Love in the Kitchen - making fast, healthy, homegrown meals you'll enjoy

Friday, June 19, 2009

Tip Junkie Giveaway!



This is the final day of Tip Junkies Birthday Bash!! You have to go check her out!!



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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Our Super Jack is the Kiwanis 2nd grade Super Student of the Year!

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Calling All Stepmoms and Parents of Tweens

The Mr recently posted this list of "11 Things I don't do with The Children anymore, and why" on facebook. It's all true, and sadly accurate. The Mr thought it would be a good idea to post it here and elicit advice.



11 Things I don't do with The Children anymore, and why

1) Skiing: The Girl had a crying meltdown the second day, after a very good day in lessons. Had to threaten to fireman's carry her down the mountain before she'd stand up. Left the slopes at 10:30am. Killed a bottle of Stoli afterwards.

2) Geocaching: No specific incident, but neither The Girl nor The Boy have any interest in doing anything that involves being outside, walking, or looking for stuff...so geocaching is right out.

3) Bike Riding: Last ride to the park (less than a mile) resulted in The Boy crying the entire way there.

4) Hiking: Last trip (3 mile roundtrip) resulted in The Girl wailing the entire time... about 2 hours total. Nonstop. Wailing.

5) Concerts/Theater: The Girl slept through Riverdance, Blue Man Group, and Stomp.

6) The Wild Animal Park: Too many hills, too much walking, animals too far away.

7) The Zoo: Too many hills, too much walking, animals too close.

8) Del Mar Fair: The Boy & The Girl were so grounded from the car ride there that they couldn't play outside their rooms for a week afterwards. The Boy then alternately cried and tried to bargain the entire time we were there.

9) Museums: Took them to the USS Midway, phenomenal museum combining aircraft, the sea, and recent US history. Tied to our family...parents did arrested landing & catapult shot on the Midway. Also, we rented it for their 50th. Took kids. Went to flight deck. Surrounded by planes. Girl found a bench, sat down, started texting. Never got up till we left.

10) Movies: We planned to see Happy Feet with Nana & Papa in Minnesota. We spent the day at the Children's Museum in Minneapolis, then stopped at McDonald's for dinner. On the way to the theater, they started fighting over the happy meal toy...the one that they both had. It escalated. As we approached the intersection where "straight" was the theater and "left" was Nana & Papa's. About 2 minutes early, I warned them that they needed to get it under control because, if they didn't, we're going to skip the movie. The escalation continued, and we turned left. We still haven't seen Happy Feet.

11) Red Bull Air Races: My personal, saddest favorite. The Air Races were on San Diego Harbor. We found a spot on a pier where we had a great view of 300 mph airplanes pulling 9g's around pylons, flying 25 ft above the water. Neither The Boy nor The Girl would look up. Read that again. They wouldn't look up. Stared at the pier. For a half hour. I'm not exaggerating.


These are all true stories. The Girl is 11, The Boy 8. They are both generally good kids. Their relationship with each other is terrible (she loathes him, he adores her - this is another blog) but when they are not together they are generally good to have around. Unless we want to actually DO anything. Then, all bets are off.

I think it may be a thing of the times... kids today seem to be pretty scheduled, so maybe they don't want to do anything because they are always so busy. Maybe we are choosing the wrong things to do. So far, we have been unable to determine how we can fix it. Any ideas on what we can do to help The Children be interested in DOing things?


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Thursday, June 04, 2009

Random Thursday Stuff

Lots of random thoughts in my head today...

  • Thanks for your prayers for The Mr's uncle Blue.  They are still trying to figure out what needs to be done for him, and he is sedated and restrained today so that he cannot do any damage to his sutures.  His wife (The Boy calls her Aunt Charlie) is doing a lot better today though, and continues to be so strong.
  • The Boy had his karate test tonight - he needs to retest on one small item next week, but otherwise had a great test!  He'll likely move to Orange Belt 2nd Degree next week!
  • We're planning for retirement - I'm hoping our hobby job will involve a seaplane and living in Kaua'i.
  • Some fun news - I applied to Weight Watchers several months ago.  My meeting leader thought I would make a good leader, so I sent in an application.  A few weeks ago, they called me and offered me a job as an At-Work leader!  It's a very part-time job, but I'm so exicted to help people learn what I've learned.  What a great opportunity for me to give back!
  • I've been reviewing my google analytics.  If anyone knows anyone in Delaware or Montana, could you send them over?  I'm missing visitors from those two states!  :-)
  • Looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  Just have to get through Friday.


And in my never-ending quest to become a better photographer, I was playing with my camera settings today.  Here's a sample of what came out:




Hope your Thursday was wonderful!

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Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Our Little Musician


This is one of hte days that being a step-mom is rewarding.  The Girl had her first band concert today!  She's in the advanced band in her middle school - and it is her first year.  She's doing a fantastic job playing clarinet, and she is truly enjoying her music.

After the concert, the whole family - her Dad and I, Mom and Step-dad, brother, half-sister, Grandma and Grandpa - went out for dessert.  We're (incredibly) fortunate that we all get along.  We all enjoy each other's company, and I hope The Girl and The Boy remember these days where they are surrounded by family.

Speaking of family - please keep The Mr's uncle Blue in your prayers.  He had surgery to remove a faulty stent yesterday and is under sedation while they determine what will be the next course of action.  He's in very critical condition, and he and his wife would appreciate your thoughts.







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Tuesday, June 02, 2009

I Heart Faces - Pets




To see more wonderful animal photos, click below!


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Monday, June 01, 2009

Dealing with Body Image

I've spent a lot of time in the last year thinking about body image.    As many of you may remember, I recently lost about 75 pounds.   (Weight Watchers - it works!)

I post these pictures as a reference.  This is in fact what I see when I look in the mirror.  I'm 5'4".  Those jeans are size 2.  So I know that I am in pretty good shape here.  I'm thinner now than I can ever remember being, and I know my weight loss has taken ten years off my looks.  This is good stuff.


    

But this isn't what I see in my mind's eye.  I've been comfortable with my self-worth separate from my looks for a long time (something for which I am quite thankful).  So my self-worth does not really suffer for my distorted body image.  Still, I wonder when my mind's eye will see what is in the mirror...

And I am beginning to truly understand what a problem a negative body image can be.  I've spent some time reading about it - this is a great resource: http://www.womenshealth.gov/bodyimage/

We need to figure out how to to raise the next generations of girls to be comfortable in their own bodies and value who they are inside as opposed to merely what they look like on the outside.

Does anyone else out there struggle with this?


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