Author: Laurie

Small Talker

Emotional Eater

Laurie5 Comments

It seems like everyone around me is trying to eat better. There’s the no sugar diet, Weight Watchers, or a point system of one kind or another.

Dude.

Don’t get me wrong I am so proud of my friends and the commitment that they’ve made. It’s just makes me pay more attention to what I put in my body. Talk about a drag. 😉

I’m not one to give up things I love all together ‘cuz I am an emotional eater and icing brings me great joy. However, I have found a couple things the past month that are good substitutions. Such as:

  • I’ve replaced Diet Cokes with 1 small can and water with a splash of cranberry juice.

  • I’ve replaced honey buns with one 100 Calorie Carrot cake snacks. They’re REALLY yummy.
  • I’ve started eating breakfast. Usually I’ll have grapefruit with a handful of blue berries, almonds and a banana. Easy.
  • If I have a craving I’ll grab a cheese stick or cut up some cucumbers and sprinkle with Italian dressing.

  • I’ll also grab another handful of blueberries and an apple around 2pm.

  • Normal lunch & dinner of course.

It’s not a diet. I wouldn’t have the will power to actually follow a diet. I don’t have that kind of self control. I self medicate with icing and baked goods and I kinda like that about myself. {{giggle}}

However, I’ve lost a little weight do to my surgery and people keep commenting about it. In the beginning it was something light like, “Oh that’s what you gotta do to loose weight.” To be honest, I don’t see the weight loss as a perk of 9 weeks of agony. I see it as a reminder.

I realize that I need to take better care of my body. Especially now that I’m so over-the-top grateful I have my life back. Loosing 3 months just sucks and I don’t want to go through that again. I also don’t want to loose my “reminder” and I feel that with a little more effort I can take better care of myself.

My sister said this to me this morning, “Craving something sweet means you’re wanting something sweet in life.” Touche ‘Lil Sis.

Family Cruise Director

The Zoo

Laurie1 Comment

We took the boys to the Zoo last week. They had their choice between the Flight Museum and the Zoo. To my surprise they chose the zoo. Who knew the boys were such animal enthusiasts?

It was such a great day but very crowded. Needless to say, the birds weren’t very hungry. It took quite a while for us to get 3 birds to cooperate and come eat the stick.

Drake loved being at the zoo and seeing all the animals. However, I think he enjoyed being with Daddy more. Thanks to Jason we were in and out in 2 hours flat. Usually it takes me 4 hours to get the boys through everything. Now I know the trick. 😉

Family Cruise Director · Party Planner

St. Patrick’s Day Party

Laurie3 Comments

If you don’t already know this about me, I’m a HUGE St. Patrick’s Day fan. Yep, that’s right. It’s one of the holidays that totally gets lost in the shuffle and I think it’s a major bummer.

The only problem is that Drake’s birthday is the 14th, so the 17th is a little quick to get the house and everything ready for another big party. However, this year nothing was going to stop my Green Day plans!

I invited the families that have really helped my family out the past several months. It was my way of saying “Thank You” for your sacrifices of watching Drake one day a week for 3 1/2 months and being an incredible friend.

I feel very blessed to have these women in my life and watching over me during such a traumatic time. {{hugs to them!}}

We started out the party with the Legend of St. Patrick’s Day and a fun story about Leprechauns. After the story each kiddo took a turn picking a puzzle piece and answering the question on the back. As each answer was given we made the picture the puzzle formed, a leprechaun.

We went ahead and split the groups into 2 and one played Green Bingo with me.

While the other group colored and made finger puppet Leprechauns and hinged Leprechauns.

Next up Green Day Memory! You can print it out from Executive Homemaker.

Drake was so excited to have another party at the house. He thought it was for him and asked me where his presents were. HA!

We ate green food and treats, played outside, read ‘Green Eggs & Ham’, and had a great time! The kids were having so much fun I had to send the Leprechaun foam craft home with them because we ran out of time.

It was my easiest St. Patty’s Day party to date. The older kids are at such a great age that they actively participated in all the fun. What a great day!

Family Cruise Director

Incredible Pizza

Laurie1 Comment

Jason started his Mandatory Unpaid Leave of Absence, MULA – or lack of Moola, today. His entire company gets this privilege and Jason decided to schedule his during spring break. Lucky us.

We’ve decided to get to know our city a little bit better and do things we normally wouldn’t do. Therefore it’s off to Incredible Pizza which is like a Chuck E. Cheese on steroids. We started out the afternoon with all-you-can-eat Pizza buffet.

