I don't sleep, I dream

Ah-ha

Kari Allen — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:51:45 GMT

Too funny not to share -

Fri/Sat/Sun recap

Kari Allen — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:13:36 GMT

Friday morning was spent making phone calls for appointments, running errands (Goodwill, Home Goods Store, Joann Fabrics). R was home from work for a Dr. appt. so we took advantage of both kids being in school and went to lunch at Chili's had to stop for gas on the way. Lunch was yummy and relaxing. Made a quick stop into Pier 1 before heading to preschool.

We picked up Imac from school, came home and R went to get his haircut and go to the Dr. I picked up GA, came home, had snack, then got ready for our Daisy Scout Meeting. There are 11 girls in the troop and we all had a blast. We will be meeting weekly. Our meeting ended and we headed home to start dinner (got home at 5:15) Gnocchi with Vodka sauce, salad and garlic bread (green beans for the girls).

Played, did the night routine for the kids, wasted time on the computer, caught up on a few shows, went to bed.

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Saturday.

Up around 8:30am - the girls let us sleep in! Yay!

GA showed us that she can now reach the top shelf in the refrigerator to get the milk. She then poured her cereal into a bowl and then poured the milk on. Wow! Imac wanted the same breakfast, so that was easy.

R spends the morning washing the new car. Girls are inside playing. I'm cleaning. We eat lunch and then the neighbor's granddaughter comes over to see if the girls can play. Of course the girls are thrilled to have a playmate. It's such a gorgeous day, they play with the sidewalk chalk, spraying each other with the water hose, ride bikes/scooters, play tag, etc.... I sit outside with them and try reading. R heads to the pet store to pick up bedding for the guinea pig. He gets home, I trade with him and go inside and he sits out with the kids. After about an hour and a half they get bored with each other and decided to go inside. I give the girls a quick shower to clean all of the mud and chalk off and sit down to watch some football.

Kids play quietly, decide to watch a movie on the computer. R takes a nap. I'm getting ready for the FSU v. Miami game at 3:30. Watch the game, pause to eat dinner - chicken tortilla soup with fritos - then back to the game. It's a close one but FSU wins in the end!

Time to get the kids ready for bed.

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Sunday.

R heads out for the day at 8:30. Imac is still sleeping. GA is up and has been playing quietly in her room. I make them breakfast and then check my email, blogs, etc.... Make a grocery list. Girls want to make an "aquarium" so we get that set up and play for an hour or more.

Change sheets on girls beds.

GA wants Arby's for lunch so we head out to pick that up and bring it home to eat. I'm feeling tired and a little headachy. Talk to R on the phone to see when he'll be home. Still have to go to the grocery store. R gets home around 3pm. Imac goes to her room and falls asleep. GA, R and I cuddle on our bed for a while. I head out to the grocery store. It starts pouring down rain. Get to Publix, run inside, shop. Home around 4:30. Start thinking about dinner, watch a little of the Bucs game, make Pizza burgers on the grill.

Spend about an hour doing online banking. Make a phone call to my co-worker & prepare for class Monday night.

Look at GA's take home folder, sign the box, pack her towel in her back pack for rest time, make both girls' lunches for Monday. Spend some time with R after girls are in bed.

Today was an emotional day.

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Now I have to work on getting all of this together. Can't wait!

Thursday, Thursday

Kari Allen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:24:54 GMT

Woke up feeling refreshed! Yay!

GA up on her own and happy. Breakfast - frosted mini wheats again. As she's eating we wake up Imac.

Imac eats the same thing as her sister.

GA gets dressed - navy jumper and burgandy shirt, white socks, black shoes. Leave the house at 7:43.

Come home. I decide to make cranberry-orange muffins. Imac helps. Get the coffee started while the muffins are baking.

Debbie comes to the house at 9:15am to discuss our Daisy Troop - first meeting is tomorrow! We talk and figure things out for about an hour.

After our meeting, Imac and I head out to Michael's arts and crafts store. GA has decided she wants to be Word Girl for Halloween so I'm searching for some items to use on her costume. Need to head to Joann Fabrics tomorrow to see what my fabric options are for a cape. Imac is TERRIFIED of the Halloween display they have in Michael's. I guess Halloween will be interesting this year!

Home for lunch - frozen pizza, apple slices

Sort laundry, get ready to pick up GA from school.

Get home from pickup. Snack time - apple parfait for GA, fruit snack for Imac. I didn't forget the bottled water for our walk home today so GA was in a much better mood. She and the neighbor boy from down the street basically rant the entire way home.

