took about 20 minutes or so. Um, can I just say HOLY COW! Or HOLY COCONUT MILK! This stuff rocked. I’m thinking next time it might need some chocolate chips dumped in right at the end, or maybe some toasted coconut, or maybe some chopped up macadamia nuts.

Yikes!

2010-07-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

So after two weeks of trying to whip this place into shape, Alex and Hannah came back with a van load of stuff and now this places looks like we just moved in again! Well, not that bad, but you know what I mean, right??

At least we have two more ceiling fans up. The girls now have light in their room and there’s light in the living room now. Yay! My massive chalk board is here, too. I need to run to Home Depot to get some brackets or something so Alex can hang it up. I missed that board! I think it will look great in here.

We’re here!

2010-07-24T16:39:00.001-07:00

Well, we’ve been here for 2 weeks, but I haven’t had any time to blog.

Moving was hot, stressful, sweaty, overwhelming, dirty, and confusing. I am soooo glad that it’s over! (well, we still have a few things at the house, but 90% of it is done!).

The night we got here we stayed in the guest suite. That was nice. We stopped off at the apartment first so we could all see it….hmmmmm…..how do I put this…..I was stunned silent for a good 5 minutes. I already knew we were losing half of our square footage, but seeing it freaked me out a bit! Yikes! How was I going to fit everything in here? Could I fit everything in here???

On Sunday we got up early and started unloading the truck. Then some of our friends showed up and unloaded with Alex while I stayed in here to figure out where it was all going! I ordered some pizza, got some drinks, and kept those guys well fed so they wouldn’t totally pass out from the heat and the stairs. Oh my – the stairs! I should have buns of steel soon.

Once all the boxes were in, I didn’t see the living room for 3 days. I couldn’t get to it! Boxes were everywhere. The last box I logged in the list was #118, and I knew there were a few more after that. So approximately 125 boxes in a 2 bedroom apartment. Holy hell.

Of course, we couldn’t unpack the entire time, could we? Nope. The girls and I hit the pool in the mornings and then came back to unpack after lunch. Perfect!

On Friday some of my fabulous friends showed up, swooped in, and helped move furniture and unpack the rest of the boxes. I bribed them with food; it al worked out great. ;) Having pictures hung up really helped. I was feeling a bit lost that first week and almost felt like an intruder here.

So we’ve been here for two weeks now and I’ve learned quite a few things:

Moving is no fun.
Boxes multiply while you sleep.
Decluttering is a great thing.
Being organized is very, very important.
My girls are very happy. Their room is bigger and is a little more organized every day.
Doesn’t matter what size your kitchen is as long as you know how to cook!
Less space = less to clean.
Mary is very, very close.
I love swimming with the girls in the morning.
I like running on the treadmill while it’s horribly humid, though I need to find a trail to run on.
Disney is about 25 miles from here. We now have water park passes!
I sleep better.
There is a very large and diverse homeschooling group here.
I still need to declutter a lot.
I need to run a lot.
My bathing suit is becoming my morning outfit (after running).
Moving is no fun.
Being here is good.
And most importantly – my husband is a rock star. (can you tell him to hang the rest of my pictures though?!)

There’s more, but that’s the top of my list. I am working hard at organizing this place, getting it sparkly clean, and getting the rest of me back to normal. Oh wait, that’s right, nothing about me is normal. :) I’ve been baking already, but I’m finding that baking in the afternoon and living on the 3rd floor is not a good thing unless you like living in a sauna. I will have to save my baking for early morning or at night.

Do I miss being out in Spring Hill? Nope. Do I miss the house? Nope. Well, maybe I miss the closet space. I’m hoping to take a day or two next week and go exploring with the girls. I need to find a running trail that I can go to in the morning. The treadmill is fine, but nothing is a great as running outside. Maybe we’ll go check out the malls, do more swimming, and maybe head back to the water park.

Alex is working hard and is exhausted when he finally gets home at night. We all went out last Sunday night to the Polynesian Resort at Disney to watch the fireworks. That is one of my favorite things to do. :)

I’ll post some pictures just as soon as I get a bit more organized in here. Can’t let y’all think I’m not on top of my game!

