A Day with Family

We headed out today to see family in Liberty and sell Girl Scout cookies. We are not crazy cookie sellers, going door to door but we are doing well. So far the girls are up over 100 boxes together. Their goal was 100 each but I doubt we will see that number.

We started out today visiting Lisa, Alden and Ethan for a bit, then we went to Crystal and Seans. Julian was with Grammy so we visited with Sophie, Sean and Crystal before heading to Grammy's for the better portion of the day. We stepped out for a bit to visit with Mimi, Grampa and Samantha. Every time we see Sammy (Chris's 3 year old sister) it is hard to believe how much she has grown up. Today she was a bit sassy which I found very entertaining but I am not her parent so I can ha ha. Next we headed back to my Moms aka Grammy's to have dinner with Sarah and Brady Bear. It is so nice getting to see family! A lot of my family lives in Liberty so we when we head out that way we try to stop in and say hi to as many people as possible!

On the way home it was bitter cold... as you can see. We have had awesome weather for this time of year and this is the first time I have whitnessed 0 on the thermometer so I can't complain.

I have been craving a good book lately, we shut our dish-network off because it rarely was used and was more of a waste of money then anything. We use Netflix on the PlayStation if we want to watch anything. I am not a big fan of TV so I am fine with this! I love to read when I have time. I try to keep a few books in the house that I haven't read in case I am craving some reading time. I have to say this is what I am looking forward to the most when the kids are grown. I was never a fan of reading when I was younger, I think partially because I didn't want to be told what to read and was a bit stubborn so I decided to hate it altogether. I realized how silly that was when I had read a few books that got me hooked! My Mom always has books to load off so I was happy when I walked through the door and noticed the box of them waiting to be taken. They are home now and I can't wait to curl up and read tonight. I am even skipping the treadmill to relax and curl up with a book!

Weight Loss/ Waldo Weigh In's III

Last year at this same time work offered a weight loss program where you partnered up and competed to lose weight with other teams. You worked at the weight loss yourself and weighed in weekly with your teammate. There were weekly prizes that could be won and the biggest loser (percentage of weight) won $$$$$$$$$ at the end. I was not the biggest by any means but I was happy with where I finished at 17 pounds down!When the competition ended another one started right back up that I opted out of and thought I could manage on my own. I did OK, I gained back 5 lbs, not too bad. I actually only gained 2-3 until Christmas then it went to 5. I new I didn't want to throw away all I had worked for so when they offered Waldo Weigh In's III I joined right away. I feel so much better when I work out. I have more energy and my body just feels better overall! I joined with my bestie/ sister in law. The competition goes from January 11th to June 28th. The weekly prizes this time are great and the jackpot at the end would be awesome! I would be happy with just losing a little more weight though.

My Goal this time is to be down 13 pounds! I think this is doable! I am excited and am back into the swing of eating healthy and working out. When I can I want to go to the gym with Crystal my partner in crime. I have a treadmill at home and though it seems over the top I do better working out EVERY night. If I get off track it is impossible for me to get back in the routine. If I miss a night do to a sick kid and only worked out every other night that would be enough for me to not want to go back. Missing one night wouldn't be the end of the world. During the day I am eating a lot of fruit and veggies and making healthier choices when it comes to dinner.  I don't go over the top with a healthy dinner, that is my time to eat what I want to a certain degree. I work out by running on the treadmill, sometimes a cardio tape and jumping rope.  I in the past ran a mile every night, it wasn't a huge work out but it maintained where I was at. This time I want to be able run a longer distance. Currently I am up to 1.5 miles then I walk .5 miles and run another .5 to = a total of a 2  miles run  I started this process a few days before the competition began so I would lose weight by the first weigh in that counted (January 18th) I actually had lost weight when I weighed in for my base weight on January 11th I was down 2.5lbs. At first I was bummed because I thought I should have waited so it could have counted for out team but if you look at the big picture I am not there to win I am there to lose! Crystal is doing well, I am really proud of her! The gym was fun together and I hope to go again sometime soon!

Cajun Chicken pasta

 We are always eating the same things over and over and I wanted a little veriety in our diets. I am trying to eat healthy now, more so during the day so I would like to in an ideal world cook a wonderful tasty meal every night. This meal is probably not the most healthy but it sure was yummy!  I should have took a picture but I forgot : /

You will need
1/2 a pound of chicken breast cut into stir fry strips.
1 Red pepper cut finely 
Fresh mushrooms I used  8 ounces
1 box of bow tie pasta
2 table spoons of cajun seasoning (less if you don't like spicey food)
Butter or olive oil to heat in the pan
Parmesan cheese


 Boil water to cook bow ties in a medium pan

Heat the olive oil or butter in a large frying pan

Coat the chicken in the cajun seasoning then add to the frying pan cook for 5-7 minutes then add the mushrooms and peppers. I used a little salt and pepper at this stage. Cook until mushrooms are cooked through, I cooked mine together for about 10 minutes adding a 1/4 cup of water half way through.

