Airing our dirty Laundry, size matters.

Pretty soon I am going to have to bite the bullet and trade in all my wonderful diapers and get new ones. I have TONS of differents styles and brands and I love them all for different reasons. I am getting new diapers because,  even though most of the diapers I own are "one size fits all", I am still having fitting issues. A tiny waist and a chunky butt makes for a leaky dipe. I have a list of front runners but, I am concerned that I will have the same problem. 

Here is how all mine currently stand up:

Flips: They still fit, I love the snaps, and the covers are awesome for over flats or fitteds, but the insert which isn't secured in the cover, leaks with all the wiggling and wobbling my little one does.

Kissaluvs Marvels fitted: I really like this diaper, it keeps EVERYTHING in and I never have to worry about blowouts, but it is a one size only and quickly growing to small. 

Tots Bots: I like this diaper, but the Velcro isn't holding up really well. Athough it is an all in one that you can add inserts too, and for overnight that is great.

Bamboo Baby all in one: I love that this diaper is absorbant and since the insert is sewn in, but only on one side, the drying time is minimal for an all in one. But, again, the velcro is already crapping out on me, and the fit is getting tight. 

Kissaluvs Contours: This diaper is absorbent, but because there isn't any elastic around the legs, it doesn't hold in the squishy. It's great for just walking around the house and "airing" out.

BumGenius All in one: I really don't like this diaper at all. Its not absorbant, and the fit has always been crappy. 

BumGenius pocket: I like this diaper. It fits pretty good, and is absorbant, but I once again have to site less than awesome Velcro life. The boy is already pulling that diaper off. 

Fuzzibunz: I am okay with this diaper, it is super absorbant, but the snap placement is horrible. I know this isn't the common feeling, but I for me they don't work. 

Thirsties sleeve: I'm not a big fan, the fit is horrible and the velcro sucks.

Sammy's Fitteds: I bought these from a second hand store and as much as I love the style, the terry cloth material has quickly become my least favorite for diapers.

Happy Hienys: I really love these. The Velcro is holding up great, and the fit is awesome. I'm leaning towards more of these, but I just want to make sure that I explore all the options.

Any suggestions? Let me know!

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book.

My favorite beginning scene is:

"Being thrown in jail to rot is not especially fun.

Being thrown in jail when you are innocent is worse. 

Being thrown in jail to await having your head cut off is the worst of all.

All of this is even more depressing when you are far from home and everyone who loves you thinks your dead. It doesn't help to be of a different race than most of the people in this kingdom, who consider your kind to be odd at best and dangerous freaks at worst. Nor is it a good thing to be a kid when all this is happening. People don't seem to listen much to kids. "

-The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme 

The Floating Island

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #31

It's Friday all you loyal followers, and once again our friendly neighborhood Wifey is hosting MilSpouse Friday Fill-in. I am a little more excited about this particular Fill-in, only because one of the questions is actually one I submitted. WooHoo!

Aside from no deployments, what is one thing you would want to make the MilSpouse life “perfect”? submitted by Oh How Delightful.................I would love a little less spur of the moment,  "Oh by the way I have to leave pretty soon" stuff. I get that it is a necessity, but I don’t have to like it.

Just how many peppers did Peter Piper pick? submitted by Married into Army.............Peter Piper Painstakingly Picked a Plethora of Perfectly Plump Peppers. Picking the Peppers Produced a Pinch of Pride, Particularly from Pretty Penelope Piper, Peter Pipers Polite, but Picky Pregnant Partner.  The Peppers that Peter Piper Procured, were Promptly Polished off due to Penelope’s unParalleled Passion for the Pickled Plant. Perhaps Penelope will Please Peter Piper with Pleasant Playfulness in Payment for his Perseverance and Patience.

If you could have any career in the world with nothing holding you back, what would you do? submitted by It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To...................I don’t know. There are way to many possibilities. I'd do something creative for sure. I am always sewing, so a professional seamstress would be fun. Photographer, or Clothing designer would be cool too.

