So in love....

I have been away from the blog world for a hot second or a few weeks but life just gets busy and sometimes I just am not motivated to put my thoughts into words and sentences and to add pretty pictures. So today I am going to make it easy on myself but share with you a little bit of my world. I want to show you some things I am in love with. Now that it is Spring here in Indiana (although today it is a blistery 39 degrees but just yesterday it was warm and 70. Stupid Indiana weather. oh well.) Now that it is Spring....I am in a much better mood and feeling "in-love" Here are some of my loves...

My handsome husband

 

My girls

 

This girl (Lilly) so sweet and innocent and now ready for Kindergarten

 

My $10 flea market find includes a bowling ball that fits me perfect. Bowled a 130

 

My new friend Ashley. She has been such a blessing to me at work. We clicked almost immediately and are so much alike.

 

Pad Thai! Love it, want to only it Pad Thai items! Seriously it's that good. I just stay away from curry.

 

This FABULOUS lady, my mom, who turns 50 tomorrow.

I know, we can't believe it either. She gets prettier and younger looking every year. Sure hopes she passes that down to me

 

 



I am addicted to Candy Crush. I was stuck on level 23 for 3 days but finally beat it yesterday and emailed my mom right away b/c I knew only she would be just as happy as I was. She was been stuck on level 29 for a few days now. Danny asked me how many levels there were and I said over 100. His reply was, well that's just worthless then. lol

 

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Working out. We have a gym at our Corp. building. I have gone each day this week. Getting in shape for my vacation in just a few weeks.

 



Dreaming of our vacation spot and knowing we will be there soon.

 

 

Craving Lemon Bars and making them tonight. Yummy!

 

 

My new favorite show. My husband and I totally jumped on the bandwagon and haven't looked back. Love it and love them. I crack up randomly just thinking about what Si or Jase said on the latest episode. Love when I find someone who also loves the show! I get so tickled.

 

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So what are your current loves? Any you want to share with me?

Spring...are you there?

Happy Spring everyone. What a beautiful day here in Indiana. The sun is shinning, the birds are whistling and the flowers are blooming. WAIT what? Oh I am sorry....that is wrong information.

Hey has anyone seen that Groundhog, Phil? Well you tell him, that I am not happy. An early Spring he said....not in the least bit. Last year this day is was 83 degrees. 83 Phil! Do you know what the temp is today? 27. Looks like someone needs to retire. Just saying. ☺

Well so today is not warm nor is it above freezing but it isn't snowing and I know we are getting closer to nicer temps. "They" say that it is a good sign that it isn't so warm right now because just maybe we won't have an awful drought and hot temps we had last year.

I know it is near, I can fill it in my bones. My girls are aching to get outside. Just the other day Grace decided she was going out into the backyard to play. I had to remind her that it was just 24 degrees and that it was raining. To that response she said, but the Sun is out. Oh if it were only that easy. It is coming my dear child. You better get ready because mommy and daddy plan on spending a lot of time outside. Lots of park time planned, picnics, blowing bubbles and swinging. I also plan on making a lot of tea and lemonade. ♥

Are you excited for Spring. What are you fun Spring plans? What is the temperature in your area?

Dairy free yogurt

I love Yogurt! The only problem is that I am Lactose Intolerant. There aren't a lot of good DF choices out there though. Yoplait did have a lactose free yogurt which was delicious. However I am having a very hard time finding it now at any store. (tear) It is in a white and green container. If you see it, PLEASE let me know. I love it and would be forever grateful to you! Heck, pick up on for yourself. You will love it too. ♥

So in the meantime I have been trying other yogurts. I recently tried the Silk brand made with Almond milk. I tied the blueberry and black cherry. I still have a peach flavored yogurt in the fridge.

 

I will say it is a lot better than any other soy yogurt I have tried but not as good as the Yoplait yogurt. The texture and taste are a little off but something I could get use to.

Have you ever tried any of the Silk brand yogurts? What is your favorite type or brand of yogurt?

My favorite spring pattern

 

 

 

I went shopping this weekend and realized afterward that I was trending a pattern.

 

 

I enjoy the romantic pattern. It is soft, pink and flowery and very much me. Plus I had Spring on my mind.

Do you have go to patterns or styles  you usually shop for? Classic, edgy, boho chic?

