some of what we have been doing this week. :) ..

I could not think of any great topic to blog about although I have one random question I wanted to ask and have not figured out how to create and entire blog post out of it. I always wondered why people jokingly refer to "Ketchup" as being a "vegetable"...when it is made of tomatoes so wouldn't it be a fruit? Ok so I just had to get that important question off the brain lol.

I decided to post some pics of some of the stuff we have been doing this week. :) We have been busy, and some of us have been feeling sorry for ourselves for the cold we are nursing (of course I am not naming myself here) the kids are doing better except for honeynut who is still coughing up a lung going on a month now. I took her to the doc last week and was told it was "just a cold and to give her dimetapp" but that is not working so I am going to call tomorrow and push to find out what is really going on here.
The kids have been working hard in their studies so here is a pic of (some) of the stuff we do in a day here in the cheerio household.
Hope you all are having a great week!

the cheerio queen (yes I realize that signature is not correct grammar since I did not capitolize but hey I am on my fourth round of theraflu today and frankly I am lucky I am able to type at all)





Lucky Charms posing


Lucky Charms practicing his writing while Honeynut looks on.

Trix hard at work painting



Honey Nut doing her online schooling assignment


Honeynut writing out her story summeries.

I SURVIVED!!!!!!.....

Sort of....my back has serious issues with me camping on the floor with all the brownie troops. Lesson learned " bring an air mattress!" got it. Will definitely do that next time. :) Actually the sleepover went really well and the girls had a blast. We put goopy guacamole masks on our face, sang the most obnoxious song about a burrito that is STILL stuck in my head a week later, gave each other hand massages, and put on make up to do "glamour shots" don't you just love mine and honey nut's? haha.

It was brought to my attention that I should have updated the blog before Wednesday since I told you all last time that if I did not post by then it would mean us leaders were still tied up in a broom closet...so thanks for checking in everyone but please call off the search party were ok! :)

Truth be told sore back or not...I would not have traded last Friday for anything. It was a great memory for me and my daughter and since she is my only girl I probably do tend to go overboard. :)

This week has been hectic. A couple of the daycare kids got sick so I took a premptive measure and closed on Wednesday in hopes of keeping my kids healthy, and while they did not get the stomach virus everyone else had...they DID get colds. grrr. Actually it turns out their colds are not new but were the same one they have had for awhile that I thought was gone. So we went to the store and got dimetapp and a new cool mist humidifier to help with their little coughs. poor babies. I will say though it was so nice to have just one day where it was me and my munchkins. I know it sounds silly but I actually miss them sometimes even though they are with me all day...I have so many other kids I take care of in addition to them. :)

Otherwise not much else is new. Hubs and I are hosting game night this weekend I cannot wait! It will be our same group of friends that we have been hanging out with forever. There is 4 main couples that come to this and we have all been married 10 years this year! Although us girls have known eachother since highschool. When we started doing game nights we were younger and used to play and have a margarita or 3....but now we are all older, and some of us have kids and so now we usually party down with games until 9:30 or 10pm. I know we are so shameless.

Then Sunday I am teaching Sunday School so as you can see it is a wild weekend for us. ya right.

Hope you all had a great week!

The Cheerio Queen

menu

Hello all...so here is my menu plan for the week.

Monday: Chunky Chicken Divan, Breadsticks, and salad

Tuesday: French toast, eggs, and sausage

Wednesday: Hot roast beef sandwiches & fries

Thursday: Happy 10 year anniversary to me and hubs...Chicken Pad Thai, and salad

Friday: pork chops, applesauce, and brown rice

I am trying to keep most of it lowfat, however there were a couple nights such as Tuesday when I have a brownie troop meeting with Honey Nut...oh and then Friday my menu will be totally cooked in my crockpot (except for the applesauce of course) because honey nut and I have a brownie sleepover at a local church with about 25 other troops...yay me. lol If you don't hear from me by Wednesday next week it is because the girlscouts won and all us leaders and moms are tied up to a chair stuck in a closet while the girls elope. just kidding...sort of.

anyway hope you all have a yummy week!

The Cheerio Queen

A Challenge....

Well not really but sort of. I was reading "By sun and candlelights" blog today and she posted that she did not make resolutions becuase they always fail but rather New Year's GOALS instead. She asked everyone to comment with some of their ideas but since I usually write a novel I decided to just do a post on it and send her the link. I really like the term Goals instead of resolutions...how many people do you know say they are restarting their resolution because they did not do it the previous year? However "goals" are something you can work towards so if you don't meet them at least you are working towards them.


