Glass Magnets...

If you read my Best of the Week post, then you already know that my parents came to visit this weekend and brought my sister in law. Well, Brittney somehow got sucked into my "try a new craft" vortex on Saturday night.

I have been wanting to try to make magnets for a while now, and I already had the stuff, so here you go...

We made 30 in an hour or 2. All we did was trace the glass marbles on scrapbook paper and then cut it out. We glued the paper to the back of the marble and then added little round magnets to the back of them. The sky is the limit here, and they could be as colorful and clever as you wanted to make them. I think they will be great little "just because gifts." I made one for my aunt that said "Bald is Beautiful" because her hubby is bald. I made one for my sis that says "WEWE" because that is what the boys call Aunt Wendi. We did some with initials and some with flowers.

We ran out of supplies, so we had to quit with the magnets, but I also taught her how to tassel. She is quite the quick little learner. Check out her tassel...

Plugged In Again...

I did it! I was unplugged for a full day, and half of another one. ( Click here if you have no idea what I am talking about!)It was a little hard at first, but once I got busy it was not a problem. The great mystery of why I don't seem to finish those to do lists anymore was finally exposed. I'm too worried about cyberspace and what all you fabulous people are posting about on your blogs. It was refreshing to be totally "plugged in" to my life again and this experiment reminded me why limits are important. As for what all I did, here are the highlights...
I spent some time doing crafts with the boys. We tried these Martha Stewart pipecleaner animal kits I got from Wal-Mart. My local store had them on clearance for $1 a set. My boys were too young to really enjoy making them, but they did like playing with the finished product.

I went through my HUGE stack of magazines and whiddled it down to about 30 pages for my Idea books. I have been intending to do that for a while, but it always got put off. It is so nice to have it done.

I finished the laundry (that took almost a whole day) and got it all put away.

I made my first trip the the nursery for flowers, and it is official. I have spring fever!

Most importantly,I spent a lot of quality time with the boys. Thanks to Kimba for helping me to remember that sometimes my "happy place" on the internet can be overrated if it takes away from the quality of time spent with the family that I treasure!

Best of the Week...

1. Watching the boys with their new baby bunnies, and the adventure we had getting them.

2. Beautiful spring afternoons outside with the boys and and a nice breeze.

3. Making a TO.Die.For. Weight Watchers Cobbler (I'll do the recipe on Weight Watchers Wednesday.)

4. Spending time with Nonnie, Pop, and Brittney (my sister in law). We had a wonderful weekend.

5. Going antiquing with Mom and Britt, and finding my antique ironing board for $7.50. It is solid wood and I love it!

6. Unplugging for 2 days and getting SO MUCH DONE! (Like finally sorting through 2 garbage bags full of magazines.)

7. Connor mastering driving his little 4-wheeler in the backyard.

8. The new movie BOLT, and watching it with the boys.

9. Lonnie bringing me a little "surprise" from Bath and Body Works when he came home Sunday.

10. Lon coming home everyday on his lunch break everyday. That extra little bit of time together makes a big difference in our family time.

11. Working puzzles with Walker. It is amazing how you can see the wheels turning in their little brains.

12. Poppy teaching Connor to "shave" just like him.

Hope your week was a great one!

Unplugging...

Today I will be taking part in the "Unplug" series by Kimba. Short of answering work e-mails I will not be online today. If you want more info., just follow this link. This is gonna be hard! Wish me luck and see you tomorrow!

** EDIT** I am a complete DORK and took the challenge on Thursday, but I was so productive that I will be doing it again today. See you Saturday!

Nana on a Mission...

Last Tuesday, our precious little rabbit Fluffy died. Walker fed her celery before he went to bed on Monday night and when he went to feed her Tuesday morning she was dead. Poor Walker was very upset. She was his bunny and he is a very sensitive child. I just explained to him that Fluffy was now in Heaven with the other animals and she was happy there.

By the end of the week, Walker was already asking for a new rabbit. His Nana told him she would get him one for Easter and mentioned that the Tractor Supply she had been to had spotted ones. Well that was all she wrote in Walker's book. He wanted a spotted bunny and nothing else would do. I called the local store and they said they had plenty of bunnies on Friday. Today we decided to go get Walker and Connor each one. Imagine our surprise when we got there and they only had 1 WHITE bunny, and we needed 2 SPOTTED bunnies. While the boys looked at the chicks and the ducks, Nana proceeded to ask the people when they would be getting more and who their supplier was. We were getting these boys a rabbit. We decided to drive on in to Charleston and check their Petsmart. No rabbits there either. We called all the Feed and Seeds in the area, and even put Lon on an internet search from work.

