{There's No Day Like Today}

Again, no school

I am starting to wonder if Dominic will ever go back to school! He's been off a week now due to holidays and weather. The news is warning us of freezing rain tonight. I hope not. That really is the worse. I like snow. But ice. Yuck.

I walked out of the house this morning to go to the gym and about fell on my tuckus a dozen times in the 5 minute walk over there! And when I got there, the class was cancelled because the instructor couldn't get into town because of the ice. Ugh! But I still worked out. Maybe not as efficiently as if I had taken the class, but still a good one.

Oh, I tried an awesome new recipe tonight. Nummy!

This is a Weight Watchers recipe from their "Simply Bueno!" cookbook. (Hopes it's okay to post it here! It's just so good, I want to share).

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Mexican Seafood Chowder

Hands on prep: 20 min

Cook: 20 min

Serves: 6

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

4 cups fish or vegetable broth or bottled clam juice (I used veggie broth)

2 (14 1/2 oz) cans diced tomatoes with jalapenos

3 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels

1 1/2 lb. tilapia or halibut fillets, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb. large shrimp peeled and de-veined

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

1. Heat the oil in a nonstick Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, oregano, and cinnamon; cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the bell pepper to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the broth, then add the tomatoes and corn. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the soup bubbles and thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the fish and shrimp to the Dutch oven; bring the soup to a simmer. Cook until the fish is just opaque in the center, about 4 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and serve with the lime wedges.

Per serving: (2 cups) 276 cal, 5g fat, 1g sat fat, 0g trans fat, 136 mg chol, 697 mg sodium, 27g carb, 5g fib, 34g protein, 113mg calcium.

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Where's Waldo?

So, did you think I fell off the face of the earth? Did you even notice I was gone? No biggie if you didn't, but I have been gone for awhile. Pretty busy times these days. We've moved. Sold our beautiful house in WA and moved into our beautiful house in OR. Dominic started at a great school. Vivian may be starting in January. Just waiting for the final approval on that. It's about 6 months earlier than I had planned on, but she's SO READY. And she wants to go so badly. So, we decided that it was time. Maybe not for us, but for her. And it's such a great school. I know she will just do awesome there whether she starts in January or in September.

I also took the plunge. I am taking my physical fitness seriously - and loving it! Okay, it's only been a week, but I am really feeling motivated and really enjoying excercise for the first time ever. I have been going to some classes at the local gym here that are taught by one of Dominic's classmate's mother. She rocks. She is so motivating. And I totally appreciate the personal attention she pays to each person, taking into consideration our own weaknesses or injured areas.

One thing was pretty cool today. School was closed due to snow and Edward and I had planned to go to the gym. So we bundled up the kids and started our walk to the gym. It's only about 4-5 blocks away, so it didn't make sense to drive. We were running late, so we put Vivi in her stroller and jogged there. Dominic and Edward pretty much ran the whole way while I jogged-walked-jogged-walked my way there. When we got to the parking lot of the gym, some ladies were coming out of the Subway there and saw our little family running together. I heard one lady comment on how great it was that we were excercising together (which it is!) and another comment on what a beautiful family we were (which we are!).

It was pretty awesome to do that as a family. After the gym we went to the park and then made our way to a local cafe for some hot chocolate. We got back home around lunch and just as we peeled off all our layers, it started to snow again. This is the scene we had for a little while:

But alas, it didn't last long. It is forcasted to snow some more tonight, so we will see what happens tomorrow. Dominic wants to go back to school. He's been out since last Wednesday due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Speaking of which, that was a blast. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner here at our house. We had 18 people in total. I loved cooking, though it got a bit stressful in the last hour. Mostly because there were so many people in the kitchen. Now I know how my mom felt all these years! But one nice result of cooking was I didn't really eat much. I think it's the first Thanksgiving EVER, where I didn't over indulge to the point of feeling sick. I also went to the gym the next day, so I was pretty proud of my self for that.

Our 26 pound turkey!!

The table: We had to do it "buffet" style due to lack of seating

My centerpiece. I just think it was beautiful.

I had to take a picture of this. My sister-in-law made a lovely fruit platter and the kids totally scavenged it before dinner! As you can see, their little hands could only reach so far, so only the lower half was affected. I think Vivian was the ring leader...

The kids enjoying their Thanksgiving meal.

The kids put on a fabulous musical performance after dinner. Complete with homemade maracas!

So that's the summary. At least for the past week! I will try to check in a bit more often. Maybe one of these days I will scrap again. It's been about 2 months. Just haven't been feeling it lately. Too many other things to attend to. Maybe this week I will get to it. We'll see!