Recent Family Pictures

Here are some pictures of Great Grandma with the girls and their cousin Davis. Great Grandma has always loved reading to all of her grandchildren and now that we are all grown up she is enjoying reading to her great grandchildren.



Here's Great Grandpa getting in some snuggling time with Aly. Aly had just woke up from a quick cat nap in the car so she was very sleepy. Great Grandpa didn't mind cuddling was great for him.



Here is Sticker Grandma with the girls. They were very excited to see her. The second picture is cousin Jeffrey trying to teach KK how to play Wii bowling.

My Goals for 2009

I know many people make New Year's Resolutions but I have never been very successful at that. A few days ago I saw a blog where someone had wrote down their resolution for 2008 and had actually came back to that post and updated it to their progress. I thought that was a great idea so I am going to try it with my goals for 2009.

I have thought about my goals this past week and wanted to center them around improving myself, my relationship with my family, and family improvements. Here are some of the goals I came up with:

1. Work on strength training 2-3 times a week to improve my over all body health.

2. Work on introducing healthier foods to the girls and incorporate a family meal where there is nothing special prepared and everyone eats what is made.

3. Have a family game night on Tuesday evenings. I chose this night since hubby does volleyball on Wednesday's so the girls could have some quality time with him the night before.

4. Arrange a babysitter twice a month so hubby and I can have alone time and work on reconnect.

5. Make a cleaning schedule and divide the chores out over 7 days and stick to it!

6. Buy shelving and totes to organize the playroom. Once organized hold the girls accountable for cleaning it! (Any suggestions on management of cleaning?)

7. Teach every member of this household to pick up after themselves! (LOL o.k. maybe this is just really a dream.)

8. Work on my posture.

Wish us luck!

What happened to Dr. Visits???

Just before Christmas we took the girls in to visit the Dr due to colds that were linger and Aly complaining that her ear hurt. The previous year KK ended up with an ear infection on Christmas and we were in the ER so I was going to make sure to take all precautions so this didn't happen again.

When we saw the Dr she looked in their ears and said they looked good. She did say that Aly had quite a bit of wax build up in one of her ears and that she could have her assistant clean it out. There was never any mention of an additional charge. They told us we could do this once a month at home in the future just by simply buying the ear cleaning solution at the pharmacy which is only a few dollars.

We let them clean her ear and we were on our way. Recently I just got the bill for this visit. Do you know they charged us for cleaning her ear. IT was a ridiculous amount of $53 too! I was ticked! Whatever happened to going in for an office visit and getting treated which was all included in the visit? So now I will have to ask anytime they touch my child if it will be an additional charge?

I called up the office to ask why they charged such a high amount and why I wasn't told it would be an additional charge. That was on Friday, they didn't return my call until Monday and that lady told me I would have to speak to the person in charge. Her name was Karen. I left her a message and have not received any return phone call. I am sure they are not going to let me get out of this charge and my insurance is not paying it!

I swear the medical industry is getting worse and worse in so many ways! Anybody else have problems like these?

They Don't Take Quarters!

It has been since November that hubby and I have had a date. So when I was able to arrange to get our babysitter over I was thrilled. We arranged to have her come over on Sunday from 4:30-8:00. That way since it is a school night she is still home early and we can get the girls to bed early ourselves.

We decided to check out the new casino they built just outside of town. It is called the Red Hawk Casino. I couldn't believe how packed it was!!! Where did all of these people come from? I swear it was the entire population of our town in that place! The main reason we wanted to go there was to check out the restaurants. They have 5 restaurants and our town doesn't have many good places to eat. We ended up deciding on their buffet. Hubby would have liked to eat at the steakhouse but the cheapest steak was $32 so it was not in our budget. The buffet was $17 each and included all food and drink. The food was reasonable, the dessert was great! Man if I didn't have to worry about my weight I swear I would have just skipped dinner and ate a whole plate of dessert! LOL.

After dinner we went to try and gamble. We went to the non-smoking gambling room first which was rather small. I had brought our quarters and dimes from the laundry room that I had found in hubby's pockets over the years. We found a quarter machine and were surprised to see that you had to have a card to play it. So off to the cashier we went. We were hoping to turn my quarters and dimes in to put money on a card. Do you know what was crazy? They wouldn't tkae my change!! Nope, not all all, paper money or credit cards only! You'd think money is money of any kind wouldn't you? So we didn't play! In fact we left. If they don't want my quarters then they don't need my money!!!

We decided to spend the remainder of our date at a local bar playing a few games of pool. Or should I say Hubby played and I got my ass kicked. It was more like me watching how it's done. In fact I was so bad I lost twice on one game. Yeah, I scratched on the break and we kept playing and then later I hit the 8 ball in. If you want to win at a game of pool, invite me a long. You are sure to be crowned the champ! We only stayed a half an hour as we ran out of time. Off to home we went to relieve the babysitter. The good news is that we have the babysitter booked for two Sundays a month now!

Improving my outer self step two

Awhile back I wrote a blog on my commitment to taking better care of my physical appearance. Since then I used my two Kohls gift cards and purchased two shirts and a pair of pants. I have also bought a home hair dye kit and lightened my hair back to a dark blonde. I am actually quite happy with the color of my hair and want to continue to keep it lighter. I think it looks better with my skin.

