Peach Orange Banana Smoothie or Peach Banana Orange...whichever you prefer

When I lived in Hattiesburg, I went to Smoothie King all the time.  I had the punch card and it filled up quickly.  I would do a little dance for joy inside my head every time I got another punch...that much closer to a free smoothie..woo!  Ahh, the simple things in life.

So, now, without Smoothie King, I make them in the comfort of my own home.  Which is probably better for me, because I always wanted the really big size, which probably had 10 million calories, but I didn't want to think about that...I just thought about the yummy goodness that was disappearing quickly with each sip of the straw.

Anyway, back to me making them at home now.  I put a cup of frozen peaches and one small banana in the blender.

Then I measure 1/2 cup of orange juice...

Then I add the creaminess - yogurt.  Today I'm using plain yogurt, but if I can find it vanilla yogurt is really good, too.

Then I hit the Blend button and let the blender do its thang.  See? The blender doing its thang?

And here's the end product in all its deliciousness...

And...it was gone in like, 2 minutes.  Well, maybe not that fast, but probably very close.  Great breakfast.

Peach Smoothie
1 cup frozen peaches
1 small banana          
1/2 cup orange juice 
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

Blend until smooth. Drink. Yum.

 

Sunshine On My Shoulder

Now that I'm a homemaker, my schedule is totally different than what it used to be 2 years ago.  I had to wake up really early - ok, maybe not really early to some of you, but to someone who likes to sleep, it was early - and get myself and the little munchkin ready for work and daycare.  At that time, my husband got up uber early...like, before the sun (poor guy) to get to work, so he wasn't there to help me get the little munchkin ready.

A few things have happened in the last year that have altered our previous sleeping schedule.

• Now that my husband has a new job, he goes into work waaay later than he used to at his previous job.
• We had a baby, and many of you know, babies like to sleep...a lot...more than me. ha.
• I stay home with the kids now, so no need to hop up and get everyone ready ASAP.  
• We changed Peamite Alpha's bedtime so he would sleep later in the morning so A) he wouldn't wake up Peamite Bravo (see point #2) and B) he wouldn't wake Mommy and Daddy up who had stayed up later to have alone adult time - and no, not like that, get your head out of the gutter.  Just normal adult conversation or the ability to complete a task without a peamite being under foot or crying or screaming or asking a million questions.

 Everyone once in a while a peamite will wake up before I'm good and ready to.  I just want to get 8 hours! Please! Is that too much to ask? ... I was tired when I thought all that...  Today was one of those days.  Poor Peamite Bravo had a dirty diaper, and she was letting the whole house know about it.  She wanted to be clean - pronto. I believe (I could be wrong) that Peamite Bravo's wailing woke up Peamite Alpha, and at that point, I really have to get up.  He is very insistent when he wants a "ganola bar" (granola) first thing in the morning.  Somehow, Dave is able to sleep (or pretend to sleep) right through all this so that it will be me that does the getting up.

After I tended to both the kiddos, I caught a glimpse of the clock...wow...a whole hour before I normally get up.  No wonder I can't think straight.  I go into the kitchen to get some OJ and I see little rainbows being thrown on my cabinets.  I have this beautiful tealight holder given to me by my awesome friend turned sis-in-law.  I have it sitting in the window sill above the sink, and when the light hits it just right, rainbows are created.  Purdy.  Well...I usually miss this, because for the sun to be able to hit it just right, it has to be low in the sky and I'm usually asleep for another hour at this point.

 Pretty rainbows...sorry, the picture just doesn't do it justice.

So, I had sunshine in my window and then on my shoulder when we met up with some friends and family for a picnic at the park.  That was a bit random, that last sentence...but hey, that's me...I'm a bit random.

Bye.

Simple Statement = Big Compliment

Lately, my clothes haven't been fitting, and I just look like I have a sack on a lot of times, because they have gotten so big on me. I rarely spend money on myself, but yesterday, I felt the need to buy clothes (and bras) that fit. I have gone from an XXL shirt to an XL shirt (and a whole cup size in my bra - don't be dismayed, I have ple-enty to spare.)

