THIS IS A HUGE WIN!

This event was at PLU in Tacoma.
It is a GINORMOUS tournament.
Somewhere around 38 schools compete.

You have to understand, Karman's team is REALLY small. Comparatively that is.
Their school only opened their doors two years ago, it is only in it's third year mow.
So they are a VERY young and immature team.
There are only 3 REPETITIVE debaters, and then a few that come when they can.

Usually teams like that don't take home a lot of awards.
And this is a BIG tournament, with a lot of very skilled, and versed teams.

She didn't think she stood a chance...
But she took SECOND place in her Expository speech!
It is funny the way she wins...in the different tournaments. One she will take first in Oratory and none in Expos, and the next she will win in Expos and get nothing in Oratory.
It just all has to do with the competition!

Congratulations....
She is winning so much I am losing a way to say how proud of her we are.....
:)

My Helper

Makylie and I decided to make some Weight Watchers chocolate, butterscotch cookies for daddy, before he comes home tomorrow.
She pretty much made the entire recipe with very little help from me.

She absolutely LOVES to help me cook.
I think...she will probably be pretty good at it too.

She is just loaded with patience, and an enthusiasm for learning every aspect of everything that I can teach her at her age.
She wants to do everything....
Even the parts that are hard for her young dexterity.

She lost interest for most of the cookie roll out.....
Because, who really wants to put in the time if you still have to wait for them to bake. :)
She did come back at the end...and acted like she had done it all herself. :)

Notice the jammies??? We like to stay in our PJ's on Thursdays. She goes to schoool Monday through Wednesday...and then Thursday...after a long first half of the week, she still needs a nap to catch-up.
So....we have made them Pajama Day!
She loves it!

I really love to make the memories.
I hope I am passing down my love for cooking and baking.
But most of all....I just love my girly!
Anything I can do to make her smile...makes me happy.
Thank you for helping me!

This is what happens....

When the hubby goes on business trips...
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Kevin left this morning, for Florida.
I guess,

I get a little bored....
And apparently hungry to try new recipes...

He wasn't even gone two hours, when I made this lowfat granola.

Oh it was so good!

Really easy, and really natural and yummy!

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Then I decided to try my hand at granola bars.

Again VERY good...lowfat...and healthy!

I did forget to add the almonds...so they ended up being nut-free, which was a bummer...

But everyone loved them!

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Finally....I was craving a lemon muffin.

So I found a recipe for a healthy lemon muffin (made with greek yogurt),

Added some GIANT, gorgeous blueberries,

And then turned out RIDICULOUSLY yummy!

I added a little drizzle of a lemon glaze that I made...and they were perfect!

The kids just loved them, and they were actually quite healthy.

I finished off my first night, after the kids went to bed and without my husband, like this.

Homemade latte and lemon muffin.

Lonely....but not hungry! :)

YUM!

DOUBLE FIRST PLACE!

She took FIRST!!!!!!!

TWICE!!!!!!

She has never taken first in both of her events!

Karman is doing so well in debate this year.

It shows because she is a good debater at home too. :)

She has made BID in both of her events.

That means that she will be going to STATE for BOTH speeches.

Another thing she has never done.

She has gone to state once...but only for her Expository...never for both.

Funny thing, how winning changes a persons perspective.

Suddenly she is actually practicing all on her own, and is working without me nagging her about it.

That is what we have tried so hard to get her to see since the beginning.

That if she puts the time in...she wins...and

then it feels...

AWESOME!

If she wins in State....She will then go to Nationals....which are in Texas.

WHICH WOULD BE INCREDIBLE!

For her...for the obvious reasons...of the experience, the memories etc....

but also because she could potentially win a full four year scholarship!

She is really proud of herself...as she should be.

We are so proud of her accomplishments.

YAY-HOO!!!

Fundraising central

Karman is doing an AMAZING fund raiser at school.

In one of her classes first semester, they had an offer at the very beginning of the year...that they could fulfill their volunteer hours that are required Senior year, by doing some sort of fund raiser.
So...
they had a group that was willing...and they were brainstorming ideas.
After school one afternoon, I said...what about doing something close to us...
How about Camp Goodtimes...which is the camp that she has attended every single year since she was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma.
She loved the idea.

