Another Fabulous Dinner on Tuesday Night!!

Tonight, I made two dishes out of my Just 5 Cookbook.  Our main dish tonight was Simmered Italian -Style Pork Chops (five points per chop) and we had Baby Greens with Gorgonzola and Almonds for our side dish (two points per serving).  Again...five ingredients or less!  Brother Sacker loved both dishes; but especially the salad!  He loved the pork chops and marinara sauce, but didn't eat too much of the onions and green peppers.  I loved the marinara and pork chops, but especially loved the marinara with onions and green peppers!  We both loved the salad!!  Both dishes are super easy, also.

Simmered Italian-Style Pork Chops 

Five ingredients...super easy...super delicious!!

Baby Greens with Gorgonzola and Almonds 

I think we could both eat this salad every night!!

Brotherly Love (Kind Of!!) and Dinner on Monday Night

We have four dog beds in our house.  We have two dogs in our house.  Every night, I put Valentino's dog bed on the floor in front of our closet.  Every night, I put Sundance's dog bed on the floor by my side of the bed.  This is what my boys did last night!  I think Valentino actually wanted to sleep on Sundance's bed, but Sundance beat him to it!!

And, of course Valentino has his kong with him!!

This is where Valentino is SUPPOSED to be!!



Tonight, we had Pesto-And-Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts for dinner.  Brother Sacker said it was great and definitely a repeat!!  We had steamed fresh broccoli and fresh cauliflower.  And, some home made tabouli (we "slaved" over making tabouli on Saturday).  I'm really enjoying making meals out of the new Weight Watchers Cookbook...Just Five...125 recipes with just five ingredients each. 

This was a very easy meal to make

Ummm...good stuff! 

Five ingredients! 

Just Five!!

 Quite easily the BEST tabouli is made by

Brother Sacker (with a little help from me!)



Catching Up...

Lots of things to catch up on this past week!  Last Tuesday through Friday, I spent from about 9:00 am till 11:30 am at the Lighthouse Christian Academy administering the IOWA tests to the second graders...all three of them!  We were in the chapel every day.  We had a good time and they all three were pretty well behaved considering they had to test for three hours every morning!!  I actually enjoyed spending time with these kiddos!!  Hayden is one of my special pals...he even made me a Mother's Day card one year when Brother Sacker and I were helping at the Beggs church...I am saving it so I can show it to him when he is 16 years old...just to remind him how adorable he is!!  I grabbed him Saturday night after prayer and hugged him and asked him if he knew how much I love him.  He said bunches!  What a smart little guy...because I do love him bunches!

 Hayden, Meagan and Jeriah



 Working on some word searches between testing

All four of us survived!  

My Secret Sister gave me a glass snail...bless her heart, there is no way for her to know how creeped out I am by snails!!  So, I put him outside in one of my plants on the porch.  Haven't taken a picture of it in it's new home, yet...it is just too rainy out. 

Creepy!  But, a nice note to go with it!

I have lost 25 pounds!!  Yippee for me!  And, I hit my second goal of losing 10 per cent of my starting weight.  I got this really cool keychain thingy for meeting my 10 per cent goal.

Cool, huh?  It looks like a 10!

I have several Weight Watchers cookbooks and I am trying five or six new recipes from one of them this week.  I made lasagna and also some sauteed plantains on Saturday night.  Ten points per square of lasagna and four points for the sauteed plantains!  I froze some of the lasagna for future meals.  It was delicious!!

 My first time making lasagna...it was good!



Sauteed plantains...I also put in some diced apples

After EVERY service, Garrett and Hayden come over to our pew and they play games on my iPad!  It started out just Garrett.  Then, Hayden joined him.  Now, Blake and Brennan have joined them!  I just love these kiddos!!

 Blake, Garrett, Hayden and Brennan

They probably know my iPad better than me! 

Gotta love that Blake!! 

Aren't they just adorable?!

And, last but certainly not least...this is what my darling Secret Sister gave me today.  We have our revealing luncheon this coming Saturday...I can't wait to find out who she is!!  I will post pictures of what I am giving her this Saturday, as soon as I find out who she is...don't want to spoil her surprise, either!!  Elizabeth and I sat in the pew and read the entire book...someone told me that we looked like two little girls with our heads together reading the book and laughing and crying!

 The gift bag looks like a purse...how cute is that?

A really cool picture frame (with a little bling on it!!)

Also, a little book called "God Thinks You're Wonderful" 

Isn't that the cutest gift bag?   

She even personalized it with Brother Sackers name, my

name and my son's name!

Well...that's enough to bore y'all to tears tonight!  I hope everyone had a nice Easter Sunday and remember why we celebrate Easter...He is risen!

Diplomacy on the Home Front (or Ladies, don't try this at home!!)

OK...so most of you know that Brother Sacker and I are following the Weight Watchers plan.  Brother Sacker has lost 45 pounds and I have lost 23 pounds.  And, I'm buying a few new clothing items and loving the fact that I no longer wear 2X size clothes, but now can wear size 14/16 or XL clothes.  Whoopee!!   So, last Wednesday night, I put on a dress and asked Brother Sacker if I looked fat...do I look alright in this dress!  I wish I had video taped the struggle Brother Sacker was having trying to come up with an honest answer to that age old question...honey, does this dress make me look fat?!  I had already determined that I wasn't liking what I was seeing in the mirror, but thought I'd get a second opinion!  Bless his heart...in the space of just a few seconds, Brother Sacker went through a vast array of emotions...and, none of them good!!  So...finally, Brother Sacker says "I'm so proud of you for losing so much weight.  However, that dress kind of accentuates parts of you that you may want to work on some more"!!  So, I said, "You know, you're right!  I'm changing clothes."  The look of pure relief on Brother Sacker's face was a Kodak moment.  He finally asked me if what he said was okay...I wasn't hurt or offended?  Me...nope, not at all.  I asked for his honest opinion and he gave it.  If I didn't want to know how I looked...I certainly wouldn't have asked him!  I have known Brother Sacker since February 14, 2000 and that was the first time I asked him that question!  We both survived!  I just love Brother Sacker!!  What a Diplomat!!

