Yes, her birthday was in April.
I've got another page or two in the works.
If you ever want to come over and go through my scrapbooks it's a happy hobby of mine.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The 170's!
I made it down to the high 170's!
This is excellent.
I am very happy with myself.
Close to 220 in the last few weeks of pregnancy in early August so that's about 40lbs-ish of loss.
It's taken me about six weeks to lose the most recent two pounds so it's slow going now.
I'll get back to 160 probably in the Spring.
I was 150 in high school and in great shape so I'm happy with 160 after five kids and fifteen years since high school.
I owe a lot of my success to a very supportive bunch of ladies I met in an online weight loss support group for Christian moms. We face a lot of the same challenges with our lives and lifestyles so it's great to have them to talk to and to be able to cheer each other on.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Curry Chicken
A few weeks ago my husband had curry chicken at a restaurant near his office. He came home and told me how much he liked it and asked if I could make it for him. I told him I had no clue how to make curry chicken but I had curry and chicken so if he could find a recipe online that looked like what he ate I would be happy to try making it.
My husband works for a company owned by a Chinese couple and my husband told the wife that he was looking for a recipe for curry chicken. She brought him a box a few days later that contained bricks of curry stuff and told him how you cook them. This was a lovely gesture on her part and my husband was excited to try it. One slight difficulty, the box had instructions all in Japanese. So my husband tried it and liked it well enough. I didn't love it or hate it but the spicy taste and the onions involved made it a dish I have to be careful of while breastfeeding our new baby. I just wasn't thrilled with it enough to want to eat it again. None of the kids liked it. Since my husband said it didn't taste like what he had at the restaurant we decided maybe the lack of English instructions had somehow foiled his attempt at curry chicken.
I googled the only words I could read "ankee chicken" and google said "Was I looking for Yankee Chicken" ummmm... no.
So next I googled Japanese style curry chicken, lo and behold, on YouTube there was a lady using the box just like my husband had used and there were SUBTITLES! for the instructions she was giving as to how to make the dish. Hers was pork though, not chicken. Then I found a lady speaking English and cooking curry chicken just the same way my husband cooked it. I watched both videos, my husband cooked it the way it was supposed to be cooked.
Since the kids won't eat it and I was only okay with it we have decided it just isn't something we will be making again. Maybe we can find the recipe for the chicken dish my husband had in the restaurant another day.
Here are the links to the videos in case you want to try it. I still have an unopened package of the curry stuff if you're interested.
Here's the lady with the subtitles, watch the end of the video to see the little kid react to the dish the same way my kids did.
Here's the lady speaking English, her food looks just like what my husband made and she assures us that her family likes it so maybe yours will too.
I found it very funny that the kid's reaction in that first video needs no translation.
My husband works for a company owned by a Chinese couple and my husband told the wife that he was looking for a recipe for curry chicken. She brought him a box a few days later that contained bricks of curry stuff and told him how you cook them. This was a lovely gesture on her part and my husband was excited to try it. One slight difficulty, the box had instructions all in Japanese. So my husband tried it and liked it well enough. I didn't love it or hate it but the spicy taste and the onions involved made it a dish I have to be careful of while breastfeeding our new baby. I just wasn't thrilled with it enough to want to eat it again. None of the kids liked it. Since my husband said it didn't taste like what he had at the restaurant we decided maybe the lack of English instructions had somehow foiled his attempt at curry chicken.
I googled the only words I could read "ankee chicken" and google said "Was I looking for Yankee Chicken" ummmm... no.
So next I googled Japanese style curry chicken, lo and behold, on YouTube there was a lady using the box just like my husband had used and there were SUBTITLES! for the instructions she was giving as to how to make the dish. Hers was pork though, not chicken. Then I found a lady speaking English and cooking curry chicken just the same way my husband cooked it. I watched both videos, my husband cooked it the way it was supposed to be cooked.
Since the kids won't eat it and I was only okay with it we have decided it just isn't something we will be making again. Maybe we can find the recipe for the chicken dish my husband had in the restaurant another day.
Here are the links to the videos in case you want to try it. I still have an unopened package of the curry stuff if you're interested.
Here's the lady with the subtitles, watch the end of the video to see the little kid react to the dish the same way my kids did.
Here's the lady speaking English, her food looks just like what my husband made and she assures us that her family likes it so maybe yours will too.
I found it very funny that the kid's reaction in that first video needs no translation.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Costco Card Stand
Brilliant!
Saw a guy do this when I was in line in Costco.
Take the divider bar thing that you put between your groceries and the ones for the person ahead of you. Put it upside down on the conveyor belt. Stand your Costco card in the upside down divider bar. It works like a business card holder and then you can get the stuff out of your cart and onto the conveyor belt without having to stop and dig out your card when it gets to be your turn. Makes the Costco checkout thing just a bit faster and on a Saturday afternoon that makes a big difference.
Saw a guy do this when I was in line in Costco.
