Green Cards...without the politics

So I have some exciting news. My boys finally got their green cards!!

I know, this day has been a long time coming. Green cards, as you all know, are extremely hard to come by. You have to work your behind off to obtain one. We had to do a lot of education, and work with the boys endlessly to help them know the responsibilities and get them ready to get one.

We are proud. We are speechless. Frankly when I saw them I got tears in my eyes. So many of their peers have tried endlessly to get them and never do. We thought it would never happen.

Needless to say, Friday when they finally got them, I was so excited, they were jumping up and down, and as a reward...they got to play Super Mario Brothers!!



Oh....and a green card is what their daycare gives for being perfect and not hitting or fighting all day. What else? Ha! But seriously...I didn't think these boys would ever get there. Hopefully I didn't jinx it and we won't have a yellow or dreaded orange card week...





*Of course this is all in jest, and I totally respect all those out there who have to tirelessly (and ridiculously in most cases) have to work so hard to obtain a true green card.*

Worst. Easter. Ever.

Okay not really, that might be a little melodramatic. And frankly the kids were here with us, and everyone is healthy and loved so it was still very awesome.

BUT! But...I had a cold.

Which means....*sob*....I couldn't....*sniff*.... TASTE anything!!

It was horrible. All those Starburst Jellybeans...and Tropical Skittles...even the darn Rolos, all the candy I only buy a few times a year, wasted.We had a whole fantastic delicious menu consisting of only the most off-limits-on-my-diet foods. Friendship bread (YUM), Maple Sausage, Brewerman's Hummus (!!), Ribeye with blue cheese and sauteed mushrooms and onions, cheesey potatoes, and last of all.....Red Velvet Cake. Okay so I wasn't excited at all about the cake, since I'm not a huge fan of cake, but anywho.

Now. Let's not get all crazy and say I still didn't eat any of it and stuck to my diet just because I couldn't really taste anything. Psh. Amatures. I just had to do a combination of swallowing/blowing my nose/sniffling and i'd get a hint of flavor. Brewerman was thrilled to have me at that table let me tell you.

But besides that worst news of the whole weekend we had a good weekend. Brewerman had some sickie stuff going on all week so my family wasn't able to come down...which sucks. I miss the heck out of our family. Hard. But we were still able to meet up with friends and have a great Easter Potluck and egg hunt. It was such a great time to get to know the families around the area. I love this neighborhood!



Lil' Guy hamming it up

Lil Dude having a ball



The good news is they are old enough now to do awesome on the egg hunt...the bad news is that they are also now old enough to NOT share their candy with their parents...so we have to steal it behind their backs. Lil Dude did pretty good too and even laughed (LAUGHED!) when another kid beat him to an egg. That's right, my ultra-competitive son was NOT a poor sport.

The boys and their loot.



Last but not least we put the kiddos to bed after yet another round of horrible storms, and the Easter Bunny came! This year I refused to do a whole lot. I want to keep it to a minimum. They each got one toy and candy. Lil'Dude was thrilled with his Nee Hai Kai Lan ?? Leapster game, but Lil'Guy....oh that boy. He was totally unimpressed with his instrument set. Oh eventually he liked to play the harmonica, but that was just because Lil'Dude tried to play with it. So a total parenting fail on that one.





Me & my boys.



So all in all, fantastic weekend because I adore my children, horrible weekend because it wasn't able to revolve around food. I have a feeling I'm going to make a very cranky healthy person....

Running...okay Jogging...okay fast walking

So in my Super Quest to be Healthy (by which what I really mean is skinnier) I, along with 5 of my super cool friends, have started running at nights. Well....walking with a little jogging thrown in. We call ourselves....The Fanny Pack Crew. Neon headbands optional. Spotlight and eye of the tiger playing? Mandatory.

First off, let me give you a little background on me and running: I hate it. It hates me. It was a mutual break up after high school gym classes ended.

I can ride my bike 30 miles, do squats for hours, get on that stair stepper thingeemadoo at the gym for a long time, pretty much anything else but lunges. I fully admit that lunges make me cry and squeal. But I can NOT run.