Movin’ on up, to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky-y-y……..

2010-07-05T18:36:00.001-07:00

Sorry I has been so long since I’ve blogged about anything. Life has been super busy around here and I haven’t had time to do much of anything.

My parents were here for a week in June and we had such a good time with them. I will have to do separate blog updates for all of that. We had so much fun, did so many things, and I can’t properly blog about it at the moment.

I’ll tell you, it was soooo nice to drive again! Especially a car that I didn’t have to return to the rental place!! :) The kids were thrilled. I think they were just happy driving to wherever we were going. They didn’t care what the destination was, they were happy with the journey.

I think the arrival of Hope came at the most perfect time. It was like all the pieces that had been hanging up in the air just fell into their proper place. Which leads me back to the title of this post.

We are moving to Winter Park, just north of Orlando. Alex got a job out there, so the girls and I are in the middle of packing up this house. Hopefully we will be nearly done by Friday when Alex comes back (he is up there working now) and then we will all be out there either Saturday or Sunday.

Mary asked me today if I was sad that we were leaving this house. I thought about it and had to say “no.” While I like this house, I never quite loved it. And frankly, the stress of the past few years has left me exhausted. I am ready to leave this place and go somewhere where I can sleep well!

I am very happy that we will be closer to Mary and closer to my favorite place on earth…Disney. We can finally get our water park passes that we were gifted at Christmas! I’m super-excited that there is a great homeschooling group out there that is not religious based. I’m sure there will be some awesome things for the kids to do. There are tons of different opportunities out there that I am really eager to explore.

I will once again be back to my regular blogging once we get over there next week. Until then, I will be knee-deep in boxes, tape, and stuff.

Thank you, Bessie.

2010-06-06T15:59:00.001-07:00

You served us well. You brought us to fun places, took us on our errands, and always made sure we got home safely. We will miss you.

A really nice man came and bought Bessie today and drove off with her. Hannah took these pictures as he was loading her up on the trailer. She took up every inch of it; he even had to take off one of the side fenders to get her on there.

The driveway looks mighty empty now. Hmmm….how am I going to untie my running shoes and stretch out in the morning?!?! That’s what Bessie’s bumper was for. ;)

We are very much looking forward to seeing Hope on our driveway soon. :)

Hope

2010-05-31T16:02:00.001-07:00

Main Entry: ¹hope
Pronunciation: \ˈhōp\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): hoped; hop·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hopian; akin to Middle High German hoffen to hope
Date: before 12th century
intransitive verb 1 : to cherish a desire with anticipation <hopes for a promotion>
2 archaic : trusttransitive verb 1 : to desire with expectation of obtainment
2 : to expect with confidence : trust

We have been without a car for nearly 6 months now. Six looooooong months. We have hated it, cursed wildly about it, and even laughed about it. Things could always be worse, we say. Times are tough, things are rough, and we are trudging along and doing the very best we can.

My children – ahhhhh…..my girls. Can I just say how awesome they are? Well, they are. Not only are they smart, funny, and totally gorgeous, but they are very, very patient and understanding. They have not once complained about our lack of transportation and being stuck at home most of the time. They have been beyond wonderful. I seriously owe them – big time.

On Friday I got a call from my dad. He said he had found a great car for us, was there with it, and wanted to know what I thought. Um. What?!?! All I heard was something about birthday, Christmas, birthday……etc., etc. I think I had momentarily stopped breathing and forgot where I was. Did I just hear the word CAR? A car?! Us??

I ran in to go talk to Alex for a minute, though he was on the phone. I’m not sure he could figure out what the look on my face was all about. He said I looked upset, but I was already crying like a baby and couldn’t quite talk. I finally got him off the phone and explained that I was not upset. :)
After I talked to Alex, I called my dad back. He was telling me that he had been looking at cars for us for a while now. *Sigh* You know, it’s one thing to be alone on an island and trying to find your way off. It’s another thing when someone throws you a lifeline. This was a lifeline.

Alex and I (along with thousands of other people) are trying to get out of this hole we are in. It is not something we did on purpose, it is not something we caused, we are just one of the families affected by this crappy economy and changes in business. But, like a vicious circle, we could not get a car without money, and for Alex to go get a second job anywhere at all requires a car. No car, no money, no money, no car. No sanity!!!!

