Holy Crap!

So remember not too long ago when I blogged about how everything was going smoothly? And how usually that means there is something coming up in the future? Well the future is here. Last night when Emma was using the bathroom she yelled at me to come in because there was black stuff in the tub". We have a big tree in our front yard and the roots like to grow into our pipe because we have old clay pipes. It's happened once since we've lived here and now it has happened again. Luckily we caught it before it got too bad like last time (toilet and tub overflow and poop all over the walls). And then we got a statement in the mail from the hospital saying that we owe almost $1400 in medical bills from the nursery when we had Linnea 15 months ago. Not cool. So I called the insurance company to chew them out but they couldn't do anything for me and told me it was the hospital's deal. So I've called and left a message for them. I. Am. Pissed. But hopefully we can get the charges dropped at least in half if not more. I mean come on! 15 months later!? Ugh. What else will happen? Any bets?

Chore Charts

I am such a list person! I found this website with individual room check lists for chores. They have weekly and monthly chores for each room in the house. Go here and check it out!

Linnea

Linnea has to sleep with her Mr. Elephants. Her Great Grandma T and Great Aunt L bought the original one for her and she got so attached to it that I quickly bought a second one.

Today she wanted to help me make dinner. SO I set her up on the counter and got the eggs out of the fridge and this is how I found her. Linnea LOVES tomatoes. She eats them like apples. And yes there are two in her hands and she was alternating fists full of tomato. She almost finished both of them. And she had eaten another whole tomato before this picture.

Linnea is in love with her big sister. She wants to do everything Emma is doing. Linnea is a very funny little girl. We have a class clown on our hands. She will go out of her way to make people smile.
Linnea's best friend is Rowan. Every time she sees her she gets all excited and runs to her. I think Rowan shares the same feelings for Linnea.

Linnea's best friend is Rowan. Every time she sees her she gets all excited and runs to her. I think Rowan shares the same feelings for Linnea.

Emma

My sweet little girl is getting so big! Emma is an amazing big sister. She loves her little sister so much. Today Linnea gave Emma a crayon and Emma turned to me and said "Mommy! Linnea handed me the purple crayon! I'm so proud of my little sis!" It was the cutest thing. She wants to gain my approval with everything she does which I hope continues through her teenage years. I've been focusing on giving her lots of encouragement when she does the right thing. Lately she's been telling little lies to me. It makes me so frustrated. She gets a spank and time out if she lies to me. I'm hoping that doing that will make telling the truth more appealing.

I forgot to blog about a funny Emma story earlier this year and I need to put it somewhere before I forget it. Emma fell down in the backyard and started crying. I was busy and couldn't come to her aid right then so I told her to rub some dirt on it and move on (she was fine). She went to play at her friend's house the next day and when I cam to pick her up she was dirty. I asked my friend what happened and she told me that Emma had fallen down and then gone over and grabbed some dirt and proceeded to rub it all over her. I laughed so hard! I love how literal kids are. Emma brings a lot of comic relief to the house. I love my little Emma!

Pizza Pinwheels

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent roll dough 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

24 slices pepperoni 1 (14 ounce) can pizza sauce

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.	On a large baking sheet, pinch the 8 crescent roll dough triangles into 4 rectangles. Layer each rectangle with 6 slices of pepperoni and even amounts of mozzarella cheese. Roll tightly lengthwise and slice each into 4 or more pieces.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping. I made these for dinner tonight. They are yummy! Freeze the crescent roll mix for about 20 minutes before trying to work with it and chop up the pepperoni really small. I also chopped up olives and added them. I got this from allrecipes.com

Working out

At the beginning of the year I made a goal to run a 5k. I accomplished that in April and thought about running a 10k by the end of the year. Well I got shin splints and haven't wanted to run since but I have kept with my main focus of becoming healthier. I'm and now working out 5-6 days a week for an hour each day. I am doing 3 days of weights and three days of cardio. I've noticed a big difference in how I feel energy wise and my eating habits have naturally changed a bit. I was getting a bit discouraged the other week about doing all this work and not seeing any physical results until someone that we go to church mentioned to Jacob that I was looking a lot better. And then one of my friends the other week told me she could see a difference. I have lost 7 pounds in 2 months which is the rate I want to keep loosing it. It's a slow battle but I am making it. I LOVE working out and miss it a lot when I can't go to the gym. I don't care how much I weigh, I'm more focused and concerned with what size pants I wear. My goal is a size 8 but I would be happy with a size 10. I can't wait to see what I look like this time next year. I should post a picture... only I hate how I look right now. My goal for next year continues to be running a sprint Triathlon though. Wish me luck!

Campbell's Kitchen: Slow-Cooked Apricot Glazed Pork Roast

Doesn't this look yummy?? Click on the link below for the recipe. I think I'll make this for dinner tomorrow.
Campbell's Kitchen: Slow-Cooked Apricot Glazed Pork Roast