Awful, just awful!

That is how I have felt lately!

My allergies are about to kill me! I wish I were kidding. I am on so much allergy medication, at any point during the day I feel like I could fall over and sleep for a week. I honestly have not felt this bad since I was a kid.

That is one good thing California did for me!

Other than my awfulness, we have had a great few days. Sunday, I took Brycen and Jilian shopping. We had a really good time. Monday was my dad's birthday!! He, unfortunately, had to work all day, but my sister, Tara made a delicious dinner for all of the family that night. She built an outdoor patio with a kitchen and it came in SOOO handy! We didn't have to go inside for anything. (She just got the pool ready and I can't wait to go swim!) Mom, Brooklyn, and I took all of the kiddos to the river Sunday, too. We didn't have one fish bite, but we still had a good time. It was nice... of course til my eyes started burning, itching, watering, swelling, etc. I had to go home and lay down for about an hour with a cold rag on them.

I am telling you guys... it's bad! It's sad because all Thompson wants to do is go outside and play. And I can't even do that for more than 20 minutes. I am going to get a referral to an allergist here, so hopefully they can help. I am not trying to gripe too much about it, but it is just a constant everyday thing now. :(

Here are some pics of the boys from last week!

{My baby and I at Tar-Jay}

{So big! He will be 18 months on the 11th!}

{Reminds me of his daddy! :) }

{My brown-eyed boy!}

{The boys showing off their muscles, hehe!}

Love them! Every night when I put Thompson in bed he always says "We had a great day, Mom". Melts my heart. I love hearing him say that. He is such a sweet boy-- they both are!

Attachment

Last night was a pretty big night here-- Thompson spent the night with his cousin, Jude! Usually it wouldn't be a big event, but about a year ago he started getting this horrible anxiety about leaving me. He wouldn't go anywhere unless he knew I would be right there with him. We have tried to get him to stay the night with Haili, his cousin, but he screamed and cried the whole time talking about it. So, I definitely didn't push it. I figured he would go when he was ready. He had spent the night with his cousins before, so this was new to us.

Last night I got a text from my sister saying that Thompson cried a little but then told her "My mom is coming tomorrow" and told her he loved her and loved me and then went to bed. :)

Brycen... now that is a whole other story. I swear that boy is going to be attached to my leg for the rest of his life (a momma can dream, right??) :)

Best Cheesecake Ever!!!

So I am linking up with Kelly's Korner on Show Us Your Life-- Desserts!

I did this recipe last time and it is still my absolute fave! It is from Paula Deen, who I consider an expert in all things butter! :)

I definitely haven't figured up the WW Points on this one, though. Don't know if I want to know. ;)

Click HERE and you will find my post.

Enjoy!!

Thursday!

So, I have been a bad Weight Watchers blogger. I have not "officially" weighed in at a meeting in like a month! My weight loss has slowed down (which I knew it would) and I have only maybe lost 4-5 pounds this month (depending on the day). I am not fretting over this. It's just a hurdle I will get over.

One thing that I have noticed that could be hurting me is that I am not drinking enough water. I know... bad, Lenora. I was doing really well, but then kind of started slacking. I am trying to get it back up to where it was!

One thing I have kept up with though, is my fruit intake. I love fruits!! Right now, I have been buying these little apple packs with a yogurt dip in them. They are 3 points, but the yogurt is sweet and reminds me of that cream cheese fruit dip. I also have been snacking on some fresh pineapple and cherries! Cherries are expensive so I won't be getting those every week. But pineapples are like $2.50 for one right now. Not bad at all! I also love those little Cuties oranges. They are sweet and seedless. The boys love them too. :)

New Recipe!!

So, last week I participated in Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life-- Main Courses. I linked up my White Chicken Chili.

And since Friday, I have been going through and looking for new recipes. I have a tab under my Bookmarks on my computer where I put all of the recipes I find. So easy to find them that way!! So I was busy "bookmarking" recipes and was getting so excited to try some of them out.

One that I couldn't wait to try was the Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches. I made them last night and they were sooooo good! And it's in a crock-pot... can't get any easier than that! I used Sweet Baby Ray's (the best BBQ sauce!) in the sweet and spicy. It was a perfect combination with the sweet crushed pineapple.

I served it with some basic pasta salad and it was an easy, easy meal.

