Pickle screamed this morning...

"EEEVVVVAAANNNN, EVAN YOU HEAR ME?"  "EVAN, EVAN, EVAN, EVAN."

"mama, me and dessa...."

"mama, me and Dessa went to Nana's grocery store by her house so we could see her."  "we miss nana so bad!"

Girlfriends...

I feel blessed to have so many great girlfriends!  My two best friends has been for 23 years now and my other best friend has been for 21 years.  I feel lucky to have them and we have all come along way.

For me, girlfriends give you what your husbands can't.  Your husbands don't have the ability to fill every aspect of your life.  And it's impossible for your children to fill you in the way that your husband and girlfriends do.  Sometimes I feel like it's a chore to keep up the relationships with girls but in the end, I always feel better leaving then I did going.

I have bonded with these three ladies since moving here.  The relationships were slow growing but have developed into something special.  We were all new mom's together, learning together and supporting each other.  For some reason, I never feel like I'm being judged like I often do with other mom's.  They see the real me, they are starting to understand the real me and most importantly they accept the real me.

We went to the Lilith Fair concert together.  We talked about what cute outfits we would wear, we got to chat without children interruptions, we got to let loose and drink a few mojito's, we had a great lunch/happy hour at a restaurant that wouldn't be enjoyable with kids, we ate the best desert know to man, and we got to enjoy my favorite singer Sarah McLachlan and most importantly we got to refuel ourselves.

I think it's good to leave your kids and let your husband see a day in your life.  One husband texted "I know why lion's eat their cubs."  And two of our husbands planned a play-date together (ahh how cute).  We were missed by our children and husbands.  We missed them, but will definitely do it all over again.

Left to Right...Lyndsay, Amy, you know that crazy girl, and Kim.

btw...I paid 13 bucks for that beer.  Inflation!

**MONDAY REVIEW/TIP**

Do you drink your calories?  If we are allowed between 1000-2000 calories a day then having one large drink from a fast food joint could be almost 1/2 to almost your whole day of calories.  And diet sodas aren't any better.  Shocking!

 I just read an article that said "Imagine taking your favorite candy bar, mixing it in a blender and drinking it 4-5 times a day.

Here's a few facts regarding the hidden calories in what we drink
x-Large (the biggest size 64oz at McDonalds, Wendy's, Sonic etc) for 32oz cut the number in half
Coke: 370
Mt. Dew: 880
Sprite:
Dr. Pepper: 800
7-up: 800
Peach Tea- 640
Lemonade (Pink, Reg): 800
Limade (cherry, reg fm Sonic): 460
Diet Cherry Limade: 25
ALL DIET SODA'S ARE: 0

Starbucks:
Grande size
Strawberries & Cream: 440
Double Choc Chip Frap: 510
Hot Choc: 510
Non-Fat Vanilla Latte: 200
Non-Fat Mocha Latte: 290
Coffee black: 0

Healthy Drink Guideline found on Harvard:

At least half of your daily fluid should come from water. For a person who needs 12 cups of fluid a day, that would mean six cups of water. More is fine—up to 100% of your daily beverage needs.

About one-third (or about three to four cups) can come from unsweetened coffee or tea. If you flavor your coffee or tea with a lot of sugar, cream, or whole milk, then drinking less would help manage weight. If you take a pass on coffee or tea, choose water instead.

Low-fat milk can make up another 20 percent, or about two 8-ounce glasses. Less is fine, just make sure you get your calcium from another source.

A small glass (4 ounces) of 100% fruit juice, and no more than 1 to 2 alcoholic drinks for men or no more than 1 for women.

Ideally, zero "diet" drinks made with artificial sweeteners, but up to 1 to 2 glasses (8 to 16 ounces) a day (this is adapted from the Beverage Guidance Panel's original recommendation of up to 32 ounces per day).

Ideally, zero drinks sweetened with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, but up to a maximum of 8 ounces.  

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/healthy-drinks-full-story/index.htmlhttp://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/sugary-vs-diet-drinks/index.html

"Get naked for the party"

Pickle and Peanut are in the bathtub.  Pickle is setting up a tea party.  She says to me "mama get naked for the party."

Okay parents....

If you want to run late that is one thing.  I personally don't think it's okay to send the message to your children that it's okay to be late (unless it's a emergency).  In my opinion, showing up late gives the impression that you don't respect the other person(s) time.  Was in tumbling today with Pickle.  Class starts at 1030 ends at 1130.  At 1045 here comes another, at 11 here comes another and then the icing on the cake, 1120 here comes the last mom.  Really?  Is that not rude to the instructor?  Is that not rude to the other parents that planned their morning to be there 5 minutes early just in case.  With each interruption the teacher had to excuse herself to explain to the parent what we were doing.  Yes, they are only 2-3 yrs old.  But I think running late is RUDE!  And if you run late it's sending the message that you don't respect other peoples time.

I'm just sayin!