I'm a LOSER! :)

We have got some sleepyheads in this house this week! The kids once again slept until 9:30am or so today... so alas... we missed the storytime at the pottery place, BUT..I promised Anna she would paint, and paint she did! I took her to Painted by Hue anyway, and she painted a LOVELY mug for her daddy. It was very sweet, and I give Aiden props for being so patient! He just chilled in his stroller and watched Anna.

We have been working with Anna on broadening her palate, because she has been SO picky with her eating. Anna has always been a picky eater, but over the last year or so, it has really gotten worse.. so she has promised to try something new everyday. Today we worked on sandwiches. I know right? What's not to like about a sandwich? But Anna up till now has rejected any sandwich we have ever offered to her.

Until today...............

She helped me make a scrumptious turkey breast sandwich. We used our Pampered Chef "cut and seal" to remove the crust and we were all set!


Then we made Aiden one also! He was loving it! :)


So, then it was time for that little thing call my WEEKLY WEIGH IN AT WEIGHT WATCHERS! AHHH!!! So, how did I do? I lost another pound! Whoo hoo!!!! I'm down 3.6 in two weeks now, and going strong. It's a wonderful reason to keep on going and reach that goal.

Since the sandwich making went over so well, I thought I would see if Anna wanted to help me make dinner. Tonight's recipe was from Weight watcher's e-tools called CHICKEN FINGERS. I figured that would make Anna happy right?... so she was great about helping... and even tried a bite, and well... she then ran to the garbage can to spit it out. I guess she didn't like it. Aiden actually had the same response (no he didn't get up, but he did return to sender), so oh well, I tried right? Actually, Will and I LOVED the recipe, and will definitely make it again, but I think the kids didn't like the honey mustard flavoring...it was too much for them. Live and learn, live and learn. haha!


After dinner we decided to take a nice family stroll, and we were able to get a few shots. Anna rode her princess bike which she is QUICKLY growing out of already (geeesh!).

May you have a perfectly wonderful day tomorrow. We'll be at the park with the playgroup enjoying the fresh air, and I'll be back soon! :)

Love, Holly

Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah!

Hello loyal Deep Thoughts readers. :) Good to see ya!

First of all, thank you DAYLIGHT SAVINGS! My wonderful children slept in until the 9:00am hour today. Ahhhh! Now that's a Spring BREAK!

So the day started beautifully as I was well rested for the playdate over at my sister's house. It was a nice time.. the kids played for hours. :) It was nice to spend time with Dori and Rachael, and just chit chat without the constraints of our usual busy schedules.

OF COURSE, I snapped some pictures! What would my blog be without those?

Here are the girls playing so nicely....aren't they adorable?

Here's my A-man, jumping on Kayla's bed holding Barbies. Uh....yeah.

Rachael and Dori with their "beautiful beautiful, beautiful boys...."

oh, and that's me! haha!

I promised Anna, that if she ate a good dinner, she could make cookies... so tonight, these were her creations. The one on the left was for Will, The middle one was hers, and the one on the right was Aiden's (a heart because she loves him so much). Notice that there are only 3, because I kindly passed on cookies tonight. Anna understood. ;)

They were eaten in less than 30 seconds.

After the kids went to bed, I did my Winsor Pilates. Have you tried it? It's a GREAT workout!

Let's see... what else. Just want to give internet ((hugs)) to Sam. Will and I were able to talk with him this evening from Iraq, and the poor guy is really sick. So Sam, if you are reading this, we hope you feel better soon, and we hope they are letting you rest!!!!

Tomorrow... I'm taking the kids to a new activity. We are going to a paint your own pottery place.. but apparently on Tuesday mornings, they have a story time, and then the kids get to paint a piece relating to the story. Anna is very excited. Aiden is coming along for the ride. Not sure about giving him paint though. We'll see! heehee...

I also have my 2nd weigh in at Weight Watchers tomorrow! I've been very much "on program" all week, so we'll see what happens. Whatever the results are, I'm feeling good, eating healthy and moving closer to my goal.

And to leave you all with a little inspiration. I was talking with a close friend today, and we were talking about how easy it is to fall into a "downward spiral" in life. Instead of letting yourself fall, think of all the possibilities that are out there for you and strive to find them! This past November, I attended a Kindermusik convention where I saw Benjamin and Rosamund Zander. They are the authors of The Art of Possibility. If you haven't read it, or have never even heard of it, please check out that link above. It's such an inspirational and motivational book which you can apply to every facet of your life. Here's one thing from the book to take with you today: when you wake up, tell yourself that you are going to have a perfect day. Create that story. Go along in your day with that attitude, and you WILL have a perfect day (or close to it!), AND if something doesn't go exactly right, well... just throw your hands in the air and scream "how fascinating". and move on.

Oh, and one other thing: don't forget Rule #6.

What is rule #6??

