What's going on?

In Breaking news
As I write Brent is taking his FINAL final of 2nd Year!
Next week - on to third year with a short spring semester of clinics. Meanwhile he'll be studying for the boards coming up at the end of June. So happy to be done with ONE MORE YEAR!

He'll be so relieved if he passes all his classes, and I will be so relieved to not hear "I don't know if I am going to pass Removable" Ever Again. Good luck, Brent!

And after the boards. . . . . We have 6 weeks till he starts up again.

It is looking quite possible that the head of this family is finally turning into a FAMILY MAN. First . . .He eventually broke and bought the minivan.

And now he seems to have given up his dream of being a Harley owner while in dental school. He finally stopped looking at them online, deciding his Puch would do for a couple more years.

Now he's looking at . . .

SAIL BOATS! The kind BIG enough for a small family of 7 and OLD enough that they are in our price range. We all thought we might spend the summer cruising the Erie Canal.

MINOR PROBLEMS- Where does one store a sailboat? And how does one get it back to Washington in a couple years.

One other question? Can you get seasick sailing the Canal or Great Lakes? His wife once spent the entire day throwing up aboard a snorkel boat off the coast of Hawaii.

But he might just throw caution to the wind and get the sail boat. When else in life might he have the time and access to the Erie Canal?

In other news:
I've started my post baby diet. First I celebrated Cinco de Mayo in a big way with homemade tortillas and all the other stuff we have learned to make to go along with a fiesta because you simply can't find the good mexican stuff here in Western NY. But once that was over with I was ready to begin. I decided blogging about it was a wonderful idea. Then I am committed and know that everyone will notice what I put on my plate the next time we all get together. My goal is a loss of 12 lbs. so I can be back to pre-pregnancy weight. Sounds like a lot to me. Brent said, "That's great! But doesn't 130 sound a lot better than 140?" I made the stupid mistake of getting down to 130 once in married life and he has never forgot it. Get over it, Brent.

Here's the low down on the diet:

No sugar or honey
No refined starches like white rice, white flour , regular pasta
No potatoes

I will be eating lots of grains, brown rice, ww pasta etc. and fruits ,veggies, and nuts
I can eat all I want of dairy, oils, and meat but I don't concentrate much on that. I am not a big meat eater, and I won't be eating too many fats since I can't have the above ingredients that they are all in.

My goal is one pound a week so that means I'll be ready for a swimsuit by August. I know, I should've started a little earlier, but I was kind of hoping that the pounds would just drop off on their own like the first 17 did.

Exercise plan:

Take the kids to the park near my house. Run around for 30-45 min, giving Caroline an "Underdoggie" on the swing every time I go by and pushing Marcus in his car seat/stroller when ever I hear him peep. The last two days it has worked perfect. Today it's raining.

And the whole family is on the diet because I don't want to be cooking 2 meals every night.

On Tuesday night: We had homemade 100% whole wheat pizza with ham and lots of veggies, very light on the mozzarella. Everyone ate at least one piece without complaint. I thought it tasted fabulous.
Wednesday: Bean and Ham soup with modified corn bread (whole wheat, less oil, applesauce, and a little Splenda) Once again a success with the whole family.
Kennon asked me to make cookies for her class party today. I politely refused. There is no way I can make cookies and not eat cookies. My homemade cookie dough is just too tempting.

I went to Wegman's yesterday and got all the emergency items for when I feel a cookie baking urge coming on. I have them frequently. Diet soda, and a little sugar free this and that. Hopefully I won't need them to often because I know they are just empty things to eat but I need to be prepared so just in case.

I am really enjoying focusing on eating healthy. So far I haven't had any emergencies. But we are still only in the first 48 hours. I can't help beaming with pride so far though.

Yesterday In the Principal's office:
Camille had to visit the principal yesterday to register a complaint that the boys in her class keep trying to kiss her. She is really concerned about it because it keeps happening. She turns around to find them puckered up in her face. When she turned two of them down yesterday they decided to slap her instead. Poor girl. Parent teacher conferences are tonight and I am looking forward to hearing the whole story.

Next week Performing on Stage:
Savannah will be singing her famous, "Clawence" for the school talent show next week. It's a song about a girl who can't pronounce her R's and has a boyfriend name Clarence. She has been performing it since she was 4 and really couldn't pronounce her R's. It was much easier to rehearse with her then and so cute. Now it is all just a farce, but takes a lot more talent I guess.

Kennon had a hard time deciding which of her many talents she would exhibit but finally tried out with a piano piece, and easily made the cut.

The Hungry and Oppressed
Our hungry little girl recently thought she was going to starve to death at her Grandma Casper's. Grandma, noticing she was one of the chubbier ones of the bunch, decided that it might be due to a snacking habit, (where did she come up with that?) It might have had something to due with hearing, "I'm hungry Grandma" a zillion times a day. So we all ate 3 square (and quite small) meals a day. I was pretty famished myself. She came to get me one time after Grandma turned her down once again and said, "I wish I was a mom so I could cook food!"

And finally
What is there to report about Marcus? He will finally be blessed Sunday. Apparently the RS president has been too busy to attend Buffalo Ward the last two months. He no longer fits in the blessing outfit Grandma gave him so we will be making do with something else less traditional, but guaranteed he will be plenty cute either way. He just can't help it.