Puppy Chow

So Scott & Matt went to go see the new Batman movie tonight, so it's just me and the kids at home. We played in the basement for awhile (while I tried to start organizing the disaster that it is) then we ran to Copps to get the kids some Popsicles, now the kids are watching Peter Pan and I just finished reading a book. Pretty uneventful Friday night, but it's nice.

So for camping I decided to make some Puppy Chow. I've never made Puppy Chow before, so I went to allrecipes.com and found THIS recipe. It made a lot more than I expected, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, I think I ended up putting a little bit more of everything into it but it turned out great. That's something I probably shouldn't make to often because I might just sit and eat the entire thing! Yumm! It is a great snack though to have while you're camping, so next time we're camping I'll be sure to make this again.

28 Day Bootcamp

Tuesday morning here. Not much to report. Worked out last night, started reading a new book for book club and had dinner at the in-laws. That pretty much sums up our Monday night. So far Tuesday is going pretty smoothly both kids seem to be in good moods, so hopefully that will continue. Both kids are running around playing while I drink my morning coffee and check a few things on the computer.

So recently I checked out from the Library Sparkpeoples: 28 Day Bootcamp. Unfortunately I only got to check it out for a week so I only used the video 4 times. The whole DVD is an 84 minute workout (way to long for me, since there's always so much going on) but it is neatly broken into smaller segments. The first night I did one of the 20 minute sections, then the second night I did a slightly longer section and the 3rd and 4th I started from the top and did the warm up and the first 2 - 12 minute sections. All are really great workouts but I think I sweat more by starting at the beginning and doing those first sections. Either way, whichever combination you decide to do you'll get your heart rate going. The biggest criticism I have is that they seem to go really fast doing the exercises. Sometimes it took me awhile to really figure out what they were doing. I wish they would have slowed some of those down so I didn't feel like I was moving at hyper speed. Overall, I would say this is more of an intermediate DVD (b/c of the speed) but it is one that I will check out from the library again.

Dane County Fair

Monday already. So glad I don't have school on Monday's anymore- well at least for another 3 weeks before I start up again. Did everyone have a good weekend? Yesterday was a pretty lazy day around here. Made 4 jars of Bread & Butter Pickles and wrapped a bunch of presents, that's about it.

A couple of weeks ago was the Dane County Fair. We've gone on Sunday the last couple of years but not always with the same people. This year we went with the Moore family and with Scott's parents. I got some sugar covered nuts (yum), the Moore's purchased some tastey chips, and Jim & Pat bought some yummy wine slush stuff. And of course Connor had to go win his "fishy" friend! We only ever stay a couple of hours but it's always a lot of fun. I really wanted to take one of the cute bunnies that I saw home! The animals were probably the kids favorite part.

Camping With The Moore's

So how is every one's Sunday going? We're going to be taking it very easy today: partially because Connor is in a "mood" and partially because we just need a lazy day. Our summer's are always so frantically busy that we don't get many days to "do nothing". So that's what we're going to do today. Going to play on the computer, read some books and maybe do some cleaning (but that's a big maybe, lol).

So a few weeks ago we went "camping" with Scott's sister's family & his parents. We waited to long to be able to get into any of the places that we wanted to, so we decided to save some money and camped in the back yard. Unfortunately Friday night Scott & I were super sick, so me and Savannah went home to sleep and Scott & Connor toughed it out in the tent. The big thing Saturday was the Aquatic Center but because of my swimmers ear from the previous weekend, I couldn't go, so Savannah and I went back home and took a good nap. Throughout the weekend there was a lot of yummy food to eat, we took a walk to Dairy Queen, and we also had some light saber duels in the backyard, lol. Other than being sick Friday night the weekend was a lot of fun.

The Balanced Mom

So as of last night I only have one more class left for my Accounting 1 class! Woho! On Thursday I have my chapter 8 & 9 test and then the final. I'm feeling fairly confident that I will finish the class with an A. I think I would have to seriously screw up on one of those tests to not get an A, and honestly I don't see that happening. But only time will tell!

So recently I finished reading The Balanced Mom by Bria Simpson. The concept of the book is good and some of the ideas in the book are really good but for me it seemed the first half of the book repeated it self almost every chapter just with a few different words added or subtracted. Also a lot of her suggestions cost money, which really isn't an option for some people. I guess I didn't really know what to expect from the book but it did not meet my expectations. It was quick read so if you pick it up it wont be a complete waste of your time but I wouldn't actively seek to read this book.

