the lake

(The picture posted above...was our beloved Baxter...now he would've loved it! Notice the color of the water...that's a little foreshadowing!) Read on so you'll understand:

We are headed to Lake Eufaula for the rest of the weekend. Did you notice there weren't any exclamation marks or anything...that ought to tell you my excitement level about this. I am not a "lakey" kinda girl. No offense, to all of you who are lakey girls...I just cannot shake the color of the water ???@?@?!!! I'm a little terrified of boats as well. I think there needs to be many more rules at the lake. I think people drink waaayy too much and then ski??? I'm a little concerned about a lot of things that go on at the lake, can you tell? I haven't been in years. Brian's office has been taking their staff for about three years now and they always have such a great time...I've always managed to get out of it. But, this year, there was no getting out :( Another thing, real quick, that concerns me...you see people drinking alllll day long...yet no one ever gets out of the lake to go the bathroom??? Ooooh! I dunno. These are just observations...they aren't necessarily the people WE are hanging out with, okay?! Anyway, we are taking our Wii if that tells you anything about what I'll probably be doing. So, just in case you didn't see me commenting around or anything...(because I am quite sure I won't be able to blog)I don't want you to think I hadn't been exercising or anything...because oh, I have been, every day! It will just be because I am at .........the lake. (In my most pitiful voice and slumped shoulders)

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Faith, Trust, and a little Pixie Dust

It's going to take more than faith, trust and pixie dust to get this Peter Pan to use the big potty :( GROWWLLLL! Everyone...please say a prayer for me as I begin the endeavor (on Monday) to potty train this bull headed boy of mine! (This picture was taken two weeks ago when I was all set to go...too bad he wasn't!) He likes the thought of wearing his Thomas or Buzz underwear OVER his diaper! Big sigh...I'm sooo dreading this. Next week is the first week we don't have anything planned and I'm going to stay firmly planted at home and make him go every 5 minutes. When Connor and Brian have tried to "show" him what to do...he just looks at them and says, "Good job, Daddy!" Or, "Good job, Connor!" I'm so tired of buying diapers! I'll keep you all updated! If anyone has any great advice...PLEASE pass it along!

ON THE SIDE:

If Jennifer P. and The Nester are reading...don't look that my carpet pad is extending out past the rug! Or that the couch legs are not actually touching the rug...I know it should have a least one leg touching the rug...and it usually does, but I think I had already moved the couch back in place AT LEAST 5 times that day! (Wasn't thinking I was actually going to POST this picture for all designers to see!) Oh well, just keepin' it real!

The Omniplex...or as Connor would call it The OmniFlex!

Last Friday, we had promised Connor we would take him to the Omniplex. (For those of you who aren't from OK...it's a pretty cool science museum kinda thing.) We passed by it every day on our way to and from Zoo Camp. Sooo, as it turns out, we were major-league engrossed in the new house building thing...making all kinds of major decisions that Friday and did NOT get to make it :( I know, we are sooo bad! But, we do hold true to promises made to little boys and we got up EARLY Saturday to beat the masses and spent much of the day there. It is a pretty cool place...I took the boys there last year and was really impressed. I probably hadn't been since I was in 5th grade and can remember holding hands with Greg Snow in the dark Omnidome! WHY do we remember things like that??? Anyway, Brian said he hadn't been there in probably 20 years either! (He went with his girlfriend, Amy when they were in dental school. The reason I bring this up, is because, just think...if they'd gotten married...her name would've been Amy Amy! Tee hee! He said they always joked she could be called Amy squared!) Anyway, this is turning out to be a twister of a story...sorry for the rambling! All of that to say, we had a great time! I have posted a ton of pictures. I wish I could do all that fancy writing on pictures but I can't...so you'll just have to figure it out on your own, sorry! Some day, I will learn! For those of you who are following my promise to not comment or read blogs until I have exercised, well, I'm doing REALLY well! I've worked out every day before 12:00! Go me! I can sit and type now, not feeling guilty that I should be exercising and THAT is a great feeling :) Welp, hope you enjoy ALLLL these pics!

Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I'm gonna start off by saying...OH MY GOSH!!! This is soooo good and soooo not a part of my "Clean Eating" diet :( But...it's okay, right?!
This recipe is from one of my dearest friends, Tracey and I guess we all have her to thank for our extra poundage we'll put on, but like I said, oh well!
I made this a couple of weeks ago when we had some family in town. My husband's exact words were..."Well, this isn't any good or anything!" With this look on his face liked he'd just won the lottery or something great! I even think his eyes might've rolled back into his head a little bit! Anyway, enough of the details, it's really good...I hope you try it!

1- 18.25 oz. package of Lemon Cake Mix
1- 3.4 oz. package of vanilla instant pudding mix
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1- 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened (I used the 1/3 less fat kind)
3/4 cup canola oil (I've also tried using unsweetened applesauce and turned out great too)
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, and sugar. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, cream cheese, oil, vanilla and water. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl and beat on medium speed for 4 minutes. Stir in the blueberries by hand. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Mix the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over the cooled cake.
A FEW LITTLE TIPS:
ONLY add 1 1/2 cup blueberries...don't think adding more will be better...it's not...I've tried it...just don't do it! The other thing is to make sure you let it sit in the pan for AT LEAST 15 minutes (maybe a little longer...again, trust me, if you get impatient...half of the cake will be left in the pan :(

I can't wait to hear what everyone thinks! I'd show you pictures of the one I made today...but my camera is out in the golf cart and I'm too lazy to go get it :) Just trust me...it's so yummy! And on that note...I may just have to go and have a little sliver before heading to bed! Hey, I'll work it off tomorrow!

CONNOR RIDES ON!!!!!

Well, of course I'm behind on posting this...but CONNOR LEARNED TO RIDE HIS BIKE WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS a couple of weekends ago!!!! Very exciting stuff don't cha know??? This is a big deal, as I'm sure it is in every household. Here's why it is at our's:

For those of you who know (and love!) Connor...he can get frustrated VERY easily (like someone else I know, ahem!) when he doesn't pick up on something on THE FIRST TRY! (That would be ME I was ahemming about!) Sooo, since he and I but heads on just about everything these days, I thought it best to stay out of the way and just let Daddy take care of it! And Daddy did JUST that! I couldn't believe it! Connor listened very carefully...Brian held on to the back maybe twice and then he was off! I mean, the pride! Here are some pictures of the glorious day! (The last one was Jake needing a little love from Daddy too...so sweet!)

The Dreaded Post!

Okay, so I've dreaded writing this post for a while now. I have a very bad little habit right now...I'm very addicted to....blogging! (Were you REALLY worried I was gonna say cigarettes or alcohol or something! I wish I were! I think it might be easier to quit! You know I'm kidding!) I know, I know, you all will say you do too...or at least I hope you will! It's not like I totally ignore my family or anything, but literally, I could spend hours upon hours just reading. Is that soooo ridiculous! I guess it's because I just love knowing that sooo many people out there go through the same "mom" issues I go through and that is very comforting. BUT, I feel like the time I spend "bloggin", I could be menu planning and most of allllll...the dreaded EXERCISING! Because when I have a menu planned and I have exercised, my day goes sooo much better and I feel much better about MYSELF! So, the sad part about this is: now that I've blogged about, I have to commit to it! I'm generally that kind of a person. I need some accountability I guess! By YOU! My faithful bloggy friends! So, I'm committing to myself, that I can't check or comment on blogs until I've exercised for the day! ICK! What am I thinking! Is there a Bloggers Anonymous I could just go to now! I am going to let myself check some blogs that supply me with menus because that's a lot of help! So, I guess what I'm saying is, if you don't see me around commenting as much, it's because I'm just sitting at the computer staring wishing I could blog and NOT exercising! If you are interested in my ridiculous challenge, let me know! (But don't expect a comment until I've exercised!) (Which, by the way, I have already done today...YIPPEE!!) I hope everyone understands, I'm not snubbing anyone, I just need to figure out some Summer schedule that involves other things than blogging! Okay, off to get a menu planned :) have a great day everyone!

IDHTBPTBB!!!!!

