Thursday

Before we start - another question.

Is dark chocolate considered a sweet?

One day I will have creative posting titles, but probably when I have something to talk about other than the mundane happenings of our family life. There is one story I forgot to write about yesterday. I went into work for a little during the afternoon and dialed a number on the phone, but mis-dialed and I went to dial again. Somehow the first number went through, but I did not think anything about it. About two minutes later a policeman shows up asking if anyone dialed 9-1-1. Oops! That is apparently when I dialed. My face was so red, but I am so happy to know they will be there quickly!

This morning started off a little scary. Poor Hunter is almost 12 years old. We adopted him from the animal shelter when he was just a little guy. Hunter, along with his brothers and sister, were tossed in a dumpster :( Well, for the past few years he has had some issues with his hip and it just seems to be getting worse. Lately he only wants to lay on his little pallet we made for him. Getting him to get up to go potty is hard and so sad. Well, I refuse to go to the vet alone {I cannot pick him up for one} because I am so scared that I am going to have to make the decision one day to put him down. I just cannot do that. I prepared myself for the worst and had the kids even take a "final" picture with him. Luckily things are not that bad at all and we have some new meds to hopefully help him.

Heidi has a little coin bank that the church gave her for collection to support the big changes we are adding to our church. Huge growth is coming ahead! Well, Heidi comes walking in the room with a basket full of change. 

Heidi: "I have a lot of money!"

Me: "Where did you get that?"

H: "Pop-pop's dresser"

Me: "Oh, did you wake up Grandma to get it?"

H: "No, I tip-toed quietly so she didn't hear me."

Nice....

Just playing! Poor guy has had such a rough teething experience :(

A friend sent this to me. Its a cookie.

I just keep staring at it....

Not sure what to do with it yet. I mean, I don't want to be rude and not eat it.

Playing outside - loving the nice weather, but NOT liking the pollen at all.

Harry-Bug loves selfies!

Cute little boy in one of mama's old tu-tus :)

God is Good

God is so good.

Tonight I am thankful for Him in so many ways, but one BIG reason is for what happened tonight.

It was church supper night, which is glorious in itself because it means that I do not have to cook. Tonight's dinner was amazing - baked spaghetti. I will never miss this dish. We sat down with our delicious meals and then John went to get our drinks. This is where sweet Jesus showed His love for me. The only drink that was available {we were running late}....

Sweet Tea

Let the Hallelujah choir sing.

It was glorious. Amazing. I might have died. I was in Heaven.

So, this was not a cheat. It was meant to be. I was in church and God sent this tea to me. End.of.story.

This is usually my "stay away from the kitchen" day, but I signed up to take dinner to a friend who had a sweet little baby girl. A couple of weeks ago I tried a new recipe {I am full of them lately} and I thought this would be a delicious one to take! A simple one pan dish!

You can find the recipe here!

{photo credit same as link}

I also used a fun little printable to put on top from here!

It was free, cute, and simple to download!

{photo credit same as link}

And to end with something sweet......

Tuesday Dinner

My first question to you:

"Is hot chocolate considered a sweet?"

Just a question. No reason for asking....

Anyway - nothing really interesting today. I did try another new recipe for dinner. It was kind of plain and probably not anything new to a lot of y'all, but since I am getting into the vegetables it was definitely not something I have made before. It had asparagus in it - yay! A new vegetable that I like!

Basically you need the following:

chicken
12 oz penne pasta
asparagus - maybe a pound
cheese

I roasted the asparagus in the oven first 425 degrees for about 10 minutes. I coated them with olive oil first. Next I prepared the pasta and cooked the chicken. I sliced the asparagus and added everything in the 9x13 pan. Topped with cheese and then on broil for about 8 minutes. I will probably mix up the cheese in the mixture next time as well....

Anyway, gosh, I would never make it as a foodie blogger. Every time I type out a recipe I go back to 3rd grade and when you have to write step by step how to make a peanut butter sandwich.

Harrison loves to play at the check-up center.

Heidi loves to give sassy poses.

Crawling on mama.

Dog pile!

 

Dinner, Tara Feis, & Our Life {and a recipe!}

This was a fun weekend for us - well at least I had fun! It started with dinner on Friday night with two of my close friends Cindy and Melissa. {I also had lunch with 3 other fabulous ladies on Wednesday - one day I will get a picture of us at lunch!} I have loved reconnecting with all of these ladies that I have been friends with for decades. It really makes my heart so happy. This weekend was St. Patrick's Day weekend so we steered clear of the downtown restaurants. There always seems to be so much to chat about. The conversations have definitely changed over the years!

Saturday the kids and I headed downtown to Tara Feis. Heidi and Harrison both had such a wonderful time! There were so many fun things to do - bands, dancers, bounce house stuff, so much! While I out ran into several friends and their families - including Melissa who told me about it :)

Watching the puppet show

Irish dancers

Harrison really wants that pretzel, but Heidi is not budging.

Don't worry, he got some :)

Watching the dancers

Doing her own dance

Snow cone

Getting a butterfly painted on her face

I have been doing such a great job on the non-sugar way of life. There might have been a little slip-up when I had to either slurp down some of a grape snow cone or wear the purple mess. John was a little, ahem, inconsiderate the other day. My mom made one of my favorite desserts. Now that I think about it, that was a little rude too. Anyway, the dessert was for my parents' small group. Afterwards the leftovers were brought home. Someone decided to eat some of the cake. In front of me. He would not let me get a picture of how much he got, I chased him around with the camera.