And then my parents called. :) They are driving down in a few weeks in a shiny 2005 Kia Sedona which will be lovingly placed into our care. It is silver – of course!

After I got off the phone with my dad and got some pictures, I went to tell the girls. I left the picture up on my computer and sniffled my way to their room. I was still sobbing like a baby. I opened their door and attempted to tell them, but had to bring them into my office to show them the picture. I got out a few words, and pointed to the screen. Hannah put her face in her hands and started crying. Kali jumped up and down like it was Christmas morning. I cried more.

I showed them the pictures and then they left for a few minutes. When they got back, they told me they had named the car. We have named all of our cars. There was Big Bessie, Little Bessie, and Jack (Mary has Jack). So I was curious as to what this cars’ name would be. My girls – my fabulous, patient girls named the car…………HOPE. OMG. I cried again. Hope. How fitting.

Here is Hope:

This is what I found on the white board in the school room this morning:

Yeah. They are so dang excited. The girls are telling us everywhere they want to go. The list is growing by the minute. I will just be happy to not feel like we are stuck here. As for Alex, we have now sent out many, many, many resumes all over the place. Knowing that we can widen our search makes things more hopeful. Hope. Things will turn around. Things are going to get better. My friends have been fantastic – coming here, driving me around, taking me wherever I need to go, and listening to me complain. Thank you, all. I would have completely lost what was left of my mind if y’all had not come to rescue me!

This gift that is arriving is beyond anything I would ever expect. I am still speechless, stunned, and teary-eyed. I am not sure they know how much this means to us, and there are no words to express every dang emotion that runs through me at this point. So I simply have this – mom & dad, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you, and not because you are driving down a really cute and awesome van for us. Because you are driving down Hope. ♥

Kali is 7!

2010-05-08T15:21:00.001-07:00

My baby is seven!!! Wednesday was Kali’s birthday. I cannot believe it has been seven years already since I first held her in my arms. *sigh*

My silly baby girl. She looks exactly like daddy in this picture. She totally stole my heart when she was born and she still has it. I used to wake her up from her naps because I thought she slept too long. I held her all the time, carried her everywhere, and made all her diaper covers. Hannah was upset that she was too little to play for the longest time. Mary was just upset that I never put her down. I never put any of my kids down; they have enough time in their lives for that. I think I put Hannah down once she started walking. ;)

It’s crazy looking at both of these pictures. Wow.

Mary was able to come for a few days so she could be here for her birthday. :)

Happy Birthday!!

Cinnamon rolls before they were iced. Mmmmmmmmmm.

I like putting up the most unflattering pictures I can find of my children!!

Reading the card from Hannah.

See, more unflattering pictures!

Opening her gift from Mary.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This may be the most unflattering one!

Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa!

Mmmmmmm….cupcakes.

They were really yummy.

Especially with ice cream.

Oh my. What’s up with these kids?!

Doing puzzles with Mary.

Ahhhh……Happy Birthday to my baby. You are, like your sisters, totally awesome. Before I know it, you will be going off to college, too, and I……well, I will totally fall apart once again.

What a fun weekend!

2010-05-03T13:53:00.001-07:00

Jenine, Eugene, and the kids came over on Saturday. The kids had no clue they were coming, either. They thought they had just left Disney and were on their way home. Jenine pretended to be lost and ended up in our driveway. Fun!

The kids were all happy to see each other again, and I was just happy to see everyone. Jenine surprised me with a waffle maker. :) I think Hannah wanted me to make waffles for her right then and there. She had to wait because I had other food simmering in the kitchen.

I half baked some pizza crusts so the kids could make their own pizzas. I had a bunch of veggies, turkey sausage, and turkey pepperoni for them. I made a big pot of chili and some cornbread for us old folk.

Here’s a bunch of pictures for you…….

Hannah and Ally making pizza

She is so darn cute. I just want to squeeze her!

Eating and playing. Kids are good multi-taskers, aren’t they?! ;)

This is where we saw Brandon for most of the night. He’s a video game junkie. He was totally mesmerized, too. I think the circus could have come walking through my living room and he wouldn’t have noticed at all. I tried to get him to stay here with us, but he turned me down.