I went to Old Navy last night to find some tops...just some basics, nothing fancy. Well, except this adorable cardigan, but a little splurge is ok, right? As I would try on a top, I would come out of the dressing room to show my husband the results and get his opinion. One of the times I emerged from the dressing room, a little girl was there with her family.

I'm a terrible judge of age, but if I had to guess, I would say she was about 8ish. She had that kind of uneven smile of a young girl that had just recently gotten some of her permanent teeth in, but still had some growing into them to do. :) She had the color of blond hair that it seems only a little kid can have naturally and bright blue eyes. As I was about to walk back into the dressing room, she said, "You look very pretty!"

I was pleasantly shocked, but thankfully regained my composure before she noticed and replied, "Thank you!" I had a big grin etched on my face for the rest of the evening. It was so unexpected and from a little girl I've never seen before. I FELT pretty, so having her confirm it definitely made it so.

Food for thought, or action...

(click on the image to enlarge)

I came across this image today filled with all these different quotes...or sayings...or suggestions. Whatever you call them, I thought they were neat.

I find myself kind of running away from myself when I read the one about setting goals for 1, 5, and 10 years. I guess because I still don't know what I want to do "when I grow up." Or maybe I'm just being too hard on myself. I'm still successful and happy without having a "dream job." I have the most amazing husband and two gorgeous kids - all of whom are smart. I'm still in the push yourself to be the best mode...but besides being a mom and wife, I don't know where I want to be. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I keep feeling like it's coming up soon though, and that has me anxious. I should take my own advice, huh? Hand it all over to God. He's big enough to handle it, plus He does a million times better at it than I do, fo sho.

Happy Ending to a CRAPTASTIC Day

Today was just one of those days where I figuratively woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I'm a SAHM, and so my job is my kids, and today, I was tired of my job. What was I thinking wanting kids?? (I absolutely love my children and wouldn't trade them for world - just to be clear.)

I just wanted to sleep late and I wanted to sit down for 5 seconds to check my email without my daughter needing to be held and I wanted my son to actually go sit on the potty when he needs to go #2. (Potty training is the worse by the way that have not had the privilege of doing such.) I mean, he goes on the potty every time he goes #1, so what's the deal? I've tried all the tricks in the book, every suggestion given by "experts" and parents that have been there. I just have a stubborn boy that will do it when he's good and ready. But in the mean time, I'm stuck cleaning up dirty underwear, which is way worse than dirty diapers.

I don't remember my son being as clingy as my daughter is. She needs like, constant attention. My husband and I joked tonight that she would wake up as soon as we sat down to watch a Netflix, but if we just sat on the couch doing nothing, she'd nap all night. I entered my food eaten for the day and my husband channel surfed (which doesn't take long with 5 channels.) As soon as we popped the movie in and was about to sit on the couch, she woke up. All we could do is laugh. How does she do that??

So, it wasn't just one thing in particular. I had a short fuse today (lack of a good night's sleep) and wasn't equipped with dealing with whineyness (due to lack of a good night's sleep) For the most part, both kids sleep through the night, but every once in a while one will wake up for something. Yay me, I'm the light sleeper, and my husband could sleep through an earthquake. Which actually, he has done when he lived in Japan....but I digress. Tonight, if any child should wake, I will make him go attend to said child. (he's actually very good about helping, I just have to wake him up!)

But kids will be kids, and they're not trying to aggravate me, they're just vying for my attention. I was sooooooooo relieved when my husband came home from work. The kids are uber excited to see him, and he's more than willing to play like a big kid with them. He entertains them, and I set off to cook supper. While I'm cooking, I hear a truck pull up. It's the UPS man with a delivery.

