my fridge

how long will my fridge stay this way? when will it be neat again? i am not sure that i wont miss this. actually.

spring break in MENTONE, AL!

we had so much fun staying in a cabin in mentone, al (on lookout mt.)  we took a day trip on the last day to ROCK CITY and RUBY FALLS in Chattanooga. SO FUN. and you need to know that rock city is called ROCK CITY not SEE rock city. well powder me up and slap my behind i always thought it was SEE ROCK CITY!! we also enjoyed about every waterfall in the area. we went hiking and horseback riding. i could write an entire story on the horseback experience. let's just say that our horse trainer leader dude was missing a tooth and smoked the entire ride with butter right behind him just suckin in the fumes. crunch had to ride bareback behind bert on his horse. it was crazy. we saw the falls where the legend of nocollula played out. she was an young indian girl that was betrothed to a young brave BUT she was in love with another. she lept (so the legend says) from a rock into the falls and died on her wedding day. there is now a wedding chapel and a state park campground next to the falls. it is so ROMANTIC. you can stay in your camper, get married and sight see at this romantically beautiful location! here are some pictures to commemorate our fun trip!

precious cabin in the mountains!

butter helping crunch down the stairs to desoto falls

bert and the gang

the falls

first sunset from the cabin

hot tub! no mt. cabin is complete without it

the little river canyon falls

hiking up from our picnic at the falls

little river canyon scenic drive

time for horseback riding!

the horse named "foxy"

pretty peanut!

crunch riding on the back of "gunsmoke"

i rode "sandy"

a church built on a rock!

inside the church. the rock comes in!

RUBY FALLS!

1 hour spent underground in the caves

lots of cave formations

and then let the drum roll begin.....

TA DAAAAAA!

and now, off to see ROCK CITY... SEE?

falls at rock city

SEE how much fun we're having??

you just have to SEE this place. it really was amazing!

my favorite little cabin that we saw!

last stop, noccalula falls!

beautiful

ok, cool pic. you can see noccalula's statue, the falls where she was jumping into, and the chapel across the falls.

worn out?

 

soccer tournament!

peanut got to do something special. she substituted on a soccer team one grade level higher. she got to play in a tournament this weekend with girls better than her, bigger than her, and probably more confident than her. it was a GREAT experience for her. she loved it. she did well. GO PEANUT!

crunch enjoyed the day too

butter found his friend, brian

gracie the dog

the cooolest thing that has happened to me in a long time, happened on friday. i was at my friend's house and her lab, Gracie was pregnant. we were pretty sure that her water had broken because, well, there was water....  so we set the dog up in the garage and just waited. we came in to check on her and my friend shouted THERE IS A PUPPY! well, there WAS a puppy halfway out just staying there. so i bent down and pulled lightly on the puppy and DELIVERED HIM and the placenta. no joke. for real. it was SO COOL! about two and a half hours later the second one came and then 6 more! the last one was WHITE! all of them black and then this one little white puppy. i missed all of the other puppies because i had to go. but i will never forget that first little puppy. i felt like billy crystal on city slickers when he delivers the calf!

when i came back the next day, this is what i saw!

so i grabbed my camera...

and she covered her babies!! how sweet!

what is up??

i am pretty sure that crunch is addicted to the DS and the star wars game.

i realized that my bible had remained in the car since church last week. it won't get read that way. so i picked it up and read it. a little psalms to calm the spirit.

and

i discovered two adorable boys sitting quietly in the bath looking scrumptious!

i realize that i need to get the camera out more!

disclaimer: I AM NOT TIPMAMA

ok....I am not "tipmama". SHE is a real person but not ME. OK. ALSO, let me tell you that i am not doing her diet because i can't and don't diet. i have taken ideas from her diet to help me come up with better choices. everything in moderation! right? tipmama is a work out queen also, and she looks the part. i asked her if she would have any tips for my junkies and so that is how tipmama came to be.

is tipmama hungry? PG

this is why i am not trying her super diet!

e-mail from tipmama:

just had a 5 egg white omelet with celery, red pepper, a little cheese and ezekiel toast. i don't really love eggs. blah. last night i dreamt i made love to a frosted mini wheat. he wasn't so mini...

tipmama #3 HELL WEEK

this is for those junkies who are not skeered to try Hell Week~!

got something to get ready for? i do...so this week for 7 days only i am going to do my tried and true method of getting leaner fast. its hard but it is usually something i only do for one or two weeks. want to try it with me? last year i lost 10 pounds of fat (6% of my total body fat) in 2 weeks. i don't plan on it working quite the same since that time i cut almost all carbs out of my diet. very hard and i would dream about big pieces of cereal. so, this time im going to add in my good carbs and leave out the simple ones. Heres what i do:


Total H2O intake is 120 ounces a day

Total caloric intake is 1200 a day split up like this:



Breakfast: 300 calories ie: steel cut oatmeal, almonds, natural peanut butter (no sugar added) on whole wheat toast, egg whites, whole grain cereal, greek yogurt etc...just remember salt is not our friend so limit the sodium. don't freak out about the fat in the nuts...we are concentrating on the calories. We NEED good fat so our bodies will stay full and satisfied.



