I LOVE Spring!

Ahhhh I love the gorgeous Spring weather...77 yesterday and it is supposed to be 81 today! Wow!!

I let the girls play outside yesterday evening and we did a little impromptu photo shoot. Grace is such a natural little model and Maya can be when she wants to lol. That child is always so busy. I think the pics turned out so good and I plan on getting some of them printed to replace some older ones I have on the wall.

Chicken Enchilada Pizza

Today I tried out a delicious recipe that I found recently. I made chicken enchilada pizza and it was so yummy and also just so simple to make which is right up my alley. Miss Maya even ate 2 pieces of it!

I Pillsbury thin crust pizza crust
Old El Paso Mild Chicken Enchilada Sauce ( I didn't even use all of one small can.)
Cooked chopped chicken ( I used the small bag of Tyson chicken strips.)
Shredded Cheese

I pre-baked the crust on 400 degrees for about 5 minutes. I then spread the enchilada sauce over the pizza crust and covered with the chicken and shredded cheese. I stuck the pizza back in the oven and cooked for about another 17-20 minutes.

First Easter Egg Hunt March 27, 2010

The City of Villa Rica had the annual Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday. This is the first time we have gone to the Easter event although we have been to several other activities that the city has put on such as the Candy Cane hunt around Christmas time. Of course back in December the number of people that turned out for the candy cane event was so minimal compared to the turnout on Saturday probably due to the weather. When we walked up I was blown away by the amount of people already lined up around the egg covered football field. Gracie and Maya were in separate areas so my parents took Grace to her age group and my brother, sister-in-law and I helped Maya. Once they could finally start collecting eggs it was pure chaos. There were so many people that little ones like Miss Maya didn't even have time to bend over and pick up the eggs. This is when the protective Mama starts grabbing them for her and so did her big, strong Uncle! Parents were literally knocking other people's kids over. I swear the whole thing was over in less than 5 minutes. Thanks to her Mama.... Maya got a prize egg and ended up with a yummy chocolate bunny that she shared with her big sister. They did have some other fun activities that the kids enjoyed such as jump/slide things and a cute train. Luckily our neighborhood is doing an egg hunt this upcoming Friday and we plan on doing our own in our yard on Easter so hopefully those will be much calmer and the girls will get plenty of candy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will be the first to admit that I am so not a cook! I have an uber picky husband and older daughter and so really who would I be cooking for except myself and Maya. But....after reading several of my friend's cooking blogs I have been getting an itch to try new stuff. I started off simple with these delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that I found on my friend Laura's blog! I plan on taking them to a family cookout at my parent's house tomorrow.

Recipe:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together and dump by spoonful onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes and then let cool and firm up after removing from oven.

Yummy!!

Losing Weight and Feeling Better!

I have been on a journey since about Nov. of last year to get myself feeling and looking better. I got in a rut after having the girls and just let my weight get out of control. Now 20 pounds lighter and lots of inches lost and I feel so good! I have been limiting what I eat at night so that I don't have a big meal before bed and drinking lots and lots of water. I have also been exercising like crazy. I first started in Feb. by doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred and wow that is crazy! I am now on level 3 and can notice such a difference in my stamina as well as my body. I have just recently added in walking everyday and that feels amazing. I have started walking with my Dad in the mornings after I drop Gracie off at school and then sometimes even walking again with the girls when the weather is nice. I have stopped worrying about the scale as I got frustrated with plateaus and now I just worry about feeling good and knowing that I am in the process of creating a healthier me!

Been really slacking......

Ok so I got into blogging and then I got out of blogging and so now I am jumping back in. ;) I plan on talking about my beautiful family, exercise and my diving into the world of cooking. A broad arena of topics but it should make for some interesting reading.

First off....updated pics of my wonderful family!

The pics are Matt and I and then my pretty girls!

Crazy Busy!

I have been crazy busy and have just totally slacked on updating. For the past week I have had both girls sick. Gracie was first and had a nasty upper-respiratory infection and then poor Maya has been just terribly sick with the Flu! I, on the other hand, am seriously lacking in the sleep department. I go to bed way to late, wake-up multiple times and then get up pretty decent with the girls. I am hoping for a good night's sleep tonight and a nap tomorrow! :)Anyway enjoy some new pics!

