Happy Birthday Rebecca

Our sweet girl Rebecca is 7 today. It is hard to believe. Sometimes she acts like she's five, and other times, she says things that a 12-year-old might say. Whew...I hope I am ready by the time she hits those double digits (I'm sure I won't be!)

We actually started celebrating last Saturday when we met up with my sister and her family for lunch. My sister gave Rebecca a pair of pink cowgirl boots...which she's always wanted, but Mom wasn't going to spend the money on something like that. My sister is also Rebecca's godmother, and feels it is her right to spoil her god-daughter (which is fine by me!).

Here's a shot of Rebecca in her boots, pink bandana, and pink cowgirl hat (had to be color-coordinated you know).

And here's a close-up of those boots (Christina is already asking when she can wear them. She is only about 1 1/2 shoe sizes behind Rebecca, so it could be any day now). Aren't they somethin'?

David saw a large electric keyboard at Kohl's last month, so he bought it for Rebecca's birthday, and we'd stashed it away until today. She has expressed an interest in piano lessons, so I figured this would be a good way to try it out...without spending any major bucks just yet. The first thing we taught her was how to turn the volume down, especially after she started singing, "I am the rocking girl..." to the tune of Frosty the Snowman. I don't think she'll be getting a recording contract any time soon.

Whenever our kids have a birthday, they can request their favorite meal for dinner--Rebecca decided to have Chicken Quesadillas. Then she looked through one of my baking cookbooks and picked a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting for dessert. I made the cake yesterday and frosted it today. (You can find the recipe in The Cake Mix Doctor. I can't post the recipe b/c I didn't alter it at all except for baking it in a bundt pan). It turned out pretty well.

Christina wanted to help blow out the candles, and Rebecca told her in no uncertain terms that she did NOT need any help ;-). Lord have mercy!

All in all, it was a fun day for her, and she went to bed happy. A part of me wants to hid the keyboard, but I'll just have to keep turning it down or walk around the house with earplugs in my ears :-).

Gem of the Week

A dear friend shared this with me after Mass today (thank you Katie :-).

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD,

plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Pinewood Derby

(I was having trouble with my laptop yesterday, and didn't get this post up like I wanted to. The darn piece of technology has decided to cooperate with me today.)

Every year right after Christmas, David and Joshua get to work right after on the Pinewood Derby car. For those of you who are not Scout savvy, most Cub Scout Packs have Pinewood Derby every year. Basically, it's a race with wooden cars. All the boys get an official Pinewood Derby car kit that includes a block of wood, 4 wheels, and 2 axles. The wood is cut, sanded and painted to look anyway you'd like. The wheels are sprinkled with powdered graphite to make it run as fast as possible on a long wooden track. Sometimes lead weighs are strategically placed in the underside to make it go faster, but the overall weight of the car cannot exceed 5 ounces.

The biggest decision to make is the design. Joshua is a Pokemon freak, so he had a Pokeball on his car (as did last year's car). The "boys" spend a good number of hours out in the garage working on the car. Not to be outdone, David helped Rebecca make one too. Siblings are allowed to race a car, but they're not awarded any trophies.

The race was this past Sunday at a neighborhood clubhouse. We had a lot of great looking cars this year; there were several hot rods, a batmobile, a police car, a transformer car, a tank, and a speed racer. Check 'em out!

I'd been telling Joshua all week not to count on winning this year. Last year, he won first place in his rank (Wolf), so his expectations were running pretty high. I prayed my little pep talk about being a good sport was working, because he was so excited, he could hardly sleep the night before.
This year, the Derby got off to a slow start. The whole race is run by computer software and so are the timers. Well, the grownups couldn't get the software to run properly, and David had to make a run to Walmart to by stopwatches. Thankfully, the finish line clock was running fine, otherwise the times would have been calculated manually as well. But finally, the heats got started, and I got plenty of great pictures.

At one point, Gabriel found himself surrounded by some female admirers...he didn't seem to mind :-)

The girls positioned themselves at the finish line to watch the fun...Christina certainly looks like she's having fun, doesn't she?

The races start with the youngest Scouts (Tigers) and they work their way up through all the ranks. Here's a shot of Joshua placing his car on the track.

READY...SET...

GO!!!

We could tell right away after the first heat that Joshua's car was doing very well. It was SMOKIN' ...he was a good car's length ahead of the rest of the cars. I knew this meant we'd be staying the rest of the afternoon to see how he'd place in his rank and overall.

After the rank placements were announced (Joshua won first place in the Bear's rank!), the last heats were run for the Grand Champion. David hurried outside to brush more graphite on the wheels of Joshua's car (this is the only time you're allowed to do maintenance on your car unless you have a major repair to fix).

BTW, I think David looks awesome in his Scout uniform (he's on the left). Did I mention he's an Eagle Scout (and both of his brothers are too?) No wonder his whole family is Boy Scout crazy...

Everyone held their breath while David and 2 other Den Leaders calculated the times.

