some xmas tree pics....

xmas tree pics...

The cutest little ornament....

This was made by Damon when he was in preschool. The put white paint on their hands then printed their hand around the glass ornament, very carefully I'm sure. I love it!!

a handprint and a poem....

"I,m so tired. My mom woke me up ar 7:30 this morning, took me to the diet center with her for her appointment, and then we went christmas shopping at Target! You'd be sleeping too if it had been you. Yawn!"
Marie

Well, here it is. This cost me $13.83.
6 boxes of Kellogg's cereal, 4 bottles of L'oreal kids shampoo, 2 six paks of yoplait kids yogurt, 2 four paks of yo+ yoplait yorgurt, and 2 forty count boxes of arm & hammer dryer sheets. Pretty cool, I think I may get back into couponing but only with internet printables. I highly reccomend www.pinchingyourpennies.com
Marie

Do Ya See My Ticker!!!! do ya! do ya!!

OMG!!!

Weighed myself this morning and I am now down a total of 40lbs!!! I am seriously soooooo thrilled!!! I have not weight this much since right before I got pregnant with Damon........... 7 YRS AGO!!!!!!!!!

Green Tomatoes?

This bread is very yummy! I heard about it on a local talk radio gardening show and copied off the recipe to try. I was able to try it sooner rather than later as my Mom brought down several tomatoes from her garden, several among them being green.

Have you guessed what kind of bread this is yet???

Yep! Green Tomato Bread!
As found on www.joyinthegarden.com
I'll also post the recipe from their site down below. Enjoy this sweet, yummy but different bread from the garden!

GREEN TOMATO BREAD FROM ANDREA++****
3 eggs
1 C. oil
2 C. sugar
2 C. Green Tomato Puree (small amount of water if needed)
1 T Vanilla
3 C. Flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 C. chopped walnuts (optional)
1 C. raisins (optional)

Mix eggs, oil, and sugar. Add green tomato puree and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together and add to other ingredients. Add nuts and /or raisins if desired. Grease and Flour two 9x5 loaf pans. Divide batter evenly and pour into pans. Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes.

**** The Joy in the Garden far-from-official test kitchen tried this recipe recently and it makes a very pleasant sweet bread that has a mild citrus-like "tang" to it. Great way to use those green tomatoes!!! No, the loaf doesn't end up green...it's a lovely golden yellow. Two spoons way up!

++ The JIG test kitchen has also noted, along with several other "test kitchens" that a leavening agent is not in the original recipe (we aren't sure why, maybe we received the recipe incorrectly). After several experiments (using anywhere from 1 to 3 tsp of baking powder), adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder seems to be the correct amount to bring a lovely texture (lighter than pound cake, heavier than sponge cake) to this otherwise heavy bread. The batter is quite runny but does not, in our humble opinion, require any extra flour.

SOME MIX-IN IDEAS FROM JOY FOR GREEN TOMATO BREAD:
Mini choc. chips= a sweet dessert cake
Pecans= very nutty flavored
Raisins = chewy, great if you like raisins, I like Currents best
Lime zest = wow, my favorite! I used 1/2 tsp. for a small loaf.
-My son says he likes the 'crust' best so small loaves increase the crust area. He also says it is great as a coffee cake.....he doesn't dunk, just eats [the bread] with [the coffee]."

GREEN TOMATO BREAD TIPS FROM LISTENERS:
Freezing the puree ahead of time will save you from having the green tomatoes ripen on your counter top while you wait for the spare time to make this treat. If you freeze the puree in 2 cup quantities it will be pre-measured and ready to go for a batch of bread.

Down again

Sorry I have been lax on updating about the diet this last month, been busy working overtime, doing Ciana's birthday and then Halloween. But, I am down another 10 for a total of 30 lbs lost!!

Ciana had a great birthday too, we changed her from the crib to a big girl bed. It is an extendable bed, all metal and looks great and when she saw it she said, "My bed is TOO CUTE!". Is that a great thank you or what??? *sigh* I love my kids!

BOO!

This morning was good

I am getting slightly better about waking up early (better than Justin anyway). So, I go about my morning ablutions (gotta love that word) then weigh myself.

aaaannnnnnddddd...........



I am down another 3lbs for a total so far of 20!!!



Well the diet is getting both easier and harder. Easier because I am more used to the food selections and harder because it is actually hard to make myself eat all the meals & snacks that I am supposed to eat. I will work at being better with it.

Later!

more pics

some pics of the kids at the zoo too!

Had my endo appt on 8/15....

and it went great! still losing on the md diet program. A1C down to 6.5!!!! which rocks as I have not been down into the 6's since pregnancy. Dr did my foot check too and said I have what she called "poster feet for how diabetics feet should be" aaaahhhhh..... love my doc :)

baby gator

white, not albino, alligator at thw zoo

baby giraffe

inside the giraffe house

the bird show. again on my phone as all the zoo pics will be. i'm sitting near the back and can't seem to zoom.

Orangutans gettin, busy at the zoo...
sorry for it being sideways. I'm sending from my phone.

Still Losing....

Well, I am still a Loser and couldn't be happier about it!! LOL I know y'all know what I mean. I am losing weight. I am going through a medical diet weightloss program at MD Diet Center and so far so good. As they tell you though I do have days where I don't eat all the food I'm supposed to on the diet. I'm overdue for my snack as is so I'll talk later......

Shiny new ticker....

As you may see I've added a shiny new weight loss ticker to my blog. I did this because I have recently signed up with MD Diet Center's medical weight loss program. I don't like to think about it but I am huge. Maybe when I get to my goal I'll let you know just how big I used to be........ maybe

here is another pic

The pillar area and the handrail on the stairs is now painted a nice dark chocolatey brown, works really nice with the other two lighter shades of brown which i affectionately call coffee with lots of cream and hot chocolate. i still need to do some edging with the chocolate color but i'll work on that tomorrow. it is already after 11 pm and i have an early dr appointment in salt lake tomorrow then swim lessons with the kiddos!

another front room pic

more front room pics

sorry for it being sideways. the lighting is a bit better and i think this one shows the colors better. there will be another after this as well

My newly painted front room

My newly painted front room.  I still have to paint the columns though, they will be a dark brown. Sorry about the lighting. The blinds are fully closed but the sun is still getting in....lol

Poor Tomato Plant.....

I brought them inside so they wouldn't be frozen again, this is after they had miraculously survived the previous freezing, they had both sprouted new little leaves and were looking very happy. I have been ill this week so have been making sure the kids are fed and not hurt and not much else. Well as I was zoning out on the couch last night Damon and Ciana were in the kitchen by the patio doors, that is right, the tomato plants are by those doors. Well I went from the couch to bath to bed as soon as dh came home, didn't even look at the plants since yesterday afternoon. I did see them this morning when I came downstairs however. Only one was attacked, the poor little thing didn't stand a chance. Damon told me he pulled off a leaf or two. Of course Ciana saw this and since Damon did it she also went after the little plant. She dug up the soil around it, pull it up by the roots, broke the stem into 3-4 pieces and finished de-leafing it. then left it lying on top of the soil in the pot for me to find. And of course since the kids pulled out the little name tag things they came with I have no idea if it was the cherry tomato plant or the reg. sized tomato plant.

....Play a Duet for me.....

This is way back from Jan 1, but I felt it was as good a way to start as any. My little one Ciana is on the left and my best friends little one Amber is on the right. They sure were loud but so cute and had lots of fun "playing" the piano together.

This is going to mostly about stuff happening in my life but I'll probably throw in some random stuff as well.