fast food february

 When I put my pictures in iphoto this weekend, I noticed a theme...

(We had to get Shamrock Shakes...).  Maybe that is why my numbers on the scale are going to the RIGHT and not the LEFT (we have an old-school scale).

Valentines, Disney and a Scavenger Hunt

Valentine's Day was a little out of the ordinary this year!  First of all, my Valentine is away for a week on business, so it was just me, the kids and a few of their friends.  

The girls wanted to go to Disneyland, so we got ready after breakfast, and off we went.  Before the 2 older girls left for the day, I texted them a scavenger hunt list of things I wanted them to find.  More on that in a minute.

 Sophie brought her friend and we went on as many rides as we could fit in!  The girls loved to pose and have me take their pictures.  I couldn't believe I left my camera at home!  Lucky for me, my phone has a camera that kinda works.

 Ok back to the Scavenger Hunt.  On the list I put things like Twins, A Man Wearing Mickey Ears, Pickles, Blond Girl with Braids, A Mouse, Someone Eating Ice Cream, Someone Wearing the Same Shoes as You, 5 Disney Princesses, among other items.  A few moments later I added...JUSTIN BIEBER.  By the end of the day, I had received many texted pictures of the items, but no Justin Bieber.  Instead, I received this picture:

ITS FREDDY FROM iCARLY!!  A fine substitution!  
I thought that was pretty funny :)

family taste test time!

I couldn't help myself. I was in Target (home away from home) browsing the Halloween section, when I beheld these babies. I grabbed a box without hesitation as well as a chocolate Halloween pop tart box, brown sugar flavor and s'more flavor. I was going for a fall theme, but they don't make apple flavor anymore (lame), so I picked s'more flavor even though it is totally a summer flavor. I figured at least they would get eaten over a fruit flavor. Tonight we taste test!

p.s. - Pier One has the most adorable Halloween stuff right now - really cute jewelry for girls and fun decorations :0)

Chyler Leigh sighting...aka Lexie Grey aka Little Grey!!

Oh my gosh!! I went to Trader Joe's yesterday to get my favorite Wheatberry Salad, and who should I bump into looking in the premade salad section probably for the same salad??? LITTLE GREY!!! I am behind a season in Grey's Anatomy, so when I saw her with blond hair, I thought it couldn't be her. But after a bit of stalking and staring, my examination proved to be correct!! I was checking out when she came behind me in line. I couldn't NOT say anything...so I turned around and asked, "Are you who I think you are in Grey's Anatomy?" She laughed and said, "YES!" But before she could ask me to be her best friend and get my phone number, another cashier called her over to his empty line. RATS! Anyways, I love meeting or seeing celebrities!! I have to go back to TJ's today cuz they were out of my salad...maybe she will be there too looking for the salad that brought us together...

got milk?

I read in a Fitness Magazine that drinking 2 cups of skim milk after working out helps burn more fat than if I just drank water. SUPER!! I love tips like this. I am tryin' it out! I wonder if chocolate milk works :) ?

Olympic Poster I Want

I love this poster! Mom...Dad...where can I get one??? Do they sell these in Brandon??

Funny

I walked into the kitchen and saw this. It struck me as kind of funny.

WOW!!!! Now we love GLEE even more!

I am NOT stalking celebrities - but we couldn't help noticing SUE!!! We were at the Grove in LA at the American Girl store. We walked out - Sue - coach of the Cheerio's - walks by - and Alex and I dodge the crowds to meet her. I love her!!!

Sunset Magazine 1 year for $5.00

Get a one year subscription here for $5.00. Not a bad Christmas gift!

Tub Crayons and Homework

I LOVE TUB CRAYONS! Sophie will happily practice her spelling words any time she takes a bath.
Hooray! Life got a little easier for $4.89. Get them at Target in the baby bath section.
I wonder if the big kids would do math problems in there?

Mom, Dad - this is for you

I saw a blog that said these were the BEST chips ever.  President's Choice means SuperStore!!  Go get them and let me know what you think :)

sophie's skirt and an impulse buy

Yesterday, Alex had one of those "I have nothing to wear" days. So today we decided to go to the mall to see if there were any sales. She really wants to wear the teenager sizes so we tried out Forever 21 to see if their extra smalls were SUPER small. Not so. On our way out, Sophie found a hat that she loved because it matched her outfit she put together this morning. I made her a skirt yesterday out of some material of her choosing. The only rule was it had to come out of the $3.00 a yard section of the store. It didn't surprise me when she pulled out a hot pink and black leopard print to match her new hot pink Converse. Anyways, she found this hot pink cowgirl hat and the outfit was complete!
She couldn't help but start dancin' infront of the mirror OWNING that outfit! Luckily I had my camera.