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"Don't take yourself so G-d D-mn seriously!" ;)

Have a PERFECT day everyone!

Love, Holly

An unexpected treat!

Well, we were a little off because of the time change, and decided this morning that we would go out for lunch, then go do our weekly trip to Publix and get home just in time for Will to leave for his Sunday afternoon/evening job. We thought it would be nice to eat lunch on Park Ave. in Winter Park, so we headed out that way. First we had lunch.... but around 1:30 we noticed they were blocking off the street, and there were lots of people milling about (more than usual for a Sunday)... hmm...

We found out that at 2pm there was going to be a St. Patricks Day Parade. Apparantly next weekend is the annual Winter Park Art Festival, so they had to do it this weekend instead. What a fun treat! So we decided to postpone the Publix trip until tomorrow and stay for the festivities! It was LOTS of fun!

Aiden scored himself some green beads!

There's Anna begging for candy!


Aiden LOVED watching the horses


Bagpipers


An extra special parade participant


We had such a nice afternoon, and it was completely spontaneous. But... then we had to go home, and Will had to leave for work. The kids and I had a nice evening and I finally just finished cleaning up around here. I'm off to go watch L-word and wait for Will to get home. Tomorrow we are off to my sister's for a playdate with her kids and Rachael's. Should be nice and relaxed...

Nighty nite!

Hol

Strawberries anyone?

Spring Break is here!!! YES!!!

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my job as a Kindermusik business owner and teacher...but wow, I really needed this break! Each day I also make sure I spend quality time with my babies and Will, and cook good meals, and I love it all...but just knowing that for the next week, Anna doesn't have school or dance class... Aiden doesn't have My Gym, I don't have Kindermusik.... we are just FREE...well it feels grrrrreat! Friday was my first "official day off" and I started it off by going to brunch with my friends Rachael and Carol. Then I went and got my hair done all by myself... SO relaxing! Last night Will and I went on a date. We were joking that it was a Junior High date... we went to dinner, then played putt putt, then got coffee... :) it was very nice. We went to the newly renovated and expanded Bangkok Square. We always do take out there...so this was our first time dining in, and it was REALLY yummy!

Today was a very nice day. Will had to work, so I took the kids out to Sorrento, to a place called Oak Haven Farms. It was about a 1 hour drive for us, which was so nice... out in the country. Very scenic. The farm was so much fun - strawberry picking, playground, hayride, zip line (okay, I wimped out on that, but my 3 year old niece swung from it), hot dog roasting over a fire, strawberry shortcake (no I didn't eat any), and country store. It was well worth the drive, and it was great to spend the day with the Diamonds. We missed Will though!

Lots of photo opportunities! Here we go!

Let's see, first we played on the playground. Here are Anna and Kayla at the tire swing...


Then we went on the hayride through the pine tree farm. It smelled so good!!!


Then it was time to pick some strawberries. Aiden LOVED collecting the berries and putting them in the box. Anna was having fun too, but a little squeamish by the bumblebees lurking around...








Then it was time to buy our strawberries and eat lunch in the country store.


Here I am cuddling my adorable nephew Brandon


Me and my sis


and I couldn't resist posting my very brave niece Kayla on the Zip Line! I was VERY impressed!!!!


I'm still waiting for Will to return home from his gig. Tomorrow we (me and the kids) look forward to seeing him for a while before he has to go again for yet another gig Sunday afternoon/evening. Have a GREAT rest of the weekend everyone, and I'll be posting lots, with all the fun things we are doing all week!

Party on! LOL!

Love, Holly

Morning visitors....

Thanks for reading my blog! :) I hope this week is treating you well.

Let's see....

Yesterday I remembered to bring my camera to Anna's dance class. It was watching day, but unfortunately most of my pictures didn't come through very well. I had to take them through the slits in the blinds and against a glass window... but I did take a picture as the class was going in, and so here is Anna waiting for her dance class to begin.


This morning we had some visitors in our backyard. We had Mommy and Daddy cranes (we are not sure exactly what they are called), and their two newborns come up close to our fence. We hurried outside with some bread, and Will was able to get their attention for a few moments to show Aiden. It was very sweet...the Mommy crane took some bread and carried it over to her babies who never got too close.. oh, and the Daddy crane just kept on eating - typical man!! LOL, just kidding!

Here are the lovebirds (their babies are off to the right in the weeds, but hard to see...)


Here are Aiden and Will feeding bread to them (Anna was already at school)


Jerry came by today to do more work on the house, and created a very beautiful backsplash in our kitchen. My mom requested some pics, so here they are! THANKS JERRY!





And lastly...each Wednesday afternoon, Will brings the kids to one of my Kindermusik Family Time classes. It's an extra special treat because Anna and Aiden get to play with Amy (Rachael and Paul's daughter), and Cousin Kayla. At the end of class, the kids were just fooling around, and put themselves in this pose. Us adults had nothing to do with it! Now, if we would have TRIED to get them to sit like this, it would have NEVER happened! I ran like a speeding bullet across the room to grab my camera before they were "over it". Mission accomplished!!