Despite that, some friends of mine wanted to start walking at night so I reluctantly agreed. I mean I can walk...love that.

Then sneaky little Abamalamma and Vanerellian threw in jogging. Jerks. Now half of us stayed walking, half jogged, so I could have just stayed walking. But NO, my little competitve side (we'll call her Nawesome...prounounced Na-Awesome) is such a B that she just can't STAND not doing it. So we did. Jogged that is. Nawesome didn't do too bad really, we kept up...didn't pass out.

And you know what?

I kinda liked it.

Now I need new shoes, as my second to largest toe that sticks out about a 1/2 inch past my big toe  is numb, since I refuse to buy a 1/2 size larger shoe just for that little jerk, but I gotta do what I gotta do. I also didn't jog the whole time, just did spurts of jogging, but it felt great! Nawesome even sprinted a couple times. SPRINTED!!

I'm hoping I can stick with it. Stupid Nawesome now has a goal of jogging straight 2 miles. It's quite pathetic reading that and some of you big runners will laugh, but I tried it on day two when I got cocky. Yeah.....ouch. Let's just say it's now a "goal".

Now the Natalie side of me just has a goal to stick with it. Even after we saw a five foot long coyote/wolf across the street from us that I swear would have torn us to bits with it's bullfrog-like noises, got stalked by a crazy dude in a green truck that tried to run us over then waited on us to come back so he could take us away and marry us, and passed a few groups of teens that I'm sure would have killed us and hid our bodies if I hadn't whipped out my cell phone and pretended I was looking at something so they saw that I had one. And yes, in all of these instances we ran away screaming like little girls.

I mean let's face it - Nawesome is super tough but at the end of the day she'd rather be shopping. Which is hopefully going to be a side effect both Nawesome and Natalie can agree on...being able to fit into cuter clothes! YAY!

So if you see us out there walking/jogging/maybe one day running, please don't run us over. Or kill us. Or listen in to some of the really really rated R conversations we have. But feel free to gush about what a great job we are doing and how great we are all looking.

Oh and for goodness sake will someone please bring us some darn water!?




P.s. And I am NOT going to mention anything negative about Traceyomomma even though she totally dissed my nicknames and was all complaining saying "Nawesome" isn't a fair name and we should all agree on nicknames. Sorry Traceyomomma (prounounced Trace-yo-momma), Nawesome just...is...mmm kay? The names pick themselves. Don't shoot the messenger. You can't blame my Nawesome for being so super awesome, but if it makes you feel better the geek side of me IS named Nat-o-nator. And would you PLEASE just walk on the darn sidewalk already!? Ha! Love this girl...

Strawberry Fields and 80's hair

I have been *ah hem* slightly behind on my posts. It's all well meaning and I could go on with excuses blah blah blah. Basically it comes down to...I suck.

BUT I have a great parenting win to share with you. We have a fantastic farm, R and C Dairy, that is about 20 minutes north of us. Our friend Abamalamma told us about it and she has been going there for great raw milk, organic fresh produce, fresh honey and pecans, etc for years. Well they have You-pick Strawberries going on right now and we scored major on it. So we gathered up the fam and went Strawberry pickin'! All except for a sorely misjudged outfit on my part that added 10 lbs to my frame the trip was a success!

A rare family photo where all is smiling...or just squinting against the wind.
Either way I'm counting it as a win.

We went super early because Vanerellian is a drill sergeant and threatened to leave us behind if we were more than 2 minutes late. Actually we wanted to beat the crowds and get only the best strawberries so we clawed our way to being first in the day. We met up with Traceyomama's adorable family there also.

My first impression of the farm is that it was smaller than I expected. Well looks can be deceiving. The people that run it are the sweetest people. I'm already in love with the whole place. They explained the rules to the kids and adults for Strawberry Pickin'. Then we all walked out to the fields, past the goats, the blackberries, and the bee farms. The walk alone is worth the drive to get there.

Saying hello to the goats while Traceyomama was doing...the bunny hop?