Imac complains that her tummy hurts and she wants to lay down. She falls asleep and naps until 4:15pm. GA and I make her pumpkin craft together then she colors and plays a game on the computer while I do some reading.

R home at 5:30pm. Dinner is Breakfast - scrambled eggs with cheese, southern-style biscuits, bacon. I cooked the bacon in the oven for the first time and I really like how it turned out. Much less mess, very little shrinkage and crispy. R cleans up the kitchen after dinner. Girls play, clean up their rooms, get ready for a bubble bath.

Bubble bath, vitamins, brush teeth, stories, lights out.

Time to veg..............................

More of the same...

Kari Allen — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:47:30 GMT

Wednesday.

Morning routine much the same as Monday as both girls go to school.

I struggled to wake up this morning, not sure why. Both girls had a happy wake up time which was great because my mood was not that wonderful.

Breakfast this morning for the girls is Frosted Mini Wheats and OJ. GA gets dressed (navy skort and white shirt), brushes her teeth, gets her socks and shoes on then I brush her hair. Imac stays in her pj's while we take big sis to school.

Came home. Got Imac dressed for school (tie-dye dress and pink leggings, hello kitty socks and light up shoes)and turned on the tv. She likes to watch Little Einsteins before school. I have time to address the thank you notes we made yesterday and pay the electric bill. I stick it all in the mail box on the way to drop off Imac. Ate my breakfast - bowl of maple & brown sugar organic oatmeal before leaving the house.

After kids are dropped off I head to the hair stylist. I'm in need of a cut and all-over color as it's been about 2 months. Hair is finished at 11am and I head to Publix for some groceries. $96 later I head home. Put the groceries away, move laundry from washer to dryer and make lunch - ham & cheese panini and some cheez-its and a Dr. Pepper. I check email before I eat, respond to some emails and blog surf for a few minutes. As I'm eating my lunch I start reading Breaking Dawn again. I glance at the clock and it's 12:30 so I still have plenty of time before I have to leave to pick up Imac. I become engrossed in the book and then there is a ring at my doorbell. I look up and it's 1:01! I have to leave RIGHT NOW to pick up Imac (should have left 10 minutes ago). Realize our neighbor's granddaughter is ringing our doorbell. I explain that the kids aren't home from school yet (she is 4yrs. old) and that I have to go pick up Imac. I get to school, give Erica the luggage topper when I see her in the parking lot. I run into 3 more people on my way in to get Imac to talk about school business. I finally break away and it's 1:15 - the front doors have been locked and I have to ring the bell to get in. Imac is hanging out with the after care kids patiently and we all have a good laugh about why I was so late.

Arrive home at 1:30. IM with R. Get ready to pick up GA. Girls are home from school and have a snack - yogurt - and then get changed into play clothes (GA). We play, I took a video of GA putting on a show with her pocket puppies, the girls play together nicely, I call Amy back and we chat for a while. Turn on the TV at 4pm for Martha Speaks and get back to reading before R gets home.

4:35 R is home early. Stop reading, we chat for awhile and then I get dinner started Tilapia, salad and french fries. R does the dishes while I do a craft with GA. Girls have some computer time and I'm updating my blog for the day.

Night time routine is pretty much the same. I'll be watching Grey's tonight, though!

Day 2

Kari Allen — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:37:04 GMT

So far today:

Up at 6:45 (after 2 snoozes)

· Went to living room to wake R up (he slept on the couch so I could get a good night’s sleep after my rough day with a migraine yesterday)

· Woke up both girls at 6:55

· Got breakfast started – pancakes (frozen home-made pancakes leftover from Saturday) and a banana and some juice. As the girls eat their breakfast I do any dishes that were left in the sink overnight.

· GA gets dressed and ready for school – uniform khaki skort, navy shirt, striped socks and black mary janes.

· Imac stays in her pj’s – no school for her today

· I throw on some clothes and get them in the car. We usually do the car line for drop off in the morning and then we walk home from school in the afternoon

· Drop GA off at 7:48 – a little later than normal

· We are pretty much out of food in the house, so I decide to go to Einstein Bros. Bagels for a bagel and a caramel macchiato for breakfast. Yum.

· Home. Eat my breakfast, share some with Imac.

· 8:35 Imac asks for a show – I turn on the Disney channel and head to the office to check my email and blogs.

· Decided to start reading Breaking Dawn while Imac was watching TV.