Then, in Hot Topic, she found a $3.00 crown she couldn't part with. Happy Easter, Sophie :)



Sadly, we didn't have much luck with Alex's wardrobe. But instead of looking at it positively (I saved some money by not purchasing anything), I made 2 impulse buys; See's Candy Butterscotch Square - which I DON'T need. (I've had a less than good eating week). And the cutest butterfly decortations for the girls' room. They were $20.00 at Target and I couldn't put them down. I will wait a week to see if they lose their coolness and if so, I will return them. But I thought they were the cutest things ever! I wish they were yellow because we aren't allowed to paint and they won't show up as well as they would on a colored wall. But they'll do.

GOOP

Have you signed up for Gwyneth's newsletter yet?  It is kind of fun.  She sends one to your email every Thursday.  (This is the one I told you about, amber and stephanie).

My new find

I bought this new workout video to change up my "routine." I have seen it all over the place on blogs that I check on once in awhile and I was intrigued by the 'magical results' that people were experiencing. It has 3 levels which are 20 minutes each and it is AWESOME! I jumped on my spinner bike for a quick 20 minutes after my butt was kicked by the video and I didn't get bored! That is huge for me. I started on level one at the beginning of the week. By Friday I thought I might be ready for level 2. Matt just happened to be laying on the couch while I started the video. Fifteen minutes into level 2, Matt was in hysterics watching his mother barely survive doing a ridiculous kind of push up I had never seen the likes of before. (Autie calls them a name I can't remember). Anyways, Monday I'm back on level one.

(I also tried another new video by the FIRM called "Power Half Hour". I am lovin' these short and not-so-sweet workouts. )

Now I await the results! I am eating my daily dose of chocolate (thank you Trader Joe) as I write this. Perhaps I'll be waiting longer for my promised shredded body, but oh well. It is part of a balanced diet, right?

Yum Cereal

This is my new favorite cereal. I LOVE it! It was on sale at Target 2 for $5.oo yesterday. It was on the bottom shelf and all but 2 boxes were gone. I asked Sophie to crawl to the back of the shelf (which she did happily) to grab the last 2 boxes. Mmmm. I could eat this all day.

Trader Joe's Candy Blog

I just came across this interesting site. Check it out, Trader Joe's fans.

Christmas Tree Surprise

We waited to decorate the tree until tonight. Once again, Matt and Sophie found it more fun to play with our neighbor friends, while Alex was extrememly helpful and quite particular about how to decorate the tree. We had just about put every ornament up on the tree, when Alex dismissed herself saying she was going to go make her "signature ornaments for the tree" and she would need paper and dental floss. I had images of her making these adorable little paper birds she used to make where she would meticulously cut thin, long strips of paper and wind them around a pencil to make curls. She then would glue the curly strips to make cute little doves. Or, I thought she might make some snowflakes after spending some time today at her friend's house working on some snowflakes for our upcoming Enrichment Night. It wasn't until later, when I went to take a picture of this year's newly decorated tree, that I spotted her "signature ornament" for Christmas 2008:

Hmm.

gotta go to Disneyland!

Disneyland is so awesome.

This was the best day. Perfect weather, so fun...until I thought it would be a good idea to go on Grizzly Bear Peak in the evening. It reminded me of frozen jeans in Manitoba winters. I wore them for about two hours and then I walked into one of the ridiculously expensive stores to find the cheapest pair of pants I could find...I didn't care if there was a huge Mickey Mouse on the butt or anything! I was freezing!! Anyways, I found some pants. I had to choose between brown velour "princess" sequined jogging pants for $35.oo or a plain gray pair of Hurley sweats for $48.00. That was the best $48.00 plus tax I've ever spent.

My Newest Purchase

As I was perusing the aisles at Target today, I came across this neat little book. From what to eat at Olive Garden to healthy kid snacks you buy at the grocery store, this book gives good options ("good" meaning the kids will eat it, I can find it at Target or the regular grocery store, and it is not crazy expensive) and compares them with not-as-healthy choices. It also gives great tips on cutting calories (more for me than for the kids). For example, the book says, "Regardless of which pizza chain your family pledges its allegiance to, ham and pineapple is one of the most trusted combinations you can order. Ham is the leanest meat you can put on a pie, while pineapple adds low-cal sweetness and a dose of anti-oxitdents."
I was surprised at some of the comparisons. For instance, at Wendy's, it is better to order a Single Burger with Everything, than a Chicken Club Sandwich - a difference of over 100 calories and 5 grams of fat. (Then it goes on to suggest obvious healthy choices like Small chili with baked potato, etc.)
Anyways, it is fun to read! Matt even picked it up and read through it. Now that the kids are going back to school, I can focus, read and maybe learn something!

Sophie-Safe Cooking

I just got my BYU Magazine in the mail and on p. 71 I found an interesting story of a mom who has a little girl (Sophie) with 8 serious food allergies. The article explains how difficult it has been to cook for her family. So she wrote a cookbook made for people with food allergies called Sophie Safe Cooking. Check out Sophiesafecooking.com - the recipes are all made with out the eight common allergens (wheat, milk, eggs, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, peanut butter, and soy). The website has a few recipes on it for brownies and blondies which might be fun to try.