Weekly Winners 11/30

November 23 - November 29


While on our nature walk last weekend...

While in the bath one night this past week...





While playing this week...




Visit the inventor of Weekly Winners, Sarcastic Mom, for more well... weekly winners! : )

On Health and Weightloss and all that stuff...

So last weekend Tim and I had a few kid-free hours on Saturday afternoon thanks to my MIL. During that time we went into a bookstore where I picked up the book Skinny B!tch. Yes, that is the name of the book.

After reading about half of it (btw, if you haven't guessed from the title, this book is not for the faint of heart vocabulary-wise) we (Tim and I) decided that the reason they are b!tches is because they never eat anything good. They're vegans. Personally, I'd be a little irritable too!

Now don't get me wrong. I have a cut A LOT of sugar and other things out of this house that many families continue to consume.

One of my biggest pet peeves (and yes, I WILL get on a soapbox about this) is kids and the overload of sugar that their parents knowingly AND unknowingly give them. Not because I think it makes them hyper but because I think in makes them unhealthy is SO many ways.

Although I will not become a Vegan anytime soon (or probably ever), I have to admit that the chapter on sugar and artificial sweetners REALLY opened my eyes. According to the book, "When Aspartame was put before the FDA for approval it was denied eight times." There's actually an entire semi-scandal behind the approval of Aspartame. And, the refined and over processed stuff (High Fructose Corn Syrup) that is in regular sodas is just as bad if not worse for you in the long run. So, I've given up soda/pop/Coke, whatever you want to call it. I didn't drink that much to begin with and I can SO live without it.

Anyway, the book is very enlightening in many ways but I have yet to finish it. I may adopt some of the things that they recommend and I am even willing to try some of the vegetarian things that I haven't before.. However, don't be looking for me to say I've become a Vegan anytime soon...

Moving along (literally), I finished my 5th week of my running yesterday. And.. IT. WAS. HARD. I'm gonna need y'alls encouragement again (Kami, are you out there?). I could barely breathe by the last running stint (I think pie overload was dragging me down). But, I did complete the 5K distance, including the walking, so that was good. I hope I can keep this up because I really want to. And, I am supposed to do a 'real' 5K in January with some friends.

Last thing to mention, I have lost 5 lbs. since I got back from California (although I think I gained a couple on the trip...). I cut out A LOT of the junk eating the couple of weeks before Thanksgiving and I know that, coupled with the exercise, has really helped. I hope to lose another 5 or so before Christmas. And that brings me to the "Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans."

Beth, Christy, Crooked Eyebrow and Melissa have teamed up to create this great site where we can all support each other in our endeavor to lose weight. Great idea, huh?

I've joined up. If you feel compelled, come join us too and lose some weight before Christmas and look great for the holidays and beyond! Just click on the button above.

The Milestones, They Are A Plenty!!

Today's post marks THREE (!) milestones for me.

Yesterday was the first time Tim and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house. It was a small, delicious and quite lovely celebration of the day. There were eight adults and our two boys. My BIL made the turkey so I didn't have to worry about that part (thank you Brian!) and his girlfriend Darlene brought some especialy yummy rolls from the Czech bakery (hello, the Czech girl here LOVES that!) so I didn't have to stress over making the ones I was going to attempt from scratch. Total. Blessing. Darlene, you rock.

Here is the table before we chowed down. (maybe only the third or fourth time we used our wedding china...)

I'm not sure if you can tell but there's something a tad amiss in this photo. See...the space that is traditionally a formal dining room in our house is currently being used as a play room complete with full on train table and tons of other stuff that I need to clean out before Christmas. And our eat-in area in the kitchen is a little small for a table for 8 so... we added the leaf to the table moved it into the living room and ate in there. It worked perfectly.

And the Cowboys won so my husband would say it was a pefect day all together. And well, I pretty much have to agree.

I wish we could spend it with both our families and maybe someday we can have everyone over. Not sure my living room is big enough though...

