"Preppy Little Dress" give-a-way

So go on over to Preppy Little Dress and enter for her free give-a-way! So fun! You will love her blog too. She has so many helpful hints. I just signed up for Ebates that I found out about on her blog! Thanks PLD! :)

Rip off of the month!

Before I get to the point of today's post I want to let everyone know who has tagged me for something that I am getting to the post of thank you's! Been busy of course! :) But I do appreciate them...THANK YOU!! :)

First, I want to share a very yummy recipe we had the other night for a side dish...

Asparagus in Balsamic Vinegar

OH.MY.WORD!! It is sooo good and soooo easy! Just cut the bottoms (or snap them) off the asparagus, put them in a pan or baking dish, pour balsamic vinegar (I did enough to coat the bottom and stirred them around a bit to make sure all is coated), sprinkle with ground pepper and kosher salt (enough for taste) and bake it for about 20 min at 350. Scrumptious! :) Everyone ate it (even Sterling!!!) until it was gone!!

EYE see you!!

I made these for Kitchen Queens last night! How fun are they! :)

Now for the reason of this post.

Ok, background first.

So, I, like every other woman in America right now, am in the process of trying to lose weight! We have started running (ok really jogging) and walking about every other day around our neighborhood. Yes, by we I mean, Heath, me and Sterling. (you better believe that is a post to come!)

Ok, so I admit it, food is one of my passions! Seriously. I HEART food! So no wonder I can't get my weight in control right!?! Well, I have tried sticking to things like Slim Fast (oh, this actually started to work but I grew an allergy to it, weird!), the infamous Weight Watchers, and some of the South Beach Diet. I just can't stick to those. Most of the cooking I do is from WW though because they have awesome recipes. But I need to try something different.

Well, that something different I have decided is going to be protein shakes. Maybe I won't eat so much now because I will be more full! So, my dad, step mom, and one of my brother-in-laws are workout FREAKS (that's a good thing. love you guys!;)) and know a lot about keeping your body in shape. Did I talk to either one of them before I went out and bought my protein?

No.

Should I have?

Yes.

At 10:00 pm last night in WalMart (woo hoo), I remembered that I wanted to start trying this stuff. First of all, I couldn't find it to save my life! When I finally found it, the price of this stuff shocked me, to say the least. (um, $15!) I almost didn't do it, but thought, what the heck if it helps me lose weight it's worth it. When I picked it up off the shelf I thought it felt a little light but didn't pay much attention because it's powder after all.

Fast forward to this morning. I open the big jar of protein I just bought and to my dismay I see a half full jar of powder!!! What. the. heck. is. this.!?! GRRR...what did I just pay for?

Half a jar of protein shake, that's what. So I should have asked one of the above what kind, how long it's gonna last me, and how much it is, before I bought it! My rip off of the month! Hope this stuff works! :)

You probably can't tell so I'll show you below. Ok, getting up on my soap box for a sec. So if you don't want to hear me complain and gripe (or vent, whichever you prefer) then you're done with this post. But I just have to get this off my chest.

I could really do a whole other post about this subject, but our WalMart which is right across the street from the HOME OFFICE, I repeat, right across the street from the HOME OFFICE has got to be, hands down, the worst WalMart EVER!!

How would you feel if every time (no lie) you go there they are completely out of at least one thing you need?

Well last night was no exception. I didn't have a huge list last night, therefore meaning, that I went in to get specific things. Um, not only were they out of just one of the few things I came in there to get, but THREE things were completely out on their shelves. You're probably thinking, these must be common everyday things that they would easily run out of and would understand a little. Nope. Lysol wipes, Graham Crackers, and Asparagus. Go figure.

You better believe I told a manager when I checked out. This was her response,"well they are just now starting to stock the shelves. I don't know what to tell you. Sorry." Wow. The guy told me that they have been out of asparagus for at least three days. Does this tell you anything people? ORDER MORE STUFF!!!!

