Ethan Turns "6"

Ethan turned six on the 11th! It was a whirl wind day for me. Of course our day started at 6:45am, getting Ethan ready for school. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday breakfast the day before, so I could run to the store and get all the necessary items. His response was, "Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch Cereal", I had to laugh! No special waffles or homemade muffins for my kids, they want sugar cereal! Then at 10:45am, Emily and I went to Ethan's school to have lunch with a loved one. It was book fair week and they invited parents to eat lunch with their children and buy books. I let Ethan pick what special treat/lunch I would bring, and of course it was McDonalds (yuck!). But since it was his birthday, I said OK (I skipped lunch, I'm not a McDonalds fan). I then took treats to his class at 2:40, he wanted donuts with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. From 4:00-5:30 I had piano lessons, then the kids and I met Dan at Rainforest Cafe at 6:00, for a special birthday dinner (Ethan's choice). The kids had a blast, they loved all the animals! To end our dinner, Ethan got the volcano (4 slices of brownie type cake encircled around ice cream, topped with a mound of whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup and a sparkler on top). Adam was so impressed he informed everyone 4 or 5 times that he wanted to go to Rainforest Cafe for his birthday dinner. After getting home, Ethan opened all of his gifts and then we rushed everyone to bed (it was way, way past bedtime).

I decided to skip the friends party this year. Our lives have been a little to crazy. Plus, spring break started two days later and we are going out of town. Ethan received tons of great gifts; lots of Lego's, DS games, movies and bakugans. He is in heaven with everything and can't wait until next year. Thanks Everyone!!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothie

Most of you know that I alternate between South Beach and Weight Watchers for best all around results for my body (I have to keep it in surprise mode). Well, I've been doing SB this month and after day 3 I am usually done with eggs! I've been looking around for alternate breakfast foods, and I ran across this Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothie recipe. Of course, my interest was peaked, it is SB approved and it only carries 4 WW points. I tried it, and LOVED IT!! Ethan wanted to taste it as well, and he told me it tasted like candy. If you love peanut butter and chocolate (who doesn't) or recess peanut butter cups you will love this breakfast/snack alternative.

1/2 C. skim or soy milk
1/2 C. FF, plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 Tbsp. Splenda
1/2 C. ice

I admit I was skeptical and it looked a little weird after mixing it all together, but it tasted amazing!! Let me know what you think.

Sick Kids Are Wonderful!

This last month has seemed to creep by in an unusually slow pace at our house. Dan was in D.C., Denver and Austin for most of the month. The kids and I had to make due with entertaining ourselves. I have definitely decided I don't like being home alone and I found that weekends are the worst. Last week was the kicker for me, all 3 children ended up in the doctors office. Unfortunately it was not at the same time, they each had to have their grand entrance on different days. I swear the office girls must think I'm nuts, you know they were thinking, "wasn't she here yesterday". Well, the answer would be a loud YES! Adam decided to go first with a sinus infection, Emily claimed second this time around with an ear/sinus infection and Ethan came in ultra sick with strep throat. He has been home since Friday, and even though he is on antibiotics he is still running high fevers, so he's home again today (I swear this kid is always running a fever). I'm hoping he's better enough to be shipped off tomorrow.

At church, I am probably on the less active list (for the last 3 months). I haven't been to church in 3 weeks for February, and I probably only attended a couple of times for the other months. This time of year is always so fabulous on our family. The weather can't decide if it wants to be 80 or 30. I am grateful that my family is on AB and I'm hoping this keeps them well for a while!

Cookies and Diets Do Go Together!

I love finding new Weight Watchers Recipes. I also love buying the boxes of WW cookies, but they tend to get a little pricey when my husband and kids are eating them faster than I am. I found this recipe and they are super good, plus most of the ingredients you already have at home! The biggest part, you get 2 cookies for 1 point!!

Weight Watchers Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp light butter, softened (I like Brummel and Brown Spread)
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, dark-variety
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 large egg white
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine. In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout. Drop rounded half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 servings.

Serving size is 2 cookies
Each serving = 1 Weight Watchers Point

If you want a bigger cookie, then drop 1 teaspoon full of dough onto baking sheet. Then your serving size is 1 cookie for 1 point.

Valentines Day 2009

Our Valentines Day started off great, got a little crazy and then ended with a bang! For breakfast I made apple strudel muffins (from scratch) and cooked bacon. Each plate was topped off with a small box of chocolates. The boys were ready to skip breakfast and eat just the chocolates, but we had to set some guidelines. Then, Dan was off for some fun filled relaxing golf with his friends (my gift to him). While at home Emily was crying all day with her teeth, trying to skip both of her naps and being a real mood destroyer. So, when Dan rolled home relaxed and rejuvenated I was ready to throw in the towel and go to bed. But, we already had a babysitter and he had made plans. We went to a restaurant called bluefish. It is by far one of my new found favorites. They have the best Sushi Ever! The atmosphere was very hip and relaxing, and after 3 diet cokes I was having a great time!

On the way into the restaurant, Dan was trying to be sneaky. He accidentally chucked this box across the ground, landing right in front of my feet (missing his coat pocket completely).

Once inside, he actually let me open the box, the anticipation was killing me. And to my surprise were these beautiful earring! I've always wanted a pair!! The picture doesn't do them justice. They are big, bright and sparkly.... and I love them.

After an amazing, relaxing dinner we went to the movies and decided we would rather head to Barnes and Nobles to look for books on Hawaii. We are heading there sometime in July (I am so excited). Our 10 year anniversary was last year but with Emily being so small, we postponed until this year. Then we topped off our night with some amazing Starbucks caramel hot chocolate with whipped cream. Thanks for an amazing night babe! I love you!!

Our Baby Is On The Move

Emily is on the move, she has been crawling for about a week now. I forgot how much time you spend taking them from dangerous locations over, and over, and over......to find them back in the same locations 5 minutes later. Her latest fascination is the windows and the TV. I have to put my drapes up and the blinds up, but she loves to use the ledge and push herself into a standing position. She also loves to push all of the buttons on the DVD player and change the channel on the TV. This causes mass hysteria when the boys are watching one of their favorite programs. :O)

She turns 9 months old on Sunday! I know as parents we say this over and over, but the time has gone by extremely fast. It probably seems fast to me, since Emily is our last.

Ethan's School Play

The 4 kindergarten classes at Ethan's school put on a play about the 3 Nanny goats and their 3 younger brothers. It was very cute! Ethan was chosen to play Willy Goat, the 2nd younger brother. There were 3 girl goats, 3 boy goats, 2 butterflies, 1 bee and 1 mean troll. The rest of the students were on risers on the sides singing. The kids seemed to have a great time.