Day 3-it is still staying interesting

So how are things going here? You may be wondering. Things are going well. Actually things are going better than I planned or could count on. You know already that on his first day home I maced my husband. You also know on day 2 he tried to kill me by spraying oven cleaner in the living room (he thought it was furniture polish). You would think things would calm down. NOPE, not in our house. Today was just a crazy but in a scarier way. This morning we dropped my son off at a scout event. This would give us about 2 hours to be alone. We would be out shopping but alone. He was excited to buy me clothes (I think he is enjoying my weight loss). Everything was going well. We were in a store when my husband makes a noise and goes flying out the door. A little old lady (in her 80’s) had fallen. She did not step up on the curb. She had a gash on her hand but was okay. She was so sweet, she thought she could finish her shopping and be okay. We tried to call her daughter but there was no answer. She finally agreed to go to the hospital to have her hand stitched. She was completely okay mentally and funny. She fussed that if she would just have stepped higher and used that dang cane she would have been fine. We kind of argued back in forth while my husband and a local store worker wrapped up her hand. After much talk we convinced her to let us drive her to the hospital. So my amazing husband (hero) drove her to the hospital and I followed. We got her settled in. I knew it was not a big deal and she would be okay, this was just a case of her missing the curb. We left her at the hospital with our phone numbers. Driving home I finally reached her daughter. I just called again (I hope they do not think I am a stalker). She said that they were at the hospital all day but she is stitched up and home on pain meds. She said she felt like Scarlett O’Hara being picked up and rescued. He was her night in charming armor. I am so glad someone else got to see what I see all the time. The kids did great today. The boys have let dad out of his sight. Hope on the other hand wants to constantly be touching him. She is enjoying him. Okay, just a quick talk about weight loss. Yesterday I entered a new stage. I am officially in the 160’s, only by a couple of ounces but I am there. Rob is definitely in this with me. I have seen him cutting back on what he eats. I picked up some low calorie chips earlier today and he did the same. I reminded him he could eat whatever he likes. He said “if I could do it, he could do it”. We have walked twice together since he came home. I was nervous about how I would stick to my diet with my red meat eating man. I have realized that was not needed. I have so much more I want to say but my kids are in bed so that means it is time for me to have quiet time with my hero. Pamela