The older boys raced gokarts – twice.

We went mini-bowling as a family.

Can you tell that Daddy planned this outing? This place was made for a family of all boys. No Doubt!

The older boys rode on the bumper cars while Drake and Dad hung out in the Tiny Town.

We went miniature golfing.

Played arcade games and had a blast. We ended our 5 hours with dinner at the all-you-can-eat Pizza buffet. I mean, we had to make sure we got our money’s worth, right! 😉

The boys are already asking when we can go back. I’m going to have to put a yearly limit on this one or we’ll go broke! Gotta love Spring Break.

Small Talker

Slumber Party

Laurie3 Comments

Lisa came into town for Drake’s birthday party and we had so much fun together! Because it was my dear friend Wendy’s anniversary I offered to watch her kiddos for the weekend.

It worked out perfectly being Drakes birthday. So we partied hard and had a great time.

The next morning, I decided to do something new to Emily’s hair. I mean, it’s the only time I get to pretend I actually have a daughter. 🙁

I showed her the hair blog and asked her to pick one. She picked out the Basket Weave hair style.

I was seriously SO excited about it! Finally, I would get to put my skills to use and create a darling never-before-seen hairstyle on cutie patootie Emily.

Dude. This one’s a doozy! As I was making all the little pony tails all I could think about was my poor friend having to take them out. I thought I was going to be in serious trouble.

Although how on earth could you be mad after seeing something so beautiful! (And of course she wasn’t. She LOVED it!)

6 suckers, who knows how long, or how many rubber bands later, she’s even more adorable that normal. If you can even imagine such a thing to be possible.

Add some ribbon and it’s absolutely fabulous! She’s such a darling girl. Thanks ‘lil Emmy.

After playing with Emily’s hair, Lisa and I took the older kids to the Skating Rink.

We reminisced about our days in Jr. High and our local rink.

In that moment I felt like life had come full “circle”. Get it? {{heehee}}

We had so much fun with these little cuties. Our first slumber party was a BLAST!

When Wendy came to pick up her kiddos she had the most wonderful surprise for me! We had gone shopping together a week or so ago and I really wanted this wool flower. Needless to say it was a bit pricey and I opted not to get it. Leave it to Wendy to buy it for me as thanks for watching her kiddos so she could celebrate her anniversary.

Wendy’s kids, Lisa in town, and a new flower for my hair equals a great weekend! Too bad it had to end.

Mother of Boys

All Aboard the Party Train!

Laurie5 Comments

My little spunky guy finally turned 3! He wanted a train birthday party this year and was all about his “Friday Birthday Party”.

I had forgotten how difficult it is planning a party with the birthday boy constantly around. He kept thinking that the day we went and ordered the cake was his birthday. Or the day we made his Thomas Train was his birthday. Or the day we bought the birthday supplies. Needless to say, it was a long week for the little engineer. 😉

Finally, Friday arrived and it was time to get dressed up and Par-Tay!

He was stoked!

He loved his train and even though it didn’t turn out like this one, it works for a 3 year old.

I made Drake his birthday banner inspired by this one that shows him growing up.

All the little engineers received hats, bandanna’s, and road sign suckers.

I a made ‘Pin the whistle on James’ game.

The kids loved it! Since they’re all still little, we used their hats to cover their eyes. It worked a lot better.

Next up, birthday bingo of course!! I made Thomas the Train bingo cards.

Grand Central Station was upstairs.

Where we had several trains set up for all the kiddos to play with.

I LOVE toys and having 3 boys I’ve gathered quite the train collection. Now they’ve come in handy.

It’s time to re-energize in the Fueling Station where we had pizza and cupcakes.

I was really pleased at how the Thomas cupcake cake turned out. Thanks to trusty ol’ Wal-mart. I’m all about one-stop-shopping these days.

It was such a fun party! Drake got lots of Disney Cars toys and loved everyone of his gifts. I think all the kiddos had a blast and it was so fun to see Drake really into it this year.

Mother of Boys

Dylan Has Braces!

Laurie5 Comments

I can’t believe it. My sweet Dylan is growing up and last week he got braces. He’s been anxiously awaiting them since last October. But had to wait an extra couple months due to my surgery. (It’s been brutal making him wait. Mean Mommy.)


Before


During


After

When we arrived at the ortho office, we noticed that there was a “Congratulations Dylan” sign. He guessed exactly how many Mardis Gras beads there were in the jar and won all kinds of gift cards, the 99 necklaces, and chocolate. {{squeal with delight}}

Afterwards I took him to buy new shoes and he treated Mom to Jamba Juice with one of his gift cards. We had a great date! He’s such a sweet little guy.

