Scrumptious Bits

2011 Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:51:00 +0000

This was my first full year of being a stay at home Mom....it was awesome, but it had it's challenges. Eric left for Ranger school on January 1. John would cry for him most nights. I would lay in bed with him for an hour or more until he finally went to sleep and by that time it was time for Chloe to go to bed. Around February John had a serious bout with the flu. I was up at night with him because that's when the fever would spike, I was so worried and tired. It lasted a good week and he started getting better then I got really sick and of course got a sinus infection. Being sick and not having a your husband around to help really sucks! We had limited communication and when we did it wasn't for long. Eric finally graduated and came back home in May.

In the spring while cleaning out the natural area in out backyard I ran into a little poison ivy. I have never had poison ivy and I thought I was immune. I should have known better with all my allergies, What started out as a few bumps turned into an eyes swollen shut, whelps all over face, swollen ears, awful mess. It took almost four days before the steroids and antibiotics even kicked in. It finally went away but all summer I would have little flare up of very sensitive skin for some reason.

We had a pretty laid back summer, just a few trips to the beach. This was last summer we would ever spend at the beach condo in Atlantic Beach. So long Sea Spray, you gave us so many memories that will be cherished forever!

Chloe started playing the violin this year. She was upset after her recital that they only played two short songs, but it was good and I loved seeing her play. We could have a budding musician.

It was a quiet year, but quiet is good I guess. I am thankful that all of my family is intact with no major illnesses or problems. I have a few goals set for 2012 so if I am able to reach them and maintain that will be my highlight for next year.

10th Birthday........almost

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:36:00 +0000

Madras Party Lime Birthday Invitation

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Back From My Siesta

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:05:00 +0000

Sorry for not updating for so long, but life just takes over sometimes and other things take priority. John is growing like a weed, Chloe is going full speed, Eric is leaving for 34 days tomorrow, I have been super busy at work, we are trying to purchase a new car, I am taking a cake decorating class, and it is just all-around crazy. Hopefully, while Eric is gone I can catch up on some things around the house. It's funny how having the man of the house around can make for so much more housework. Grant it, this will be the first time he has been gone since John has been born, but John's is pretty much self-contained.

Mother and I have been taking the Wilton cake decorating class for the past month. Last night we finished up the last class for Course I and we will be taking Course II starting in July. We have had so much fun doing this. It gives us a chance to talk in the car and do something fun together instead of always talking about the kids and planning what time they need to picked up or when the last time John ate etc. We have had some really great conversations! It is time consuming having to make all the buttercream icing and having the cakes ready every week, but I really like. Here are pictures of the cakes I have done so far, along with some chocolate suckers that I made.

This was my first cake.

This is the my second cake, my smooth icing is getting better.

I made these suckers for Chloe's class at the ens of the school year.

This was a basket I made for a baby shower.

I will try not be gone so long next time!!!!

Mother's Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:17:00 +0000

I did lots of cooking over the weekend. We had an Allen family reunion on Saturday at the Buckhorn Methodist Church. I was asked to bring a dessert and I had just been reading in my Cooking Light magazine and found a recipe for Chocolate Mint Bars. Chocolate and mint are one of my favorite combinations so I had to give it whirl. I usually take pictures of all my creations and I was so busy I totally forgot so here is a shot from Cooking Light.

We had invited my Mom and Step dad over for a cook-out on Mother's Day so I whipped up some Potato Salad and Baked Beans and Eric was in charge of the Barbecue Chickens. For dessert I made a Strawberry Trifle. It was from a Paula Deen recipes that she called Strawberry Shortcake, but it's really a trifle. It was super rich, but all of Paula's recipes are anyway. We had a wonderful time. I promise to come back and add photos!

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:09:00 +0000

Ok...so it's been a long week since my last post. I did have a fabulous weekend filled with strawberry picking, working out in the yard, soccer games. I have been spending some quality time with my Mom lately and it has been very nice. We were in Cary on Tuesday night looking at used Volvo's. We really need to get rid of our Tahoe but I don't think we will be able to right now due to the market. Chloe and John had their first babysitter to come over. Chloe really enjoyed having a teenager around since she already thinks she is thirteen. I do have new photos to post of the strawberry picking and Chloe on her new Bonzai Slip'n'Slide so stay tuned.

