CSA - We got our first box

I was so excited yesterday that I picked up our first box of Organic Produce from Full Circle Farm - I don't think that I have ever been so excited to eat fruits and veggies.

Just check out all that healthy food sitting on my kitchen counter!! We received lettuce, celery, broccoli, tomato, baby carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, apples, strawberries, peaches, grapes and avocados!!!

I loved that they included recipes in the box that we could try using our box contents!!!

Have a great weekend!!

I couldn't resist......

Those of you who have met my son, Quentin know that he is a CRAZY kid - I mean earlier posts from Spirit Week at Pre-School confirm that he doesn't care what he is wearing or what people think of him.

So last week I am in the kitchen cooking dinner and he says "Mom I need to go out to the car and get something" he is telling me this as he is putting on his crocs....he has nothing else on except for underwear and his crocs. I just looked at him and said "Just wait and I will run out and find what you need" I honestly didn't know what he was going to get..

I continue to get dinner ready -I hear the screen door open Joe was coming in - and then he is cracking up - I look out the kitchen window and this is what I see....Thank God the camera was sitting on the counter!

I totally cracked up - I mean seriously the kid is a nut! What was even funnier is that he did not care that he was in his underwear - and our neighbor was outside and all I could hear for about

5 minutes was the neighbor laughing......

I must be crazy...but it is for the kids!!!!

I think that most parents would agree that we want to make our children happy, well at least I want them to be happy most of the time.

So last Wednesday I was looking at the Sprout website for coloring sheets for Quentin and there was an ad for The Wiggles they are joining the Sprout line up. Quentin LOVES the Wiggles, well I guess LOVES is a bit much. He did LOVE the Wiggles when he was younger, he does watch them every now and then but not addicted like when he was 2. So I clicked on the ad which then flashed that the lovable Australians will be on tour this summer, I took a look at the cities which they will be visiting and saw they will have one show in Western Washington in July. I immediately went to my mileage account with Alaska Airlines to see how many miles I had and if we could sneak away for a long weekend to see the Wiggles and of course all my peeps in Tacoma and Olympia!!!

I then called my mom and asked her what she had on her calendar and if she was up for a quick trip to America? She said YES - she was in!! I booked the tickets, hotel and car! BTW my mom said she is "super excited to see Captain Feathersword" I really do think that she is the best Grandma - I mean to know the characters of the freaking Wiggles - AWESOME!!!

My next call was to Aim (my BFF) I wanted to make sure she was going to be in town the weekend we would be down, YES she was - the planets were all aligned because everything was working out BEAUTIFULLY! I asked Aim if they wanted to come to Everett to see the Wiggles and she said she had to talk it over with Brian, so I told her I would call her tomorrow.

I called Aim the next day and she said that they were in!! I was at my mom's office so we jumped online to get the show tickets. We had some issues with the website so ended up calling the arena - now get this visual - I am on cell phone talking to Aim, my mom is on her office phone talking to the ticket agent at the arena - my mom kept telling me to hush which then I relayed to Aim whispering of course and then busting out in laughter because Aim and I were being told to SHOOSH.....Aim and I are a bit crazy when together and apparently on the phone as well!! LOL!!!
So the tickets secured and reservations made we are set, now I just have to wait 4 weeks and then our adventure will begin! Those who know me well know that I am not a good waiter!

I have not told Quentin we are going to see the Wiggles, I did tell him we were going to see Amy (he loves Amy) and that Grandma was going to come too! He was very excited about that!!

This morning I was getting ready for work and Quentin was eating breakfast watching Sprout and a commercial for the Wiggles concert came on - he asked me if they would be coming to Alaska, I told him no they weren't. He had the saddest little face and said "No body ever comes to Alaska" I mean I wanted to bust out and YELL - we are going to see them in Washington. But I didn't for two reasons 1) I don't want to count how many sleeps until we leave and 2) I don't want to hear for the next 4 weeks "Mom today we are going to see the Wiggles?"
So I am going to wait until the morning of the show and tell him, he is going to FLIP out!

So I must be crazy for taking a whirl wind trip to Washington for the sole reason to see a children's concert - but when I imagine how excited Quentin is going to be it is all worth it!!

The added bonus is that I will have a day in a half in Olympia to hang with my friends/family!

There have been additions to families, I can't wait to meet Kate's Daniel and for everyone to meet Adri - plus it has been a couple of years since I have seen everyone -so I am just plain EXCITED!!!! OK a little confession - I am a smidge excited about getting to see the Wiggles too!!!

