Good Morning Insomnia

seriously I don't know who thought of spin class, but it is awful.
and awesome.
bruises. that's all i can say.
I'm totally going back tomorrow.

I don't know if I just didn't hold my stomach in quite enough but I have some evil bruises. I used to do this a lot more. Plus then I just went home and discovered I was starving so I ate a bowl of cereal. and a handi snacks.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels like Handi Snacks are like crack addictive. I asked John to get them for the children but now I realize I just wanted them for myself.
I bet spin class would make me lose tons of weight- if it didn't make me crazy crazy hungry.

also- am I the only one who wakes up at 5 in the morning and has lots of energy- then goes back to sleep and wakes up at 7:30 totally exhausted? Twice this week I decided to just stay up and do the dishes or laundry (or blog and make lists of all the things I need to do to finish every home project in the world) then go back to sleep around six. It's super nice to have some quiet time. I think I should start going to bed earlier.

baby Mark is currently in love with my special K protein shakes. I got them in the morning so John would eat something before school because there isn't a lot of time. Then I started having them since the mornings are a bit of a whirlwind train wreak with the kids. and now they are Mark's favorite food.

My darling boy is inheriting my expensive tastes, just like that.

Have a great morning today. If I leave right now I can make it to the morning spin class.

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Food on Thought

source I took the image from another blog. Sorry but no Lemon Bars were around long enough to be photographed so beautifully.

Kate Moss is supposedly the one who coined the phrase "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." I want to give her a little hug. A squishy one with lots of padding. Lots of people have criticized this as promoting anorexia, and I know people who have used it for motivation to work out and have a healthier lifestyle.
Whatever works for you personally, sometimes I like to think of foods that do in fact, taste better. I would theorize that Kate Moss has never eaten lemon bars made by Jutta Olivetti. Maybe you haven't either. Lucky for me I can't ask her to make them for me every day without a great deal of shame. Also she would probably just say no and stop talking to me. They are AMAZING.
My sister Claire would understand- she had FANTASTIC lime bars at her wedding. I would even YELL ABOUT THEM THEY WERE SO GOOD!!!! I don't know if you can imagine me shaking with enthusiasm. Shaking my jiggly parts. I think I ate about 1000 calories in lime bars that day. and that is a conservative estimate.

Anyway I've been thinking a lot about food today for two reasons.
1. I haven't eaten any junk food. So it is all I can really logically think about.
2. John doesn't like most of the junk food I like. For example, he doesn't appreciate the beauty that is the Panera Bread valentine sugar cookie. He doesn't like Caramel corn. He also doesn't like Lemon bars.
who did I marry here? I think deep down in his soul he loves eating healthy food. It would probably be his dream to eat a healthy Tofu meal every night. Seriously he likes Tofu but not grape tomatoes. He claims they aren't good.
Wrong.
It feels good to know that I'm right about something. again.

Do you think I would have more willpower if I had this fantastic Photo from HoneyandJamPhotos on Etsy?
I Love this etsy shop- it has a bunch of food stuff in it. It reminds me of my sister in law Brooke who has a country style that is ADORABLE. She can totally pull of shabby chic and make it look more chick than shabby (unlike the person writing this post for example).

I couldn't stop thinking about Lemon Bars so I had to stop what I was doing and make a little poster about them. Nom Nom Nom.



So what have you been thinking about today? and I mean what have you been thinking about food...

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Modified Thanksgiving Menu

Since everyone in my family is now sick I have decided to revise my Thanksgiving menu.

For Me: Peppermint Popcorn I made with Claire. Lots of it.

For Everyone:
Saltine Crackers
Applesauce
Pedialyte Popsicles
Pedialyte
Toast
Bananas

Last time Danielle had to flu she got REALLY dehydrated. I've also never dealt with a breastfeeding baby who has the flu- I was doing really good trying to wean him and he isn't keeping much of anything down so should I keep trying to wean and throw more saltines at him? Because this baby DOES NOT CARE for saltines. I read this article about how you should continue breastfeeding so the push to wean is going to get moved back again. Do you ever feel like life looks at your well made plans and laughs at you? It took me such a long time to come to the decision to wean Mark and I've been so wishy washy about it. How. When. Where- these questions are much less solid than it was to decide to breastfeed. I had to work so hard to be able to do it I never thought about how it would end. Although just like with breastfeeding I appreciate the crap loads of unsolicited advice I've received. he he- and the solicited advice. why is it that the people who are the most opinionated and pushy are the one's you don't actually ask?
Overall I think Mark has moved backwards in terms of weaning- from 4 times a day back to I don't know how many but I know I've done three loads of throw up laundry today. John has also done some, before he joined the sickies.
My kids are so sick and sad. Danielle wanted me to hold her but at one point she smelled too bad so she got to take a bath first. Danielle learned to swish water around her mouth to get the bad taste out. she wanted to go to bed tonight. She also made it to the bathroom several times to throw up and I'm really proud of her. Mark has had several baths.

Oh well- it gives me more time to make the rainbow jello Danielle wanted, and explains why I felt so sick all week. Sometimes when you think you could be accidentally pregnant it is really the flu. Other times just your standard monthly crazy paranoia.

Still good to keep lots of pregnancy tests on hand. and Saltine crackers.

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It has Finally Arrived

The Candy Purge

Well Everyone- It has finally arrived. It started Tuesday when we had to put Danielle to bed at 6:30 and she wouldn't eat her dinner. Of course I think a few days after Easter every parent laments their lives, but I am sick of Danielle not eating. We lock her in her seat, she makes aliens with her peas.
It is so hit and miss with her- she will eat all sorts of healthy foods sometimes. Other days I am wondering when she will wake up in the middle of the night to eat.
When we moved to Scranton she lost five pounds. I took a child development class that said you shouldn't really force kids to eat- you should give them healthy options. I have always tried to have healthy food available for her- I've never seen a kid that liked peppers as much as Danielle. But five pounds is way too much for a toddler to lose. We started forcing her to eat. Then I found out she was anemic. She has gained weight though, and is back up to the original weight. I guess moving was really stressful for her.
The first day after the candy purge- Danielle found Daddy's candy on his desk from Easter
Day two- Danielle got the Nutella off the counter.
Day three- Danielle found leftover starburst from the diaper bag.
Day Four- She climbed on the desk and found some chocolates I had from Valentine's day. Really- I still had chocolate?

If I ever want candy I will ask Danielle where to find some.
I think all of our candy is gone.
I don't know who misses it more- me or Danielle.
probably me.

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Yummy Yummy.

On yo gabba gabba Danielle learns that "there is a party in my tummy." Carrots and green beans want to go to the party. Whenever she sees the song she wants to food in the song- too bad we didn't have any more bananas this morning. There are literally hundreds of foods that want to go to the party in my tummy every day. On Saturday we went to someone's house and they made the best ziti pasta I've ever had. They offered to give it to us and I was shameless enough to say I did want their food. Which is what we ate Sunday and Monday. I would love to be part of that group that is getting the zucchini from people who have too much in their garden- or better yet more of their zucchini bread. Unfortunately Zucchini Bread can be very dry.
What can make Zucchini bread tasty? Chocolate frosting. And even better, get a mini loaf from someone else who has already added chocolate frosting and mix it with pink vanilla funfetti frosting.
Frosting is like ranch dressing that way- you always need just a little more.

Now if only someone would make me more bread for my leftover frosting...

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