First Day As A First Grader

Monday we had an open house at the school to met Landons first grade teacher, then afterwards we went to the mall for a new outfit for his first day. I am the mom that is stuck somewhere bewteen wanting my child to look nice and letting them & pick what they like and want. He ended picking out an Angery Bird tee shirt, that was one size too big...

On the first day of school I plan to always take my children and pick them up & Dunkin Donuts is a must too. This year since daddy got off work late he picked up a dozen donuts and one special oreo one for the big first grader. After I dropped him off at school I came home and did 20 minutes of Zumba, my plan was 40 but I was worried the babies would wake up and I wouldn't hear them with my saucy music pumping! Of course after I stop and check on the kids they are still sound asleep and didn't wake up for another 45 minutes. Since I had time to kill I cleaned out the large toy box in our living room which sent me on a cleaning spree. My house wasn't too bad but I cleaned top to bottom of the living, dining room, kitchen & hallway. The calorie counter on my phone said that I burnt well over 350 calories well cleaning! It was win win...I not only get a nice clean house but a good burn too!

Another tradition I hope to keep is dinner out after the first day. We ate at Texas Road House. A total diet killer right? Nope. I got the kabob with a side of veggies and a sweet potato (it was loaded but I scooped all of that stuff off and let the kids eat it!) After dinner we went the county fair which was a great lower body exerise since I we parked at the bottom of a huge hill and I had to push the kids in the double stroller to the top. I thought I was going to die. There wasn't much things for the kids to do. Landon was just a few inches too tall for the kids rides and too scared of the adult rides. Emily had a blast on the kiddie rides but Richard was too short and was very upset that he didn't get to ride. It was ok fun, but Sweet Frog would have been better. ;)

Life's a beach

Yesterday we left our house about 6pm to head to north west Ohio to spend the following day with my husbands family. I wanted to .make it a mini vacation since we didn't go one on this summer & school starts in 6 days.

We took a different route that cut nearly an hour off our time, which is great since they are six hours away. The new route is mostly 4 lanes but through smaller cities, it kinda reminded me of the movie Cars were the little towns got passed over when the interstate wad built. I fell in love with one area called Nelsonville. So cute. If I were to have to ever day a random city I wanted to live in that would be it.

This morning I was rudely awaken by two of my crazy kids scream how bas Emily had to pee! Landon walked her into the guest room where we were sleeping because he wanted to help. All of us didn't make it to bed till after 1 the night before so I wasn't too happy to say the least.
We ate lunch at a place called Tonys. Not sure the full story in it but think that the owner is/was Goo friends with Ben Rothsinburger "Big Ben" from the Pittsburgh Steelers. I myself am not a huge fan of Ben but do like the steelers so I had my 6 year old take my picture with his picture. Just like any other tourist/fan would do.

After a few other stops & a wrong to into Michigan we made it to our actual destination the beach on lake Erie. I told the kids we would take a trip to the beach this summer, but when Joel quit his job & took the better job he wasn't able to take a vacation.

The weather didn't look like it was going to be the best beach weather & the lake was pretty cold but the kids loved it. They all went out into the water with daddy and had a blast. Landon was crawling around and trying to swim. Emily like jumping the waves & when Richard got done walking around in the water he sat with Papa and Grandma and played with the shells.

All in all not too bad of a mini vaca!

Great weekend

Friday, Saturday, and today have been some pretty great day. Jesus Fest was going on here in town all weekend and I had today off... Those two things are a great combo!

Friday Seventh Day Slumber played at 5:30pm, so the two little ones and I walked up about 5ish. I got the kids some dinner and junk food while we waited. One of the stage crew who was staying at the hotel remembered me from the desk and came over to talk, he said the bands bus broke down on their way in and they would be going on late. So we walked around some more till they went on. As always they put on a great show & had a wonderful testimony. We left right after they were done because Richard is cutting teeth so he was super cranky & Emm went with aunt Shell to see a movie. They watched Dolphin Tales, you should have heard Emm trying to tell me all about it!


Miranda the cat & Emm the tiger!

On Saturday I worked till 3 and KJ52 was schedule to perform at 9pm so I took Miranda and Emily up to the festivities about 7pm. Miranda had 8 bucks to spend so she wanted to shop! Her & Emm both got their faces painted and a bag of cotton candy. KJ was great, the girls loved his music & danced all over the streets.



Emm & Landon found a new
friend at Sonic.

Today I slept in till almost 8 so I had to quickly hop in the shower and get the kids ready for church. My sister Michelle went with us today so I wasn't as stressed as the week before. After church was over I picked up Landon from his dads house then picked up my youngest bff Madison...if you ask the kids her name they would say Aunt Moo Moo. We headed to Morgantown for lunch at Sonic and ... Yep you guessed it Sweet Frog! It's beginning to become a weekly habit. This is our 4 week, holding strong! It was Madisons first time at either place.
 