Once the pasta is done cooking pour the chicken and veggies over the pasta and sprinkel with cheese.
It was delicious, new, quick and easy! I think this was our first dish that Ry loved and Devan did not.

Just Mommy and the girls this weekend!

This weekend started out as Friday the13th ... which turned out to be a heck of a day : /

I had planned on bringing Ry in to work with me Friday to address belly pain at the Drs (which was a major waste of time, I will spare the details because she will kill me if she reads this someday, sorry Ry Momma loves you though) Her appointment was at 9 so I was going to work from 8 to 9, bring her to her appointment then have auntie Crystal come get her. Poor Julian started puking early in the morning so Crystal couldn't come out so Ry ended up staying with me at work until noon. Poor kid, I tried leaving but we were a little on the busy side and she sat and colored and played in the waiting room with out one complaint. On the way in that morning I had lost a windshield wiper off my car on the driver side or course ( and ran back for it in the road) It was busted so I switched the passenger wiper so I could see where I was going... little did I know not having a wiper on when using the wipers would scratch the crap out of my windshield on my nice new car : /  On the way home I realized I had a blinker out and got honked at for not using it Errrrrr I hate getting honked at... Ry and I had Subway which she refused to order saying Mommy I will just have the lunch you packed me. She is such a good kid. They both are really but it is easier to notice when you have one on one time. I did manage to convince her to get herself a bag of chips! As we ate I watched her every move, smile and mannerism. Gosh I love spending time with her, I love who she is becoming <3  I at one point feared them being different, dressing different now I could care less I love it actually. I love seeing there differences. Next we left with just enough time to pick Devan up from school because Ry was worried about her riding the bus home by herself. They only ride the bus home on Fridays once in a blue moon and I try to never have them ride alone. I got stopped when I could see the school and had 5 minutes to get there before the kids would load the bus. Part of me wanted to be one of those annoying people who told the officer I was in a hurry but I was a bit curious as to why I was being pulled over. He asked me if I knew why and I said "well I didn't use my left blinker so I have no idea" and said "you have a break light out" I laughed and asked him if it was on the same side I was missing a wiper and a blinker and I found out it was. He was nice enough and let me go quickly and we got to Devan in time. You could still see a little panic in her face when she was the last kid to be dismissed. We headed home and made a yummy dinner and hung out like girls do! They are the best girls in the whole world ( to me anyway)

This weekend Daddy is working nights and though he is here during the day he is trying to get sleep. Ha trying to get sleep with 2 very active 6 year olds busting through the house. Today we had a layed back day, we hit up the Hannaford and Walmart with Nanny we had a lot of fun! Tomorrow it is off to Liberty to visit with family and sell girl scout cookies! I have Monday off to take the girls ice skating with Girl Scouts. I am not looking forward to going back to work on Tuesday, I must say I really enjoy spending every moment I can with the little ladies :) I love them A LOT. 

Broken Arm and it's story.