Lo and behold, Joshua's Pokemon car came in FIRST! YEAH!!!

Here's a picture of Joshua getting his trophies :-) He got one for first place in the Bear Rank, and one for Grand Champion (first place overall).

Once we got home, like any proud Momma, I had to take a couple more pics. Joshua didn't have quite enough hands, but he refused to let me hold his winning car :-). He sure had his ego stoked that day, lol!

Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day. Poor Gabriel missed his nap completely, but he was a trooper and really didn't fuss at all. I wanted to make something special for dinner to celebrate Joshua's win, but I was just beat. David saved the day by stopping at the store and buying some ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

I gave Joshua a big hug before he went to bed. I asked him if he was happy, and he said yes. He also told me he'd somehow have to make room on the shelf for his 2 new trophies :-).

My 100th Post

Wow. My 100th post. I'm amazed I've gotten to this point, and I haven't even been blogging for a year (my blog anniversary isn't until May). Honestly, I didn't think there was much for me to "talk" about. If it weren't for my friend Katie, I wouldn't have started this and end up mildly addicted to the laptop. But here I am, with a personal blog, AND a cooking blog. And I really don't have time for either one; I stay up WAY too late some nights working on a post.

But I have to admit, I love it. I love checking back to see who's been reading and commenting. I especially love to read my friend's blogs, and comment on them. Way back in the day, I kept a diary, but stopped not long after David and I got engaged. I was just too busy. Blogging is so much more fun...you can import pics, music, gadgets, widgets, etc. It's so much easier to share more about yourself on a blog, and essentially get it all on one page. I've learned so much more about using a computer too---how to save and download pictures, label my posts (on my cooking blog), highlight something to link it to another site, share videos of my kids...it's just plain fun.

Do I aspire to have hundreds of readers of my blog? No way. I'd go nuts trying to keep up...and I am certainly not famous enough to host any contests or give away any prizes. I just want to remain me...a Texas girl with a Georgia heart, mom to 4 of the cutest kids on the planet, wife to 1 completely wonderful husband, and most of all, a person who strives to be more like Christ every day ('cause I feel like I have a LONG way to go). I am perfectly happy to share a moment or two with the rest of the world, and hopefully, it's worth reading.

Gem of the Week

I am still in awe of the US Airways plane that made a miraculous landing in the Hudson River on Thursday. So I chose this quote about miracles to share.

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle

is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

~Helen Keller~

What If That Happened to Us?

I couldn't help but believe in miracles yesterday when I saw the news reports about the US Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River in New York. I mean...that pilot...as far as I'm concerned, is a HERO. If either one of the wings had touched the water (before the underside), the plane would have been torn apart, and the outcome would have been much worst for the passengers. But Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III guided his crippled plane squarely in the middle of the Hudson, without hitting any boats in the water, and without serious injuries to any of the passengers, save one (who had 2 broken legs). Passengers and witnesses decribed the scene as intitially chaotic, but then calm, as women and children were allowed to leave the plane first. How can anyone not believe that God and a legion of angels guided that plane safely down? The pilot had to made a split-second decision, and no doubt, it was the right one.

I've wondered what I'd do in a situation like that. In fact, I wonder about that every time I get on an airplane. We actually flew to New York last January to visit Gabrie's godmother, and I remember not really paying attention to the flight attendents when there were reviewing the safety procedures. I do remember saying a decade of the rosary during take-off and landing. I'm not scared of flying, because I've been on planes many times, but I know it can't hurt to cover the plane, the pilot, and the crew in prayers. And if we had been on that plane yesterday, I would have been really, really scared. I would not have wanted to deplane without David. He is calm no matter what, and I would have needed his reassurance that everything would be okay. But I know when you are in a life-and-death situation, keeping a level head and remaining calm are the most important things if you want to stay alive.

I usually never watch the news on TV, but I did turn it on yesterday to watch some of the news footage. The kids came home from school, and they were really in awe. They didn't realize a plane could land in water, and I was quick to tell them why the pilot made that decision. Rebecca told me she though God must have helped that pilot land, and she was glad nobody got hurt. I said it really was a miracle, and Rebecca agreed.

I am sure today is a day all the passengers on Flight 1549 are thankful to be alive. I know I would be.

Nothing But Torture

One of my friends send me a flyer via email, that our local Chick-fil-A is giving away a free breakfast sandwich or chicken minis every Thursday in January.

Normally, I would be rejoicing. I would have jumped up and down, and sang the praises of deep-fried chicken. I LOVE Chick-fil-A.

And then...I remembered. I'm counting points. Now reality is sinking in, especially after I checked Chick-fil-A's website and looked up the nutritional content of the chicken breakfast sandwich (5 points), and the chicken minis (6 points).

If I ate either one of those for breakfast, I would only have about 16 points for the rest of the day. And let me tell you...it's really not a whole lot. I usually try to save my "flex" points for most of the week, because something usually comes up (for example...we're going to a friend's house for dinner Friday night, and I want to eat whatever I want).

