It's hard to get back into the routine after such a relaxing and enjoyable Fall Break. I forgot how easy life was when there were no demands or timed constraints. It hit me this morning after I returned home from the run. Rush, rush, rush. Don't forget your lunch. Rush, rush, rush. Little Miss, get your shoes on. Rush, rush, rush. Little Man, do you have your binder? Rush, rush, rush. Chubby Cheekers, don't lick the toliet!!! Rush, rush, rush.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
It's so much sometimes. Our Fall Break went more like this. PJ's til 10:00am. Baking. Playtime. Outdoor movie. Wake when you want. More playtime. Picnic lunches. Art projects.
It was awesome. It is gone. Back to the norm. Here's the menu...
Monday-Pizza Night (Gooooo CHICAGO BEARS!!!)
Tuesday-Dinner at Rene and Lindsay's
Wednesday-Zucchini Parmesan (zucchini on sale at Aldi 3/$.99), Salad, The Bread
Thursday-Mock Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans, Crescents
Friday-Enchiladas (freezer meal), Seasoned Brown Rice, Salad
Saturday-Dinner on a Stick, Buttered Bread
Sunday-Baked Chicken, Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole
Monday, October 22, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
My Brilliant Idea
Little Miss and Little Man have birthdays 3 weeks apart. It makes planning a bit difficult. I have to start planning both parties early to ensure both kids feel important and special. In years passed, we've invited our closest friends to both parties. As Little Miss has grown up, she's developed friendships outside of her brother's friends. Well, actually, she's stolen one of her brother's friends.
My friend from high school has two girls. One Little Man's age and the other girls is Little Miss' age. When planning LM's party I thought doing something super girly with her two girlfriends would be her party. What is more girly than getting your nails and toes painted. I found a place in our area that had kid chairs and were more than willing to accommodate these 3 cutie pies for the afternoon.
Watching these little ladies soak their tootsie, get their nails filed, painted, and dried was so cute. After getting their mani/pedis, we headed back to our house where Little Miss thought she was going to play with her friends while I threw some cupcakes together. Instead she walked in to this...
She was so excited to walk in the entry way filled with balloons and family. She had the best time and watching her little smile as she tried to figure out what was going on was priceless! It took her a few minutes. Then she was down to party.
The best part of this party was the set up. The only things I did a few days before was make her #4 and the balloon bouquet (we hid it in the laundry room). Everything else (i.e. the house cleaning, baking, setting up) was left to the hubbie. Yes, this was my most brilliant idea yet.
Now onto Little Man's party. I have also devised another brilliant plan of being a spectator. It's a Football Training Camp Party. And guess who knows a whole lot about football??? Steven. Another party falls on his shoulders. Muh-hahahah...(that's my evil laugh)
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Chubby Cheekers
I know, I know. All you lovely ladies logged on today to get Mommy's menu. Well, guess what? You get me today! It's my eight month birthday, and I'm doing big things. Doing big things, makin' lots of noise.
In just a week's time, I have two more teeth. I've got a big pearly white popping out upstairs and one more downstairs. That is a total for four teeth. I'm looking so fine. This has allowed me to dine on the finer foods. Like Cheerios.
In addition to my teeth growing, I have mastered pulling up on any surface and then walking around to get where I want to go. I've almost given up my speedy army crawl for the full on crawl and bear crawl. I've come to realize that army crawling wrinkles my shirt. I don't like wrinkles just like Daddy. He's a wrinkle freak! Plus, I look more grown up to the ladies by getting up on all fours. I've found they are impressed by my skills.
My verbal skills are developing as well. I now can chase Mommy around and say, "Ma, ma, ma, ma," when I want her. This is in addition to da-da, blowing bubbles, raspberries, and ba-ba-ba-ba. You know all the languages of looooove. I've also discovered my temper. I can clench my fist and screech really loud to communicate my frustrations. What is super funny about that you ask? Mommy and Daddy do not find this amusing at all. They give me the 'business face', and the 'business face' is NOT something you want to get. It's u-g-l-y!
I guess this is long enough for now. I'm a growing boy and I need my rest. Plus, I'm trying to convince Mommy to come in my room for a little snack at 12:45am again. She's not digging that. I fooled her two times, but I don't think she's going to come in tonight. She said something about no more milk twins until morning. Geez! What's a boy to do?
In just a week's time, I have two more teeth. I've got a big pearly white popping out upstairs and one more downstairs. That is a total for four teeth. I'm looking so fine. This has allowed me to dine on the finer foods. Like Cheerios.
In addition to my teeth growing, I have mastered pulling up on any surface and then walking around to get where I want to go. I've almost given up my speedy army crawl for the full on crawl and bear crawl. I've come to realize that army crawling wrinkles my shirt. I don't like wrinkles just like Daddy. He's a wrinkle freak! Plus, I look more grown up to the ladies by getting up on all fours. I've found they are impressed by my skills.