Various and Sundry Things!!

Well...I have several different things to blog about.  So...without further ado, here they are!

My BFF, Liz Butler and I went shopping last week.  She always tells me how easy it is to park one of those Mama vans.  I have a compact convertible, so it seems like a daunting task to me to even DRIVE one of those vans, let alone try to park it.  When we were walking back to her van, I noticed just what a wonderful job she did of parking...

Reminds me of my friend, Kim Lenhart, who doesn't want

anyone parking near her pretty black SUV!!

Next up...two new gifts from my wonderful Secret Sister.  She gave me the coolest wind chimes...I love wind chimes!  In fact, I came home from church and immediately hung them up on my front porch!  When we had the wind storm the other night, they sounded so lyrical and sweet; even Brother Sacker made a comment about how pretty they sounded!  Apparently, my Secret Sister doesn't like wind chimes and even told me that if I didn't like them, I could re-gift them!  No way...I LOVE them!!  Here is a picture...

I love them!

Today, she gave me this darling bowl.  I love it!  And, I plan on using it...I like to have blackberries and lite whipped cream in a bowl once in awhile and I'll think of her when I eat them out of this darling bowl!  We have our Secret Sister revealing luncheon on Sat. April 30th.  I can't wait to find out who she is and give her a big hug...not just for the beautiful and thoughtful gifts, but also for the cards and letters she has given me.  And, for the prayers and encouragement...that means more to me than anything else.

And, it's pink, too!!



The next few pictures are of my little fat boy, Valentino.  He is my Cairn Terror...uh, Cairn Terrier!!  Brother Sacker gave him to me as part of my Valentine's Day gift back in 2002.  I love this little fat guy.  He really IS a Cairn Terrier...the last time I dropped him off at the groomers, Brother Sacker told them to shave him completely down!!  You cannot even imagine my dismay when I picked Valentino up that day...but, I love him with or without hair...fat or skinny!  I had given both boys a Kong (red rubber things that we put peanut butter in) and gave Valentino the empty p.b. container.  Sundance had gotten an empty p.b. container the day before, so it was Valentino's turn!!  He even brought the container to bed with him!!  And, growled at poor Sundance every time Sunny boy got near him!!  Yeah...Valentino is old and grouchy!!

My poor "naked" Valentino



 He loves peanut butter

He had the jar in his mouth

Getting ready to dig in...

And, he is in!!

Well...I can't think of anything else to bore y'all with!  So...I'll say good-night.  Sundance is carrying Valentino's Kong around...I think it's a hint!!

I almost forgot...I have lost a total of 23 pounds!!  Whoopee!!  Yippee for me!

A Day Spent with Sister Taylor Bargain Hunting!

Sister Ann Taylor lives in Beggs, OK.  I met her several years ago when Brother Sacker and I were involved in our church's daughter work in Beggs.  We just "hit it off" right away!  I try to spend one day of the week with Sister Taylor...we shop, we have lunch together, we run errands, we explore different towns in OK...all in all, just get together and have fun.  Yesterday, I picked Sister Taylor up and we came back to Tulsa and went to the Goodwill Store, the Salvation Army store and had lunch at Applebee's.  The following pics are of Sister Taylor (some taken at her apartment and some taken at Applebee's) and the bargains I found at the Goodwill Store.  The lucite lamp is my favorite purchase, I only paid $4.00 for it.  I found the white shade today at Target and I'll be adding some embellishments and fabric to the shade as soon as I decide where I will be using it.  I have several pieces of furniture in our garage that need to be stripped and re-done.  One piece is an old desk that I may "fix up" and use in our office.  So, I may use the lamp in there.  And, the electric skillet, I only paid $20.00 for and it appears to be almost un-used!! 

Sister Taylor in her kitchen

Sister Taylor waiting for her lunch at Applebee's

Moosewood Restaurant cookbook has low-fat recipes and

 the Slow Good cookbook is a Weight Watchers cookbook

This scrolly thing is heavy!!  Not sure what I'm gonna do

with it, yet.

A covered dish that you microwave in

My "new" electric skillet.  I can't wait to use it.

Lucite lamp base

The lamp with the lamp shade I found at Target

This Is What We Did This Weekend

We spent Friday and Saturday at Robbers Cave.  Robbers Cave State Park is located in the woodlands of the San Bois Mountains.  The park takes its name from Robbers Cave, an unusual triangular opening in the side of a scenic rock bluff. According to legend, the cave and its surrounding bluffs, ravines and rock formations was a hideout for notorious Old West outlaws Jesse James and Belle Starr.  We took the boys hiking and they also got to go swimming...one of their favorite activities!! 

Entrance to where cabins are

This is the cabin we stayed in

Behind our cabin

This is the bluff we hiked to

David and the boys on a rock overlooking the lake

On the trail

Valentino loves to "frizz"

Sundance had to get both frizzes if we threw Valentino's frizz too far out in the water!

Sundance the Water Dog!!