Feeling Yucky!

The last couple of days has found me either laying in bed or on the couch.  I came down with some sort of bug and it has wiped me out.  I haven't been sick like this in at least 3 years. 
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Yesterday my wonderful husband took the day off so he could take the girls to school and watch my nephew.  He even did the dishes!!  I took to sleeping upstairs most of the day.  When I wasn't sleeping, I was coughing my head off.  Today, I made it to the couch and spent the day there with my Ellie.  We watched Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, read a few books, and played with her new Leap Pad.

After the older girls got home from school, they went outside to enjoy this warm January weather and I couldn't stand not doing anything.  So I decided to get up and clean up the house and make dinner.  While I was doing stuff, I realized I must be crazy!  On a normal day, I find myself griping and complaining because I have to do the normal household chores when all I want to do is lay around on the couch.  Here I have the opportunity, even though it's through sickness, to lay around all day and I decide to get up and clean because I just can't sit around.  Well, whether I'm crazy or not has yet to be seen but the house does look nice and I am feeling a little better since I got up and moved around. 

Each day is special

Every Christmas Eve the girls are heartbroken when they have to tell Elfie (our elf on the shelf) goodbye.  There are tears, long faces, and just plain sadness.  Last year I realized that they weren't as sad about Elfie leaving as they were about getting up and rushing downstairs to see where he would be each day.  So, on December 31st, I told the girls that for the entire year of 2012, I will write down something special to celebrate each day.

Thanks to one of my dearest friends for starting this craft at one of our MOPS meetings.  She took a tin cookie sheet and painted the inside flat bottom of the pan with chalkboard paint.  Then I took some acrylic paint and wrote: Today is... I left a space and then had my three girls make flowers on it with their fingers.  It turned out really cute. 

Not only is it a pretty decoration hanging in my kitchen, but the girls are excited to go downstairs every morning to see what kind of day it is going to be.  Today, for example, was National Spaghetti Day.  I bet you can't guess what we had for dinner?

It makes me happy to see the girls having fun with just the little things in life. 

Happy 2012!!!

I can't believe that 2012 is here.  It used to seem so far away from 1972 and 1982 and 1992 and 2002.  I have been somewhat dreading this year for the past several years. It's not because I don't like a new year.  I think a new year is a wonderful time to restart various things in my life!  It's not because I don't like the number 2012.  My favorite number is 2 and there are two of them in this year!  It's because I don't like the number 40!  What am I talking about?  This is the year I turn 40!  I just can't even believe it.  I don't feel like I'm going to be 40.  I still feel like I'm 20 but with a bunch of aches and pains.

My birthday is in November, so I have plenty of time to get myself in order.  I am not going to turn 40 and be looking like a slob, unhealthy, angry all the time, and just miserable.  (By the way, that's pretty much how I am now, BUT I WILL NOT be like that when I'm 40).  So instead of doing New Year's resolutions this year, I am making myself a new me for my birthday!  I have 11 months and a few days to get some of this weight off, eat healthier, and exercise more.  I also plan to make myself some happiness by spending more time with my kids, going out with my husband, and just doing things that I like to do (scrapbooking, puzzles, writing letters to people, blogging).  I also want to get myself in check with God.  I have gotten away from reading the Bible, praying consistently, not just when someone has a need that arises,  and just spending time with Him. 

So here's to a New Year and a New Me!   Stay tuned to my blog as I will keep you updated on the progression to the big 40!

Wednesday Weigh in Week 13

I guess I should be disappointed but I am trying my best to have a positive attitude.  Weigh in this morning was not what I wanted.  Results +1.5.  I am keeping a positive attitude though because I am pretty sure this weight gain is not because of anything I did.  I think it has more to do with what I didn't do and what I can't control. 

The what I didn't do is exercise.  When I started blogging my weight loss, I was gung ho about working out.  I made sure that I found time to do it.  These past few weeks, have been crazy busy and I have done nothing but crave a minute to sit down for awhile.  So, that is what I didn't do.

The what I can't control happens once a month in the wonderful world of us women.  You all know what I'm talking about.  Excess weight gain once a month due to bloating, water retention, and various cravings of foods that are no-nos.  Of course, men don't have to worry about that.  They can just keep on losing and losing without a bump in the road unless they put that speed bump there themselves.  Thankfully it is just one week a month.  Next time I step on that scale, I am hoping it is back to negative numbers.

I already did my 30 minute workout this morning.  Had a nice healthy breakfast.  An apple for a snack and anticipating a salad with chicken pieces for lunch.  My goal this week is to try my best to incorporate the 10 minute Big Weight Loss workouts into each day.  

Here's to a new week and the anticipation of negative numbers next Wednesday.









 

Wednesday Treats

Every Wednesday, my girls get out of school a half an hour earlier than normal.  I think it has something to do with school improvement.  Anyway, last year I started a new tradition that is looked forward to with much anticipation each week.  I made Wednesday a "Special Treat" Day.  Each Wednesday, I make the girls a special treat for when they come home from school.

Some of the treats that have been devoured have been Rice Krispie squares, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, trail mix, hot chocolate.  I will admit there are times that I have gotten busy and forgotten.  I can usually make up for it with a trip to the gas station for a slushie or a trip to the ice cream shoppe for a sundae.  The wrath of three girls that have been cheated out of their Wednesday treat is not something I want to mess with.

This year has been fun so far.  For the first Wednesday after they go back to school, I always make them the Pillsbury already made cookies that just have to go in the oven.  I get the one's with the school buses on them.  I just think they are so cute! 