My verbal skills are developing as well. I now can chase Mommy around and say, "Ma, ma, ma, ma," when I want her. This is in addition to da-da, blowing bubbles, raspberries, and ba-ba-ba-ba. You know all the languages of looooove. I've also discovered my temper. I can clench my fist and screech really loud to communicate my frustrations. What is super funny about that you ask? Mommy and Daddy do not find this amusing at all. They give me the 'business face', and the 'business face' is NOT something you want to get. It's u-g-l-y!
I guess this is long enough for now. I'm a growing boy and I need my rest. Plus, I'm trying to convince Mommy to come in my room for a little snack at 12:45am again. She's not digging that. I fooled her two times, but I don't think she's going to come in tonight. She said something about no more milk twins until morning. Geez! What's a boy to do?
{Me. 8 Months. Trying To Reach the Dang Ball.}
Love,
Chubby Cheekers
Monday, October 15, 2012
Four. 4. IIII.
She's F-O-U-R! Whaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
My only precious baby girl is four today. She is really coming into her own lately. I'm proud of the little girl she is developing. Her strong will, determination, self-assurance, and obedience make me so proud. I love you, Little Miss. You are my only pink in a whole world of blue.
Happy Birthday, Princess!!!
In honor of my only little girl, the menu will post tomorrow. Today is her day, and if you know anything about Little Miss you know she has been politely reminding EVERYONE to wish her Happy Birthday for a week now. She would not be pleased if she knew I posted a menu on HER day.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Crazy As I Am
I've got a bunch of slacker readers! Except Jamie Jones. Everyone else, you are TROUBLE! Yesterday she was the ONLY person who said she'd be at the FREE bootcamp session. I suspect it's the time. Five thirty in the morning is early. I can relate, but I promise it will be worth it. You will thank yourself later. Like Erica says, "It will be over before you're even awake." She has a lot of quotes in her back pocket. I think I'm going to refer to them as 'Erica-isms'.
Speaking of Erica, I have a story to tell you. First off, I need to share that I rarely find friends who are as frugal as I am, but she gives me a run for my money. She is the ultimate dumpster diving, garage sale entrepreneur I have ever met. You must know this before I tell you the story.
Speaking of Erica, I have a story to tell you. First off, I need to share that I rarely find friends who are as frugal as I am, but she gives me a run for my money. She is the ultimate dumpster diving, garage sale entrepreneur I have ever met. You must know this before I tell you the story.
Yesterday morning I got up early to meet Erica for our morning run. As I was walking down my street to meet her at our corner (that sounds really bad), I noticed some trash that our neighbors left out. I stopped, checked it out, and convinced myself that I had to have it. I walked on down to the corner, met Erica, and while we were stretching I told her of the trash I wanted to pick up off my neighbor's yard. I told her what it was and she said, "Heck yeah, I'll help you carry it." Now that's a friend. Here's what I picked up.
I'd like to call it upcycling. It sounds so much better than 'I Took My Neighbor's Trash'. Let it be known that my last DIY project took me about four months to complete. Considering this is a larger scale item that needs sanding, a little wood putty, paint, and knobs, I could possibly get this done before the kids go to college. Possibly.
And thank you Erica, for not being embarrassed to help me carry this from my neighbor's trash pile to my front porch. At least it was dark out. Couldn't be anymore embarrassing than our other neighbor we busted having a neighborly booty call. True story, friends. True story ;) See what happens when you wake up early to workout? Imagine what would happen to you if got up early and came to bootcamp. You could possibly go home with furniture too!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Fall Fitness Festival
I love fall festivals. Our church has one every year and it rocks. Love it. This year I'm also attending another Fall Festival. This Fall Festival has a workout included. HEY! I'm ready for that. I like the feeling I get from working out. You can have that feeling too. Trust me, you may not love how you feel during the workout, but you will love how you feel afterward. Exhilarating.
Are you wondering how you go about obtaining the exhilaration? Well you can join me for this Fall Fitness Festival. Here's the deets...
Are you wondering how you go about obtaining the exhilaration? Well you can join me for this Fall Fitness Festival. Here's the deets...
Basically, you show up at Renaissance Park Practice Field in Broken Arrow on Friday, October 19th. Then you get an amazing workout, and you get to see me hurting from that workout. It's a win-win situation. Oh yeah, it's at 5:30am. Did I fail to mention that part to you? Oops. My bad.
In all seriousness, if you are interested in attending you can leave a comment on here or on the facebook link and I will get you the specifics. It's going to be a great morning! Not to mention you'll be getting a workout from my favorite morning running/workout partner, Fitness Instructor, Erica McMullen.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
What's In That Stuff
A few weeks back my good friend asked if I would talk to her fitness group about eating healthy on a budget. WHOA! I can talk about a budget all day, but when you throw the health part in the mix I get a little nervous. What in the world do I have to offer to others in the way of health advice? I felt a little unsure of myself in this area.