I figured up the WW Points Plus value and for 6 servings, it came out to 8 points per serving. I am not 100% sure how accurate that is. It is really juicy, so a lot of points are still in the juice. So, I am thinking more of 6 points per serving. If you add a bun, that is about 5 points.

Enjoy!!

Storms!

If you live in the South, then you are fully aware of the AWFUL spring storms we have had recently. The tornadoes that killed all those in the Alabama area broke my heart. The devastation is beyond words. And then last night, just a little ways from where we are, in Joplin, MO, they had 1 single tornado come through and wipe out 75% of it's town. So far, 89 people have been killed. As I was watching the Weather Channel last night, one of the storm chasers that had followed the tornado was reporting on the damage that had just happened. Right in the middle of the interview he just broke down in tears. I, too, was crying at this point. You could truly see how bad this was. It ripped part of the hospital down. Flattened so many houses. There were people scrambling to find their neighbors. And really, we just had a glimpse into this awful nightmare that they are living.

We have been warned that we are under more severe storms until Thursday. I pray, pray that everything stays safe. Please pray for all of the families affected by this storm. I know they are transferring a lot of injured people to NWA hospitals. And they had to fully evacuate all of the patients at the hospital that got hit. It is unbelievable what can happen in an instant.

Brycen

Brycen is a hoot! I used to think he was going to be my laid-back child, but now I regress that thought. He is a spitfire. He lets you know when he is mad and he will tell you "No!" on just about everything!

I love him though! :)

I see me in him. I see Robert in him. He is strong-willed and that makes me proud. As much as it frustrates me, it still makes me proud.

He is saying so much these days! Here are some of his words: momma, dada, papa, nana, brookie, cookie, jude, spongebob (not kidding), more, drink, no, thank you, ball, banana, go, yay, uh-oh, and I know there are more. He is just talking away!

He is the pickiest eater ever. The child will eat tator tots at every meal if I would let him. He likes chicken strips too. That is usually our meal if we go out to eat. He will eat all fruit! Loves it. Hates vegetables, always has. Won't eat cheese. He loves yogurts and pudding. And sweets! Boy, does he love sweets! His favorite time of the day is when my dad comes home and runs and jumps in his lap to eat a snack with him. I try to feed him other foods, but he just ends up yelling "no!" and throwing the food across the room. Kid you not.

He gets in trouble for that one.

He loves to gives kisses when he wants to. He knows exactly where to go when I tell him it is time to take his medicine. He always tells everyone "Nigh-Nigh" before we go to bed. He still takes a passy at bedtime, but thats about it.

Oh, I love that boy so much! He is 17 months now. He weighs about 24 pounds. He wears a size 6 shoe and 12-18 months in clothes. Some 24 months. He loves to play ball and run around with his brother. Last night he was acting like he was counting on his fingers  (Like Thompson was) and then yelled "Go!" and ran around. So cute!!

WWW- Dessert Recipe!

Today is Weight Watchers Wednesday! I will not be able to weigh in til tomorrow, so that will have to be a separate post.

Today, I am sharing an awesome dessert recipe! I saw this on Paula Deen's website earlier this week. Most of the time, PD isn't known for her "low-fat" or "healthy" recipes, but her sons took one of her recipes and made it a lighter version. I made this last night for all the family and received really good reviews. I LOVED it. But I am a dessert person, so anything sweet is right up my alley!

Lighter Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups reduced-fat buttermilk baking mix
2/3 cup low-fat (1%) milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
4 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice
3/4 cup frozen light non-dairy whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray an 8-inch round cake pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom of the pan with wax paper. Spray the wax paper with nonstick spray.

Combine the baking mix, milk, 5 tablespoons of the sugar, and butter in a medium bowl just until blended. Scrape the batter into the pan. Scatter the almonds over top and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan. Carefully peel off and discard the wax paper. Cool the cake completely on the rack. 

Toss the strawberries, orange zest, juice, and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl. Let stand until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is syrupy, about 10 minutes. 

Split the cooled cake in half horizontally. Place the bottom layer onto a cake plate; spoon the strawberry mixture over top. Spoon the whipped topping over the strawberries. Place the remaining cake layer on top. Serve immediately. 

I did mine a little differently. I didn't know if we could eat the whole cake, so I just cut it into wedges and served it with the strawberries and cool whip on top. It was good, but her way would be great because it would allow all of the juices from the strawberries to soak in the cake. I also couldn't find low-fat baking mix, so I just used regular bisquick. We also cut ours into 16 servings. My calculated Points Plus serving is 3 points per serving. 

