FREE 8 X 10

For those of you who like good deals, go to Walgreens (either online or in store). Today ONLY, they are giving you a free 8 x 10, as well as 30 4 x 6 photos for $3. Use the code WINTER30 for the 4 x 6 photos. Use the code FREEPHOTO for the 8 x 10 photo.

Satin Hands With A Purpose

As most of you know, I am a Mary Kay consultant. I absolutely love it because I get to meet a lot of new people that I normally would never get to talk to. I won't lie....the discount on my makeup is great, too! Anyway, there is a couple in our Sunday School class who are missionaries to Brazil. I have felt the Lord calling me to help them somehow raise money to go back on the mission field. They have a very unique ministry, called Rocksportz. David and Aimee are incredible people with a heart for the Lord. They are such an encouragement to me and I absolutely love listening to them talk about their ministry, the people they have met, as well as what God has revealed to them in the past week. Have I mentioned that I love this family?! Aimee has been my sounding board as I walk (or run) through this toddler phase with B and has been very encouraging and helpful.

So, how do these two tie in together? Very creatively, if I might say so myself. I am going to be donating ALL of the money I would normally make for anyone who buys the Satin Hands product. It can be either the scented or unscented one. That means that $15 of every purchase of Satin Hands will go directly to their ministry and sending them back to Brazil. (Hopefully, in time to help work with the Olympians and spreading Christ to them!) Please help us in this! Of course, you are free to purchase anything else with Mary Kay, as I would greatly appreciate it. I will not feel slighted, though, if you don't! You can leave me a comment or email me or call me and I'll be sure you get it. You don't even have to live in the same city. I can always mail the product to you at no extra cost. So will you help us?!

You can also order online by clicking here. Thanks in advance for your help! I know it will mean a lot to David and Aimee, as well as to me. Stay tuned for other contests I'll be having to actually win some Mary Kay product!

Fun Dip

I normally don't give our child candy or too much sweets. Not necessarily because he gets hyper. It's more of because I don't want him to think he has to eat it all the time and I don't want him to ask for it all day every day. However, as a special fun treat for B and Daddy T (since Daddy T is a big kid), I picked up some fun dip at the store for Valentine's Day. After dinner, I let him have it. Daddy T looks forward to these treat days, too, because these are the types of foods he likes! However, for some reason, P90x workout regiment won't allow fun dip as a continual source of appropriate food choices!

B didn't like the stick that came with it, so Daddy T decided to use his finger. B thought that was WAY more fun and he kept taking Daddy T's hand, dipping it in the blue powder, and then sucking it off. Poor Daddy T had a blue finger for the rest of the night. He was worried he'd have it for work the next day, but it came off.

Recipe Sunday----or Monday

Makeover Country-Fried Steak

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

• 1 beef top round steak (1 pound)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, divided
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup plus 4-1/2 tsp. all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 4-1/2 tsp. butter

1 cup 2% mik

1. Cut steak into four serving-size pieces; pound to 1/4-inch thickness. Combine the salt, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. pepper and onion powder; sprinkle over steaks.

2. Place buttermilk and 3/4 cup flour in separate shallow bowls. Dip steaks in buttermilk, then flour.

3. In a large skillet, cook steaks in oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

4. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in remaining flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in remaining garlic powder and pepper. Serve with steak.

Nutrition Facts: 1 steak with 1/4 cup gravy equals 318 calories, 13 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 80 mg cholesterol, 4110 mg sodium, 19g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 30g protein



Taken from: Healthy Cooking Magazine, Feb/Mar

90 years! Whoa!

My great-grandmother turned 90 years young at the end of January. My extended family threw her a surprise party since it's kinda a big deal birthday. It was fun to see all of our family that we don't normally see except for a couple times a year. I got to catch up with a lot of people and lots of them found out for the first time that I was pregnant again.

What do you get a woman who has turned 90? Apparently a Snuggie! It's her 2nd one. She sleeps in hers every single night and has said that she's giving up being buried in her pretty red suit that she had planned to be buried in ever since I can remember. Now she's requested to be buried in her snuggie! Oh...and you guessed it. That is where I got my snuggie. My great-grandmother gave me on for Christmas and I love it! Can you possibly tell that we're related?!






My child hovered over the fruit and veggie table! At least it was the healthy choices...until it was cake time and he thought everyone would want his handprint in their slice of cake!



Mama was a little shocked!




B even got his first chance to sit on the motorcycle. If it wasn't so cold, they were going to taken him riding in the parking lot. He would love that!




The Queen Bee


5 generations


Since I haven't posted a picture of my belly in a while, here is me at 16 (almost 17) weeks. I'll have to put up new pictures since I am now 20 weeks!

Our 18-month old

Seriously. How can you not love this adorable little bundle of energy. I'll even emphasize bundle of energy! Even though there are days when I think I just might lose it, he reminds me that my schedule doesn't have to be all about cleaning the house, picking up after him, or the 10 million other things I feel need to be done. Instead, what matters is that I enjoy this time I've been given with our precious 18-month-old whose independence is growing by the day. He keeps me on my toes and I never know what he's going to do next. Have I told you, yet, that he's already learned how to open ALL of the baby gates? He's found the right places to push on them so that what isn't supposed to contract does. He also likes to figure out how DVDs go into the DVD player or the WII console. Or the drawer. Pretty much wherever he thinks a DVD looks like it might fit. He's so much fun at this age. I'm not gonna lie, though. He's also VERY tiring at this age. People tried to warn me and I just didn't get it. Walking is a good stage, but then the independence soars with it. We love our little blessing!

Did It...