Ok, I'm done!

What's wrong with this picture!?!

How funny is this!?!

I should send this into Jay Leno for the "headlines" segment!

I took this with my phone in WalMart the other day. It was packaged like this and I'm shocked that they put it on the shelves. I'm glad because I never get to see silly things like this!

Hope you had a great Tuesday!

Pumpkin pickins

Well this weekend we finally went to get some pumpkins for the house (thanks again Nana and Papa!), and for our annual pumpkin carving contest. (to see last year's click here) Keith and Becky met us there so they could watch Sterling go nuts over these things! He gets so excited over the littlest things, but that's a good thing! (could I possibly say "thing" one more time!)

So enjoy the pictures!

He's not so sure about what we're doin here!

He's sitting on the pumpkin we are going to carve for the contest. This pumpkin was too cool, the eyes actually were spinning around! Pretty good balance there bud! Being goofy as could be...

...and then here he is about 3 minutes later with Nana and Papa:

**Cue "manic mode" as we like to call it**

He all of a sudden didn't want his picture taken anymore. This is him covering his face and running away from the camera. Are all three year olds like this for real!?! AHHH!! :)

Here is a picture of our 2 place winnings two years ago! (sorry so blurry. once again my camera is about to be thrown in the trash!)

Pet problems!

We are having pet issues at our house right now! And you would think that we must not keep a very good eye on our child, but that is so not the case! It's just that this little booger is getting quick and sneaky! So, I went to fix Sterling lunch today and just happen to see this out of the corner of my eye (Maria, you're gonna love this!):

Yeah, that would be the ENTIRE bottle of fish food dumped into the bowl at once!!! I, naturally, freaked out and hurried up and got some out before I decided,"oh wait, this would make for a great post!" First the dog, then the fish! What next Sterling!?! just some of the food I got out Poor Nemo! He's still alive though! I had Sterling tell Heath the story today of what he did to his fish and this is what he said,"Yeah, I put a wot of food in d'ere! It's going to kill him." Lovely.

Well, for those who are interested, Sweet Pea is doing a little better. She only got us up twice but for an hour at a time last night. (which she hasn't got us up once during the night, until now) But I think what happened was that she would forget about her leg while she was asleep and roll over and hurt it. So she would start yelping and we would think she had to potty. So we would get up and take her out...about 45 min later...nothing. We did that twice, and by the way, it's freezing outside at 2:30 and 6:00 in the morning! Just incase you were wondering! But other than that, she's been great!

We played in the backyard today for a little while and Sweet Pea came with. She is starting to learn how to walk with this thing. It's so pitiful and sad, but so funny at the same time because the thing is so huge!

So, I noticed her toes were starting to swell a little today, and it says on the sheet that if I noticed any swelling to take her in immediately. So off we go back to the vet.

She said it looked ok and that a little swelling is normal, but to keep an eye on it. She went ahead and re-wrapped it to make it a little looser. So off we go back home to eat and get some pain meds in her.

I'd just like to show you our little "routine" of feeding. You tell me if you think this dog is just a little pampered!

She gets baby food chicken because the vet said she may not eat and little dogs blood sugar can drop real low if they don't eat especially when there is something wrong...aka, a broken leg. This stuff is so stinkin (word intended) nasty!!! Now I remember why Sterling never ate this stuff. UGH! But she goes NUTS over it and gobbles it all up! Sterling says that is her cheese on top! haha he's my kid for sure! ;) There is her new pretty cast! Can you say pampered and spoiled just a little! Oh, she also gets her water dish brought to her as well!

3 yr old + 3 month old chihuahua= 2 hr vet visit

***Caution: If you are sensitive to puppies this might cause a little quiver in your lip and water in the eyes.***

Oh boy, where do I even begin!?!

