Good morning ladies!!!!!

First I want to say that I am still praying for Penny and her family. Hope there was improvement last night.

Well, I am wiped out still. And I feel like I could start getting cranky!! Not so much bugga keeping me awake, because he only woke one time, but for some reason that one time is keeping me up the rest of the night I have trouble falling back to sleep. Not to mention that a little girl crawled into our bed last night and smooshed me all night. I am not meant to sleep. OH well. I'll try to do the challange today, but I don't know.

Good morning everyone,

Firstly, Penny, please know that we are still praying for your family, and we all know how difficult this time is for all concerned. May God give you strength. We all love ya and send out ((((hugs))) to you.

Mel- is it still cold out by you? We had an icy rain which makes the roads slippery beyond belief but also cuts out my walkies. I'm afraid to fall. Hope you make it to the gym today!

Michelle-you know I really can't wait for the new challenge! I have seen such good things come out of this one. Are you going to change anything? Well, go-go gazelle girl!

Jeniqua-How's the tooth today? You poor thing! I'm certain you can not wait for that thing to be pulled out! Have a better day today, than yesterday!

I'll be back around lunchtime. I have little slaves to put through the paces today, They have to clean their rooms! I'll get personal with everone then. TTYL

~Roxy

Okay Mel- hope you get in a nap!!! UgH! Nothing worse than getting broken sleep, what?, three nights in a row.

Roxy, it's warm here today...lol....it's a whoppingn 23.5 degrees out! I bet it's very slippery. I wouldn't go walking either. Do you have any watp videos? Maybe you could do that instead. No gym today. I very rarely go on the weekend unless I was a slacker during the week. DH is going away for 6 days this week and I don't want to go to the gym. I promised dd I would take her for new slippers a gift for a classmate and McD's for lunch. OH OH OH. I'd better eat salad or chicken. 4 days of broken sleep and TOM coming and dh leaving. OH NOT A GOOD COMBO. I'm gonna be a
Grump. No body better mess with me this week! They'd get an ear full! Have a great day Roxy ttyl.....

Hey ladies, sorry no time for a long post i have to get ready for work, so I'm working from 12-8 today and then tomorrowI'm going to open so I have to be there at 6:30 Ughhhh but no biggie

Okay time to get in the shower I just wanted to come and say hello!!

Have a great day!

Hey ladies fly by from me too. It's beautiful here right now!! Sunny and 45 at 10 in the morning so I know it will continue to warm a bit. Bayley and I are going out for a long walk and then to play in the park. Wanted to say that I lost those 1.5 I was up yesterday and an additional .5 too!! I am so exicted!! It must have just been something I ate the night before or something. Anyway I'm staying on track today so I have a good WI tomorrow. We are going to Home Town Buffett tonight to celebrate the January birthdays with dh's family but there are 3 of us on a diet so we are going to hold each other accountable. We are then going to take all the kids to the Family Fun Center and let them play in this big playhouse thing. Bayley has never been so I am excited to take her. Gotta remember my camera! Ok need to get cleaned up to go! TTYL have a great day ladies!

Penny I'm still thinking and praying for your family, I hope you have some good news to give us when you get back.

Hi everyone!
Just got back from our usual Saturday routine - Jeremy's drum lesson, then lunch at Panera (low-fat chicken noodle soup for me), then running errands.

I'm also still praying for Penny and her family.

Jill - Home Town Buffet sounds great. They have the best bread pudding there. I haven't been there in ages.

Melissa - sorry about your crappy sleep. I could never sleep well with a kid in my bed.

Roxy - hey there!

Hi Michelle.

Gotta go nag the husband now.. LOL!

Hi, all. Well, my youngest son woke up this morning with a weird rash all over his body.Not quite sure what it is, but hopefully it will pass quickly. Cold and snowy here. Have a great day.

Hello ladies! I am sorry, my computer has been giving me fits, but I think I have the problem solved now...we shall see, at least it's running faster and aim hasn't crashed yet!

Anyway, to answer the big question from yesterday, I have been without a car for 6 months now, and when I got my refund check I bought an older car from a friend of mine. It runs great! 1984 Olds Delta 88. New tires, two spares (regular tire and a doughnut). AC works great, which is important in Texas. Radio and tape player are in excellent shape. Less than 100,000 original miles on it, had a little old lady who took great care of her for most her life. Drives great, engine sounds awesome. Nice sturdy body, lots of room. Brown with brown interior, very clean. Upholstery is in good shape too. Alright, I have talked enough about her....I love having a car again! Really I do. I have missed being able to go places and do things, and this will make finding a getting a job a lot easier.

Penny, your cousin will continue to be in my prayers. Let us know how she is doing, please?

Anyway, I have to go, kids getting into everything. Take care all!

Good evening ladies.. I've been so busy all day I haven't had a chance to get on here until now.

Penny~ We are all still praying for your cousin. My pastor and his wife came over today and we said a prayer for her. When you get a chance give us an update.


Mel~ I've been beat all day too so I definitely know TOM is right around the corner for me as well. Enjoy your time with dh and kids before he leaves for 6 days. If you need to chat you can IM me or even give me a call. I know what it's like to have dh on the road.

