33 and Counting!

Yes, today is my 33 Birthday! YEAH!! There are several things that I am starting to notice (changes): fine lines and wrinkles around my forehead... all over for that matter. The ability to sleep till noon has some how stopped (this could be the kids) I can't seem to sleep past 7:30. Chocolate and nachos are no longer my friend, I've become BFF with weight watchers and south beach. I think I'm loosing my hearing because everyone has to repeat themselves, this could be my bodies way of automatically tuning out my children when they are fighting, whining or yelling (sorry to all of those I ignore who aren't my children, it's not intentional).

This morning started off a little rocky at our house. I have had kids up at night crying off and on all week. I assumed it was allergies, the moon or it could just be Texas, but last night was the best. I think Dan and I got zero sleep, but whose counting. After you have babies your body learns to run on zombie mode. Well, after a quick visit to the doctors office my poor babies are actually really sick. Ethan has a sinus infection and strep throat. Emily has a sinus infection and double ear infections. We dropped off 6 prescriptions at the local CVS, stopped by Sonic for a super sized Diet Dr. Pepper and came home to find that my adorable friends had brought me Chipotle's steak soft taco's and a diet coke! I am so lucky to have the best group of friends a girl could ask for, I'm sorry to say that several of them are moving away! Thanks girls, you are amazing!

My adorable sister posted a hilarious birthday blog, to read go to: http://cloudfambams.blogspot.com/2009/04/happy-b-day-to-my-sister.html . I thought it was fitting that I leave my responses to her top 8 favorite memories of me, so here they are:

1.I was scared to death of that stupid fire baton but the teacher was pretty insistent upon it, I was to young to say NO :o)

2.I loved playing barbies with you until Wesley butched all of their hair.

3.I don't remember letting you go anywhere, are you sure I was in charge:o)

4.I loved becoming best friends, my favorite part was how we shared nachos and Slurpee's and we wouldn't share with any of the tag along guys.

5.I do remember the curling iron, I think mom still has it. I think high school was the last time I actually had bangs. It's a good thing styles changes!

6.I forgot about this, I was only doing it because all of my friends in 7th grade knew the words and I didn't. I had to beg... Michael to record the song for me, since he was a DJ. (peer pressure)

7.I still remember how my 8th grade English teacher (can't remember her name) commented, "I would love to see you perform this at 18, and see the boys reactions". (Thanks for the mental picture, I was barely 12).

8.Oh Duncan... enough said :o)

Thanks for the fantastic food, amazing gifts and the green stuff$$!! I love you all dearly!

Spring Break 2009

Fossil Rim Wildlife Park

Adam - Dinosaur Valley State Park

Ethan in Fossilized foot prints


One of Fossilized sites

Dan and kids at Dinosaur Valley State Park

We decided to go to Dinosaur Valley State Park and Fossil Rim in Glenrose, TX. this year for spring break. We really wanted to take the kids somewhere fun, but we didn't want to travel for days getting there. We had a great time! We left Thursday morning for Glenrose. We checked into the Comfort Inn and Suites around 3:00p.m. just in time for Emily to go down for a nap. Dan took the boys to Big Rock Park while she was sleeping (think house size boulders, surrounding a river). They had so much fun jumping off the rocks and walking down the river towards a small dam.

Friday, we toured Dinosaur Valley State Park, they have fossilized footprints throughout the park (3 sites). The footprints are located along the riverbeds, they go for miles.

Saturday we toured Fossil Rim Wildlife preserve. This is a 3 to 4 hour driving tour. We saw rhino's, cheetah's, ostrich, emus, zebra's, giraffe and lots of deer species. It was great, we had purchased special animal food from the main office (the animals only came around you, if you had the food). We had several close calls. The ostrich, emus and zebra actually came into our van. We were all screaming, except for Dan, of course. The animals are wild and they tell you not to feed them from your hands because they will probably bite. At one point, Adam was sitting on Dan's lap driving, while Emily and Ethan were sitting with me. An ostrich came through the passenger window and stopped right in front of Adams face (in the drivers seat). He became really pale and his eyes were extremely large. The funniest part was, he never moved. All the while Emily, Ethan and I were screaming and laughing like crazy. The weather here was great, it was mid 70's! It was a ton of fun and the boys keep asking if we are going back.

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!!