We had an early birthday celebration for Kali. They brought her her absolute favorite things – Littlest Pet Shop stuff. :) Hey, look what’s on the menu for dinner!

Ally kept trying to hide from me when I was taking pictures. I had to get creative and sneak up on her. She won in this picture!

It was my plan all along…….we stayed up so late talking, laughing, and watching the kids play, that it was too late for them to get back on the road. Oh darn. ;) So when we finally peeled everyone off of the Wii, we all finally went to sleep!

Got up early the next morning, and Alex made omelets for everyone. He is the omelet king. Mine end up like scrambled eggs with stuff in them.

I hated to see them leave, but they had to get home! (Did they really? I think they should have just stayed and moved to Florida.) They loaded up the car, everyone said goodbye (Kali was crying), gave big hugs, and off they went. :(

Jenine and her family are as wonderful in person as I knew they would be. I am thrilled that after 8 years, we finally got to meet, I’m glad we had lots of time to spend together, and I am happy and thankful to call her my friend. I hope we get another chance to see each other and I hope it doesn’t take 8 more years!

Um, Jenine, where is my cart??? I seem to be missing some kitchen items! I sure could use my cast iron skillet, too. ;)

Friends, Fun, and Mickey Mouse!

2010-04-29T09:37:00.001-07:00

What could be better, right?

Have you ever known someone but had not ever met them in person? My friend Jenine and I have been a part of the same parenting message board for, oh, forever. I joined when Hannah was about 7 months old. I’m way down here in Florida and Jenine is wayyyyyyy up north where it is just too dang cold for me. We’ve watched all the kids growing up in pictures and occasional videos, and lately Hannah, Kali, and Ally have been writing to each other. I knew that someday I’d get to meet her, but I didn’t know when. The state of our global and personal economy have left me unable to get, oh, anywhere lately! :)

Well, Jenine and her family planned a vacation to Disney. OMG! Disney!!! Might as well be right next door. I knew that I’d figure out a way to get out there. They were not coming all the way down here without me finally getting to meet them. Then Disney had their Give a Day/Get a Day campaign. We volunteered our time and got Disney tickets for it. Perfect! I found a fairly inexpensive hotel, rented a car, and made plans to meet up. (Just as a side note, there is no one I would go out to Disney for besides Jenine. Anyone else on the aforementioned messaging board comes down here, and I am, for many reasons, no longer available.)

Jenine thinks she’s a funny woman. She wanted to play “let’s find Jenine” since I had no clue what she looked like. Okay, I had a small clue, but it was an old picture and my imagination was failing me. I am not good with trying to find a needle in a haystack! Nooooooooo. Thankfully she let me off the hook at the very end. Though, frankly, I think I would have been able to find her. (I say that now, right!) We all met up in Downtown Disney on Monday around 8:30pm. Sometimes the people that you “know” online are not the people that you meet in person. Not this time. Jenine is as sweet and lovely and funny in person as she is on my IM. It was so wonderful to finally meet her, Eugene, Ally, and Brandon. It was almost surreal since I’ve seen countless pictures of the kids and then there they were, hanging out with my kids! Too cool.

We went over to the Earl of Sandwich to hang out for a bit and talk.

The kids had lots of fun, though mine take a while to warm up. You know, they’re just some crazy, unsocialized homeschoolers! We sat outside for a bit so the girls could paint their nails. Jenine brought some UV-reactive nail polish and nail stickers for the girls. That was fun. I kept trying to talk Brandon into letting the girls do his nails. He wasn’t falling for it. ;) They also brought some goody bags for the girls which was so sweet!

We stayed there until 11:00-ish, then we all headed back to our respective hotels so we could sleep and meet back up in the morning over at Hollywood Studios! Mary finally got to the hotel around 2am. Her key wasn’t working in the door, so she had to call me and wake me up so I could let her in. Took me a while to go back to sleep. Of course, it seemed as though the alarm went off right after I went back to dreamland. Ack! We all got up, got ready, ate breakfast, and packed up the car. I was really excited that Mary was able to join us and meet everyone, too!