Well, I took these pictures this evening in hopes of doing a post on our little "house guest" that we've had and how much fun Sterling has had with her so far. Well, here is little miss Sweet Pea, my mom's chihuahua that we are doggie sitting for a week. Enjoy the sweet pictures. (while they last!)

Look how cute she is! Can you say teeny-tiny!

Here comes the reason for this post. Get ready for it.

Yeah, so after I took these pictures I went back to the computer to download them, as I hear Sterling coming down the hallway, he gets to the doorway of the room I am in, and I hear it.

What is "it" you may ask?

The screaming pain of a 3 month, 3lb chihuahua. And when I say screaming, that really could be an understatement. Sterling had been carrying her back there (which he had NEVER done before. I think it's because right before we were having him hold her for the pics) and she fell out of his arms as he went to put her down. So, she didn't even fall very far, but she instantly put her leg up and would. not. stop. screaming. It was AWFUL!!! I immediately picked her up and didn't touch it. I thought her hip was just probably out of place since she fell probably a whole 6 inches...literally.

I couldn't even move the dog without her screaming. We didn't know what to do after about 3 min, so we called my mom. She said to take her to the vet.

PLEASE excuse the nastiness, I just got back from working out...yeah, great timing I know! See how she is baby-ing that back, right leg?

So, off we go at 6:30 to the vet thinking "all they are going to do is pop it back into place and we'll be good to go and we'll make out of there for hopefully under 500 bucks". HAHAHAHAHA

This is what happens when you are in a vets office for 2 hrs!

Are you ready for this!?!?!

Just in case you can't see it here's another one for ya: Can ya see it?!?

Yep folks, it is a BROKEN LEG!!!! Broke all the way through at an angle. Thankfully it only went through the big bone (can't remember if it's the tibia or fibia, whichever is the big one) but not the small. She said if it would have gone through the small one it would have been orthopedic surgery. Could you imagine!!??!

What dog gets a broken leg from falling about 6 inches. Apparently Sweet Pea does. NO WONDER she was screaming like she was. I felt so bad I wanted to cry. But if you think I felt bad, you should have seen Sterling. He knew he did it and he felt SO bad the whole night. Especially when she would scream. He even went and got his special blanket that he has to have out of his bed for her. He said,"Here mommy give this to Sweet Pea. It will make her feel better. I will make a bed for her with it." So sweet.

I just had to put this whole x-ray on there. Look how funny it looks!!

Look how sad this is...

She ended up having to knock her out to set the splint. How awful is this! But surprisingly we made out of there for only $200 (and I say "only" because we thought it was going to be about $500!) but she has to go back in a week to get it checked on. The reason we thought it was going to be so much is because we thought it was the vet ER, but it was just regular office hours (they stay open til 8!!) so it wasn't emergency pay! Sheesh!

This thing is bigger than she is!! Don't ask me how we are going to get her to potty now! Oh I know!! Every time she goes out we have to wrap it with press-n-seal wrap, give her baby food since she won't eat, so that she can take her pain medicine, (which we have to make 1/8 of the pill, pretty much some powder) oh and make sure she doesn't chew on it, hold her most of the time, and check for swelling at all times.

Woo hoo, this should be a fun 3 more days! Saturday won't get here quick enough!

I don't wanna hear it, I just wanna see it

Yesterday was fire day at school. We had a few firefighters come give a little talk to the kids. They showed them how they put the gear on and how it's still the same person even with the big 'ol suit and oxygen tank on. (so they won't be scared if they ever have to experience that) Great things to learn.

Wanna know how my child spent most of the time while they were talking? Take a look....

bottom left corner

Show that appreciation to our fellow fire fighters Sterling!

Then he snapped out of it when it was time to get up and give the guy a high-five! So off he goes...

Firetruck time!! Can you pick him out of the crowd? Yeah, the one with the very serious look on his face like he is loving every min of this...yep, that's my kid!

Oh boy, let's explore!

I think he would make a great fire fighter! :) He'd definitely be strong enough, that's for sure!