So they went to workplanning.
On December 20th, they did a Christmas Caroling event at the local Safeway.
A group of them came together to collect donations, by singing, selling candy canes, and hot chocolate.
They did great and made just over a hundred dollars.

In January, they did a contest at school...where there were 8 jars filled with candy and the kids could come and pay to guess the amount in any that they wanted to.
They ultimately, would win the jar.
This event was not very successful, and in the end, they ended up taking a loss, and spending more on the candy then they made.
Still, it was a lesson.
And it was fun...and got the word spread around the school for the final event of the fund raiser.

Which was...
An item drive.
The camp has items that they are always in need of.
So they had a class competition to drive up the desire to "play" along.
Kids and teachers could bring in items...OR MONEY...
And everything had a point value.
In the end, whichever classroom had accumulated the most points won an ice cream party.
This went on for a week.


It was very successful.
They did great!!!
I mean...really great!

Much better then I ever expected.
Every single day Karman came home with more bags of items.
Right now....
My living room, LOOKS LIKE THIS as a matter of fact....

Seriously...
Overwhelming...
I am trying to organize it so that we can go deliver it all.


There ended up being somewhere around 200 tooth brushes, 100 toothpastes, 100 bottles of hand sanitizer, tons of soap, boxes of arts and crafts, and at least 60 boxes of tissue.
And in the end they also collected around $900 dollars (I never got a final tally after everyone was reimbursed for their items that they purchased...and the ice cream was bought etc)

They did a really good job.
I think that Karman learned through the whole thing, not only the importance of giving back....but as a life-lesson...the importance of working as a team, and that you can't do it all yourself.

These days, at her age...those kinds of lessons are just as important as any other.


I sure am proud and impressed with the work that Karman and all of the kids put into this fund raiser.
I know it will be very appreciated by the camp too!
GOOD JOB!

Hamburger Soup

YUMMMM--Y!

This soup is like childhood memories ladled into a bowl, for me.

So good, so simple. Just all around YUM! Really healthy too. Look at the ingredients...Nothing bad at all. I use either 94/6, hamburger or ground turkey in the soup...because it is marinating in the liquid, it doesn't dry out at all. It is wonderful!

Also, I use the Healthy Request soup from Campbell's. Lower sodium, fat, and NO MSG!

The recipe was passed on to my mom back in 1963. YUP...1963

Hamburger Soup
1 pound of lean ground beef
3 cups tomato juice (100% tomato juice from the juice aisle)
1 cup water
2 cans cream of celery soup
1/8 tsp marjoram
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded carrots

Brown the hamburger in a large pot big enough for soup.
In a separate bowl, mix the celery soup with water.
Add the tomato juice to the hamburger.
Add the combined soup and water mixture.
Stir well until combined.
Add spices.
Let simmer 20 minutes.
Add the shredded carrots and let simmer another 10 minutes.

There are other add-ins that I have toyed with. Onions, and mushrooms. Also adding cheese and/or sour cream on top is quite tastey.

Eat it with a nice crusty piece of bread and you will be even happier.
It is like having a hamburger in a bowl!

This time...I made this flatbread. It from a Weight Watchers cookbook...and it was really good.

BUT

Nothing beats the torn off pieces of french bread!

3rd Place Win!!!

This win is a BIG win!

This was a Southend Tournament at Federal Way High.
Southend events are always popular, which makes it so that the kids are up against seasoned, good teams.
They are competitive and difficult to win!

Karman took THIRD!!!
It is a beautiful trophy, and she was SO happy!

She is doing so well this year in debate!
It is awesome that she will have these memories!

We are so proud that she has taken debate seriously this year!

It is so fun to see all of her trophies, and how happy she is about all of them!

Just makes me smile inside. :)

And outside.

Basil

Today was one of those days...

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We lost our kitty today.

Out of no where.

We don't know what happened to him.

If he was sick, or something was wrong, we didn't know it.

He was one of 3 family cats.

For whatever reason though, he has always been a VERY skiddish cat.

He spent more time under beds then anywhere else.

He VERY much preferred Karman and her downstairs room.

So we didn't see him nearly as often as the other cats.

I don't want to dwell on what happened, or how we found him etc....