Hanna, Ally, Mary, and Kali. This picture cracks me up and yet it’s so cute. Follow along now…..there is a 10-year age difference between Hannah and Mary (9 and 19). There is a 1 year age difference between Hannah and Ally (9 and 8). There is also a 1+ year age difference between Ally and Kali (8 and 6 – 7 next week). It’s so cute how they’re all holding hands.

We met up and quickly went over to Toy Story Mania. The lines tend to get long quickly and the fast passes go like hotcakes! We got fast passes first so we could come back later and then got in line. Kali had never been on it and once she saw the 3D glasses, she was a little hesitant to get on. I joked with her and told her to get on so she could kick daddy’s butt. ;) She wanted to ride with daddy, Hannah wanted to ride with Mary, and that left me the odd man out! Hey, at least I’d win!!!! ;)

Gosh I have gorgeous kids! And hey, looks like I have a son now!!! :) Dang, Hannah might as well be as tall as Mary. Probably in a year or so. Kali forever has those fingers in her mouth. All.day.long. Well, unless she’s eating! I’m guessing she won’t go off to college like that, so I’m not worried.

Yay! Little green army men. Mary said we had to stop and see them. Nothing like a man in uniform!!! lol

Kali refused to go over there, as did Hannah….for a moment. Mary brought Hannah’s autograph book over, but he wasn’t going to sign it unless Hannah went over there. :)

I think after this we went to Tower of Terror. It was the first time I rode it with Mary!!! That was fun. Of course, I was screaming like a baby, hanging on for dear life. Jenine and the kids loved it! She said I screamed so much, I made her deaf. Ha ha ha, very funny. ;) It’s probably a good thing she couldn’t hear me screaming! I think the people in Georgia heard me screaming. I love that ride, but it scares the heck out of me!

After that we went over to Pizza Planet so we could all eat. We packed our lunch but not our dinner. There just isn’t enough room in the little backpack cooler for that!

Look! I do exist!!!!

These two looooooove to talk. I don’t know who talks more, Alex or Brandon. It was cute to watch the two of them all day long just jabbering away.

Mary had to leave in the afternoon, so after lunch the two of us headed over to Rock n’ Rollercoaster so we could ride it together before she left. That was fun. The line was short, too! Yeah! Alex rode it with Hannah when the rest of them made it over there. He had never been on that ride, and I know Hannah enjoyed riding it with him. I hung out with Kali and Jenine while everyone was on it.

We went back to Toy Story Mania with our fast passes. This time Kali rode it with me. I kicked some major booty. It was fun riding it with her and I hope we can do that again someday!

Later on we all split up for a bit. They had dinner reservations and since we didn’t have the dining plan (dang it!) we were eating elsewhere. It was nice to sit for a bit and take a break. After dinner we took the girls over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. It was crowded!

If I could buy mushrooms this big, I’d only need one at a time!

We met back up at the back lot tour and since my brain is shot, I think after that we headed over to get in for the last show of Fantasmic. I had never seen that show! Any show with Mickey is perfect for me. I tried to get some good pictures, but I really just wanted to watch the show!

Seriously! All the Disney characters!?!?!? Be still my heart!

We had such a wonderful time with them! It was if we all had known each other for more than just that day. Well, technically we did, but you know what I mean. I was sad to see the day end. When we finally made it back to our car, we saw that Mary had got her sisters some sticker books and tucked them under the windshield wipers. That was really sweet of her. Kali fell asleep on the bus, and Hannah passed out in the car. We had to switch drivers twice – we were both wayy too tired and had to take short snoozes to get some energy! My 5 hour energy stuff did absolutely nothing for me!

When we finally got home, my head hit the pillow and I went into a coma. I spent all day yesterday being a house bum with the girls. Movies, sofa, blankets, and pillows. Yes! Today I am cleaning and making some bread.

A little birdie whispered in my ear……I’m pretty sure we’ll see them again before they head home. ;)

Just a vent, ranting, whatever…..

