Spring Break- Philbrook Museum

So I guess we didn't take any pictures of the inside of the museum, but here we are getting ready to leave!! Avery is helping Mason walk!!

GG and her grandkids!! I wouldn't mind living in a place like this...

Avery packs herself, so the matching thing was a coincidence, but I love it. Made for a great Spring picture!! Well, minus the homemade haircut by Edward Scissor Hands. Blog or go get his haircut by a professional...it's obvious which one I choose... :)

She is hoping to star in The Highschool Musical 12 one day...

My mom and sisters!!
I'm thinking Botanical Gardens ain't got nothin' on this place once all the pretty spring flowers pop out. So many great places for pictures.

Spring Break- Jenks Aquarium

Never seen a fish this color

Coolest fish there...

Get a room you two...

Wake up dude.

They got to touch all kinds of weird slimy, squishy creatures...

The shark tunnel was a little claustrophobic for my liking, but the kids liked it!

I think this is my first time so see seahorses!

Here's a lovely old dead octopus. I would have liked to have seen a live one...

We got to see the fish being fed and we also watched the otter be fed but didn't get a good picture of that one.

Nemo and his daddy!!

Neat place but a little crowded. It's a good "go there once" kinda place...in my opinion! Glad we went but probably won't go again. We'll just stick with our zoo pass!

My New Job

Off subject, but if you have been thinking about putting your child in gymnastics or trying out a different gym, there is an online deal going on right now through livingsocial. You can click here and purchase a coupon that is $20 for a month at Star Gymnastics. No registration fee or 9 week commitment.

Ok, on to my job.
Here is my other half...

She is amazing and I love seeing her everyday! We have been super busy since starting last month. She found that quickbooks was all messed up and unreconciled, the office and storage were a disaster, and I realized that no payments from insurance or patients had been applied to their accounts since Febuary 2010!! Also several claims were going to the wrong address, weren't authorized, had a diagnosis or CPT code error and were NEVER fixed and resent!! It's been crazy but I'm still loving it! There is always something interesting that happens which breaks the monotony of my life...like when the Dr. Phil show calls to get one of their guests some continued therapy with us. Everyone I work with is so sweet and hard working. I could not be more blessed right now.
My house could use a little blessings though. For some reason it doesn't get clean unless I clean it. How frustrating is that!? :) I guess I'll start folding the three loads of clothes I washed two days ago...

Wiggly Tooth and Dancing Robots

The kids were running around playing or fighting...don't remember...but it ended with Avery being the happiest 6 year old EVER! She said "Zane, thank you SO much for bonking my tooth with your head. It made my tooth wiggly!!! Look mommy, there's even blood!!!!!" Yes dear. It moved 1/16 of a centimeter and smeared 4 tiny dots of blood. Yay!!! It should be ready to come out within 6 months!

Here was a random picture found on the camera. I guess Zane was very proud of his crumbling crackers into little mini muffin wrappers abilities!

We went to a Thunder game a couple of weeks ago and watched some amazing robot dancing skills during halftime. Zane thought he was just as good as them. This edited video* was shot at night with my cruddy camera. No worries though, you can still make out his awesome moves...

*This video started out with Avery being jealous that Zane was getting more attention. She turned on Kidz Bop and jumped up beside Zane to sing Bieber's "Baby" while he robot danced around her. She got mad he kept blocking her view of the camera, yelled at him, and got sent to her room. Also edited out was Zane still dancing like a robot while singing Katy Perry's "California Girls" in a robot voice. Oh dear. I put off buying that CD for Avery for 2 years. I kinda wish I could take it back!

I'm pretty much not need anymore...

It all started with a little sale in January. I caved and bought these little beauties...Every single day the week after it came in Avery got up and made her lunch. It was all before I even woke up! String cheese, yogurt, and a turkey and cheese sandwich. Occasionally she would get real brave and throw in some baby carrots or grapes. It rubbed off on him too...I have since taught him which knife is best to use, but he is one proud little boy. One part of me wants to be sad, but then I realize I got teenage years ahead of me and I am totally OK with takin' a break when I can!My breaks have consisted of consuming the following almost everyday:
A yummy and healthier version of no-bake cookies. I just grabbed everything I had and went with uncle sam.
Warning: If you have IBS, don't go with the uncle sam and skip out on adding fiber powder to it! It didn't end so well with a certain someone I know!!!

