Cran-A-Licious

My sister and I are both trying to lose weight. She has lost a total of over 65 pounds. Can I hear a WOOT! WOOT! for Leslie? She has been working her tail off for quite sometime, and has really helped me in my weight loss journey. Granted, thanks to genes, I did not have near as much weight to lose. I inherited my mothers genes and she inherited my dear father's genes. Therefore, she has had to work much harder! I am so proud of her dedication. I have watched her count out chips and then roll up and put away the bag so she can't get any more. Me...I have a hard time not gorging myself. She is my inspiration! Do it, Sissypants!!

What she has taught me is that everything you put into your mouth counts. That one Hershey's Kiss, that one Lay's potato chips (of course you can't have just one), that one drink, be it a sweet tea, coke, or beer. The drinks or one drink is what inspired this post!

She developed a super delicious, refreshing, and diet concoction. I am calling it Cran-A-Licious! You will love it even if you don't like cranberry juice. 

 Ingredients: 

Passion Fruit or Rasberry Rum, 

Diet Cranberry or Cranberry Promegrante juice, 

Sprite Zero

Place ice in cup. Pour 1 ounce of rum in glass. Pour enough juice in cup to color rum, We usually fill the glass to about half way. Top of the drink with the Sprite. Stir well and enjoy your 60 calorie drink!!

First Pinterest Project

Finally getting around to truly enjoying the benefits of Pinterest. In the last week, I have cooked 2 delicious recipes and created my first craft. My craft was a menu board for my family. I usually have a sheet of paper that I create it on, but this was so much more attractive and kid friendly.

Here is the inspiration:

At the time I started the project, I didn't really realize that I was starting it. THE Wal-Mart had bulletin boards on sale for, like, $5 and I suddenly remembered the menu board.

I cruised through the fabric isle and picked some corresponding fabric. Then I got some iron on letters. I covered the wood part of the board with the corresponding fabric using hot glue. Next I attached the main fabric using a staple gun. I ran ribbon around the edge to cover the staples. I covered index cards with fabric to create the pockets and then ironed on the letters. Finally I attached the index cards using hot glue. I used a peel and stick hook on the side of our cabinets and some ribbon to hang it up.

The girls and I had a great time writing down our favorite recipes, and I had a great time writing down some of the Pinterest recipes that I have been dying to try.

So without further ado, here is the finished product!

Aye! Aye! Captain

For those of you who are not familiar with my family, I want to catch you up a little bit before I begin my story. My husband and I have been married for 11 years and have 3 little girls. Our oldest looks like me but acts like him: extremely level headed and, for the most part, calm. We also have a 10 month old and it is yet to be determined who she looks like or acts like...only time will tell. And then there is our middle child, my diva. She looks just like her daddy but acts just like me: full of energy, dramatic, and loud. 

You can read about her multitude drama in my previous blog posts: Spanking Really Does Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You,  The Clothing Wars, It's Never Okay to Hit...Or Is It, and At Our Wits End. They are quite entertaining! 

But no matter how dramatic she is and how many fits she has thrown, I have never considered her disrespectful. That is until lately. Lately, she has developed the bad habit of "sucking her teeth" or as some people call it "tsking" when we say something she doesn't like. You know what I am talking about! That little action that is just as bad as rolling your eyes and makes even sane parents almost come unglued with a backhand. Luckily, we are all able to control ourselves ...but  still.

The first time this occurred there was a lengthy discussion about how rude and disrespectful the action was and how we expect better of her. The second time she was sent to time out. The third time, which occurred this afternoon, resulted in her having to repeat the action 25 times. The fourth time happened while we were sitting at the table enjoying Disgusting Yumminess (my latest Pinterest recipe). 

She had been talked to, warned, and punished all to no avail. Now came the time for a (GASP) spanking! Don't judge us! We only use them when there is danger or someone has done something really wrong. Anyway...

My husband informed her that he would be spanking her after dinner, and we continued our meal. She of course started crying (I told you she was dramatic) and was told that if she did not "suck it up" she would get an even bigger spanking. After finishing her dinner, she sat there waiting for the rest of us to finish. Suddenly she raised her hand (I think it is so funny when they forget this isn't school) and said, "Daddy can I go ahead and get my spanking over with?"

So with a giggle in his eyes, he proceed to explain to her what she did and why it was wrong. After he spanked her, she stood up and tried her hardest not to cry and to "suck it up". My oldest and I couldn't help it and started giggling which helped break the ice and helped her not to cry. Then, in true Diva fashion, with a whirl of her Dora night gown, she turned around looked at her daddy, saluted him, and shouted, "Aye! Aye! Captain!"

