imagination at work

I was washing dishes like a good domestic when Maribel calls from another room,

“Mommy come in the living room and meet my new pet…it’s a worm.” Lovely.

So I dried my hands thinking/dreading the grossest when I look under the makeshift cage to meet this new “pet” Maribel has adopted.

“His name is Wormie and he’s my new pet, but he’s not a real worm, just my jump rope I broke trying to swing from it.”

The next day she came home from school and ran to Wormie’s cage and says all endearing like, “Hey there little fella, Mommy’s home.”

I can only imagine the going ons that swim in this brain of her’s but I *heart* it!

Now my mission is to find where she was trying to “swing from” so I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

>^..^<

a secret wish

I don't keep it a secret that I dislike summers in Florida. What with the intense heat with the humididty making being outside utterly unbearable, but I have to say that I'm kind of wishing that summer wasn't reaching the endline. So to celebrate our final few summer weekends together while Joe is busy entertaining tourists we spent most of Saturday in downtown Winter Park.

We started at the farmer's market for some delicious fruits and vegetables but all Maribel wanted to do was pet every single dog at the market. She would get this look on her face every time she saw a pocket pooch like chihuahuas and poodles.

After getting some pooch lovin in it was snack time. There's plenty of benches to sit and enjoy a little nibble before some shopping...

...and some tree climbing too with some bubble time. But then she saw a giant tree to hide inside versus climbing on the outside. We spend a while there since it was cooler inside the tree then in the blistering heat.

But then we found an ice cream shop which looked too good to pass up. Well, I passed it up but I couldn't deny Maribel the littlest cup of chocolate shade. But it sure did look delicious in the cup and on her dress.

After making a wish or two at the park fountain we decided it was time to head back and escape the heat and head back.

The park is right by an active Amtrak train station and Maribel was so hopeful to see a train but alas, her wishes were not fulfilled, this time.

As far as mommy/daughter dates go, this day has reached the top of my list. The weather was a little warm but with my favourite redhead it was totally bearable.

The official beginning of Autumn is September 23rd and that puts it 92 days until Christmas. Hey it will be here before you know it. It always does that.
>^..^<

loving lunchtime

Maribel completed her first week of Pre-K and everyday I ask her how her day went she replies with,
"Good. I made new friends. And I have a boyfriend!" oh my...this just reinforces the no dating until 16 rule but hey, at least she's enjoying her lunches.

For Tuesday's lunch I ran out of regular bread so I used one of those flat bread things that are a super yummy alternative to sandwich bread or hamburger buns to make her pb&j's. I love them and think they are real tasty and so does M. Well, usually she does. For some reason she only took a couple of bites out of one and left the other. Oh well, more for me C: The rest of her lunch includes chocolate graham gold fish, carrots with ranch dip in the monkey sauce container; cut strawberries; cheese; and Juice Plus gummies.

My lunch wasn't as fun but still provided sufficient nutrition which included fat free yogurt; carrots with fat free Italian dressing for dipping (in the blue container); 1/2 cup sliced strawberries; Melba toast and Laughing Cow Blue cheese. I only ate one and saved the other for another days snack.

Wednesday I forgot to pick up bread so I improvised and made M's favourite, tuna. Yup, my girl loves tuna with crackers to scoop it with. Her lunch also included some animal crackers, vitamin gummies, grapes, fruit squeezie and juice box.

My lunch was the start of the second phase of my healthy eating plan (I don't use the "D" word) and with this phase I get to add a larger portion to the food selections and some protein. Yay! So I made a chicken salad with some Melba toast for scooping, 15 little whole grain gold fish -yes I counted each one; cottage cheese, yogurt, and a nice salad.

Wednesday night I finally made it to the grocery store so I picked up some bread for sandwiches and made missy pants some dino pb&j sanny's and punched out some fruit leather hearts for his spikes and added some animal crackers. She also got some of her favourite ham rolls, carrots, vitamin gummies, tomatoes or "Panatoes" as she calls them and punched out cheese clouds which are kind of hard to see but they are there under the "panatoes". Oh and some applesauce.

My lunch I also decided to have a little fun and punch out my ham sandwiches in Dino shapes. I also included some punched out clouds in my fat free cheese to go along with my broccoli and carrots and for dessert I had some yummy blackberry yogurt which is my favourite yogurt by far. Mmm so delicious!

I have to say that while making these lunches do take a little extra time they are totally worth it to see the smile on M's face when she sees her little bento box in the fridge. Now I'm off to address this boy situation...

>^..^<

ready or not

Well the day has finally come. Yup. Today was that day where Maribel started Pre-K. She was so excited to go to a real school and meet new friends. She had no problems going to class and making herself right at home while I walked back to my car fighting back the tears. I'm tough but not that tough when I see how happy she is to be there. When she came back she couldn't wait to tell me all about her lessons and that she has new friends and some of them are boys, hee hee.