I do want to share the recipe with you all though! It is a Lemon-Lime Refrigerator Sheet Cake. DELICIOUS! You must keep it in the fridge and you must eat it COLD.

CAKE
1 package lime jello {4 serving size}
1 package lemon supreme cake mix

TOPPING
1 envelope whipped topping mix {2 & 1/2 cups}
1 package lemon instant pudding mix {4 serving size}
1 & 1/2 cup cold milk

Dissolve jello in 3/4 cup boiling water, add 1/2 cup cold water; set aside at room temperature. Mix and bake cake in 13x9x2 pan. Cool 20-25 minutes. Poke deep holes through top of warm cake {still in pan} with toothpick; space holes about 1 inch apart. Slowly pour jello into holes. Refrigerate cake while preparing topping.
In chilled deep bowl blend and whip topping mix, instant pudding and cold milk until stiff {3-8 minutes}. Immediately frost cake. Cake must be stored in refrigerator and served chilled. Cake may be frozen.

New Recipe!

Another day and another notch on the sugar free train. For those that have gone out to eat with me {or eaten with me in general} know that I am a super finicky eater. Plain Jane is how I can describe my eating style. If I order something it is normally some sort chicken, cheese, and bread. Dessert is always included and vegetables are a foreign concept. Fruit is sometimes on the meal plan, but only apples, bananas, or grapes.

John has the opposite palate in eating. He will eat just about everything. Luckily Heidi will eat anything too so it is not hard to get her to eat healthy foods.

Lately I have totally been expanding in the world of vegetables and fruits. In Asheville during our girls weekend I ate broccoli and roasted brussel sprouts and they were delicious. I have added both of those to our menu and hopefully they will become a staple. Potatoes are a food I could live without - unless it is a chip or fry. Well, I started slow by with eating them when fixed with a roast. I will eat a potato if it does not taste like a potato. Strange? Yes, I know. I did find a great recipe tonight that involves a potato that was delicious!

Loaded chicken and baked potato - recipe here

Today was a breakthrough in the fruits. After the tennis match today I had strawberries and kiwi - yep! Add those to my list of fruits that I will now eat. I am so excited to be adding these healthy items to my list of foods I will eat. There are times when I feel my foods are so limited and that is the reason I go towards the sweets and junk. It is safer for my palate to eat sweets because tasting something that is horrible is one of the worst things ever.

And now a few pictures :)

This is how I do most of my cooking - by recipes on Pinterest and using my iPad. I do love using my recipe books and old family recipes though, especially during the holidays. Lately we have had a ton of new meals though thanks to Pinterest! Follow me here!

This is how Harrison stays occupied while I cook - sometimes!

Apparently this little guy is not allowed to be in the "jungle" as Heidi explained to me, so she had to take it away from Harrison.

Next it was time for Harrison and Heidi to chase each other with a balloon. Randomly this is a balloon we have had since Valentine's Day.

Harrison loves taking selfies. Me, not so much, but Harrison looks so cute I had to post!

Day 3

On the menu for the church dinner dessert tonight?

Peach Cobbler!!

Yay - I don't like peach cobbler so there would not be any temptation to want a dessert.

Once I claimed my dinner and walked by the dessert table a little old lady says, "oh hey, here is some last minute banana pudding - take it while it lasts!".

UGH!

This kind of stuff keeps happening over and over.

I did not eat the banana pudding, in case you are wondering.

After dinner I walked to church and grabbed my peppermint to freshen my "just ate dinner" breath. Unwrapped it, popped it in my...oh wait a minute, for the love, a peppermint is sugar...spit it right out. That was a close one luckily I made it through and now day three is under my belt.

In the early afternoon I took the kids to the library. Heidi just loves going and picking out her own books. Other than that not much else to report. Pretty boring and sugar less day. Don't worry, I will have more things to write about other than kicking my habit. Tomorrow is tennis - woohoo! Maybe I will get an action shot or two ;)

Day 2

I won't hold you in suspense in this post.

Made it to my second sugar free day.

Yep, I did it - patting myself on the back right now.

Do you remember the ADIDAS brand? I think it stood for "all day I dream about soccer", well mine is "all day I dream about sugar". It is bad. I am, as my sister {who is also giving up sugar} would say, "walking around like an addict looking for their next fix". If I'm not eating something sweet I'm mentally going through the pantry thinking about what I have that I can eat with some sort of sweetness.

Debbie and I have had a major affair over the years, but it is ending now.

Goodbye nutty bars. Goodbye Easter cakes.

Easter - robins eggs, reeses eggs....

I sit nursing Harrison at night and I think about what I am going to eat after he goes to sleep.

This is why I still look pregnant and why people would be saying this about me {scroll to 53 seconds} if I were to dance at a wedding.

I feel like I had so much more to say, but between a baby waking up and parents needing help downloading Bible apps on their iPads I have completely forgotten my train of thought.

On a non sugar note, I took Heidi to Jump'n Jacks this afternoon. We met up with my sister and two of Heidi's cousins to jump some energy out. Not sure how it worked, but Harrison had a great time crawling all around and made a new friend. Heidi had fun running around with her cousins.