Weight Loss part 3

Weight loss update May 15-Jun15 I have really upped my walking this month. I am really enjoying it. I also started blogging on myfitnesspal so I could remember some things to tell my husband. Again, this is totally hard to keep from him. He is amazing. Here are a couple of my post from myfitnesspal.com My butt hurts-May 16 Just want you to know my butt hurts. i do not know if it is from walking last night. Not bad just weird. So funny, I just want this written down. A couple of weeks ago Rob came on line and we used webcams together. The picture is not perfect. Well I had my hair in a pony tail and he asked me if I got my hair cut. So funny because I could shave my head and he would not notice. I think he noticed something in my face but does not realize it. So hard not to tell him sometimes I beat anger, today May 18 Okay, so I may not be exercising like crazy. But I am proud of myself. Yesterday I literally had someone rip my heart out and I came home from that and DID NOT eat chocolate cake. I ate 2 eggs with 2 pieces of cheese. I walked at 5:30 am, probably faster than I normally do for part of it. Then ate breakfast and walked 3 miles with another friend. I have noticed if I can up my walking I loose more weight. I need to start walking more. I need to not give up on walking in the mornings. Okay, I am proud of myself for the last part of the day. For lunch I had a fiber one bar and apple dippers. Did you know apple dippers are only 15 calories (no carame l). Because I knew we were having a catered dinner. So I went to the dinner and had 1 piece of baked chicken and mash potatoes. I also had 2 bites of Michael’s pork chop to taste it, and one piece of cake. Although, I could have had more cake and all of Michael's food. I am so proud of myself for not wanting to eat more. I can do this; I can get angry and sad and not eat something crazy. I have not heard from rob in 5 days. I think this is the longest we have ever gone without talking. Sore foot May 22 Today was almost comical. I got up and cleaned like a crazy person. Then I went to see my thyroid DR. She took one look at my weight loss and started freaking out. She thought my thyroid was making me lose weight. I explained how I lost the weight and she still questioned me in great detail. After a while she said she was proud of my weight loss and that I was doing it exactly right. Last night i walked 4.5 miles with my friend Amber. My first was not feeling well. I do not think there is glass anymore but it is sore. Tonight while Michael was at scouts I walked 5 miles. I think I am going to try to go back on Thursday and walk again. This weekend is going to be stressful because it is my first real trip with all 6 kids alone and the food will be crazy. Weekend plans May 28 What a great weekend! I conquered taking 6 kids on a trip for the weekend and not only that I was able to not eat like a crazy person. This week I lost 3.8 pounds. That sounds awesome. This weekend we stayed in the hotel for 3 days. I made it to the gym two of those days. It was awesome. I used the treadmill and the bike. I came home full of dreams of joining a gym. Then I decided before I allowed myself that I would use our treadmill for a while. The only problem is that it is in the HOT, but I can do it early in the morning and place a fan on me. So this week I am determined to use my treadmill more. I am determined to use that dang elliptical too. So tomorrow I am going to wake up and use the treadmill and then the goal would be to go walking on the track while Michael is at scouts again. It is time to get busy. I have 3 pounds until I am below 200, I think if I work really hard this week I can make that happen. A crazy week May 30 I have to be honest when I woke up Monday morning and saw that i had lost 3.8 pounds last week I was so excited. That night my friend reminded me I was not using a different scale. So I was not complete surprised on Tuesday morning and realized I had gained back 4 pounds. That means I lost nothing last week. Seriously worked out harder than ever last week and even did not do terrible on our trip. Except I did not drink as much water and we ate later at night. I would like to say it is not bothering me but it is. So it will motivate me to try harder this week. I was so excited at the thought of getting below 200 this week. Well maybe next week, Last night at boy scouts I stayed on the bike 30 minutes and then walked for 80 minutes, maybe I am building a little muscle. Working my butt off May 31 Working my butt off, hopefully literally. I walked 40 minutes this morning. Then I did 10 minutes on the elliptical. I really want to try to do this more often. A friend said it really helps with your hips and boy do I have hips. This evening I did 30 minutes on the bike and walked 60 minutes. I am getting there. Less than 4 months until my hero gets home A week’s difference June 4 This has been a hard week. I woke last Monday and was thrilled to find out that I had lost 3.8 pounds, woke up Tuesday morning and Cried when I realized I had gained 4 pounds. I have worked hard this week. We had krispy kreme at church yesterday and I did NOT eat a donut. I am almost scared I will wake up tomorrow and have another gain. Today I am having eggs for breakfast, chicken for lunch and dinner. /then tonight I am walking with my friend. That is if it does not rain. Visitors June 24 Oh wow how I wish we could post pictures. This week was crazy. My mom was here and we were crazy busy and ate out a ton. I was really worried that my weight would suffer. I did okay with it. I may have even lost a pound or two. If not anything else it at least let me know that I can do this. I did feel bad for my mom because we did not eat out at yummy restraunts. I am down to less than 3 months before my hero comes home. It is hard because we are not talking very often right now. Yesterday was hard; all I wanted was junk food. I mean like a snickers bar and chocolate cake bad. I have no clue what was going on. I feel better today. OOPS June 26 Can I just say keeping this secret is part fun and part miserable? I guess it is also laughable. Yesterday my husband said he saw a picture of me on facebook. Sure enough my mom had accidently posted a picture with me in the background. I was not mad but wanted to shoot her. He said it looked like I had lost weight. I told him it was not me and did not know what picture he was talking about. Then promptly removed the picture before he could go back and look for it. Okay so remember I wanted to shoot my mom. That all changed when I realized I had posted the same picture on my blog. Then I went back and deleted it. only a few more months and then I can share this journey with him Total weight loss this month 8.2 pounds