Another Heathly Choice for my family

I took another step today on the path to making healthy choices for myself and family!

I joined a CSA program! I am very excited and anxious to receive my first box - I will get to pick up my fresh organic produce on Thursday and can't wait to see what it contains.

Thank you to my friends Amy C and Amy H who have talked so highly of thier local CSA program that I did some research and long last found one that delivers to ALASKA!!!!!!!!!

I will keep you all posted on the contents of the first box and how we like it!!

If you join the CSA program from reading my blog please put me down as a friend referral!!!

Have a happy healthy day!!! (My lord that sounds corny LOL)

IMG00285.jpg

Adri will be 9 months on Tuesday, she officially has two teeth that are showing when she smiles! I already miss the big gummy toothless smile. She is scooting around all over the place and tonight she decided to pull herself up and hang on to the ottoman she didn't take any steps yet but I guess that is coming soon! As you can see she was very proud of herself!

Sent from my BlackBerry®

IMG00282.jpg

The first week on the plan and I had a 2 pound loss! Not the huge loss that I have experienced in the past the first week, however I have 2 kids now and a differnt lifestyle. I am thrilled with the loss, it is a loss! So I am on the path to success!
My goal for this week is to get up and walk for 30 minutes 3 days this week!
I am also going to Sams this weekend to stock up on fruits and veggies!!!!!
I feel good with the choices that I made this week, I know that I had a couple not so good days but this is a new week and as long as the scale is going down I am happy!
Have a good week!
Sent from my BlackBerry®

Day 3

I am on day 3 of Weight Watchers. I am feeling good, I need to add some activity besides chasing the kids around at night to the regimine if I want to meet my December goal - will reveal later!

Decided that I will not be allowing myself any treats until I reach my first 5% goal which is 12 pounds, which means no Starbucks for me, this is super hard for me but I know that it will be so much better to reward myself.

So I was especially proud of myself today - Joe had jury duty downtown and was dismissed early so he walked to my mom's office and then they met me at City Diner so that we could have lunch and switch out the car - we are still down to only one vehicle......that is a whole other blog....

So I was a little nervous that I would be able to find something "legal" for the program at City Diner, I mean they have traditional diner food which is all so GREAT and tempting and the desserts alone are a great excuse to eat dessert first! Ok back on track now, so I had the grilled halibut filet but ordered it to be grilled with no lemon butter (SIGH) and only with pam cooking spray and choose steamed veggies. I mean it was such a great lunch! It was the first time that I walked out of that place and didn't feel totally full and umcomfortable, but I was satisfied!!!!

SO I think that this is a great first step in my new eating habits!!!!

IMG00145.jpg

The weather has been so nice so far this summer! Joe took the kids to Goose Lake which is by our house. Quentin had a great time wadding in the water.
Sent from my BlackBerry®

IMG00273.jpg

A New Day.....full disclosure!

I did it today I joined Weight Watchers today. This will be my 4th or 5th time joing the program. The time that I was most successful was before Quentin was born, I lost 65 pounds.
Of course 2 children later and those 65 pounds have come back.
I did lose all the weight that I gained when I was pregnant with Adri, but obviously there is a lot more to lose. My starting weight is where I was after Quentin was born 4 in a half years ago so that is good I guess.
At any rate I joined again, I am giving my friends full disclosure, the picture on the post is the card that I was given today when I weighed in. As you can see my starting weight is 254 today is the last time that when I step on a scale it will register those numbers. I would like to reach my goal weight (which I will disclose later).
So I will post each week my success I will also post those weeks when I don't do so well. I am really feeling that this is the time in my life to get a handle on my food addiction.
I know that I have the support of my friends and family to as they say at WW have a winning outcome.
Between the accountability in the weekly meetings and posting me weekly weight on this blog there is no reason for me to not be successful!
Sent from my BlackBerry®

Quentin are you there....?

When I picked up Quentin after school yesterday they were outside playing, which is GREAT that they are taking advantage of the sunny days that we have had. Last summer the average temp was low 50's all summer with maybe two days of sun - we are all LOVING this weather!

Anyway I was heading to the play ground and Quentin's teacher saw me and said he is a big dust ball - I just smiled and continued to the play ground. Sure enough he was a walking dirt ball - the first thing that came to mind was "my god I gave birth to Pig Pen" He was wearing plaid shorts and a white t-shirt that was now gray from all the dirt on it.....

