Big Girl and other Updates.

This morning we awoke to Violet screaming and kicking on her door. She was out of her crib, trapped under a baby gate...a baby gate that was thought to be safely tucked away. Not safe enough. She is fine btw. What I want to know is, HOW? She showed no signs of interest in climbing out of her crib, I've certainly never seen her attempt to climb or jump out.

So this afternoon we let her nap in her big girl bed, Liam's old big boy bed. It's been awaiting Violet since around late September. Not that I was in a hurry to get her out, we just had no where else to put it.

When Liam went to a big boy bed he did not want to nap any more. It took three days to get him used to just sleeping in the bed and not climbing out. We constantly had to put him back in. But he was climbing out of his crib daily so we had to move him to a bed...even if it seems like he wasn't ready yet.

Violet napped beautifully. Daddy had to put her back in her bed once. The next time he checked, she was asleep.

Bedtime was a different story. She had no interest in sleeping in her big girl bed, she wanted to be back in the comfort and 'safety' of her crib. So I think for now we'll just do naps in the big girl bed, until she decides that is where she wants to go to bed as well.

My "New Plan of Attack" is going very well. I may have confused a few people. I didn't intend on necessarily doing all the things I listed in one day. I just wanted enough things (that's why I tried to figure out a time) that COULD fill up a day so I wouldn't resort to the television. Like "oh well, we did all those things and still have a few hours left, let's turn on the t.v.". No, there is plenty to do each day. At first Liam wanted the t.v. on even when we had other activities to do...now I find that he is the one to turn the t.v. off. Phew.

I even bought a book 101 science experiments. It looks pretty cool. We are going to do some magnet ones on Monday.

In other news, Liam has pinkeye. :( I am worried Violet will get it too. David and I are thinking we may get it as well...our eyes are also pinkish and itchy... Liam actually has pus coming out. It's gross. Looks like joy school will be canceled this coming week as it is highly contagious.

I am sad to admit I haven't worked out in about two weeks :( Well I worked out yesterday. I am not going to let this slump stop me. I really need to lose weight. I was feeling results, in that I had more energy, my back and arms felt stronger, My abs must have been stronger because I could hold in my guts better. I lost about 6 lbs. But that was it. I was discouraged, we had worked out for about a month and a half, six days a week, 1 to 1.5 hours a day. I had cut out pasta and stopped drinking coke and ginger ale. I am considered to be just in the obese category. I should have lost 10 lbs in the first week. Well isn't that what happens to everyone else who is that overweight? I guess it's not enough. I need to really cut back on my portions this time around.

Another reason I had 'stopped' was I had gotten sick. Then I got a new calling in my Church to teach the 16-17 year old young women on Sundays. This requires me to take time after the kids are asleep to prepare a lesson for class. I enjoy it, I just have to get used to it and fit it into my schedule... and try to make my process for preparing a lesson more efficient.

I want to do the "day in the life" blog post for my friend Lisa. I just forget every morning until around noon when it's too late to start. I'll get there Lisa! Someday :P

New Plan of Attack

Today i decided To create a new routine For the kids. Forgive any spelling errors... any errors for that matter. I am blogging from my phone today. With the Kids being sick On and off for the past few months We've developed some bad tv Habits... Meaning we watch 3 or 4 hours a day. That is embarrassing to admit. Sometimes liam gets computer time as well. I'm ready to break the cycle. This morning i had Liam help me Write a list, As he begged me to Turn the tv back on.

First we listed 2 tv shows he like the most. He picked Umizoomi And spongebob squarepants. Will start by cutting back to 1 hour of tv a day. Then we listed outside play And he helped me think of things we can do outside. Picnics, bird watching, ride bike, sandbox, soccer, sidewalk chalk, and most importantly... gardening. Gardening includes Digging and planting, pulling weeds, watering plants, and pest control... later harvesting ( hopefully). i'm figuring 3 hours of outside play a day.

Reading 1 hour a day, writing letters and numbers one hour a day... Violet Can draw. Science or math times 30 minutes a day... Counting or doing experiments. 1 new activity From our toddler busy book. Project craft time 1 to 2 hours a day
Dancing for 30 minutes. Computer time 1 hour a day. Cleaning time , i'm going to make A job jar That they can pick 1 job a day from... Plus pickup toys. And of course eating, Bath time, And bedtime routine.

