Yummy...

Thanks to my friend Kari for giving me the "Crab Melt" recipe. Its a Weight Watchers recipe and it is definetly a keeper for our household. Lately I've been cooking some new and interesting foods. I can usually get Livi to try it and like it, but tonight was a no go. However, my mother-in-law and I decided that this will be a recurring recipe for us!

Oh yeah...Jason works out of town Mon-Fri and on the nights that I don't work, we have dinner with my in-laws. Its wonderful cause they are wonderful.

Here's the recipe for anyone who wants to try a bite.

Crab Melt Sandwiches

2 8oz packages of crab (pulled apart)

1/4 cup roasted red peppers minced

1/3 cup low fat mayo

2 tsp (more if you like) dijon mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 slices pumpernickel or rye bread

4 slices low fat swiss cheese



Mix all ingredients except the bread and cheese. Spread evenly between the four slices of bread and top with swiss cheese. Put under a preheated broiler for approx 3-4 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

5 WW Points.



I served the crab melts with corn on the cob (1 WW Point).

Yummy!

Summertime.

Summer is finally underway. There was so much rain in May and the beginning of June that I feel like summer really just started, and yet it is almost half done. Ugh.

Livi is just finishing up TBall. I think that she is secretly happy its almost done. Its a little hot for her to be standing in the outfield. And lets face it, there really isn't much baseball in T-Ball. But there is a whole lot of cuteness. Its fun to watch, and she is already better than she was at the first game, so we will call is a success.

Alex would live outside if you let her. Thank goodness for good sunscreen. That girl literally wants to be outside at all times, no matter how hot it is! She loves the water and will flop herself into it at any moment.

I ordered a swingset for the backyard a couple of weeks ago. It has arrived and is in many pieces in the backyard. Hopefully Jason will have it put together before too long. I think that the girls will be spending lots of time playing on it!

No huge vacations planned for the Paturalski family this summer. We are going to go on a little camping trip in August (our first trip with the camper) to a Jellystone/Yogi Bear campground! I can't wait!

Work is tough this week....

Work is tough this week. As an ICU nurse, you never want to have to walk into work in plain clothes and be a visitor...a decision maker for a child who is unconscious. Never. I never want to sit next to my child while she lays in an ICU bed unconscious. Its almost unthinkable. Well, not this week it isn't. As I write a co-worker of mine is sitting next to her daughter as she lays in an ICU bed. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family continuously this morning. She is being a very strong woman and I will lift her up in all the prayer I have today. Every thought...she is in my every thought.
I am glad that I am a nurse and am able to care for people and their families in their greatest moments of need. But this is tough. Our ICU has been rocked hard the last year and half. Jeni's very tragic and sudden death, Angie's husband and now Corene. Its tough. I know that we do what we do for a reason, but its tough to keep a good perspective on things.
As hard as it is to be at work, its seems to be even harder to be at home today. My thoughts are in the ICU. It will tough to be back there tomorrow, but I will. And I will be strong. But I sure will give a lot of hugs and kind words. Cause you know what...I am a nurse, and that is what we do.

Here I go...

Here we are. Jason, Olivia, Me and Alex. This is our cute family. I'm not quite sure what all I am going to use this blog for, maybe....keeping you updated on our kids, sharing my experiences with weight watchers (i'm a new user) and using this as an outlet when my job gets stressfull, fun and challenging (i'm an ICU RN) .

We live in small town Michigan. The bottom of the mitten. Good ole' Bucktown...Buchanan, MI. We both grew up here, I went to college very close to here and our parents live close by. We moved when we were first married and three years later when we had Olivia, we knew that we needed to be close to family to raise our kids the way we envisioned. So here we are, and dare I say I'm glad we are here and I love our small town.

Since we've moved, we have done a lot...I fell in love with trauma nursing and the role of the preceptor, we had another daughter...little Miss Alex and Jason has spent a lot of time working out of town, thanks economy!

Our kids are 4 and 1 1/2. Livi is miss personality, she likes to tell you how it is and then snuggle you to smooth it over. She's a negotiator with a smile. She is excited about riding the bus to pre-school this year (mom and dad are freaking out!) and making lots of new friends. Alex is a love bug who is in love with doing what her sister is doing. That being said, we are starting to see a lot of Livi come out in her. She was our calm, passive girlie, but she is starting to grow out of it and its pretty cute to watch her stretch her wings. She loves to use the potty and loves to play outside. We had originally thought that we would call her "Lexi", so that we would have a Livi and a Lexi. Cute, right? Well she hasn't turned out to be a Lexi, for now she is Alex or "big Al". We'll see what she becomes....

Besides my kids I'm sure that I will be writing a lot about what I am cooking. I've recently started to love cooking. Those that know me well know that I've always loved baking. Since I've signed up with Weight Watchers I've started cooking interesting things and I'm loving it. So, I'm sure I'll be sharing our food journey with you!

Then theres my job...I've always been a critical care RN, but when we moved back here to Buck town I ventured into the world of TRAUMA. I love it. I work day shift at the trauma center near here. We have a great staff and a great educator who has inspired me (and cohersed) me to spend most of my time orienting new employees. And mostly new-graduate nurses for that matter. I love it! I'm lucky to have a job where I love my role right as it is. I also like to talk our unit up quite a bit, so I'm sure you will read a lot about us!

Thats it for now folks, stay tuned...I'm just getting started!