Sun, Moon & Stars :o)

The sun, moon & stars aren't as impressive as yesterday....I decided that Friday should be 'Happy Friday' and so I made oreo truffles for all of Brian's teachers/therapists. Last Friday I took in the pretzel dragonflies to them and they were so excited.....They are so good to Brian and Brian absolutely LOVES all of them. They're mainly summer staff, which makes me very sad, and almost an entire new set of teachers/therapists will start in the fall. I adore his teacher, Sue, and the teacher assistant, Jen and both of them will be gone in the fall. :o( I haven't learned all of the aides' names yet but every last one of them is super sweet and it reassures me that I'm leaving him in excellent and caring hands each day. :o)

Brian will be happy that there is so much cheese in his lunch! :o) We might have to drink some prune juice this weekend.... ;o)

I hope everyone has a Happy Friday tomorrow! I know we will because when I pick up my little man from school, I'll have two full wonderful days with him. :o)

Plyo push-ups

Dearest Jillian,

I printed off my circuits for tomorrow and noticed that I get to attempt the plyo push-ups again....I mean seriously, did I not embarrass myself enough the other day? Two....two measly ones...and they were pretty pathetic! It's a good thing I know about the super secret room at the Y so I can do our workouts entirely in private without an audience watching my hilarious attempts at some of your exercises. Those straight legged squat thrusts were another jewel.....Lets just say that didn't happen! Can I blame my hamstrings? I have really tight hamstrings! ;o)

The food.....I have steered clear of cottage cheese since the first time I tried it...which probably coincided with my sister's decision to become a vegetarian in high school when my mom cooked an array of delightful tofu dishes. Ha! It's the consistancy, Jillian....who wants to put something like that into their mouth? Just for you.....I tried it again today. I was rather surprised that it didn't have a strong taste at all.....but the consistancy.....It still hasn't changed....and it was still hard for me to eat! The last time I was visiting Huntsville, I remember having a conversation with my dad about some foods he didn't like due to textures and consistancy....I think coconut is one of his dislikes due to texture....I didn't think I had any food aversions based solely on texture or consistancy but I now realize I do! I bought two containers of it....so I at least have to finish those...Who knows....I might just find a way to get over it....probably not!

I am happy to report that I haven't had my Diet Dr. Pepper in 3 days! It's been several years since that has happened! You're insisting on banishing the processed foods, artificial sweetners, dyes, etc...and so I think I'm not doing half bad for my 1st week. I still use sweet-in-low in my coffee in the mornings....and it will be a long while before I give that up....

I was so happy to have a day off today! Your workouts are killing me! I love them and you really make me miss Carol, Shelly & Brandy!

Off to rest up for another hard am workout! :o)

Walking stick & Beach bears :o)

The beach bears are an 'Amy original'.....Here are the instructions if you want to make one:

Take a graham cracker and cover the entire thing in peanut butter. Put a little peanut butter on the bottom back edge of the cracker to help attach the 'water'. The water is strips of 'Fruit by the Foot Flavor Kickers - Berry Blast'. I cut 3 or 4 pieces and wrapped them around the bottom of the graham cracker and attached them to the back with the bit of peanut butter around the edges. I then 'glued' the goldfish to the water with peanut butter. The teddy graham bears have gummy lifesavers around them for a float. I attached these with peanut butter as well. I cut a piece of 'Fruit by the Foot -Variety Pack/Color by the Foot' for the bear's beach towel and attached that to the peanut butter that was at the top of the cracker and attached the bear to the towel with P.B. as well. I then crushed up some bears to make the sand and pressed that into the P. B. around the towel. :o)

The walking stick is from 'Better Homes and Gardens' and the instructions are here: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/walking-stick/

Enjoy! :o)

Circle of Life :o)

Andrea sent me a picture of a butterfly sandwich...Thanks for the idea! I decided to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich decorated with raisins and cheerios. As I was making the butterfly, I thought about Brian's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' book and decided to add the caterpillar and cocoon. My marshmallow cocoon is a stretch...ha! I was trying to get it made before his bath and I was pressed for time. I hope he eats his sandwich & caterpillar and aren't too scared by them! :o)

My mom used to write us notes in our lunch and it's a very fond memory I have of my childhood. She wouldn't write a note everyday, but that was always the first thing I looked for when I opened up my lunch bag. I decided to write notes to Brian when he started preschool. I know they probably think I'm crazy since he doesn't read....but I really hope they read them to him. I've started including what some of his treats are in case they can't tell due to transportation problems....haha!

Alfalfa & Penguins

The cute little penguins are from www.allrecipes.com....Thanks Brenda! :o) The ham and cheese sandwich is an 'Amy original'.....Green bean ears, alfalfa hair, and cheese & ham for the face. :o)

My 1st order!!!! :o)

I'm so very excited! I finally have my 1st order for my 'yet to be named' cake business. :o) I'm doing 'Yo Gabba Gabba' cupcakes for the triplets' birthday. :o)

Hotdog Octopus :o)

While searching the internet for ideas, I've come across these 8-legged creatures a few times so I decided it was time to make one for Brian. I know everyone was a bit turned off by the squid-dogs...haha! The octopus isn't quite as bad... ;o)

Carefully cut the hotdog to make the 8 legs making sure to leave at least 1.5 to 2 inches of hotdog for the head. Boil the hotdog until the legs curl up. I then made two small slits for the eyes and quartered a raisin. Take two of the quartered pieces and insert into the slits for eyes. I have it over orzo pasta because that's the only pasta I had on hand.

Today was a really lazy day for us. Ryan & Michelle took me and Brian to Tin Pan for breakfast as an early bday present....Thanks so much! :o) Then I met up with Katie to buy her old jogging stroller...YAY! After that we headed home and I haven't done much because I feel really icky! My throat has been hurting for a few days and I think being out in the sun all day yesterday is contributing as well. I'm off to bed in a few minutes so I can catch up on some sleep.

Have a great night! :o)