National Day of Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:46:00 +0000

Today is the National Day of Prayer. The National Day of Prayer was established by Congress in 1952. An amendment to the law was signed by former President Ronald Reagan in 1988, which set the first Thursday in May as the national event. I was so grateful to be able to stand on the steps of the courthouse in my hometown and pray freely and openly with others from my community. This year's theme, "if you will", was 'Prayer! America's Strength & Shield'. The message, music, and prayers had a very patriotic flavor. Our country is in desperate need of all the prayers we can give. Not only for the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, but for everyone here at home. It has gotten tough for most of us and I fear it may only get worse. Please send prayer forward for our Government, Military, Media, Businesses, Education, Church, and Family. By remembering these seven prayer points, we can cover all Americans with God's power. It was a very good way to spend a lunch hour on such a beautiful day. Thanks for going with me Jennifer.

I'm Getting There.....very slowly

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:25:00 +0000

What a busy weekend we had. We had a Military Ball in Greenville on Friday night from which we did not get home until 2:30am and then we had to get up and go down to Wilmington to visit my parents. We finally got back home around 6:30 Sunday evening. Needless to say, my house is still a wreck! I have managed to put together a dinner menu for May. I only plan Monday thru Thursday because I like to leave the weekends open. We never know if we may be out of town or want to do something special. This also gives Eric a chance to decide what he would like to eat. I have gone through the grocery store flyers and picked out which meats and other items are on sale and make my lists accordingly. I only buy meats and fish that are on sale from Harris Teeter. I buy my fresh and frozen produce from Food Lion and then my staple items from Wal-Mart. Seems like a lot of running around but all three stores are within a mile of each. I am going to take an hour each night to do a little cleaning so it's not piled up over the weekend. I really want to get outside and do some planting this weekend.

Chloe had a soccer game last night and she got her first goal of the season. She was so proud, she ran all the way around the field to sit in my lap and tell me she got a goal. She had a lot of coughing while running and afterwards as well. I am worried about her asthma and I hope it does not get worse. This is one trait I hate I had to pass on to her.

Oh yeah......I am still going to the gym Monday - Friday. My weight has stalled again. I need to pick up more cardio. Go to go...I'm late!

Little Mrs. Martha

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:37:00 +0000

I am relatively new to blogging and I have just had so much fun stumbling onto the most interesting blogs. I am finding it very informative, motivational, and encouraging. There are so many smart, witty, creative people out there and I want them all to be my friend. There are many people out there like me and there are lots out there I'd like to emulate...at least some of their characteristics. I am really finding enjoyment right now in the "homemaking" category. There are so many blogs out there where people are so darn organized! I am going to go for it. I am setting a goal to get more organized so it doesn't seem like I am constantly running myself ragged. To start, I am going to create weekly lunch and dinner menus. This is something that I have been wanting to do for sometime now but manage to put it off. I just hate picking a meat out of the freezer to thaw and then rack my brain all day over what to do with it. Plus, I hope this will help at the grocery store too. SO.......that is my first step to getting organized. Next, I want to start to declutter again. I am pretty good about not holding on to things we don't use but it tends to build up from time to time. I am also going to work on my cleaning routine so I will not be stuck all weekend doing a weeks worth of cleaning. Chloe's room really needs organizing. All those games and toys really need some help. What I lack is drawer space. When I lived in Germany we had these really nice deep drawers in the kitchen , bedroom, and bathroom and they held so much stuff in such an organized fashion. The Europeans really have a knack for utilizing storage space. I am feeling a run to IKEA coming on. I love IKEA!!! Anyway, I found some really good blogs and I want to share all the great sites with other people that may stumble across my blog. I will be organizing them in categories on the side bar. Enjoy!

Don't knock Martha......she's got it going on!

