Sleep Over With Grandpa & Nana

Sam had a sleep over with Grandpa and Nana on Saturday! From what I hear they had a lot of fun! They went to a farm equipment show that was just down the street from their home in Old Litchfield Park. We saw these vehicles when we drove by and they were pretty amazing, and very shiny!

Go Cardinals

I week until the big game! It is so exciting! I can't believe the Cardinal did it, so great! We are getting ready for our Annual Cheerin & Beerin Superbowl Bash! Come on over, it will be a good one! God I hope they can pull this off!!!

T-Ball

Sam had his first T-Ball practice Saturday. At first he was very shy and kept trying to walk away, which we pretty much knew he would do. But after the Coach had them chase each other around the bases and then they had to chase the Coach around the bases, he was laughing and very excited! There is nothing Sam likes to do more than chase or be chased!!! So it ended up great! I really like our coach, Coach Kyle. He has been involve in teaching young kids sports skills for over 20 years. He really has great ideas and is a lot of fun! I think this will be a really good experience for him!

After practice we went for pizza! He always has to sit by his Granny, loves that Granny!

Loving Wii

We are loving our Wii! It really is so much fun! Sam is really good at Mario Cart. He gets so excited and screams and giggles! He also like the golf and boxing. Jeff and him play a lot. I am not so good..... I try, but I have no patience to just sit and play video games. But, I will play Mario Car for a short time, it is too funny. You get so involved in it! A pat on the back for me for a very appreciated and loved gift to my boys!!

Good web site

This web site http://www.mambosprouts.com/ has coupons for natural and organic items. I have been clipping coupons for a while, but never could find this type. I won't buy junk or processed food (on occasion, but very rare), so this is so exciting!!! Just thought I would share! Happy, healthy shopping!

Had to share

So i have had some time this evening. Sam got up at 5:30am and crashed a bit early tonight, and Jeff is at the restaurant for our All You Can Eat Spaghetti Night. I have been looking back at photos, mostly looking for ones of Daisy and came across this. There are so many more I want to post as well, but I am sure no one else really wants to see them. I could sit here all night and look through all of them with the biggest smile on my face. But, I hear Jeff is home.
This was Sam when he was 19 months, so funny. God, I almost forgot how much energy he had, well still does, but wow I miss that age. Father Time PLEASE stop, sniff, sniff.....

Daisy update

Daisy is right back to her old self. her bloodwork came back and the only issue she has is her liver. She has been on Rimadyl for a while for her arthritis and it affects the liver. So we have changed her meds. She has not had another epidsode thankfully! Hope she continues on this path!

She is quite the trooper!

Daisy - Big D - Crazy Daisy - Daisy Girl

We have had Daisy for 14 years. We got her at the pound in Flagstaff. They told us she was 1 or 2 years old. So she is about 16 years old. Now it seems the old girl is really getting old. She had an episode the other day and we had to take her the vet hospital. Turns out she has vestibular disease. The vestibular system is primarily responsible for keeping the head and body in the correct orientation with respect to gravity. The disease affects the ability of the brain to recognize abnormal body positions and also affects the brain's ability to correct these abnormalities. It is not life threatening usually. They did blood work and we are waiting for the results. The say it happens in older dogs generally and sometime can be caused by a brain disease or tumor. We are praying that is is just old age and the medication will stop her from having any more episodes. The poor old lady already has arthritis pretty bad in her hips and back. I have a very sad feeling that this might be our last year with her. But I know she has had a wonderful life with us and she has given us many wonderful memories and has enriched our lives as well. Please keep our Daisy Girl in your prayers.

She is terribly afraid of thunder and lightening

My favorite chicken recipe - a must try!

This chicken is so, so yummy! I have made it 3 times now, and it is always wonderful. It is a salad recipe, but i have made it to just serve with veggies as well. I don't make the dressing, I don't eat salad dressing, but I do eat some avocado with it, yum! I know you may look at it and think it is fattening, blah, blah.... but pistachios (nuts in general, raw and unsalted) eaten the right way, and right serving are one of the best things you can put into your body. Try this recipe, you will love it!! To get my pistachios fine, I put them in a Ziploc and use my meat tenderizer thingy and gently pound them.


1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts, finely ground
1/2 & 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon & 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced sweet white onion
1 head romaine lettuce

Dressing
1 teaspoon grated sweet white onion
1 large ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon water

To make the salad:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Mix the nuts in a pie plate with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper. Press the chicken into the nuts. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet and cook the coated breasts, 2 minutes per side.
Place the breasts in a baking dish and bake for 15 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion registers 160°F and the juices run clear. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the diced onion, 1⁄4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Cook until the onion is browned.
Line 4 serving plates with lettuce. Slice the chicken breasts and arrange 1 breast on top of the lettuce on each plate. Serve with the dressing.