2010-04-14T04:51:00.001-07:00

Ahhhhhhh….I just need to vent. Feel free to ignore me. :)

Do you know what sucks? What sucks is watching your 6 year old laying on the couch, unable to sleep because she doesn’t want to close her eyes in case the bad thoughts come. So you watch her, for a good hour, lay on the couch and stare at anything in an attempt to stay awake. I am helpless to help her in these situations. I can rub her back, hold her, rock her, and try to make her smile. But no matter what I do, she will still cry, still feel bad, still ask me if everything she touches is clean, still have that nearly constant neck tic, and have nights that she does not want to sleep.

She’s the most loving, thoughtful, and possibly the funniest child I have ever known. OMG, don’t get her started; once she’s on a roll, you will be laughing your ass off. She tries to make everyone happy, and thinks about others before she thinks about herself. But it’s this “thing,” this thing that has its grips on her that I cannot fix. I don’t want to change who she is, I just don’t want her to suffer because of it.

So I will sit on the couch with her, hold her, and tell her that everything is okay. And once again, she will thank me, tell me that she loves me, play with my hair, and hopefully drift off to sleep.

Beach

2010-04-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

My neighbor is out of town until Thursday and left us her car to use. :) Thank you, Dot! We took the girls to the beach on Saturday to play and have lunch.

The girls promptly found the swing. :) They were there for quite some time just enjoying the fabulous weather.

It was such a beautiful day!

I could have sat here all day long.

But then I thought I could sit on this boat all day long. Think they would have minded me jumping aboard?

Kali said I have to make more of these dresses for her. She is not fond of short right now.

I think her fingers are permanently attached to her mouth. :)

My girls are just too dang cute.

I was trying to get a picture of the red highlights in Hannah’s hair.

She was using me as a back rest.

After we left the beach, we went to get Kali some new shoes. She picked these and decided one needed a pink shoelace and the other one needed a white one (they both came with two). Then she put on one light pink sock and one dark pink sock. There’s the famous polka-dot dress that should really be retired soon. She wears it every chance she gets.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T07:03:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter everyone!

The Easter Bunny was nice and left tons of chocolate for the girls. :) So far, they haven’t eaten any of it, but I’m sure they’ll be on a sugar high this afternoon. Oh wait, I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast; that’s sugar high enough, isn’t it? I’ve decided that calories don’t count today, so the cinnamon roll I had for breakfast just cannot possibly end up on my thighs.

Kali searching for eggs.

We could not find the baskets anywhere. Hmmm…maybe next year I’ll make some.

I made wayyyyyyy too much glaze for the cinnamon rolls. Oh darn. ;)

Yes, they are as good as they look. Maybe better. :) And if you want some, you have to show up here on a birthday or holiday because that’s the only time I make them.

There’s enough left over for tomorrow, too.

Later on I’ll make some egg salad sandwiches for lunch (gotta use up all those dyed eggs!) and tonight I’m making some grilled chicken salads. The weather has been fantastic lately so we’ll eat outside again.

I miss my Mary today. :( She has to work at Universal and make people cry on the roller coaster. lol Hopefully we’ll see her soon! Maybe her sisters will save some chocolate for her since she called them this morning. Hey, call my girls and ask for chocolate, they love when people call them so maybe they’ll save you some, too!

Psst…….

2010-04-03T05:30:00.001-07:00

Go check out the cute little straps on my Domestic Goddess blog. Link on the right side in the Menu section. :)

A little spring cleaning.

2010-03-31T09:10:00.001-07:00

Once again, I’ve changed the look of this blog. :) I can’t help it, I get restless and want to change it all the time. My tabs that were on top are now on the side under “menu.”

Hope you all enjoy the new look! I’ll tweak it a bit, but it should be just fine.

The Hair Sisters & Earth Hour

2010-03-28T05:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday both of the girls decided they wanted their hair down for the day. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”

This was Hannah’s hair shortly after she got out of the shower. Oh my goodness, my little girl is growing up at lightning speed, isn’t she? Damn, she’s gorgeous.

Kali was telling me about all the dirt she had on her hand. :) That pink dress is about 2 years old and she wears it all the time. She was very happy to finally wash the dirt off of her hand after she was done helping Daddy outside.

