Day 100

I cannot believe that I have a kindergartener let alone that she has been in school 100 days.  We talked alot about her 100 day of school project.  She could collect and display 100 of anything.  We had a lot of suggestions.  She wanted to do 100 flip flops (she truly is my girl) but that would be pretty expensive.  So, she chose the next best thing.....100 sea shells.  She picked out the sand and ocean paper too.  Sweet girl:)

Boogers, breath, & other WAY too personal info

Got your attention didn't I?  Okay so what the heck does the title have to do with this blog?  FRIENDS!!!  What else?

I've had a couple of different situations with friends and I realize how wonderful my friends are.   Today, my two girlfriends and I started back at our life transformation group.  We've been inconsistent since Christmas so it's good to get back in the swing.  We meet at KW's house.  Our boys are quite the BFF's and it is super cute.  I was talking to her about a character flaw in myself.  I do not want to get taken advantage of or used. I'm really not sure where this comes from but it is a theme in my life.  Even with Levi in our marriage, I've struggled with that.  It's gotten better for me with him but I've noticed I do it with friends too.  And so KW and I were talking about this and she just looked me in the eye and said, "Get over it and let it go."  And she said it kind of sternly too.  We continued talking.  She said, "Heather, you have to blame." And I agreed, I do...it needs to be somebody's fault to make sense in my head.  I love that she knows me well enough to point out my faults so eloquently and that I really didn't get mad at her.  She was right and I am secure enough in her and her love for me that I was very okay with that.

Then, later today, my friend, Wonder Woman and I were chatting about some Bible reading and our response to that.  We don't see to eye on some of the stuff and definitely have strong opinions about it. I make it sound like we're constantly disagreeing...that's not it.   We don't see eye to eye on some stuff and it's great.  I can learn from her perspective and she can learn from mine.  She totally called me on one part and said, "Uhoh, did I hit the protect Levi button?" or some other fancy way of phrasing that.  And she kind of did but it was okay.  I don't have to defend him (to her at least) and she can have a differing opinion.  Again, I could talk through with her my stance and how and why I felt the way I did. She can do the same.  And it's all good.  I love that because I can gain some great insight.

I'm thankful for friends who can tell me when I have booger, when my breath stinks, and other way too personal info:)

Menu Monday

Monday: smothered (peppers, onions & mushrooms)  cheeseburgers, french fries, & salad
(April- real funny...I think as much chicken as we have, we could have it as a side for every meal.)

Tuesday- tilapia, brown rice, & green beans

Wednesday- roast with carrots, potatoes, & onions

Thursday- marinated pork chops with couscous & asian vegetables

Friday- chicken tenders, sweet potatoes, & salad

January 29, 2011

Sandbox fun with friends!!  We had an awesome weekend of weather.  This week it's supposed to get nasty. We enjoyed a lot of outside time!!

January 28, 2011

Can you say slack-o-licious??!!!  My pic of the day has fallen short this week.  I did post a ton on Monday. I've got 2 for yesterday:)  Levi's grandparents sent us some gift cards for Christmas so we went to our FAVORITE place to eat last night.  We did girls vs boys!! Enjoy;)

300+

oh my lands....I just noticed my blog has been opened/read more than 300 times this month....woot woot!!!!

Thanks for reading!!

January 24, 2011

Had  a great time and learned a LOT at the Web Analytics Conference yesterday.

