My Struggle...

I think I might be a tad bit crazy for putting this out there for everyone to see. But I've decided I've got to get some accountability or I'm never going to get what I struggle with under control. I struggle with..........food. My struggles with food come. And they go. I thought when I joined Weight Watchers last fall that the struggle would be gone for good. Wrong. Once I reached goal, I made the mistake of stopping my weekly weigh-in. And slowly over the last 3 months, I have gained back (gulp!) 10 lbs. Oh. my. goodness. How did I let this happen? So, I don't want to pay all the fees to sign back up with Weight Watchers. And I know how to do it. And I subscribe to their Online stuff and am already paying for that service. All I need is the lady at the scale. The lady at the scale who would weekly look at me, look at the scale, look at me on the scale, and write down my weight. Every single week. That motivated me more than the meetings. Way more than the meetings. The meeting was pretty much just a pep talk. For me, it was all about being accountable to the lady at the scale. The few people reading this blog will now become the lady at the scale. Didn't you always want to be the lady at the scale? I'm weighing on Tuesday's and on my Weight Watcher's Online Profile I had to record the ugly weight of.......oh, this is painful.....157.7. There. There it is. I had lost down to 147 way back in February. So, now I'm 10 lbs up...almost 11! Ugh. So, if you look to the right just under my family photos, I'm tracking my weight. I'll put down my weigh-in every Tuesday. Thanks for being the lady at the scale.

Did you know?

Did you know that yesterday was Flag Day? I didn't until I read Dawn's Blog this morning. Thanks, Dawn :) Even though we didn't know yesterday was Flag Day, it just so happens that we did put up a new American Flag yesterday. What a wonderful coincidence!

Other activities for our Sunday....

Rupert does The Dog...

Granny comes for a visit...

And we take in the Lord's beautiful creation...

Fire & Ice...How to turn Store Bought Pickles into Homemade!

The Bob and I like to try and have a weekend getaway once a year. Our spot choice for the getaway, or Minimoon (as in short honeymoon), is Natchez, Mississippi. We love it. I love the old antebellum houses. They have something like 25 that you can tour, and there are more than that on the historic register. I love the old civil war history of the town. Example: The reason Natchez still has so many old, antebellum homes is because the Union Army thought the town was so pretty that they did not want to burn it when they took control of the town during the war. Anyway, we looooove our yearly voyage to Natchez. I also love their local cuisine. They have some dang good eatin' there! Pearl Street Pasta, King's Tavern, The Carriage House, Magnolia Grill. Yuuuuummmmy! On our last trip, we tried a new place called Fat Mama's Tamales. I don't normally like tamales. When I think tamales, I think about those nasty ones that come in a jar from the store. My Daddy used to eat those. Bleck. Well, Fat Mama makes homemade tamales. There is a world of difference, and I really, really liked them. But what I liked even more was Fat Mama's Fire & Ice pickles. Sweet pickles with a bit of a kick, a little spice. They were the best I had ever eaten. When we left Fat Mama's, I bought several jars of pickles to bring home like any good tourist would do. As I was paying for them, the cashier said, "You know you can make these. They start from store bought dill pickles." I'm sure Fat Mama would not appreciate that cashier letting customers know that. Although they did not give me the exact recipe, however. My Mom ran down a recipe online, and they are sooooo good. Just like Fat Mama's. Fat Mama would be so proud. I made them from our online recipe, but changed them just a tad, so here you go:

Fire & Ice Pickles
1 quart of whole dill pickles
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 HEAPING tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cups sugar

Empty jar of pickles draining off all juice. Cut into slices that are not too thick and not too thin. Mix in garlic, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Stir all ingredients and let them set on the counter for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. Over time the sugar will bring out more juice from the pickles and turn your dill pickles into sweet pickles. After several hours put back into the jar and chill. I think they are the absolute best when they've had a chance to get their chill on.

Also, I heap my tsp. of red pepper flakes, because I like the extra, little kick the red pepper gives. Sweet yet a hint of spicy. Yum.

Learning to be grateful...