Do you have a service oriented tattoo and if so what is it. If you don’t what would you get? submitted by The Squid’s Accomplice.........................I have been wrestling with this for ages! I want to get a service tattoo since the Navy is and always has been a big part of my life. I can’t for the life of me pick what to get. I have 800 different ideas. I don't want it to be cliche, but I don't really want to have to explain it to everyone either. I also want to have one done for my kids too. That is a whole other question though.

** I understand that a lot of milspouses don't feel that it is appropriate to get a service tattoo, since I have never actually served. I was a Navy brat, and am now a Navy wife. The Navy has dictated most of my life in some form or another, and as a proud member of "the silent ranks" I think it is totally appropriate for me to get a tattoo dipicting anything that has been that big of an influence on me. Just because I don't wear a uniform, doesn't make the Navy any less part of who I am.**

Imagine a block of time has opened up in your busy day for you to take a class in anything you like. What subject would you choose?  submitted by To The Nth......................I think I’d take a creative writing class. It sounds cliche, but I think if nothing else, it would be fun.

Have a great weekend everyone! See you Monday, same Bat time, same Bat channel!

30 Days of Bound Love.

With Jess from Just a Geek Named Jess!

Day 17 – Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)

Stories 

By Katherine Mansfield 

&

The Other Paris 

By Mavis Gallant

I discovered both of these ladies in college and really fell in love with their writing.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.

So, I was a hoping that a few more people would enter the little giveaway, but no matter. Using Random.Org (I am having trouble with getting it on the blog. Sorry)

Jess, You are my winner! Just email me at

katkallsfromthegalley at gmail dot com

Thanks to Jess and Jenn both for entering!

Left-overs Make My world Go 'Round.

I love left-overs! I know people that won't eat them and with all due respect, I think they are crazy! I love finding new things to do with leftovers too. For instance, after our party on Saturday we had A LOT of hamburgers left and while I won't pass up a good burger, after 3 days we needed to find a new way to eat them. Thats when I came up with the burger taco. (Thank you Webby!)I cut up the burgers, 4 since that is how many 1lb made, and tossed it with some taco seasoning. It was awesome! I love the char grilled flavor with the taco seasoning, it brought our tacos just a little something special. Now, I know someone has probably already thought of this, but I just couldn't help but sharing. It was so good. What are your favortie left-overs and "remixes"?

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry.

News Item

Men Seldom Make Passes
At Girls who Wear Glasses.

- Dorothy Parker.

The Bone Collector

Okay, not that kind of bone, bone china. When The Squid and I moved to Maine right after we got married we lived across the highway from a really awesome Antique Mall that used to be an old mill. It was amazing and the first couple of times we went I didn't really find anything that caught my attention. Then, I started seeing these amazing tea cups. I love and have always loved tea so I picked up any that I thought were really special. I have a fair few now, all running anywhere from 5 to 80 bucks. I really don't know if any of them are worth real money, but I don't really care I love everyone of them. I have picked up at least one from everywhere we have visited/lived, except Pensacola, which I will remedy later this year, and so far, I have only had one tragedy in our moves. The lovely train tea cup I got on our trip to the Frio with The Squids family didn't make it here. BOO. This week I went to a local antique store and procured my latest addition. It's gorgeous and I love it! Someday, I'll have to do a post on my whole collection. It's quite lovely.

Weigh-in Wednesday.

The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

-Samuel Johnson

Today's Weigh-in: -0 lbs.

I am not happy about this, but the party on Saturday made it worth it. ;) Spinach dip oh how I love/loathe you.

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 15 – Your “comfort” book.

The Portable Dorothy Parker

Bar none.  I just love this book. I don't particularly like poetry really, but Dorothy Parker was something special. This book, I have on me whenever I move or go on a long trip.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.....

I am done with winter. This latest snow last night just made it more clear (if that was even possible) that I am ready for the little green leaves of spring.