Friday night will be family home evening. And twice a week we'll have joy school. I'm excited about this. To make sure i do it, I'll try to update once a week.

Sorry, I love my Phone.

Is that wrong?

I recently got a Nexus One, which is the Google phone and I LOVE it. I can't compare it to other smart phones out there, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything. One of my favorite features is that I can talk into the phone and it types out my messages for me! I sound like a robot to make sure the text is clear, but it's worth it. I can use this feature on everything I need to type... text messages, emails, facebook, amazon and when I google the web...even BLOGGING! It saves so much time.

Its everything I need in one small item. It's my phone of course, my GPS, my computer, my camera, my scriptures, my mp3/pandora player, my calendar, my organizer (PDA obviously), my journal...I can just keep going but I'm being a little redundant. I mean a computer can do all those things so all I need to say is it's my tiny computer. I digress, my point is, I LOVE it. I mean it doesn't fill any void in my life and if I didn't have it I would be still be a happy person...I'm not so dependent upon it that I can't function without it. But I am grateful for technology and progress in general.

I say sorry because I know a few people who I have lots of respect for, who are against these types of phones. I can't figure out why and they've never said why...so I feel a little guilty, like I'm missing something, like these phones are some kind of great evil I hadn't considered.

Perhaps I will just try to be aware and not let it overtake my life...especially to take time away from my family. Other then that, Yay for progress!

Involving a Cleaning Product

I have always had trouble getting stains out of my kids clothes. Until I discovered Tide Stain Release. It's so wonderful. I highly recommend it. I can feed Violet spaghetti and all the sauce will come out of her clothes.

I was thinking that as much as I think I would have loved to live in the 1800's ;) I am really glad to live in this time... Not just because of the rights Women have, the convenience of cars, indoor plumbing being what it is today, washer/dryers, a/c etc...I could go on and on. No, I mean NOW now, where we have the latest things such as GPS, smart phones, Swiffer Wetjet and Tide Stain Release.

My Own Personal Twilight Zone.

There once was a young woman, one day she gets married, decides to have children. They buy a house that she tries hard to keep clean, but once she cleans something it is dirty again, almost instantly. She begins to lose her mind and imagine things that are dirty are really clean... little did she know, she had entered the Twilight Zone...

On a more positive note, I feel confident to announce that Liam is FINALLY, OFFICIALLY (not that he won't have accidents now and again) Potty Trained!!! He wears his big boy underwear at night even and wakes up at night or in the morning to use the potty. We even leave the house in big boy underwear. He is so proud to be a big boy. The other day I was trying to tell him about when he was a baby and he said "NO I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy!" me: "I know you are a big boy Liam, I'm telling you about when you were a baby" Liam: "NO MOMMY I'M NOT A BABY I'M A BIG BOY"...me: "Okay, okay".

I am soooo happy his diaper days are over. Phew.

Turkey Burgers

I made some turkey burgers last night that came out really good. Turkey is super lean but sometimes dry...these were moist and flavorful thanks to the worcestershire sauce I think. When you make the patties they don't shrink because there is hardly any fat...first time I made them too large thinking they would shrink, making them a little smaller makes them taste better, in my opinion.

Ground Turkey (1 pkg...don't remember the weight it was but I think a little over a lb).
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger root
1 fresh green or red chili pepper (seeded and diced small)
1 medium shallot (*any onion will do, that's just what I had on hand)
2 tsp dry cilantro (or more of fresh cilantro, whatever you have)
1 tsp salt
Black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1/4 cup of Worchestershire sauce
olive oil for cooking

cook the garlic, ginger root, chili pepper, and onion or shallot in a bit of olive oil until just brown and remove from heat.

Heat grill or broiler or stovetop.

In mixing bowl add all the ingredients together and mix with hands until well mixed...careful not to burn your hands on the browned ingredients though :)

Shape patties. I cooked mine on the stove using a grill type pan and added a little bit of olive oil over medium high heat. Cook for about 5-8 minutes on each side.

I served these on a toasted wheat bun, slice of baby swiss, spring salad mix, pickles with Dijon mustard, ketchup and a little fat free mayo.