Start a small group at church....Already got the process started on this one. The people I have talked to so far are loving the idea so I am hoping it is successful. I put in the application for a twice a month "Freezer cooking and Fellowship" group. I got an idea for a supper swap but with that someone always has to deliver something each night of the week, this way we all meet twice a month in a big kitchen somewhere and only bring ingredients for the recipes we are making...depending on size of group each person makes one or two recipes times how many people are signed up. So if you make lasagne and there are 7 people in the group then you make 7 lasagnes and keep one for yourself and give the rest out, the other people in the group do the same thing. You wind up with enough meals for dinner for two weeks that you can pop in your freezer and it is healthier and CHEAPER...oops I mean "frugal" then going out to eat or even to one of those "freezer cooking places" plus you get to pick the recipes. :)

Work out 3 times a week at least....Ok I know this sounds cliche I mean doesn't everyone make this goal or resolution every year? However I am doing it with the mindset of "getting healthy" I also thought it would be a good time for hubs and I to do something together that is why for Christmas this year I asked for a gym membership for BOTH hubs and I. :) We will be startin that next week!

Blog more then once in a blue moon...Hey so far this year I have done pretty good I think. I will try and keep it up, and not just to brag about my kids either although look at the subject. lol No my goal is to blog about different topics etc. especially homeschooling. We will see how that goes.

Do some actual gardening with the kids this summer...I really do want to do something like that with them, I was thinking of starting small...maybe with a couple of those big round planters and go from there.

Take the kids to Disneyland...They don't know this yet but probably around August or begininning of September hubs and I will be taking the kids to Disneyland. We are not going to tell them until we are at the airport. I cannot wait to see the surprise on their little faces. My only concern is how they will do for the plane ride. I am pretty sure Honey Nut will be fine, Lucky Charms I am not sure he is so energetic and talkative and for those of you that know me personally...no I have NO idea where he gets that from. *sheepish grin* Of course I am concerned about how Trix will do it is a long time for him to sit, and I am always worried about seizures but I think it will be fine. I tend to be a worry wart big time.

Work more with local missions...One of the things I love most about our church is their love for missions. We have recently been in the Seattle Times on the FRONT page even talking about our church. They described us as a "church with no home but a mission to go where their needed" they could not be more right. My ultimate dream is to go on one of the big mission trips to Ghana or other places but for right now my kids are too little for me to be gone that long etc. HOWEVER that does not mean I cannot do local mission work. Our church has been to the California wildfires, local floods, etc. One of the local causes our church is involved with is a project called "Vine Maple Place" a place for parents to start over...mostly it is moms getting out of bad situations, however there are fathers too. I am planning on working more with the "decorating divas" group where we go in and set up the apt with the donated furniture (which the families get to keep by the way) and design a new home for a family to be able to start over in. I could write forever about this local mission but here is a link if your curious to know more http://vinemapleplace.org/ .

Help my children with their desire to do mission work...This is really important to me and heartwarming to know my kids want to get involved. One thing hubs and I have always tried to instill in them is a love for helping others. We started when they were young with the cookies to fireman and policeman on Christmas eve. More recently my daughter became really inspired to want to help in some way after a friend of hers in church started the "David and Goliath" project . I will provide a link here to a story on this little girl and what she wanted to do. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=306096502 anyway my daughter wanted to help besides just selling the necklaces so she is right now trying to decide..she is pretty sure she wants to make "hope blankets" that she can give to our missions director to distribute when they go to places like flood victims who lost everything etc. Or even to give to kids at hte local childrens hospital. Either way I think it is awesoem that she was inspired and also that she was inspired by another great little gal. I will post more on her efforts later. The boys want to do stuff too but we are not sure what yet.

That is about all I can think of for now. I have other goals more schoolwork related but I may just type those out later. :)

The Cheerio Queen

Happy New Year!...

Okay so I am a day late. But I have a good excuse...yesterday the kids and hubs and I spent a very hard day holding down the couch watching movies, and also we went to the park. So we were busy. :) We had such a nice day yesterday. Even though it was unbelievably cold and windy at the park we still had fun because we were the only ones there. I know of a park that is my favorite mainly because a lot of people don't know about it. There is hardly ever anyone there...and plus they have restrooms which is a must for little kiddos. Hubs and I even climbed onto the equipment and went down the slides with the kids. I actually had the bright idea that it would be fun to try and be the "cool mom" and go down the slide on my stomach...well that was fine until I got to the bottom and realized that there is nothing but woodchips underneath the slide and I had to put my hands down on it to roll off the slide and attempt to stand up again. lol I got a big splinter in my hand...but hey the kids thought it was funny so that is all that matters. Of course I do not have any pictures to show you because I forgot my camera at home...although I would have loved to show the pic of hubs sliding down head first on his back with feet up in the air down the slide but oh well you can just picture it in your own mind...STOP LAUGHING it is rude! haha. Just kidding.