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 14 – Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender).

As many favorite books as I have, I have just as many favorite characters. My absolute favorite character in a book is..

SkippyJon Jones from:

SkippyJon Jones, 

SkippyJon Jones in the Dog House, 

SkippyJon Jones in Mummy Trouble,

SkippyJon Jones and the Big Bones, & 

SkippyJon Jones Lost in Spice. 

By Judy Schachner

This is a childrens picture book series, but they are amazing! SkippyJon Jones is a Siamese cat who thinks he is a sword-fighting Chihuahua named Skippito Friskito. He is funny, sweet, imaginative, mischievous (as any lovable toddler), and I love him. I actually owned most of the books before we even had kids. Here is a link to his website.

Good-Byes Come with The Territory.

Saturday afternoon we threw a going away party for one of the first and finest families we have met here at our current duty station. It was a great party and we had so much fun, remembering and enjoying each others company.
When planning this party I looked for any inspirations I could find on the internet, but going away parties just aren't as common in the civilian world I guess. Around here, they come with the territory.
I was busy cooking on the grill so I am severely lacking in the picture department which is a bummer. I used road maps as table cloths and had blue and green streamers hanging from our light. I didn't do hardly any decorating and I only had some chocolates as favors, we wanted to use any money budgeted for the party for the travel gifts we gave to the L Family.

For their 3 oldest girls we got them:

A clipboard

An activity book

A childrens audio book complete with book to read along

A journal

&

An awesome bingo game I found at Martha Stewart

For the L parents we filled a little tuperware with:

Wipes

Antibacterial gel

Advil

Bandaids

Bribing candy

Gift cards, for Chickfila and Sonic

&

I made postcards, put stamps on them and had everyone fill out their address when they arrived.

I printed out a picture from my birthday of all of us, and sat it next to this:

Many moons ago, back on **** court,
A rag tag team of girls formed a band of a sort.

Hand-me-down clothes, and sharing of toys,
Man! So many girls make a lot of noise!

Play dates, birthdays, and walks to the park,
Learning to ride bikes, and parties ‘til dark.

Through deployments and switching houses,
What amazing women, mothers, & supportive spouses.

A shoulder to cry on, or an ear to bend,
Be it cars or sugar, we are always ready to lend.

Girls moved on & babies keep coming, but that is the life,
We knew the risks we were taking when we became a military wife.

We hope that your travels are safe and you have smooth sailing,
Keep in touch through Facebook or emailing.

Keep this in mind as you settle into your new space,
No matter the distance or time that we face,
In our hearts, you all have a place.

I know that it's WAY cheesy, but I was trying to keep it light, and not get to heavy, it was a party after all.

Jo actually got all of us a little something too. Our family got a lovely box (that is so me), a rubber stamp that is the first letter of our last name, some really cute toys for the kids, a bath ball for ME, and some little candies.Tucked in there was some postcards(great minds think alike), and a little pot of forget-me-nots.

We will miss the L Family so very much! We love you guys.

30 Days of Bound Love.

 with Jess

Day 13 – Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)

I obviously was a real bookworm as a kid and read quite a few books. Just a couple of my absolute favorite books as a tween are

The BFG

By Roald Dahl. 

 Fantastic book! Who wouldn't love the thought of a dream blowing, snozzcumber eating friendly giant? I loved it and have a copy in our library ready to read our kids.

Next on my favorites list is the Fudge series,

Superfudge,

Fudge-o-mania, 

Double Fudge, &

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

By Judy Blume

Having 2 younger siblings, enough said.

Also, The Ralph Mouse Collection, which includes,

The Mouse and the Motorcycle,
Runaway Mouse &
Ralph S. Mouse
By Beverly Cleary

I really love all books written by Beverly Cleary, but these were the first I ever read.
My current favorite YA book (I know, I have to list like 8 books), is actually a series and is written about here.