Here are a few pictures I took of myself in my new clothes and with my new lighter hair:



While I like my lighter hair I am still patiently awaiting it to grow out. It is in quite an in between stage and I am not happy with the style. However, I will have to wait until it grows out enough and try to get a better hair cut.

KK warps back to the 80's!

KK was hilarious the other day. She got one of her baby doll headbands and put it on. It was totally cute. She even posed and asked me to take pictures.



Doesn't it look like she is saying, " Yeah, I know I am bad. Don't mess with me!"



I am about as tough as they come!

Apricot Squares

Here is the recipe for the yummiest cookies ever! BTW I use butter instead of shortening and I used more than 3/4 c. apricot jam. I didn't even measure the jam I just spread it over the dough and a reasonable thickness that I would like.



2 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. apricot jam



Cream butter, shortening, and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Stir in flour and baking powder and mix thoroughly. Put dough in the fridge for two hours. Cut dough evenly into two parts. Spread first part evenly in the bottom of a cookie sheet. Spread jam over it. Roll out the second part of the dough into 1/2 inch strips. Lay strips criss cross on top of the jam layer. Bake @ 375 for 20-25 minutes.

Oil change

Four years ago when Walmart came to town I began using them for oil changes. At the time they charged $18.95 to change your oil. Within two years they raised it to $22.95. Now they are charging an unbelievable $30.00 for an oil change. What is even more comical is that they are charging $44.00 for a high mileage oil change which is any vehicle with more than 75,000 miles on it. Well, they have certainly chased me away from using their services anymore. I have actually switched to the car dealers. Funny too because I thought I never would. You know what though, not only are the car dealers cheaper, but you get more for you money.

I always check the clipper ads that come in the mail and both Toyota and GMC offer coupons for an oil change. Last time I brought my Corrolla into the Toyota dealer I got an oil change with my coupon for $24.95. Not only was it guarenteed to be ready in 30 minutes but they also gave me a free car wash and a free 31 point inspection. During their inspection they let me know a rear tail light was out which I was unaware of. They didn't even pressure me to have them fix it. Just a courtesy. They also let you know your tire tread depth, your break pad life, top off all your fluids, etc.

Well this morning I went to GMC dealer for an oil change on my Saturn since they are affiliated companies. This is my second time using my local GMC for an oil change. I had to bring the girls with me because we were having a play date at a friends house afterwards and it would have been an extra hour of driving to go back and pick the girls up. Anyway, the GMC dealer has a kids play section with toys and a TV. It was great! They also had free popcorn which the girls loved. You know they also gave me a free car wash. BTW my car was so dirty from the snow that they had to run it through twice! They also gave me a free 31 point inspection and topped off all of my fluids.

Walmart doesn't do any of that for you. Just a simple oil change for $30. The worst part is there is no waiting room with childrens toys and you pretty much just end up spending extra money shopping around killing time.

I am going to continue my oil changes and the dealers and enjoy the comfort and extra free services you get that go along with it.

R.I.P. Aunt Karen

The following picture is a picture of my Aunt and Dad in Burney Falls about 5 years ago I think? My Dad and my Aunt developed cancer around the same time. My Dad had stage 3 colon cancer and my Aunt had uterine cancer. My Dad fought cancer for the next 5 years along with my Aunt. They called themselves cancer buddies. My Dad lost his fight to cancer in March of 2005. My Aunt Karen still fought her battle strong. After 8 years of battling cancer my Aunt has joined my father in Heaven today.

My Aunt was an amazing woman that touched many people's lives. She was always giving to others and put other people first. She always made me feel a part of the family and would invite me on many family outings. She amazed me how hard she fought to beat her cancer. Her will power, strength, and courage were amazing. Her love and devotion to her family was admirable. I hope that as I raise my girls I can have as strong of a bond with them as she did with her children. They were always first in her life and she had contact with them daily. She was a loving mom, wife, aunt, and friend. She will be missed greatly by many.

My heart goes out to her family during this difficult time.

Our New Year's Celebration!

The girls looked forward to our New Year's party all day. I told them we would be drinking sparkling apple cider, wearing special hats, and using horn blowers to celebrate the New Year. Aly couldn't wait for the party!

Shortly before celebrating we decided to play a family game of Memory. I have to say, Aly is very good at it. I don't even hold back anymore. I play the game to the best of my ability. She wins 70% of the time too!

KK enjoyed playing too but for some reason--I can't remember why--she threw a big fit! I just happened to have my camera so I thought it would be funny to capture her fit by taking pictures. I feel bad but half way through taking the pictures I just couldn't contain my laughter and soon we were all laughing at KK's fit. Here are the photos:



This is exactly how she looks when she throws a fit. Don't you find it funny?


By this time we are laughing which kind of makes her mad..sorry KK. She got over it pretty fast though.

I managed to capture our New Year's celebration on my Flip Video camera. This year I am going to try harder to use my camera more and include more videos for everyone.





We all enjoyed blowing the horns and Daddy even shot two confetti poppers! Both Nevada and Aly didn't really like the sound from the poppers.



Check out Daddy sporting the new beard!



The girls toast the New Year's in with sparkling apple cider. This was their favorite part!