PYB

PYB stands for "Pick Your Battles, " which is a lesson I'm always learning as a mom. You have to really decide what is most important, and sometimes that changes from child to child, but you have to know when to stop and just hope that the child will finally come to (in the case of our family) her senses and make it right. I'm pretty picky, so I guess I battle quite a bit, but this winter I've fought a battle and finally just waved a white flag in defeat.

The battle is this:

Lisi wearing a coat.

Now this shouldn't be a big deal, but Lisi is almost 4 and like my other children is pretty stubborn (don't know where they get that from), and pretty opinionated (again, don't know where they get that from), and we've decided is pretty warm-blooded (does not get that from me!). She is perfectly happy walking around in 20 degree weather (or less!) with just a long-sleeved shirt and leggings, the jean obsession from last winter turned into a "soft pants" only one. She refuses to wear a sweater and definately no coat! I've conceded to always having her coat in my car (just in case!) and carrying it with me everywhere I go with her, just in case.

Last week I was checking out of a store with Lisi, the weather was awful and cold (surprise! like our whole winter has been), and of course Lisi wasn't wearing a coat. The great-grandmotherly lady helping me, bless her heart, asked why my daughter wasn't wearing a coat. Me: Because she doesn't want to. She replied: Don't you fight her about it? Me: No, I don't. This sweet lady could only shake her head at me, couldn't even look at me again, and could barely hand me my bag, apparently so disgusted with my parenting skills. Really.

But what she doesn't know is that all my children are opinionated and stubborn and really, you can't catch a cold by not wearing a coat and that if I spent my day fighting my almost 4-year-old about wearing a coat in sub-freezing weather I wouldn't have any energy left to fight her (and the other 2) on things that really matter. So I choose not to worry about whether or not she wears a coat. I just carry it around with me. Just in case.

This weekend it snowed/iced/I don't know quite what the weather was doing, but the kids wanted to play outside in it. Everyone else bundled up, but Lisi--no surprise--refused to wear a coat, she wanted to go outside in her short-sleeved shirt and leggings (she'd taken off her velour jacket that was initially over the shirt earlier because she was too hot). I let her, I didn't say a single thing, I just watched her running after her sisters in the freezing cold, as usual I had her jacket ready, just in case. Within about 5 minutes she was back in the house asking for a coat and gloves. Score one for me!

Valentine's Day and Other Things

Is it already the 3rd week of February? How this month has flown by!

I really wish I had something witty to title my post or to tie everything together, but my carb-and-caffeine-deprived brain can't come up with anything. I often feel like I use my blog as more of a journal than anything else, so this is just a glimpse into the past couple of weeks at our house...nothing too exciting, just life as usual in Kansas...but I guess that's what our lives are really all about...the days and nights of doing the everyday things that become part of our memories and part of who we are.

The first week of February Lisi agreed that the Cinderella dress needed a washing, she wore Belle for all of an afternoon. Then Cinderella appeared again. She's starting to get over wearing it everywhere we go, well, kind of--she brings such smiles to our faces!The beginning of Feb. was Pride Week at school. Every day the girls got to do something fun. One day was crazy hair.
One night was Pride Night. The girls showed us around their classrooms, ate a pancake dinner (no I did not cheat on my diet!) and....we heard a strings concert. All I can say about the concert is that after hearing the 5th grade I have hope for the 4th graders. They just need a little work (o.k., quite a bit of work) playing their notes TOGETHER as a group.
To celebrate the 100th day of school, Abbie got to sing with a group on the Colt Channel, the morning broadcast at the elementary school. Her teacher told me that when she had to pick someone who wouldn't be shy in front of the camera, it only took a couple of seconds to decide on Abbie--yes, Abbie has never had a problem with being shy, she can pretty much talk to anyone and loves performing!

Thursday and Friday they were out of school for conferences and it snowed...again! But this time the temperature stayed higher and snow was absolutely the most perfect snow you can imagine. Perfect for snow angels and snow balls and snow forts and snow men and just plain perfect for playing in!

You can see how much snow is coming down, the girls look blurry from all the flakes.
Lisi's cheeks were so rosy she looked like a little doll.

Friends came over to join in the fun. In the backyard, they built snowmen...
and in the front yard a snow fort was under construction.I have to put this down as the best day of snow we've had all year!

This past week we did our final fundraiser for the 5th grade farewell, selling Smencils (again!) and smalentines, (smencils that have valentine scents) before school. 468 smencils gone in 5 days. They sold very well, considering that our school is fairly small and that we'd already sold 600 in December, for approximately $600 profit. Not bad for about 10 hours of work total. Since I'm helping co-chair the 5th grade farewell again next year, I really hope there will be something simple and easy next year, too.

Kierst's assignment was to create a valentine's box, write directions and then present everything to her class on Friday. She chose to make an ipod, and did a great job. Unfortunately, she started throwing up early Friday morning, so no school for her, although laying in bed, white as a sheet she tried to convince me at 7 a.m. that she really didn't feel THAT bad. Poor thing! She has the worst luck getting sick-she's missed overnighters at Timber Wolf Lodge, sleepovers, parties, etc., they always hit at the same time! Abs had a great time at her Valentine's party! The little boy to her right-you can't really see him, she has a crush on. She gave a special valentine to him, and told me she liked him, like I said, she's definately not shy (Abs and I are quite a bit alike when it comes to our personalities, but here's where we differ--I always had a hard time saying how I felt about someone, she has no problem letting everyone know!)Friday we went to a special opening for an exhibit of artwork from throughout our school district at the local library. 12 pieces were chosen from our elementary school, and one of Abbie's was chosen. Way to go, Abs!! Friday night was also our ward Valentine's dinner and silent auction. Both Chris and I bid on babysitting hours without consulting the other, ending up with more than we'd planned on by the end of the night. Oh well, can you ever buy too many babysitting hours?