I hope we are teaching our children to be grateful. We are trying. Last week Moose had a birthday party, and we are having him send Thank You notes to those who brought him a gift. It's something The Bob and I are serious about. Thank You notes, that is. We are serious about sending Thank You notes. Moose feels like it's torture. He hates to write. He is thankful for his gifts, but he does not see a need to hand write everyone a note. He'd rather give thanks in person. But in the day of high technology, there is something wonderful about a handwritten note. It says you took time. It says you were mindful and thoughtful. Really, don't you just love to get a handwritten note or letter from someone in the mail? I do.

I don't think I've always had an attitude that was as grateful as it should have been. No, I know I didn't. Especially in my teens and twenties. I think those are days that many young adults are completely absorbed with self. At least I was. Since then and over time, I have learned to be thankful and grateful for what others do. I have even gone back and written a couple of people who I never properly thanked or told them how much their love and support meant. People need to hear that...even if it's years later than it should have been.

So, I hope I teach my children to be grateful and thankful along the way. In doing so, they will not only find an attitude of gratitude, but also an attitude of humility.

Blueberries & Cream

We have a very large blueberry bush in our backyard which yields more berries than we can eat. I don't have a picture to go with this recipe, but trust me, it's super yummy. And it won this:


Pardon the cheap, yet sentimental jewelry hanging with it. And yes, I'm tooting my own horn. So without further adieu, the blue ribbon winning (just a bit more horn tooting) Blueberries & Cream:

Blueberries & Cream

First Layer:

1 cup of flour

2 sticks of butter (yes, I said 2)

1 cup chopped Walnuts.

Mix the following and cook on 375 deg. until golden brown and crust-like. Cool completely before adding second layer. If you don't it will melt your second layer.

Second Layer:

8 oz. cream cheese (slightly softened)

8 oz. cool whip

1 cup powdered sugar

Mix the following with electric mixer and spread over cooled first layer.

Third Layer:

3 cups blueberries

1 1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cup sugar

5 T. corn starch

Place this in a sauce pan and cook until thick (like a pie filling). Cool completely and spread over second layer. If you don't cool this completely, it will melt the second layer. That second layer is a bit on the sensitive side.

Fourth Layer:

8 oz. Cool whip

Chopped nuts to garnish

Good Blogging Finds #2

The second great blogging find this past week was from Pretty Organized Palace. She did a post a few days ago about managing and scheduling her children's time over the summer so that they are not in from of a TV or video screen all summer long. I needed this post. Just two weeks into summer break and my children have lost all sense of responsibility. And so have I. So, after reading her schedule, I developed one for me and the children that will fit the summer weeks and months. I hope Fep and Moose will come to appreciate it. Right now, not so much :)

***The day after I wrote this post, we made an unexpected trip to the doctor with Moose. He's fine, but was having severe ear pain and jaw pain due to....swimmer's ear. Again, he's fine now. With a simple trip to the doctor taking 3.5 hours out of my day, we had to rearrange the schedule a bit ;) But once we got home, we kicked into gear, got productive, and the kids and I cleaned the whole house. All this to say sometimes you gotta' roll with the flow, and sometimes the best made plans will be broken. Oh, and you can find Pretty Organized's post about summer scheduling here.

Good Blogging Finds #1

I'm just putting out here some new blogging finds (because I need to spend more time in the blogging world!) and how they relate to me.

First up is Amy at Momadvice.com/blog in which she did this:

In February (I know that's 3 months ago...I just found it this week), she posted her adventures in spending absolutely nothing except what it took to live. Food (not fast food - that is a luxury) and gas for the car. That's it. No trip through McDonald's or Starbucks. No materials and items for craft projects. No movies, CDs, or books. Food and gas, People. Why does this speak to me? One, we eat out waaaaaay too much. My children and I hit a fast food restaurant at least once a week. I figure that averages out to about $75 per month....on a stinkin' Big Mac! Or in my case a Fresco Bean Burrito from Taco Bell. And the second way it spoke to me was that we don't need nearly what we think we do and impulse purchases are a downfall for me! There, I said it. I cave to the occasional kitchen or house item, the pack of gum for my children (sugar free mind you), or an item of clothing even though my laundry tells me that we all have plenty of clothes. One clothing item in particular....flip flops. I adore flip flops. Cute, little Yellow Box flip flops are my favorite. But I'll take Target, Payless, and Walmart, too. This year The Bob put us on a "No Flip Flop Purchase Summer". Why? One, he can't stand them, and thinks one pair is plenty. Two, shouldn't one pair be plenty? I still have flip flops in really good shape from last year, so I absolutely don't need any. At all. Nope, I don't. But oh, I waaaaaant some. I torture myself by looking at them in stores any chance I get. I have to tell you it's killing me. So, if I end up missing or dead, it's from flip flop deprivation.

