Why Organic?

I found this today:
http://www.horizonorganic.com/raising/kidshealth.html
Actually, the whole Horizon Organic site is interesting. If you wonder why you should be doing this, this site will answer that question.

Going Organic

Over the past few weeks, I have been feeling compelled to go organic. I know how hard this is going to be. It all started with watching Jon and Kate Plus 8. Seeing her only feed her 8 kids organic food was inspiring to me. Then, at our Mops meetings, there is a family dealing with their son's cancer. They have decided to go all organic to keep the cancer away. She is telling everyone to go organic. I really took those words with me. I know that it is important to give our family the best. After all, our bodies are our most important thing. So, no matter the cost, I am going to try to start switching. I have found organic mac and cheese, beans, cereal, and snacks at a local discount store. Now, I have found Farm Fresh Delivery. I am very excited about this. We will now have organic milk and vegetables delivered to us. This is quite costly, but I know it is worth it. We will have to give up in other areas of our purchasing. I will no longer be in Stampin Up starting next month, so that will be some extra money to go towards this.
So, we have started switching, but not all things will be organic yet. We will slowly get there. I just thought it would be important to get the things we eat the most first. I respect everyone who is doing this and I will take any suggestions....
Have a great Friday!

Today started out as a normal day.....

The sky was blue and beautiful this morning. I couldn't wait for Jeff's day off. We just never know what we are going to do. Jeff had to pick up new glasses at Lenscrafters this morning (he broke his reaching for the alarm clock!). Jaden had school this morning. I am starting summer school with him so he will be ready for August. It is really fun. He loves sitting in his antique desk and getting all of that attention. We started the day with the Ten Commandments for kids. I have decided to start every day with that. Then, we do 3 pages out of his Summer Bridge book. I love those books! He is doing the K-1 book! It's amazing. After some play outside and lunch, I headed to Big Lots. On my way, my mom called and let me know that their house had just been broken into. She just got a job this week, and when she came home today, she found her house a mess. They even think she scared them off. The bad news, they got away with several thousand dollars! I am feeling so sorry for them, but also, very thankful that they are okay. You never know what kind of people you are dealing with. I am so grateful that they decided to run away instead of confronting my mom. Now, she has to deal with the feeling of having her personal privacy invaded. I hope she knows that our prayers are with her.
Anyway, about Big Lots. I am so excited I went today. We found this for $20!:
http://www.nestfamily.com/Hooked-on-Phonics-Bible-Stories-Deluxe-Edition-P79281.aspx
I am so excited to get started on this. Jaden is too. I think this will be a great addition to our Summer Bridge learning.
Tomorrow is Jaden's first softball game, not practice. I hope he does a great job. I will get several pictures. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Sunday and Monday...... (also get a tad political!)

We had a great time Sunday. It was my dad's 59th birthday. We celebrated with hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, eating cake and homemade ice cream! Of course, I made the cake! It was a cupcake cake. It had chocolate cupcakes with creme filling and vanilla buttercream. I haven't decorated a cake in awhile, so don't be too harsh! LOL

For those of you who don't know what that is on top, it is Cornhole. We love to play that game when we get together. Now that the weather is warmer, I am hoping we do it a lot more!

We went to church on Sunday night and Jeff got to join Jaden during his chapel. He said Jaden is very well behaved and was very proud of him. It is nice to get into his world sometimes. We also learned that he prays by getting down on the floor and putting his head down. That is so cool. We love seeing Jaden learn more about Jesus and becoming a Christian.

Yesterday, Jeff took Jaden to the Hoosier Patriot Memorial to celebrate Memorial Day. He placed a couple of flags there. It was nice for them to share this. I got some much needed rest while they were gone.

We mowed the yard, I planted some plants I got from my mom, and we just rested. It was a nice day.

Today, we have softball practice. I plan on getting an organization system going for home. I want to be organized by the time August comes around.

Have a great week!

By the way,

I planned on not getting political on this site, but I just had to post this... Wow, disarming America (what is he thinking?).....

Cake making day!

Today, I have been making icing and cake all day. I think I am finally done. First, I made my dad's birthday cake, which I will post on Monday. Next, I made red, white, and blue cupcakes for Jeff to take to work.