Here are her nutritional values for 1/8 of the cake with strawberries and toppings:

Per Serving: (1/8th of cake) 159 Cal; 3 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 4 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 21 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; 5 g Sugar; 54 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 353 mg Sodium; 12 mg Cholesterol

I am guessing ours would be around 100 calories for our portion.

This was so simple to make. Seriously! I hope you enjoy it, I know I am going to enjoy another leftover piece today! :)

 

A new direction...

So A LOT has been happening the past few weeks. Along with our trip to Arkansas, Robert and I have been making some major family decisions.

When he joined the Marines, we had a plan. He would stay in 4 years, get out, go to school, and then live a "normal" life. Well, as the time came for us to make that decision to get out or stay in... we decided we better stay. The economy has been awful, we were pregnant with Brycen, and I was a month away from finishing college. We weren't ready to get out. We needed that stability for atleast a few more years.

So...

With a little over 2 years left on this contract, we have decided we need to plan for our future. With that being said, we have decided to get out.

I have never been more proud of Robert than I have in the past 5 years. He has excelled as a Marine, father, and husband. But to make a long story short, Robert is tired of the Marine Corps. I know he loves being a Marine, but he doesn't love what they have become. I always tell him he was born in the wrong era. He is no-questions-asked kinda guy. And the M.C. is not what it used to be. It isn't even what it used to be when he joined in 2005.

This is a big decision for us. We have made the decision for the boys and I to move back and get settled (I get a job, get a house, boys in school, etc.). To think that we haven't agonized over it is an understatement. Robert doesn't want to be away from us (nor us from him), but we feel this is the best decision for us. Our main goal is to save for our future. We only get one chance coming out of the Marines and I don't want to ruin it. I feel that if we set ourselves up financially for the future, it will give us a great shot at transitioning back to the civilian life.

I am just being honest here and explaining our thoughts. I don't want people to get the wrong impression on anything. It is going to be hard. But, we are prepared for that. Just like the past 5.5 years of being together in the Marine Corps world, we will definitely make it through. :)

What's New???

Well besides this never-ending rain, we have had a pretty good couple of days!

Saturday, we went to Silver Dollar City. It sprinkled on and off all day, but overall we had a great time! Brycen was such a good boy. He sat so patiently with my mom while I took Thompson on the rides. We even got to see the Beaver Lake Dam flood gates open! So much water!!

{Thompson playing a game}

{Of course, he had to win the biggest prize!}

{The Dam}

{Jude Boy!}

{Jilian}

{Thompson and I}

... please don't judge our hair! Rain + thick, curly hair = AWFUL!

Sunday, we celebrated my Papa's 76th birthday! He is such a hard worker. He and my Granny are out working everyday!

{His Cake! It has his gravel truck on it}

{Papa & Granny}

At the party was our baby cousin, Lola! She is about 7 weeks younger than Brycen. And let me tell you... he was not very fond of this baby girl following him around! ha! He kept telling her "No!" and "Mine!" thinking she was going to steal his sippy cup. And we tried to get some pictures of the 2 kids with Granny and Brycen did not like her sitting up there with him. He tried to bite her!! Not kidding. And then after she got down and he was still up there, he let out this big laugh like he was proud he ran her off. I have already said it, but this little thing is going to be my troublemaker! He is a complete mess! :)

(Gran, Thompson, and Lola}

 {She's got her hands full with those two!}

{Proof! He tried to bite her.}

{Awww... I got my way so now it's better!}

Today we found out that Jeremy and Shanna are having a sweet baby boy! Poor Haili is outnumbered by all of these boys! Oh well, extra spoiling for her! ;)

I also went and got my nails done on Friday. I tried the new shellac that supposedly lasts 2-3 weeks. Well after tonight, I have defeated that! My whole index finger nail polish came off. It just pealed off. Hmmm.... Anyways, I am going tomorrow to make them redo it. When you pay extra for something, I would like it to last longer than 3 days!

I am thanking God that I am not weighing in this week. The past 2 days I felt like I have been STARVING!!! I have tried to limit my intake, but I feel like I just have been so hungry.

Other than that, we have been hanging out inside due to all the rainI am so thankful that the awful tornadoes didn't come near us last week. I have been praying so hard for those who have lost their loved ones and their homes from the storm!