So now I am back making lunches and since I'm eating about the same amount as my mini me I started making some mommy bentos. I mean, the stuff is out already so why not?

For M's lunch she had some grapes, rolled turkey meat, vitamin gummies, pb and honey sandwiches and some chocolate graham goldfish in a Hello Kitty egg. When I got her lunch back she ate everything but 3 of the little sandwiches because I was informed that the bread wasn't "soft". Picky picky.

My lunch isn't as fun. Salad with dressing and sliced cucumbers with a side of cottage cheese and leftover mashed potatoes. I have to admit, M's chocolate goldfish look mighty appealing right about now...

>^..^<

finally a cupcake I can eat

A while back I joined this online workshop site called Something Splendid where you can take virtual classes and make all kinds of fun crafty things. I've taken a few and so far my favorite class has been creating these delightful felt treats. Maribel's tea parties have now turned into cupcake parties, she loves them so much and so do I for that matter since not only are they super cute but they are calorie free!

These are the ones that you get make in the class (minus the pink swirled frosting with a strawberry top since that one is lost somewhere in the void which is M's room.) My favorite are the cherries and strawberries which make the perfect cupcake toppings. Don't they look delicious? They are so easy and addictive to make that I couldn't wait to make more...

Meet Mr and Mrs C.

Mr C likes fun hats and to talk all debonair like while stroking his stache. He's been caught flexing his sugar sweet muscles in the mirror when he thinks his sweet 'ems isn't looking, but she's always looking. He has a soft spot for puppies and plans to surprise his Mrs with one this Christmas. Shh don't tell the Mrs.

Mrs C loves anything pink and is always laughing at the silly things Mr C says. She also loves to bake sweet treats for her sweet cheeks sweetheart and dance while doing house work to maintain her cylinder figure. She hopes to visit Paris with her Sugar Daddy and shop the many bakeries.

and as you can see they are madly in love.

>^..^<

he's my penguin

Last week Joe and I celebrated 8 years of each other. Wow eight crazy years of Florida living, love it!

There is a song called Penguin by Christina Perri that I just love. When I first listened to the lyrics that feeling came rushing back like the first time it hit me when Joe and I were dating that he was the one. I love that feeling.

Ok so we really didn't date like most normal people would have since I was in Edmonton and he was in Orlando but I called it dating anyways. It was a really really really long distance relationship and so we "dated" over the phone and online which I wouldn't change for anything.

baby it's fate

like a soul mate

he's your penguin

baby it's fate baby it's fate

not luck

You know you're over the honey moon stage when the highlight of the evening was playing xbox in your underwear throwing some smackdown! Ahhh so this is love.? You better believe it is. Since I believe in fate and divine intervention I know luck had nothing to do with it.

>^..^<

the little engine that could-that's me

“If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.”

yeh, yeh yeh...pfft

I really debated announcing my umpteenth attempt at yet another weight loss journey. You might as well forget about the last time I attempted at losing weight as I gained it all back, and then some. *sigh* but I’ve finally reached the point and not going to let that get the best of me.

I've started my second month of a new weight loss regime and I have to say that I am really honest to goodness truly loving this process.  No, really I am. I think if comparing this time to the last time the main difference is my attitude. Sure I was excited and motivated last year but this year I had to readjust my thinking and not make it into a chore rather than a real life style change. While participating in the Week in the Life project I had noticed one thing that is definitely different from last year to this year.

Hee hee a mommy bento ;0)

Sure I’m still facing the little challenges of the between lunch and dinner hunger games but thanks to the trusty H2O I get through it just fine and stay on track. without cheating.  

I am going to beat this because I am strong and determined and gosh darn it, I am worth it!

My stats from July 1^st to now:
Lbs Lost -17lbs
Inches lost thus far : 13 inches
Reached first goal 15lbs
New mini goal: another 10 lbs 
>^..^<

lickity lick

Things have been pretty busy in the Carlberg household but one thing we always make time for is baking. Of course when there's mixing there's also licking. No sooner as the mixer finishes it's final spin there is Miss Maribel asking to lick the spatula.

One of my goals for this year was to bake more with Maribel. She can now crack an egg with the best of them and I feel it safe to say that she loves to bake almost as much as she loves to eat the results.
For me it's not the sweet treat that I love the most although that is a sweet bonus at the end but it's the quality time we spend together learning, laughing, acting silly, you know all the fun mommy-daughter stuff. It's moments like these that I am grateful for the sweet sweet sugar mixed with the spice that little girls are made of because her "spice" is something that can put hair on your chest if you get too much of it...seriously.

>^..^<