Gween

When my son has a good behavior day, he gets "green". There are other warning colors all the way to red. He usually gets green and will come to the car and spell it, so we know what he got. B knows when he says G-R-E-E-N, that it means green. So she said "You got gween!". He said "no, I got green." She says "that's what I said, Gween!" He says "Not gween. Grrrreen." She says "I didn't say gween. I said GWEEN." I told them to quit fighting. :)

I've been getting some green lately. No, not money, but reward for good EATING behavior! I have lost 8.6 pounds. It was only .6 last week, but I feel that as long as it's down, that's progress. Hubby even noticed a pair of my pants was a little loose Sunday. He's trying to lose some too, which is helpful.

Thanks for the comments!

Diet

So, I am trying to diet and exercise. It's not going so well. Not a New Year's resolution, there is a program going on in my town. One of the local Dr.'s offices is holding "Pleasant View's Biggest Loser". I have an official card and everything. They are having seminars and food specials at some of the local restaurants. I haven't dieted in a while, and am not doing wonderfully. I really LIKE to eat! So I went to the nutrition seminar the other day, and the speaker talked about the diabetic "carb counting" diet being really one of the best ways to eat. I'm trying. Mom came for my birthday this weekend and we went to Outback, so that was my "free meal" for the week, where I don't have to count. Then we had lunch at church yesterday, and my m-i-l came over with leftovers. Let's just say I had to count the whole day as "free". Oops. SO my main thing I'm doing is writing down all that I eat. It's tedious and hard to keep up with, but it makes me think about what I'm putting in my mouth. I haven't given up.

Thanks, Mom!

Today, I went to Walmart with some Christmas money. I hit the toy clearance aisle and got TONS of things. Well, not tons. I got 3 Cranium forts (at $10 ea), Operation, an Aqua Doodle with a car that runs on the road you draw, a doctor set, an explorer set, along with various needed items for the home (Pullups, toothpaste, a calendar, that sort of thing). So, my son is thrilled when he comes home from school to all the new stuff. As we go along, I moved downstairs to my computer and the kids were playing upstairs. All of a sudden, my son yells from the top of the stairs "WOW Mom! You got me new toothpaste! THANKS!!" Now, I'm not belittling any thanks I get from my children, but I am certainly going to remember the day I bought all those toys and got thanked for toothpaste. But perhaps that's how we treat God sometimes too. He gives me a wonderful husband, great kids, a home, our health, and we only thank Him for the food some days.

Thanksgiving Break-downs

A friend of mine suggested that perhaps there may be SOMETHING blog-worthy that had happened to me since my trip to Gatlinburg, and she was right. I just didn't post this one here, when I posted it elsewhere. I will write about Christmas... oh, in February? Nah, hopefully soon. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wednesday (day before Thanksgiving), we left to go to IL (I-24 through KY). We were cruising along, when the car bucked and stopped running. Shane managed to coast off the interstate onto the handy offramp, which turned out to be a Parkway and not an Exit. Oops. So we sat alongside the busy pkwy, trying to solve the car problem. Nothing would get the car to start. So we called Shane's brother to come from TN (about 2 hours at this point) with a trailer to haul us and the car back. A police officer stopped to check, but there wasn't anything he could really help with. So, we were sitting in the car when a "Highway Assistance" truck pulled up behind us. They couldn't help with the car, but they did have enough room (barely) to take us to a nearby McDonald's with a play area. When my brother-in-law showed up, we all went back to the car to load it onto the trailer. The "boys" pushed it, while I got to steer onto the trailer. Happy happy joy joy. The biggest problem was that, once on the trailer, you can't open the door wide enough to get out. So I got to do a Dukes of Hazzard and go through the window! We got home safely along with the car. I put the kids to bed, and Shane rode to his parents' house with his brother to borrow their car.

