I'm Sick!

It never ends, right?

I've been battling a bit of a cold, but today it has morphed into this full time sore-throat, sneezing, coughing, runny nose, headache and sinus-pain filled battle inside my head. I always seem to get a bad cold around this time of the year though, so I guess it is time.

In other news, I somehow super-extended my right knee, tore a muscle...something, yesterday when I got out of the van while running my errands. It's pretty bad and I am having trouble walking. Which makes me irritated b/c that means all my weekend housework is now going to have to be done during the week when I don't want to.

Yep, I'm having a pity part, anyone else want to come?

Works For Me Wednesday Addendum

I just wanted to apologize to all my readers from WFMW! My links were all screwy today and it took me three tries to get it right!

Thanks for coming back to read again, I appreciate it!!!!

Promises Treatment Center

Promises Treatment Center in Malibu, and West Los Angeles, has private drug rehab for yourself or a loved one that is suffering with drug addiction.

At Promises, you will find a high staff-to-client ratio, which ensures the best care available. The staff at Promises does not take their job lightly; You will receive the best care possible to help you overcome your addictions. Clients are housed in a home like setting, which makes them feel more comfortable, which in turn helps them overcome their addictions. They have a high staff to client ratio, which ensures each client receives the attention and help that the need.

Promises specializes in high quality drug and alcohol rehab, as well as treatment for depression and anxiety. Promises treats all sorts of addictions, from Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and Oxycodone. Their "mission is to provide a gateway to sobriety for you or a loved one and to aid in the achievement of lifetime dreams. It’s a mission we do not take lightly."

If you feel you or a family member might benefit from treatment at Promises, don't hesitate to call them at 1-866-871-3149. You can speak to a Specialist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Chore Chart

The man and I decided to make up a chore chart for our three older kids, as we have been having lackluster performance from them around the house. Here it is in all it's glory:



So, we have M-F here, and for each thing they do and do correctly, they get a green block colored in. If they don't do it, whine, do it half ass, etc, they get a red block. That is for all the m-f stuff, pretty easy. They also have one chore per day they rotate through, which include sweeping the kitchen, feeding the pets and cleaning out the litter box. For example, one day it might be kid 1 doing the sweeping, 2 the litter box, and 3 the pets. The next day it would be 2 sweeping, 3 litter box and 1 feeding the pets. The key is for their initials, as we put each kid's first initial in the "chore choice" and "weekend" chores blocks.

On the weekend, they each get two chores, plus whatever is marked by "all" (like cleaning up their toys and books, putting their dirty laundry in the laundry room etc). On Friday nights, the kid who has the most green blocks gets to choose the first chore. The more green you get, the easier your chores. It sounds a little complicated the way I am explaining it, but the picture shows the simplicity of it. Where it says "fridge", that just means cleaning off the old artwork, arranging the magnets etc, not cleaning inside. The porch means cleaning it off and tidying it up, picking up any loose trash etc.

We might seem like strict parents, but the kids don't have a lot to do really. I do the bulk of it during the week, and they do the rest on the weekend. It really works for us, the kids seem to be thriving on it, and really work hard to get a green line in each day's spaces.

Check out more Works For Me Wednesday posts at Rocks in My Dryer, hosted by Shannon!!

Thick And Hearty Pea Soup, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Don't you just love a good thick soup that warms your bones? I'm a big fan of Pea soup, beef stew and the like. It's perfect on a winter's day. I made this for dinner last night, and it was a big hit with me and the girls. Of course, the baby didn't like it as she is a picky almost 3 year old (and the boy is sick, so he didn't eat).

I'll be keeping this recipe handy and plan to make it again.

