Playhouse

The kids love playing outside at my parents house and who blames them there is so much to do and see and explore! Plus this weather makes it super great for playing outside!





The boys are staying at my parents and the girls at Jerry and amanda's so I am going to get some house cleaning done before we head to Texas! All that is Erik :(

Location:MaMere and pawpaw house

Taco Dinner

I am not sure if I posted this or not but my kids love Tacos - ok Jaxon loves Taco and in one of the WW cookbook they have Healthy Beef-n-bean tacos

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 lb lean ground beed
1 onion (i use what ever I have - sweet, white or red and the all work great)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup water ( I use 1/2 cup when I double the recipe)
1 1/4 cup fat-free refried beans

cook beef, onion, garlic, and season mix,
stir in water cook until liguid has evaporated
stir in beans and heat through
spoon about 1/4 cup of beef mixture into each taco shell

2 tacos - 318 cal, 9g fat, 41 carbs, 7 g fiber

I made it tonight with Tommy and Maddie here, after telling me it did not look like their Moms they tasted it and ate it. The beans make the taco meat look more like a paste then the crumbed meat.

school parties

The kids had their parties today at school. They had fun. Each did crafts and played games. Jaxon's class played bingo and decorated cupcakes while Katie did sticker crafts and played toss games. I was running back and forth between the 2 classes but they too busy to really care that I was not there all the time.
So now the holidays have begun!

comeaux family christmas

a little back step for the blog - Sunday we had my Mom's family Christmas party, Erik said it was the best one he had been to. The kids were at a prefect age. We did not have to worry about them at all - plus it was at my Mom's house so that helped.

then we tried to take a family picture - the kids did not want to do this but this is what we ended up with..

Making spin art

We started the holiday off by making crafts - spin art

End of great 2 weeks!

Well Erik is on a flight back to Qatar and this was the hardest good-bye so far. We had a wonderful time while he was home. Jaxon had he birthday and a super fun party. He also started indoor soccer, which is a very high speed game that he loves. KK finished another round of gym and had her parent watch for Dance. 2 painting date nights which we have beautiful pictures from - if you had not try it - what are you waiting for??
Erik was home for the Christmas parties - our neighbors Friends Christmas and then the Comeaux party. It was just a wonderful 2 weeks! for the first time I actually cried this morning when it was time to get up know that he would not be there for 6 weeks to keep me warm. Then at the airport KK was crying so that mad both of us cry.
This is not our first Christmas morning with out Erik, he has missed due to shift work but this is the first time we will not see him at all on Christmas. So I have to keep a smile and make this a great Christmas for the kids! I think the hardest part is going to be when I tell them they have to wait to open Santa gifts till Daddy gets on Skype!

Reality sucks sometimes

Yesterday I realized that the kids start there Christmas break the day after Erik leaves. I knew this before but I guess the reality of it hit me since it is so close. I feel bad for the kids. I will keep them busy while they are off school but it is hard since this is a family time.
I am jealous of the people that do get to spend the holidays with him. Most of them don't even celebrate Christmas.
I am thankful for the time we have together an glad this contract is almost up. Ok enough of my pity party time to enjoy the time I do have, even if that means just sitting in the same room together.

Yeah life!

One week down

Well even with Erik home I have lost a little weight - very little but that is alright. I really shouldn't have lost any since this past week I have had Hooters with lots of Beer and wings, Jaxon's party, Cane's and lots of drinks with Megan! Boy I wonder what my week would have been with out all that! anyway down .6 so Yeah!

new program

So WW changed their program on Monday so I went back to the meetings to make sure I am getting all the new information plus there is something about standing on a scale in front of someone that kinda helps you stay on track - well I started yesterday and had a good day. We had a great dinner of FLank steak and Roasted artichokes which my kids asked for seconds. Today was turkey with roasted squash which they did not ask for more veggies, oh well I tried. As I am figuring out my points using the new method - fat, protein, carbs, and fiber, I am finding I am not eating enough! With the fruit being 0 points I am able to stay full with out spending my points, well you have to use all your points each day so I ended yesterday with a fun size candy bar and tonight with another one but also a vodka and cran apple cocktail - you think that is what they had in mind??

Erik comes home tomorrow! I am so excited.

Slipcovers

AMazing what Slipcovers can do for ugly old faded chairs!