Take the divider bar thing that you put between your groceries and the ones for the person ahead of you. Put it upside down on the conveyor belt. Stand your Costco card in the upside down divider bar. It works like a business card holder and then you can get the stuff out of your cart and onto the conveyor belt without having to stop and dig out your card when it gets to be your turn. Makes the Costco checkout thing just a bit faster and on a Saturday afternoon that makes a big difference.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Cute Sweater - Second Generation
I wore this when I was this size.
I have small fuzzy memories of this small fuzzy sweater.
The Birthday Cake
Here is the Elmo cake that I did for Andrew's birthday party yesterday. He loved it.
Andrew: Elmo cake! MY Elmo cake! Got EYE-balls.
Yeah, the happy face says it all. A lovely success. He wanted one of the eyeballs for his piece. I love that it turned out so well. I'm going to keep looking for those form cake pans, they're just so much fun to do!
Andrew: Elmo cake! MY Elmo cake! Got EYE-balls.
The Sisters
Here are some cute pictures of the girls that I took while we were out at the park on Andrew's birthday.
Krista
Kylie
April
Jessica
Krista
Kylie
April
JessicaAndrew's Birthday
 |
| Under the sun lamps just a few days old. This is one of my favorite pictures of Andrew when he was brand new. It seems like such a long time ago or possibly just last week... They grow up so fast! |
 |
| Ready for the park, just need shoes. |
 |
| The swings are his favorite. |
 |
| Trying out the tunnel. |
 |
| Just like the big kids. |
I was so glad the weather turned out nice for the afternoon so we could go to the park on Andrew's birthday. It was great to get out in the fresh air and sunshine. Andrew loves the park!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Walking in front of reflective surfaces
I went to Target the other day and walked in front of the large windows to the front office in the front of the store and saw how I look from behind and beside. I don't have any full-length mirrors around my house. I was not thrilled with the view. I am going to have to do something about this.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Venting and Complaining
Can I have a do-over on today, please?
Round 1: First off it started at around 4am, not a good time to start the day. Took a while to get the baby back to sleep and by then I couldn't sleep because my brain was in one of those holding pattern things it does where I can't shut off the hamster wheel. Subject of crazy brain circles? - teething tablets. Yeah, Andrew is teething and it's frustrating because he is just cranky and miserable. So my brother told me to try teething tablets and this morning at about 4:45 I looked them up on the internet. First thing I see is a recall alert for Hyland teething tablets and I know he mentioned that name so suddenly I'm trying to figure out if I should call him and tell him not to feed them to my nephew anymore. I talk myself out of this because I'm pretty sure he would be cranky to be up that early (I know I was) and nothing could be done about the pills anyway. Also, I don't want to make him think I'm judging his parenting because I think they are doing fine but I'm sure I would end up coming across all "you're poisoning your child" so I just posted the link to the recall to their page, my page, and the page of another friend who also said Hyland was the way to go. Then I tried to go back to bed but mostly tossed and turned until 7:30 when I was awakened by my husband who was frustrated because our 7 year-old wouldn't get up and was going to be late for school and also because he couldn't find his shoes. I tried to calm him down and did the whole "where did you last see them" thing with him because he does tend to just kick them off someplace. The shoes were found behind the couch with a bunch of other stuff the same 7 year-old had stuffed back there instead of cleaning the room. sigh. Husband calmed down some and took 7 year-old to school. Have to deal with her later.
Round 2: Husband returns to finish getting ready for work and cheerfully informs me he will have to work this weekend. I bite my tongue on cranky remarks and remind him that it's his sons birthday today and this weekend would be a good time to have a party or something. Also, I ask him if he ever got a cake mix (I've asked him to do this a few times over the last week). No, he wasn't really thinking of the birthday, never did get a cake mix, and is still planning on working this weekend. He leaves for a quick trip to the store to get a cake mix. Comes back, drops off cake mix, leaves for work. April is okay with TV, Andrew and Jessica are still sleeping, I have vague hopes of going to sleep for just a few minutes. Baby starts to cry and phone rings, buddy of Jared's couldn't find Jared's cell number, can I give it to him. Yeah. Crying baby wakes up big brother and the day has really begun.
Round 3: Deal with diapers and food. Baby is cranky and Andrew is cranky. Get things settled down and go to check my e-mail. Find angry message from person not to be named about me sending a reminder to vote that somehow offended this person. Crap. The reminder was simple hope you vote and had a smiley face at the end. A SMILEY FACE!! How is that offensive? I checked the message I sent just in case I had spelled something wrong and put in a swear word accidentally or something. Nope. So I should have waited 24 hours to respond or something but I was already like 5 hours into my day at 9am and I wrote back that I wasn't questioning this persons life or intelligence and had sent the same reminder to A LOT of people. So I'm hoping this person is just having one of those days, I certainly am, and will be fine again next time I see them. Deal with some of the mess, start some laundry, feel beginnings of a headache and it's not even 10am.
Round 4: Sister-in-law writes to inform me that while they did say they were going to buy the Hyland brand of teething tablets they found out about the recall and bought Little Teethers (after consulting the pharmacist) instead. I missed that part. Now I feel like an idiot but I'm even more glad I didn't call before 5 to tell them not to poison their child. Spend a few minutes calling myself an idiot and questioning whether I should ever use the internet again because apparently I have problems. 20 minutes of research on the internet lead me to believe I am indeed an idiot because I can't figure out the pros and cons on the safety of the teething tablets. Medical jargon confuses me. People say they're great, but I'm undecided. Headache continues. I give up.