Lord help us with what is yet to come!

Cute Valentine's

I know this is a little late, but I just wanted to share some cute Valentine's that came through my classroom this year. You could definitely tell the moms who have recently became obsessed with Pinterest. They didn't pass out the regular old Valentines from Wal-Mart!

I loved this one which used chewy hearts and pretzels:

This next one definitely took some planning. I don't think I could think this far in advance, or if I did I don't think I would remember it when the time came around for Valentine's Day!

Even I got creative with my own munchkins' Valentines this year. 

For my 4 year old, I bought 4 packs of bubbles and attached notes to them saying "You 'Blow' me away!". For my 10 month old, I had left over Play Dough from a party and I attached notes to them saying "I love to 'play' with you"! Parents loved them because it was one last piece of paper to "file away" (a.k.a. throw away) and they gave the kids something to do when they got home.






My 7 year old wouldn't let me do something Pinteresty for her and opted for the boring Wal-Mart cards. Of course, once she saw how cool these turned out she wanted to change her mind. Alas, it was too late. Just another example of how her mother will always be right! It would serve her well to learn this lesson now!

Disgusting Yumminess

We tried my first Pinterest recipe tonight! I know, GASP! As addicted as I am to Pinterest, I can't believe this is my first recipe that I have actually tried. And trust me, this mess was so good I will try it over and over and over again.

It is called Crockpot Cubed Steak but I am calling Disgusting Yumminess because it looks so gross, almost like dog food, but it is Oh So Very Good! I am talking lick your plate good...literally had to stop my child from doing this. I did alter the original recipe a little, so here it goes.

Disgusting Yumminess
Cubed Steak (I used a family pack of 6)
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup (use Fat Free...No one will know!)
1 soup can of milk
1 Envelope of Lipton Onion Soup
Garlic Salt
Seasoning Salt

Place cubed steak in slow cooker. Season with Garlic Salt and Seasoning Salt. Mix 2 cans of soup with 1 can of milk. Pour over steak. Sprinkle Lipton Onion Soup over top, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

After my family of four dug into it, this was all that was left:

I had planned on having left overs, however, that does not seem to be happening. Next time, I will definitely double, and maybe even triple, the recipe.

Failing as a Parent

There are times where I really feel like I am failing as a parent. One of those times would be right now, at this exact moment, as I sit on the couch typing this blog and surfing Pinterest while my girls play Wii instead of being in Sunday School.

We are really not consistent about going to church. Part of the reason is that we have a baby who is in daycare all day long and the thought of leaving her in the nursery for a couple of hours every Sunday instead of spending time with her breaks my heart. Another reason is that it totally messes up her schedule for the day because she doesn't take a morning nap when we go to church.

Another reason is that in the 7 years we have lived here we have yet to find a church home. We have kind of hopped around from church to church trying each one on to see if it fits. Yet, we seem to find fault with each one.

The truth is...perhaps the fault is with us. In fact, there is no PERHAPS to it. The fault definitely is with us. All of our reasons above are just excuses. Excuses for not doing something that should be as natural as breathing. But because it takes a little effort we make excuses for why we shouldn't go to church.

This week's excuse...we lost an hour and got up late. Well, truth be told no one got up late but me. I slept until the new 9 which was the old 8. Even with the sleeping, though, we could have totally made it to church on time.

This is definitely something we must work on! I want my children to love God. I want them to turn to Him in there times of strife and to trust Him. Most importantly I want Him to live in their hearts and to bless them and keep them safe.

Amazingly, despite our failures as parents, they love Him so much. Their prayers are so precious. And they are constantly talking about God living in their hearts. He is GREAT despite our failures as parents.

Even though we fail to go to church on a consistent basis, I do try to help my children grow in Him. We pray every night before bed and on the way to school. When discussing problems we talk about what Jesus would do, and I try to help integrate Bible verses into our daily lives.

I have been wanting for a long time to do a bible verse a week, and help them to memorize it and apply it to their daily lives. Alas, work, home, babies, laundry...basically excuses have gotten in the way. I have not made it a priority. But today when I was Pinning things instead of being at church I came across ABC bible verses.

This mother did what I have been wanting to do for sometime but have not made a priority. She created one memory verse for each week. She also incorporated into the letters of the alphabet. They are free, so go download them at www.icanteachmychild.com These cards can help fill in the gaps where I fail getting my kids to church and Sunday School.

I promise we are going to get better about going to church. Even though there are many things I am Failing as a Parent, going to church should not be one of them. It is our duty to raise Godly children, and it feels OH SO GOOD! Next week for sure....