Fear Fret Freedom

were on my brain today. Levi is a doing a series called Viva La Corinth.  He's talking about the original sin city and how the church there fell prey to power, control, etc etc etc. It's been pretty interesting.  Today he was talking about how the people were arguing over who they were following. Some followed Paul, some Peter, some Christ, some Apollos.  Paul's point was that our salvation is through no man but only through Christ.  Levi's point was that their identity was wrapped up in other people, not Jesus Christ.  He challenged us to think about what our identity is in.  It really got my attention.  I've got to confess, I feel like I just get numb sometimes.  Nothing makes me super happy, nothing makes me super sad.....I kind of feel like there might be a mental condition associated with those symptoms...uh oh!   I do think my identity is wrapped up in the wrong things.  Okay so here goes more confession.  I care what people think. I try to say I don't and to an extent it's true, there are some things that I could care less what people think about but there are some things I care a great deal what others think.  If it happens to be something that I do care about, man I worry if someone is upset and I get kind of paranoid about thinking I did something to upset them. This sounds so silly even typing. I dwell on it and I make it a HUGE deal in my mind.  I have a hard time letting go.  I worry about things that 1. I have no control over and 2 shouldn't care a thing about. I realize I am pretty critical of others for no reason.  In my head, I think that if I do that, it lifts me up which is not the right attitude at all...I told you it was confession time.   I want to be the crowd favorite and the people pleaser. Sometimes I don't say what I really think or stand up for myself (not so much with my good friends but in group situations or when I feel insecure about my standings in a group).  I'll go with the flow or give a watered down version of what I think instead of standing firm and being bold in what I think.  I wish I could give a more specific example but I can't...don't ever want to incriminate;)  Anyway, in doing this, I get wrapped up in things that don't matter.  It wastes a lot of time and energy and brain power and I really need all of those things.  So, there you have it, that's my honesty for the day.  That's kind of where I am.  The freedom is because I don't want to be that way, I want to be okay with me and who I am without comparing myself to anyone or anyone's perception of what I should be, do, say, etc.  I guess all of that comes with spiritual maturity and growing in the Word.  Pruning is good, it hurts but the final product is well worth it.

Have a great week!

January 23, 2011

Blessed with wonderful friends!!  

January 22, 2011

So I bit the bullet and went running tonight. Here is the after shot. 

Last night

I went to bed at 8:45.  It was so lovely. As I laid there, about to drift into dreamland, I thought of some great things to blog about.  10 1/2 hours of sleep later, I cannot remember what they were. Maybe they'll come to me later.

On another note, I have the best husband in the world.  This week he has been a MAJOR help to me.  When Kman was sick this week, he stayed home with him so I could go to work (I only work 2 days a week). It was nice to have to worry with subs, plans, etc.  He did not have much of a productive day but it sure helped me out.  I am so thankful for that.  Last night, we tag teamed dinner and it was yummy.  We had pork tacos, beans, rice, and chips & queso.  We had family movie night, it was very relaxing.  Levi cleaned the kitchen up for me and let me go to bed early. That was AWESOME!!!

Guess that's it unless I can remember what my GREAT blogs were going to be.  Have a fabulous Saturday!!

January 20, 2011

April & I had lots of laughs at each other and at Levi...we enjoyed some Wii Fit..oh my.  In honor of my hubs humoring us, he's my picture of the day:)

ATTENTION ROWLETTIANS!!!

Okay so Whitney called me this morning to tell me about the City of Rowlett Stimulus deal. All you do is collect $250 worth of receipts from ANY business in Rowlett...ANY (gas, grocery, car, food, Walmart, Target, Burger King, seriously ANYWHERE as long as it is in Rowlett). Take your receipts into the City of Rowlett office. They stamp them and hand you a $25 gift card and a list of places that you can use it. There are a variety of businesses in Rowlett that take it, including Walmart.  I found almost $250 in my purse from receipts that I hadn't cleaned out or filed.  Go get your $25!!!

January 19, 2011

Our trip to the library today started with a picture with a famous author!

January 17, 2011

A member of our family that I rarely blog about but he's always here, our Giant Schnauzer, Becker!!

Menu Monday

So, this week we are going to start eating clean. We are going to take baby steps but basically it is cutting out refined sugars and flour.  This week, we are going to focus on dinners and try to implement it during the day when we can.  We're taking baby steps.  We've done weight watchers and this really goes hand in hand with that so hopefully it will be easy enough.  I did not go over my grocery budget...I was afraid I would BUT I also needed some staples (olive oil, honey, laundry detergent) that are a little more expensive.  

