Halloween Preview

Gabriel's "Fall Party" is tomorrow (that's conservative Christian school code for HALLOWEEN PARTY!) and the kids are supposed to dress up like their favorite story book character. Gabe's favorite story is "Harry The Dirty Dog" which is a book about a little white dog with black spots who runs away from home because he does not want to take a bath. On his adventures, he gets very dirty and turns into a black dog with white spots. When he gets back home, his family doesn't recognize him until he runs upstairs and hops into the tub with his scrub brush in his mouth. After his bath, his family realizes the little dog IS HARRY! How cute.... we will be reading the story at circle time. Here's a photo of my first attempt at costume making. Hopefully he looks enough like a dog and not like a cow.



I also got signed up to bring "Fall Cookies". I wasn't quite sure what the difference between a Fall cookie and a Summer cookie was so I got some help from Family Fun magazine and made these cute little guys out of Oreos, candy corn, Whoppers, and a little white icing. (They are VERY diabetic friendly *insert sarcasm here*)



Meanwhile, Zoe was very busy giving us a helping hand getting the costumes and snacks ready....



Tonight we will be carving our pumpkin together!!

Hope all of you out there have a safe and fun Halloween tomorrow!!

P90x Update Vlog

Hi everyone! I figured it was time for another vlog!!

To clarify.... My kids were napping AND the windows were open. =)

Also, I realized when I turned the computer screen, Franklin was no where in sight. HAHA.




You can learn more about our decision to P90x HERE

Addendum....

Just wanted to add one more thing to my Friday Felicities.

I happened to see the "Omaha Steaks Deal" right after it was posted from Thrifty Florida Mama and got my steak burgers yesterday! It was delivered in dry ice and Gabe and I had a lot of fun pouring water on it and making fog. haha.

I got 18 4 oz. steakburgers (Yes...18!!!)
And a knife cutlery set and cutting board (Which I will be selling at my yard sale because they look cheap and we have Cutco's)

For $3.98!!!!!!!!

This deal is now dead... I went to my friend's house about 3 hours after I did the deal to help her do it and even she couldn't get it to work!!! You have to be SUPERSONIC fast on some of these deals!! (She did get 12 burgers for $3.98, but not the bonus 6 and kitchen stuff)

Please pray for our family. We are being attacked by sickness. We woke up this morning and 3 out of 4 of us have pink eye. Please pray that Justin remains well. He has an amazing immune system! Thanks! Happy Weekend!

Friday Felicities

Things That Make Me Happy....

Jesus loves me, this I know.... for the Bible tells me so.

November 4th is almost here. I might shoot myself if it were any further away.

Afrin. Yes I know it's bad for you, but oh how well I sleep when my nasal passages are open.

CVS. I adore your deals.

Franklin... my Jack Russell is licking my feet right now as I type. He's the best.

Peppermint Mocha creamer is back and I am hoarding it in my fridge right now!!

The Only Political Blog You'll Ever See Me Write...

Why? Because I'm naturally a pretty non-confrontational person and I see how angry and mean political opinions can make people.

With that said... I am unapologetically a Christian who supports pro-life legislature and organizations who help give the unborn a voice. This hits close to home for me because I am married to a wonderful man who was born to a scared 16 year old woman over 28 years ago. She could have easily made the decision to kill him since she was young, and scared, and needed to finish school.... etc. Thankfully, she made the right decision, but many women don't have the same support she had and are misled to believe that ending their baby's life would be better than the alternatives.

I have flipped and flopped my vote over these past two months and prayerfully considered each candidate. There were times when I wanted to support Obama, and times when I wanted to support McCain.

Thirdly, over the past couple days I have realized that I had the facts and needed to make a decision that was right for my beliefs on who will provide the best leadership for the future of our country. This has been a tough decision for me because I'm not crazy about either candidate.

After researching this website I have decided to give McCain my vote because of my stance on abortion issues. I realize many of you may feel that the economy, foreign policy, and national security may take precedent over something as "silly" as abortion, but in my book, I have realized NOTHING is more important than the sanctity of human life.

Please take a few moments to look at the FACTS from this website below on Obama's voting record for late term abortion in the state of IL. (That matched a federal bill)

I respect that we all have differing opinions on issues as controversial as this, but I am passionate about speaking up for those who have no voice and felt compelled to share.

God bless!

http://www.bornalivetruth.org/debate3.aspx

I'm Having An I Hate Diabetes Week...

not that every week isn't an I Hate Diabetes week, but this has been a tough one.

First there was my encounter with my life insurance policy. It came to my attention that I had been paying the "Standard Smokers Rate" for the past 5 years on my policy. As a Type 1 diabetic it is VERY difficult to obtain life insurance, so I make sure to maintain this policy just incase anything happens to me. I was all excited and thought I may be in the running for a refund, only to find out the reason they have me listed as a smoker is because it's cheaper than if I did a medical review and they found out I was a T1 diabetic. This makes me frustrated.

Today I spent the day in bed most of the day. Trying desperately to entertain and take care of the basic needs of my children. Gabe, unfortunately spent most of the day entertained by PBS kids, Disney movies, and educational websites. I have been munching on fruit punch flavored glucose tablets and enjoying the beautiful shade of pink that comes up when my stomach decides it doesn't want anything to digest in it today.

Then there was my trip to the mail box, only to discover a $1400 medical supply bill for insulin pump stuff. I am hopeful that I will only have to pay about $400 of this bill, but now I get to look forward to digging through EOB's and trying to find proof.