The other Wednesdays in August, I made them Rice Krispie treats (because mommy was craving them), mini cinnamon muffins, and then Grandma B. gave them each a dollar to go up to the gas station to get a slushie. 

In September, I decided to try something different.  I decided to find a snack that pertains to the month we are in.  Thanks to the September edition of Family Fun Magazine, my September treats rocked!!!  The first treat I made were these Candy Apple Cookie Pops.  They were not the easiest things to make (and I probably won't make them again) but they turned out cute and the girls loved them.  I had my friends two girls over that afternoon and they were crazy for them as well. 

The next week I made these cute little Back to School cupcakes.  Wendy had just had an expander put in her mouth and I needed to make something soft she could eat.  These cupcakes were just the thing.  Of course, they was a little bit of arguing over who was going to eat which one.

This past Wednesday, I made acorns for their snack.  I told the girls when I walked over to pick them up from school, that they were having acorns for a snack. I think they were kind of worried that it might be true because Ellie has been picking up acorns from the backyard and bringing them in to use as a table decoration in the kitchen.  They laughed when they saw them and then there were none.

I know these aren't the healthiest snacks around, but it's the memories I am making that makes up for it.  They only got two cookies pops each, one cupcake, and three little acorns. I try to make them eat healthy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week, a once a week sugar buzz should be fine.  Besides, this also gives mommy a time to be creative and to do something I enjoy.  I love to cook and bake things but the clock and I are always in a race.  The clock usually beats me everytime.  This way, I know it's Wednesday. I need to have the ingredients handy and my creative juices flowing.

Thanks to my new obsession, Pinterest, I have found the cutest Wednesday snack ideas for fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  I should be set to go until 2012.  My problem is going to be picking out which snack to make the girls! 

I am glad my girls look forward to this every week.  I love being able to do something for my girls that makes them happy.  After all, isn't that one of the great perks about being a mommy?

Wednesday Weigh In Weeks 9-12

I am still here!  I haven't blogged a Wednesday weigh in for 4 weeks.  Life kind of got in my way this month.  Have been doing alot of homework with the girls, Girl Scout stuff, Church stuff, and family maintenance.  By the time I thought of blogging, it was so late and I was just too tired.  The next couple weeks were just the same.  But I am happy to say that even though I haven't been blogging about it, I have still been weighing in every Wednesday. 

Let's review.  Last time I blogged, I had hit my 1st goal of 10 lbs lost.  As a "way to go" gift for me, I ordered two Gooseberry Patch cookbooks (which I collect and absolutely love).  I ordered Comfort Foods and An Old-Fashioned Country Christmas.  I love getting goodies in the mail.  I then set my second goal for 30 lbs gone.  From Sept. 7 through today Sept. 28.  I have lost another 5 lbs.  I am now at 224.  Down 15 lbs since I started. 

I have been so busy that I don't have time to snack.  I haven't even been snacking on the healthy foods.  I need to get back into my eating routine so that I can keep my metabolism up.  I am also sorry to say that I have only done a couple of workouts in these past few weeks.  It is just so hard to find time for myself. I am so busy doing for everyone else, that I don't have time to take care of myself. 

Overall, I am pleased that the progress is still going forward and not backward.  I am hoping that I can get in some kind of groove to get my workouts in.  Maybe then I will be able to see some bigger numbers on the scale gone.  Thanks for all the prayers and motivation.  I am getting there.  It may be slow but it is going.  

A Surprise For My Friends

I look forward to a certain time each day.  Some days it's early, some days it's late.  This certain time of day comes during rain, sleet, snow, and hail.  This certain time of day does not show up on Sundays or holidays.  Can you guess what certain time of day it is?  It's mail time!  Sometimes I wish I had Mailbox from Blue's Clues so that he could announce my mail delivery with some pomp and circumstance.

Christmas season is an awesome mail getting time!  I love going to the mailbox and finding it stuffed with Christmas cards.  But, the rest of the year can be kind of sad when nothing pours in except bills, junk mail, bills, advertisements, and more bills.  Sometimes "occupant" gets more mail than I do.  Of course, there is the occasional magazine subscription once a month that is a happy surprise when you open the mailbox. 

Today at church, a friend of mine (Emily) reminded me of a ministry we had at a different church we both attended in Collinsville about 10 years ago.  Emily told me that she was recently going through a box and inside she found a "care card" from me that I had sent to her when she was getting ready to leave for basic training.  Along with mine were several other cards that she had kept all these years.  A "care card" was just a plain postcard stuck in the pouch of the church chairs that you could just take and write a word of encouragement, a happy thought, or to let someone know that you were praying for them.  You could drop them in a certain spot and the church would put on the postage and mail them out to the recepients.  Every once in a while you had a nice surprise waiting for you in your mailbox.  I remember getting "care cards" from people praying for Harry and I when we were trying to have a baby, cards just to say hi and thanks for being a friend, and cards with nothing on it but a verse from the Bible.

With e-mail, facebook, twitter and texting, sending "snail mail" has almost gone to the wayside.  People don't even pay their bills through the mail anymore.  Everything is paid through the computer.  People complain about the continuing rise of the cost of stamps as a reason they don't write or send cards anymore.  Really, your family and friends aren't worth 46 cents? Even less if you send a postcard!

As I have contemplated Emily's words from this morning, I am going to make a new goal for myself and try to send my friends a little bit of "happiness" to their mailboxes a couple of times each month.  Who doesn't like to find a nice surprise waiting for them to brighten their day?  Even my four year old asks me almost everyday, "Did I get any mail, mommy?".  So be on the lookout!  If I have your mailing address you may find a nice little surprise in your mailbox someday soon.