Honestly, I don't have to lose weight. But I have to at least stay on track, and be supportive of David, which is why we've been eating really healthy meals since the year started.

Sigh...

I want to go!!! Now I sound like a whinny kid....

Where is my willpower? I need to find the patron saint of dieting...is there one?

This Past Week

Counting points with Weight Watchers (as far as I am concerned) is no fun. I am craving chocolate and Cheetos so bad...it's not even funny. Funny how you crave the foods that aren't good for you when you're trying to be "good" and lose weight.

But...I've lost 5 pounds. David's lost 7. So it is working. I went out for Chinese Friday night. I had saved up my "flex" points for 3 days so I could eat 4 spring rolls and a bowl of tofu and veggies with brown rice (although I only ate a few bites of the rice). I will say that was the most enjoyable meal I'd had in a week.

I've started reading at night after the kids are in bed. It keeps me out of the fridge and pantry (snacking at night was a bad habit of mine). I'm in a group of ladies who are starting this book called The Love Dare. It's based on the movie "Fireproof" starring Kirk Cameron.

So far, I'm intrigued by the book. I've read the first few pages, but I will officially start to take on the "dares" tomorrow. Day 1-- you cannot say anything negative to your spouse. Day 2--in addition to not saying anything to your spouse, you have to do one unexpected act of kindness for him/her. Day 3--in addition to not saying anything negative to your spouse, you have to call him/her at work, just to ask how their day is going. There's a place for every day to write down your thoughts too. Hmm...I think this is going to be fun...and challenging. After a week, I'll try to let y'all know how I'm doing :-)

Gem of the Week

I saw this on a church's marque when I was out and about last week, and though it fitting to start out the new year.

Opps...those are mine!

Rebecca was putting away her clothes and getting an outfit ready for school earlier this evening. Somehow, a pair of my underwear got into her pile of clean laundry and she found them in her stack.

REBECCA: "Mommy, who's is this? It's not mine!"

ME: (gulping nervously) "Oh, I'm sorry honey, those are mine."

(please don't say anything...)

REBECCA: "Wow Mommy, these are really small!"

This daughter is now my favorite, favorite child. I just LOVE her.

(But I know you won't tell her I said so.)

I Get How Many?

David came home today with a printout from Weight Watchers. Apparently WW has revamped the points system, and he was calculating how many points he gets per day.

So we sit down to eat dinner, and he figures things out. We both get 35 "flex" points per week, he gets 36 per day, and I get 21 per day.

WHAT?

SERIOUSLY?

How unfair is that? (and yes, my husband was rubbing it in!)

Too bad I am not nursing Gabriel anymore (you get more points if you are). You also get more points if you exercise. Sigh...

Excuse me while I go dust off the treadmill...and get a piece of chocolate.

Happy New Year

Last night, our friends Jeff and Lara came over for dinner and an inpromptu New Year's Eve game night. They don't have any kids, so they are free to come over and hang out with us. After the kids went to bed, we stayed up late playing games until 2AM. I really need to get my sleep clock back on track before school starts again, or I am going to be one cranky momma!

Jeff brought a game we'd never played before "Around the World in 80 Days." It was fun... I actually won (thanks to Jeff coaching me). It involved a lot of strategy, and after one game, we all decided to play something lighter. So Jeff taught us a new game called "BANG!" Without going into too many details, you are a deputy, sheriff, outlaw or renegade. We played twice, and I was the renegade both times :-( Your goal is to stay alive as long as possible, and since I am not the most strategic of players, I was killed off rather expediently in the first game. Bummer! I stayed alive until the bitter end in the second game, but David was the sheriff. I told him I loved him, but he killed me anyway. Darn!

Then I cajoled everyone into playing dominoes, which I love, but I got the worst hands ever! Jeff is very good at Mexican train and he creamed me. I consumed one margarita and one glass of champagne over the course of the evening...maybe I should have had more to drink. It might have eased the pain of losing by over 150 points!

So...my new year's resolutions?

1. To not yell at the kids when I need them, and have them come find me if they need me. Otherwise, we are yelling at each other across the house. I was doing pretty good until Hurricane Ike, and then it kinda fell by the wayside. Also to crack down on the discipline just a bit. David and I have both noticed it takes 3-4 times of us telling the kids to do something before they do the requested task. So we're going to make sure we are consistent with our consequences instead of repeated ourselves over and over again.

2. To eat really healthy for the next month. I got on the scale this morning for the first time in 2 months, and breathed a sigh of relief...I didn't gain as much as I thought (whew!). So check out my cooking blog, http://kims-concoctions.blogspot.com/, because I'll be posting some lighter meals! But I think we're going to go out for Mexican food tonight. My "diet" doesn't officially start until tomorrow, lol.

3. To spend 1 hour in Eucharistic Adoration a week. This is actually one of my Regnum Christi resolutions, and I have not been good at keeping it. I know Jesus is waiting for me to spend more time with Him.

Anyone else have resolutions for this year?