Michelle~ Have a great day at work!

Tabitha~ Your new car sounds really nice! It definitely will make it easier for you to find a job now that you have transportation. Hope you're having a great day.

Jill~ Your day sounds like it was going to be lots of fun. How did Bailey enjoy herself?? Did everyone hold each other accountable when it came to eating?? Did you take pics? Boy, I'm full of questions for you tonight..LOL!!

Roxy~ Hey!! My tooth was great all day until tonight when I had to eat something. I ate 1 pancake for dinner(I fgured it was soft) and now I am having major pain...uugghh!! I tell you Wednesday isn't coming fast enough..lol. How was your day??

Hi Gretchen and Ricci! Ricci, I hope your son's rash goes away. To all you other ladies out ther I hope all is well. I better go and exercise and get the challenge in. I'll be back tomorrow after church. Nite ladies!!

Hey Tabitha great about the car! Sounds like you got a good one! Older cars that still run good are hard to come by. I had a '95 4-runner for awhile and it had all sorts of problems! I really think it depends on who owns them and how good they take care of them.

Well dh and I just got back from town. We were getting some presents for the birthdays we are attending. January is definitely a big month for us for birthdays!! I've been really good today and got some exercise in too. I'm hoping for a good WI tomorrow! My sil and I are going to be strong together tonight when everyone is eating dessert. I'm glad she will be there with me because she is usually the one wanting me to eat bad with her and it's really hard not too. It used to make me mad though too because here I was trying really hard to be healthy and she was shoving bad food in my face. I think she just felt guilty for eating it herself so if I ate it too she didn't feel so bad. Anyway at least I will have somewhat of a support group. lol It's going to be weird not eating cake at my own group birthday but I can do it!!

Well I hope everyones days are going great. I am going to post a recipe of the taco bake that I made last night. It was soooooooooooooooooooo good. I didn't even miss the chips or tortillas. I just had it like a taco salad without chips. It was delish! So good that I couldn't wait till lunch today to have some more!! lol so here it is, try it if you like

Serves 4:
1 can fat free refried beans
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper chopped (red's my favorite, but use whatever)
8 oz mushrooms, coarsely chopped (diced, not sliced)
1 can green chilis (like ortega)
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or more, if you'd like)
2-3 TB chili powder (your favorite that hopefully has no added sugar)
1 TB cumin
1-2 t garlic powder
2-3 TB tomato paste
2/3 C shredded f/f or l/f cheese, your choice, I use 2% Kraft cheddar

Garnish - any, all work well:
chopped green onions
chopped black olives
l/f, f/f sour cream
chopped lettuce and tomatoes
chopped cilantro
avocado or lf guacamole
salsa

Preheat oven to 450. Take a flat casserole dish, spray with cooking spray and spread refried beans on the bottom. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute meat, onions, bell pepper, garlic (season with S&P) until onion begins to soften and meat beings to brown. Add mushrooms and cook until they've released their water and meat is thoroughly browned. Drain fat and add all spices, and cook for about 2-3 minutes until spices toast. Add green chilies and tomato paste, along with a little bit of water, if needed. The mixture should be moist but not runny.

Take the casserole dish with the beans, pour mixture on top and top with cheese (sometimes I add olives and green onions at this stage). Bake in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and just starts to bubble. Serve with generous heaps of lettuce as a bed (romain, red leaf and iceberg work really well here), and garnish with garnishes of your choice.

Ok here it is! I found that iceberg lettuce is really good with it because it gives it a crunch. If you make it let me know how you like it!!

Good evening. I think RJ has measles. We will just wait and see. Penny, I am saying a prayer for your family. Jill, the birthday season for me is June through October. We have about 15 birthdays within that time frame. Well, I hope everyone has a great evening.

Evening ladies,

Tabitha- the car sounds great! My hubby likes older cars because you can still work on them yourself. I hope you have good luck with it, it sounds good!

Ricci- Measles? oh no! Hope not! I suppose he wasn't vaccinated for it huh?
Well, as if you aren't busy enough!

Jilly-funny you should post that particular recipe, we just ate that tonight! I'm not making it up. Same thing, no mushrooms, I even made homemade guacomole too. We serve it with chips for the family, I don't eat those. It's very nice to make dishes for the family that I can still eat myself. It makes more sense to do it that way, instead of cooking different. Ha! You had leftovers? TeeHee! As If!

Jeniqua-OOH That poor tooth! Are you starving yet? What are you doing making smoothies or shakes? Do you get any relief?

Gretchen-howdy, like your chicken soup? Hope you had a great day!

Hi Michelle-kick back and have a great evening!

Mel- did ya get over the grumpies? I hope you have some peace tonight.

Penny- still in my thoughts, I hope she's made some improvements!

Well, I'm gonna hit the sack early tonight. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Me again.
Tabitha, congrats on the car. It sounds great. Roxy, I did have him vaccinated when he was 1, but they have to have another round before kindergarten. Wouldn't it figure I was planning on taking him next month for his kindergarten shots. I just looked at him again before bed, and some of the spots are developing white heads on them. Still not chicken pox though. Anyway, to all of you have a good night and a FANTASTIC tomorrow.