Oh, and I think I said something about THREE milestones, right?

Well...somehow the stars aligned in the blogosphere and TODAY marks both my 2 year Blogaversary (is there an official spelling for this term?) AND my 400th post! Is that crazy or what?

And if you want to take a walk down memory lane you can see my first post HERE and my post from last's year's First blogaversary HERE.

I am especially thankful for all the friends I have made through blogging. It really is an amazing community and I had NO idea how wonderful and fulfilling it could be when I first started. I can remember telling Tim that I thought I'd start a blog to keep people updated on The B Man and our life. I was sitting in our driveway with my old laptop, watching The B Man playing while Little G was just forming in my belly. And all I can say now is "who knew?"

There's some exciting stuff (giveaway) going on in this neck o' the woods this week so "stay tuned" and so very much thanks to all of you who read, follow me, comment here and help make this blog worth writing.

(Me and my favorite little mouse!)

Baking Queen

I felt like my mom yesterday. I baked and then I did a little baking and then well, I baked some more... I even popped a casserole in the oven for good measure. See, that's pretty much what she does on the day before Thanksgiving - she cooks A LOT.

I wore my apron (gosh, I SO need a pic of me sportin' my apron!) and please let's all pretend like I had my'50's style dress on with heels, mkay? Here I am...

Oh wait, that can't be me. Her shirt is totally ironed and I haven't ironed anything since like 2002 or so...

Yeah, no. I was adorned in my "mom-stume" - jeans and a 3/4 length polo-style shirt and my running shoes. Running around the kitchen... baking.

My MIL and BIL were nice enough to come help out with the kids while I played Betty Crocker or Martha, take your pick. Anyway, here's the dessert triumvirate in all its glory. Yes, the fruits of my labor.

I am SO ready to dig in. Do we really have to eat the other stuff before this?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! : )

WW - What's Wrong With This Picture?

This was Little G one morning while playing before school. He asked me* to put on his footy p.j.s over the ones he already had on and walked around the house like this for a good hour.

In his arms are his two favorite blankets that also went to the park with us today and are therefore now filthy. How do I convince him that it's okay to part with them so that I can wash them? Any tips are much appreciated...

I can't get enough of this child right now (well except around 4 p.m. when he tends to be what we like to call "Grumpelstiltskin") because he's so cute and trying to talk so much and well he's just so cute. (did I say that already?)

* this consists of him bringing me the p.j.s then turning around with his back to me so that he is in position for me to put them on.


P.S. Ambajam, the company that sponsored the giveaway I did back in October, is having a Black Friday sale. You can take 25% all regular priced items (sale items NOT included). They have darling AND affordable baby items and are great to work with. The sale goes from Friday, 11/28 - Sunday, 11/30 and the code is BF25. Take advantage of this spectacular deal!

For more WordFUL Wednesday go to Seven Clown Circus
For more WordLESS Wednesday go to 5 Minutes for Mom

The BEST Mail

I usually get the mail during the day. Lately The B Man likes to run out ahead of me and check for "catalogs" (which to him means ads for toys). Today we checked the box twice to no avail. By the time I thought of it again it was cooler and dark out and I figured Tim could just get it when he got home. He never gets the mail. Therefore, we rarely open it together.



But tonight we did and I am SO very glad. We were excited to open our letter from Compassion and even more so to find a full letter and three pictures or our friend Casbert who lives in Uganda.



I teared up when I saw him and learned of all the things he was able to buy with the money we sent him for his birthday, back in July. This includes the clothes he's wearing, the sheep he's next to, socks and food.

I'm not sure if I can fully express what it means to me that we are able to help him and his family. And I don't think I can even begin to tell you how grateful I am to have him in our lives. It's certainly what they call a "win win" of the most wonderful kind.

I can tell you however, that it puts things in perspective for me in a MAJOR way.