And a special cupcake for Jeff:

It is a nice day outside, but we have so many things to get done inside. So, I am not really getting to enjoy the nice weather! :(
Yesterday, I went to the park and met the other MOPS! We had a great time. It was cold and rainy though. Jaden had a good time getting muddy and wet! Afterward, we went to Hobby Lobby and I picked these up:


I thought they would be great for organization, but I am not sure what to put in them yet.
Tomorrow, we will head to Terre Haute. It seems like it has been forever because we didn't go last Sunday.
Now, on to cleaning......

gods

I have been a bad mommy the past couple of days. Yesterday, I had a cold and didn't really feel like doing anything but yell at the kids and try to keep them busy. Thankfully, Jaden had softball last night and it got us out of the house. Today, we have MOPS at the park! We can't wait. Although, it is raining out right now. Sunday, we will head to church and to celebrate my dad's birthday. That will be fun. Things should be good the next couple of days.
I did come to a realization last night. Our pastor talks a lot about having other gods, things that take the place of God. A lot of people find that to be money. I guess I do somewhat, but I was thinking I was pretty good in that area. I didn't think I had other gods. But, as I went to bed last night, it popped in my head what my other god is........
FOOD.
Sounds funny, huh? Well, I love to eat. I love all different kinds of food. I really don't care if it is healthy or not. It doesn't matter if I am hungry or full, I will still eat. I would probably choose going out to eat over reading my bible anytime. So, for the next few weeks, I have decided to set my bible in my kitchen and instead of reaching for a snack, I will reach for the bible and read something. That will be so much more uplifting than any food. (well, I am hoping I can get to that point.) I really hate admitting that, but I felt the need to. I am sure a lot of others deal with this same issue (the obesity rate in America is very high!!!).
Ah, now that that is out, I can go about my day.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and still keep the Chapman family in your prayers.

Maria

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

Sad, very sad....

I really don't know what to say about this but, I do know that God is working in this family. And, I should not question it or try to understand it.
This is from Steven Curtis Chapman's website:
MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME
NASHVILLE, TN…5/21/08… At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Thursday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.
More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles

Clay Terrace!

I had such a great day today! We decided to go to Clay Terrace in Carmel. I loved it there. I found some awesome deals. Old Navy was having a huge clearance sale, and I got three sweaters for $2.97 each! What a steal! Jeff found some shoes at The Finish Line. Jaden got a new book and sunglasses and Cassidy got some shoes (green and pink flip flops!). We had a great time. I will be excited to go back.
I have been feeling very burnt out lately, and I think the day away really helped. Now, we will just relax for the rest of the day before everything is back to normal tomorrow.
Jeff let me know today that I need to make red, white, and blue cupcakes this weekend for memorial day! I guess he is going to take some to work.

Mass Ave

Today, I took the kids to Mass Ave. Jaden seemed to like it, but there really wasn't much there. I must not have walked down far enough. We did go to a very cool chocolate shop and had handmade gelato. YUM! The kids enjoyed that. They had lots of things made out of tires along the sidewalk.

Afterward, we came home because Jaden had to pee and it looked like it could rain.

I feel like I am suffering from mommy burnout. I am just really tired and longing for a break.

Have a great week!

By the way, this brought a smile to our faces yesterday:

Missing Exchange

I am feeling bad that we are missing Exchange, but we will listen to the podcast when it is up. I really enjoy that worship time. But, with the price of gas, it was better to stay home. Also, Jeff needed the rest. It turned out to be a nice, relaxing day. Jeff even got my dining room light up!
I have had several people say they would love to buy some of my cupcakes. If you are really interested, please email me at jandcsmom1@gmail.com. I still haven't figured up prices, but I am sure you can make an offer. Here are the flavors I can offer:
Cakes:
Chocolate
Vanilla
Lemon
Mocha
Brownie
Almond
Chocolate Mint
Peanut Butter

Fillings:
Creme
Chocolate
Lemon
Raspberry
Strawberry

Icings:
Cream Cheese
Buttercream (any color)
Mocha Buttercream
Chocolate Buttercream
Glaze
Peanut Butter
Mint Buttercream

I make all of my cakes with real butter.
I have so much fun doing this, but I don't want to eat them all. So, selling them would be great!
I hope everyone had a great weekend.