Last night was Earth Hour. At 8:30 we shut off all the lights, computers, and TV and hung out for a quiet hour. Well, Alex was desperately trying to find the basketball game on his phone, which was quite amusing. Kali read to us by candlelight. I was thrilled that she read to us! Normally she won’t read to anyone else but me, and only when we do our school work.

I would show you pictures of our Earth Hour, but it was too dark!

While I enjoyed hanging out in the dark with everyone, I was slightly glad when 9:30 rolled around and I could see again! It was either that, or I was going to fall asleep on the couch because my brain thought it was bedtime after I sat in the dark for an hour!

Mindless fluff

2010-03-24T11:15:00.001-07:00

On a parenting message board that I belong to, there’s a “list ten things about yourself” post.

Ten is not enough. Not that I’m some fantastic human being, but because I have too many quirks.

I will list my million here, and y’all will be kind and leave a comment with your 10 or more.

1. I'm 5'10" - short compared to my 6'8" dh!

2. I never thought I'd have more than 1 child.

3. I really want to travel - a lot.

4. I have not had a working vehicle since the middle of December.

5. I thought homeschooling was only for crazy people! Hmmm...I might be crazy then!

6. I cannot stand fake people or liars. No room in my life for that.

7. I cannot keep plants alive. I try, oh how I try, and I keep killing them.

8. My youngest has some undiagnosed "issues." However, if I could clone her and have 10 more, I would. I tell her if everyone in the world had her heart, there would be no more war.
9. I love to cook. I'm making dinner for a bunch of friends Friday night.

10. If Disney would let me, I'd live there and work for them for free. Come on, Mickey, give a girl a chance!

11. I hate making phone calls.

12. Bent paper makes me twitch. And I have to have more than one piece to write on – like it needs to be stacked neatly, not bent, and have at least 2 or more pieces. :)

13. I love to run. In the dark. Alone. With my iPod. :)

14. I am a total homebody.

15. I am a glass half full/eternal optimist kind of girl. Better to look on the bright side than be constantly complaining, right?!

16. Streak-free windows are not something I can manage to do.

Oh there’s more, but this could take all day! Your turn!

New tab

2010-03-19T16:23:00.001-07:00

At the top of my handy-dandy blog here are two little tabs. One is for my favorite place in the world, and the other one is a brand-spankin’ new tab. Click on it, then tell me what you think. Pretty please? With sugar on top? I’d appreciate it.

One day you’re in, the next day….you’re out.

2010-03-17T07:22:00.001-07:00

I’m talking about calories here. Why, oh why, do they have to be the reason I gain weight?! ;) Maybe I should stop shoving food in my mouth, huh?

1 pound = 3,500 calories. Can’t the calorie fairy make it, oh, more than that?

I’m back to tracking my calories on SparkPeople. I really need to drop another 20 pounds, and I need to figure out where my calories are going. Can we say…..coffee, milk, and sugar?! So by calculations I should be eating around 1,800 calories a day and burning a total of 500 calories a day more than I’m eating which will give a 1 pound a week loss. That’s doable, right?

Thankfully, running kills off about 100 calories per mile. I ran 4 miles this morning. :) I figure the more I run, the more I’ll lose. The more I lose, the more I’ll run! What a concept, right?! I am just tired of attempting to run with all this extra weight floppin’ around on me. Do they make a sports bra for your butt?! No, really, I’m serious.

Tracking calories is a tedious, PITA thing to do. But it’s a necessary evil. Also, it makes me realize that I need to up my protein intake. That, in turn, will improve my running, too. It also makes me realize that I consume wayyyyy too many carbs. Damn. I love my carbs. I refuse to give them up, but I will cut down on them.

I had a really nice 4 mile run this morning. Well, the first mile was hell. Why is the first mile always my worst? My legs are usually begging me to turn around and go back home. And then there’s the whole “I need a sports bra for my butt” thing. Mile 2 was better. Mile 3 was even better. On mile 4 I decided to put it into high gear; running fast can’t kill me, right?! I took about 2 minutes off my mile pace time, and at one point in that mile, had taken it down 4 minutes. By the end of that last mile, I was 2 minutes ahead of my pace, totally out of breath, and thrilled. I love that feeling.

Remind me of that when my alarm goes off in the morning, okay?