Gotcha

After being caught red handed, I asked the culprit, "What are you doing?!"

To which she replied, "Yummy."

Well, can't argue with that :)

Blessed

Last night I was blessed to be invited to a movie and dinner with some great gals.  Sonya, Alanna, Robin, Berkley, Hannah and I went to so Narnia and had dinner at Abuelo's.  The movie was great (intense!! maybe a little much for the young Narnia fan) and after we headed over to Zona Rosa.  We were celebrating Berkley's 18th, and Hannah's 13th birthdays.

Since the event was celebrating the girls, we asked them were they would like to dine.  After about 40, "I don't care" we settled on Abuelo's.  I've never been and it was beautiful inside.

Here are the birthday girls:

  Auntie and Hannah

Early this morning I headed out to get some groceries, rushed home, loaded up Tanner and headed out.  First we picked up Trent and then headed to Midland Dr to get Corbin.  Tanner requested Subway for lunch so after eating fresh :)  we headed to the Legends.

Today is Tanner's 9th birthday and per his request we went to see Tangled.  SUCH a cute movie.  We absolutely loved it.  Ms. Jess met us there so I could have an adult to sit with :)  Tanner, Trent and Corbin sat clear up in the back row all by themselves.  They're practically grown you know.

I just finished baking a cross shaped cake.  Tanner has been asking Daddy about getting baptized.  Jared and I decided to wait just a bit and told Tanner we'll discuss it again when he's 9.  Tanner asked for a cross to represent the year he'll be baptized.  He's such a sweet boy. 

Tomorrow morning is the kids Christmas program and today I'm baking a whole lotta cinnamon rolls for the congregation.  Think of it as a Sweet Merry Christmas from the Altic's :)

We are so very blessed!

Happy Birthday Berkley!

Robin H. text a few days back asking if I would make a cake for her soon to be adult (!!!) daughter.

Today is Berkley's 18th birthday!

In the text she requested a banana dream cake :)  I'm not sure what that is exactly but here is my version (I took the pics with my phone so they're not the best):

This is a yellow cake with banana flavored Bavarian cream filling between the layers.  Also between the layers are fresh sliced bananas.

Topped off with the most delicious fudge frosting :)

Robin asked for lime green accents so I tinted some white chocolate to make a beautiful B and lots of polka dots.

Happy Birthday Berkley!  I hope it tastes as good as it smells!!!

Alisa Asked...

If you read the Sweet Life (if not, naughty list for you!!!), then you know Ms. Alisa asked me specifically, "What are you enjoying?"

So I figured I better answer her since I love her.

This morning on my way home from the Argentine center, WAIT just thought of another thing I'm enjoying.

The Argentine Center!  On Monday's and Wednesday's I drive into KCK and teach a class to older adults.  They are all in varying states of health and I am helping them and I'm thankful for that.  We work out for a hour and even though it's a small group, I feel really blessed to be helping them in a real way.  We work on balance, core strength, and basic overall health.  I am free to talk to them about my faith and all in all it's a blessing.

Ok, back to the original thought...This morning on my way home from the Argentine center I heard an interview on Air 1 (another thing I'm enjoying!) with Matthew West.  He was talking about his song "One Last Christmas." Please follow this link and watch the story of Dax (all proceeds from the song and video go to support St. Jude's hospital in loving memory of Dax).

I'm cherishing every moment with my 5 little blessings.  What a reminder of what a blessing and privilege it is to have children.  It's when I think about how desperately I love our kids that the fact of God's sacrifice overwhelms me.  

Christmas is about Christ.  It's about a God who loved us so much that He willingly gave His son so that we may live.

John 3:16-21 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

 ¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.^[a]”

What am I enjoying? Salvation, family, the freedom to tell you about Christ's love and forgiveness. 

My New Skill

I have been craving sushi as of late.  It's filling, good for you, and I can eat my weight in it and it's crazy low in points!

Unfortunately I can't really afford the $10-$12 price tag for Stix take out on a daily basis.

I've been doing some research online and decided to buy the necessary tools and try making it myself!

I've had it two days in a row for lunch and the supplies have already paid for themselves (and I have enough supplies to make it at least 8 more times).

This was yesterday's first attempt.  These would be considered California Rolls.  Typically California rolls are rice on the outside and coated with sprinkled sesame seeds but for this newbee it was easier to roll them in nori.  I picked up some sesame seeds today so I may try the "inside out" roll on another day.

I was surprised to find out that the odor (my opinion) that comes from sushi is not from the fish.  It comes from the nori, it REEKS!  Carrie B. suggested that I try the soy papers.  They work like the nori but have little or no taste or odor.

I am coming to the realization that I eat sushi primarily to consume wasabi.  I love the flavor and I even kinda like the sinus burn that comes from getting more than a tiny touch per bite.

It definitely has a learning curve.  My rice yesterday was crunchy in the middle.  Today's was much better and the sushi as a whole was better due to picking up some Gari at Price Chopper.  BTW, I was shocked and amazed at the amount of supplies, and the low price of said supplies at Price Chopper.  Kudos. 

While the rice was better, it still wasn't quite right.  Luckily I found this website and I am now confident it will be perfect next time.

How about it?  Any sushi fans out there?  All the links are to definitions so you can educate yourself much like I did.  It's fun and I'm all about learning a new skill/trade.

Unplugged

Our children are heathens remember...

And due to their behavior they have been unplugged for the bulk of today.

Brennan is in the midst of a serious punishment that may last days and days.  We're unsure how long and have yet to decide.  I think that alone is punishment to him.

But #2 and #3 (Tanner and Eli) have had a seriously difficult time focusing on school work today.  They also seem to be in "torture each other" mode.

An easy punishment is simply to unplug for the day.  They are all grounded from anything that requires batteries or electricity.

They were super happy about the nice weather today.  They rode bikes for a bit, but otherwise Brennan and Tanner have been like this:

Tomorrow the younger kids will likely regain their technology but it's been really nice to see them engage their brains verses checking out to the Wii.

Hey Keepin It Under Controllers!

How ya doin?

I had a fun morning.  I went into my boss to have some training on personal assessments for clients.  Chad (my boss) thought a good way to learn the assessments was for him to do one for me.  It was a bit eye opening.

My overall balance isn't great.  I couldn't stand on one foot without losing balance for more than 4 seconds.  YIKES!  My right shoulder is higher than the left showing an imbalance in muscle strength and my head leans forward.

Add to that my body fat percentage is too high and I need to lose about 10lbs.

This may sound like bad news, but honestly I'm kinda excited.  Now that I have the full assessment I am going to develop a workout program for myself.  My boss is going to make sure it's accurate.  If I follow my own plan I should be within ideal body fat % and fit within 8 weeks.

It seems important to be fit if I'm going to be hired to help others gain a healthy physique.  When it comes to eating healthy I do a really good job 90% of the time or better.  My issue is exercise.  I'm all or nothing. Since my dreams of running the marathon were squelched due to my injury, I've been doing a whole lotta nothing.  All that work I put into the running has faded over the last few months.

Now it's time to get started!  I would really like to assess a couple people in order to practice the process.  If you are interested let me know!  I'll take the first three to respond.