Over the weekend in our quest to re-shuffle our finances, eat healthier, and save money we went and invested in an air popcorn maker. The kids think this is the coolest thing in the world since they LOVE popcorn and to see it being made without oil is pretty cool to them too. They are affordable, and much cheaper and healthier then the microwave kind. Although I of course had to test out a new homemade carmel corn recipe today...boy I could not believe how easy and cheap it was to make and I can already think of a way to make it healthier. I also made up some cheap trail mix with seasoned popcorn, pretzel sticks, nuts, raisins etc. It sure is fun trying out how to make the popcorn stay healthy but trying different flavors. :) It takes so little to make this blonde happy haha.

Hope you all are having a great week!
The Cheerio Queen

Reflections of 2007...warning ...long ...bring coffee lol

Well it is finally the end of one year and almost a New Year. This year for us has really been a hectic one. In fact it has not been my favorite year however their has been a few good things to come out of it. I say it has not been my favorite year because it has had a lot of lows in it, a lot of uncertainty. It started off on january 4h when I lost my favorite cousin to the war, shortly after that my husband was laid off quite unexpectedly, then Trix and his seizure and subsequent hospitlization, ( I know I have talked a lot about that this year...please forgive me it really rocked me to the core...I am still trying to get over the nightmares),I felt as if Honey Nut and Lucky Charms kind of got lost in the shuffle of all the panic over Trix and his medical and sensory issues this year as well.I think that is it for the lows. However there have been some really good things as well. Through all of the lows I realized that God was doing a lot of overhaul and work in my life. I noticed quite quickly that when hubs got laid off so unexpectedly that although initially I panicked, I very quickly relaxed and felt a sense of peace while he was searching for work. Normally I would have panicked the entire time, he was out of work for about two months and since he is the major breadwinner that is a long time. I somehow knew everything would work out ok. It did he got a new job at a great company that has been around for awhile. Almost everyone at the company he went to work for has been there for years and when I say that I am talking 10 and above people. That is hard to find these days. It was also a blessing that he was laid off when he was because he normally would have been gone for the day already when Trix needed medical help..I was in a complete panic and just dont' know what i would have done without him there. He is such a strong man. I shudder to think it was a possibility that if he was not home at the time Trix might not be here today and that is an inconceivable thought for any parent including my husband. The company he is with was so impressed with his interview that they came up an insane amount in pay just to hire him on. They love hubs at this company ( I may be a bit partial here but it shows they have great taste)I know he will be here for a long time. God took care of us both financially and emotionally this year. I felt all year long as if he was doing some serious overhauling in my life and my families life as well. For instance Hubs has even started coming to church with us once in awhile. We are talking about a guy who is just not a church guy and I have prayed and prayed and prayed about it. He is coming around...albeight slowly but in the way God is working him too. For me the biggest struggle this year is learning to turn my life completely over to God. It is not easy for me to give up control especially when it comes to my children. I am their Mommy and I have always been a "fixer" by nature and that instinct in me just got stronger when I became a Mom. So when I started realizing that I am supposed to turn over my control to God well that did not sit well with me. I have actually really struggled with that but am slowly releasing control. I released control to him when hubs was laid off and when I did that Hubs got a really good job, good things came out of a time when most people can only see the bad side of it. I released control when Trix was in the hospital...actually on his way to the hospital...I was driving behind the ambulance and praying feverishly to God and told him I am turning Trix over to him and to please take care of him...he did. In 95% of all seizures...they can tell you had one but cannot tell you what caused it. They were able to pinpoint a cause for Trix that is a rarity, another way he took care of him...that seizure lasted 40 minutes...that usually causes some sort of brain damage...Trix did not have any of that.
After everything settled down a bit and back into routine for which I was grateful...I was surprised as anyone when I realized God was not finished overhauling my life! And people say he has no sense of humor. :) He does. I started hearing a call to change my career. huh? what? I was settled in homeschooling and running a daycare out of my home. But although God wants me to continue to homeschool (a fact I am so grateful he is still calling me to do)and I know he wants me to have a lot more time with Honey Nut and Lucky Charms as well,he has been gently leading me into another area. Life Coaching. I am slowly but surely working on that.
No I will not be a counselor, I will however be someone that will help people set goals, be a listening tool for them when they figure out how they want to make their lives better then they already are, help them achieve what they want to. He is using this as a way for me to better my life too! Life coaches do a lot of learning along the way. The best part about it is that I can do it from home so I am still able to be with the kids. I am nervous financially. It will take some time to build my business. I told the parents in my daycare that I was closing in June, however I told them earlier then I probably should have to give them adequate time. Mainly the special needs family I have, well that was a little silly because they all found someone starting in January instead of June! I had planned all along to keep one family who really fit in with us and whose parents really had a hard time finding good childcare, so I still have that family and that is great. But my income in a couple weeks will be less then half what I was making! Acck! Oh well I will break out the coupons, re-budget, and trust that when God closes one door he always opens another. I am sure he had a reason for this season in my life to end a little earlier then I planned. Again there I go with trying to control it...I am still struggling to learn to turn over complete control to him. I will say at first when the families told me they had found other care sooner...I was a bit stressed and worried. Even though they all had asked me seperately if I could just keep their families only for childcare. But then I looked back at 2007 and all the ways God helped me and carried me through a less then stellar year. Then I relaxed more and again have that same sense of peace that he gave me earlier this year. So my realization here is that I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be GREAT!
I hope all of you have a safe and happy New Year. If you read this far...here is a cyber brownie for you.
The Cheerio Queen

My amazing husband....