I really should have taken a picture because it was so mind boggling how one child could get so dirty in a single day....he ran up to me and gave me a big hug - I was wearing black slacks so I had two little hand prints on my butt - NICE.....good thing I didn't have to go anywhere last night!

As soon as we got home we didn't not even say hello to Joe or Adri we went right upstairs to the tub where I proceeded to scrub the child, his hair felt so nasty when I put the water on his head to wash - like I was making a mud pie on my childs head or something, my white washcloth was black by the time he was all clean and the bath water was DISGUSTING.......I had to scrub the tub when he was done there was so much sand on the bottom.

I am glad though that he has such a good time at school, we have signed him up for the summer program so I will have many more nights of picking up Pig Pen!!

IMG00135.jpg

Mother's Day!



It was decided last night that I would be allowed to sleep in today. Joe set his alarm so he would be up before the kids, well before Adrianna. She woke up early, of course! I got up with her while Joe took a shower then I went back to bed! I slept for another hour which was nice!

Quentin was very excited to give me the card that he signed himself, poor kid has such a long name he only got to Que before he had Joe help with the rest, it was still precious and I teared up he is getting so big!

Joe gave me a small camera that I can keep in my purse or diaper bag, no more missing those important moments because the other camera is too big!

We are having my mom and brother over tonight for a BBQ the weather is beautiful and I have a great family, I couldn't ask for anything more! I hope that you all enjoyed being with your kids and family!

Happy Mother's Day!

Sent from my BlackBerry®

IMG00234.jpg

8 months old and on the move!

Adrianna is 8 months today. She has changed so much in these few months. Her smile is contagious and she is starting to get into EVERYTHING. Quentin is such a great big brother and they love each other. She is on the move too, gone are the days when I could walk away or run upstairs and come back and she would be in the same place and everything is still in order! She is also finding her voice, which is super cute when she screams and then giggles although not so cute when out in public.
The time has gone by so quickly it makes me sad to think that the time will continue to go by quickly.
I have to remind myself to cherish every moment that I can with both of my kids!
Happy 8 month birthday!
Sent from my BlackBerry®

Sopapilla Cheesecake

This recipe is a little late since Cinco was yesterday but you really can make it anytime......it is so DELICOUS - I discovered this recipe when I was pregnant and made it a couple times SOOO YUMMY! It makes a lot so perfect when you have to take something to a pot luck or have a gathering at your house.

2 (8 ounce) Packages of cream cheese - I use Tofutti cream cheese and you can't tell the difference it is a little more healthy
2 (8 ounce) crescent rolls - I use the recipe creations it is a single sheet of the flaky rolls so you don't have to mess with the seams.
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup margarine or butter melted
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (1 cup sugar to 2 tbs cinnamon)

Unroll one package of the crescent roll into the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan, you will flatten to the bottom of the pan.
Mix together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla - spread over the crescent
Unroll second package of the crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture
Pour melted butter or margarine over the top and sprinkle with teh cinnamon sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I enjoy mine warm so let cool for about 15 minutes then serve. You can also let cool completely and serve your choice.

Quentin loves this cake (which is why I use tofutti and soy butter) - let me know what you think!

ENJOY!!!!

Diaper Cakes

I have stumbled upon a new craft! Diaper Cakes these are so cute and make such a great gift as well as super cute center pieces for baby showers!

The boy cake I did like the washcloth flower!

So I made one last night for a girl - I made one last week for a boy and it turned out cute but the girl one looked so much better, I sold these cakes for $50 each they were for friends. I think that I am going to put an ad on craigslist and sell them for showers - a little extra cash is always welcome in my home!! :)

when it was all done I wrapped it in tulle and tied it off with pink ribbon that said Its a Girl and then white ribbon with pastel hearts!

I am going to make one for a friends shower that I am attending next week, which will be fun.

Finally some nice weather!!

tire swing

Adri had a lot of fun watching all the kids and chewing on her shoe!

Spring in Alaska has finally sprung. This weekend we had BEAUTIFUL weather!!

Sunday afternoon we took a picnic to the park and had a great time....

Really the pictures say it all!!

I am hoping that the summer and the good weather stick around!!!

15 hours of Scrapbooking!!!!!!!

pasta salad!

Cold Cut lunch meat for sandwiches

My work space - very messy!!!

Emily journaling! Notice the beautiful glare from the sun in the window - behind her a demonstration going on!

Working hard on her project!