Snack (around 10am) 200 calories ie: cottage cheese, peanut butter toast, protien bar, protein shake, hummus with vegetables, almonds, turkey, greek yogurt...



lunch 200 cal. you can do any whole grain bread and sandwich meat with veggies etc... or a salad with a low fat/low cal dressing. just make sure you have some protein with it. you really need protein for every little meal.



snack mid afternoon 200 i usually have 1/2 of my protein bar and 1/2 apple so i can have some fruit.



dinner 200 lean meat, veggies and option of complex carb (brown rice, sweet potato, etc...



after dinner snack 100

i just keep a little sheet in my kitchen and write down what i eat. you can find a good calorie counter anywhere on the internet. i copied one from the Atkins diet but i think the ipad even has an app for calories in foods. and no, you cannot eat 1200 calories worth of twinkles and chocolate. clean out the junk and concentrate on lean meats, veggies, and whole grains.



best tip: gum. i know it has artificial sweeteners but i have to stick a piece in my mouth after i eat as my desert. it gets me through. all 19 flavors i go out and buy when i start this. they even have chocolate gum!!!!!
 
from your friendly tipmama!

the worst trick ever played.

this is a story about a "friend of mine" who played a NASTY trick (she admits the sinister nastiness of it) on her husband. she had always asked her hubbie if he wanted to just try a droplet of her breast milk. "UGGGGGHHHHHTTTHHPPP" he would say! well, she did not understand why he would not try it because his own precious baby drank it daily! and even she, herself, had tried the sweet milk. it sort of hurt her feelings. WELL, seven months pass and she was still plugging away but at this stage she was pumping her breast milk into little bags to save for the baby after she returned from work.
one faithful evening, she showed up after a late day at work and her hub was resting comfortably on the couch. as she passed him with the baby on one hip and the breast pump on her shoulder, he said in a sort of baby voice "will you bwing me a bwownie and some milk? pwease?".  "SURE", she said, (i'm not doing anything else?!). then the light bulb went off. bing! she fixed his brownie and poured a glass of milk and then dumped about three oz. of breast milk in it. stirred it up and served it up. she found great joy in watching her husband drink the milk, eat the brownie, lick his fingers and say ahhhhhhh.
the woman, out of fear of the tantrum it might cause, waited four days to tell her husband. he survived.
moral: when your hormonal wife asks you to just try a droplet of breast milk, DO IT! it is better than three oz.!
this "friend of mine" does not suggest this trick. use it with caution!

tipmama's tip #2

Good SAturday morning to you!  my tip for a yummy alternative to IHOP?    Krusteaz Multi Grain pancake mix (Costco has it).  it is made with whole wheat flour, rolled oats, flax seeds, barley etc...and it does have some sugar but on the whole it is a great alternative to frozen or white grain pancake.  it is really good too.  (and very easy, just add water and an egg).  instead of using syrup (yuck) put honey or agave on the table.  i swear the kids just want the sweetness so they might not even notice. 

tipmama's tip #1

tip of the day:




remember to drink one gallon (128 oz) of water each day. get a big water bottle to keep by you during the day. yes, you will have to tee tee a million times but its flushing all of the fat out of your body. the first few days it will seem like a lot but by the third day you will be wanting the water every few minutes. the body really acclimates to it quite fast. and no, to answer the question that might be coming: you cant substitute! the artificial sweeteners in those diet drinks like crystal light and sodas can actually cause you to GAIN weight! more on "safe" sweeteners later.....ooohhhh exciting!

tipmama

ok, my friend is going to be known as "tipmama". she is miss healthnut and great with different foods and health tips for me. i figured, every good blog has recipes and tips. i am using tipmama to do that. oh, and she is GORGEOUS, a wife and a mom of three, and has the whitest, healthiest skin i have ever seen. she is my crazy friend that i can tell ANYTHING to and she never gets grossed out or mad at me. she is a dear friend and i will love her forever! so, watch out for some tips coming up!

an unfortunate event

yesterday, while the girls were practicing for their thriller dance, i thought i had a pretty good tip. "girls," i said, "when you JUMP on this part you have to JUMP high and make it look scary!" so i showed them like three or four times. with bess quietly protesting, "mom, stop, that looks weird. really, stop." then i looked over at her and she mouthed the words to me, "you can see your bald spot."  i was SO EMBARRASSED and i realized that i had embarrassed HER. my little girl, while trying to protect me, was also embarrassed of me. it was a heartbreaking moment and i just wanted to disappear.
i felt so sad about what happened yesterday this morning and the fact that my hair does not seem to be re-growing. so i just protested to God "why Lord, do i have this problem?" then i said the dumbest thing "i promise i will be good and spend more time with you if you do this for me." i knew when i said it, how dumb it was to say. God does not work that way and i know it. i was reminded by bert later on the phone that i have to praise the Lord even in times like these. HE KNOWS ME. HE LOVES ME. HE IS IN CONTROL. "the lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being." prov. 20:27
i know that the Lord cares about my pain and feels it with me. there will be glory for Him in this. i will glorify the Lord EVEN if i do not like what is happening.
"but I call to God, and the Lord saves me. evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice." psalm 55:16-17
PRAISE BE TO GOD!

mustache

i saw a love bug today while on my walk. it reminded me of the time that i drove to the beach during love bug mating season. they were EVERYWHERE. they were so bad that i had to use my windshield wipers. when we got to the beach the front bumper of my car looked like a mustache. and i don't like mustaches.

family of four kids and two dogs

this was a fun painting!

so NOT funny

i NEEEEEDED to exercise the other day but did not have time before the kids got home to go on a walk. what can i do here???? hmmmm. yoga? na. dancing around the house? not in the mood. WHAT ABOUT THE TRAMPOLINE?!!!!!! so, i start jumping realizing that all the school children are on the playground behind my house, i did not worry....THEY don't care if i look ridiculous. so, i kept jumping. oh and i was jumping hard and sweating in the february sun. when suddenly a VERY LOUD coach from the school yells "GO MRS. LIZ!!!!!" across all the kids. some of them turned and laughed at me. you've got one coming to you coach d. ohhhh, sleep with one eye open!