Just a little bragging...

I just have to brag about how well Connor can draw.  His drawings really are amazing.  But of course we are going to say that.  That is what parents do.  But really.  They are.  Just look for yourself.  These are all by Connor with absolutely no help from either of us.  Actually, he draws much much much better than me.  Even Connor tells me my stick people look funny.  Which is true.  So, here you go:

He loves to draw on his magnetic drawing pads:

 

Family.  Oops.  He forgot Dylan.

 

Family  Dylan is a part of it now.

 

  Stegosaurus Dino.  I think.

  

T.Rex Dino

Some type of dino.

More family.  Just with tall legs.  That is what Connor says.

 

A ladybug.  I think.

 

A bird.  With tall legs.  Connor likes to draw tall legs.

 

So proud of his ocean animals.

 

More ocean life.

And some in color:

 

  

  

The top picture is of a dog with a leash (as Connor calls it).  I didn't even know he knew what a leash was.  Smart kid.  

Hope you enjoyed his wonderful display of artwork.  These are only a few of the many many drawings he has done in the last month or so.  Most get erased quickly after completion.  Some however, he asks me to take pictures of.  I am proud.  Of his drawings.  And of his understanding that I like to take pictures.  

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Dylan is 11 months old!

Only 1 more month until the big O-N-E!  How quickly the months fly by.  Dylan is turning into such a little boy and is less and less a baby each day.  When I say it is time to go, he goes and gets his shoes and holds on tight to them.  So cute.  He still gets into anything and everything.  He is quite adventurous.  And as you can see from the pictures, his hair keeps getting longer and longer.  But I just can't bring myself to cut his hair.  He is just too little for that. Happy 11 months Dylan.  We love you very much!

 

Such a big boy-eating his snack from a bowl & not even making a mess!

 

All bundled in the snow.

 

So serious.

 

Crawling through the tunnel.

 

Fun at the park.

 

Getting dirty at the park,.

 

Really dirty!

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NO SUGAR - Week One

Well, I have made it through the first week.  It really hasn't been as hard as I expected.  I am amazed.  Even with the many temptations I have had: sitting drinking water while everyone else had ice cream; the boys getting Starbucks without me; the boys getting a milkshake without me.  Eating an apple while the boys had grilled cheese and tomato soup.  I haven't given in to the temptation.  I remain strong. I expected to have headaches and withdrawls and be just downright miserable.  But to my surprise, I haven't had any of those side effects.  Thank goodness!

Please pass the sauce...Oh wait, I can't have any!  That might be the hardest part of this whole 'no sugar thing'.   For those of you who don't know, I am a sauce fanatic!  And that may be an understatement.  I love sweet & spicy.  But most everything has some sort of sugar in it.  Ketchup is still a favorite of mine.  I enjoy it on everything from my scrambled eggs to french fries grilled asparagas.  Please don't judge me.  At least I don't dip my steak in ketchup, I prefer more complex sauces for that :)   And that also means no bbq sauce either since it is made with brown sugar. 

And our oatmeal was very bland this morning as I only added bananas to it instead of my usual heavy sprinkling of brown sugar.  But last night after dinner, I announced we would be having dessert.  When I served the bowl full of cut up fruit, everyone was excited.  Yah!  We all devoured the fresh strawberries, blueberries, and cantelope.  It was so refreshing to see everyone enjoy the delicious fruit and ask for seconds and thirds.  Lesson: dessert doesn't have to be cake, cookies, and ice cream. 

Well, here is what I have wanted to eat in the last week:
-strawberries covered in chocolate - frozen snickers bars - Starbucks carmel macchiato with extra carmel  - ketchup - BBQ sauce - salad dressing -chocolate  -brownies  -french fries  -bread  - hot cocoa -

Here is what I have been eating:
- chips & salsa - eggs - apple slices with almond butter - blueberry pancakes/waffless topped with sliced bananas - avacados - pizza - spinach artichoke dip - lots of fruits & veggies

Wish me luck as I enter in the second week.  39 days left to go.

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Five Ring Ale

We are brewing.  Okay, well, Chris is brewing.  I am just his lovely helpful assistant.