Feeling Beachie

This week’s statements: 1. when I was little I was called _kiddo by my Big Sister (through Big Brothers/Big Sisters), kool-aid lips in middle school. __ 2. _Junior mints and chocolate covered peanuts__are my favorite candy 3. If I could have one magical power it would be__this is hard, so I am changing it to 2 magical powers. One would be to read minds so I knew what people really thought about me and second to make a house clean with just a thought.____ 4. If I could go back to school it would be to become a _teacher, or a chef. I would love to know how to cook better. ________ Pamela

5 Question Friday

1. Do you prefer to drive to your vacation spot or fly? Fly if it is very far. I do not like driving across town. 2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? Hmm, I really do not know. Okay I have a couple of ideas. I would love to live on a farm close to the amish. A quiet farm that is away from people. Where I could have chickens and horses and a big garden. Where I could see buggy’s go down the road. I also would not mind living on a small island somewhere. One that does not have a lot of people or tourist and I could set by the beach and read for most of the days. 3. Should grown women wear leggings? This was my question. You see one of the first things my hero wanted to do when he came home and realized I had no clothes was take me shopping. One of the outfits he picked out and loved (so did the sales lady, It was her idea) was this outfit with leggings. I wore it to small group Wednesday night but really feel like I am too old for it. So the question is, if I like the shirt then what type pants do I wear with it. Honest opinions PLEASE! 4. If you could change your name to any other name, would you? And what would it be? Well my dad wanted my name to be Gypsy, I am so glad my mom did not stick with that one. I do not know what I would want my name but I know if we ever have another child it will either be Hannah Joy or Noah (maybe Jonah). 5. What magazines to you have subscriptions to? This is funny; I would say Boys Life which is a scouting magazine and the American Girl Magazine. Nothing special for me unless maybe I get Family Fun. Pamela

My secret part 2

Written July 2012 April 16 weight 224.4- May 15 211 pounds I started a biggest loser contest with friends. Honest after the first week I thought there is no chance I can win this. I already lost the first 20+ pounds that are the easiest to lose. But I stayed in it. I liked the motivation. I started walking more. I even moved my elliptical into my room. Which is something I said would never happen. My stats: April 9-16 down 4 pounds April 16-23 down 1.2 pounds April 23-30 4.2 pounds down Total April weight loss was 13.4 pounds Total to date: 39 pounds Pamela

Day one-the rest of the story

Day one- the rest of the story After Rob saw me it was time for the kids to see him. I was wondering how James and Jason would react. Jason has told me for weeks how much he misses him. I do not think he totally believed he was coming home. When he first saw Rob he looked and then looked again. Then I think he finally flew into his arms. That little boy was not aware of anything around him. He just clung to him, head in Rob’s neck not looking at anything else. The other kids hug him and cannot stop talking to him. Hope is asking him if he brought home dirty laundry for her to wash. Michael is consumed with rather I surprised him. Grace just wants to hug him. It was so precious because he looked at Grace and said “you have big girl teeth”. These are the things he misses that most people do not realize. At one point Faith was holding the baby when he leaned over into Rob’s face and waved at him and smiled the biggest smile. Then he got in Robs arms and just hugged him and refused to let go. I did force them to let go long enough for us to take some pictures. I cannot wait to share the pictures the amazing photographer took. What I am showing you was done with my cell phone. I did not even remember to pull out my camera. I also forgot the welcome home signs. How in the world after 8 deployments do I forget welcome home signs? As you know they give you a couple of minutes (okay 15 minutes) with your soldier before they take them away again. So Rob gets back on the bus to turn in his weapon and pick up his gear. We made it home. The noise in the car was crazy because everyone needed to tell dad something. Things they have already told him on the phone but things they needed him to hear. Things that were important to him. After he got home he showered and tried to breath. Can you breathe with 6 kids talking to you constantly and climbing on you? So we ordered pizza for dinner. That really surprised me because normally he cooks a big steak his first day home. I told Rob during dinner that if he wants a minute of peace we would have to take a walk with the kids. Because, while they are with us they are not on top of him. You are going to have to wait a day to hear about the walk. Let’s just say it included skinned up toes and mace and a strange dog. Pamela

