mushrooms!

I love mushrooms. Sometimes, I will just saute a pan of mushrooms and eat them for lunch or snack. When I was a kid, and my mom would take me to the grocery store, the produce manager would greet me with a button mushroom that I would promptly eat! I know it is strange, I mean, how many kids do you know that love mushrooms? I can't get my kids to eat them to save their lives...
And then I came across this post and new that I had found a mushroom that my kids would eat! I like to bake from scratch, but this time we took the easy way out and ran to the store for cake mix and frosting on our way to the library yesterday. The kids picked lemon flavored cake mix and the frosting is whipped with about half a jar of red food coloring gel. I will say, I have not enjoyed them as much as I might of if they were chocolate... and if we had not gotten yesterday's Dr. report in the middle of icing these babies. None the less, the kids loved decorating them and I think they are pretty fun (and easy) cup cakes.

heart healthy diet

If there is a family history of heart problems our pediatrician starts testing cholesterol at age 4. Not a full panel, just a finger prick to get the total number. When Micah was 4 his results came back high, I can't remember the exact number, between 200 and 210. About the same time Phil and I also had our Cholesterol tests come back high.

I made a few modifications to our diet, like buying skim milk instead of 2% and trying to limit the amount of junk we eat. We have dessert night on Saturdays now, and sometimes I make a batch of cookies or muffins for bible study on Thursday night or if we have company coming, but it is a big change from where we were... I knew that we were eating too much junk when my kids were asking for dessert after breakfast!

Phil and I were able to get our Cholesterol back down to the normal range with minimal effort and I figured Micah would be the same. I am not sure how, but we missed Micah's 5 year check up (probably because we go every 6 months for his asthma and I just figured there had been a physical in there too). Anyway, he had his appointment last month, but just had his blood work done this week. The Dr. called today to give me the results.

Total Cholesterol: 207
HDL: 57
LDL: 119
Triglycerides: 153

In case you are as clueless as I was about what this really means, here is what is considered normal for his age:

Total cholesterol: 170
HDL: above 40 is good
LDL: over 100 is bad
Triglycerides: 149 is the upper limits

So... all this said, I guess this will be the motivation I need to make REAL changes to the way we eat and exercise around here! I enjoy cooking (when I am not exhausted and pushed for time) but I have never liked to worry about things like how much fat, sugar, calories etc. I do try and avoid things like HFCS, MSG and Partially Hydrogenated Oils, but I guess I am going to have to take it a step further. I would love to hear any great recipe's or favorite kid friendly/heart healthy breakfast and snack ideas you might have!

They won't retest him again until he is 8, hopefully we can get this under control now so that it will not be a problem for him later!

still trying to dig my way out

It always takes me longer to get back into the swing of things than I anticipate when we return from a trip. We had a great time visiting family, but it is good to be home. Here is a peak at a few of my favorite pictures from the week. There is more to come, as soon as we get caught up at home I will post pictures of our trip to Medieval Times.

Regan spending the afternoon with her very first friend... They had their first play date on Valentines Day, 2002. Regan was 6 months old. I can't believe how grown up they are now!

Sleeping in Grammy's basement. Inseparable, even while they are asleep :)

before we go...

The kids and I are leaving in the morning to go visit my family for a week. I was hoping to be asleep by now, but my well laid plans for the day were maliciously ruined by water running in a small stream across our garage (which is also our laundry room and the kids play room). It seems our 11 year old water heater picked today to go bad... I am just thankful that it happened while we were here and also for my traveling plumber (aka: daddy) who is coming many miles to install a new one for us!
The picture above is a tag I made for a birthday party that we are going to... I have had a thing for tags for awhile now, and I got the idea for this one on Heather Bailey's blog a few weeks ago. I have a plethora (don't you love that word?) of those wooden letters and knowing how much I like to use tree's in my creating, it was perfect! The picture kind of flattens it, but I love how the butterflies are "flying" off the tag.
I better get back to packing. Looking forward to seeing many of you in the next week!

almost done

I've completed all of our medieval costumes except for Lulu's. I think she will be a princess with a purple gown and a cape to match Regan's... if I can get it done before we leave on Saturday.

King Arthur

Queen Guinevere

Sir Lancelot

The court of Camelot

our castle

Everyone got in on the action this afternoon...even Tallulah, who has not been feeling well (which is why she is still in her PJ's).

Despite my best efforts, I could not secure any more appliance boxes, my neighbor just happened to be throwing out this one last week, so ours is a modest castle...

but it is still our castle, and the excitement and energy that went in to making it is what makes it special!

can't help myself!

*check the comments for the recipe Amy posted for us!*
This jar was full when Amy left my house just before 9pm on Thursday...

It is possible that Phil ate a piece or two, but not likely that he put a significant dent in this jar of peanut brittle... (delicious, melt in your mouth, homemade peanut brittle) I did that all on my own. This was by far, the BEST peanut brittle I have ever had. Thanks, Amy, for making more peanut brittle just for me and for helping me to put on those 5 "sweater weather pounds" so deliciously!