The Squid is weighing in on this one, and his favorite childhood book was,

The Giver

By Lois Lowry

The Squid is colorblind so he said it struck a cord with him.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #30

Wifey from Wife of a Sailor is back with MilSpouse Friday Fill-in, I missed it, and I'm glad its back on! Now.......to the Q&A!

  1. What is your favorite MilSpouse blog (not including Wife of a Sailor who we all love, or your own)? submitted by Our Crazy Life (Wifey note: whaaaat? You can’t say my blog? No fun! LOL, just kidding)......................These are just a few of my favorites! There is a list if you want to see them all. Just a Geek Named Jess, L to the Third, and Household 6 Diva. I love these girls for common interests & lifestyle, beautiful pictures, the community feeling, and so much more. 

   2. What are your favorite perks about your s/o being deployed (we all know there are perks)? submitted by Ramblings of a Marine Wife..........................My favorite perks are less laundry, whatever I want to watch on tv, whatever I want to eat and when, and after hours craft time.

   3. How long did you date your before getting engaged? Married? submitted by Utterly Chaotic.............................We dated for all of 3 months before getting engaged, and we were married 3 months later...what can I say, when you know, you know.

   4. What do you think your would do if s/he wasn’t in the military? submitted by Adventures of M-Squared.................I think The Squid would a manager or something at a Starbucks. He loves coffee so much.lol.

   5. If you could talk to the Secretary of (fill in your appropriate branch) what is one suggestion you would like to bring to their attention in order to improve the lives of military families?  submitted by My Life as His (Air Force) Wife...................Better help for spouses careers and career goals, since they are moving all the time.

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 12 – A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times 

 

I have read a lot of books more than 5 times. A LOT. The one that I have read the most is most likely

Just as Long as We’re Together 

by Judy Blume. 

It was my favorite book for years. I used to check it out of the library and read it over and over and over and over and over. I took it on a weekend trip with my bff in the 7th grade. I finished right before dinner the first night, I picked it up to read again at 11 when we all went to bed. Yes, I had a flashlight. Also on the list, 

The Harry Potter series, and 

The Song of The Lioness series.

The Squid doesn't re-read. Once he has read a book, that's it. Lame! He doesn't really like re-watching movies either. I don't get that at all, I've seen some movies a shameful number of times.

A Fascinating Tutorial and Giveaway!

 It is so much fun to go over to someones house for the specific reason of having lovely tea. Webby McDuck loves tea and therefore hosts wonderful tea parties. She has "tea" food, a full table setting, and her we get to use her tea set like real grown-ups!! It's like having lunch once a week only better!
Thinking about how much I adore them reminds me that I won't have them for much longer. It makes me sad that our teas have an expiration date. What if the next place we live I can't find anyone to have tea with? Maybe I'll join a book club and force them to have delicious tea and cakes with me while we discuss. We'll see. Do you have any rituals with friends? How did they get started?

 Anyway, back to the reason for this post.
I love hats. Part of me thinks I was born in the wrong time period and wants to walk around like Dolly Levi, in long dresses and big hats. (of course the other part of me wants to where jeans and t-shirts for the rest of my days!) As silly as it seems I really thought I was part of a very small group of people, but as I get older and meet more people I realize, that is not the case. Webby McDuck sent me a link to Emily Way Hats, a hat shop that has beautiful hats, several of which I covet. I can't really afford one of them, so, I have decided to make a fancy sort of fascinator or hair clip thing, that I can wear to our tea parties. I made one in the past and secured it to a headband for a little girl we know, but just like me I didn't take a picture. It was hot pink, so it was just like the one below. 

Here is a tutorial for what I made.
**Disclaimer: I am really bad at tutorials!! I still haven't worked out how not to suck so, I'm apologizing before hand!**

 First, I cut 2 pieces of black felt the same size. They were about 1/2 an inch smaller than I wanted the "flower"

Then, I used a tea cup saucer as a guide and cut 2 pieces of satin, and 2 pieces of matching tulle.

