We're Covered

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of summer.  Our third annual Pudding Fest.  The kids look forward to it every year, and to be honest, it's one of the easiest forms of entertainment ever.  It's a mess.  It's a snack.  It's a form of art.  It's a messy artsy snack.  Who doesn't love that?

{The Bigs}

{Chubby Cheekers and His Little Lady Friend}

Facts about pudding...

It is not easy to rinse off.  It is slippery on concrete.  You will find it in their ears and crevices (yes, I said crevices). It is a blast.  It keeps them busy.  Rinsing off is half the fun.  Sliding is kinda fun.  The dried pudding later on can be used as an after snack ;)

Now, I'm sure most of you are probably wondering, "Hmmm, I wonder what type of sunscreen those kids are wearing?"  

What can I say?  I am a mind reader.  Since you asked, I'll tell.  All the Babes and Bigs were covered head to toe in Arbonne's Baby Sunscreen.  I am in love.  It is pretty thick, but the coverage is amazing.  Plus, the ingredients are continually tested to make sure they reflect the pure, safe, and beneficial stance Arbonne takes on all of its products.

As for me, I jumped off the deep end and spent money on myself.  I purchased the self-tanner sunscreen.  Have you seen my super tan husband and chidlren???  I need a TAN!  It is a spray.  It is lightweight.  It smells good.  It covers me at 15 SPF.  It is also pure, safe, and beneficial.

As for my tan man, he wears the adult sunscreen and loves it.  Great coverage.  Lasts forever.  Pure, safe, and beneficial.  If you are searching for a good sunscreen to keep you and your family covered, I'll get you stocked up.  Although tans look nice, skin damage looks unappealing years later. 

On a little side note, a friend and I are putting together a little event for those of you who have been on the fence about detoxing.  It is a real informal hour to answer your questions, go over what a day looks like, and how to fit it in your budget.  If this is something you would like to attend, let me know and I'll send you the info. 

Menu Monday

It was a love life kind of weekend.  Projects completed.  Fun summer bucket list items marked off.  Sun tans. Barefeet.  Friends.  Late nights. Time with family.  I can't help but love every part of our weekend. 

Last night we spent some time at my mom's house.  As the kids were watering her plants and I was walking with them, we found a large fuzzy caterpillar.  We gathered that fat guy up and took him to show Chubby Cheekers.  I wasn't quite sure how he'd react, but I was slightly afraid he would eat it.  He didn't.  Instead he wanted to pet it.  Each time he'd stick his little finger out to pet it, Little Man would make a loud noise.  Chubby Cheekers would jump back about a foot and crack up.  Little Man and Little Miss were now completely entertained with the reaction of their baby brother.  Highlight of my weekend.

Here's the menu for the week.

Monday: Lentil Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday: Homemade Pizza Bread, Salad

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese, Sweet Potato

Thursday: Grilled Chicken Salad and Fresh Berries

Friday: Hamburgers, Zucchini Bites, and Cantaloupe

Saturday: Sandwiches and Carrots, Bell Peppes, and Hummus

Sunday:  Key Lime Chicken, Grilled Veggies, Brown Rice

My Boys

Let's not reflect on the hideous hair, and lack of maintenance on myself.  Let's do reflect on my precious boys.  I still can't believe they continue to grow up.  If only I could keep them Mama's Boys forever!

{Little Man 15 months}

{Chubby Cheekers 15 months}

Cost of Health

One of my initial thoughts for introducing Arbonne protein shakes into our daily regiment was the cost.  One bag $65.  Ouch.  That was going to hit my grocery budget pretty hard. 

After some contemplation, I realized this is what we needed to do.  We needed to give our digestion system a break from solid foods for at least one meal.  The thought of adding fresh fruit, spinach, and kale to my breakfast shake was a big selling point.  The thought of receiving vegan protein, the most absorbable form of protein, made even more sense.  We were going to do this, but how.

Since I made up my mind on what we were going to do, I had to figure out how we were going to do it.  I began crunching the numbers. 