I just wanted to document the day.

And his little kitty life.

It was hard to tell the little kids...who had never had anything like this happen before.

There was A LOT of thought as to how to tell them...and what to let them be a part of.

We decided to tell and them..and let them lead the conversation.

As adults, we sometimes over think things...that kids don't.

We told them, they understood, and were a little sad.

We went out and put a cross where we buried him, and they felt a bit better.

It was harder to tell Karman, because I know she felt like he was her cat.

They were bonded!

She had just told me about her debate win...

And I had to tell her on the way home...

That wasn't easy.

His sister misses him most!

So it was a hard day...

With a few life lessons thrown in.

Rest In Peace Basil...

We love you.

While I am away...the puppy will play....

Yeah....

My dog...apparently...
Does NOT like stuffing.
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All of her favorite toys...end up with their filling all over our living room.

She will roll all over, roughing up her toys....
And eventually she gets them open...and
De-stuffs them.

And she is so funny to watch while she does it.

Drives Kevin crazy, but the rest of us think it is hilarious!

An Engineer...

Tyler really likes to BUILD with his Legos now.
I mean...he has always loved them...but he would build with the directions...and never wanted to take apart his sets to rebuild.
But...we organized all of his Legos in his room...and basically put together ALL of the pieces...

And now he has REALLY enjoyed creating his own things.

From scratch...and his imagination.

This one was pretty cool.

It was a "mountain range station. It has a detatchable snow mobile and a traveling satellite."

He has just become a little engineer.

One with missing teeth and a smile that would make anyone melt!

A Project for my boy!

So this doesn't even represent how ugly this bed was when we got it.
I bought it off of Craigslist for 20 dollars.
To say it was beat up would be an understatement.

It started off black. (these pictures are of the primed furniture....I forgot before's :))
It was covered in scratches, bite marks and stickers.
However, I saw Pottery Barn-like potential!

It had these great lines. These inset bead-board lines.

and I knew we could make it look great!

I have drooled over the blue furniture at Pottery barn forever...just knowing that it was a far off dream. Knowing that not only do we not have that kind of money, but even if we did, I wouldn't ever be able to bring myself to spend it on a bed.

I am a huge fan of knock-off's though. :) (mostly because I can afford them...)

Also, I have had my eyes open for an old classic, solid wood desk for A LONG TIME.

I have scoured the ads for months and months. Never finding exactly what I wanted...or having the perfect things be WAY too far away to get.

All of the sudden, I found it.

Solid wood. Four drawers. Perfect measurements. AND it came with a matching chair!!!!

So.Happy.I.Was!

25 dollars.

It started off a lightly stained wood desk.

So, Kevin sanded the yuck out of the bed. Then, being the fabulous husband that he is...he also stained both the bed and the desk set for me. It was really cold out too...so it wasn't the most fun thing he has ever done. :)

I love him.

Then the painting started.

The beadboard was the hardest part. I had to use the foam roller, and then the brush, and then the roller to get rid of the brush-strokes, and then found some areas that needed to be coated again, so I had to repeat...

Overall....it took about 3 coats.

The color is different then it looks here.

Not so bright....

Ty's room is going to be sports themed...so we are going to get some ball drawer pulls for the desk!

I am so happy with how it turned out!

It is in his room now, and looks great.

It is pretty high off the ground. Higher then most beds. In between a junior loft and a regular twin. HE LOVES IT! There is room for him to play (on his stomach) or hide underneath...and store all of his bedding.
It was a time consuming, hard project during a very cold time of year....

but once done...

SO fulfilling!

Thank you honey for your help!

Another Day, Another Tooth!

Tyler went to bed last night...with a REALLY wiggly tooth.
As I looked at it closer I could finally see that the tooth underneath was coming in.
I tried to convince him to let me take it out....but he wasn't ready.
So.....
About 30 minutes after he was in bed, he came out....

Looking like this.

A few less teeth...a few more holes in that ever-showing smile.

Super cute...as always...
It is kind of hard to get a smile where you can actually see that bottom missing tooth.

Hmmmm.

Looks like the tooth fairy will be making a visit to us again!

(taken by the way, with our little digital camera. First set of pictures taken after breaking my other love. *sigh*)