 Once I had two pieces of each I matched up one satin piece and one tulle piece and cut them together in a spiral. Then I started pinning it to one of the felt pieces, cutting it when the I got back to the start.

 After I had sewn the first row down, I started all over again making sure the second row of fabric covered the stitching of the first.

 I went on and continued to sew row after row of fabric, careful to cover the stitching.

 Once I had only a quarter size of felt not covered, I used just a circle of the satin tulle combination and pinned it to the felt while I sewed beads to it.

 Once finished, I flipped it over and hot glued the second piece of felt to the back, covering all the stitching.

 I then took an alligator clip (you can get it at any craft or hair supply store) and, while I held it open, I hot glued it to the felt. The glue came through the hole in the top and got inside the clip, it's not pretty, but because my hair is so short, the hot glue on the inside of the clip acts as a "non-slip" surface to hold my hair in. Messy Mermaid's Mommy let me in on that little secret. And it works really great!

What do you think? I like them both!

All in all, I really love the shabby-chic look of it, and buying all the fabric as remanents from joanns made this super cheap to make. Obviously I made more than one, want the other one? All you have to do is comment on this post what time period you should have been born in if not in this one, and what color you want, plus your email so I can email if I can get a hold of you. You don't have to follow me (although you could, nudge, nudge, wink, wink). I'll randomly pick in say.......a week. Or If you make your own post a pic!!! I'd love to see it!

30 Days of Bound Love.

 Day 11 – A book that disappointed you.

I really wanted to Love Terry Pratchett, really I did! I read The Color of Magic, the first of his "discworld" adult books and quite frankly, I was lost and not really entertained. 

I like his young adult books though, The Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, & WinterSmith. I haven't read I Shall Wear Midnight yet, which is the last of the series.
Maybe since it's been a while I should give The Color of Magic another try.

Weigh-in Wednesday-Update

I finally weighed in and I'm down another pound!! Not my goal, but down is down!

Weigh-in Wednesday.

I haven't weighed-in yet. I don't have a scale at home, so I use the one in the post gym and I didn't get up in time to go before The Squid went to work. I'm going during lunch so I'll post then.

The Crossiant Project

I got up with the kids over the weekend to make breakfast for everyone, and since The Squid wasn't feeling well, I wanted it to be a little special. I searched around our house to find the makings and was a tad disappointed with our "very close to payday, so it's a bit bare" pantry. Then I spotted some mini  croissants that had been on our counter for 4 or 5 days. Soooo, 

I took 4 rock hard croissants, split them in half, beat 4 eggs in with about 1/4 cup of fat free milk, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and a 1 teaspoon of vanilla, soaked them for close to 15 mins and then cooked them up in my skillet.

They turned out great! They are really yummy, and a great twist on french toast.

I realize this isn't very diet friendly, but I think it's a great treat.

30 Days of Bound Love.

 Day 10 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

I don’t have any. I am VERY picky about what I read and if I don’t think there is a chance I will like it, I’m not going to read it. I have to many others to read. Book snob, yes I know. 

I will say, that I have picked up books based soley on the cover art. I never even read the synopsis before I bought it, and I loved them. 

For instance: 

The Floating Island 

The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme

By: Elizabeth Haydon

I had read some of the adult books written by Haydon and enjoyed them well enough, so when I ran across this one when it came out I picked it up with out hesitation.

Another of my cover art based picks was

Magyk

By: Angie Sage

The cover of this book just spoke to me. I am wish I could say that adult book covers spoke to me, but they don't. I feel like a raccoon when I pick books, I like the pretty shiny ones.

While writing this post I feel a little silly. I read 1 adult book for every 5 young adult book. Oh, well.

I can Hardly Contain Myself: A Garden Story. Round 2!

Last years garden

It's that time of year to start thinking and planning our garden. Last year when I tried out my container garden I made some mistakes, but this year I am gearing up for round 2 and hoping it will be better than ever! Some of the mistakes I made last year...