Above is my chocolate protein powder, pb, honey, and Uncle Sam cereal and below are vanilla protein powder, pb, honey, and oats. Both were super yummy!! I have a hard time sharing, but I will share the recipe! I half the recipe so they will always be fresh!! Much yummier and better option than granola bars, and even cliff and luna bars in my opinion...

Taking a break also involves enjoy these shakes EVERYDAY while I chill in bed right before getting in the shower. I usually use regular milk but thought I'd get adventurous. I also usually use spinach but one time the store was out so I thought I'd try this...

(The little tub above is the fiber powder)
Did you get a good look?

IT WAS AMAZING. The chocolate (and sometimes I add pb) is really all you can taste! Zane watched me make this and said "You put salad in there?? Oh man that is going to be disgusting" I bribed him to just try it and he ended up asking for more!

I wondered if the chocolate could hide the taste of blueberries too. IT COULDN'T. Not a good mix I must say.

Vanilla and fruit were ok...

He liked it...

But I'm a chocolate lover. Off to go make me one now...

This will probably only be interesting to a few

Sugar vs. Stevia
Written by a non medical professional who simply wasted an entire day researching for 10 hours and thus ignoring laundry.


Regular refined cane sugar from walmart is sucrose that has been extracted from sugarcane and then processed and bleached.

Sugarcane is the actual grass stalk that contains a juice that is evaporated into crystals (when raw is brownish). This is all natural but does contain calories and does not dissolve as easily at refined sugar.

Splenda processes the sucrose from sugarcane into sucralose. There is nothing all natural about this and it is highly processed which is kinda scary to me. Much better than aspartame, but still scary. All sweeteners use bulking agents...one actually being Sugar. The product can be described as "sugar free" if a serving contains less than 5 grams of sugar, and "calorie free" if a serving is less than 5 calories. Splenda packets contains 1 gram of sugar and contain 4 calories. Diabetics can have 4 packets of splenda before it messes with their blood sugar levels. Consuming a lot of Splenda will in fact create the same effect as sugar does. If you think you are getting zero calories and zero sugar by consuming this....you aren't!

Stevia is the world’s only all natural sweetener with zero calories, zero carbohydrates and a zero glycemic index. Stevia is an herb with a very potent sweetness to it. You can grow stevia and grind up the leaf into green powder and eat it just like that. The green powder has more nutrients and phytonutrients but does not dissolve. I have read that it can have more of a licorice sweet taste and if you use too much, it can be a little bitter.

The white stevia powder is made using the extract of stevia leaves called steviosides through a natural steaming water process and then crystalized. The stevia is sold using a percentage. The higher the percentage of stevioside, the sweeter it is. Pure stevia extract in powder form lasts soooooo long as it is super sweet and since it is only the steviasides and not the entire stevia leaf, it does not have the bitter licorice taste some find in the green powder. Spoonable stevia contains another ingredient which is a natural filler called erythritol (a natural sugar alcohol found in pears and grapes). This is more convenient for baking than pure extract. 1/4 cup is equivalent to 1 cup of sugar. White powder Stevia dissolves just fine but does not caramelize like sugar does.

Truvia is similar but mostly erythritol instead of being mostly stevia extract. It also contains other "natural flavors." This is a much better choice over Splenda as it seemingly is in fact all natural but it is "calorie-free" and states there is "not a significant amount of calories" instead of "zero calorie". Truvia measures out regularly like sugar where as stevia does not.

Pure stevia extract in liquid form is 200-300 times sweeter than regular sugar. Only 1.5-2.5 teaspoons to every cup of sugar. If using the liquid in baking, you will need a bulking agent (applesauce, banana puree, yogurt, etc). This will take practice to perfect to your liking. It is however perfect for dropping into tea or coffee. It is so sweet you will only need a drop.

There are many recipes using stevia and I hope to try baking with it soon...when I stop being scared of baking. It sure does make my detox tea yummy though!!

It's Vegematic!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls...I present to you the cutest purple eggplant in the entire world...
Watch her Groove
For some reason my camera made her look glowing and angelic...

Here is her speaking part and of course my memory card would get too full before she finished...