To make the dressing:
Puree the onion, avocado, oil, lime juice, and water in a blender

Kindergarten

I enrolled Sam for Kindergarten at a Charter School that I have heard great things about. They are an highly excelling school, have small classes and wear uniforms. All things I am looking for. So he went with me to turn in the enrollment papers. He got so upset and is already very worried about going. He does have some anxiety issues with new places and people. He really does not want to be anywhere without Jeff or I. He will just turn 5 in June and then Kindergarten starts August. I know I can send him the next year. Geez, what do you do???? I just keep worrying about it. Any one else having he same fears as me? Jeff thinks he will be fine........

Wow, All Of A Sudden

Sam can read, really, seriously! When I picked him up from school today his teacher gave me his weekly reading log and said, Now make sure you have him read the books to you as well as you reading to him, especially these ones. And she pointed to them. And she was really serious, and she has been telling us (the parents) how much they are really reading. But Sam is a different child at home most of the time. It's like he doesn't want us to know what he knows, lol! Well tonight I started going over the title of one book, (not one that she specifically said for him to read) A House For Mouse. He read the entire title to me! I said, have you read this before, he said, no. And I know we have never had it as one of the books he has checked out. As we went along in the book he was reading every word in it! It is one of the Scholastic Sight Word Tales Books. http://catalog.scholasticcatalog.com/sight_word_tales-p-177247.html I am so proud of him! Now I know he can't totally read but he is very much on his way!! I am so excited to tell Jeff! He is at Kung Fu right now. Sam has been able to read words, but not like this in sentences and all. And it was really just all of a sudden!!! Miss Hilary, you ROCK! Thanks for all your wonderful hard work!

Back On Track, Hopefully

I am embarrassed to admit I have not worked out in close to a year. I injured myself and have not gone back. Well, I started saving my money and I went and joined the gym I have been longing to join! I paid for the whole year in advance so I don't have another bill every month, and it was cheaper that way! I am proud that I saved and didn't spend that money on nothing. So today was my first day in. It felt so good. I love working out and love being in the gym. I have to be careful since my elbows are not completely healed, but they are much, much better thanks to acupuncture and kinesiology tape. (Click to see what the tape is all about, interesting.)
http://www.kinesiologytaping.co.uk/APPLIC/Application_Techniques.html
So I know I will be sore tomorrow, but I love that feeling. I am going while Sam is in school, so hopefully I can make it 3 times a week.

Pee

So does anyone have any suggestions for getting pee out of our mattress!?!?

Sam had an accident last night, in our bed. He didn't even know! I woke up at 6:30, used the restroom and when I got back in bed I could smell pee. He had went and you could tell it had been there for hours I assume since it was already drying. I was so surprised. He has been potty trained since he was 31 months, and although he used a pull up at night for a while he has not done this in about a year. And then we had the waterproof pad down! I know he was very tired from having played a lot outside at preschool and we had some friends and their 2 boys over last night. So I am hoping that is the reason, I pray that he is not regressing or something. I hope that is all it is. I have cleaned the mattress the best I can and it is still drying. But I fear there will be the lingering smell..... any suggestions, e-mail me!


October 2006, 28 months, just for memories!

Non Toxic Cleaning Kit

I have been wanting to make my own cleaning products for a while and just haven't made the time. But now I found a site with a lot of recipes that I am happy with and am going to get started on it this week! It will be so much healthier for us and cheaper! I do use a lot of the non toxic store bought brands like Holy Cow and Seventh Generation, but they are expensive.
I will post when I get them all together and let you know what I think! here is the site that I am getting my recipes from:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html

Happy New Year!

Our Party Animal!

We had a little get together at our home, just family. We played Wii and took way too many pictures! We really had too much fun doing nothing really!! Our New Year rang in at 10:30! We did this so that Sam could participate. We let him stay up late! He had so much fun! The first thing he said to me this morning was how much fun he had last night!! Everyone was home before midnight to avoid all of the crazies on the road. For the first time since Sam has been out of his crib at 2 years old, he slept through the night in his own bed! He always comes in our room around 11-12. He came in this morning at 7am and actually went back to sleep!!! I kept waking up and going in his room, it was strange not having him in bed with us all night. I know many people think it is crazy that we let him do this. But, I look at it this way, he is only little for such a short time, and there will be a day he will not want to spend so much time with us. So I welcome this.

Well, here's to a happy, healthy, fun filled year!!!!

Granny and Grandma torturing Buddy!

Happy New Year!

Trying to get Sam to get in the photo!

Grandpa boxing, I think!

Granny, Grandma, Nana and Me. Don't know what is going on with grandma, lol!!

Nana and Sam
Daisy getting love from Buddy, rare, very rare!!!