Kierst got 3 fouls in her b-ball game Saturday, truly a surprise to me, Chris said it was a pretty dirty game on both sides. He's enjoying going to her games so much that he's been working around them as much as possible, going to the hospital, leaving for the game and then going back to finish up.

Saturday night we went on a valentine's date to one of our favorite Meditteranean restaurants. Yummy kabobs is all I have to say about their food.

Sunday after church the girls and I got surprises ready for Chris. They cut out hearts... decorated their own giant cookies...and we zoomed to Chris' hospital. We weren't sure we'd make it before he left for the day, on the way there we called to "check his schedule" as we always do, and he was almost done. But we did make it in time, bringing the goodies up to the NICU and surprising him. He took the cookies to the staff room for everyone to enjoy.We decorated his car before we left--a full heart attack--the girls could barely wait for him to see it! After being married to me and my cheesy ways for almost 15 years, I'm sure that Chris wasn't surprised or embarassed too much.

Chris made surf and turf for Valentine's dinner, although the girls would only eat the surf part of the dinner--they can't stand steak--oh well, more for us! My favorite part of the day was going around the table during dinner telling each family member why we thought he/she was special and what we loved about him/her.

And I made it through Phase 1 of the SBD, officially it ended last night! I did snitch a bite of cookies after making a batch this weekend--but I was still pretty proud to make it through so many temptations, chocolate fountain, chocolate cake, candy, candy and more candy, and more scrumptious delights than you can even guess, without giving in. Yay for a hubby and friends who won't let you quit! They're the best!

Chris even saved his valentine's day gift for me for today so I could indulge without any guilt...a dozen chocolate dipped strawberries--my favorite! Love that man. Yes, they're actually SBD-approved desserts--not that that matters too much to me when it comes to desserts, really, if you're going to have something decadent, have something decadent. I just can't wait to enjoy all the chocolate goodness!!

Carbs and a Diet Coke

I love carbs. I mean, I really really love carbs--cake, baked goods, bread (especially white), potates (hello, Idaho!), pasta--you name it, I love it and I eat it. Lots of it. I also love Diet Coke. I love it anytime, anywhere and I don't think I can ever get enough of it.

But this week I gave up my carbs and Diet Coke.

Cold turkey.

Today is day 5 and I'm proud to say that I've made it this far without cheating. I've been cranky and irritable, headachy and hungry, and quite frankly a real pain to be around all week, but I've done it.

Why you ask? Well, I've been "dieting" since giving birth to Lisi (she's almost 4) but I've never gotten very serious about it. It's very hard to lose any weight when you're only kind-of, sort-of serious about it, but not really dedicated. I've always relied on exercise to keep the weight off, but that hasn't worked the last few years because I'd exercise and then eat cupcakes after dinner, canceling out anything good I'd done for myself. A couple of years ago I was running about 3 miles a day, a few days a week (no weight loss with this mind you), then back and knee problems hit.

Apparently my back has a herniated disc and a degenerating disc, which means that there have been days when I couldn't even walk, lay down, sit up, move, stay still--everything hurt. Fortunately, steriod shots got that under control, for the most part. And tennis has done wonders for my back because it's strengthened the muscles around my spine. My knees have some arthritis--just a little bit, but it's amazing what a little bit can do to your ability to move--crackling knees aside! Tendonitis hit when I started playing tennis again, I could barely walk, fortunately, I met someone through tennis who introduced me to some anti-inflammatory supplements that have stopped the knee problems.

But to really help the back and knee problems, though, there's one thing I need to do: take weight off! Which, as I said before, I've been semi-serious about (work out for an hour, great! chocolate cake? Don't mind if I do!)

Flash forward to last week, when I found out two of my friends were doing the South Beach Diet. I have to tell you that they really inspired me, so much that I started it myself this week. I'm really not one for diet plans or weight watchers or anything else like that--but realizing that I do need to lose the weight and that my weight loss plans have not worked, I decided to give them a try. Last weekend I went on a carb bender--I think I ate every carb I could, just to get ready for the famine on Monday.

But giving up the Diet Coke? I hadn't planned on that one. Over the same carb bender weekend mentioned above, I had some crazy heart palpatations (Chris calls them SVTs). Two times in two days. Never had those before. Went to the doc on Monday, he ran an EKG--no irregularity, heart rate 55 bpm, no blood pressure problems, etc. His diagnosis--besides the fact that I'm getting older and this is more common in "older" people (yes, he did say that!), I'm drinking too much caffeine!!

So I let it go. Completely. I guess I didn't think I was addicted to Diet Coke, but I felt like I went through total detox this week. My cravings today are all but gone for my favorite drink, but boy, was it hard. On Tuesday all I wanted was a piece of my favorite sourdough bread from Costco (toasted, and buttered) and a "mama's juice" (Lisi's term for Diet Coke--what is that saying??).

As of today, I've lost 5 pounds, only 9 more days to go on the strict phase of the diet. Yay!

Tonight I have to face my toughest test ever...a chocolate fountain at Rook Night at Salins!