Reaganisms!!!!

I was putting on Reagan's shirt this morning, which happens to have a picture of a cupcake on it and the words "Daddy's Cup Cake". Reagan has always called this shirt her 'muffin' shirt and so today I took the time to explain the difference between a muffin and a cupcake.

As I was finishing dressing her, I said "You're Mommy's cupcake, too!" She retorted: "I'm not a cupcake for eating! I'm for looking at!!"
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Yesterday I had to go to the bathroom (imagine that!) and suddenly the entire family was in there with me. When I said "I'm so pleased that you all could join me in the bathroom for the momentous occassion of having to pee", Reagan looked at Josh and yelled "GIVE MOMMY SOME PRIVACY!!"...guess that doesn't include her giving me any ;) !!
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A few days ago I had to take some food over to a friend that just had a baby. I told Reagan we were going to stop by the store and either pick up a cake or some cookies to go with the meal I had prepared. I asked her which we should take. After some very serious deliberation on her part, she put her hands on her hip, cocked her head to the side and said "Let's get them a cake.....and keep the cookies for us!!!!"
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And finally.....

Last night I went and worked out at the Y for a while...it was actually the second time I had worked out that day. And I used the same set of clothes both times (yes, I know..but it WAS the same day and I already have enough laundry to do!) Obviously by the time I got home, I was quite stinky. Reagan came running up to me and gave me a huge hug and kiss and told me how much she missed me....THEN she began sniffing me. THEN she said "OOOH, Mommy.......(sniff, sniff) you smell like (giant pause) I LOVE YOU!" LOL! Little stinker...I wondered where she was going to go with that!

When did I get so cranky?

I'm convinced cutting calories makes you more cranky. I swear, lately I've been like a bear on a rampage and poor Reagan gets most of it. Where are all the exercise endorphins???? Either way, I really think the biggest problem is the fact that we haven't sold our house yet. It's discouraging and fustrating when we want so badly just to get a move on...we now have big plans for possibly building instead of purchasing an already built home.

HOWEVER, that means we also have to find the perfect building site and as yet...we haven't found anything we're truly in love with. The setting MUST be perfect...the house will not be that large, but it will have a VERY open concept. We're planning and designing and wishing and waiting and just feeling in general limbo at the moment.

We hadn't previously planned on building, and perhaps God really wanted us to think everything through before we made any decisions, because now that ARE being forced to wait, we started talking about some old plans we had dreamed about when we were first married.....and that's how we got to the point of wanting to build.

So......here we are. In the waiting stage. And here I am, feeling like a Mama Bear that was awoken much too soon from hibernation. *sigh* Fall can't come soon enough.

Back from a mini-vacation!

I promise to tell you all about it and show pictures when I get a chance...right now, I'm really pooped!

Being Green

Ok..so if you're a bargainhunter like me, AND if you're a mom like me, you probably stocked up on dozens of free Johnson's & Johnson's kids soaps a couple of months ago. You know the ones....they're packaged in mesh, loofah-like, green pillowcases so that your child can actually grip it while bathing?

Here's a tip: Instead of throwing out those green mesh containers when the soap is gone...reuse them...they make AWESOME dish scrubbers! Seriously..just wash them with your whites on the hottest setting to kill germs and then scrub away! You're recycling AND not wasting money on new dish scrubbers. I'm so green, right?

No.

Actually, I shy away from any mention of recycling or being 'green', because for the most part it seems to be a liberal buzz word. Remember the 80s? "Global Cooling" was the buzz word. Now it's "Global Warming" and "Going Green"---only going green seems to be more of a trendy fashion than actually caring about the earth we live in.

Don't get me wrong. I think there are people that seriously have tried to conserve what God gave us to use. And then I think there are those that use it to look down on others or join some hot new group. And then there are those that have taken it considerably too far.

As for me, I don't believe in the existence of Global Warming. There is way too much scientific evidence to refute those VERY few scientists that do believe in it. Right now, it's a hip new movement that many politicians are using to gain their own agenda and monetary gain. Like "Global Cooling", Global Warming will be just another discarded buzz word in twenty years.

A woman I know through the internet once said that the first part of "Conservative" is "Conserve" and that we should be good stewards of the earth that God gave us to use as our home. So that's my stance right now. I'm trying to conserve what I have, be a good steward and enjoy the life that I have here. For me, that's what being "GREEN" is really all about.

Tired!