Round 5: Suddenly realize that if husband isn't going to be home on Saturday I have to get Andrew's pictures taken today (you will never be able to follow the logic on this one so don't try) so I call the studio and get an appointment for 5:30 this evening. Only available time is during dinner time for Andrew. Politely take appointment while kicking myself for not making two appointments and then cancelling one because this kind of thing happens all the time around here with husband's schedule and punctuality issues.
Round 6: Baby refuses to take morning nap.
Round 7: Lunch is very late and kids are cranky. I am hitting the edge of what I can handle. I type blog entry to vent it all out. Now I have to get back to work, I still have to be the mom.
Round 1: First off it started at around 4am, not a good time to start the day. Took a while to get the baby back to sleep and by then I couldn't sleep because my brain was in one of those holding pattern things it does where I can't shut off the hamster wheel. Subject of crazy brain circles? - teething tablets. Yeah, Andrew is teething and it's frustrating because he is just cranky and miserable. So my brother told me to try teething tablets and this morning at about 4:45 I looked them up on the internet. First thing I see is a recall alert for Hyland teething tablets and I know he mentioned that name so suddenly I'm trying to figure out if I should call him and tell him not to feed them to my nephew anymore. I talk myself out of this because I'm pretty sure he would be cranky to be up that early (I know I was) and nothing could be done about the pills anyway. Also, I don't want to make him think I'm judging his parenting because I think they are doing fine but I'm sure I would end up coming across all "you're poisoning your child" so I just posted the link to the recall to their page, my page, and the page of another friend who also said Hyland was the way to go. Then I tried to go back to bed but mostly tossed and turned until 7:30 when I was awakened by my husband who was frustrated because our 7 year-old wouldn't get up and was going to be late for school and also because he couldn't find his shoes. I tried to calm him down and did the whole "where did you last see them" thing with him because he does tend to just kick them off someplace. The shoes were found behind the couch with a bunch of other stuff the same 7 year-old had stuffed back there instead of cleaning the room. sigh. Husband calmed down some and took 7 year-old to school. Have to deal with her later.
Round 2: Husband returns to finish getting ready for work and cheerfully informs me he will have to work this weekend. I bite my tongue on cranky remarks and remind him that it's his sons birthday today and this weekend would be a good time to have a party or something. Also, I ask him if he ever got a cake mix (I've asked him to do this a few times over the last week). No, he wasn't really thinking of the birthday, never did get a cake mix, and is still planning on working this weekend. He leaves for a quick trip to the store to get a cake mix. Comes back, drops off cake mix, leaves for work. April is okay with TV, Andrew and Jessica are still sleeping, I have vague hopes of going to sleep for just a few minutes. Baby starts to cry and phone rings, buddy of Jared's couldn't find Jared's cell number, can I give it to him. Yeah. Crying baby wakes up big brother and the day has really begun.
Round 3: Deal with diapers and food. Baby is cranky and Andrew is cranky. Get things settled down and go to check my e-mail. Find angry message from person not to be named about me sending a reminder to vote that somehow offended this person. Crap. The reminder was simple hope you vote and had a smiley face at the end. A SMILEY FACE!! How is that offensive? I checked the message I sent just in case I had spelled something wrong and put in a swear word accidentally or something. Nope. So I should have waited 24 hours to respond or something but I was already like 5 hours into my day at 9am and I wrote back that I wasn't questioning this persons life or intelligence and had sent the same reminder to A LOT of people. So I'm hoping this person is just having one of those days, I certainly am, and will be fine again next time I see them. Deal with some of the mess, start some laundry, feel beginnings of a headache and it's not even 10am.
Round 4: Sister-in-law writes to inform me that while they did say they were going to buy the Hyland brand of teething tablets they found out about the recall and bought Little Teethers (after consulting the pharmacist) instead. I missed that part. Now I feel like an idiot but I'm even more glad I didn't call before 5 to tell them not to poison their child. Spend a few minutes calling myself an idiot and questioning whether I should ever use the internet again because apparently I have problems. 20 minutes of research on the internet lead me to believe I am indeed an idiot because I can't figure out the pros and cons on the safety of the teething tablets. Medical jargon confuses me. People say they're great, but I'm undecided. Headache continues. I give up.
Round 5: Suddenly realize that if husband isn't going to be home on Saturday I have to get Andrew's pictures taken today (you will never be able to follow the logic on this one so don't try) so I call the studio and get an appointment for 5:30 this evening. Only available time is during dinner time for Andrew. Politely take appointment while kicking myself for not making two appointments and then cancelling one because this kind of thing happens all the time around here with husband's schedule and punctuality issues.
Round 6: Baby refuses to take morning nap.
Round 7: Lunch is very late and kids are cranky. I am hitting the edge of what I can handle. I type blog entry to vent it all out. Now I have to get back to work, I still have to be the mom.
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