Hearty Pea Soup


* 3 cups dried split peas (1 bag of split peas)
* 3 quarts cold water
* 2 pounds ham bone
* 2 onions chopped to your liking.
* salt to season
* ground black pepper to season
* 1-3 pinch ground marjoram
* 3 carrots, chopped
* 1-2 potato, diced


DIRECTIONS

1. In a large stock pot, cover peas with 3 quarts cold water and soak overnight. If you need a faster method, simmer the peas gently for 2 minutes, and then soak for l hour.
2. Once peas are soaked, add ham bone, onion, salt, pepper and marjoram. Cover, bring to boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove bone; cut off meat, dice and return meat to soup. Add celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook slowly, uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

This soup was as thick as a London fog, lol. When I reheat it for lunch today,I think I might dilute it with a bit of water to thin it out a bit. I usually make a nice loaf of white bread in my bread machine to go with it, but due to the boy being sick yesterday, I wasn't able to find the time. I might attempt to make bread bowls the next time I make it, I think it would taste fantastic that way.

Check out the other great entries at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

OOPS!!

Have I really not posted since wednesday? I'm sorry. I'm just not feeling the blogging lately.

Around the house we've been implementing a new chore system for the kids...keep an eye out for it on tuesday night/wednesday, as I'll be writing about that for Works For Me Wednesday. It has proven to be quite beneficial, and my husband made me a really nice spreadsheet for it. He loves to do stuff like that.

I, myself, have been trying to get better around the house by keeping up with the housework and other mundane stuff. I busted my ass last thursday and friday, and got the house spotless. All I need to do now is maintenance. So for today that would mean laundry, picking up in the living room, bathrooms and bedrooms and that's about it actually. We just did all the deep cleaning on saturday, so that doesn't need to be done again till next saturday. And throughout the week I'll do the dirty work like mopping, dusting and vacuuming.

I can't believe it, but my oldest two are turning 8 in a month!!! It's so hard to believe they are that old already. Yesterday we booked their birthday party at a local bowling alley (since getting the kids a Wii for Xmas, my oldest daughter has been enraptured by the Wii Sports bowling game, lol). I wish we could have them invite more kids,but parties are expensive!!! They each get to invite 4 friends, and then plus our family, we'll have 14 people there. That's $100 right there for bowling, plus we have to order pizza and get drinks, goodie bags, and bake two cakes. Plus buy two presents! Kids are expensive, remind me again why I had so many?

It's almost 9:30 and time to get my day started...I'll write more tomorrow, I promise!

The Hottest Products Online

Are you looking for a review of a certain website, or product online, but can't find a good one? Then check out HottestProducts. They offer reviews for online services from children's products, and balloon twisting, to websites offering Guides to Manage a Restaurant.

Now for the nitty gritty. This website is supposed to have reviews? They don't. They have pages upon pages of online "products" for you to get reviews on, but their reviews are non-existent. Most of the pages of review say something along the lines of:

"Your submission has recently been obtained by our team and is currently being treated. Due to our website being flooded by submissions, a short queue has been created to better handle said requests. Rest assured that our team of constant writers is willing and able to take care of all your needs, and eagerly await any questions you may have concerning our services. Are site is highly praised amongst its contemporaries, and hope you will be happy with the results of your review."

Their short queue must have become a really long one, because all of the "reviews" I looked at said something similar to what I just quoted. Their website claims to be a hot new service helping you to find the newest, hottest service online, but I don' think they've done a very good job. And the icing on the cake? All of their "products" are online resources people want you to pay for with paypal, like those cheesy e-books on how to make money on eBay by BUYING, and not selling. Or for another example, an eBook on how to beat online BlackJack.

I'm sorry to the creators of Hottest Products, but you really need to get your site in gear and start offering some real reviews. I honestly wasn't really sure what to write for this PayPerPost Opp, as I have never written a negative tone post before. I guess there is a first time for everything, right?

How Do You Lose Weight?

When you feel desperation about it?

I have been struggling with my weight for years, and I mean years. I have stayed pretty consistent at the weight I am at now, but I just can't seem to get the weight down. I know it is my diet, I struggle daily. I am addicted to sweets. I can exercise like crazy, I love spin class, but if I don't diet, I don't lose weight.