Let's start with what we needed.  One bag of protein is 30 servings.  Basically, we would need two bags to replace breakfast; one for Steven and one for me.  At retail that would be $130 ($65x2), but we weren't going to pay retail.  We opted to be consultants receiving a 35% discount.  That brought our total for the month down to $84.50 for both of us.

Then I thought about the cost we were recouping from replacing a meal.  Our usual breakfasts were instant oatmeal, scrambled eggs, or peanut butter toast.  Nothing very expensive, but it was going to get cut out.  I gave myself a $30 credit for the month from our grocery budget.  $30 that would normally pay for the breakfast for Steven and I now going towards the protein.  Cost of protein now for us...$54.50.  Then I divided that cost by 30 to see how much per day it was going to cost us.  It came out to $1.82 a day to replace one meal a day with a shake.  Add the veggies, fruit, and almond milk we add to the shakes and we're looking at spending roughly $2/day on better health.  To me that was a bargain.

Now if you are a person who eats out for lunch everyday, consider replacing your out to eat meal with a vegan shake.  Even at retail, you're spending $2.16/day.  Add in the cost of your almond milk, fruits, and veggies and you're looking at about $2.25/day at most.  I'm betting you can't beat that on the dollar menus around town ;)

To take it one step further, what will you save on doctor bills?  What would that look like for you?  Would you be able to go off medications?  Improve your blood test scores?  Become sick less?  That all adds up to more money in your pocket.  Less copays, less perscriptions, less over the counter meds.  Of course you would never do anything without consulting your doctor first, but I can name you countless incidents where people I know have done just that...gone off meds and improved their overall health.  Credit that back to your account and now those shakes don't seem so expensive.

Just a little glimpse into my thought process and why we chose Arbonne.  My ultra beefy, work out feind, protein taking husband is a firm believer.  He loves the taste and how he has zero digestion issues that come along with it.  Plus, it's sweetened naturally with stevia.  Check your protein. What's it being sweetened with?  Fructose, Sucralose (artificial sweetener)?  Google those and see if you are okay with those ingredients.  So men, it's not some frilly protein girls take.  It's legit.  Too legit too quit.  Hey, Hey!!!

Chubby Cheekers~16 Month Edition

Helllllooooo!!!  It's my time to share.  Although I never thought it possible, I have achieved a new level of cuteness coupled with a stronger hit of orneriness.  Ladies, I'm the total package.

Let's start with my increased vocabulary.  I'm starting to toy with the idea of putting words together. I hear Bubby, Sissy, Mommy, and Daddy blah, blah, blah all day long.  All I say is ba-bee (baby), Da-dee (Daddy), Mama, Doe-gee (doggie), Mimi (Grammy), woo-woo (barking noise), num-num (I wanna eat), dink (drink), dow-nnn (down), baf (bath), bae-ball (baseball), and foo-ball (football), and bat-tat-ball (basketball).  I have a lot of words, but it was time to start piecing them together.

Now I can say wan dow-nnn (I want down), hoe you (hold you), pay bat-tat-ball (play basketball), and bouncy, bouncy, weee (means I'm jumping on something I'm not supposed to).

I also learned a new animal noise.  I can quack like a duck.  So now not everything barks. Somethings quack.  Just trying to keep it fresh and change things up a bit.

My latest feats of orneriness include, but not limited to, mastering the barstools until I get on the counter, locating everyone's toothbrushes in the drawers and brushing my teeth with them, playing Bubby's drumset as loud as possible, sneaking food off Mr. Fluffypants tray, and getting on the trampoline outside.  I really am an adverturous baby and I'm trying to convince Mommy to embrace my edginess, not squash it.  She has these mini gasp moments where she sees me trying something new and then she gasps, Ahhhhhh!  She's so crazy.  Somebody get her a valum.

Come to think of it, maybe I'm the reason why she runs.  She has to stay in shape to keep up with me.  Yep, I'm a handful...a cute, wonderful, handful.

