Two lil fishies

I was practicing with my macro lens.

And admiring my beauties!

Paisley likes to point out her body parts. "ears"

"nose" is by far her favorite!

and she blows the sweetest kisses

Look at those lil pink fingers! Ugh, I die!

Thank you lord for giving me girls.

I may take that quote back at some point, but for now. ..Thank you!

She has mastered the art of impersonation!

Slobber kisses

Look at that face

How will I ever tell her no?

Lil Miss Eww

I hesitate to even write this, but what the heck. We're all friends here right?

Paisley has developed a knack for bursting in our bedroom whenever myself or Jed are getting dressed. Whether it's right after I get out of the shower or when I come home and change into more comfortable clothes. She likes to catch Jed in the morning putting his undies on!

The funny part is, she sneaks up behind you, does the head tilt, and says, "EWWWWW."

Of course it's much funnier when she does it to Jed, than when she does it to me!

Paisley's vocab

I've been posting Paisley's "words of the day" on facebook, randomly. It just occurred to me, this would be a better place. Since . . well, the people who actually care what her first words are, would be the only ones subjected to my proud mommy moments! Blogs are great for that reason alone!

I'll try to recall a few. . .

On our way home from work one night, I picked up some cats a co-worker didn't want. The entire...I MEAN entire way home, they would meow, and Paisley would meow back. It was the cutest meowing conversation I've ever heard.
Cats: Meow, Meow
Paisley: Meeeee oooooooooow
Cat's Meow?
Paisley: Meeeee oooooooooow
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Has 30 minutes lapsed yet? No? Then you're not done repeating. . . .

I'm always asking Paisley for kisses, because she puckers up so cutely and makes the mmmmuah sound. Unless she doesn't want to give kisses. Then she just says ,"no." She says no, a lot.
But if she's in the mood, she'll pucker up, give a kiss, then follow it with a "taint tou." (thank you)
{sigh, she's a heart melter}

I try to repeat words slowly for her and see if she'll mimic me. Some times it works, sometimes she's having no part in it and it goes like this:

Do you want to take a BATH?
Paisley: No
Do you want to go to Night- Night?
Paisley: No
Is your butt stinky?
Paisley: No
Can you say anything other than No?
Paisley: No
Alrighty then!

Her other distinguishable words are: stinky, dup (cup), up, dooooowwwn, moh (more), nummy, and of course  uh, uh, uh, uh.

Joyfolie

So first it was minted.com. Now I've stumbled across another "wish I hadn't, but so glad I did," website.

Prepare youself

Ready?

Are you sure?

ok, Here we go!

Cute dress with flower belt/headband

HAND MADE boots!

HAND MADE shoes

Look at all those tiny, lovely little shoes!

Aren't they just adorable?

Here is the link to her store

http://joyfolie.com/

And her Blog

http://www.joyfolieblog.com/

If you don't have girls to shop for, you can always buy some for my girls! I'll gladly share them with you!

She also sells the patterns for some of her shoes and boots and she has an Etsy store as well.

Help others adopt

I don't know these people, but I know someone who knows them :)

They live in Rapid, so that basically makes them neighbors!

They are trying to adopt and like all families who want to adopt, they need our help. Their story stole my interest and I quickly found myself hitting the "donate" button. They have 3 beautiful children of their own, but have the longing to save a child from poverty stricken Ethiopia.

Click on the link below to read their story and if you're able, help them, help others.

http://www.findingchurch.net/blog

Words of wisdom

I loved the excerpt from a blog I read (below), so much that I thought I'd share! Aren't y'all glad I like to share :)

I linked the entire post below and the specific "hits home" part underneath.

http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2011/01/but-if-you-dont-have-fun-doing-this.html

"Let's be clear, though: The change in my appearance was -- is -- slow. My family cheers and praises the results regularly, but the first time someone outside my circle said, "What have you been doing? You look great!" was in May, nearly six months after I had implemented some of the changes outlined above. There were a flurry of compliments in the weeks that followed. And then nothing. And that must be okay, folks. It took years to get out of shape, after all, and life is not a reality show. It will take time -- perhaps years -- to reshape, tone, and change.



By the way, the next time someone said, "Have you been losing weight? You look good!" was October, nearly six months after the first compliment from someone outside my family. Another flurry of compliments followed. And then nothing. Again, you must reconcile yourself to finding a sense of accomplishment from within -- within yourself, within your family -- because the rest of the world just isn't paying that much attention. Besides, any changes you've made aren't for the rest of the world. They're for you and for your family. Resolve to achieve health goals slowly, then, and you will make meaningful changes, changes that are, in fact, built to last the rest of your life."

These words in particular I find the most inspirational and grounded.
Again, you must reconcile yourself to finding a sense of accomplishment from within -- within yourself, within your family -- because the rest of the world just isn't paying that much attention.

I think we've all been in the position of accomplishing some goal, whether it is major or minor and we seek gratification from others. When that gratification doesn't come, we start to think. . . . hmmm, why aren't they noticing?