A great day with friends...

I had such a good day yesterday. It started with MOPS. I am so glad I found this group of ladies! I have only been there a few times, but I can't imagine not going. I feel that I am going to develop some great friendships. We must have all been very emotional yesterday, because all of us had tears in our eyes of joy. I think we are all happy we have each other. Everyone should have a group of friends like that. It is nice to know we are all praying for each other and that we have each other in times of need. I can't wait to get to know them more this summer. Yesterday, we had a nice brunch and there were door prizes! I won one! I just love it:

I couldn't wait to get it home and put pictures in it!

After MOPS, we met some new friends from Noblesville. Jaden had so much fun with little Noah and Jacob. I think they are going to be great friends. We had lunch in the park and the kids got to let out their energy on the playground. Cassidy is starting to play with the big kids also!

And finally, yesterday evening we went for a walk with our neighbor Sarah and her two kids. We met up at the playground and the kids got to play together. We also stopped and talked to our other neighbor who have the pugs. The kids got a kick out of them. They also invited us over for a cookout soon! That will be fun.

Here are some pictures from Thursday's ball practice:

Softball and CUPCAKES!

Jaden did wonderful at his first softball practice. He is on the A's! He has never really played before so it was all new to him.

We even spotted Willy Wonka, LOL!

Cassidy had a great time playing with the wood and mulch:

We headed to Penn Station for dinner and Archiver's.

Today, we had some fun in Castleton and Carmel. There is a really cool toy store in Carmel going out of business. Cassidy got some cute barettes and Jaden got a book. We had TGI Fridays for lunch. I HAD to get their chocolate cupcakes! They were very good.

Having the cupcakes for lunch made me want to make some. So, I made some chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.

Jaden is becoming a pro at eating the perfect amount of frosting with his cake:

We have several things going on the rest of the week. Tomorrow night is softball again. Friday we are meeting up with some new friends in Fishers. We also have our MOPS meeting. This Friday it will be our Mom's Celebration. I can't wait!

Have a good week!

Before and After

I am desperately trying to find a good before picture of myself. I didn't have many pictures taken of me when I was overweight. I guess I hid from the camera. Here is one that I found from October 2004:

Before:

After:

Mother's Day

I had such a wonderful Mother's Day this year.

As most of you know, I got a new vacuum cleaner awhile back and that was my Mother's Day gift. I love it! On Sunday, Jeff and the kids took me to Panera Bread. That is my FAVORITE restaurant and I got me a blueberry scone! YUMMY!

The kids loved it too!

By the way, I got my hair cut even shorter on Saturday. I am loving the new look!

The back is really short!

After Panera Bread, we headed to Terre Haute for my parent's house. I made my mom Mocha cupcakes with mocha frosting. I even made my mom's to look like a coffee cup. It was poured in white chocolate. It looked very yummy. I also made her a card. The guys all went out and got my mom and I some yummy food from our favorite grocery store. We had things like cheese broccoli soup in a bread bowl, cheese and crackers, mozzarella tomato salad, potato salad, pesto, kibby, banana pudding, skinny cows.......

I am sure the list could go on and on. They did such a great job of picking things out for us.

At church, our pastor felt lead to talk about forgiveness. It was a really good sermon. The kids came out and sang on stage. That was really cute!

Yesterday, our friends came over from Terre Haute. We were so happy to see them! Jaden has been so excited about them coming.

I really hope to get them together more often. I do not want to let the distance keep us from getting together.

Today, Jaden starts softball. I can't wait to see how that goes.

Have a great week.

Favorite Songs!

I have added some of my favorite songs from my ipod to the bottom of my blog! Now, you can listen to them whenever you want! I love them and I hope you do too!

Friday!

Ha, it's Friday. I thought today was Thursday. I am so behind!
I do know that Mother's Day is only two days away! I can't wait. I already got my gift, the new vacuum, but I am still anticipating a great day! I already have my mom's gift made (hint hint, mom!).
Today, the kids and I did a little shopping and Jaden made some butter. What a great easy idea for him. We just put some heavy cream in a jar and shook it. After shaking for awhile, we had butter! We put it on our bread tonight. He thought it was really cool!
Have a great weekend!

