FTF

1. Jillian's 30 Day Shred - I found this on my Time Warner Cable Exercise on Demand channel (Ch 221 here) and have done it 6 days in a row now. It is the perfect workout for us very busy mom's - only 20 minutes! And in that 20 minutes you will be dripping sweat and aching from every muscle in your body. Jillian doesn't mess around, there is "no resting", no walk-it-out, or counting each rep, you simply workout hard using every muscle in your body for 20 minutes straight. Each set is only 30 seconds or 1 minutes long and you alternate between cardio, strength moves, and abs. There is even a short warm-up and cool down included in that 20 minutes. Beware that your body WILL be sore all over and you might feel like falling over or quitting at some point but to get that good of a workout in 20 minutes you just can't beat it. I've made a rule for myself that I must do the workout before I can sit down and watch my evening TV shows. Even as busy as I am there's no "I don't have time excuse". It is by no means an easy workout but for anyone looking for a fast, efficient workout this is it. She evens says you can lose up to 5 lbs per week. If you don't have Time Warner the DVD should be easy to find at your favorite store or online for under $15.

FTF

Three of my favorite things Cali has said recently...

1. "Daddy! Mommy is being so nice to me!" As we were scrapbooking together and I was giving her a couple unwanted 12x12 papers from my stash.

2. "Mommy you're amazing! You can find anything!" After finding a mitten she was looking for in the floorboard of the car.

3. "Mommy thank you for this delicious salad!" After she had repeatedly complained that she did not like salad, did not want salad, etc., etc. as she watched me make it.

ETA

4. "Mom, you're such a good killer!" After smashing a big wolf spider with Diego's flip flop this morning.

FTF

1. Date Night. I missed last weeks FTF because we were out celebrating Dave's birthday with dinner and a movie. I made sure the kids were good and tired, put them to bed at 7 sharp and left them with our dear friend Dana for the night. There's just something about eating an entire meal in peace that you just don't appreciate until you have a few kids. If you ever go to Texas Roadhouse order the Jamaican Cowboy and if you're thinking about the movies, Push was pretty good even though Dave caught me snoring for a minute or two. The movie certainly wasn't boring, its just a bad habit of mine. I've fallen asleep at many a movie.

2. D in his "Nundies". These happen to be his favorite pair, he insists it is a "bat" no matter how many times I tell him its a pterodactyl. Even though we have to watch him like a hawk so he doesn't have an accident, I just think they're so cute on his little tush.

3. Moments like this (and catching them on camera!) They found some new books I meant to hide away for Valentine's Day. Oh well.


4. Choco's Ice Cream BonBons - 100% Natural, "Premium bite-size Ice Cream Treats with a cookie base dipped in Rich Chocolate", only 60 calories each. These are so delicious and satisfying I only ever eat one. We have the Mint ones which oddly enough don't show up on the website but we bought them at Sam's Club. Try them!!

FTF

1. Scrapbooking - It's a creative outlet and feels productive at the same time. I have the freedom to highlight my photos and memories however I choose. No two pages are anywhere near the same. It's doing something for myself and for my family at the same time. I have the fun of creating the pages; they have the enjoyment of looking at them and reflecting on our memories. Both kids already at 3 and almost-2 enjoy looking through the scrapbooks, seeing pictures of themselves and remembering the fun things we've done. Especially in the military life I love having the memories of things we've done together, the places we've traveled, the places we've lived, friends that come and go, and especially documenting the kids' lives when Daddy isn't always here to see it first-hand.



2. Winter in Texas - I am getting so spoiled living down South. Growing up in Alaska I know what winter CAN be. Winter in Texas reminds me of summer in Alaska. On the "cold" days in Texas it reminds me of fall in Alaska. Now it does truly get cold here in Texas, it can be damp and windy and below freezing on occasion. The key is it isn't very often and it doesn't last very long. You may have to wear a jacket & choose to stay inside on Monday but by Friday you can wear a T-shirt and go to the park. Being an outdoorsy girl I really love that you can easily spend time outside year-round here. And yes it does get VERY hot in summer but its not so bad if you're not pregnant and besides that's why they invented A/C, ceiling fans, spray parks, sprinklers, kiddie pools, and popsicles!