I hate diabetes. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. And Stay At Home Moms don't get a day off. *end of rant*

Ziploc Omelettes

We made these ziploc omelettes tonight and it was so much fun!!

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent mar
ker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2 or it will be runny) shake to combine them.

Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece.

World Diabetes Day... You Can Help!!

November 14th is World Diabetes Day. A couple leaders amongst the Diabetes online community are petitioning Google to make a Doodle on this day to help promote Diabetes awareness. We are trying to get 20,000 signatures. Would you PLEASE take a few seconds and sign this petition by clicking the link below? Thanks!

WOWZA!

My friend Jim-Bob sent me this video today. He just went up like 10 notches on the cool scale (and he was already REALLY cool, mostly because his wife is so awesome) ;-) Enjoy!!!!

And for you non music people, this WHOLE jazz boogie is based off of 3 little chords. The I, IV, V7 progression. It's so much easier than it looks, I promise!! If you've always wanted to learn piano. Go take a couple improv/jazz lessons from a good teacher. I dare ya. =)

Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis
Uploaded by Hanvak

The Importance of Saving In Today's Economy

A few weeks ago some friends of mine were talking about what to do with the money their small children were given for birthdays, Christmas, etc. We decided to open them an account at ING Direct so this money can be earning a GREAT interest rate, but still be very liquid (unlike bonds). I can not stress how much I LOVE this bank! I TRULY feel like this is one of the few banks left in America that's still acting responsibly and with integrity. Justin and I also have our Emergency Fund with them.

Here's why I love them. When you open a FREE Orange Savings Account with them through a referral from an existing customer they give you a free $25 if you open it with a minimum of $250.

The interest rate is 3.5% !!!! That is AWESOME!! The reason they can give you such a high rate (the rate at our other bank where we previously had our savings was .3%) is because they have no physical branches. Everything is taken care of online and linked to the external checking account of your primary bank.

For example, if I want to deposit $50 into Zoe's savings account I simply click on "Transfer money from Checking To Zoe's Account" and if I need to use some of our emergency fund for an emergency, I just click Transfer from Emergency Fund to Checking. It takes 2 business days to go through.

If you want to open more accounts, say for targeted things like a vacation or new car you can also do this with just a click of a button, and there are NO FEES PEOPLE!

If you'd like to learn more about opening an ING DIRECT account, please email me or leave me a link with an email address where I can send you the referral email. Even if you go into dire financial straights and have to close the account someday, you still get a free $25 bucks if you open the account with $250! You really can't lose!

I know in this tough economy you may be thinking, "I can barely pay my bills, how the heck can I afford to SAVE?" This is not an easy question to answer and we felt this way ourselves at one time. Last year at this time, Justin and I had much more money going OUT than we had coming IN. We decided to hire a Financial Consultant through Dave Ramsey's organization and she was worth every penny. She gave us ideas that I would have never thought of on my own and gave us a peace that allowed me to free my mind of all the horrible worries that debt can bring upon us. Dave Ramsey is the author of the Financial Peace University course that is taught at many churches across the country. It focuses on living below your means and becoming debt free. I HIGHLY recommend it!

P90X... And So It Begins!

Diabetes + Healthy Eating = Good
Diabetes + Healthy Eating + Exercise = Better Than Just Good

Windy + Exercise = Virtually Non Existent (Until Now!!!)

Justin and I decided a few weeks ago that it was time to get back into shape. Both of us are at a normal BMI, but since Zoe came along we've definitely turned into bigger homebodies since it is more difficult to cart around two small children than it is just one. Along with our homebody-ness we've found ourselves watching a LOT of TV and movies at night. Along with our TV and movie watching has come SNACKING. "Get in my BELL-LAY! It's a vicious cycle." The road we were heading down was trouble.

So, Hunkalicious Justin (That was for you Landileigh) decided to whip out something called P90X on me. Basically it is a 90 day workout program. 12 different workouts. Boot camp style. 5 days a week you work out for about an hour and twenty minutes. One day you do Yoga, something lower key, and one day you stretch or rest. There's nothing gimmicky about it, it's just HARD STINKING SWEATY HORRIBLE WORK!! I am learning new words like Plyometrics, Kenpo, Synergistics... FUN STUFF. The great thing about this workout, is I can use my little 5-8 lb weights, while Justin uses his big strong man weights and we can both do it together. For me, accountability is VITAL to succeeding in exercising and weight loss. If I don't have a buddy going, "Come on, it's time. Get off your lazy rear!" then I find myself saying, "Forget it. I'm taking a nap."

The video I particularly LOATHE is the AbRipperX. Ironically, this is the video you do the most (3x a week- 16 minutes of hellish ab work) I found this video on You Tube very hilarious. DISCLAIMER: Lots of naughty language! Surprisingly, I made it through the whole workout the first time, but I didn't do HALF the reps they do on the video. I will by the end of 90 days though. Ab work makes me cantankerous. (That was for you Alisa)

I took "Before Pictures", that no, I will not share on this wondrous thing called the Internet. But the reason Justin convinced me to do this workout had a lot to do with people on You Tube who posted their results via Vlogs. They weren't paid spokespeople, but just folks like you and me wanting to get in shape. Hopefully in 83 more days, I'll be able to give you some good news about this program and post my own inspiring video! (Don't hold your breath though! We'll see!!)

So far, one week into this, I am SOOOORRRRREEEE. The guy on the video says, "The soreness is the weakness leaving your body." I kinda like that picture. Hasta la vista Weak Windy!