One Breath Away

So the Festival is this weekend (St. Dennis Festival), should be a lot of fun! I think this is the first !year where Connor really remembers what it's all about, so he's super excited. I made some chocolate chip zucchini muffins for the sweet tooth booth and we're going to try and find some stuff for the treasure chest (but since we waited until the last minute, I'm not sure if we will have time). Also can't wait until Sunday to pay my $5 to get a whole bag of books!

So recently I finished reading One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf. This is the third book she's written, and I've read all of her books now. This particular one just came out at the end of June and as soon as I could I put myself on the waiting list at the library. I was excited to read her new book and I was not disappointed. Her writing always draws me in and I always finish her books very quickly. With having children, this book definitely brings to mind my worst nightmare of sending my children to school. Thankfully all turns well with very little injury to anyone in the story. I can honestly say, for once, I did not guess who the villain was and was surprised at the end of the story. If you've read her other books and enjoyed them, definitely pick up her newest one! Now is the wait until she writes another one! I'm sure I'll read that one right away too!

Beyond The Sling

Last night I got some cleaning done. If you know me & Scott we're not much into deep cleaning. Mostly we do enough to get by without looking like complete pigs all the time. However, I would really like to try and keep my house cleaner than its current level but it's difficult to do because of the kids, school, and work. Last night I spent around 1.5 hours cleaning. I cleaned out the fridge completely and I started on our bathroom. I literally took everything out of the bathroom (drawers, shelves, etc) and working on cleaning it and organizing and throwing stuff out. Couldn't finish it all last night but I should be able to tonight.

So about a week and a half ago I finished reading Beyond The Sling by Mayim Bialik. I've been meaning to read this book for awhile and had actually gotten it once before from the Library but at that time I just didn't have enough time to actually sit down and read it. I'm glad I finally got to read it. It reads very easily (read it in only a few days) and briefly touches on all aspects of Attachment Parenting. I follow some of the "rules" of attachment parenting but there are areas I do not. Even if you think attachment parenting is "crazy" I recommend you reading this book to get a good idea on what it's all about. It's really not all that "crazy" it's more about listening to yourself and trusting your instincts that you know how to parent your children. I'm really glad she has a reference section in the back of the book so I can get some more books on a couple of the subjects since within the length of the book she truly could not go into a huge amount of detail.

Donovan Turns 5

So I took Test #4 last night for my Accounting class. I'm not nearly as confident with this test as the last 3. I know I still passed, and to other people's standards I probably still did good, but I'm not sure I'll get to say for the 4th time that I received over 100% on it. Why the need for such high grades? Because, I've figured out if I receive all A's in my final classes at MATC I will graduate with honors, with over a 3.75 in the classes that count towards my degree. And I really want to graduate with honors!

So a little over a week ago now, while we were camping, we had to take a time out and drive back into Madison for Donovan's 5th Birthday party. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for very long but I'm still glad we showed up for a little while at least. For his birthday we gave him a new sweatshirt that he should be able to wear for school this coming year and also one of those big Car's color, construct things that get super big. I hope he has a lot of fun putting that all together. I hope his birthday was fabulous and he received everything his five year old heart desired.

Camping in Lodi

So this weekend is almost at an end. In same ways I'm so glad that it's finally over (sickness is never fun). In other ways I wish it wasn't almost done (test tomorrow night, yuck!). Scott & the kids are about to watch a movie in the living room and we're waiting for our dinner to arrive (Glass Nickel - yumm!). It's been quit the exhausting weekend and neither of us wanted to attempt to make dinner.

So last weekend with John & Carol we headed up north to Lodi to go camping at Smokey Hollow campground. OMG - it was a blast! They had a man made pond that was so much fun to play in. They had multiple different inflatable things to play on - several slides, a trampoline, etc. Connor kept track and he went swimming 6 times (Friday, 4x Saturday, and Sunday). Their little store had some yummy ice cream, slushies and some iced coffee and the campgrounds overall were pretty nice. So between swimming, and playing at the playground (right outside our camper - well Aunt Lori & Kari's camper that they let us borrow) we kept very busy. This is a place I would definitely consider going to again.

Fifty Shades - Series

Back from a day full of "camping" at the Moore's house. Had a lot of fun today, and after being so sick last night, I felt so much better! Also, my ear is doing a lot better too. I've only had to take Tylenol once today, where as the last couple of days I couldn't go more than about 5 hours without taking more, so that's a good sign!

So recently I finished reading the whole series of Fifty Shades by EL James. I read all 3 of the books in a little over a week, so I obviously enjoyed reading them. I really enjoyed the characters and I'm glad the entire book didn't 100% focus on the "adult scenes". From the way people were talking about it I thought it would be too over whelming and I wouldn't enjoy them, but I did. It's definitely not a type of book I would normally read but the characters kept my interest enough to finish out the entire series. Have any of you read the series? What did you think?