By the time we for home Joel was getting ready for work. He looked shocked when he saw me walk in and later told me that he thought I looked really good today! That made me glow! Anyways after he left the kids and I ordered pizza for a picnic and listened to the closing performances at Jesus Fest from our back yard.


While the kids played
outside I built a bomb fire
and enjoyed the nice
cooler weather!

Another thing that added to the greatness off this weekend was that even after my huge binge on Friday I did a pretty good job staying on track. After my nutella high Friday I pushed the kids to and from the festival and stood the whole time since standing burns more calories then sitting. Saturday I walked and carried 32 extra pounds Emily home from Jesus Fest...Tonight I picked up the back yard and did my 20 minutes of yard work. So far so good on my list I posted the other day. The only thing I messed up on was the less carbs and no coffee after 6pm.

It is so easy to be motivated to lose the weight but once its off it is even more easy to get too comfortable. I feel like this "set back" as I have been calling it, has worked out for the better. I have gained a new since of control with my list that will hopefully continue long term.

Refocusing & Gaining Control

I figured if I drew out a plan on how I was going to drop the weight I have gained lately, I would be able to refocus and be reminded of my goals. There are always notes laying around. Shopping lists, to do lists, random thoughts & notes to self, things I don't can't even remember why I wrote them down in the first place. I am a planner, I need to plan and know exactly what is going on, now if I could only have better focus too!


The following list are things I know I should be doing and some how my lack of self control really has pushed me back!


• More veggies & lean meats, less carbs
• No eating after 7pm
• Run, walk, and/or Zumba 6 days a week
• 20 minutes of house work a day
• Aim for 6-8 hours of sleep daily
• Put up motivational quotes, pictures, and reminders
• More water, less coffee (no coffee after 6pm)

BED...but not the good cuddley kind!

Over the last couple of weeks I have gained that same 10 pounds that I have been fighting since February. Once I get so close to my goal I some how lose track and have a set back. Most of the time its as simple as I get bored, lazy, or just really don't know when to stop.

I have never been told by a doctor, but with the help of a few blogs I read, Wikipedia, and Google I have self diagnosed myself as having BED-Binge Eating Disorder.

Some of the signs of binge eating that I experince are:

• Feels loss of control over eating during binge.
• Eats an unusually large amount of food at one time.
• Eats much more quickly during binge episodes than during normal eating episodes.
• Eats when depressed or bored.
• Eats large amounts of food even when not really hungry.
• Feels disgusted or guilty after binge eating.
• Experiences rapid weight gain
• Is easily irritated.

Some of my triggers are:

• Nutella or peanut butter!
• Stress
• Pizza
• Being bored
• Knowing Joel will not be home for dinner

Today for an example I did really well eating through the day but as soon as I got home form work I ate half a jar of nutella, about 4 pieces of bread, about 4tbs of shredded coconut...thats all I remember I am sure there was more. It all happened in a 6-10minute frame and the only reason I can think of that may have caused this binge (besides my lack of self control) was having to make Joels "lunch" for work. He asked for 2 pb & j sandwiches and while making them for him I just couldn't help but eat.

Blah...I don't know what else to say because I got disgusted when I re-read the above...and for some reason I am craving pizza now!


Tomorrow or the next day I plan to post about my plan to bet my binges. I figure by laying everything out there in black and white I will be more focused and aware of what I need to do to get where I need to be.

Fudge Pops

I told the kids that we could walk to dairy queen the other night, but as soon as we got around the corner it started to thunder. I was super grumpy and wanted to get out of the house so like every bad mom would, I let them play in the rain!

They had a blast but quickly reminded me that they wanted ice cream. Since I felt bad they didn't get any (& I really wanted some too) I rushed everyone inside and started a batch of homemade ice cream.

I bought my ice cream maker at Goodwill for about $4, it was missing the manual. It took me two full days days to find the discontinued makers manual online. It had some recipes in it but I don't think that I have ever looked at them because I bought the mix at Walmart just so we could make it quick easy.

Of course once we got inside I didn't have any of that cheap premixed ice cream powder stuff so I just started throwing stuff in the maker. This ended up taking me right back to my childhood when my mom would let me pick out Popsicles at Food Land! This crazy ice cream I had made tasted just like a fudge pop. It was too good not to share.

2 cups 2% milk

1/4 cup fat free whip cream

2/3 packet of sugar free chocolate pudding mix

I mixed everything in a med bowl & then straight into the ice cream maker. I forgot to take pictures before I scoped it out...so here is a pic of the left over frozen on the side!

WoW! Factory

I have 2 new addictions. Running & pottery!