Our 2008 Family Christmas Photo

I am just in love with our family photo this year! The girls did pretty well and cooperated to the extent that a 2 and 3 year old normally do. We went to Target Portrait Studios and I honestly just think that they are my favorite place to go. This was our third visit and they are just always so consistent at trying to get the girls to smile and they always just put in an extra effort! Matt and I have discussed adding to our family next year....possibly stating to try in late Fall/early Winter so that by the times the baby arrives Gracie will be starting Kindergarten and Maya will be around 4 so the Christmas card may have another little Jones in it in the next couple of years....our last of course! ;) Enjoy!

Ready for Santa!

The girls are anxiously awaiting Santa's visit and the Holiday wear is in full force! I am a nut for buying Holiday clothing and of course the girls have to have the bows that match. I am also now a sucker for these adorable crochet hats that I can attach bows to and luckily enough Maya is really into wearing hats right now. Here are a couple of shots of my cuties!

Getting Ready for Christmas....

I know I know I know..... I have been so terrible about updating lately especially with the quickly approaching holidays! I am so excited this year because I think the girls are at the perfect age to enjoy Christmas this year! They have really enjoyed decorating and helping me wrap gifts. Santa was not a hit though! Neither of the girls wanted anything to do with the Jolly Old Man so no cute picture this year!

My New Hair

I did it! I got 14 inches chopped off and I have to say that I love it. It is so nice having a style. I also got some nice blonde and red highlights. I feel like a new woman and with this along with my diet and exercise I just feel all around refreshed!

Fabulous FALL

Ohhhhh how I love the Fall weather! The girls have really enjoyed watching the trees change and playing in the leaves. The weather varies here but today was a nice evening in the 60's and so I let the girls go outside and play. Gracie calls the trees with no leaves "naked trees!" Ha Ha!

Holy Mole...y........

Ha! The title cracks me up....;)

Just a little post to encourage everyone to get your moles checked! I am a very "moley" person and I had two that were bothering me so I decided to get them removed. My dermotologist checked my moles and found one that he didn't like so he removed it. The biopsies came back today and the two I wanted removed were fine and the one he wanted to remove is called a something..something displaysia. Basically it is an atypical mole but not a cancer. I suppose it has the potential to turn into a cancer. I have the mildest form of it so basically I just go back Wed. and the doctor will remove some more of the surrounding skin to make sure all of the atypical cells are gone. As someone who has had both grandmothers have skin cancer I feel relieved to have got my moles checked and the bad one removed early! This is something many people don't think about but it is surely important and I plan on continuing to have mine checked yearly. Now I think I have had enough biopsies this year! Hopefully next year will be biopsy free! ;)

Happy Halloween

Halloween was so fun this year! Both of the girls actually understood the concept and had a great time with all of the activities! On Friday morning the girls had their Fall Festival at school and that was so fun! My Dad and Matt's mom were able to come to the party and the girls were thrilled about that. They got to eat yummy snacks and make crafts as well as jump in an inflatable thing! Early Friday evening we took the girls to Trunk-Or-Treat at our church because my Dad was participating and we wanted to check it out. Finally we got to come home and go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. It was really fun for the girls. Matt and his Dad stayed home to hand out candy so that left the girls and I as well as my mother-in-law and mom to go out and get some candy! The girls really racked up and since Mommy is on a diet then Daddy was excited about all of the chocolate that he would get to munch on!

More Sadness........

Well after the bad news of Tina's murder there came more bad news on Friday when my Mother-In-Law's good friend and neighbor Jackie had to be rushed to the hospital. They thought she had a heart attack and when the ambulance arrived at her house she was unconcious and not breathing. My mother-in-law rushed over in her pajamas at 6 in the morning once she realized the ambulance was at Jackie's house. She saw them doing CPR and told us that it took them what seemed like a long time to get her to start breathing again. They found out that it wasn't a heart attack but possibly a clot in her lung. At this point 7 out of 8 doctors are saying she is brain dead. One doctor is still giving the family a little hope and is going to try lowering her body temperature over a number of days and then bringing it back up to "jolt" her brain into functioning again. It is a long shot but God does do miracles! Jackie's husband Dale is gone a lot on business and was actually in Jacksonville that day so of course when my father-in-law called him he rushed back here and he is just completely crushed. They have been married 26 years and Jackie is only in her 50's. Say a little prayer.....