The bowls are from Kroger at $1.47 a piece. The bag is from Forever 21 at $8.50 and the soap is also from Forever 21 at $3.50

A few funnies from Danny....

As I was going through my blog post I found this in my drafts from 2011. I never posted. It is too funny to not share. My husband cracks me up and can always make me laugh. We are very sarcastic to each other but we have so much fun together. He can make me laugh like no other and we have so many inside jokes. That may be one of my favorite things about him. Here you go, and Enjoy!...

Me: I bought you toaster strudels, they are like cheap cherry turnovers.

D: I know what they are, I grew up on them!

Me: You grew up on them? Your mom bought them for you when you were a kid?

D: No when I was an adult.

Me: Oh so like when you were 20 and living at home?

D: Yea!

*******************************************************************************

 

D: I like golf but it is so frustrating that I am not very good. I want to go back to playing basketball.

 I am honestly surprised when the ball doesn't go in.....

To his defense he is a very good basketball player, so much for being humble though! haha

Thanks Danny for the many laughs.

Like a good wife, I made him pose by Buzz.

 

 

Please resume the rest of your day... ☺

 

 

 

Aunt Marcia's Saturday morning donuts

As a kid growing up I used to spend a lot of time with my cousin TJ. We are 9 months apart. My mom only has 1 sibling, my aunt Marcia. So for the first four years it was just TJ and I. We were really close and did a lot of things together. I remember staying all night at Marcia's house and it seemed that every Saturday morning she would make these really delicious donuts. They were your basic refrigerator biscuits donuts. I always thought they were such a treat and so neat that she would make just for us. So I decided to make the same treat for my girls.

We started out with generic biscuits from Kroger (.49) we flattened them and then used a glass bottle cap. You remember the kind, like the ones from he old Pepsi glass bottles. You can use anything round or a cookie cutter but this is how my aunt did it so I am keeping with tradition. The girls helped me do this part. Although I did have to help pull the dough out of the bottle cap.

 

I then heated up a pan of oil ( I used Sunflower) and dropped in the biscuits. (Note: do not let kids around hot oil, Adults only) I recommend only frying 2 at a time. Don't overcrowd the pot. It only takes about 60 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Then place the baked donuts on a paper plate covered with a paper towel. I made a cinnamon and sugar mix which I dipped the baked donuts in after ever so slightly drying off on the paper towel.

 

Don't they look yummy? I also added dark chocolate sauce, carmel, and grape jelly to cute little dishes for easy dipping. I thought the girls would really enjoy this but Danny and I ate most of the toppings.  I also made a pumpkin pie mixture which I added to the cinnamon sugar mixture. It was tasty (side note: I made two pumpkin donuts. 1 for danny and 1 for myself. They were placed on top and Danny and I ate them first. Every donut Gracie picked up she said, oops I think I got the pumpkin one, No you didn't grace...Mom, is this one the pumpkin one...on and on it went. ☺)

 

The girls enjoyed their special treat and I enjoyed telling them the stories of our Aunt Marcia making these donuts for me when I was a little girl. I love passing down traditions and memories.

 

What will you share with your children/family this weekend?

Hello March

Goodbye February. HELLO March.

 I am so happy to see you arrive. Lots of neat things going on in March. St. Patrick's Day. I love any holiday I can dress up for. My Favorite Aunt's birthday is also on St. Patty's Day. We always do a girl day and do something fun.

 This year we are going to lunch and then going to see OZ The Great and Powerful. The Wizard of Oz is sentimental to our family. My grandmother (Mem) only owned two videos while I was growing up and this was one of them. I can remember watching it numerous times throughout my childhood. I would run into the other room when the monkeys were on and Mem would yell back when they were gone. TWoO reminds me and my family of Mem. So I found it fitting that we all go and see the Prequel. Note: my husband has never seen this movie all the way trough. Weird.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/oz-the-great-and-powerful/trailers/

Another reason I enjoy March is because it holds the first day of spring. Although it may not feel like Spring we know it's a comin'. Good Friday is also in March which means so is Easter. I love Easter. Lilly is super excited about Easter this year. We have been counting down for two weeks now.

Last night driving home, it was dark around 6:30, I saw two bunnies running around the yard. I was excited, came in and told Danny that Spring was just around the corner. A few minutes later he said to me....