· Get Imac dressed – brown skort, blue shirt with a horse on it

· Laundry

· Phone call from Debbie to discuss Daisy Troop meeting on Friday

· IM with R and made a Halloween craft with Imac

· Ate lunch with Imac – turkey and string cheese and craisins

· More laundry

· After lunch Imac decided to play nicely on her own so I read some more of Breaking Dawn

· 1:50pm time to go pick up GA from school

· Came home, had a snack (granola bar for GA). Then GA needed to make some thank you cards from her birthday party so I helped her with that.

· Time for a tv show for the kids to relax from the day and more playing, etc…

· Shower

· R arrived home at 5pm and made dinner for us (I have still been feeling a bit under the weather today). Our neighbor gave us some Venison so he grilled it up and made rice and spinach on the side. The girls LOVED it – their first time eating it.

· Now we are into the night routine – Bath at 7pm, vitamin, brush teeth, stories, lights out by 8pm.

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Keeping track

Kari Allen — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:25:36 GMT

I'm going to try to keep up with this awesome project this week. A week in my life. Documented. Yes, I have some reservations - am I interesting enough, are the things I do exciting, will I have enough things to document every day - but you know what, it doesn't matter. It's my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm going to use the blog to keep track of my notes and thoughts as I go through this project. Play along if you'd like!

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Monday so far - up at 6:45am and feeling tired from the weekend. Get the kids ready for school. Volunteer this morning at GA's classroom for Zero the Hero day. Errands to run: grocery store. Other things - prep for my class tonight.

Scratch most of that - I ended up having a pretty awful migraine from 11:30am until 6:00pm. I was able to volunteer for Zero the Hero. I came home, printed out some pictures for GA's birthday and then I cleaned the shower. Shouldn't have done that. About 90% of the time after I use some sort of harsh chemical to clean the shower, I end up with a migraine. This one was accompanied by nausea - so I wasn't able to drive. Thankfully R was able to come home from work early to pick the girls up from school. I am so thankful for him, I really don't know what I would do without him, especially in times like these. I ended up not going to work either since I was still lying in pain at 4:30pm when I needed to leave. Like I said, that's my life (however, I do think I would change the fact that I get migraines. I could definitely live without those).

Creative Inspiration

Kari Allen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:23:51 GMT

I love reading Lain's blog for creative inspiration. Last week she posted this and today I was inspired to make my version:

I think it turned out pretty cute and it only took about 30 minutes to create. The ink is still drying so I have to wait to hang it up. This was a great project to help get my creative juices flowing again. I've been in a slump creatively. Busy with life: kids, schools, work, etc... Busy with reading the Twilight series (hoping to start the final book this weekend). Busy planning a 50th wedding anniversary party for my parents. Just not feeling creative. But today I was able to play around with some supplies, create a couple of projects (the Halloween one and another project for a family Christmas gift) and I'm hoping to get some actual scrapbooking done this weekend, too. However, this is Football season, so I'm not sure how much will actually get done - but at least I'm feeling motivated again!

Dinner last night

Kari Allen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:26:04 GMT

Here is another tired & true recipe that the entire family loves:

Maple-Balsamic-Glazed Pork Medallions (from Cooking Light)

1/4 cup maple syrup

3 tbs. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. dijon mustard

1 (1-lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed. (You can easily use boneless pork loin chops as well - just pound to 1/4 inch thickness)

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine syrup and vinegar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 3 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in mustard.

Cut pork loin crosswise into 8 pieces. Place each pork piece between plastic wrap or wax paper; pound to 1/4 inch thickness using a meat mallet. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork evenly with salt and pepper. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side. Add vinegar mixture; cook 1 minute or until done, turning pork to coat with the sauce. Serve. Drizzle sauce over pork when serving.

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This is so good, everyone just gobbles it up! Last night we had sweet potato fries on the side:

Peel sweet potatoes. Cut into "french fry" size pieces. Drizzle with olive oil (not too much) sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake at 425 for about 20-25 until done. Turn halfway. Enjoy!

Good luck

Kari Allen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:42:45 GMT

My nephew, Adam, left yesterday for his tour of duty in Iraq. We wish him the best and pray for a safe return.

This picture was taken about 2 years ago after he first joined the Army.

This was taken in June of this year with my other nephew Troy at his High School Graduation.

We love you, Adam!

It's Tuesday

Kari Allen — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:12:11 GMT

I've made this recipe before, but it had been a long time and I just re-discovered it.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake (from the Kraft magazine)

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1/2 cup water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese

HEAT oven to 400°F. Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing mix is moistened.

LAYER chicken, basil, cheese and stuffing in 3-qt. or 13x9-inch baking dish.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy now or cover and refrigerate. To reheat, microwave each serving on HIGH 2 to 3 min.