1. I bit off more than I could chew. I planted way to many seeds last year, most died from being squashed out by bigger, badder plantlets. Those that didn't, made it only by luck.

2. I didn't research enough. By that I mean, I didn't make sure I knew when/where/how the plants I picked would survive best.

This years list of seeds:

Tomatoes

Basil

Bell Peppers

Cilantro

Last year I didn't plant anything fun, so on top of the fruit and veg I am planting some flowers. I don't know what kind yet, but I want some lovely buds to brighten my days. Any planting going on at your house?

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 09 – Best scene ever

I don’t really have one specific that I can remember right this second, but I love scenes in which people find out a boy is really a girl in disguise. Those are the best. I have quite few books with scenes like that. I love when people realize girls are just as good as boys, and sometimes better. Plus, I'm kind of a tomboy.

Love Day.

 Happy Valentine's Day!

The Squid isn't all that keen on Valentines Day, I don't know many men that are. His reason is that he treats me good all year round and doesn't need Feb 14th to tell him to do something nice for me. He isn't wrong, I am treated very well all year long, but we miss so many holidays together I'll take any that I can get. This year is only the 2nd Valentines we have been together since we got married, the first was right after we were married. We aren't doing anything special, The Squid isn't feeling well, and we just got out of debt and don't feel like running back into it full speed. (We like expensive stuff.) So, I am making a lovely dinner and hoping the kids will go down a little early so we can enjoy it alone. I'm not holding my breath, but in any case, I know we'll have a wonderful Valentines Day because we are together. I am the luckiest woman in the world to be married to my best friend and soul mate. I love you so much sweets!
 If you happen to have your love home, what are you doing? If your alone, I really hope that you are still doing something nice for yourself. I'd love to know how everyone celebrates Valentines this year. Have a great one!

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 08 – A book everyone should read at least once

 

I like alot of books I’m not sure anyone else really wants to read. Although, I think 

Just as long as We’re Together &

Deenie 

by Judy Blume 

are both must reads for girls. They were my favorites when I was a kid and, I remember feeling much less alone when I read them. Just one more reason I love books.

 

As far as adult books go, 

Belly Laughs 

By Jenny Mcarthy

It's not going to change your life, or give you an instruction manual for your baby. But, it was a quick, funny read that didn't have me freaked out or balling uncontrollably when I was 8months pregnant.

Bye, Bye Babies.

You all know that in anticipation for our upcoming PCS, I have been hard at work organizing and sorting my little tail off. When The Big Squid told me that one of his shipmates was pregnant and, well, financially challenged, I set to work finding all I could to give to their budding family. 

I am always happy to pass on gently used belongings, but I admit this was a bittersweet process. We kept everything from our first and used it for our second, so sorting through the rubble of what was left after 2 kids brought wonderful memories and tears. The beautiful crib set we got as a shower gift for our daughter, the jeep carrier The Big Squid toted our kiddos in, the swing both of our kids lived in when first born, the list goes on, and on. I hate to get rid of all the beautiful things we have gotten for our sweet squidlets, but since I won't be getting myself knocked up again, keeping them is just silly. Gone are the times of ultrasounds and birthing plans, 1st smiles and 1st laughs, 1st steps and 1st birthdays.  It's time for potty training and big kid beds, 1st dance class and 1st team sports, 1st days of school and 1st favorite books.
I'm so sad to see this phase in my kids life go, knowing we'll never go through it again.
However, I am also really excited about what is in store for both my children and myself.

Have a great weekend everybody. 

30 Days of Bound Love.

With Jess from Just a Geek Named Jess.

Day 07 – Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise.

Katie: I am a little over the whole, "wrongly treated orphans". Don't get me wrong, quite a few of my enormous library has at least some version of this, and I love each and every one of them. 

The Squid: Is of the mind that almost every author that he has read foreshadows poorly.

Flat Stanley-ish.