The secret I have been keeping

Written July 13, 2012. I am writing this today but will not publish until after my hero has returned home and seen me. I want to surprise him. Can I say this has been a hard secret to keep? I cannot openly talk about it on facebook, can’t post pictures of me on facebook. So I have been keeping a secret from my blogging friends. Well I have told some of you just not publicly. This is a secret I have been keeping since February. You see in February my hero deployed. The next day I decided to give up my beloved Mountain Dew. If you have read my blog very long you know that I have drank mountain dew since middle school. Between mid February until March first I lost 8 pounds. Towards the end of February my friend Kristie invited me to join her and another friend on myfitnesspal.com. I ignored her. Then my friend invited me and again I kind of ignored her. Finally I talked to Kristie and decided I would try it. I had been thinking about trying to lose weight. I told myself I would start after Christmas, promised myself during every deployment that I would lose weight. So March first was the date. I started on myfitnesspal.com . I started with 1800 calories a day. Between March first and May 15 I slowly went down from 1800 calories to 1200. 1200 is really the lowest you can go. I also started walking. First I was walking with a friend before the kids woke up. When that stopped working I started walking with another friend on post. It is great because some weeks we walk twice and some weeks we can walk 5 times. I will keep you updated on how I am doing. I think I will start posting weekly updates. But first I want to give you some before pictures. This is me at 249 size 22. So here are some stats for February and March. February 15-Febuary 28 lost 8 pounds March 15- April 15 weight 241-225 Pamela

Pumpkin muffins

I am addicted to Pinterest. I am addicted to all of the wonderful pumpkin recipes I have found. I recently found the easiest recipe ever. I found the recipe on Nomadic Nom Nom. I loved her chocolate version. It almost tasted like a yummy fudgy piece of Chocolate cake to me. I am addicted to Pumpkin right now so a couple of days later I re-made the recipe. Only this time I used a yellow cake mix and a can of pumpkin. I never added the chocolate chips. These end up being about 100 calories a piece. Pamela

Miscellany Monday

First, I have loved all your comments recently. But I have a problem. I have someone named Jen who always comments. Yet, there is not a link to her blog. I would love to say a big thank you for all your support but I need to know who you are. Please tell me more about you. Also several people have said they cannot leave comments. If this is a problem for you please let me know at prmpetrie@yahoo.com Today I got a glimpse of the pictures the photographer took when my husband came home. I cannot wait to see the rest. My husband went to church with me today. It is awesome to be able to set next to him. We have had had 5 men come home in the last month. I had the kids take a picture of us before we left. My husband and I get a night alone this week. A friend is keeping all six kids while we have a night alone. I am so excited to have any time alone with my man to talk without interruptions. We went to touch a truck on Saturday. The kids loved it. Pamela

The time I maced my hero

Day one-the last of the story Did I tell you that I am taking a gun safety class? I really think I need to carry something on long trips and when I am walking my dog alone. You may think I am nuts after reading this story. My husband has suggested for years that we take walks together. Something that sounded good but until recently was intimidating. Before we walked my hero had to see the dog. Actually when he got home the first thing he wanted to do was check in on his puppy. It was so cute because Abby (the dog) stopped and stared at him from across the yard. Moved closer and looked at him again. I am sure she was trying to decide if this man was okay. Then all of the sudden she took off running at my husband. She was so funny; she was so excited that she kept flipping in circles. Around and around and around and could not calm down. She would run away and then come back and look at him again. So cute. Okay, I know you are waiting to hear about mace. So we decided to take a walk after dinner. I decided to take my mace. We begin our walk. Please keep in mind that we have kids with us who do not exactly walk a straight line. We start walking past this street and a dog comes out of nowhere. A very friendly dog or so it seems. I instantly get defensive and scared. I am a big scared cat when it comes to strange dogs. My husband walks the dog back to its yard. Only a few seconds later it comes close again. This time it comes close as in touching my dog. I panicked. Long story short both dogs are on their hind legs and I am panicking. I start screaming for my husband to mace this dog. Only I have the mace. The dog comes at us again and I start making the dog. The only problem is that my husband is close to the dog trying to get it in its yard. My husband instantly starts sputtering. At this point I am walking back down the hill. I hear my husband sputtering every now and then. From the bottom of the hill I watch him. A couple of seconds later he is laughing and I am trying not to cry from laughing so hard. I just maced my husband on his first day home! I am sure I will never here the end of this. The kids did finally go to bed and we did finally get a few minutes alone. Oh and do not feel too bad for my husband. Because today he decided to dust off the entertainment center so he could rearrange the TV. Well instead of using furniture polish he used oven cleaner. I was gasping worse than he was. If we do not kill one another I will be back to tell you more about our life. You know things like why my hero used a crinkle cutter to cut up potatoes. Pamela