3. Cali Napping - This has become a rare occurrence but when it happens it is so wonderfully quiet in here. Ahhhh! This girl does not like to sleep and its been months since she stopped taking her daily nap. She still goes in her room, we read a story (or three), she gets in bed, I sing to her and walk out. Five minutes later I hear her rustling around, rummaging through books, sorting through baby doll paraphernalia. In the beginning I'd go in there every few minutes and tell her to get in bed, to leave her toys alone, to only take one book to bed. I realized I couldn't' force her to fall asleep and I was only driving myself crazy going back in there every 5 minutes. Now I just expect her to stay quiet and stay in her room. She does come out though... she can't find her baby's shoe, she wants to put a dress on, her feet are cold, she's thirsty, she has to potty... you name it she'll think of an excuse. It's not so bad though because I know that the trade-off for her not taking a nap is that she will be fast asleep by 7:15. On a day like today where she is still sleeping soundly at 3:35 she will be wide awake until at least 9:30 saying... I'm not sleepy, my hands are cold, I want different music, I'm sad Daddy's not home, I need lotion on my cheeks... But I tolerate it because I understand her. I never liked to go to bed early either, and to this day am very much a night owl. It's hard to be frustrated when I know exactly where she gets it from.

FTF

Time for a few of my "Favorite Things" ...

1. Clif Kids Twisted Fruit Ropes - I stumbled on these at Wal-Mart the other day. They have an incredible amount of vitamins, only 9g sugar, no artificial sweetners, colors, or preservatives and are made with USDA Organic fruit. The kids both agree they taste like candy. If you're interested stock up at Amazon.com - get the 24 ct. box and subscribe to have it sent as you need it for only $13.82. That comes out to about $0.57 per snack.


2. Wii Fit - We invested in this "game" last weekend and I've used it every day since. There is such a variety of exercises, yoga poses, aerobics, and balance games it'd be hard to get bored. You also do a body test every day which keeps track of your weight & BMI and charts your progress. I'm happy to report that my chart shows a steady down-trend. Its so much fun I usually do up to 45 minutes at a time and still don't want to quit. I ended up with every muscle in my body being sore too.


3. Special K2O Protein Water - If you've ever been on a diet/exercise plan and ended up hungry try this out. Just mix it in your water bottle and get 5g protein and 5g fiber, which will help you feel full longer. It also has a nice sweet flavor to help out your sweet tooth.

Favorite Things Friday

Please go visit my friend Tiffany at The Boren Life to see her great blog. She's the one behind this idea!

YOUTUBE for the Kids
If I try to sneak into the office during the day the kids usually find me at which point they now start asking for "movies". Even Diego since that is one of his favorite words (along with Candy "nan-deee", Juice "juuuu", Snack "sna!", and Mickey Mouse which sounds something like "ma-moot"). Anyway here are three of our faves.

Pigloo - Papa Pinguin (French Version)
Careful this one tends to get stuck in your head for days!

The Elephant Song by Eric Herman
MY favorite because I do like Elephants

And last but not least this cute ABC Song. Hope you and/or your kiddos like them too.

Favorite Things Friday

My fabulous friend Tiffany started this fun weekly post and I thought I'd join in. Click the icon above to visit her wonderful blog.

1. Keeping up & Catching up with old friends - Between the blogs, Facebook, Myspace, etc. its so easy these days to keep up and catch up with old friends. As a military family its so nice to have these connections when we all have to eventually move on to the next adventure. Oh and I should mention making new friends and keeping up with them is just as fun!

2. January in Texas - I spent many, many, many a winter day way up north in Fairbanks, Alaska. Trust me I KNOW winter so when its 80 and sunny in January I savor every minute of it. I think of my parents and my many friends North of here and I try to enjoy the sunshine for you too.

3. The Cleaning Fairy - If only she really existed my life would be all set. There's so many things I'd rather do than clean. Actually I'd rather create a mess than clean one up. Sometimes when I'm really lucky Dave cleans up after me as I cook or folds laundry, unloads the dishwasher, does the dishes, even cleans off the counters, sweeps and vaccuums. Actually he does those things most of the time when he is home and it makes me so happy! When I've spent so many months doing it all by myself I sure appreciate every little bit of extra help.