We should have beer in a few weeks, if we are lucky.  The house smells like beer.  When I opened the package of hops, it smelled like harvest all over again.  Chris wants to save the grains and hops that we removed and use them as potpourri.  I am not completely opposed. 

In honor of the Winter Olympics, we named it 'Five Ring Ale'.  We have 2-3 weeks (I think) before we get to find out if it is drinkable or not. Fingers crossed.  We have to let it ferment before we bottle it.  That will be the fun & messy part.  Oh joy. 

I would not have guessed that Chris would take over my kitchen.  Apparently so.  Here is proof...

We underestimated our time by about 3 hours (We are still waiting).  The heat up and cool down took a little longer than expected.  I did manage to do 4 loads of laundry, watch 3 of my 5 Sunday night shows along with some Olympics, and crave every imaginable sweet thing.  I did settle with apple slices with almond butter and a salad dressed with olive oil.  Poor me?  Don't feel bad, I did enjoy a wonderful treat of Jamba Juice today.  It was the best thing I have had since last Wednesday!  Delicious. 

Things we need to buy for brewing:
-copper wort chiller
-new hydrometer
-new thermometer that reads between 100 degrees and 80 degrees.

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Oh what fun!

We had some visitors for 5 days.  Our household doubled in size.  It was great.  Chris' sister Amy, her husband Larry, and their 2 kids Aidan (almost 6) and Lily (3) came to visit.  It was so much fun and all the kids had a blast.  And so did we.

We did a whole lot of playing.  And dinosaurs.  And played games.  And ate a lot.  And read a lot of books.  The kids picked ice cream over bath time.  And we had ice cream two nights in a row.  We celebrated Valentine's Day.  Had Starbucks a couple times.  We went to The Nature & Science Museum.  We played at the park.  We flew kites in the cold, windy weather.  Watched a lot of Olympics.  Saw Shaun White and all his greatness.  Analyzed curling.  We played Wii.  Just the adults.  No kids.  Larry & Amy got to see how good at bowling I am.  But how terribly bad I am at all other games.  We had so much fun.

It was wonderful to see all the kids playing together.  It was a sleepover for 5 nights.  It was quite comical with 3 kids sleeping in the same room, all all the floor in Connor's room cuddled together.  It was so cute.  It took a lot for me not to run in there with my camera, but I found the will power to stop myself.  However, that only lasted two nights.  But my kids have never slept so good for those 5 nights.  Wow.  I was impressed.  It was wonderful.  We will see how the next few nights go.  I have high hopes now.  And they have continued to sleep good.  We could not be more thrilled.

I took a lot of pictures.  Here are only a tiny fraction of them.

The kids had so much fun playing together...

 

  

  

  

 

Science Museum...

 

  

  

  

  

Flying Kites...
 

  

 

Valentine's Day...

  

  

 

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Happy Ash Wednesday!

So, as the start of Lent begins I begin my journey of 46 long days of NO sugar. Day one...wish me luck & send me any no sugar recipes or meal ideas you may have!

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It is a winter wonderland in Texas!

This is what we woke up to...

 

Snow this morning at 5am.  So excited.

Then still snowing at 10am.  So had to take some more pictures.

 

 

Then, we made some delicious snickerdoodles and then went to play in the snow...

 

 

  

  

  

This was Connor bringing the newspaper to one of the neighbors.

I brought Dylan inside first and he made a mad dash to the door, he wanted back outside.

 

Just as Dylan was coming out the door, Connor was bringing Dylan some snow to play with.

 

They had so much fun.  I was expecting it to be a disaster, but they both loved it.  Oh how I love the snow too.  It is just so pretty.   But eventually, I talked (or bribed rather) them inside with some hot cocoa and snickerdoodles.  

 

Oh what a fun snow day.  It is completely worth the extra laundry and all the water tracked through the house.  It is still snowing and has now been snowing for almost 12 hours.  Impressive for North Texas.  We have a good 2.5 inches or so and are likely to get a bit more.  All morning Connor has been saying, "Oh no, it is Christmas again, not Valentine's Day anymore." 

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