How I lost weight?

Okay it is time to talk weight loss. I have wanted to discuss this with you for months. I have written several post that will post in the next couple of weeks. So some of what you will hear is going to be repeated. The question I have been asked over and over is how did you lose so much weight. This answer is very simple. I have counted calories. I started at 1800 calories and am down as low as 1200 calories a day. What this means is that if I want a piece of chocolate cake then I have part of one. If I have a bad day and splurge then I start fresh the next day and try not to feel guilty about it. As far as excercise goes, I am lazy. Maybe not as lazy as I use to be. My goal is to walk for a hour or use the eliptical for at least 30 minutes five times a week. I do try to work in more walking when I can. Like walking around the playground while the kids play. As of today I have lost 78 pounds. That means I am just 2.5 pounds from being considered normal weight and not over weight. If I read it correctly it says normal weight for my height (5.8) is 144-167. I do not know where I will end up. A friend put this picture together for me. I am going to get updated pictures soon. Pamela

Day One with my hero

Day one with our hero home. My hero is home, I guess you know that. This deployment is over. I want to tell you some of our day. I woke up early to go get my hair done. My hero knew I had it colored but did not know what color. Since he left with it curly and blonde, I wanted it to be straightened and curled. I came home and straightened the house. Not that you could tell an hour later. We got everyone ready to leave. We were getting ready when I got a phone call saying he would be arriving early. So I put it in hyper drive. We were getting text messages asking if I was excited. Honestly at this point I was not excited. I am very task oriented so that is all I could think about. I honestly was nervous he would not notice my weight loss. So we leave for post. I take the girls to a friend’s house so she can braid their hair. Have I ever told you how bad I am at doing hair? It is scary. I am fortunate to have many friends who can help. We arrive at the hangar at noon. His plane was to arrive at 12:15. If you know me you know that is crazy. I am always a hour early for everything. We find the photographer or she finds us rather. I cannot wait to show you the pictures she took. Within minutes the plane was landing. I had arranged for the kids to set in the back of the hangar and me to stand closer to the front. I wanted to be able to get a picture of him seeing me without the kids. Expect picture over load. I have so much to tell you. Things like how the kids reacted when they saw him, how I maced him on his first day home. What are plans are now that he is home. Pamela

5 Question Friday

1. What is one grammar issue you cannot let go without correction? There, their, and the other type of there. I never get it right? 2. What's your favorite thing about fall? The cooler weather, the way everything smells fresh, the way I can bake without heating up the house 3. What's your favorite dish to take to a potluck? Recently it has been pigs n the blanket and pepperoni rolls. But I love to make a rainbow cake or a candy decorated cake. 4. When do you start Christmas (Holiday) shopping? Soon, I cannot wait to be done. I try to be done by Thanksgiving so we can enjoy the month of December together. 5. Did you move homes a lot growing up? YES, YES and YES, I think more than we have in the military. All in the same town but I can say I lived in most parts of the town. Pamela

