Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Aging pets...

Dawson,
I stayed up way too late last night worried about my dog. He started coughing a couple of times, which led me to the internet.... I don't know about you, but when I don't know something I look and research the topic till I can't stand it anymore! You could say that's an anal part of my personality and I would have to agree!
Anyway, Dawson will be 14 years old this November. He's been with us since he was 7 weeks old! My oldest son is 11, so my kids have never known life without him.
Of course I found everything from allergies, to a collapsed trachea, to congestive heart failure! Thankfully he is fine and no more coughing last night or today, but I know it's coming! I keep trying to prepare myself, knowing what the near future holds, but nothing helps. I'm crying now as I type this thinking about not having him around :(
I know it's inevitable, but still....

Monday, May 30, 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

A fresh new look for my blog!

This month makes me having a blog for 1 year now! I can't believe it's been that long! So with that in mind, I decided it was time to give my blog a new look! Unless I find something else that I like better, I will stay with this one for awhile :) I'm going to try and post more regularly also.

Vicky

Monday, May 23, 2011

I did my first 5k!!


This past Saturday I did the Weight Watcher's Challenge, to walk a 5k. Before doing this challenge I have to admit I pretty clueless as to how many miles a 5k is, it's 3.1 miles, which is easily doable. I'm up to 2 miles a day now, so thankfully it wasn't hard for me to walk it.

The best part of this experience was that my oldest son really wanted to walk it with me, well he wanted to run, but walked for my sake, LOL! It was very special for me to walk my very 1st 5k with him, it's something I will never forget!

The whole reason of me losing weight is to have more energy for my kids. To be able to play with them and not feel dog tired all the time.

I'm very happy to say that I've lost a total of 40 lbs in 6 months (I'm not counting the 2 months that I quit WW), I still have about 75 lbs to go, but my energy level has increased about 100%! Seeing the beautiful smiles on my kids faces when I'm playing sports with them is priceless!!

Vicky

SuperMom's


Thanks to the dawn of the internet and blogs, now we can go on and read just about everything that happens in the lives of almost everyone! I can even read about the lives of Mennonites from their very own blogs! (which I do find interesting, LOL!)

Reading these blogs often leave me sad and defeated. How in the world do they manage to accomplish all of this and that and have 7 kids that they homeschool! It's mind boggling! I rarely blog, my house is always a mess and I don't even homeschool my kids. I just don't see how they find the energy to do it all! Maybe I'm just L-A-Z-Y, yes I said it for the world to see (ok, so maybe my 100 viewers, LOL!), but I just can't physically do everything that I want to do. Sure I could be a lot more strict on the kids and on myself, but if it's sunny out then I want to be out in the sun playing with my kids or watching them, not doing housework! So I guess I'm lazy and unorganized!

I'm going to try my best to do better and get my house organized. My motto of as long as the kids are fed and cared for isn't cutting it anymore because if I don't control the clutter monster then the kids are going to be over taken in the mess, LOL!

I guess I won't be reading many blogs, I already feel like a big enough failure as it is so I won't have to read about some SuperMom boasting about how she does the job of 10 people with a smile on her face, LOL!

I'm not the same person as I was before I had kids, (we never are), I'm not even the same person now as I was 10 years ago. But one thing I do know is that I'm definitely not a SuperMom, nope, just a regular Mom trying her best to make it through yet another day, who passes out each night exhausted, but very happy and thankful for her messy house, not for the things, but the people inside it :-)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Plans for this summer...

I have HUGE plans for this summer, cooking plans with the kids. As the kids got older they declined from being in the kitchen with me. It progressed from being a fun thing to a I don't want to help thing. I never make them help, I always ask who wants to help. Usually when they discover video games or something else that strikes their fancy the I'm left alone in the kitchen. I still have my little Evan (my 4 yr old)that actually gets mad if I don't let him help me bake, but I know the time will come when I will hear him say he doesn't want to help too :(

Well this summer I'm making the kids help me, yes you read that right, forcing them to be in the kitchen! Only to teach them the basic skills they will need in life! I don't want my kids to be 30 and still don't know how to fry an egg! Growing up I wasn't allowed in the kitchen, my Mom never had the patience, she would always say she didn't have the nerves for us to help her, what a lame excuse! Well, cooking and eating are basic essentials of life that need to be taught to every human, boy or girl!

I told the kids about my "idea" and my oldest, Nathan, wasn't too happy about it. Nicholas (8yr old) smiled and was excited and of course little Evan was thrilled! I asked Nathan what he's going to do when he doesn't have his Mommy around to cook for him anymore. He said he would just eat Taco Bell, LOL! I said think about the money and more importantly your health! He laughed and agreed, knowing I was right.

School is out next week and I think I will sit down and make out a menu plan starting the following week. One day a week they will get to pick out any recipe they want from a cookbook and I will help them fix it, then the other time they will learn basic skills along with helping me fix something.

You never know what this summer may turn out to be, I may be sparking the flame of the next Emeril!!

Chicken Sandwich Recipe


Okay, so apparently I already posted this recipe and didn't remember, LOL! Not too uncommon for me since my short term memory tends to fade in and out :) So here is the link to the batter for the fried chicken sandwich, I use the same one to do chicken strips/nuggets.
http://my4pickles.blogspot.com/2011/03/seasoning-for-homemade-chicken.html

I will also post the recipe for the homemade buns in another post, they were amazing!!

Vicky

Monday, May 16, 2011

Trying to get organized...

I often wonder if I'm the only one that sits around and wishes she were more organized? I wonder if I'm the only Mother that has to wait 10 minutes every day for one of her kids to find a missing shoe! No matter how many times I tell them where to leave their shoes, they manage to always carry them off and of course lose them!
The kids will be out of school in 2 weeks and I'm super excited! Not only for the fact that they'll be home everyday, but also I have things planned. I'm going to try and get organized, as simple as that! I'm going to try to have a place for everything and everything in it's place kind of motto! Right now on a daily basis I wake up to a messy house. I just want to walk from my bed to the kitchen without stepping on a toy!

I'm not a super strict parent, so it's hard for me to force my kids to not have toys out of their bedrooms. I feel as though this is their house the same as it is mine, and a house is meant to be lived in! Now with that said, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if they picked up every room, LOL!

I think they have too much stuff. We have a small house (for 6 people) and everybody, including me and my husband (especially his books!), we all have too much stuff, we need to downsize and donate a ton of stuff!

So here I sit typing, in front of me is a very cluttered computer desk, clutter everywhere I can see and a mountain load of laundry that needs to be done. I do laundry about 5 days a week and it always needs to be done! That is life and I'm not complaining, I'm thankful that I don't have to go to a laundromat.

I'm just rambling now and really need to get off here and clean. I have family coming in tomorrow and I don't want them to trip over the tons of toys scattered everywhere. The big kids did clean their rooms yesterday, so hopefully the little kids won't mess them up while they're at school.

I read a funny saying, it said: If you want a clean house, invite somebody over for dinner.

So maybe I'm not that weird after all... LOL!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Bridal Shower Cookies

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing and Edible Sugar Pearls


I had so much fun doing these cookies! Even though I was in pain from an IBS attack, doing these helped keep my mind off of it! I really enjoy making cookies, even though they are very time consuming. I learn something new every time I use royal icing, meaning I learn what not to do next time, LOL!

The cookies are in the shape of a wedding cake and a wedding dress.

Vicky