Happy 35!

Well happy 35th to me!! I had a WONDERFUL birthday. We celebrated by taking a trip to Savannah for my cousin Lauren's wedding. I had not seen that side of the family in ENTIRELY too long so we were so excited. And we had a fabulous time. The wedding was so perfect, the city is GORGEOUS and we had a ball. Here are the few pics that were on my camera.....will post more pics when I get them from other people.

Those precious bestie cousins!

And the boys....they couldn't have been more well behaved!!

The fam...



This is how the Diva spent most of the weekend. Don't let her good looks fool you.

And this little easygoing dude was just perfect! CHEERS!


Now up this weekend is a big Girls Night Out to celebrate my birthday and then a couples night on Saturday to celebrate another friends birthday. Fun, fun fun!!

Delicious Brussels Sprouts recipe!

I made these for dinner tonight and they were sooo delicious! I had 4ths. Yes, FOURTHS! *oink* It was an experiment and was great. Even the kids loved it. Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts Hash

I large yellow onion
A few T. Yogurt butter (of course you could use regular butter)
2 1/2 T. Apple cider vinegar
5 T. Xylitol* (you could use regular sugar if you want)
2 T. Olive oil
2 lbs. Fresh Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved and sliced
1 C. Low sodium chicken broth
3 T. Craisins
2 T. Pine nuts
1 1/2 t. Molasses
Kosher salt and pepper

Heat butter over medium heat. Cut onion in 4ths and then slice very thin. Add to butter along with salt and pepper to taste and cook over medium until soft, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar and cook about 3 more minutes, until brown. Put in bowl and keep warm. In same pan, heat olive oil over medium hig heat and add sliced Brussels sprouts. Sauté until brown on the edges, about 6 minutes. Add chicken broth, craisins, pine nuts, molasses and salt and pepper and cook another 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add onions back and combine until heated. Serve and enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

*xylitol is a natural, not chemical, sugar-free sweetener. It is found naturally in berries, fruit and vegetables. It is not artificial as chemical sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and Splenda are. It also measures cup for cup with sugar and is a great sugar substitute in cooking and baking.

One more good resource for healthy eating can be found here. I love this chart!

Snow day...part deux!

Last week I slothed around. I watched TV. I ate. I watched more TV. I played word games on my phone and iPad. I slept. I drank wine (who knew you could get sick of wine?). I was so ready for school to be back in and the sun to come out.

Then Monday came and guess what? The sun was out and the kids were back at school! I was elated! I drove around with my sun roof cracked and my music blaring. I was on a high and thinking that I had unknowingly been suffering from SAD. Then Tuesday came and same deal! My workout was AMAZING, I had a fun lunch with awesome friends and I was in an all around grand mood. I vowed to myself, 'next time bad weather comes, I will just turn on all the lights and listen to the music really loud and pretend that it is a nice day outside'!

And then.

Dum Dum duuuummmmmm....

The call came. 6:11 am and my phone rings. It is Drew Watkins, Superintendent of Prosper schools, saying school was once again cancelled because of ice and freezing conditions.

So here I sit. I have not had a proper meal all day, unless you could 5 cups of coffee, tuna out of the can, crackers and chocolate chips a meal. I took a bath only to warm myself up and then I put my pajamas back on. My children still look like this:


I NEED SUMMERTIME!!! I hoped if I closed my eyes real tight and thought about it real hard, I'd be able to bring myself back here

...but so far that hasn't worked.

Any ideas? Until you think of any, I'll be in my bed watching Oprah....

Little Lovies!

Since we are on day 3 of being COMPLETELY ICED IN, I am desperately looking for things to do around here. Today I decided to watch some old videos. Sooo cute! Listen to Jacob voice....it is crazy how much they have changed in such a 'short' time!

**sorry for the sideways view...annoying, I know!

Super Bowl Sunday!

So, the Super Bowl is this weekend of course....and banking on the fact that we can get out of our driveway (Holy Ice, Batman), we will definitely be going to a Super Bowl party! I wanted to post my favorite healthy eating website in case you were looking for delish recipes for a Super Bowl party of your own. She has some really great recipes on here and this Super Bowl Roundup just could not be missed! Enjoy!

Top 20 Skinny Superbowl Roundup

Bon Appetit and Go Steelers!