Feeling Beachie

I love feeling beachie, I love this weekly blog party. I love all the questions. I think it gives you a chance to get to know a different side of me. This week Hilary made me co-host and I could not be more thrilled. What a wonderful honor. I would love it if you linked up, I would love it if you told her how appreciative I am. The statements are: 1. The last time I was on vacation, I went to _Myrtle Beach for a weekend get away with my hero. I cannot wait to have him home and go away again. __ 2. For _my birthday __I like to eat_KFC chicken, with homemade mash potatoes and a good piece of cheese cake with chocolate fudge.__ 3. My heart hurts when_I see my soldier deploy___because__I know that he is missing his children grow up and all the changes that happen in our lives. 4. Why must people be cruel to children with disabilites_______ just to__cover there own insecurities or lack of knowledge about their condition. ________. Pamela The code is: Pamela

My hero is home

I have been keeping secrets from my blog. I did not tell you he is coming home. He is home now.
Not only is he home but he is home to a wife who has changed her hair color and lost 77 pounds. I will share more of our journey and more of my weight loss journey soon.
But for now I am enjoying my hero. Except for the time I maced him. It was completely a accident.
Pamela

Just some questions

Random thoughts: My hero is coming home soon (by the end of the month) and man is my brain going on over drive. Here are some questions you may be able to help me with. 1. What do I wear? Hmm, I am almost tempted to wear sweat pants. A girl has to be comfortable right? 2. Which children should I take to green ramp? My big kids do not want to go. I do not want to take the little kids. This is where I should tell you. The day I pick up my husband is weird. I will go to one location and after speeches I will see him for no more than 10 minutes. Then he has to leave again and we will pick him up a couple of hours later. So the thought is to bring the kids to friends until the second pick up. The big kids hate to say hi and then leave him. I think the younger kids will not understand why he is leaving again. 3. I have not showed my new hair color to my husband. Should I show it to my blog friends or should I tell my husband what color it is before he arrives. He knows I colored it but nothing else. I want to surprise him. Should I tell you I had virgin (or almost) hair. I had highlights put in 9 years ago and have never done any other color. So this is a HUGE deal. 4. How will my husband handle being home with 6 little blessings attacking him? Will I remember not to over whelm him quickly? 5. Will my husband really work half days for a couple weeks? Should I plan on it and make plans for us or should I remember it is the Army and just roll with it? What do you think? Do you have any answers to these questions? Pamela

Pot luck food

How many potlucks do you attend a year. It seems like we are always being asked to bring food to something. I do not mind. I love cooking. The problem I have with potlucks is it is that there is not always things for kids. So I love making kid friendly food. We have all made pigs n the blankets. My new favorite thing to make is pepporoni rolls. Biscuits (you know the kind that comes 4 cans for a couple of dollars) pepporoni string cheese First take a biscuit and roll it out using your fingers layer a piece of pepporoni, cheese and another piece of pepporoni wrap the biscuit around the peporoni just like you would the hot dog bake for 10 minutes. I add spaghetti sauce on the side for dipping. YUMMY, I have been saying that alot recently. All this yummy cannot be good for my waist line. Actually each pepporoni roll is only about 70 calories. Pamela

Preparing for re deployment

It is that time. What time you may ask? Time for my hero to come home. Well not technically yet but getting closer. Close enough that it is time to start preparing for his homecoming. How do I prepare you may be wondering. Well let me tell you. *I make sure there is plenty of diet pepsi in the house. I currently have 14-12 packs *make sure I have his condiments in the house- A1, BBQ sauce, soy sauce have been purchased *make sure I have his food in the house-red meat bought, have not bought steaks because he requested to do this himself *make sure I go through his clothes and get rid of things I do not like. Okay, maybe I should not do this but I did *make sure I have not moved things around in the house that he may need. One time I moved the towels *make sure his truck is running and cleaned out and smells nice. OOPS! I let the battery run down * start working on sitters for date nights, after being gone so long you have to make time to get to know one another, time to talk and re connect *start working on welcome home posters *start thinking about block leave because you probably both have ideas that are not the same *I am starting to clean up and organize now, so that I am not going crazy the week before he comes home. I like to really clean up before he comes home so I have more time to relax when he is home *make a reasonable list of things that need repaired or fixed when he gets home and remind myself he will still be working when he gets home *make sure finances are in order and set a budget according to the money he will be making once he is home. One time during one of our first deployments I moved all of his clothes to an upstairs closet and took all of his knick knacks out of the bedroom. He came home and felt like it was not his bedroom. I love that my soldier is coming home this fall. I would be lying if I did not say I wasn’t a little nervous about how we fit back together as a family. Children grow up and change. I have changed, he has changed. He is not use to being around 6 kids constantly. He is not use to picking what he wants to eat or even eating when he wants. It takes time. My hero is amazing with the kids but when he came home the last time I made a huge mistake. His first weekend home I left him alone with the kids for 8 hours. He was over whelmed, they took advantage of him and well it was not good. When he comes home and is settled we will set down and have a family meeting and discuss what our family goals are and rules are. So how do you prepare for your soldier to come home? What do you look forward to and what makes you nervous? Pamela