Aunt Lisa with her Scrapbooking Flair

National Scrapbook Day was this past Saturday and I was lucky enough to get to scrap with my aunt and friend Emily for 15 whole hours!!

It was so much fun!!!! Emily was kind enough to pick me up at 8AM we were meeting Aunt Lisa at Starbucks for breakfast before heading over to More than a Memory to scrap at 9AM. The agreed time to meet was 8:15AM - at exactly 8:02AM I received a text message from Aunt Lisa that said "WHERE ARE YOU?" I mean this woman is crazy, she had her bags packed for weeks and had laid her clothes out Friday night when she got home for work for Saturday...I mean she is NUTS!

Once we all had our drinks and a delicious breakfast sandwich we were on our way to start our 15 hours of scrapping!!

There was a great bunch of ladies at the shop scrapping, we met a new friend Liz who is a Creative Memories consultant and our new BFF! There was also a very annoying girl who was sitting next to Lisa and literally did not stop talking from the moment she arrived to when Tonya (the shop owner) kicked her out after midnight....Emily, Lisa and I were texting each other very rude comments about the girl. I would get up to use the SIZZIX or the Cricut and would come back to the table and the girl would still be talking - I would say "still talking" it would have been one thing if she was talking about something interesting - but she was talking about such stupid stuff...it was rather annoying. At one point I said that my throat hurt and that I probably have the swine flu - as a joke. The annoying girl jumped in and said "you know swine flu has not come to Alaska yet" I just looked at her and said "well I am probably the first case" I rolled my eyes at her which did not phase her and she kept talking........I really wanted to take a sharp object and shove it in my eye at one point.

Drawings were held throughout the day - we all won at least 2 prizes which is always fun! I won a Christmas paper pack that included stamps, stickers and embellishments. I also won a Birthday pack which was perfect since I had been eyeing that paper line at the store!

Aunt Lisa and Emily both won cutting systems which were valued at $60 - Emily also won an album and I can't remember the second prize that Aunt Lisa won.

We also had a wonderful lunch of cold cut sandwiches and pasta salad and chocolate chip cookies.

Dinner was taco salads and ice cream sandwiches for dessert!

There was a lot of laughing while we worked!

I got both kids albums caught up - I have this past Easter to scrap so I am pleased!

It was a long day but so worth it, the only thing that would have made it perfect was if my scrap-sister Brenda was here, she moved to Florida exactly a year ago...I miss her especially when I do these types of things we started our scrap addiction together!

Day 3 - Spirit Week

Today is Beach Day!! I think that my child is such a ham on most days but his outfit today was proof that he is a character!!!

I can't imagine what his Spirit Week clothes will look like when he is in high school if he loves doing things like this in Pre-school!!

I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures!!

Day 2 of Spirit Week - Crazy Hat!!!!

As promised here are pictures of Crazy Hat Day at Quentin's school!

We bought a Top Hat from Michaels and hot glued several items to the hat that he picked out from the dollar bin!

In case you can't see, I tried to get the best pictures:

- Kazoo

- Harmonica

- Bouncy Ball

- Yo-Yo

- Bubbles (that is what is hanging from the front)

- Felt Guitar - you know it would not be my child if he didn't have some kind of drum or guitar reference!

What the heck is he doing?

This morning when I went into to wake Quentin up and so we could get ready for school this is how he was sleeping. I am not sure how he did not fall out of his bed....


He was just snoring away - I really don't know what he was doing or how he managed to stay in bed and not fall out but he did...Also it should be noted because you can't tell from the picture but his little foot is not touching the floor it was just dangling there.........

Spirit Week

This is spirit week at Quentin's preschool this week, since he only goes 3 days a week he will get to participate....honestly I think that I am more excited about all the silly things he gets to wear to school than he is.

We went to Michaels this weekend to get the supplies we needed for Crazy Hat day - that is tomorrow so I will post a picture tomorrow!

We also went to KidtoKid to get the clothes that he needed for Crazy Clothes day! This is what we came up with -I have to say that it is a pretty cool shirt!

I bought these two shirts for $3.00 each and then cut the collar off each and cut them down the middle and sewed them together (with grandmas help) for a CRAZY SHIRT.....

He fit right in at school, there was a little girl who had on pajamas and a swim suit over them. I love it! If only adults could be so carefree! Although I wonder what my boss would say if I showed up at work with my jammies and a swim suit on!!!

More pictures this week as spirit week continues!!!