When you get to the strawberry fields I was amazed at the number of them! Way more than it looked like from far away. I was expecting the strawberries, with them being organic and all, to not be as pretty as the ones in the stores where they basically spray plastic on them to keep them red and pretty until the end of time. Well. Let me tell you these were gorgeous. Since you get to choose the strawberries you only get the reddest and very best. And they last WAY longer than the ones in the store. Something about this weird "fresh" concept.

A thing of beauty....

Strawberry Fields...forever

The kids did great! They loved it. So did we, probably more than the kids even. Brewerman was in particular mr.perfectstrawberrypicker with his "no stems" and "no blemish" policies. Lil'Dude stayed with him while Lil'Guy and I went off to pick strawberries without the fine print. Lil'Guy didn't really "get" the policy about not eating them since these strawberries aren't washed. Remember the organic piece? Yeah....don't want to eat that organic manure fertilizer, even if it is gluten free, sugar free, and vegan with a side of all natural. However, they do have strawberries that are washed that you get to chow down on afterwards along with some Hansen's All Natural Pop (or soda for all you weirdos out there) that is pretty much Amazingness topped with a dash of phenomenal and a cherry drop of yum-o (no manure added).

But seriously? The kids and I got to pick our own fresh strawberries?? How awesome is that!? They got to see where their food comes from while eating strawberries that are literally red all the way inside and out and the perfect sweetness. I love living here!!

Lil'Dude smile and show me your teeth! Okay...well I guess technically...

Yes I was holding my hair down

Picking only the best

Did I mention how windy it was that day? No? Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

The hair...amazing!

Nice. A more vain person wouldn't post this at all but it's too hilarious not to post.
Vampire meets 80's hair.

The world stops when a train comes through. Insert obligatory waving here.

Side note: Totally bragging here but we are starting a Produce CSA soon with this farm and I couldn't be more excited! We have some BIG HUGE OVERWHELMING dietary changes that might be happening soon up in here and it will be a huge help. But that's for another post because frankly it gives me indigestion to think about it right now so I'm blissfully ignoring it with hands in my ears going lalalalalalala until we get into the doctor and they can help. Yes, as a matter of fact I AM stalling.

Guilty Nerdy Pleasures

I have a guilty pleasure....no I don't do illegal drugs...I'm not into something ultra freaky. Well that I'd be willing to admit on a blog anyway.

But I do read. A lot! I know, what's so bad about reading right? Even if I do read 3 books a week on average (I read fast).

Here's your answer: it's the type of books. I adore, and I mean ADORE paranormal romance. Think titles such as Demons from the Dark, or All I want for Christmas is a Vampire. And even though I have come to terms with my guilty pleasure, my lovely husband still blushes when he has to pick up a book for me at the library. And darn it if the fact that he still does it is yet another reason why I love him.

Oh and shout out to my local Library: Frisco Library. They have a drive thru book lane where you can drop off and pick up books, a great story time, and a huge selection of all my favorites! I can place a hold online and they will call me when it's ready. Oh, OH! They also have digital books available that I can check out on my Nook! Oh swoon! Be still my heart....

It took me a while to admit my love of all things freaky deaky fantasy romance, but then I realized who cares!? I enjoy it, so who cares if other people think it's all smut? (Which it really is. Deliciously so!)

Vampires, werewolves, witches. I love them! They don't have to be super heavy on the romance but there does have to be some romance. If they don't they have to be really really good. I read super fast and don't tolerate boring. I'll skim without even realizing it if I get bored or the author goes into too much detail. Oh and please hold off on all things Science Fiction. If it's about an alien, I'm out.

I thought there might be others out there with the same guilty pleasure so I'm going to start posting on books I'm reading each week. Well...I'm going to TRY to post this every week. Like I said, I tend to read a lot. And I'm horrible with commitments. Okay so I hope to post once a month.