D: "You know bunnies are out all year long right"
B: "What?"
D: "They don't just come out in the spring."
B: ".......Yes they do? I don't see them in the winter.... And explain the Easter bunny to me!"
D: "yelp you got me there" (rolling of the eyes)

Either way let's give a warm welcome to March!

Gracie turned 6

 February 13th was Gracie's Birthday. She turned 6 this year. The whole family just couldn't believe she was going to be 6 years old. It seems as though just yesterday we were bringing her home in the blizzard of 2007. Laying her on our brown ottoman, getting checking out my the home care nurse. She was a little jaundice and needed a billiblanket. She was always a really cute baby and was always smiling. It was like she never had a bad day. Well that was until June 27, 2008. J/K ( Lilly's Bday)

Grace has been a really good kid the last 6 years. It is neat to watch her grow and mature over the years. She has really grown up in the last year to 6 months. In just four months she will be considered a first grader. Now that's the big leagues. ☺

Happy Birthday to you...

 

 

 

 

She loves her shoes.

 

She asked me to make basketball cake pops. They were delicious and looked pretty good.

 

 

Gracie's favorite sister.

 

My sweet and silly girl. You are so precious to me and one of the best blessings I have ever received. Thank you for your sweet hugs and kisses every day. Thank you for always wanting to help out and for watching over your little sister.  Mommy and Daddy love you so much and pray for you everyday. We are all so excited to watch you grow into a beautiful young lady.

Basketball

Grace started playing basketball for the Boys and Girls club in January. She is very shy so it takes her awhile to warm up to the other girls and coaches. She had really improved over the last several games and is doing a great job. She scored a point last week and we were all really excited. The two things Danny and I always tell her to do are guard her girl and bring the ball down to the basket. Well last week it is like the first part finally clicked. She was all over her girl and was playing good defense. She still likes to bring the ball half-court and then passes it off. But hey, at least she isn't a ball hog.

Here are some pictures. She is on the pink team, number four and is wearing gray shorts with a green stripe.

 

Cute story about the shorts. The first practice she kept putting her hands in her pockets. It drove Danny crazy, so he sewed them up. He didn't tell her so the next practice she kept trying to put her hands in her pockets again. It was funny. This Saturday is her last game and we have just been so proud of her. After her season we want to sign Lilly up for dance or gymnastics. Lilly loves to do cartwheels during the quarter breaks. She is Gracie little cheerleader.

 

 

 

 That is Gracie's coach. She is good and getting your hands up, now go find your girl

 

Go Gracie - take it to the Basket

There she is, at half court, passing it away. Good teamwork

 

This picture was from last saturday. Look at that D-E-F-E-N-S-E

More Water Please

Did you know that if you wanted to lose weight and are trying to be healthy that you needed to drink 1 gallon of water a day. 1 Gallon equals 128 ounces. That is a lot of water. Are we swimming in it or drinking it? No wonder people lose weight, they are so full off of water they can’t eat anything else. Not to mention how many times a day you will have to stop by the rest room. It apparently actually helps our body to lose excess fat, aids in proper digestion and helps to rid the body of excess water

Well I may not be able to drink a gallon of water a day but I am going to try to drink more. I will try it out a couple of days and see how it goes. I feel like this will be better if I need to lose weight right away, say before Spring Break than an everyday activity.

I am not a good at drinking water anyway. I love my coffee in the morning, I love my tea that I sweeten with equal and occasional I love a soda. I love to sip steal from Danny. Sometimes you just need a good coke. But I have learned that the more I drink of those sugary drinks the more I feel hungry. I have tried the carbonated or seltzer water and I just can’t do that. Maybe it is an acquired taste but as my BIL says, “why should I have to acquire the taste” Good Point!

I have learned that I like my water ice cold. If I am going to drink a lot I don’t want any other flavors in it just plain water. If I am sipping for leisure (seriously?) then I don’t mind a splash of lemon or orange. In the spring and summer fresh cucumber or melon would be good.

Are there any other flavor combinations I should try?

I know a lot of people like to add the Crystal Light Sugar Free packets but for me it irritates my throat. It almost scratches it and then makes me feel uncomfortable for a day or so. I just try to avoid them at all costs.