I said, I don't remember ordering anything. My husband met the UPS man at the front door to accept the package. As soon as I saw the box, I knew what had been ordered. And no, I didn't order anything! My sweet husband bought me flowers for Valentine's Day. And you may think, big deal, flowers. But it was! We don't typically do much for Valentine's and he's crap at keeping secrets. For heaven's sake, we open Christmas presents a week or two early because he can't stand not to tell me what he got, he's so excited. So, the fact that he ordered this daaaays ago, and didn't even hint that he got me something, was remarkable. I was totally surprised. And he got some of my favorites. Stargazer lillies (had them at my wedding) and irises. I had just gotten some purple tulips to brighten up the kitchen the other day, and so they look perfect with them.


He was so glad that the flowers were delivered today since I had been having a bad day. He is truly a blessing to me, and makes my life easier and happy any way he can.

On a side note, I thought I had totally blown my calories today, but when I entered it all in, I still had 200 left over. Woo!

Oh, and one more thing. I'm training - ha, training - um, I'm *trying* to get ready for a 5K coming up in June, and I made it a mile yesterday without stopping. It took me 12 1/2 minutes. I'll have 2 more tacked on in no time!

Twenty Ten

I'm hoping twenty ten will catch on instead of us still saying two thousand and ten. I know it probably won't happen, because for the last 10 years, we've been saying, two thousand, and we all get set in our ways.

We're into day 4 of the new decade. I've been committed to my healthier lifestyle for about 2 months now. The weight is steadily coming off. As of today, I have lost a total of 17.5 lbs. One of my daily challenges is to get some sort of cardio in everyday. Ideal time is when the kids are taking their nap, but we've all gotten out of our routine, so nap time is either not at the same time for both of them or non-existent. Now that my husband went back to work today after a nice, long Christmas break, we should be able to get back into a routine.

Even though my new Wii game says that I'm fat, I still like to play it. I recently upgraded it to the Wii Fit Plus, and it is so much better than the first version. David has even gotten into it, and customized his own 30 minute workouts. I'm so glad he's on board, too. Isn't it so much easier when you have a pal?

I've also noticed that I've gotten used to eating smaller portions. I've really tried to slow my eating down so I can feel when I'm getting full. I'm trying to get better at reading labels. Yeah, it has this many grams of _____ - but is that good or bad?? So, I read some articles on SparkPeople and I've boned up on protein first. Soon, I will know what a food holds for my body than just the amount of calories in it.

So, here's to 2010 (TwentyTen) and my ultimate goals!!

A Good Snack Gone Bad

So, if you don't think having kids is an adventure, maybe we should review the meaning of "adventure." Dictionary.com's first meaning for adventure is:

ad⋅ven⋅ture ædˈvɛntʃər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ad-ven-cher] noun 1. an exciting or very unusual experience

Well, I'm gonna go with the latter part of the meaning - a very unusual experience. Never would I have imagined that I'd be cleaning graham crackers up in my bathroom. The bathroom isn't where you eat - so why on earth would they be in there?! Well, if you have kids, anything is possible. Really.

Carter had to go to the bathroom. He announces and then runs to the bathroom. He is still learning, so I still have to help him get his pants off and on. I discover that he has only one pair of clean underwear so I help him with his pants and tell him to wash his hands. I go to gather the laundry while he is washing his hands. When I get back, I hear the water still running. I go in there to investigate, and he has graham crackers all in the sink, on his step stool, on the floor, on the bath mat, and on the tub. How on earth did he do that? And why did he bring his snack in there? To make matters worse, Katie has followed him in there and is smearing the graham cracker mess all over the floor. It is all over her and the bathroom. How is it that the one that started the mess - Carter - is still clean, but the innocent bystanders get grahamed?

I asked him "What are you doing?!" To which he replies, "I dunno." I tell him, "You're making a mess, that's what!" He just grins back at me. That adorable, mischievous smile.

So, this isn't exactly the adventure I imagined, but it's still an adventure, and I'm on it with my kids and husband.