Miscellany Monday

Randomness. 1. I have been keeping a secret from my blog for many months. I cannot wait to share with you over the next week and come clean. I hate secrets. 2. I had my hair colored this week. It took three trips to the salon to get it how I wanted but I think I will like it. It was mostly not my fault and the hair dresser was beyond amazing. 3. My friend Jolene welcomed home two new blessings this week. Her family amazes me and has encouraged me. When we were blessed with our boys it was wonderful to have someone to run things by. Someone who had been there and understood some of their feelings and behaviors and help me know how to support them through the transition. Please stop by her blog and read her story. 4. My son parked cars at the fair grounds for the last 6 days. He really enjoyed it. It was nice because he had some people speak rudely to him. I know that should not be a good thing. But it gave me a reason to talk to him about customer service. He enjoyed it because when the cars were parked he was able to relax and hang out with the other scouts. 5. This week I made 6 loaves of bread, 2 BIG pans of brownies, cookies, and am going to make a peanut butter cake. I really enjoy baking for others. 6. It is almost time to start making welcome home signs. I am so not a sign maker. 7. This week a lady was walking down the street in front of my house. She stopped and asked if she could dig up some of the bulbs for my flowers and have them. I said yes because what could I have said. I almost laughed because currently there are reads almost as tall as my mailbox. I know that is horrible but it is truth. 8. My vacuum is not working, it blows out dirt. Not good in a house with 6 kids. It is not a year old. I have been using my shop vac. I am counting days until my hero is home and can fix things. 9. I have acne around my chin. Coming down from both corners of my mouth. I have not had acne in years. Any suggestions. 10. I am reading a book called, wild at heart. It is a amazing book. Have you read it and if so what did you think? Pamela

Monday Quiz about me

1. Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes? Redeeming Love, have read it several times. A great way to remind myself that no matter how bad my past is I can still have a great life. I just need to be willing to work for it and be open for it. 2. What was your favorite game to play as a child? Hmm, can’t remember playing games. I did love to play school. For hours I would play school in my room. I still giggle because my girls play school all the time. The funny part is they have never been in a school classroom. 3. What person in history would you most like to meet? So many to mention. I would love to meet Martin Luther King and have him tell me how he was brave enough to stand up. 4. Tell us two truths and a lie about yourself... Until this week I had virgin hair, I wanted to be a nun when I was a child, I cannot stand to have dirty floors. And for my number 5: Which would you prefer, a live in nanny or a live in maid? I would prefer the maid, I love taking care of my kids but wish I did not have to spend so much time cleaning. Pamela

Home made Bread

Recently I purchased my first wheat grinder. Last week my wheat came in. So not I have buckets of wheat. This week I bought a new mixer because my amazing kitchen aid could not handle the weight of my wheat. This week I made bread. Oh so yummy bread. Bread that I have to cut as soon as it comes out of the oven. Bread that my children cannot get enough of. The recipe I use for the bread is the breadbecker recipe. 1-1/2 cups hot water 1/3 cup oil 1/3 cup honey 2 tsp salt 1 egg 2 TBS Lecithin 1 tsp gluten 4-4.5 cups flour, I use half hard red and half hard white 1/2 cup flax seed 1 TBS yeast 1. first mix the honey, water, oil, salt, and egg. Add lecithin, gluten and half of flour and mix. 2. add the rest of the flour and the yeast. I need this for 6-8 minutes. 3. allow to rise in a warm area, Divide dough and shape into pans. Allow to rise a second time. 4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. This is a yummy recipe. In my new mixer I can easily triple this recipe. I need to learn how to freeze my bread. Although really it does not last long. Pamela