If you have a chance, check out her posts on this. It will open your eyes, too, I'm sure to areas of your spending that could be improved.

The Woobie Revisited

I had a blog a year ago that I deleted, and on that blog, I had a post about The Woobie. See The Woobie pictured above. Before I deleted the other blog, I printed off two posts that were meaningful to me. The Woobie was one of those posts. I am going to repost that old post and then share my thoughts on The Woobie one year later...

The Woobie

Sitting on my couch is a piled up crocheted blanket called "The Woobie". It belongs to Moose, and he has carried it since he was a little baby. The Woobie is multi-purpose really. It's his trusty blanket, or its Spiderman's web when all stretched out and thrown across the room. When he was a baby, he would pick at the yarn and eat it. Odd, I know. Moose will turn 7 in just a few days. He's really getting too old for The Woobie. But I know soon enough, he'll sleep with his Woobie one last time. And gone will be the last visible, tangible reminder of him being a baby. The pacifier is gone, the bottles are gone, and thank goodness, the diapers are gone. But I must say, I will be sad to see The Woobie go.

So, that's it. Just as it was written one year ago with the same picture at the top of the post. Moose turned 8 this past Friday, and he still has The Woobie. When I posted that a year ago, I just knew somewhere between 7 and 8 that he'd give up The Woobie. Nope. He doesn't even act interested. Fep is starting to get almost repulsed by the fact he's a blanket toting 8 year old. She's telling him that kids are going to start making fun of him. Fep, she's so tenderhearted toward Moose. A year ago, I was going to be sad to see The Woobie go. Now, I just think it's time. My 8 year old is obviously not a baby anymore, and try as I might, I can't keep them babies forever...except in my heart. And I do think it's time for The Woobie to go, but I'm not forcing it either. I'm not going to be the one who strips him of it. Fep, maybe. Sooner or later, The Woobie will be gone (at this point it's looking like later), and sooner or later my babies, my children will be grown up and gone, too. I know it's going to be sooner than later. And those are the thoughts that makes a mamma's heart ache.

Cartoon Classic

I saw this cartoon at HSingmama's blog. I just thought it was a classic. When I showed it to The Bob, he said, "You know there's a lot of truth in that." And he thought it was funny, too. I have to admit, I've had a conversation or two somewhat similar to this. I don't bake my own bread, we've seen our fair share of Disney movies, and instead of Batman or Power Rangers, you can insert Spiderman and Star Wars. I don't know why we try to measure ourselves up against other people's standards and convictions instead of just following our own? Why don't we just pursue what the Lord has for us and not what the Lord has for our neighbor? Anyway, I do love this little cartoon.

Finding the good...

The past week was pretty crummy to say the least. I won't even bore you with all the details. Really, why bother? Shouldn't our focus be on finding the good? Yes, in the midst of a not so great week, each day had a treasure of it's own.

Monday - Memorial Day. Remembering self-less sacrifices of others. Time spent with The Bob and the kids.

Tuesday - a quiet day at home. Just me and the kids. Front porch swinging. A special young lady comes over to announce she's engaged, and asks Fep to be a bridesmaid! Awesome.

Wednesday - A rainbow. A reminder of God's unfailing love and always kept promises.

Thursday - a loved dog that likes to lay with her rear end sticking out from under the bed. I'm not sure if she thinks she hiding or what?

Friday - Moose turns 8!! Swimming with friends. Opening some birthday presents. What gets better than that?
Saturday - Missing dogs give us a scare, but return safely home.

Sunday - Moose's official birthday bash. Swimming. Hot dogs. Hamburgers. And lots and lots of friends. He got to spend time with his friends, and I got to spend time with mine...

Might I mention that the lovely blonde haired lady on the left is 50 years old and has 9 children. Yes, I said nine. She is amazing! I heart these ladies.

And I heart Heathahlee. Oh, I do.

Yep, it was a good week after all. There's just no telling what treasures I'll find hidden in this week....