Rainy days and cleaning... **UPDATED**

It has been raining since yesterday. There are some flood watches out. I figure we might go splashing in puddles later. Jaden will love that!
As for the rest of the day, I am cleaning. Cleaning the couches, sweeping floors, doing laundry, and everyday cleaning. Not an exciting day, but I hope to get a lot done. I would also like to go out and get Maddy a new dog bed. We really need to keep her off of the couches. The older she gets, the more she smells. Not really a dirty smell, just a dog smell. She has a bed upstairs but now we need one downstairs.
I tried the new Diet Dr Pepper Cherry Chocolate today. I really don't care for it. I guess I just don't like Dr Pepper.

Have a great day everyone and stay dry!

*Ahh, Maddy is so happy now!

A few good days...

The past two days have been good. Yesterday, Jaden got to play some play dough outside. He loves that stuff. And now, he has a new game with it. He started making little cakes and had me judge them. (Just like the food network cake challenges!) It was all very cute!

Today, Jeff set the trampoline up! Jaden loves to jump on it, and Cassidy probably didn't remember that we had one! She loved it also!

I painted my toenails this morning and Cassidy showed me her foot and said, "foot?". So, I couldn't resist, and I painted her toes also. She loved it!

Cassidy is now sitting at the big table with us! She was sitting on the kitchen floor in her little seat, but she is a little more careful now.

So, a lot has been going on. We are looking forward to my friend Kim and her kids coming on Thursday! Jaden is really looking forward to it. He really misses them!

Back to normal....

Well, the weekend is over and things have calmed down. After Cassidy's party on Saturday, Jaden went with Grandma and Papa and spent the night at their house. It was so quiet here yesterday morning. Yesterday, Cassidy and I went shopping (she had some birthday money). Jeff treated the yard. We have so many dandelions in our yard, it's crazy. Afterward, we left for Terre Haute to pick up Jaden and go to church. Our pastor spoke about communion and it was very touching. We talked about the death of Jesus in vivid detail. Wow, just amazing. To listen, you can go to www.mccth.org. It should be under the Exchange link.
My weight seems to be going back down. I am so excited. I plan to be at my goal by July 4th. That means I am two months to lose 13 pounds. I really hope I can do this.
It was great to see family over the weekend. We saw Jeff's sister and her husband, and we haven't seen them in over two years! It was great!
Have a great week everyone!

Happy Birthday Cassidy!

My sweet baby girl is two. It was really exciting to see family and very sad for the day to end. I really can't believe my baby is 2! I will miss the one's, but I am sure the two's will bring some great memories....

We love you Cassidy!

New desk!

We got a desk for our office. I am loving it. There are so many things I would like to do with, besides bills! LOL. I would love to get some baskets to put in the open spaces in the hutch.

This morning, we went to MOPS. Jaden loves playing with the other kids there. I love the adult conversation. It really is good for all of us.

I spent the day making cupcakes. I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with strawberry, lemon, and creme fillings. All were topped with buttercream. I will get a picture of them tomorrow. I have some balloons up and I will finish decorating tomorrow. When we ask Cassidy how old she is, she is saying two now! So cute! She learns things so fast.

Here is the birthday girl!!!!!:

Dancer/Pastry Chef!

That is what we have decided Jaden is going to be when he grows up! He loves to dance, and wow, he is very good. Here is a clip:

And, the reason behind the pastry chef idea....He loves to watch Food Network cake challenges! He sat and watched the hour show last night and was so excited at the end when someone won! He just loves it so much. He also likes to watch Alton Brown. This is also one of Jeff's favorite shows.

So, we have come to the conclusion, if Jaden could put two things together and make it a profession, these are the two!

Our geese had their goslings yesterday:

Bad news, they seem to be missing today. I haven't seen the ducks either. :(

Jaden and Cassidy cuddled on the couch this morning while I made some fondant flowers for Cassidy's birthday cupcakes.

It has been a great day. I can't wait for Cassidy's birthday on Saturday.

Have a great Thursday evening!