It was a long and tiring search in the rain and tons of traffic. I laughed out loud when Sandy told her husband that we may not be home that night because she was not returning without those boys' rabbits, even if it meant staying in a hotel.

I am proud to say that after 6 hours of searching and $200 (rabbits, food, gas, rabbit supplies, and small toys from every store we went in) we are home with 2 baby bunnies. Are the spotted? No. But are the boys happy? YES! They are thrilled. Walker picked out one that reminds me of a squirrel, and named it Sprinkles. Connor chose the little bunny that I would have picked. It is so cute and a mix of lots of colors. He named it Red, just like his hermit crab, also named Red. Creative, huh?

Walker has already begun to worry that these rabbits are gonna go live with Jesus while he is not watching. I explained to him that we will take good care of them and hopefully they will get to stay with us for a while.

When we were bringing them inside, Connor tripped in the driveway and skinned his forehead. He could not be bothered with letting me bandage it. Too much excitement with the new rabbits and all. (As you can see we are still working on the binky as well.)

The only concern we have left about today is that we have NO IDEA what sex these bunnies are. The guy at Tractor Supply said, and I quote, "I have no idea what they are. I could tell you on a horse or a cat or a dog, but you are on your own with the rabbits." Thanks bubba. Nana says the boys may end up with their spotted rabbits after all.

I'm so thankful for moments like these with my boys. They are growing up SO FAST and I like to think these are the types of things they will remember when they are older. Now, who wants a bunny in 6 months?

Weight Watchers, Week 10

It is Weight Watchers Wednesday, Week 10 and I lost 1.1 lbs. for a running total of 20.5. I FINALLY reached 20 lbs. YEAH!! I am pleased I had a loss, but I am a little disappointed because I had a bigger loss yesterday morning when I weighed than this morning. My friend Christy (also on WW) tells me that it is because I have been doing so much exercise and my body is retaining water. Hopefully in the next week or 2 that will change and the scales will reflect it.

I have mixed up my exercising quite a bit. I started phase 2 of Hip Hop Abs. Go ahead, laugh if you must. But those of you that actually know me, especially from the college days (Jenn, can I get a Holla Back at ya?), know that this girl can shake her money maker. These days there is just a little more to shake than several years ago. ANYWAYS, it is a fun work out and really makes you sweat, especially if you use the hand weights. I am gonna start rotating between the Leslie Sansone 5 Mile Fat Burner (I usually only do 2 or 3 miles) and Hip Hop Abs. At this point exercise 4x a week is a must, and anything more than that is a bonus.

As for eating, I did really well this week staying within my points boundaries, BUT I did not eat nearly enough fruits or veggies. Yet another thing I need to work on.

The recipe this week is for Flat Out Bread Pizza that I have been making. I LOVE it and it is really low in points.

(The one pictured is only tomatoes and mushrooms.)

Flat Out Pizza, 3 points

1 Flat Out Bread (I use the Italian Herbs and Garlic, Light)

2 Tbs. of tomato sauce ( I use Ragu Traditional)

1/4 cup of Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese

Cooking Spray ( I Olive Oil Spray by Crisco)

Veggies of your choice (I use tomaotes, spinach, mushrooms, and bell peppers)

Pre-heat the oven to 350, put your Flat Out Bread on a cookie sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray. Bake your Flat Out Bread for 7 mins. Take it out of the oven and spread with the tomato sauce. Add the veggies of your choice, and top with shredded cheese. Place back in the oven for 10-13 mins. This is a 3 point Pizza, and very filling. I am a thin crust kind of gal, and this bread makes a really crispy crust. You could always add pepperoni or some other meat, but that will alter the point value.

I hope all my WWW buddies had a great week and I can't wait to hear about all your progress!

Rice Therapy Bags...

I made some Rice Therapy bags for friend to give as Easter gifts this week. I have had these in my idea file for a while now and was pleased with how they turned out. There are tutorials for these things all over the internet, but for mine I just used rice with some essential oils. I originally planned to put wheat in them, but the internet said there had been a lot of incidents of fire with the wheat, and I wanted no part in that! The first one I made was just a rectangle and the same material on both sides. I decided I would like something softer on the skin so I ended up using a flannel on one side and a prettier material on the other.

I actually made one for myself and used it the other night. It felt wonderful on my shoulders. So what do you think?
**EDIT** After I posted this, someone inquired what these were used for. I totally forgot to mention that, didn't I? Sorry Hat Chick! They are put in the freezer to act as a cold compress or microwaved for 2 mins. to act as a heating pad. They put off a "moist heat" so it is wonderful for aches, pains, arthritis, etc.