My niece sent us a package the other day, inside was Flat Stanley. If you have never read the childrens' picture book Flat Stanley, 

Poor Stanley. He's a perfectly normal boy until one morning he wakes up flat. After his parents peel the incriminating bulletin board off of him, Stanley must adjust to life as a pancake. He is a boy who takes this kind of thing in stride, though, and soon he's enjoying the advantages of squashedness. Sliding under closed doors is fun, and it's gratifying to be of use to his mother when she drops her ring through a narrow metal grating. Expensive plane fare to California? No problem. Svelte Stanley folds comfortably into a brown paper envelope. There's even room left over in there for an egg-salad sandwich. But Stanley's true moment of glory comes when a gang of thieves begins stealing paintings from the Famous Museum of Art. The case seems hopeless--until our two-dimensional hero saves the day. Here is one boy who doesn't let his profile-challenged body stop him from living life fully--that is, until his brother finds a way to help him become well rounded again.

Stanley and Our oldest "doing the dishes"

Stanley is hanging out with us for a while and we are going to send pictures and all kinds of fun stuff back with him to my nieces 2nd grade teacher. While talking about this with my mom, she mentioned how cute it would be if we did that between my kids and my nieces and nephew. What a great idea that would be! So we decided to give it a try. We are using the adorable owl that Messy Mermaids Mommy made for our youngest squidlet's birthday. We are going to have adventures and take pictures with our family and then send it to my mom and they will do the same. 

Cute owl and owlet.

 Being a Navy brat I never really hung out with, or really even knew my cousins, and I always thought that was a real shame. They are amazing people and I would love to have been closer to them. If nothing else, the kiddos in our family will all have something to share between them. Does anyone else do anything like this? How do you keep up with the little ones in your family?

30 Days of Bound Love.

Day 06 – Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time.

My favorite book of all time huh? Well, I am going to have to say that, that is a ridiculously hard question. My all time favorite book isn't the best book I ever read, but it was life changing.  
The Borrowers
By:  Mary Norton
It's my favorite book because it's the first book I can remember truly loving. To this day, as sad as it is, when I see certain cover art I tear up a little. I have the entire set in my amazon folder waiting to be purchased. Soon, I will be reading it to my little ones.

Break-Fast!

I have a serious problem with breakfast. I like eating breakfast, but I start my day off running and seldom make time to fix and sit down with breakfast. I recently came upon this website, SkinnyTaste.com, from which I have scavenged many good "light" recipes I am going to try. The first one on my list was this Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Shake. Its sooooo good, I can make it the night before and eat it on the go. It takes about 10 mins to make, and bonus, my kids LoVe it! It's the perfect dessert to top them off before bed. Here is the recipe....

 *note: I added the splenda because I have a bit of a sweet tooth, but you don't have to.*
 Healthy Oatmeal Pumpkin Shake

1/2 cup of quick oats
2 cups of water
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tbsp of splenda (or sugar to taste)
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup ice
1 or 2 tsp cinnamon
pumpkin spice to taste

Cook the oats in the water until its thick and bubbly. It will take a couple of mins, stir the whole time. Once it's done, set aside and cool.
Load everything but the ice and oats into the blender and buzz till smooth. Once the oats are cool put them and the ice in the blender and give another buzz until smooth and yummy. Pour over ice, or store in the fridge. Like I said, I make mine the night before so they are nice and ice cold for the next morning.

The next on my ToMake list is the Blueberry Smoothie. I love it because its so simple, and I LoVe blueberry anything.

Very Blueberry Smoothie 

• 3/4 cup blueberries
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 6 oz WW blueberry nonfat yogurt

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with a straw.

 Can't wait! Should be amazing!

(I am going to use regular nonfat blueberry yogurt)

Weigh In Wednesday.

Courtesy of Factory20

That which is bitter to endure may be sweet to remember.

-Thomas Fuller

Today's weigh-in: -1 lbs.

Not bad, still going down!

Goal for next week: 2 lbs.