Movie Theatre Cookies

I have showed you my new amazing mixer. My amazing HUGE mixer. I have been waiting for a reason to triple a recipe to use in my new mixer. You know put it to work. Well that day came when I saw the recipe for Movie Theatre cookies on Cookies & Cups. I am going to list her recipe and then list beside it how much I used. • 4 cups all purpose flour 12 cups flour • 1 tsp baking soda 3 tsp baking soda • 1 cup butter 3 cups flour • 1/2 cup peanut butter 1.5 cups peanut butter • 2 cups light brown sugar, packed 6 cups brown sugar • 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1.5 cups sugar 2 whole eggs, plus 2 egg yolks 6 eggs, 6 egg yolks (had to think which was the yolk) • 2 Tbsp vanilla 6 TBSP vanilla • 3 cups assorted candy 8 cups candy I used a bag of chocolate chips, a bag of reece pieces, a bag of pretzel m&m’s, 3 boxes of milk duds. Man the goodness coming out of these cookies. I think the most important part of the recipe is to cream the butter and butter together. I used my large pampered chef to scoop onto the baking stone. I baked them at 325 for 10-12 minutes. There are more directions but I will let you find them on Cookies & Cups Pamela

Feeling Beachie

This week’s statements: 1. I like to _color_ when I am __with my kids, there is something about staying in the lines that relaxes me_ 2. Green beans___ is my favorite vegetable, not only my favorite vegetable but my only vegetable. I am beyond picky. 3. I get _angry_______ when I _notice something my dog has torn up, although I know she would be better if I would be better at training her_____. 4. I’m surprised by _how much personal business is put on facebook________ and _it makes me sad because it is hurt way longer than it is intended to___________. Pamela

5 Question Friday

1. How long did it take for you to find your wedding dress? (Wedding dress pics anyone?) One day, I went into the only dress shop in town and found the dress. 2. Someone in your general vicinity releases a NASTY smelling fart. Do you say anything or blow it off? Blow it off, I cannot stand that four letter word. My kids will tell you any day that they love to go away with dad, rather it is going fishing or camping because they can say the F word and do the F word without mom getting upset. 3. What is the scariest thing that happened to you or scared you recently? I was on post with a friend which is about 25 minutes from my house. I received a phone call from our alarm company saying the alarm had gone off. At first I was not concerned because I thought maybe the kids did not lock the back door and the dog knocked it open. Then the lady said it was a inside alarm and not a door. Then she said the police were at my home and how fast could I get there. So I grabbed the kids and headed home. By the time I got there the police were gone and I can find no reason why the alarm was going off. I did find a butter knife in the floor. Sometimes if you drop something metal onto the floor then it will set it off. It thinks it is glass breaking. So weird but probably a animal. 4. Favorite brand and flavor of ice cream. This summer it has been my yonana machine. Freeze bananas, let defrost slightly and put in my yonana machine and I have instant ice cream. I also love a good Sonic oreo blast. 5. Are you able to sleep well in hotels? If it is a nice hotel and I mean really nice then yes. But if it does not have amazing sheets and blankets and super thick walls then I do not. Pamela

Cake Batter Dip

I found this great recipe on pinterest. It came from Tasty Kitchen originally. This is so simple. So beyond simple. 1 box cake mix (any flavor) 1.5 cups plain yogurt 2 cups cool whip I used a white cake mix but want to try chocolate this weekend. I used low fat yogurt and fat free cool-whip. I did not find animal crackers so I used graham crackers. I will let you know how chocolate comes out. What other flavors should I try. Pamela