Monday - One pot Chicken, rice, & beans (was VERY good)

Tuesday- balsalmic marinated porkchops and grilled peaches with couscous

Wednesday- roast with carrots, onions, and potatoes

Thursday- Crispy chicken bites with sweet potatoes and salad

Friday- Smothered cheeseburgers salad and veggies

January 16, 2011

At lunch today, K Man was adding a new topping to his ice cream, bacon bits. He ate it...crazy boy:)

January 15, 2011

Ladies Day Out to Grand Lux and it was YUMOLICIOUS!!!!

 Meagan, Tiffiny, and I split a bunch of stuff and shared.  It was all so good but we were all so full:)

January 14, 2011

It's party day, lots of pics to celebrate!!

January 13, 2011

Her last night as a 5 year old.

Humility is....

the quality of being modest, reverential, even politely submissive, and never being arrogant, contemptuous, rude or even self-abasing (self punishment).


I had a whole blog written but I'll leave it at  that. It is a good reminder for me that to be humble is a virtue.  I keep typing, then deleting so I'm seriously going to leave it at that.

January 12, 2011

Tonight we had an unofficial C group dinner....we've missed each other:)  About half of us met at a local burger place and ate together. It was great catching up.  Not a quiet moment to be heard.  The ladies all sat at one end and were chatting.  When it came time to order, I had a couple of questions. My great friend, Wonder Woman, decided to catch that moment for you.  Thus, my picture of the day!!

January 11, 2011

Well, after my last post, and life events....aka I'm tired....I failed to upload a pic yesterday. So, today I am catching up.  To be truthful, this pic is from today not yesterday but whateves!!  K Man has a best buddy, JackJack.  They are best of friends and it is awful taking K away from J.  And I just realized J and K are next to each other in the alphabet...cute...sorry totally random and off the wall thought.  Anyway, my friend Katy and I went to a party store today to get some stuff for our girls' birthdays.  Here's how we found the boys!!  And are they just the cutest things or what?? Get them laughing and it is AWESOME!!!  Love it!

January 10, 2011

So my pic today is from a trash can.  Last night, I made ribs for dinner....well I charred ribs for dinner. I get a lot of teasing about my cooking (lots unwarranted I promise).  My hubs is usually the grill master but I was trying to do it myself....you see how far that got me.  So, needless to say, they went in the trash & we went to plan B for our meat part of the meal.  Very sad, very very sad!

January 9, 2011

Snow !!!  We had a great time playing in the snow today.  So thankful for such great neighbors that we can enjoy and play with.

January 8, 2011

This weekend was kind of weird for us.  You know how sometimes life is great and things are running pretty smoothly and other times they're just kind of out of control all the way around and still other times just certain parts are out of control.  It's kind of crazy how life works.  We're good but there are some situations and some not even with us but people that we love that are stressful and it just weighs heavy on us.  That's kind of where we are.  So anyway, yesterday, Levi let me have some me time in the morning and so we switched and he had his time in the afternoon.  The kids and I went to the dollar movies and watched Alpha & Omega. It was cute and the kids love movies. We had a great time.  The kids were exhausted and both sacked out on the way home.  We met up with Levi at home and he fixed us meatball subs for dinner and they were delicious.  I've got to give props to my friend, WW (Wonder Woman), she's been stuck at home from post surgery.  She gets bored and cooks (which I love):)  So, she delivered us some of her (& her stepdaughter's) wonderful meatballs. So, here are the pics, couldn't fit them both in one frame on my phone:)

PS Some of you comment on my blog that I don't know.  If you comment and don't see it published it's because I didn't want to publish it.  I love that the internet world lets me document and "journal" on my blog but I will be careful of what I want to publish, as far as public feedback.  