Maybe this will take away my hunger pains and make me more conscientious of what I am putting into my body. I would like to stop eating less junk and processed foods. I have always heard drinking more water gives you better complexion and that is something I definitely need. Don’t get me started on having acne at almost 30. Like grow up body, get over it and move onto the next stage of life……glowing beauty. ☺ If only I had a filter like Instagram for real life. ☺

Dominos

I learned how to play a new game over NYE and now I am hooked. After our original plans were cancelled for NYE night the family and I ended up hanging out with my mom and Pops. We played Mexican Train Dominos. I Love games. But I am competitive so sometimes I take playing games to a whole different level.

The game is fun because it is a little bit strategy and little bit of luck. Each player draws 15 tiles/dominos. You first have to start with the coordinating tile. Each round it is a different number starting from double 12 down to the double blank tile. You can line up as many tiles on your first hand but then after that you can only play 1 tile. A few rounds in, I drew all the right tiles b/c I played all 15 on my first turn. It was fun to see everyone’s reaction. We ended up playing 3 hours of dominos. I did end up winning the game but think maybe it was all just beginners luck. So I would like to play again to see how well I do.

Danny and I had so much fun that the next day at 9pm we decided I should go to the local CVS and buy a set. They only had a set up to 6’s which is nowhere near as fun as the set of 12. I too won that game but I was only playing against my husband who isn’t super competitive and I had a 50% chance of winning. Lol Needless to say we plan on buying another set this weekend or in the near future. I mean, I need a challenge or it just isn’t fun. J So if you would like to challenge me to a game of Mexican Train Dominos just let me know. I am not saying I will beat you but I would like the chance to. Haha. All in good fun!  It really is a fun game. I would also like to learn how to play regular Dominos or any other version. If you know of a good way to play just let me know and I will look it up. Speaking of that…do you know how to play Euchre? When I went to college I realized that was an Indiana game and people outside of Indiana had no idea what I was talking about. There are lots of different variations of Euchre that Danny and I would like to play. We just never remember. Google it if you are interested.

Happy 2013

 

Happy 2013 everyone. I love New Year’s. It is a great time to start over. To start that new diet and be healthier. To be nicer and kinder to everyone you meet. To set goals. To reinvent yourself and to work on the things you neglected in the year before. More importantly it is a fresh start. I made two resolutions for myself and two for the girls. I thought about making Danny’s but then again he can probably make them on his own. If he can’t then I of course will help him. ☺

My new year’s resolutions are:

1.    To read a daily devotional. My mom gave each of us kids a devotional book from her church. Each day there is about a page and a half of reading. It starts from Matthew 1 and by the end of the year you have read the entire New Testament. What a great goal, right. I am only two days in but really enjoy it. My boss also has the same book b/c he goes to the same church and he and his family are reading it together. So now we can hold each other accountable. (PS. I love have a Christian boss. It was probably my biggest blessing of 2012)

2.    Increase my 401K. Now I know that seems boring but I am going to be 30 this year. I need to grow up and act like an adult. Plus my company matches what we donate. I won’t even miss what I am donating since it is taken from my gross pay. Well maybe I will now that our Social Security tax when up 2%. Oh well that is life!

The girls also have two resolutions:

1.    To eat better. No more buying the girls special foods like ravioli, spaghetti o’s, making plain peanut butter sandwiches or ramen noodles for their own special dinner. Whatever I make for dinner they will also eat (with little adaptation). The first night we had stir fry. Lilly of course loved it. Gracie gagged a little bit but did a good job of eating half a bowl. Day 2 was tomato soup and sandwiches. Danny and I had grown up grilled cheese with turkey.  Now I knew the girls wouldn’t like the tomato soup and on this instance I would have made chicken noodle but we were out. I did make them try it thought. Again Gracie gagged but said it was just ok. Lilly didn’t like it at first but the starting eating it out of the serving bowl. Lilly had a grilled cheese and Gracie had a turkey sandwich. She even went back for more turkey. I am tired of them filling up on fruit cups, yogurt and fruit snacks. They need to widen their palate. Danny and I love lots of different types of food and I want them to be the same way.  I know Gracie will give me push back but it is good for them and good for me.

2.    To read a daily devotional for kids. The girls love going to church. Everyday Lilly asks me what we are going to do. She always asks, “Is today church day?” She loves her class and loves the other children. It is so precious to Danny and me. They also love reading so combing the two is a great resolution for them.

So do you have any great resolutions? If not, don’t worry and don’t feel like you have to start today. You can start whenever is right for you. And if you need me to help you make your resolution well just ask. Just kidding. ☺(call me, whispered*)