So, The Nester is wanting to see that everyone's lives are not as perfect as our photos appear...she calls it IDHTBPTBB--It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect To Be Beautiful! Don't you love it! I struggle with wanting everything to be perfect...but then, what fun is it for little boys to play legos or trains or cars when Mommy is picking them up before they are done playing??? Not very :( Anyway, I probably won't be able to put her fancy blinking button on my blog to show I'm playing...but I'm going to show you a few pics of where my littlest LOVES to play with his trains! On the window seat in our kitchen---NOT the train table we spent oodles on...the window seat! Go figure! Notice the Peter Pan dress up he is sporting today! (Hey...he's all boy and it's not like he's wearing tights to match, it's okay right? He's only 3!!)Also...Buzz Lightyear is zapping all the trains from the Island of Sodor! Buzz has his work cut out for him, cause this kid has A LOT of them :) Can't wait to read about everyone else's perfectly or imperfectly beautiful lives!

LOSER MOM!

So, I've been meaning to post about this for 2 weeks now and am just getting around to it :(

Let me just set the scene...so I don't look like SUCH a loser!

We were visiting Brian's sister and brother-in-law, who live in AZ, a couple of weeks ago. Connor was going to miss a few days of his last week of school...c'mon, he's only a kindergartener, it's fine! So, we made sure though, that we would be home for his little graduation ceremony that I was CERTAIN was at 10:30 on Thursday. Welp, let me tell you how it went down:

We arrive home at 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Made sure we were up and out the door for Connor's school at 9:00. Kiss, Kiss, make good decisions, all that normal routine and said we'd see him @ 10:30! Okay, so run back home to finish getting ready and my Mom calls to see if we could dog sit for a specific date. Soooo, I pull up my calendar to see if it's all clear and first thing that pops up...CONNOR'S GRADUATION...9:30...Yes, people, this was approx 10:00 at this point. We literally throw Jake into his carseat...I'm hobbling as fast as I can because my big toe was as close to being broken as you can get and all nice and purple too! All the way (maybe 7 minutes), I'm saying to Brian, "I can't believe this!" As we are pulling into the parking lot, tons of cars LEAVING! Brian stops and I run inside and yes, it's over. We totally missed his little Kindergarten graduation. He was standing kind of by himself eating a little post graduation cookie :( I ran over and said, "Oh buddy, I'm soooo sorry, Mommy thought it was at 10:30 NOT 9:30!" He says to me, "Oh Mommy, it's fine, we still had fun anyway!" Well, I'm not sure if that made it better or worse?? Glad he wasn't crying because NO ONE was there for HIM, but sad that he didn't really even miss us?? I'm attributing to him just being tired. Anyway, so Brian just says, "Just toss your hat up in the air and we'll take a picture!" That picture didn't turn out so great :( But, I did love the one posted above! His sweet kindergarten teacher did make a great DVD for everyone and at least we have that :) But, wouldn't you just feel awful? I'm really, usually a very with-it, punctual person! Don't think terribly of me...hey, it was also a 2 hr time difference we were working on! Still, Loser Mom!

BUZZ LIGHTYYEAR---TO THE RESCUE!!!!

So, guess who accompanied us to the bookstore today?? One guess, yep.-----BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND! Some days, you just choose your battles. Letting Jake wear this costume made of plastic (or whatever material that squeaky stuff is)...in 90+degree weather here...well, need I say more. I just wasn't up for trying to explain to a newly three year old why that wasn't appropriate, so off we went to the bookstore. (Where, I might add...EVERYONE was cracking up and he was given many salutes...which he loved!) It is almost 7:00 and he is still sporting it! I'm scared he might want to sleep in it as well :( Now THAT battle---he may not win! Sleep well my friends--for our galaxy is well protected tonight!

LEGO LAND!!!!!!!!

Have you every wondered what 23 pounds of Legos looked like...allllll dumped out on your living room floor??? Well, drumroll please...this is it!

Connor turned 6 on Saturday! Brian had been bidding on a lot of Legos and obviously won! It's great and all, but within this mess...there is a Harry Potter mansion, a soccer field, a pirate ship with pirates and other kits. Yikes! And out of all of this...Brian was able to put almost all the Harry Potter mansion together in less than 24 hours! Way to go Hubby! Now that I'm recovering from the hyperventilation of, "oh my gosh, how do we even START to organize this mess," we decided that we'd just toss them all into a big long under the bed box! (I got outvoted on having tubs for all the different colors :( Because I guess I'm a girl and didn't realize that you'd want ALL the different colors out to play with when you are building and that inevitably they would all make into one box anyway?? ) Ahh well, he loves them and that's all that really matters!