I've been making grocery lists for a week now for our Thanksgiving meal and contemplating ALL this food of which I plan to partake. Part of me feels guilty, part of me feels blessed. Part of me wishes I could do even more. And, we do have SO much more to be thankful for. I know it sounds cliche but it's true.

Our home.

Our clothing.

Our easy access to SO many things.

Our health.

Each other.

Clean water.

Obviously I could go on forever.

As we sit around the table on Thursday I do plan to enjoy the food and drink we've been blessed with but I will stop to think of Casbert and his family. I will pause to pray that we can continue to do our little part to enrich their lives.

If you can help even one child with $30 a month please visit Compassion's website and make the committement. It's the least we can do...

Stuff At Least Two of You Wanted to Know

I was tagged by both Amy at Permission to Peruse and Lisa at Growin' Up Mo (a while ago, sorry girls...) for the good ole 7 Random Things Meme. And, since I got nothin' else today I figured I could thank these ladies for tagging me and giving me something to blog about during my continuation of NaBloPoMo. (is November over yet?)

1. I have to clean up as I cook and get rid of trash or recyclable containers, put spices away and things back in the pantry. But I don’t lay it all out to begin with, I just get it as I need it. And if Tim is cooking, I follow around after him and throw stuff out. Because guess what - he doesn't have the same philosophy.

2. I am a magazine junkie. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I think I may really have a problem. When I get a new one first I have to just flip through the whole thing then I go back later and read whatever interests me.

3. I think I had my first pedicure when I was like 26 or 27. And now? I can probably count on 1 hand how many times since then I have done my own toes. I love a good pedi. Plus, it's the only time I can catch up on my celebrity gossip since I don't actually get any of THOSE magazines.

4. If I didn’t have to worry about calories, I could eat some type of cheesecake every day. That stuff is GOOD. Y'all saw my recipe right? Yeah, using T-Day as an excuse to have some. Don't judge me.

5. Both times I was pregnant I couldn’t stand grilled chicken breast. Just the thought of it made me ill. Not pregnant, I’m fine with it.

6. I buy clothes pretty randomly. I don’t really think about what something is going to go with, I just buy it because I like it and figure it out once I get home. That’s probably why my closet needs to be cleaned out again.

7. I have the terrible habit of asking questions and then not listening for the answers. But my husband still loves me (he’s saint-like for this.) Sorry if I didn't listen to your answer recently. I'm working on this, really I am...

So there's some "random" for you.

I'm off to starve myself in preparation for Thursday... ; )

Weekly Winners 11/23

November 17 - November 22

Just a few this week. : )

Lying down on the job

Story Time with Daddy

The ever elusive "Tigouse"

For more Weekly Winners visit the "hostess with the mostest", Sarcastic Mom.

Scrappin' Saturday Again!

I'm on a roll (hmmm... rolls.... yum). Sorry, can't stop thinkin' about the food next week. My grocery list just keeps getting longer...

Anywho, here's another layout I did for 52 Sketches... 52 Weeks, week #46. It's a little more up to date than the last one, since this one has a picture of the boys from the pumpkin patch/farm we went to back in early October.

I found this paper in the dollar spot at Target. Not bad, huh?

PhotoStory Friday - Little Turkey

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This was my baby on Thanksgiving last year. And since the theme of my blog seems to revolve around said holiday THIS week, even though it's still 6 days away, I figured I'd post it. Oh and the fact that it's pretty doggone cute, if you ask me.

This picture was taken with my father's camera (by me), which is a better camera than mine. Unfortunately I won't be able to commandeer his camera this year since we won't be together on the holiday.

I'll miss you too Daddy, really I will...

Bonus pic of Grandpa (my Daddy) and baby last year too...

Dessert Decision & Recipe

I just want to say a resounding "Thank You" to all of you who "voted" in my dessert post on Tuesday. The "winner" was the Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake, with you all anyway. But me, I'm goin' for the cheesecake for a couple of reasons.