About Laurie

P.T. Pain & Torture

Laurie3 Comments

I’ve been meaning to do this post for a while now. I’ve been in physical therapy (pain & torture) 3 times a week for around 5 weeks and tomorrow will be my last session.

My doctor had told me that I would need to go to P.T. to strengthen my back and learn how to properly lift things after my surgery.

However, he did NOT tell me that it would be more like rehabilitation! My body was so week from 6 weeks of agony and non-use that my left leg even atrophied.

It was hard work getting my body back to normal. Candy, my physical therapist, put my body through the wringer and pushed me to my limit. (Which in reality isn’t very far. teehee)

I’ve felt like a weakling for too long and now my body is stronger and ready to be free of tri-weekly torture.

I’ll still do some of the exercises on my own to keep my back strong. I took all these pictures so I wouldn’t forget the moves. 😉

Now you know what I’ve been spending all my time doing. Absolutely nothing productive.

Monday’s I go to P.T. and am tired the rest of the day.
Tuesday I’m sore.
Wednesday I go to P.T. and am tired the rest of the day.
Thursday I am sore.
Friday I go to P.T. and am tired the rest of the day.
Saturday I am sore.
Sunday I go to church and sit on those terrible chairs, therefore I am sore the rest of the day.

I am NOT going to miss this schedule at all. I feel so free and excited to see what next week will bring. YAY!!

Family Cruise Director

My Own Bachelor Home Town Date

Laurie8 Comments

There’s lots of buzz about Jason The Bachelor, that dude is messed up! Which is such a shame because before the first ‘after the last rose’ ceremony he was my favorite. He got rid of all drama queens first, was well spoken, and seemed to have his priorities straight. I knew I was wrong about him when he let Jillian go. Dude.

Who else was so irritated when he said that he found his ‘best friend’ in Molly. Really!?

Anyway, moving on. My dad and his girlfriend flew in from Utah last weekend. So I participated in a ‘bachelor home town date’ of my own. Can I just say that my dad certainly has a ‘type’. My mom, his 2nd ex-wife, and his current girlfriend all look similar; light curly hair and fair skin. He’s officially typecast by moi. ha!

I really liked her and we had a good time. She’s not what I expected, she has 3 boys, but the biggest thing is that she doesn’t seem to be hiding anything. She seems comfortable with who she is, her past, and wasn’t out to overly impress me. I appreciated that about her.

To make the event even more entertaining, Lisa and I decided to play a game and battle it out. Ready?

Who Knows Dad’s Girlfriend the Best? by Lisa & Laurie

I’ve decided not to post the questions because that would infringe on her privacy as a non-blogger.


Lisa talking smack, “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THIS’. {{whatever – bring it on!}}

The Results: A Tie. We both got 9 out of 15 questions right. We had a tie breaker question and Lisa got it right. So officially Lisa’s the winner.

Our home town date was not as crazy as the Bachelors’, no dead doves or crazy hats. Thank heaven. So dad’s girlfriend leaves with a rose from me. Best wishes to them both.

Mother of Boys

Repairing the Damage

Laurie7 Comments

One of the {{many}} problems with being out of commission for 3 months is that things and relationships aren’t maintained and kept in good condition. I had anticipated this problem and once I was able to resume a daily schedule; repairing my relationship with my youngest son would be a priority.

He has always been a Daddy’s boy and my “bed rest” so to speak was like a vacation to him. He got dad all to himself and he loved every minute of it.

One of Drake’s favorite things is going to the park and the playground. Don’t confuse the two, he will correct you! A park is outdoors and the playground indoors like McDonalds. 😉

So when it’s our turn for play dates, we pack ’em up and head on over to play. We’ve been going about 3 times a week. It’s done a number on my back but it’s really helped Drake’s attitude and our relationship.

Play dates are my life and right now everything revolves around them and my physical therapy. I’m enjoying the simplicy of life right now.


Before

Another thing that needed to be repaired was my house. Holly crap it was dirty! I’ve had some help getting it organized, so the last thing was my closet, the carpets, and touching up the paint on the walls.


After

I outsourced the carpets, covered all the food & finger prints with paint, and tackled my closet. Whew! Jason’s been out of town several times so it’s been a long couple weeks. However, he’s now home, my house is back to how I like it, and Drake and I have reconnected.

Life is good. {{relief}}