January 7, 2011

I didn't forget yesterday's pic of the day..just posting it today.  Last night, the Partain family had us over for dinner.  I love going to people's houses. I love seeing where they live and just enjoying their home...was that a subtle enough hint to invite me over?? Just kidding...kind of.  Anyway, they have a chihuahua that is about a year old, Bella.  Bella is a super smart little dog.  We were so impressed with all of her tricks and I do mean ALL of her tricks, she does lots.  My favorite was "Bang!"  If you look at her and shoot her (with your finger of course) and say, "Bang," she spins around and plays dead.  She'll stay there until you tell her to get up...it was crazy.  And my other favorite was that she prays.  She'll put her head down (and keep it down) and pray. So cute.  So, my pic of the day is of Bella praying.

January 6, 2011

As a parent, there are definitely days of defeat and frustration. I feel like I've had a lot of those lately where the stress of life or situations or relationships has exceeded what I can handle and the two that love me the most get the brunt of my temper tantrum. I hate that. I truly despise that.  I would be embarrassed for anyone to see me in those moments.  They're just uncalled for and as an adult, I really need to have a better way of venting frustration.  And sometimes that means disciplining my kids sooner so that my buttons aren't pushed and then I blow up about something that is really minor.  Parental confessional.  

However, also as a parent, there are days when I am fun and energetic and ready for whatever they throw at me. I can handle it with grace and ease, nothing's a big deal.  I love that my kids play well together.  They are so funny to listen to and talk to.  I love that they love to be around me.  Tonight, I was trying to get a few minutes of alone time....it wasn't happening.  They both joined me and danced for me and sang to me. They were just them and I loved every second of it.  In that moment, I was okay embracing that interruption to what I wanted and I'm so glad I did. I wish I was better at that. I'm going to try to be.  So in  honor of those crazy kiddos, here is today's silly picture of the day.  Whatever A does, K isn't far behind. He thinks it's funny to mimic her.  I asked them why A got the green shirt and K got the one with flowers on it.  I tried to get them to switch.  Their response, "Mom, he wanted to give you the flowers."  They have stolen my heart!

January 5, 2011

Thanks to Wonder Woman for my Ebay roller blades...tried it out on the downlow....it was a little embarrassing!

January 4, 2011

I put a pic of my running shoes on and not just because I like them...I actually ran. My first time in 2011!!

Menu Plan for This Week....Work in progress

I'd like to give you a complete menu plan for this week but I might not get that far.

Mon-Out (celebrated A's last day of vacation)

Tues.-tilapia, salad, green beans

Wed- ribs, baked potatoes, salad

Thurs.- pesto chicken, rice, peas

Fri.-Dinner at P's house

For breakfasts: cereal, pop tarts, eggs, pancakes, yogurt

Lunch:  sandwiches, fruit, chips

I need to get turkey...forgot that when I went to the store today. That's all I have for now;)

Kroger-it's been too long;)

So, I've been out of the coupon loop for about 6 weeks.  Randomly, I got my coupon notebook out over the weekend and cleaned it out.  My notebook was almost completely expired and I had about 6 weeks worth of coupon inserts to catch up on.  So, Levi and I were watching tv and I decided to take care of it.  Now, my friend Wonder Woman had emergency surgery and got hooked on the show Extreme Couponing on TLC. She came home and was asking me about because I've been known to coupon myself;) Fortunately, I was ready to go.  Today, she called and we ventured out to Kroger together with my two kids in tow.  I hopped on the computer and found some good deals, made my list and I was good to go.  Here's what I got:

2 packs of Quaker Instant Oatmeal $1.99
1 Herbal Essence Shampoo $2.94
1 Herbal Essence Conditioner $2.94
1 Herbal Essence Mouse $2.94
1 Aussie Spray $2.94
3 Dawn Olay Hand Rejuvenating Dish Soap $2.49
1 Febreeze Set & Refresh $2.49
6 Old Spice Deoderant/Antiperspirant $2.29
2 Old Spice Body Wash $3.50
1 3lb bag of Clementines $3.99
3 Crest Toothpaste $2.50
2 Kroger Fruit Snacks $1
2 Oral B Stages toothbrushes $2.49
4 boxes of Special K cereal $2.99
2 bags of Dole Romaine Salad mix $0.50
2 Secret Deoderant/Antiperspirant $2.29
1 bag of peanuts $1
1 Wholly Queso $4.99
3 Wholly Salsa $3.29
2 Progresso Soups $1
2 Progresso Soups $1.48
1 Sesame Street Bath Fizzles $1
1 box of caprisun $1.78
1 pack of Splitz Yogurt $2.29
1 Greek yoplait yogurt $1.09
1 bottle of Cascade Complete $5.99

So Kroger is running their P&G deal, buy 4 proctor & gamble products, get $4 off. I immediately got $24 off.  I also try not to give the cashier my kroger plus card until the end because I like to see how much it would be.  I gave it to him about 1/2 way through.  My original total with my plus card was $116.  Then, $92 with the P&G deal....then I handed in all my coupons and my new total was $45.03.  My goal is to beat the Dollar Tree. I had a total of 48 items and spent $45.03.  That's an average of $0.94 per item...pretty good.  I had coupons for everything except the caprisun, peanuts, fruit snacks, bath fizzles, & salad.  All in all, a great day:)

I am trying to only buy things I need or will use.  However, having a stash of stuff is GREAT.  I cannot tell you the last time we've run out of a toiletry item.  A couple of weeks ago, L was out of deoderant so I went to the store and paid $2 for a stick of it. Ridiculous!!  I'm stocked up again and going to stay on top of it.  It definitely saves us in the long run.  And it's awesome to reduce my bill by 65%. I love that.

Wonder Woman was quite impressed so hopefully she'll jump on the bandwagon.  I used to think couponing was overwhelming and it can be.  But, if I keep my coupon book up to date, it's not.  I follow a few blogs that tell me the deals, I make my list, pull my coupons and I'm good to go:)

Happy Shopping!

January 3, 2011

Me and my girl; )

January 2, 2011

I do believe we have a couple of addicts on our hands!!  

A picture says a thousand words.....uh maybe?

 This was his UFC game face...not really sure what kind of face I'm making.

Resolve to Resolute

I try not to make resolutions...it's the whole keeping them thing that always trips me up.  So, this year, I'm just going to try to make some improvements.  So, here goes (not in any order, just as I remember them-uh oh, that's probably a bad sign if I forget one):

#1 Marital:  Levi and I (dare I say this) have talked about having one date night a week.  Granted most of those date nights will be in our own home after the kids have gone to bed.  One night a month, we're going to do some kind of marital enrichment (this is G rated people). It might be asking/answering questions about each other, watching a dvd from a marital conference, etc etc etc.  Again...G rated peeps!

#2 Spiritual:  I am going to read my Bible consistently this year.  I want to read no less than 4 times a week, preferably 5 or 6.  I have got to incorporate a quiet time where I talk and listen to God in a focused way.  I also want to pray more which I will also do in this quiet time.

#3 Physical/Health:  I want to exercise at least 4 times a week.  I carry my fat in my belly which is the worst kind of fat because it's connected to heart health.  I have no desire to be a bean pole and I'm not even setting a size or weight goal. I want to feel good in my clothes but also reduce my risk of health issues.  I want to be a good example for my kids of being active & energetic.

#4 Parental:  I want to be more patient with my kids and enjoy them and not get so hung up on my own issues.  I freak out (with varying degrees) when someone spills or breaks something or when things are messy. I don't want my kids to see me that way nor do I want them to model that behavior.  I want patience in that area.  I also want to incorporate a monthly date with our kids.  Levi & A and me & K or Levi & K and me & A.  Our kids are incredible and I want to give them one on one attention.

#5 Random:  I want to take a picture a day to document our life...random but fun!