Sadness.....

I know myself well enough to know when I am starting to get depressed or down in the dumps. It has just been stuff piling up and then yesterday finally something devestating happened that just made the barrier break. Lets start off with the little things....a big move into a new house for which I am extremely thankful for but it is still a very stressful thing. Next would be having two stubborn toddlers running wild and choosing not to listen plus Maya has been waking multiple times during the night for some unknown reason and so I haven't had a good night's sleep in awhile. I love my girls more than anything in the world but sometimes I just let it all overwhelm me. I am trying to just take a breath and let the small things go but that is easier said than done. So I guess that brings me to yesterday when my Dad was over helping us move some stuff. I was out front getting stuff out of the car and he peeked his head out the door and told me that my mom had just called and she had found out that one of their old friends, Tina Caronna, had been missing since Sat. WHAT?!?! I couldn't believe it. Supposedly Tina had gone to Costco to get some stuff for a Halloween party that Sat. night and never came home. No one heard anything else from her. Since we don't live in Memphis anymore I kept following the news stations there online. Shortly after we found out she was missing I read that they had found her car abandoned on a dead end street with a dead female inside. My heart sank as the cruel reality set in. The police wouldn't confirm whether or not the body was Tina but my mom called Tina's mom and unfortunately got the confirmation we knew inside but wanted to hope wasn't true. Today the Bartlett police finally released the fact that it was her body and they are investigating it as a homicide. Simply tragic..... I personally haven't seen Tina in over 2 years but I remember being around her quite a bit growing up because she was good friends with my mom and my brother and her son were also good friends. It just really hits home when you see someone you know on the news and they have been murdered....why, how, by who....tohse are the answers that you want. Tina's dad just passed away last year suddenly in his sleep and so now I just have an overwhelming sadness for her Mother She is a strong woman but now she has had to bury not only her husband but her daughter in less than a years time. They are supposed to possibly release cause of death tomorrow. I just hope that whoever murdered this sweet and loving mother is caught and pays for the truly wonderful life that they took. Was it random....or was it someone she knew? I have my theories but truly only time will tell. Tina came into my life for only a short amount of time in the big picture but I can say looking back that she made an impact on my life that I didn't quite realize until now. She was always smiling...always happy...a truly genuine person with a zest for life.

As I process all of the things in my life right now I try to just BREATHE and take it all in stride. I am blessed and I know that I can handle all of the trivial things in life when I think about what Tina's family must be going through.

Rest in Peace Tina.......

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7729544&version=8&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Brrrrrr....It is cold outside!

Fall is here and I love it! The highs have been in the 50's so I have been able to dress the girls in their adorable Fall/Winter wardrobes. Miss Maya is still able to wear her clothes from last year...tiny thing! Gracie can for the most part wear a lot of her clothes from last year as well but she has got so tall some of her pants are to short.

I did have to go out and buy Maya that adorable polka dot sweater dress from Gymboree. Oh my gosh it is just too cute! I also went to Old Navy and bought her the sweetest pink fur boots to wear with it. She loves them!

Please forgive me!

It has been so long since I have been able to sit down and blog! There has been so much going on lately. We moved into an awesome new house and then took a short trip to Memphis. We ended up going to Memphis a little earlier then expected because my brother was put into the hospital due to the fact that they discovered he has diabetes. He had to be in the hospital for 3 days so that they could monitor him and get him on meds to control his blood sugar. He has been doing really well controlling his diet and his blood sugar is much better thankfully. Lately we have just continued to move things into the new house and prepare for Halloween! I am so excited about this year because I know both of the girls will for sure enjoy going around and getting candy. Matt and I took them to a small little pumpkin patch today and they had a blast! Maya LOVES pumpkins!! They have their Fall Festival at school next Friday and I know they are going to really enjoy that. I am including a few pics from Memphis and the Pumpkin Patch. Enjoy!