1. I am making most of the rest of the dinner (except the turkey, thanks to my BIL) including my first attempt at homemade dinner rolls and so I need simple desserts. After I started really reading the recipe I realized, that chocolate cheesecake mumbo-jumbo is WAY too complicated. The cheesecake, pretty easy and it can be made the day before.

2. I could NOT STOP thinking about it drizzled with caramel sauce.

So there you have it. Y'all did help me decide. Julie even suggested that I do the cheesecake with chocolate cookie crust and I may explore that possibility cause boy it does sound like a good compromise!

Here's the Recipe. Please let me know if you try it to. I would LOVE to know!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

For the Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from 14 graham crackers)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling
1 .25 oz envelope unflavored gelatin
1 8 oz. bar cream cheese, at room temperature
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make the crust:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Transfer to a 9-inch springform pan. Using a straight-sided dry measuring cup, press the mixture into the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of the pan. Bake until set, 8 t0 10 minutes. Let cool.

To make the filling:
Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup boiling water. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until dissolved, about 5 minutes.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the pumpkin, sour cream, sugar, pumkin pie spice, and vanilla. Mix in the gelatin mixture until incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the crust and refrigerate, covered until firm at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

By the way, I got this recipe out of the Nov. 2008 issue of Real Simple magazine.

And here's a recipe from All Recipes for the caramel sauce that I will be drizzling over this bad boy. (gee, I sure hope it's as good as I am making it out to be. If not I got pumpkin and pecan pie, right?)

Caramel Sauce
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 (14 ounce) can NESTLE® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
COMBINE sugar and water in medium, heavy-duty saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to boil, without stirring, for 10 to 14 minutes, tilting pan occasionally to keep color even until mixture turns a deep caramel color. Remove from heat.

STIR in sweetened condensed milk (mixture will foam up); do not scrape sides of pan. One tablespoon at a time, add 1/4 cup butter, stirring well after each addition. Stir in remaining butter and vanilla extract until smooth.

Oh, now I can't wait! YUM-O! Only a week to go!

WW - Thanksgiving Menu Suggestion

We saw this while on a walk through the neighborhood on Thanksgiving day, a few years back. It still makes me laugh! : )

Go to Seven Clown Circus for more Wordful Wednesday.

Go to 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday.

Dessert Dilema

Okay people. This is serious business. I need help. (but y'all already knew that, right?)

Anyway, I have a little bit of a quandry going on here and I said to myself, "Who better to help me decide than my 'sweet' bloggy buddies?"

Let me back up by saying that I have sworn off sweets until Thanksgiving because I was pigging out over here like... well... a piggy. I know, sickening. Let's face it, I was afraid someone else might eat my Trader Joe's snacks so I snarfed most of them myself. And well Mr. Will Power and I are NOT getting along so well right now.

But now that the TJ snacks have been severely diminished (I did have a little help...) and after stepping on the scale the other day and almost falling off the one inch buggar, I figured I'd better slow down.

All that being said, I still love pie. I love pretty much any pie except for cherry. CANNOT stand cherry. I am sure a lot of you out there are all "WHA??? YOU NO LOVE CHERRY?" That's right folks it's true so get over it and move on 'cause I got stuff that's gonna make you forget all about that lame cherry junk.

I also A-DORE cheesecake. Like if someone sat me down and said that for the rest of my life all I could eat was cheesecake I would SO be okay with that. Really. I would.

So here's the deal. I've found 3 (count 'em three...) recipes for pie/cheesecake desserts that are options to make on Thanksgiving (God bless the Pilgrims and Indians for sharing the love when they did). However, I cannot make all three because I am making a regular pecan pie and a regular pumpkin pie (per my husband's request) and also, my taste buds cannot decide. So, I need your pie opinion please (say that 3 times fast!).

Here are our options.

Option #1: Turtle Pumpkin Pie

This one basically has pecans on the bottom, pumpkin pie in the middle and whipped cream and caramel sauce on top. It would be the easiest to make but a little redundant since I am already making pecan and pumpkin pies. But it looks good, doesn't it?