I've gone and done it. I've gotten a sinus infection. It doesn't hurt quite as bad as the last time I had it 2 years ago, but boy does it hurt. All I could do last night was cry because I felt my head was about to explode. I'm so thankful that my mom came to help and then Daddy T's mom came to play with B for a few hours yesterday after my mom left. I just couldn't keep up with him. Guess what started as a cold on Thursday ended in this. My OB called in a Z-pack for me, thank goodness. It seems to be working. My cheeks don't feel like they are going to pop out of my skin. My head still feels like it's pounding, which is not a good mix when B decides he wants to get excited or mad! But instead of dwelling on how I'm feeling, I've decided to look at the positives. Which are:

*20 weeks and NO weight gain (I have this to credit it to, because I had gained two pounds)

*Got to stay in bed and rest (except it's killing me not to keep up with the house)

*I'm learning new signs from the DVDs that B and I watch

*B seems to know his mommy doesn't feel well and he sits with me quietly and reads to me and lifts up my shirt to make sure my belly is still there. So cuddle time is good!

*B is well so far. Been coughing in his chest, but I think the breathing treatments are warding off it turning into anything so far.

*And last, but not least, it's just a sinus infection. At least it's not cancer or something that is a lifelong illness. It can be cured and although I'm miserable now, I won't be for long!

Pump It Up

We had a wonderful day with Daddy T last Friday. Since he was off, B and I decided Daddy T would have lots of fun at our new favorite place that we like to go for free (until he's 2). It's called Pump It Up and it's a blast for him. I am not able to slide down the slide because of the pregnancy factor, but I do the obstacle course with him. It's a little hard to climb the wall with him so I tend to throw him over and let him slide down. He thinks it's fun. Daddy T went up and down the big slide almost 6-7 times in a row. At one point, Daddy T was walking up and B kept pushing Daddy T away. So Daddy T went back down and let B do it on his own like he was asking. That boy went ALL the way up the stairs, walked over to the slide, sat down at the top, and slid down ALL BY HIMSELF! Daddy T was thankful he wasn't required to walk up with him anymore since he was worn out. We lost count of how many times in a row he climbed the stairs to slide down. We were also a little shocked that he wasn't scared of sliding down by himself, since it is a really tall slide. We got nervous when others started coming up with him, but he just moved to the side and let them pass him and then he tried to chase them up the stairs.

This is our 2nd time being here. The first time was with my mom on the ultrasound day, but that's another post. I'll just say the B wore his poor grandmother out that day!

Snow pictures

I know I promised these pictures way earlier. Not that I'm convinced that you were sitting at your desk checking my page every 5 minutes to see if I had posted them yet! Anyway, sickness is going around our house, which is oh so much fun. Currently I have a cold, but it's pretty much wiped me out. B is starting to catch it so he's back on breathing treatments every 4 hours to try to keep it from turning into bronchilitis again. So far, Daddy T is doing well and isn't sick. My mother is coming to help take care of me and B and I'm pretty sure that she's hoping she'll get snowed in here. I won't complain!

Yes, the infamous red car had to make a trip out in the snow. He got frustrated because he couldn't push it far or make it go too far, but he still insisted that it go out with him.

I call this tree his Charlie Brown tree.

"Uv ou"

That's right! My baby boy is now telling me "uv ou" after I say "I love you" to him in a sing song voice. I love it! He even told Daddy T last night. It's so precious. I'm going to have to get it on video, but I can't seem to catch it at the right time now.

On the discipline front, we are doing much better. We are dealing with it as it comes and I'm trying my hardest to be consistent and not get frustrated. It seems to work. We had a playdate with one of my childhood friends yesterday (who also kept B for me for the past year and a half on Mondays) and he did well, even though he had to sit in time out for a bit for hitting. He's learning to share his toys, since he's never had to do that before.

He's growing like a weed, I feel. He LOVES our Kindermusik classes. He comes to ones that I teach, which is Village and Sign and Sing. He's done the Sign one since he was 4 months old, so I think he's heard it so much that he doesn't want to pay much attention. However, he loves the Village class that has lots of little kiddos in there with us that are his age. They get to bounce and run around and just be toddlers.

I'll try to post some snow pictures tomorrow. We enjoyed being holed up in our house for almost 3 days. Daddy T got home after a 2-1/2 hour drive on Friday. It normally only takes him 30 minutes. The roads were horrid and then iced over once again. I think most people learned their lesson from the last time because the front of our subdivision was full of cars. Lots of people had to abandon them a few streets over on a different backroad and then walk down our main road. There was even one person from our church that had to park at Wal-Mart and walk through town to his house....almost 5-6 miles after dark. Poor man! It made for some beautiful pictures. All the kids in our neighborhood were sledding down the road. See....there is a plus for living in our city that has not much flat land available in it...not even on the golf courses! B couldn't stay out too long, thanks to his asthma symptoms, but he liked sitting in it and holding the snow. Stay tuned for those pictures, though!

Recipe Sunday

Oven-Fried Chicken Parmesan
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half)

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup jarred tomato-basil pasta sauce (or your favorite spaghetti sauce)
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish; place egg whites in a bowl. Place panko in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 breast half in flour mixture. Dip in egg whites; dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour mixture, egg whites, and panko.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Turn chicken over; cook 2 minutes. Coat chicken with cooking spray; place pan in oven. Bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; top each breast half with 2 tablespoons sauce, 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 3 tablespoons mozzarella. Bake 6 minutes or until chicken in done.


Taken from: Cooking Light, September 2009

*This is a very yummy recipe. It's also REALLY quick...30 minutes tops. We've made this dish twice in the past two weeks and it's still a favorite. Have I mentioned it's very yummy?! Oh...and healthy. Only 401 calories; 16.9g fat; 0.6g fiber.