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:44:00 +0000

I Think His Tractor Is Sexy

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:37:00 +0000

This past weekend Eric and I were dedicating ourselves to dispose of a heap of compost that has plagued our side yard for a year. Eric called the city and had them deliver a huge trailer to put the compost in. For only $10 a weekend they deliver this trailer to your house, you fill it up with whatever you need to get rid of and they haul it away. About an hour into pitching this heavy, wet compost into the trailer, I was getting sore and tired and the mound was not getting any smaller. We thought about going to Wal-Mart and pick up a couple of Mexicans, but both of us were not really going to go through with that! I mean think about the risk associated with that. It was fun to discuss how to go about doing it and what to say to them. So the next best idea was to rent some sort of tractor that would do the heavy lifting for us, hence the John Deer. It was awesome!! It took no time for Eric to get everything loaded on the truck and I even managed to get him to remove some hedges that I have been wanting to get rid of. Of course Don, my Stepdad, was there to oversee our project. We enjoy when he comes over to lend his expert advise. He is a great guy. So since our compost is now gone, Eric has once again turned his obsession to the illusive greenest yard on the block. What is it with some men and their grass. I don't know how much he has spent in the past two months on grass seed, fertilizer, hay, and all that other stuff that goes along with it and I don't even want to know. I have to give it to him though...it is starting to look pretty good. Our yard is a very hard yard to grow grass in to start with. There are tons of old pine trees and oak trees that just drink up any water that touches the ground, not to mention all the shade they provide (I don't mind that though). I just had to take some pictures of him on the John Deer. Chloe was a bigger helper as well and John.....he observed and took note of the 'manly ways'.

In Honor of John's Four Months

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:57:00 +0000

John's Four Month Slide Show

HELLO!

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:20:00 +0000

I had too much of this last night

so now I feel like this.

I am getting ready to go do this

and drink this

so I will feel like this!

Here We Go Again

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:34:00 +0000

Okay here we go.......it just keeps getting better and better. So yesterday the day started off fine. I found a nice place to park my car that was really close to the door at work under a nice shade tree. I go upstairs, have my coffee, check emails, surf a little, and finish up some minor business and then head to the gym. I get down to my car...my white car....and it is covered in bird crap! I knew I should not have parked under that tree but I was hoping the birds were gone. Anyway, as I am cruising back to work after my workout in my shit mobile I remember a payment that was due that day so I turn around and head toward the bank to give them my hard earned money. I was in such a hurry I forgot to sign my check so the teller of course had to point this out and send it back to me causing me to be even later back to work. When I finally get to work I start working on a project that was "transferred" over to me. The spreadsheet I was working on had errors from top to bottom. As I was calling the person every name in the book (in my mind) and fixing the problems my husband calls and tells me that the soccer coach did not show up for practice again!!! All the little girls were there with their parents and no coach. She did not even have the decency to call anyone and this is not the first time it has happened. I was already angry and I needed a release and my target was the athletic administrator for the city. After the call it was back to the spreadsheet to fix that nitwit's errors again which put me getting off later than usual. With a pounding headache I go pick up John from my Mother's, drop him off at home, wash the shit off my car, run to the tanning salon, drop off movie rentals, go buy formula because I knew I was getting low, and go get gas. When I dropped John off at the house I told Eric he was going to have to handle dinner so when I finally got back home he had it ready. He had made spaghetti so I ended up just eating the sauce ( because I did not want to hurt his feelings) since I am on a carb free diet. I got Chloe going in the bathtub, fed John, put him down to bed and then I crawled in the bed with Chloe. We had a good little talk. We were remembering all the rides we went on at Disney last year and everything we did on our trip...she actually remembered more than I did. Then she started talking about getting old. She is quite a deep thinker sometimes. She teared up and said "Mom, I don't want to get old. I want to stay young forever". I told her that I didn't want to get old either but that when I am with her I feel seven years old too. I then went on to explain that we all get old but how we must stay young at heart..yadda...yadda..yadda. I just couldn't believe I was having this conversation this early with her. We continued on talking about other things and giggling like two girls on a sleep over. Finally Dad had to come in "quiet us down". I finally ended up in my bed around 10:30....there is still laundry to do but I keep putting it off.

Oh yeah...Eric computer completely died. It has crashed twice in the past month but this time, it was for good.

Busy Bee

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:27:00 +0000

Busy, busy, busy. Yep, that sums up my life right now. There is always something to do and nothing is ever finished. It's not even stuff that I like to do but have to do. I never would have thought that adding another member to our tribe would create such chaos. Don't get me wrong, he is not the one creating the chaos, it's just that there is so much for me to do!. Please dear Lord, pull me out of this hole!!!!!