Option #2 Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake

Now this one has chocolate AND cheesecake so I'm a little partial, but still not completely sold. And I am not sure exactly why. I am salivating a lot little right now though.



Option #3 - Pumpkin Cheesecake

Simple and undoubtably delicious. And, if I added a little caramel sauce on top, probably close to perfect.


Certainly you can see why I am in a little pickle here, right? I mean how in the world do I choose? So help me, which one sounds (and looks!) the best to you? My dessert dilema is in your hands. : )

Random Bloggy Stuff - UPDATED!

I like to make randoms lists on occasion, usually about my life. But this one is all about blogging. And no worries, it's still quite random...

1. Lately I have been getting ACTUAL words under the word verification on some blogs when I comment.

Here are a few examples:
copper
boxes
wings
"suckways"

That last one is a word, right?

2. Last week I got some more Good Mail from Steph. Look at these cute note cards and paper with matching envelopes AND a yummy smelling Yankee Candle "housewarmer!" I'm completely inspired to write an ACTUAL, paper note to someone! : ) Thanks so much Steph!



3. I was thinking the other day about how in the past I was apt to confuse some bloggers with each other. You know, like how I confuse Susan Surandon and Sigorney Weaver? Yeah, kinda like that.

Here's a little list of people I used to confuse for each other (Don't worry, I'm all clear now...)

Steph @ Adventures in Babywearing and Oh Amanda (I think I thought you two sort of looked alike at first)

Chelle @ Creative Momma and Krystyn @ Really Are You Serious? (your blog coloration got me since it's sort of the same... oh and maybe the fact that you both have cute little girls with the same name. yeah, that too.)

What Works for Us and Laski Gal @ From the Cheap Seats (don't really remember why on this one...)

4 Little Men and Girly Twins (before the twins) and Momme and Her Boys (hey, you're both named Brittany so cut me some slack on this one, k?)

Oh and AT FIRST I used to confuse Oh Mommy and McMommy because of their blog names. And they're both pretty bloggy famous so you can understand my confusion, right?


4. Speaking of Oh Mommy she has her Oprah-like favorite things list up on her blog right now. I suggest you check it out. I garnered a couple of good ideas for gifts...(and there's a givaway.)


5. Also, Jo-Lynne at Musings of Housewife just posted her holiday gift guide as well for even more ideas (and there might just be some giveaways...) I have yet to peruse it but you can be sure I will do so very soon.

6. Oh and did y'all get a glimpse over the weekend of the power of Moms on Twitter with the whole Motrin ad campaign thing? Wow! That was amazing! If you didn't see the ad on their website (they've since taken it down) you can see it HERE and it caused quite a stir this weekend amongst us Mommy bloggers, that's for sure! Here's a video of many of the "tweets" on the subject (I'm actually in one snippet with a @elainea response from CrunchyGoddess) I say never underestimate the power of us moms. Seriously.


7. Oh and don't forget to click on the "share the grub" button on my sidebar over there -------> and go see my friend AFF and click away at her place as she gives her extra bloggy "dough" to a good cause this month. (and I bet you'll never guess that there are some giveaways associated with this so go now...)

8. UPDATE! I came back to add that the lovely ladies of Ruby & Roja design are giving away a holiday blog design as well as a year's worth of blog designs to TWO lucky winners. Click on the button below to go over and check this out - their designs are SO pretty! : )

lright, that's all I got. Have a great Monday! : )

Weekly Winners 11/16

November 9 - November 15

Just a few pics of the boys this week. Nothing too exciting since hubs was gone all week and I was a little grumpy. But things are better since his return and I even got a nap yesterday! Life is good...


So proud!

Dude, why you always wearin' those fake mouse ears?




It's okay... I love you anyway!

His own version of a Hallmark card

Pick a color, any color

You gotta start somewhere...

Check out more Weekly Winners at Sarcastic Mom's place.

P.S. Scroll down if you wanna see my latest scrapbooking layout!