Food addiction is not an easy problem for most people to understand. For a lot of people, dieting comes easy and the weight pours off. For myself, I struggle with food addiction. Not regular food, I eat regularly and have a good diet for the most part. But I am addicted to sweets and junk food. I *have* to have it, it's like a drug for me. I really am addicted and I don't know how to break the cycle. If you're addicted to cigarettes, you know how it is when you don't get your next "fix", right? I'm that way with sweets.

If anyone has any ideas on how to substitute the need for sweets, then please enlighten me. I am really struggling with this and I hate how I am, but I just don't know how to get over it.

Back To The Real World

I had the tiniest smidgen of hope that yesterday's snow would stick around and we'd have one more snow day, but alas, I am out of luck. It started raining after midnight, and all the roads are clear now. So today it was back to the real world for us. Up at 7AM, kids up and dressed and off to school for the first time since Dec 15th!!

But it feels good to be back to normal, I guess. I went to the gym this morning and worked out for an hour, came home and showered and then ran some errands. Now I'm home again and have 2.5 hours before the kids come home, and then I have to start making dinner.

My husband left on Saturday, and we were sad to see him go again. He'll be back in 4 weeks for the twins' birthday, but only for a few days then because he spent 10 days at home this time. We had a great winter break though; we bought the kids a Wii for Christmas, so that was on almost constantly. We all had fun playing with it, and my husband and I had quite a few matches on Mario Kart (thanks to my sister for that one!).

Now that the holidays are over, I hope to get into blogging some more. I really slacked off during the month of December, and I want to fix that this month. Bug me if you don't see a post for a few days, ok? I might need a swift kick in the pants.

Happy New Year!!

Out with the old and in with the new! I can't believe it is 2009 already, 2008 went by so fast.

2008 was a bit of a challenging year for us. We decided that to save ourselves, we had to sell our house. We actually listed it almost one year ago and were lucky to find a buyer almost right away. We moved in March into a rental, the kids started at a new school and we began a new life in a new city. Selling the house was difficult for sure, but at least we aren't drowning with our mortgage, right? 2008 was also a happy year for us, as we were able to become more financially stable. The kids also made new friends, adjusted well into a new school and love it there. I was able to get a YMCA membership and get some time to my self a few times a week while I work out. My husband is still the #1 Driver at his work and we made more money than 2007!

This year we started out with some old family traditions. My husband's family is German, so they always did Pork and Sour kraut for new years day, and that will be our dinner. My family being Dutch, we always made Oliebollen, which is a dutch apple fritter served with icing/powdered sugar. I made that today and we just had a mid afternoon snack. The Oliebollen was a hit, the kids and my husband love them.

2009 is going to be the start of a new adventure for our family. I can't go into too many details per the request of my husband, but it will bring a lot of change and excitement. Just wish us luck! I'm going to be doing a lot more canning/jam making this summer. I did that last summer, and our jam stores are dwindling, so it will be nice to have some fresh stuff this summer. My husband is looking into doing a different route with his job, and if all goes well, he will be home quite possibly every weekend for a day or two. That would be a very welcome blessing for our family; we get to spend more time together, and it would also help hold me more accountable in the housework department. lol

This year we also have some financial, as well as personal goals. Financially we're going to pay off our two credit cards (the balance is only $1300) once we get our tax return. With our tax return, we will also pay off our youngest daughter's bedroom set. Paying off those 3 bills will save us about $160 a month, so that is a huge boost to our savings account each month.

And last, but not least, my personal goal is to lose weight. I know, it's hack to say that, but I do plan on it. Hubby and I are going to celebrate our 10th anniversary this year, so I would like to be considerably thinner for our anniversary. We actually plan to go away for a night or two while my mom watches the kids. He proposed here , so we thought it would be fun to go back there for our 10th anniversary. I know we just had our 9th, but I'm really looking forward to this one!

Pardon my long-windedness.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!