Wordless Wednesday: Flowers for My Mom

I took these pictures on our last trip to Lakeside Nature Center in Kansas City, Missouri in Swope Park. They are for my mom, who loves flowers and works at a florist. They are beautiful like she is!

Kitchen Remodeling PROGRESS!

Okay, so we did this like 2 weeks ago, but it still counts for Tackle-It Tuesday cuz it's MY BLOG, kay? Sorry, I'm a little surly since my laptop broke AGAIN after hubs brought it back from the watered dead. Moving on ...

I did this wall! Spackled it all by my lonesome! Aron made a nice apple pie for Samuel since it was his birthday.

No, Dad and Mom, REALLY ... I was doing it! See!

Gratuitous pose: me with spackled wall. A classic.

HappyElfMom: this is very slow progress. Aron got it mostly sanded and some spots re-spackled. Then he took off to help his brother finish building his house. We could have paint on these walls within a couple of weeks, barring a too-full calendar or Aron having to work buttloads of overtime. Wish us luck!

The Arrival of the Moshi Monster Stash

On a day in the not-so-distant past, Miss Kristin called to let us know the drop had been made, the eagle had landed. In Moshi terms, this means the had received a new shipment of Moshi Monster goods from wherever it is she gets them from. From her dealer, let's just say. I believe he lives in the UK, where dealers live. MM dealers, that is.

Here is the ceremonial  opening of the box. The kids get to help her and they in return receive something cool like a figure of their choice or a pack of cards. It is slave labor and it rocks.

Miss Kristin paws through the goods to make sure all is there.

Time to open all the figure packs and separate them into piles.

Time to get organized now. Miss Kristin has to know what to offer on her eBay site. Buy from her; she is one of the only dealers in the US of this rockin' stuff.

Yes, my son Sam has on sparkly pink flip flops. Wanna make somethin' of it?

Have a great week!

Lose Weight by Planning Ahead

Some of you have asked how I am losing weight and am sticking with it after 5 weeks. Don't be fooled: I struggle just like you do. I have good days when it's easy to eat fruit and veggies all day long and stay within my 26 points. Then I have days when we buy a 5-pound bag of chocolate melts to make chocolate pumpkins for homeschool parties and I end up pigging in so many that I feel sick.

But when I plan ahead, it makes life a lot easier.

Like on Wednesdays we go to a church/gym/coffeehouse with a homeschool group. I love to eat and drink calorie-laden things in social settings and have had to reset my thinking with my group. So the other day I had just received these Rubbermaid Lunch Blox from a giveaway I won (yes, folks, I also enter giveaways and I win quite often so keep entering mine!). I filled the bottom big block with cut-up apples. The longer top piece I put in carrots, then in the tiny piece I put fat-free sour cream mixed with dry Ranch dressing. (the bottom in a piece you can put in the freezer to keep your lunch cold ... this is a cool product). Lunch Blox are like Legos for your lunch!

Before I went I picked up a Starbucks iced skinny mocha. I get the big size (venti) and it's skim milk and sugar-free syrup so I'm getting some dairy and it's about 3 points. It keeps me away from the 10-point-plus coffees I used to drink. I planned ahead to get that because it's my weekly treat. I think I had a SmartOnes for lunch just because it was quick and easy and I knew it was 7 points exactly. I also always take water everywhere with me.

And so the kids aren't pilfering my food all the time, I pack plenty. I overpack on apples and carrots because I WANT them to want my food, to eat healthy. I also pack their own stuff like juice pouches and granola bars.

When I know we have to be somewhere "early" (10 a.m. for us!!!), I make sure I have a 5-point double chocolate protein meal bar ready to roll and make myself a fried egg. I try to always have lots of fruit in the house that I like to eat (the kids will eat any fruit!) and fat-free yogurt and some Weight Watchers treats like my toasted coconut bars (2 points each).

As for those chocolate melts ... well, I put them out of sight and have not had a problem. Having to track everything that goes into my mouth also puts me off digging into them.

My ultimate goal is to be a Weight Watchers leader someday ... haha! I'll need something to do with my time when the kids are out of the house. Did you know that when you reach  your ultimate weight loss goal with WW that you can attend meetings for FREE for life as long as you stay within 5 pounds of your ideal weight goal?

Gotta go. I'm starting to sound like a freaking ad for Weight Watchers. However you lose weight or get healthy is wonderful!

PaperMate Inkjoy 700 RT 1.0 M Review

I have a new favorite pen. As we all know, I am a pen addict. In fact, one of my other favorite pens is also a PaperMate and that love affair post can be found here (it's also a post about my drugstore shopping addiction).

I love this pen. It's not too heavy and not too light. It's white, silver and gray, which is so cool. It's a click pen, which I dig. I can clip it to my shirt. It just ... flows, if you know what I mean.

The other day a homeschool kid named Indy who is 11 years old and an aspiring writer caught sight of these pens in my backpack side pouch. She thought they were so pretty and wanted to know if she could have one. I'm stingy with my pens and told her I was reviewing them. She asked if she could have one after I was done reviewing them. I said sure. At the time I figured the pens were expensive and I would have to save up to buy more. But I was wrong!

You can get these pens all over the place. I'll probably head to WalMart and pick up a box of 12 for $18.97. I have the version shown above, but they also come in a gorgeous black.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.