progress!

Three and a half weeks into this Biggest Loser Challenge, I've already lost 12 lbs. and with all the excercise I'm doing, I can definitely feel the difference in the way my clothes fit. But with 60+ pounds to lose, I wouldn't expect anyone else to notice any difference yet.

This morning at breakfast, I noticed 6 yr.old Granddaughter staring intently at my stomach as I sat there sort of hunched over (not a good pose for someone with too much tummy) and I thought "Uh oh...what's coming...?"

"MIMI!! You are getting un-fatter!!"

I LOVE THAT GIRL!! She could tell I was "un-fatter" after only 12 lbs.!

WOO! HOO!.......progress and validation already, with 11 1/2 more weeks still to go!

I CAN DO THIS!!!

new shoes

4 yr. old Grandson is a very sweet boy. He's very complimentary, always notices things, and tries very hard not to hurt feelings. For a 4 yr. old he's quite tactful.

Apparantly, he doesn't think my new Land's End sandals are feminine enough......

E: "Mimi....WHY are you wearing those shoes?!"

Me: "They're new. I just got them today. Don't you like them?"

E: "Well...they're um...they're um.....well, they're not very pretty!"

Me: "Oh No! Really? Are they ugly?"

E: (making a yucky face) "Well, I think Uncle Chad has some just like that...."

Busy Little Chefs

Since the Grandkids are into all the cooking that goes on around here just as much as everyone else, I thought I'd let them do their own tutorials today.......

5 yr. old Grace made "Cinnamon Sticks" this morning...........

Sometimes if I get up early enough on Saturday I can help Mimi make a special breakfast for my Dad, Mom and little Brother. Today my brother was being a lazy bones so I got help Mimi all by myself! First I put on my horse apron and washed my hands real good. Then I made "Cinnamon Sticks" like this:

Mimi turned on the oven to 450*. Then she put a stick of butter in a pan and put it in the oven for a few minutes to get melty. I opened two cans of biscuits ( I love to pop those things open!) and rolled them all into little logs.

When the butter was all melty I dipped the biscuit logs in it and put them in rows in the pan. Be careful! The pan is hot from the oven and you can burn yourself! That can make you have an injury!

Then I mixed together some sugar and cinnamon. Today we tried brown sugar instead of white sugar and it was really good! I sprinkled it all over the top of the logs.

Then Mimi put them in the oven for about 10 minutes until they got kind of brownish and good.

Then my Mom and Dad ate some and I ate some and we had to save some for my brother, too. When Mr. Lazy Bones finally woke up I let him have the ones that were left in the pan. He was very happy to have all the rest that we didn't eat.

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After lunch, 4 yr. old Ethan made some "Ranch Snack Mix".........

I got to make snack mix with Mimi all by myself today since Sissy got to make something by herself this morning. This is how you make it:

First wash your hands really good, and you're supposed to use warm water, not cold. Then I couldn't decide which apron to wear. I have a lot of aprons 'cause Mimi likes to make aprons all the time for everybody. I picked the red and blue bandana one.

Mimi got some good stuff to put in our snack mix this time. Sometimes we try different things. Mimi found some new stuff to use at Winco in the bulk food. We got pretzel balls, corn nuts, and corn chips with seeds in them (flax). We always like to have cheese crackers and Chex, too.

I needed to use our really huge bowl to mix it up.

Then I stirred up some oil and ranch powder and poured it on the snacks and mixed it up real good, but you have to stir gentle so you don't make crumbs. Mimi poured it into 2 bowls and cooked it in the microwave. It was too hot so we had to wait a while to eat some.

Then I put some in a bucket to take to The Cousins house and saved a lot for our family to eat.

I really like to help Mimi do the cooking...........

RANCH SNACK MIX

10 cups of your favorite snacks: cereal, nuts, pretzels, crackers, croutons

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 envelope ranch dressing powder

Gently combine snacks in very large bowl. Stir together oil and ranch powder til blended. Pour over snacks and stir gently until well coated. Pour 1/2 of mixture at a time into large plastic bowl that will fit into your microwave.

Microwave for 5 minutes like this: 2 min -stir-1 1/2 min- stir-1 1/2 min- stir

Let cool. Can be frozen in zip lock bags.

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY COOKS IN OUR KITCHEN!!

If you think Motherhood is wonderful.......

I've said it before (here) but I'm going to say it again.......

GRANDPARENTING IS THE BEST THING EVER!!...........

Last night, 4 yr.old Grandson and I were having some one-on-one time in my room, snuggling on my bed reading his favorite books. When we were done he turned to me and said:

"Mimi, when you die, I'm probably going to miss you....."

(.....probably?)

Dear Gram......

Dear Gram....

