Violet's Peepaw

That's him on the far left. This picture was taken Easter 2008 at my inlaw's church. His name is Karl. He has was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when he was 50. Last week he forgot that he is not able to drive anymore. He got a hold of keys and went for a drive. He got in a very bad wreck. No one else was injured.

He was care flighted to the hospital last Thursday. Matt's mom and Matt go there everyday to visit him in ICU. I take Violet for short visits since she can't play in a hospital. The doctors think he may be in a coma on his own. They don't know exactly what is wrong with him. He may have had a stroke before his car was struck. There is a 5 % chance that he will return to his old self. The cat scan revealed that his Alzheimer's has aged him 20 years. So, his body on the inside is 80 but he is really not even 60 years old yet.

We are praying. We don't know what God's plan is for Karl. Karl has always been a sweet Grandpa to Violet and her cousin. Karl didn't always seem "there" but his face always lit up the instant he saw little Violet. I just want him to feel peace. The Alzheimer's combined with the brain trauma and broken bones is really taking a toll on his body.

We love you Peepaw! Our prayers are with you!

Bean Salsa

Bean Salsa by Me-

1 can drained & rinsed Pinto Beans
1/2 a can drained & rinsed Corn
2 diced Roma Tomatoes
2 diced Jalapenos
1 tsp. minced Garlic
1/4 cup chopped Green Bell Pepper
A small amount of chopped Onion (I used less than 1/4 cup, I don't like raw onion that much)
Juice of 1/2 a Lime
1 T. Fat Free Italian Dressing
Season with Cayenne Pepper and Sea Salt. mmm, Spicy Spicy!

This was a simple snack to make. We always have canned beans. I think black beans or kidney beans would work as well. This is very similar to Texas Caviar Dip but it calls for a lot more ingredients. Try this if your craving salsa!

Movie Star Baby

Thank You Aunt Jordan for taking pictures of her!

Please Sign this Petition

I found this family's story through a random blog tonight. Their little girl who is 16 months touched my heart. It only takes a few seconds to sign.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO HELP CURE SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY (SMA), THE #1 GENETIC KILLER OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 2.

http://www.petitiontocuresma.com/

http://www.gwendolynstrong.com/

Our Valentine's Day Food

Violet had Blueberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes with bacon.

Dinner was steak, olive cheese bread, twice baked potatoes, and a salad that didn't get a picture.

Twice Baked Potatoes really aren't hard to make. Just time consuming. They are delicious but I don't think I have the metabolism or energy to make these more than once a year. I baked them for an hour. Then scooped out the potato and mashed it up with green onions, butter, cheese, milk, and bacon. Then put them back in the skins and baked for 20 more minutes. mmmm!

Olive Cheese Bread from thepioneerwoman.com. I really liked this. I love olives! I froze half of it to bake another day. Jaley has already called dibs on it!

We opened our engagement bottle of Champagne from the inlaws. That was good too ;)


Then we just hung out around the house. I went to Target to search through the 75 % off stuff. Went home empty handed. (which is a good thing) Violet crawled on top of the table about 3 times today. I had to put her in her time out chair a couple of times. Lately she has been dumping her entire bowl of snacks on the carpet. Today it was hundreds of baby goldfish. So, she sat in her time out chair for a whole 50 seconds. I think she's supposed to sit in it for one minute since she is one years old according to the british nanny on tv. She's at "that age". Her new word is "NO WAY!" I never say that to her so I'm not sure where she got that from.

When it's time to change her diaper she says NO WAY and runs off. Basically that is her response to anything we say to her. It's really funny and we try our best not to laugh in front of her. Picture a one year old looking you square in the eye saying NO WAY in a serious voice because you need to put clothes on her! She even furrows her brows.

I guess our life is about to get really interesting now that she's got a mind of her own ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Low-Fat Blueberry Muffins

Mmmm, blueberries! These have a different ingredient in them- Cottage Cheese. They are low fat according to the 500 Cupcakes cookbook. I wanted to bake something with items on hand.

So, I found these blueberries in the fridge and I was so happy! I lost them a few days ago. I thought Matt had thrown the bag away that they were in. Oops! They were in the lettuce bag and I didn't bother taking the lettuce out of the sack. That's why no one could find them. I read somewhere that lettuce stays fresher when kept in a plastic bag. Anyway, I lose things A LOT.

Blueberry & Cottage Cheese Muffins

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups superfine sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
Pinch of Salt
2 lightly beaten eggs
4 Tbsp. Sunflower Oil (I used Veg. oil)
1 1/4 cups low-fat milk
1/2 low fat cottage cheese
2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt with a spoon.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil, milk, and cottage cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until nearly combined. Fold in blueberries, but do not overmix. Spoon the mixture into prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the muffins and cool on rack. Store in airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

We left 4 out and froze the rest. I guess the cottage cheese spoils quickly. I added a crumb topping made of brown sugar, oats, flour, and softened butter. So, maybe mine were not low-fat!

Beauty Tips and Tricks

Here are some of my beauty tips!

• Always apply eye makeup with good brushes. The little sponge applicator that comes with your eyeshadow is not good. Your fingertips will do a better job of blending than that.

• If you tend to get lots of fallout from your eye makeup onto your foundation, do your eyes first. That's what I do. I do my eyes first then I do my face last. That way everything looks clean.

• Exfoliate a few times a week. You don't have to buy the pricey stuff. I use St. Ives Apricot Scrub or Pond's Purely Polish scrub. Try applying the scrub to a clean and DRY face. Then moisten your fingers and rub it in a circle motion and rinse off. If your really sensitive your skin will turn red. Mine does! That's why I do this late at night so no one will see how scary I look.

• Moisturize every morning and night. Your daytime lotion should have SPF in it.
  

• Keep your brows groomed and you will always look good. And fill them in! Unless they are almost black. Then you can just keep them trimmed and combed in place. Maybe smooth a little hairspray on to keep them in place. I use a brow pencil by Rimmel and I use it everyday!
  

That's all I got for now!

Paint it Black

That title just popped in my head. So, I had to google it because it sounded very familiar. It's a Rolling Stones song. Dur de Dur...Actually, I would have never remembered that on my own. I always get the words and titles of songs all wrong!

Matt is a genius when it comes to song lyrics. He always has music on. I'm trying to think of a song that I sing all wrong. Maybe that will be my next post.

I love black nail polish! It's so trendy and I like how it looks next to my pale skin. Or maybe the trend is over and I still like it. I remember when it became mainstream around 2006. I was working at Neiman's and all the ladies had to get a bottle of black nail polish from Chanel. Remember when only the Goth kids wore it? Is anyone else a fan?

Play Day

We took Violet to Chicfila and the playground today. YAY! Violet had fun playing with her mommy and daddy. There is this 16 image option on our camera. It snaps 16 continuous times. I wish I knew how to separate the pictures. These would make a great scrapbook page!

Just click it if you want to see it bigger!

Sweet Girl

Violet is turning into such a blabber mouth! She loves talking and singing. Some of her new words are sleepy, the moon, bite, out sun- which means "out came the sun", cheeto, chocolate, and Barney. Her favorite songs are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "If your happy and you know it". I've got a great kid! I can say that right? Or am I turning into that mom that gets made fun of? Happiness means different things to different people. For me, it's seeing my little girl grow and learn everyday. She's a total delight!