I'll start by just posting some of my favorite books / series:

- The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning - my latest love. First book was eh but the next ones made fall more and more in love with it.
- Sookie Stackhouse by Charlene Harris
- Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole - ADORE this but heavy on romance.
- Night Huntress by Jeanine Frost
- Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs - pretty much everything by her I like, this is more werewolves plus a little bit of everything
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series (awesome but very very detailed...some parts were boring)
- The Tale of the Vampire Bride by Rhiannon Frater - this was more dark but it was awesome.
- Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling (a rare non-romance I loved but her fantasy world was amazing!)
- Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost

I did like Twilight also but frankly it's a little too teenage for me. I mean for goodness sakes just get it on already! Ha! No kidding....okay kind of kidding. Okay not at all. Bella is a little too immature and whiny for me also. Dude, desperate much?

I don't ONLY read paranormal romance but it is my favorite style. I mostly get my books from the library but now I have a Nook so I buy them there also. I'm just super duper cheap so I tend to rent more. I love all kids of book and when I get sick of one genre I jump to the next. But I will always love a good paranormal romance. Oh and save your books that make you think. I don't really "do" thinking. Shocker, I know.

So there it is. My confession. Under all this fabulousness, I'm really a nerd. A dirty dirty nerd that reads dirty dirty books.

The Month of Zero Expenses

Okay so can I just be honest here? I so don't want to blog about this.

Why blog at all? Well because I'm a blabbermouth who can out-talk a thirteen year old after that omg-cute guy just told her he wanted to go out with her which really just means go to the movies and say their together while standing 12 feet apart and giggling. Well, at least that is what it USED to mean...nowadays it's basically second base. *sigh* I hate that, but I digress...

Why blog about THIS at all? I want to be accountable. Much like the food journal I'll never have since I snack way too much and like to lie to myself. A lot. I'm a size 6 in my head.

But I'm doing the blog anyway. Why? Because our budget will be tighter with three kids, plus we won't have the energy to go out to eat with three babies...okay one baby and two toddlers....okay okay, one baby, one toddler, and one child. *SOB*, NO three babies. You can't stop me. They are my babies. So there.

Plus we have an adoption to pay for over here, so we need to scrimp and scrape everything we can to help us prepare for that cost. Like literally scrape. If you could see my bank account it'd be all fed up with scratches and chunks taken out.

To start us off right we did a heavy grocery shop these two weeks. Remember The Nat-o-Planner post? Well, that is still in full swing but we have started the habit of going out to eat once or twice during the weekend and some lunches during the week. Nothing crazy but still, it adds up. Especially when we will have three kids in daycare *GAG*.

So today is day 1. What is saving us so far is we have a rocking menu this week. This is important I think in meal planning. If you aren't excited about what you are planning to eat chances are you wont want to make it. That also means we planned on two "fun" days. Or as we call them - splurge days. Since we are on a constant diet, we take one day a week and eat whatever we want. Normally we eat out, but instead we are deciding on a yummy meal (or two) we'll make at home. This week it's pulled pork with baked beans for dinner and Cinnamon Toast Crunch French Toast with bacon and eggs for breakfast. I told you it was splurge day. Plus I get coffee!!! One day I'll tell you why that excites me so much.

So far, so good. Yes yes it's day 1 but still, I think we rock.

This weekend will be hard. And this isn't just about food either, though you wouldn't know it by reading this post and obviously seeing where my priorities lie. Man you're a fatty, Natalie. We are also focusing on free fun things to do around town with the kiddos, which we have a plethora of here but we just don't utilize them as much as we should. We are trying to keep any outside little expenses down, so no bowling or movies, etc. Instead we'll go fishing, play games at home, and pretty much be bored out of our minds. Kidding! I'm sure we are going to have a blast!

I'm actually excited. It's stressful but it's also challenging. You feel like a total d-bag when you can't go out to eat with everyone at work but at the end of the month you get "back" enough to make up for it. Like time eating at home as a family, around the table, something that is VERY important to us. And most of the times you get more creative and get back to simpler ways to keep busy and have a good time.


And if I keep typing I can almost convince myself this is going to be fun times. In actuality budget planning while trying to save to pay for an adoption sucks!! But it's a necessary evil for us to form a family, and it's all very much worth it in the end.

Thank heavens we don't have to worry about buying beer and wine.

Whew.