Yeah life!

Clean floors

I had my floors cleaned today but with the rain my carpet is still wet :(


Yeah life!

M&M day

Claire's and emma's


Jaxon's and Katie's


Tommy's and maddie's


Pin the face on the m&m


Painting Christmas balls

Location:MaMere and Paw Paw's house

I live my silhouette machine

Just wanted to share what I cut out this weekend.


Ok this was a failed



A card


This is on my chalk board

Santa Pictures

I know we are ahead of the natural order of holidays but here are the Santa Pictures we took!

The little things

Sometimes things are taken for granted and it is nice to hear or read it every once in a while. Erik tells me he loves me every time we talk or at the end of emails or texts but the other day he told me a story where someone at work asked him if Scott was his best friend and he told them no his wife was. I can't explain how wonderful that was to read! It truly is the little things that are rarely said that means the most!!


I pass these trees everyday when i bring and pick up the kids, I just love them.

Crafts

I am being crafty this week.


Our tree hot so heavy I had to move it to the door and use magnets to hold it up. We are so thankful.


Bows for a present


Hung half my curtains up. Just need to figure out how to hang the red ones up right


A turkey shirt using kk's hands


And the bow holder for the bows

Yeah life!

My to do list

Thanksgiving is next week - oh my goodness - which means Christmas is next then the New Year so I have started to think of things I want to happen in 2012, wait I just skipped a whole year. I wanted to make a list of things for 2011 - some are already in the works like the Happiness Project, well I started reading it does that count, others I need to figure out how to make it happen - like learn to take better pictures.
I want to finish painting down stairs
Do the kids bathroom in maps
use the things I already own
enjoy life

apple days

It is funny how doing something or hearing something will bring up a memory, well that happen last night while the kids and I were making apple crisp. I remember when I was stationed in San Diego going to Julian, Ca during their Apple Days in Oct. The whole town smelled like apples. No not apples but baked apple pie, it was wonderful and it was just a little chilly so we had apple cider. I know we did not go there for the Apple Days festival but somehow we ended up there on a Saturday. What a good memory!

pictures

I love taking pictures and sharing them with everyone, I wish I knew more about taken them but it is on my list of things to do. anyway with tomorrow being veterans day a few people changed their profile pictures to ones of them in uniform. Erik asked to find one of him in his blues and made a comment that we did not have any of the two of us in uniform together. How could that be we were on the same ship for almost 2 years (actually almost 4 years but we did not know each other for 2 of those years). So I looked and looked and looked - sure enough I could not find one picture of us in uniform together. How sad is that! I will have to ask Carol if she has any from the family day cruise, but how did that happen? I have a lot of pictures of us in the same space but not together. Did we not ask anyone to take our picture, did we not think to ask anyone? I have a few on the flight deck as we went through the Suez Canal - Erik and Gary, Erik and Vandi, me and Vandi,- Erik, Vandi and Gary but none of me and Erik not even with a group of people. Now I am on a mission to find one picture of us together in uniform!!
Really how can that be? I know we were using film cameras but come on.......

Anyway I hope everyone has a very Happy Veterans Day tomorrow!

Santa pictures

Today we had Santa pictures. It was fun helping out but also a little crazy!
Look how much our tree has grown with leaves. The kids love adding their new things they are thankful for and I love using my new silhouette cutter! I was so excited when hallie asked for her own "give thanks" sign and I was able of show off how cool the machine was !! I am so excited to try new designs.





Yeah life!

I saw this on another blog (crap that I've made)
So everyday the kids write on a leaf what they are thankful for. So far we have mom and dad, Katie , jaxon, and manners. I think once more leaves are up the tree is going to look really cool.

Fall Fest Friday

Jaxon's class

Katie's Class


Picking out Pumpkins

Back on the band wagon

Ok so everyone is starting to blog again so I will join the band wagon. Actually I have been looking for a journal to write in but I have not found one that I liked. So I will start here.
Erik left again last night. We have 5 weeks to go till we see him again. It will be a busy 5 weeks!!
Today I am back on the wagon again with being healthy. I did really well while he was gone but for some reason I think I get a free pass while he is Here. Well now I have to pay the price and lose the 4 pounds I gained in the 16 days he was here. What did it, no tracking, skipping workouts or drinking every night or eating out. Pick one or two and that
would be the reason!!
So today I am jumping back in fill speed ahead. I did skip the gym today but so far I have done 51 minutes on the elliptical and I am working my arms on the weight machine while type. Ok so I am resting longer then I need to but I am multi tasking.