So here are Aiden, Anna and Amy - AKA the "Three A's"


Tomorrow I teach 2 classes, and then I'm "off" as next week is Spring break. I plan to do so many fun things with the kids next week, since we are all free... so look for some fun pictures from: Strawberry Picking, Playdate at the Diamonds, Mommy, Me and Hue at Painted by Hue, Mr. Richard at Borders, and more! Wow, I'm tired just thinking about it all. Soooo much fun! :) Oh and of course, the dreaded week #2 weigh in at weight watchers. ;) heehee..

Okay all - nighty night...until next time.

Love, Holly

Week 1 weigh in results....

Well, not too shabby for the first week, I lost 2.6 lbs!! YEAH! It's a great motivator to keep going, and reach my goal. Onward to week 2!


Myspace Graphics

Great day!

What a fun day we had today! We took the kids to the Pet Fair at the Orlando Science Center, and it was really entertaining! Lots of doggies milling about, but they also had a "Super Dogs" agility course show, which was quite fun to watch, an Arabian Night's show with horses, a bounce house area, AND we were able to go into the Science center and check things out in there. Of course we took some pictures...

Aiden getting a kiss from a SeaWorld friend...


Anna petting a sloth!


Anna and me


Aiden & Anna on a little merry go round..


In a ball pit...


Tired from the day


Look at Anna go!!!!!


Pilots at work!


Anna digging for fossils!

I am proud of myself because even though we ate "fair" food today, I was able to stay within my weight watcher points... I even have a couple to spare. After the kids went to bed, I went right downstairs and did my Winsor Pilates :) Weigh in is this Tuesday... we'll see if there are good results from just over a week of being "on program" as they say.

Just finished watching the L Word, and now going to sleep! Tomorrow we are off to WHERE ELSE?? Kindermusik of course! :) It's "watching day" at Anna's dance class also, so I'll try to snap a picture through the glass window if I can. Have a GREAT week everyone, and I'll of course post the happenings around here.

Love, Holly

Gotta love the weekend...

Hello! I'm finally getting a chance to blog again after a few busy days... well, okay, when am I NOT busy?? Thursday's classes were great this week... and the Weight watchers continues to go well. I made a really yummy dinner on Thursday night and actually took a picture of it! I wanted to show how satisfying a meal can be, even on a budget of 21 food points a day! I made cilantro grilled chicken (yummm...) and also grilled up some onions and peppers... I measured out 1 oz of Stacey's pita chips (have you tried them yet?? if not, they are SOOO good,but SOOOO addictive!), and then I broiled some asparagus (one layer on a cookie sheet, spray with cooking spray, sprinkle with a little salt, and broil until crispy - so good!)... It was so yummy and only used up 6 points! For my weight watchers friends, you know that you can't beat that for a dinner!!!!

Here's the picture... but of course I'm not a photographer, so it really doesn't look as good as it did in person...but you get the gist!


Okay, so let's see what else.. oh! good news, I got my biopsy results back on my freckles and all is fine. (thank God).

On Friday, Anna had to bring in a show and tell representing the letter U. Not an easy one... but we came up with "unicorn". Will and Anna both told me that we didn't have any Unicorns, but I said, "AHA! Hold on"... and I came back with my childhood music box plush Unicorn. Anna took it to school and proudly told the teacher that it was her "mommy's when she was a little girl". How sweet is that???? Anna loves that it plays "Somewhere over the Rainbow", and I just love that Anna likes it so much.



Anna came home that same day with the cutest project. I guess they were celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss(?). Well Aiden LOVED it!


Today I worked another Kindermusik party... while Anna was at our friends Dave and Hope's daughter Samantha's b-day party. Well, apparently this party was a HIT. Anna had the BEST time... it was a princess party. Anna dressed up, got her nails done, decorated a tiara, got dancing lessons, learned to curtsy, and much more! Will was extra proud of Anna because she was very social and outgoing...which for Anna is a new thing. She has always been that cautious, tentative, shy little girl...but this year she has certainly blossomed. We are so proud of her. Here are some pictures that Will got from that event!

Anna all dressed up!


She was happy to pair off with someone and learn a new dance.


Anna curtsied in front of everyone when it was her turn.


Anna received her official princess certificate


Oh, and Aiden went along for the ride (but was apparently very intrigued by the events!


We had a mellow evening at home. Elizabeth and hubby Richard came over, so i could go over some KM stuff with her, and then we just had wine and chatted. Lovely relaxing time..

Tomorrow is going to be SO much fun... We are taking the kids to a Pet Fair at the Orlando Science Center. Will went last year, and said how much fun it was. I think the kids will love it! Should be a nice family day.

Hope everyone has a nice restful rest of the weekend...

Love, Holly