I am 4 now. I was so excited to get my own mail from you with a Wal-Mart card!

Today Mimi took me to Wal-Mart.

When we were driving in the car I told her that Wal-Mart was my favorite place in the whole world and the library, too, because you know I want to be a Library Guy when I grow up....

First Mimi asked me if maybe I wanted to get some new clothes but I told her NO THANK YOU!

Hmmmmm....... I've been wanting some new playdough, but I always get in trouble when it gets stuck in the carpet.......

I really like pirate stuff but Legos cost too much money. I only had $10.00 and Pirate Legos cost WAY more than that.

HEY!! They have the Playmobile stuff that I like and there's even pirates! ...and knights and gladiators, too!

I got 3 sets of Playmobile and they're way better than Legos anyway!

Thank You, Gram! I really love these new toys and I got to get an Oreo McFlurry, too!

Being 4 is really good!

Naked Baby

"Mimi.....this baby doesn't have any clothes. I think she needs you to make her something."

.....happy baby......happy little mommy!

decisions, decisions......

Last November, #4 granddaughter received a gift card to Wal-mart grom her Gram (great-grandmother) for her 5th birthday. We had forgotten about it until today! Of course I offered to take her.......

How would a 5 yr. old choose to spend $10.00......

How about shoes or a purse?....."No thank you! Where is the toy section please." (silly Mimi)

NO MIMI!!! WE DO NOT NEED ANY FABRIC TODAY!!

Hmmmmm.....maybe some craft supplies?

I might need a new doll......

maybe a new dress-up outfit......

1 hour and a hard decision later......TA! DA! Two sets of Polly Pockets!

THANK YOU GRAM! I'VE BEEN WISHING FOR THESE FOR A LONG TIME........

shark tooth oranges?

Have you ever tasted a shark tooth orange?

I'll explain:

First of all, this movie was received in my household for Christmas. In one week's time it's been watched at least a dozen times already!!

Then, this morning I was cutting up oranges for breakfast like this:

and the grandkids said "Look! This orange looks like shark teeth!!"

Therefore, I present to you.....the Shark Tooth Orange!

I'm told it tastes much better this way......

Cute? or just wrong???

The grandson (3 1/2) brought this home from his pre-school Christmas party today:

Yes...that is a manger and Baby Jesus made out of snacks......that's chocolate pudding on the bottom, topped with shredded wheat "hay" and a pretzel/mini-marshmallow Baby Jesus.

My initial thought was " What a cute idea!"....followed quickly by "No....is it just me or is there something creepy and wrong about eating Baby Jesus with a spoon?"

a sleepover! YAY!

5 yr.old Granddaughter has been wanting to have 8 yr. old cousin over for a sleepover. Friday night I told her I would "host" her sleepover on Saturday night while her parents went out for a "date".

"A sleepover! YAY! Can she come tonight?"

"No, tomorrow".

The next morning at 6 a.m. she crawled in bed with me and whispered, "is it time for the sleepover yet?".....(Oh Boy!! I better make this really good!!!)

I planned a crayon-themed evening. 3 1/2 yr.old grandson was included for dinner and crafts.

This was the menu 5 yr.old decided on:

Tostadas with lots of olives and sour cream

Mandarin oranges from a can

Tropicana lemonade

Ice cream cones (with peanut butter cup ice cream)

Then on to crayon craft time:

I usually spend a lot of time telling them "leave the paper on the crayons!" and "don't break the crayons!" BUT...tonight, I told them to peel all the paper off and break them into small pieces. WHAT??? You should have seen the looks on their faces! I think they thought this was the best part of the whole evening!

Remember as a kid when you shaved crayons between sheets of waxed paper and ironed it to make "stained glass windows"? None of the 3 had done this before and kept asking "what are we doing?" "What's this going to make?" "Just wait and see...."

These kids have done a lot of crafts, but I don't think I've ever seen such an enthusiastic response to an end result before. When the protective paper was peeled back and they saw the first "stained glass window", there was actual clapping and squeals of "can we make more please?"

Then we put all the broken bits into a muffin tin and melted them into rainbow muffin crayons.

OOOOH! look how pretty they turned out!

Now, since we broke up all our crayons how are we going to color? With new color books and (still one of the best things on earth) a giant box of new crayons!

Then it was off to bed for brother and a bubble bath for the girls.

Getting ready for bed (why is this fun at a sleepover but dreadful any other night?)

Making a nest of blankets and pillows on the playroom floor and settling in to watch their new favorite movie

By 10:00, all were sleeping (including parents home early from their date) and still plenty of sewing time left for insomniac Mimi.

There's nothing quite like excited, giggly, happy grandkids is there? (and a new box of crayons, too, of course...)