I have to keep telling myself, this change is for ME, for MY health, MY body, and MY happiness. While that may sound a bit selfish, it's really intended to benefit MY family. Being the best version of myself is the best way for me to be the best mother, and wife my family needs me to be.

This article makes me think about others who have lost weight and weren't acknowledged. A co-worker of mine lost 30 pounds and I remember seeing her every day, thinking....hmmm am I just getting fatter, or is she just getting skinnier. So finally I asked her what she was doing. Her whole face lit up and she told me her story. She was genuinely so thrilled that someone noticed!  It was seeing her success, by the way, that encouraged me to begin my journey.

I've hit a bit of a plateau it seems, and haven't been able to get past the 15 pound mark. But I've also slacked on tracking my points and allowed not so healthy foods back into my life. This week I'm doing better, day by day. My will power is improving again and my determination is kicking in. I do not NEED a coke. I WANT a coke. There is a difference.

I recently placed an order on Alice.com for our home essentials (toilet paper, detergent, diapers, ect). When the order arrived there were two complimentary bottles of Propel zero included. Zero calorie, flavored water. Neat! It's like they knew!

And today, when I dropped the kids off at daycare, the lady that watches them said, "Geez, you're getting skinny, what have you been doing?" It's like she knew, I needed a boost! How ironic that I had been working on this blog entry the day before!

Encourage one another! ALWAYS

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

Here is a pretty close recipe to the lettuce wraps served at PF Chang restuarants. If you've never had them, you really should try them and add them to your dinner rotation. They are amazingly good, and you'll wish you'd known about them sooner!

PS, if you don't have all the fancy ingredients listed for the sauce, just use soy sauce and brown sugar.

Lettuce Wraps from PF Changs recipe



MARINADE

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons sherry wine or red wine

2 teaspoons water

2 teaspoons soy sauce

FILLING INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced small

5 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1/2 cup green onions, minced

1 cup mushrooms, minced

1 (8 ounce) can bamboo shoots, minced

1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, minced

1 (6 ounce) package chinese cellophane noodles, cooked to pkg. directions

COOKING SAUCE

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sherry wine or red wine

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

lettuce leaves, washed and taken off the head but left whole



Mix all ingredients for "cooking sauce" and set aside.

In medium bowl, combine marinade ingredients and mix well. Add chicken and stir to coat thoroughly. Stir in 1 t. oil and let sit for 15 minutes.

Heat wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 T. oil, then add chicken and stir-fry for about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Add 2 T. oil to the pan. Add garlic, and onion and stir-fry for a minute or so. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots and wter chestnutsl stir-fry an additional 2 minutes. Return chicken to the pan. Add mixed cooking sauce to the pan. Cook until thickened and hot. Break cooked cellophane noodles into small pieces and cover bottom of serving dish with them. THen pour chicken mixture on top of noodles. Serve along side lettuce leaves for everyone to take what they want, and then spoon into lettuce leaf and roll (like a burrito) individually themselves.

punishment fridge

Jed thinks it's funny to stick Paisley on top of the fridge.

 I'm fairly sure he must have spent a lot of time on top of his parents fridge.

Except, precious Paisley didn't even do anything wrong.

She has no idea why she was put up there.

But everyone laughs at me, so it must be fun?

Jayda turns FIVE

Jayda's 5th birthday.

She requested a green cake this year, so I went above and beyond my own abilities to make her one. We even put food coloring in the cake itself so the inside was green too. She thought it was pretty cool, but refused to eat it!

Jed got her a guitar and a roping dummy. Can we tell what he'd like her interests to be?! She also got a cute barbie-type doll that comes with wigs you can change out, a sleeping bag with a monkey pillow attached, some good old cash and some clothes.

After Christmas she informed me that she was sad she didn't get any clothes for Christmas this year. Poor poor baby, only got toys!

Who turned the lights on?

Seven days into the new year and I haven't posted anything. Hmmmm, not a great start!

I have Jayda's birthday pictures to post, Jennifer's wedding pictures to post, Christmas, Christmas eve and a few of Paisley sitting on top of the fridge. Don't ask. (I'll tell ya later!)

However I don't have them ready to post, so once again, you'll just have to wait. My main purpose of this post was to write down the words of miss Jayda, these words are important ones. Very, very important. They will come in very handy some day. I'd really like to record her saying these words, just incase she doesn't believe she actually said them.

She likes to bounce into our room in the early hours of the morning, usually about 6am. And shout, "WAKE UP! It's not dark out anymore, WE CAN'T SLEEP WHEN IT'S LIGHT OUT!!!!"

Oh, how I can't wait to use these words against her one day. Sweet, sweet revenge.

The real annoying part is, she normally only does this on the weekends, when we actually CAN sleep when it's dark out. Ib the week days our issue is getting her out of bed without awakening the "crabbies." Yesterday her teacher told me, "I think she needs a good nap."

Ha, preach it sister. We know. . . .we know.