START THEM YOUNG

Stacia curled up in a produce crate and told us she was "reading".

The Great Motivator......The Caboose

Yes, Mike brought The Caboose home. Stacia led me out to see it. She showed me "Mommy, Daddy's bed", then checked a cupboard and said, "Jest a minute, I need git my diapers!" She now has 4 diapers safely loaded in The Caboose.

Zander came in and said, "I'm going to my lover - no, wait a minute. I'm staying here and going camping." I think that is progress.

We got our taxes sent again....maybe this time will work. I've been working on our United order. I'm learning so much about Excel. This is a good thing...and having Heather for IT Support is a great thing. ::snort::

I made a couple kinds of salad dressings, dinner, and now I'm running down. I'm still not sleeping well with my cough.

Mike is back at the office "tying up loose ends," and we'll pack in the a.m. We've decided not to be gone as long as expected, but it will be a nice break. I received a new review copy of a book in the mail - not for a blog tour but for me to read, enjoy and review......maybe I'll go read. LOL

We're Throwing the Child Overboard!

The base is handling our taxes (for the last year). Our tax return has now been rejected three times. We read Jonah this a.m. Somehow it seems appropriate that we have begun to throw children overboard as 15 Apr approaches. Yep, we're submitting it without Krista tomorrow. We'll see if they take it now. ::snort:: Maybe we'll be down to the average 2.3 children by the time we pay Uncle Sam.

OOEY GOOEY KRISPER BARS

WooHOO! You gotta try these - NO marshmallows (blue dye and such). Orig recipe ingredients in ().

1 C Agave Nectar (corn syrup)
3/4 C Rapadura (sugar)
1/4 tsp sea salt (salt)
1/2 C Peanut Butter
6 C Crispy Rice Cereal
3/4 C Chocolate chips (opt)
1/2 C Peanut Butter Chips (opt)

Coat 13x9 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In large saucepan, cook corn syrup, sugar and salt over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, until mixture just begins to boil. When mixture begins to bubble and has a light froth on the surface, remove from heat.

Add peanut butter. Stir until well blended. Stir in cereal.Pout into prepared pan. Using greased spatula or waxed paper, (hey Deja - you don't burn your fingers this way ::snort::) press to level.

Sprinkle with chocolate and peanut butter chips. Cool Cut in squares. Makes 24 bars.

Note- photos updated Sept 2017

We like these. We've realized our tastes have changed since this recipe originally published in 2008. We will leave off the chocolate next time or use about 1/3 of the called for chips. They are RICH.

Thanks, Jen, for sending me this yummy recipe.

Ticket System

We have a ticket system in our home. I use tickets for lots of things. They are a great way for us, as adults and young adults, to focus on the positive things the littles do. They are a huge help for training/disciplining. I've given them out one week to anyone who showed initative, another week it was for saying please and thank you, one week for instant obedience with a SMILE on the face, sometimes for extra jobs, trying new foods..... No, it's not been our experience in our two years of doing this that they revert when the tickets are gone (although Zander tends to that).

Josiah copied one full sheet for us and so there are 30 tickets on a sheet. They simply glue their ticket onto their sheet.

What can they earn? This started with little dinosaurs...but then went to play station time. I became alarmed when Zander quit responding because he figured out that he could play during Nolan's play time - and Nolan had to earn the tickets....BUT Nolan and Arielle asked if they could save their pages for a family trip to Mr. Gatti's...so Zander has been on his own. ::snort::

Arielle began redeeming her page of 30 tickets for a book - then we settled on $3 a sheet, as that was getting spendy for a week's worth of effort......Everyone always KNOWS what I'm awarding tickets for this week, and what they are saving for.

All that to say this: Today I caught this on film - hmmm....not film but card.

None of us know WHAT she's saving for but she was thrilled (and so was the child who got an extra ticket). I get TICKET! I DID IT!

Weekly Fitness Goals

 Weekly Goal - 240 Minutes (40 minutes most days)
Totaly Weekly Minutes - 310 minutes

Annual Goal - 11,700 minutes (2900 by end of March)
Minutes to Date - 2,832


Monday - 65 Minutes (reccumbent bike)

Tuesday - 75 Minutes (40 min elliptical; 35 min recumbent bike)

Wednesday - 60 Minutes (21 elliptical; 39 recumbent bike)

Thursday - 35 minutes You Can Do Abs/Upper Body - this is a Leslie Sansone Stability Ball workout. I want to HURL!!!

Sunday - 75 minutes (35 min elliptical machine, 5 min sci fi thing that nearly strangled me, 35 min recumbent bike)

This week I need to continue to focus on what I can control - calorie intake, small regular meals, and work outs. I'm still not losing weight. Mike suggests adding strength training and I know it's time. I am going to try to add strength training in.....The gym has some machines that I might be able to use without out too much stress to my wrists. I need to find someone to show me how to use them. ::snort::
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My New LOOK!

If you have been reading for a bit of time, you know that I like to change the way things look around here fairly often. I don't know WHY. I do not like change in general....hmmm.....I guess I do like change, but I don't like changes like "new email programs" or "new computers".....ANYWAY..... I have run through the majority of blogger templates. I then branched into other free templates on line...but none of them were just what I wanted.

I contacted an online friend, Amy, and asked what I'd need to do to make a custom blog....She designs beautiful blogs. I wanted to be sure I LOVED and wanted to keep the blog that I had designed for a long time (I'm frugal/cheap), and the first step was to decide what I wanted. This was OVERWHELMING TO ME. I couldn't figure out what I wanted. I have been checking out istock looking for the right photos et al, and really, I couldn't decide. BTW - I've been meaning to recommend Amy's tutorials on her blog. I've learned a lot from reading here. I hope to make some little post divider things in the future.

Then I noticed YOUR blog Holly. I loved it. You told me where you got it - and I went exploring.

Michelle at Shabby Creations designs blogs....but I loved some of her templates...and the price is right for a pre-made template - $8. Her prices are ala carte. I decided I would be happy with a pre-designed template, and maybe some buttons. I didn't care for the buttons she had used before with this template and asked if she could make some to match the header. She did. I love it. She even INSTALLS it and makes sure your widgets are in place for $8. This I can afford. I hadn't changed from my pink flowers because I was waiting to find TIME to put all my widgets back. SHE did it for me....and that was worth $8 alone. Michelle was QUICK. I had my blog within 24 hours of paying her. I figure at $8 I can change the template when I'm tired of it.

Michelle just put 3 new templates up - one or two of them are limited editions....go check them out if you are interested. If you decide to use her services, please tell her I sent you....I want her to know how happy I am with her work.

The funny thing is that *I* liked Stella best (though I think I may have chosen one of the new ones if I'd seen it first), my family unanimously - at different times chose this template - Agnes. I didn't think it said ME - I thouht Stella was ME - but they all thought THIS is me. Michelle agreed. What does that say about me? I'm not sure. I DO love it. I think it says "joy". I think it is simply elegant....and I like that.