My husband is AWESOME! We are going to be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year and he still sees me as the young bride he married, the one who wore a size 6, who used to care what she looked like. For Christmas he gave me an early anniversary present becuase well...he could not wait till our anniversary in two weeks (he is such a big kid)and he loves to spoil me. I would love to be noble enough to say that I don't like being spoiled just having a cool husband is great enough but hey...I do love to be spoiled although I don't require it. He started making noise about my wedding ring recently and wanted to know what size it was. I did not know but he asked me to take it off. I told him I have never ever taken it off and don't intend to now. However the truth was that I could not get it off. My fingers have swelled up since we got married and added three kids, and I love to cook so you do the math. I did not want to tell him that so I stuck to the excuse that I am superstitious. He was relentless though that it was not healthy to have a ring on my finger that I could not take off. He insisted we have a jeweler look at it. You guessed it the jeweler had to cut it off. That had to be a low point for me. He did not understand why I was teary eyed that they had to cut off my ring to resize it. He did not understand why I was mad at him for insisting that it come off it did not hurt and my plan was to get healthy so it would fit again. But then he came home a week later with a package for me, he said he had stopped and picked up the ring. I opened it and what he had really done was got me this new sparkly diamond wedding band! He also got my old ring back and did not have them resize it. He knew it meant a lot to me.Isn't he great?
So this year hubs was brave enough to get me the gym membership I asked for. Yes you read that right I asked for it. He looked positively terrified that I asked for that. I could see the wheels in his head spinning as he contemplated...is she really asking me for this seriously? Or is this something I go and get for her and she is going to suffocate me in my sleep with her tacky mom sweats on Christmas night? hmmmm. Over the next few weeks he would occasionally ask...are you sure that is what you want? When I replied yes each time he asked he raised an eyebrow at the baked goodies I somehow always seemed to be holding. Hey the kids helped me make them and did most of the work so I had to make sure their efforts were rewarded with them getting finished off didn't I? The truth is the reason I asked for the membership was because I have come to a point where I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I feel like I am wearing someone else's and I have no one to blame but myself. I could reason that we have had a lot of stress this year with hubs unexpected layoff, my taking on extra daycare kids to help out, Trix's seizure issues, losing a very close family member to war etc. ...BUT when it comes down to it...I just flat out did not take care of myself, I did not work out (I did for a month in August but then the weather turned cold), I did not watch what I ate and now when I look in the mirror I cringe. To me it does not look like me. I have had a few people tell me I am not as big as I think I am however they do not have to look at me when I get out of the shower. They are not the ones who feel yucky all the time like I do, I get colds now and they stick for a month, I feel sluggish and tired. So since I got myself into this position I have to get myself out of it. ;) My goal this time however is not necessarily to lose weight (although I want that to happen), my goal is to get healthy again. My kids deserve a Mom who is healthy, my husband deserves a wife who is healthy and active, and hey when your so out of shape that your arms get sore while you are holding them up in praise and worship in church something needs to be done about it. So I will use that for motivation over the next few months, I am going to start by detoxing from sugar. I hear it takes two to three weeks to completely detox so if I sound a bit crabby it is nothing personal...I am just detoxing. I guess instead of petitioning for chocolate to become it's own food group I should be petitioning for it to be labeled a narcotic. After all when something is labeled a comfort food how can we expect to not become addicted to it? I am not saying I will never eat another piece of it (I am not an extremist you know)but I suppose chocolate for breakfast is not the best way to get out of those tacky mommy sweats I have been pouring myself into...oops I mean wearing. For inspiration I will tape a picture of myself now to my fridge...do they still make those gadgets that make snorting pig noise when you open the fridge? If that does not work I have a couple blogs I will check out. Tales from the scales is a good one and even better I have a blogging friend named Jan over at Just a mom that's more then enough...and she is a real inspiration. Check out her blog for hot momma pics! she has worked so hard and looks fantastic. Considering she has a lot going on in her life she has not used it as an excuse and plugged on. Plus she is really funny. Another inspiration is my dear friend Jess. She also is in great shape and worked really hard at it. I will go look through her blog again and re read her story. Maybe instead of tivo'ing desperate housewives I will add the biggest loser to my lineup. :)

The Cheerio Queen