This post is going to have to be an all in one for Birthday, broken arm, lost tooth and pink eye for no other reason then they snow balled all at once.  Chris and I planned the girls 6th Birthday party at the Playroom (basically an indoor playground in the town we live in) Their birthday plans/event(s) have grown over the years with the girls. When you first have a child you make a big deal out of every detail for their parties even when they are too young to realize all the efforts. If we ever have another child I am doing things different for 2nd (because 1 is a big deal so you have to go all out) 3rd and maybe even 4th. The girls first birthday party was obnoxious, Santa was there along with at least 50 people. When the girls hit preschool we started doing parties with friends. I asked the girls this year if they wanted to wait to have their party in the summer because December 22nd is so close to Christmas. As it is they already have to share their special day with each other. They liked the idea of this until they attended a party at the Playroom and insisted on having their party there. We splurged and rented the playroom for 20 some odd children and their parents. This was nice because it came decorated, there is plenty for kids to do and clean up was included. We ordered some pizza's and began to party. As each one of the girls friends came in, their faces lit up and they ran with excitement. I was walking around trying to make sure I talked with all of the parents, said hello to the children and visited with family. We had been there for about 40 minutes when I had my sister (loud and boisterous when needed) called all the children over for cake and ice cream. At the same time I saw Chris walking towards me with Devan who had a few tears in her eyes and was holding her arm. This did not really surprise me where I had tried to tame her excitement a number of times trying to prevent an accident. He brought her over to where it was quieter (which at the same moment 20 kids where surrounding us looking for cake and ice cream) That is when I noticed the color drain from her face. I knew then that she had hit very hard falling off the slide. At first when there is a situation like this it takes a minute to realize how serious it really is. 9 times out of 10 it ends up being just a hug and a kiss. I was so confused about whether or not we should try to do cake and ice cream and see how things go or take her to the ER. After she let go of her arm from the clutch she was holding on with her good arm is when I saw it just kind of dangling there like spaghetti, then came the screams of pain. We ran out the door a mess of emotions to the car leaving my Mom and Chris's Mom in charge of the party. As we were driving to the ER I kept thinking about different things like maybe I should have stayed where there were a few parents that had dropped their children off to finish last minute holiday shopping. Then we would turn a corner and my little baby would cry in pain and I realized I was where I needed to be the most. Still I was sad to think that Ryleigh was left behind blowing out her candles and  opening presents with the three people that mean the most to her absent. Later we learned just how special and unselfish Ryleigh is and she too knew we were where we needed to be. When we got to the ER Chris dropped Devan and I off at the entrance and went to park the car. I walked her in and checked in and then was told to be seated someone would be with us shortly. I work in the medical field and hate when people just think of themselves and get irritated with the "schedule" or simply have not patience at all, but before we went to sit I asked the kind lady that checked us in " I know we are just a number but do you know how long the wait will be?" I felt a little guilty asking but the Mom in me over-road the guilt. We were told it would be just a minute and they would get us right in. When you have a child in pain you want nothing more then to scoop them up and snuggle all the pain away, moving a child with an arm that is lifeless is out of the question let alone holding and rocking them. I sat and watched my at this point my 5 year old for 4 more days sit on the edge of the chair with a death grip on her hurt arm. We sat for less then a minute until the nurse called us in. From there it was a series of rooms, x rays and hours of no answers. We were thinking we would go in have an x ray see an awful break and be gone with a cast. What we actually experienced was 4 sets of x rays and technicians arguing over why are we doing these again. The ER doc did an ultrasound of her arm because he did not see any breaks and thought she might have fluid in the joint that needed to be drained. That too was a no answer, he then emailed the x rays to the orthopedist at home and within a half hour she had a splint on and was told she fractured her elbow. We left with discharge papers a splinted kid and a number to call the orthopedist in the AM to make an appointment. We stopped at Walmart on the way home for children's ibuprofen then headed to pick up Ryleigh at a family members. When Ry got in the car and we were heading home I heard her say to Devan in the most sincere voice, "Devan I waited to open my presents until you could do it with me" My heart melted the same way it did when Devan asked for Ryleigh time and time again at the ER. They fight like cats and dogs sometimes but they really do have a special bond. The next morning (Monday) I called Ortho and they told us to bring Devan in on Wednesday to have more x rays done. I was not sending her to school in a half cast like splint, to be bumped into by all of her classmates, so we hung out at home for a couple days just the two of us. We bought Ryleigh a card and thanked her for being so helpful. She really is a sweat little girl! Wednesday Chris couldn't get time off from work to come with me so I had my Mom meet me, I was terrified of what this appointment was going to be like. We were there for a half hour, x rays with no tears and a green cast for Christmas. 

Devan looked at the Dr like he has two heads when he said "You must want a pink cast" Ha not my girl. 

Ryleigh tagged along for this appointment not because she was invited but because she faked a stomach ache after their school concert when I tried leaving. She was really concerned for her sister and was no way no how missing this appointment. The verdict of the broken arm 3 fractures in her growth plate and a broken Ulna bone. I have one tough kid! She is doing so well with the cast and loves the attention. The first day she had the cast she had to take her coat off wherever we went to show off her battle scar. She is adorable. So x rays every 2 weeks with the cast on to insure proper healing. Before the first 2 week wait was up Devan was in the pediatricians office with pink eye in both eyes. She missed school the week before vacation because of her arm, she missed her supposed to be first day back because of pink eye.

Can I just say I have nightmares about these drops. We will all be happy to see them go. 

Chris and I are making sure tomorrow after her first follow up with Ortho that she will be at school. Devan lost a tooth 2 days ago and has forgot each night to place the tooth under her pillow (so has momma) I must be tired or something.

Also she hit her mouth on Nanny's dogs head to knock another tooth lose. I swear this girl needs to be put in a bubble. We are hoping for good news tomorrow which would put her down to 4 more weeks in the cast. :) What an eventful couple weeks... oh and in that time frame somewhere was Christmas. I will have to make another blog for that. I will say Devan got pretty good at opening presents one handed

And if you are wondering how Devan is doing with a cast after being in it for 3 weeks...

She loves it and doesn't want it off. It doesn't slow her down at all!