Okay...I just had to get that off of my chest. Even though I had a "busy" weekend, it was great. So great in fact that I had to just stop and tell my husband "Hey, I had a really good weekend". I wanted him to know that I actually take notice and appreciate when things go well. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We had a few cocktails and watched a movie on Friday night then he worked in the yard and I in the house on Saturday taking breaks to cook some wings outside and to take our daughter to a soccer game we knew was going to be rained out. She wanted to at least see if they were going to have the game (which I knew they wouldn't) but I did not want to let her down. We sat in the car at the soccer field and watched all the other hopeful players huddle under a small shelter while rain pelted them from the side. It was quite funny, as we were predicting how long they would last and anticipated them running for their cars in the downpour. Saturday night we had some great wine and watched another movie. Sunday, Eric worked on his Spanish project all day and I on house chores once again. Stopping of course to feed John and check on Chloe every now and then. She had a friend come over in the afternoon and they played very well together. I am noticing Chloe's imagination is really beginning to take off. She has been making up some very elaborate stories lately. One to mention is the Cardinal that came and sat on her finger while she fed it. I made a really good Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo for dinner and had more wine of course. There are still clothes to put away and other things to do, but I am trying my best not to get caught up in the daily "to do's". I just want to enjoy my family and try to remember all the great weekends and times we have together. Even though we are broke right now because Eric is in school, I think this is the best time in my life ever so far! It just proves to me you don't have to have a ton of money to happy. I have a dedicated husband who is an awesome Dad, two beautiful children, and a dog in the yard. Life is good. Crazy busy or not...I wouldn't have it any other way.

I did manage to take a picture of my Azaleas.

Bye, Bye Starbucks

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:06:00 +0000

Well, I hit my pre-pregnancy weight this weekend. The low-carb diet is working well and it has really trimmed down my appetite not to mention those 5 pounds. I knew I needed a little kick start to get that scale moving. I have been doing great since I started, but I went to Starbucks this morning and got a non-fat Chai Tea latte. When I got by to work I looked up the carb count and low and behold that thing had 44 grams of carbs and 42 grams of sugar!!! I blew that one, I don't think I can have anything from Starbucks, even a skinny latte...there is just way too much sugar in those things. At least I can enjoy my regular Coffee with Splenda. I always tend to get manic anytime I diet. I have been scouring recipes all weekend and thinking of ways to incorporate my diet into my family's diet. It is so hard to make mac and cheese and not be able to eat any so I actually took a bite, chewed it up and spit it back out. I know that sounds gross but once I tasted it I really didn't want it anymore. I have also been getting a little obsessive about going to the gym. I try to go everyday during the week and on the weekends I turn it to FitTV and do a couple of their routines. I'm sure I will get bored with it sooner or later. My ADD will kick in and I will find something else to turn my attention to. I am really going to try to stick with it though....this will be one of my goals. Well, here is my chubbers. I can't get enough of his little fat rolls.

She's SEVEN

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Chloe turned seven yesterday. She is officially a young girl now. She loves candy, rock 'n roll, her "cell"phone, Hannah Montana, and riding her bike. I let her eat some of her birthday cake for breakfast, she loved that.

40 Years Ago

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:23:00 +0000

On April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his speech, Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence. This speech is so appealing to me because in every instance where Dr. King refers to Vietnam, he could easily be saying Iraq today.

One year later, as Dr. King stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, preparing to go to dinner with a few close associates, he was shot by a sniper.

If you have time today, please listen to Dr. King's speech. Remember all the Vietnam veterans, all those who have served and are currently serving in Iraq, and those who have lost their lives serving their country during any war. And please remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr on this day.

Working Off the Baby Fat

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Three and a half months ago I had my second and last child. I started back to work and going to the gym on March 3. It's been four weeks now and the scale has not budged, but I can tell I am "firming up". I think I am definitely going to have to cut the carbs to start trimming some actual pounds away. So, for tonight's dinner.......spaghetti (whole wheat pasta, of course). This will be my farewell dinner to my carbs!. I have been a good girl and have gone to the gym everyday this week. My goal is to loose15 to 18 pounds. Thank God yoga is tomorrow because my legs are killing me!