Love,

Chubby Cheekers

Happy Father's Day

We were full speed ahead on our 2 week clean eating when Father's Day hit and Steven wanted a break.  Who am I to argue?  When the man asks for Chicago style pizza, then the man gets Chicago style pizza...and Sonic...and donuts.  Aye, aye, aye.  I feel heavy and yucky.  It tasted amazing, but it sure doesn't feel amazing.  Since we totally cheated through our whole weekend, we have all the ingredients for cleaner eating.  That's what we'll be doing to finish out the week.   Just head on over to our two week menu for eating ideas.

And now I bring you our Father's Day Weekend!!!

This year Steven is working towards crossing off a major life goal.  Running his first marathon (I say first because I can't honestly imagine this being his last).   I wanted his Father's Day to be themed around his goal.  There were a few things he needed to make his training a little easier; a gps watch and new running shoes.  Neither item very inexpensive, but I was bound and determined to make this happen for him.

For months I saved and saved and saved to put money towards his gift.  I figured both items together would be about $400, plus I wanted to take him out to dinner...add another $40.  I was looking at a total of $440.  We don't necessarily have an extra $440 laying around so saving was my only option.  A few little bumps hit my planned out road and I only had $200 saved.  At the very least I knew I would be able to get him one of the items, but not both.  I was a little sad.  Steven works hard for our family and asks for very little.  He is the first to purchase something for me or the kids before himself.  He's always been selfless like that.

On the Thursday before Father's Day I received my check in the mail from Arbonne.  When I say I work for a generous network marketing business, I'm not lying.  I opened my check and saw $750 looking at me.  Holy smokes!!!  God is so faithful. He brings such good things.  Not only was I going to get to spoil my husband, I was going to drop a good chunk into our savings as well. 

So this is how our Father's Day went.  It was all themed around his Chicago Marathon.

I gave 3 clues to Steven all in envelopes.  Each envelope contained enough cash and coupons for the task (you didn't think I'd pay retail did you?).  His clues were as such...

Clue #1:  (a little carb loading) 

The weekend is here.
You've been good all year.
It's time to celebrate
with a family date.

Take us to Marley's Chicago Style Pizza.

Clue #2:  (his Nike gps watch)

It's marathon time
and we're always on a dime.
You're going to run a race,
but how will you know the pace?

Take us to Dick's Sporting Goods

Clue #3: (getting fitted for proper shoes)

Your belly's all full.
You have a new tool.
It will help you be set,
but there's something to fret. 

What about your feet?

Take us to Fleet Feet.

That was all his clues.  In true Steven Torres fashion, he gave me the hardest time about spending money on him.  I had to be really stubborn (not hard for me).  Eventually, he saw a wasn't going to budge and the cash was sitting there.  He had no choice.  Muah-ha-ha-ha...that's my evil laugh!

The best part of all was the watch.  It was on sale.  Couple that with my gnarley coupon and he spent $60 less than what I was expecting.  Boo-yah!  More money to savings.  I love a good deal.

So, my love.  I hope you had an amazing Father's Day because you are an amazing father.  It was fun to spoil you and the kids had a blast watching you open your clues.  Here's to celebrating you!

Summer Bucket List

Undoubtably Pinterest began the summer bucket list.  I do love to hate it.  I love making the list. I love doing the list.  I love crossing items off the list.  I just hate crossing off the last item on the list, bringing the summer to close.  It makes me get a little anxious about my babies going off to school.  But, it's June and we have a fresh new list.

• Ride bikes
• Sleep In
• Have days where the car stays parked from no place to be.  No schedule.
• Baseball game
• Snow Cones
• Kiddie Park
• Woolaroc
• Berry picking
• Texas trip
• Swimming
• Pudding fight
• Sprinkler jumping
• Picnic
• Splash Pads
• Water Park
•  Playing at lots of parks
• Nature hike
• Swim lessons
• Special treats at QT

I'm sure there are many items I'm leaving off and things we'll just load up and do, but this is our start.  The start of a great summer.  What's on your list?