BIG NEWS!!!!

I have decided to go back to school at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh online division to get my bachelors in Interior design. I have had a passion for interior design for LONG time and it has been one of my life's dream to become an interior designer or to at least go and get more education for it.... I will be starting online schooling by the end of summer and I am very excited about it and look forward to it with giddy giggles :)

guiltless yummies

so as you all now we joined weight watchers and we have learned that yes you can eat what you have always eaten in smaller portions but if you switch things out and try to make it healthier then you can enjoy a lot more because it frees up your points a little bit more....so this is one of the treasures i found: a ZERO point cake. (here is the recipe and directions for those of you that want it, take it-take one sugar free cake mix. I found mine at walmart in the baking aisle. preheat your oven according to the box's directions. put cake mix into mixing bowl. add one can of any diet soda. (dark sodas work better for chocolate cakes and sprites or other flavors work well with yellow cake mix). Mix cake mix and soda can together until smooth. spray pan with non stick cooking spray and pour cake mix in the pan. bake the cake according to the box's direction on the time. (please note you do not use eggs or oil in the cake mix. only the soda and the dry cake mix). let it cool and then top it with fat free cool whip (found at walmart in the refrigerated section). slice strawberries and put on top. enjoy what you want and then cover and store in the fridge.)

soccer season

we signed Cyle up for soccer that starts tomorrow and he is so excited to be able to play. I must say I am excited too and can't wait to be right there cheering him on and gettig excited about him and his successes. Love that little man! pics will be posted later

crafty

so last saturday I was feeling the crafty bug so I put together a winnie the pooh themed diaper cake for a girl in the ward that is prego and I also made my first flower clips for girl's/ women's headbands. They were super easy and took very little time. I LOVE BEING CRAFTY!

spring time

One of the best things about living here is the beautiful season changes. As we enter into spring the brilliant color blossoms pop out and it is picture and blog worthy. Spring is also very sentimental for me as it often brings many memories of GG (my grandma Nelson) to my mind. She always had the most beautiful yard with Tulips and green grass and huge old trees. I love her so much and I am so glad that I have the tender mercy of spring to help me keep that memory of her so vivid in my mind and heart.

outside play

The weather has been so warm and enjoyable so we have been soaking it up a lot lately! here's a few cute pics.

hide 'n' seek

Caylinn has discovered the magic of our kitchen cupboards and closets. she loves sitting in them! It reminds me of when I hid under the bathroom sink once for hide n seek and the hiding spot was so good everyone gave up looking for me and I eventually had to come out by myself...never underestimate the power of a cabinet :)

weight watchers

LaVon and I joined weight watcher about a week and a half ago and we are loving it! It has been a challenge because it is truly changing our lifestyle and our eating habits which we realize now used to be very toxic to our bodies. of course we have a our rough days when we really dont like the program but i can say even after a rough week emotionally that i still lost weight and that i did enjoy some of my favorite treats- in a limited quantity but i still was able to enjoy them. LaVon to date has lost 5 lbs and Joy to date has lost 4 lbs. we are feeling great and look forward to keeping the weight off. we know this program goes right along with what the word of wisdom teaches us and know that the Lord is blessing us for taking care of our bodies the way they should be. I love that I am teaching my children by example and that they can look to me and LaVon as healthy role models.

MRI pains

so our daughter is supposed to go in for quarterly mri's to ensure her hydrocephalous and khiari malformation are not getting worse and it seems as though we have the hardest time keeping her healthy. because of her age she has to be sedated for her mri's which means if she is showing any symptoms of being sick the day of the mri or up to 2 weeks prior she is then rejected from her scheduled mri. she was supposed to have an mri in the beginning of february but got pretty sick with really bad wheezing and coughing episodes...so we rescheduled it for today and kept her home as much as we possibly could and tried to stay germ free but low and behold the day of her mri (today) she came down with a mild grade fever accompanied by a small cough and some minor lung congestion....the beginning of something great- i am sure. so we were unable to have her go into her mri and we are quite down about it. we try so hard and we feel that it just gets slapped back in our faces. I am really hoping that she can get better in about a week and then we can keep her healthy for another 2-3 weeks. I am putting it in the Lord's hands and I am letting him control it because it is obviously something we can't control along with many other things in life that are happening right now.

weight watchers

so LaVon and I have officially changed our lives by joining in on weight watchers. we are doing the internet tracking and not the classroom style and we are learning so much everyday. we are eating tons of fruits and veggies and supplementing with "main dishes" we have been doing it for 5 days now and we have both lost a little over 2 pounds so far! we don't have tons to loose but we don't want weight to become an "out of this world" issue...so we shall conquer now and maintain when we accomplish our goal weights. we love that we can still eat what we have been eating but in smaller more appropriate portions. the 2 major things we have learned thus far are: 1. that we have had a relationship with food and that needs to change...we are working on seeing and using food for its nutrition and not its taste/ comfort. We are both stress eaters and tend to turn to food a lot but we are now working on finding our other stress outlet.
2. you can still cook your own recipes but improve them with better ingredients and they provide that information right there on their recipe builder link. I am truly loving learning what foods are healthier for us and which ones i should be staying away from. they have put it in such lamen terms that it is easy to identify when something is healthy or not for our bodies. I can already feel the difference emotionally and physically and know that we are benefiting from this experience.