So what is the game plan fir the next 5 weeks - workout, eat right, finish painting down stairs, start painting up stairs, spend time with family and friends. Help at school a bunch ( I will be there Thursday Friday Monday and Tuesday) plus this Friday for fall parties.

Jaxon has stopped tkd for a while which is good for everyone. After over 2 years he needed an wanted a break. So I am putting him in arena soccer only bad part is the games are on Saturday but we will see how it goes. He loves soccer , I looked into Futsal also so he could get some extra training but it was too expensive for what I was looking for

So today I am going shopping for some retail therapy once I get motivated. Erik is on his last leg of his 22 hour. Of flights. So once he lands in Doha I will be able to breathe again. Sad to say that but him flying makes me nerves with all the crazy people in the world. Tonight is dance for kk then trunk or treating Should be fun!


Yeah life!

Location:Home

Bathroom color

I can't tell if it is too dark of a color. This is only one coat and it is not the bathroom paint so I have to repaint the whole thing anyway so what do you think??
I know hard to tell in the picture.
In the picture it looks blends really well with the hallway





Yeah life!

Adding color to my life

Kk new pillowcase

Yeah life!

Uniforms ahhhhhh

I am waiting for the uniform store to fix kk's uniforms. Theses stores have it made. There are only 2 stores in the area that carry our patches 1 ordered the wrong uniform for me which they are now fixing - they said it would take 2 days I said no I will wait while it is done now ( someone on the phone said they could do it today) lucky for me it was the right plaid but it is missing some red piping around the top

The second store will not sell you just the patch because they want to make sure it is on the correct uniform - what does it matter to them if I put it on the wrong one , I am the one who has to deal with the school , way to go playing big brother!!

So the second one being the lesser of the 2 evils will get my business from now on, I really can not over look a uniform store that has been around for so long can make such a careless mistake!

Dinner for tuesday

So me and Megan are doing weight watchers with a twist - we have three things to do each day - meet our points, drink our water and exercise each counts for 5 points, so you can earn 15 points a day - at the end of 4 weeks who ever has the most points wins. So I have been eating better (for 2 days now). Last night we had a ww taco salad and tonight I tried a new recipe - take a flank steak, some lime juice and a jar of salsa put in the crock pot and cook. I took the meat and put it on a tortilla for a meat roll up - was actually really good! yeah a new crock pot dinner.
I also painted a wall in my house black - ok it is chalk board but it is still black. Once I get everything back on the wall and the rest of the room painted it should not stand out so much!

Cooking eggs

You know It is hot when





Yeah life!

Cousins weekend

Yeah life!

Dinner

Yeah life!

Location:Mario's

Breakfast with a view

Hanging out

Yeah life!

1940s theme cake

Yeah life!

another Thursday

I tried to update the blog from the gym today but for some reason my phone would shut the program down and lose all the typing and pictures so I gave up! So no KK gym pictures this week, but unlike Jaxon she will stay in gym so there will be lots of time for those!
So this week has gone by pretty good. Erik left on Sunday - so sad! But I have been to the gym every day this week. I work out for about an hour then the kids and I go swimming till 1pm - which is any where from 1 1/2 to 2 hours. So I am active. I have also been writing everything down that I eat. Today was a little tricky - I wrote it down but no points by somethings. Oh well at least I wrote it down!
I am kinda in a weird place this week since next week I will be at the beach - I did not want to waste this week but at the same time I don;t feel so bad for today since I know next week will be hard. I am going to try but I will be drinking which is never good for the scale and me! So I have started but I am really starting again when I get back.
I hate the word AGAIN I am always trying again, which means I have failed and have to start over again, AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN
I aways start off strong then I get lazy and have to start again! I can't think about that right now....
Time to get the kids to bed

Jaxon's gym

So we put Jaxon in gym this summer. What a mistake he does not like it as much as he thought maybe because it is a tumbling class and he really has to work. He is the only boy and some times the only one that whines!
He is the second from the right.









And then he does not do what he is suppose to do. It drives me crazy!!!!
Lesson learned!