Then I started thinking about what I serve my family. By no means to we eat a raw food diet, but I do carefully plan what my family ingests each day. I focus on our servings. Are there fruits and vegetables present? Are those fruits and vegetables serving our bodies in the manner in which they were intended? Are we having our correct servings of protein and calcium? Can I read and understand the purpose the ingredients on the foods I'm serving? This last question has really changed my thoughts of feeding my family.
Since having the opportunity to stay home with my kids, it allowed me to focus more on cooking from scratch. When I make sauces, breads, and baking goods from scratch I see exactly what goes into our food. This has opened my eyes a ton. For example, I never realized how much sugar can be dumped into spaghetti sauce. When I buy the jarred sauce off the store shelf I lose my connectivity to my food. Making my own sauce, I'm able to use other seasoning to lessen the amount of sugar and I'm aware. Being aware allows me to focus on the other items that will be served with our meal. Before, I never ever thought about sugar in my sauce.
Cooking from scratch has also allowed me to take the convenience out of junk food. I no longer purchase store bought cookies or cakes. If we want to have sweets, I have to make them from scratch. It makes those cookies, cakes, or brownies turn into true treats and not a go-to crave food. It has me weighing my options. Do I want those cookies bad enough that I am going to take the time to make them and then clean up the mess from baking? Sometimes it's worth it and sometimes it's not. However, if I had a package of Oreo's sitting in the pantry all I would have to think about was whether or not I wanted to get my big booty off the couch. Much more convenient to eat trashy. I took that convenience out.
Same thing with chips. We have them in the house, but it's not something the kids ask for with their lunch. Instead, their 'crunchy' items are carrots, cucumbers, celery, or bell peppers. I usually take the time to cut up veggies for the week so all I have to do is reach in and grab the desired serving amount. It's just like reaching in a bag of chips.
All in all, I'm no health expert. I am a little embarrassed to even write on this topic, but you know what? I have worked hard to get our family to eat how we eat now. I will continue to work to make small changes until I know I'm fueling our bodies to be the way God designed them to work. As moms, we all want our families to be healthy and strong. I believe feeding our bodies allows us to be that way. This doesn't mean I will cut out our comfort foods or foods we love altogether, but I will continue to find ways to make those meals a bit more healthful or use them as special treats.
Then I started thinking about what I serve my family. By no means to we eat a raw food diet, but I do carefully plan what my family ingests each day. I focus on our servings. Are there fruits and vegetables present? Are those fruits and vegetables serving our bodies in the manner in which they were intended? Are we having our correct servings of protein and calcium? Can I read and understand the purpose the ingredients on the foods I'm serving? This last question has really changed my thoughts of feeding my family.
Since having the opportunity to stay home with my kids, it allowed me to focus more on cooking from scratch. When I make sauces, breads, and baking goods from scratch I see exactly what goes into our food. This has opened my eyes a ton. For example, I never realized how much sugar can be dumped into spaghetti sauce. When I buy the jarred sauce off the store shelf I lose my connectivity to my food. Making my own sauce, I'm able to use other seasoning to lessen the amount of sugar and I'm aware. Being aware allows me to focus on the other items that will be served with our meal. Before, I never ever thought about sugar in my sauce.
{Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and Homemade Meatballs}
Cooking from scratch has also allowed me to take the convenience out of junk food. I no longer purchase store bought cookies or cakes. If we want to have sweets, I have to make them from scratch. It makes those cookies, cakes, or brownies turn into true treats and not a go-to crave food. It has me weighing my options. Do I want those cookies bad enough that I am going to take the time to make them and then clean up the mess from baking? Sometimes it's worth it and sometimes it's not. However, if I had a package of Oreo's sitting in the pantry all I would have to think about was whether or not I wanted to get my big booty off the couch. Much more convenient to eat trashy. I took that convenience out.
Same thing with chips. We have them in the house, but it's not something the kids ask for with their lunch. Instead, their 'crunchy' items are carrots, cucumbers, celery, or bell peppers. I usually take the time to cut up veggies for the week so all I have to do is reach in and grab the desired serving amount. It's just like reaching in a bag of chips.
All in all, I'm no health expert. I am a little embarrassed to even write on this topic, but you know what? I have worked hard to get our family to eat how we eat now. I will continue to work to make small changes until I know I'm fueling our bodies to be the way God designed them to work. As moms, we all want our families to be healthy and strong. I believe feeding our bodies allows us to be that way. This doesn't mean I will cut out our comfort foods or foods we love altogether, but I will continue to find ways to make those meals a bit more healthful or use them as special treats.
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