Sorry I haven't posted a huge amount this week. Reagan has decided to start waking up super early every day and she doesn't necessarily take a nap every day (actually we had given them up but they made a reappearance due to her early wakings!) Which leaves me rather tired and a huge amount of housework left to be done...so, this is my little break while Reagan is in bed reading books...then it's off to do laundry, clean the kitchen and start on dinner.

And you know...I was over at my friend's house today who has a newborn baby (and two other children!) and even her house is cleaner than mine at the moment...I'm not sure what that says about me...I don't think it's good....

I am so sad!

My best friend was in the States for a while and I missed her :( I really wish I could take some time and go to Italy to see her (with Reagan and Josh of course)!

Such a Tender Heart...

Yesterday morning, I decided to let Reagan watch Sesame Street while I checked email and ran to the bathroom. While in the bathroom, Reagan ran in, sobbing. I immediately freaked--had she hurt herself? Was someone trying to break in? Had the cat bitten her??? WHAT was going on?

Bless her heart, she tried to tell me....talking a mile a minute and sobbing the whole way. I managed to get her to tell me what was wrong during a break in the crying--"Mommy, that dog on Sesame Street--he didn't know where his home was!!!" And the sobs started again.

I have to admit I smiled a little bit..she is a lot like I am..and then I tried to calm her down and tell her that the doggie was probably already on his way home. Too bad for us Sesame Street had already moved on to another program by the time we got back to the television....I still had the task of reassuring her that the poor lost puppy really did make it back to his owner.

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AND LATER THAT AFTERNOON....I had the brilliant idea of making Reagan some 'dinosaur' shaped chicken nuggets (after all, she loves dinosaurs and we had just learned all about them courtesy of Sesame Street that morning.) I made her two, and after she had me tell her which dinosaurs they were--Stegosaurus and T-Rex--I left her alone to eat while I did some cleaning. I came back to the table a few minutes later and they still weren't eaten. So I tore one in half and popped it into her mouth--where she immediately started screaming and crying.

Frantically, I felt the chicken nuggets....nope, they weren't too hot..just warm. WHAT WAS SHE SCREAMING ABOUT?? "MOMMY!!! You tore him!!!"....Ugh...and that is why we may never watch Sesame Street again.

A Must Read!!!!

Check out the story that Rolling Stone broke about Goldman Sachs and how they (along with Obama and his goonies) are controlling (and ruining) America. This is a MUST READ for any American!!!!!!!!!

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29127316/the_great_american_bubble_machine

(excuse the language..just follow the trail)

Books We Love

All three of us are avid readers. We LOVE books. In fact, when putting our house on the market, our real estate agent told us we had to do something with all of the books because there were just too many and it was making the house look cramped and small. Sigh...so now most of our books are in storage.

HOWEVER, we've been making great use out of our library and have read some awesome books lately! Here are a couple of our favorites!

Children's Books:
Baily Goes Camping
Dairy of a Wombat
In the Rain with Baby Duck
Corduroy Goes to the Fire Station
I Dreamed I was a Toucan
Little Rabbit Lost

Adult Books:
ALL of the Eden Hall books (there are four in the series)
The Christmas Bus by Melody Carlson
Josh also highly recommends the murder mystery/thriller series "Prey" by John Sanford!

If you have any recommendations, please leave them in the post comments!

Ten Pounds Down!

Woohoo! I have lost ten pounds! I am so happy! I've been working out hard and really cutting calories and it's paying off! I'm so excited and can't wait to lose more. I'm hoping to reach my goal weight by the end of December --and then I get to go on a shopping spree :) But not TOO much of a shopping spree, because we hope to start trying for another baby (maybe...will wait on the doctor's assessment) then, as well! Hmm, maybe a shopping spree at Motherhood Maternity?? Wish me luck!

Fun Day for Us!

Reagan and I woke up early this morning, got ready and headed out! First stop, the library where we did all kinds of crafts, then on to the post office (where Reagan wanted to play hide and seek, but I wouldn't let her!), then shopping at some adorable downtown stores and then lunch at one of my favorite local resturants on the second story of one of the old downtown buildings. Did I mention we walked the whole time (well, I walked...Reagan rode in her little pink push car, and walked a couple of blocks when she got tired of getting jostled around!)

Great exercise, fresh air, awesome food and some good deals on early Christmas gifts! I think we'll do it next week during the downtown area's sale days. I absolutely love that we love in such a Norman Rockwell-ish town and that we can walk pretty much anywhere we really need to go!