Thursday, Thanksgiving, we set out again to go to IL. We stopped in Clarksville at IHOP for a yummy lunch, and a good start to our trip. We were cruising along through KY, passed exit 25 where we had broken down Wed. and cheered a bit. Not far down the road though, the car "dinged" and began to heat up quickly. Shane got off at Exit 11 (just 14 miles farther than Wed.) and realized that the steering was difficult. He fairly rapidly diagnosed a problem with the drive belt. (He thinks our car is the timing chain.) We called my parents in IL, and asked them to come pick us up. Several people stopped to ask if we needed help. Mom & Dad came with a trailer and we loaded up the car, this time Shane drove it onto the trailer as it was still running, but just couldn't drive it long distance. Shane was able to get the needed parts and fix the car on Friday.

We enjoyed the rest of our visit with my parents and had a safe and uneventful trip home. Although, the car did "ding" just before we got out of IL, and I about had a heart attack. It was a low fuel warning. :) I am truly thankful to God for our safe trip(s) to and from KY and IL this weekend. He is always in control, even when we think we would choose to have life go a different way. I don't know what was on down the road for us if our cars didn't break down, but God does. He cares for us, and surrounds us with people who care for us as well. Thanks to you, for caring enough to read. God blesses us every day.

Vacation

Shane & I had a nice weekend trip to Gatlinburg last weekend. C was on fall break, so he and B went to IL to visit my parents. They had a BLAST, and we had a relaxing and wonderful time.

We left on Thurs morning, stopped for lunch, then just hung out at the cabin that evening. Friday we set out for hiking in Smoky Mountain National Park. The car suddenly overheated on us. It turned out to be a hose that decided to come loose. Shane fixed it and we poured in a good portion of the case of bottled water that we had. :) We went hiking, then mini golf. We went to see the Dixie Stampede show in the afternoon. It was good, but skip the tea. You'd think a place with "Dixie" in the name would know how to make sweet tea. Then we watched a movie and hung out. Our cabin had a hot tub and a pool table, so we weren't without diversion.

Saturday, we did the "tourist" thing in Gatlinburg. There was a craftsman's fair going on that we enjoyed. Then we played Hillbilly Golf (miniature), which was a pretty fun course. Shane & I tied on the score for the 18 holes!! Then we went to dinner at Gondolier Italian & Greek Restaurant. It was casual and nice, and yummy!

Sunday, it was time to go, but we took a driving tour in the park, including some old homesteads (Roaring Fork). That was neat. We stopped a couple more places for souvenirs, then headed back home. We stopped for dinner at a nice restaurant, then rented some movies for the evening: Next and Wild Hogs. Both of them were worth watching.

Monday, I went to retrieve the children from IL. They had made pizza and brownies, gone to an orchard where they went in a hay maze and got cider, carved pumpkins, went in the pedal boat, played games, went to "Grandma's church", and who knows what else.

On the way home Tuesday, we stopped by the Superman statue in Metropolis, then Fort Massac. They were both worth seeing, and the Fort was good for stretching our legs (and getting the kids a little tired so they'd nap on the way home.)

C had to be back in school on Wed.

Overall it was a very nice weekend adventure for everyone.

Reef

C was looking at one of my games with me, and I have a pet that looks Christmasy. So he told me to name it "Reef". I asked if he meant "wreath" and he said "No. R-E-E-F. Reef". Well, all right then, Reef it is. So, what's a reef C? It's a leafy Christmas thing that you put on your door. (Didn't you already know this Mom???) Well, even after the explanation, we left the Reef. :) I also have one named Toorlo, because B LOVED the turtles on Nemo. I'm from the EAC, Dude!

Pull-ups

My mother in law kept my daughter last night. She called me while b was napping.

"Um, I'm sure there's a good reason, but I'm curious. Why is b wearing two pull-ups?"

I reply "What?"

Yeah. She somehow went out wearing TWO pull ups yesterday. Don't know what happened. Other than that she's now changing her own wet pants. Perhaps she had already put on a pair and I handed her one to put on? I don't know.