The only downside was coming home and trying to put her down for a nap, which included lots of yelling and threatening timeouts if she didn't STAY IN HER BED!....Sadly, I think naptime is about to end for us :(

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday: Baked Butternut Squash Stuffed with Apples and Sausage (yes, I know it's a fall meal, but I had all the ingredients and they needed to be used!)
Monday: Shredded bbq pork on buns, salad (I never use cloves or oregano in mine! This is just a general recipe, use what you like...even if it's just the pork and bbq sauce..but all the other stuff just makes it yummier!)
Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan, broccoli vegetable mix
Wednesday: Leftovers!
Thursday: Leftovers again!
Friday: Homemade pizza We like our pizza with mozzarella and sausage!
Saturday: Leftovers or egg salad sandwiches, soup
Sunday: If home, roast with potatoes and vegetables

Breakfasts: cereal, string cheese, yogurt, eggs and slimfast for mommy!
Lunches: leftovers or salad and nutrisystem/lean cuisine for mommy!
Snacks: yogurt, fruit, vegetables, crackers, applesauce

For more great menu plans, check out orgjunkie.com!

Small to Tall Order

Reagan was lying in bed, STILL talking the other night after I had told her umpteen times to go to sleep. Finally I yelled "REAGAN!!! GO TO SLEEP!!!" She yelled back "It's going to be a small to tall order to go to sleep!"

oh boy

New Reaganisms!

Daddy: Don't you want to be a horse, Reagan? Everyone wants to be a horse?
Reagan: No, Daddy!
Daddy: I'm just joking!
Reagan: Daddy, you're not joking, you're just silly-ing!
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Reagan has an adorable swimsuit with an alligator on the front of it. The other day I was pretending to chomp at her and said "Reagan, I'm an alligator!" She grinned and said "You're no alligator! You're a mom!"
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Reagan had been outside playing in her Elmo sprinkler mat and decided to dry off on her big towel. She wrapped herself up in and said "Ooooh! Now I can twirl! All I need are some scissors, some thread and some sparkly stuff!"....Creative, isn't she?

WHO are YOU? :o)

Since I added in Feedjit, it's been nice to see who is reading my blog! Most of you I can pinpoint..I know who is coming from Michigan, who is coming from NC, who's coming from MD, etc, etc...but a few of you have me stumped! So come out of the woodwork and say hello! Fairfax, Virginia; Beaumont, Texas; Cherry Point--I mean you guys! :)

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread Recipe

This recipe is soo yum!!!

3 beaten eggs
1/2 cup veg oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1.5 cups brown sugar (you can experiment with less!)
2 cups zucchini, shredded
2 tbsp vanilla

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts or flax seed, optional

Mix all wet ingredients in large bowl. Mix dry ingredients in second bowl. Mix together and fold in nuts. Bake at 350 for 1 hour 5 minutes. (Makes two large loaves)

Menu Plan Monday

After devouring a huge amount of food over the weekend, I really don't want to even THINK about food...but, it's better to have a plan right?

In no particular order for the week:

Hamburger soup with corn muffins
Homemade sausage and cheese pizza
Crockpot chicken over rice (thanks Amy!)
Corn on the cob and salad with chicken strips
Baked potatoes with chicken
Leftovers x2

Breakfasts:
Slimfast for me!
Reagan-yogurt, cereal, fruit, eggs...basically whatever she's in the mood for!
*I may even try to make breakfast hotpockets one day this week!

Lunches:
Sandwiches, salads, yogurt, egg salad, veggies, lean cusines

Snacks:
Slimfast for mommy! fruit, yogurt, crackers, zucchini bread (have a fantastic whole wheat recipe for this..check back tomorrow!)

For more great menu plan ideas, check out orgjunkie.com!

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Happy Birthday America!!

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

A fun weekend!

In the morning we're off to Josh's parents house for a weekend of boating, fishing, camping and making s'mores! Have a great 4th everyone!!!

Brushing Teeth

I was engrossed in a very good book today and wasn't really paying attention to what Reagan was doing. I looked up from a page to see her engrossed in her own little project. There she was, sitting on the loveseat, toothpaste and toothbrush in hand, scrubbing Bob the Tomato's big grin-----which happened to be a picture on her t-shirt!

At first I was exasperated she was making another mess and asked her what she thought she was doing..then I realized, it was actually really cute and made perfect sense to a toddler of course! Pictures to follow later!