Shred update and a date night

Yummy sushi oh how I love thee

Honestly I could eat it every single day!  Ben and I finally got out for a date night Saturday night...We went to Noa Noa, it was our first time there and I loved the atmosphere and the food was delish!  Plus we only had to pay less than $10 because I had a gift certificate from one of my childcare families!  yay!  It was nice to just be us.. Ben said it was nice and quiet,, no kids fighting, screaming, no one saying ewww that looks gross(something Emma has been saying quite often since I've been trying to cook healthier lately).  We just left the kids at home(something I feel blessed to be able to do now that Jess is older and can watch Emma).  We dont stay out long when we do that just in case and Jess had a phone to call us if she needs us. 

 

 

Here is sweaty old me after doing day 6 of the 30 Day shred!!

The soreness is getting better even though I feel like need a hand rail to get up and down off the toilet most days because my legs are so sore. LOL   Its so worth it though.  I'm feeling stronger everyday!  I feel so good and actually look forward to the workout!  I cant wait until the weather gets nicer here so I can get out and take more walks again.. I'm contemplating attempting to jog again this summer... It hasn't worked out before but I'm willing to try again.  I'm just happy,, happy to be taking better care of myself!  Oh and finally the initial gain after starting the program has came off,, I'm pretty positive it was my sore muscles retaining water.  So I've been drinking lots of it to keep it moving along,,, the only problem with doing that is I have to pee all the time!!!  ugh

Sore!!

Ok so Ive done 2 days of the Shred Its day 3 morning and Im so sore! The front top half of my legs are on fire. My rear end is sore. Chest and arms a little. But I know that all a good thing because that means my body is changing for the better!
The bad thing is the last two days I have stepped on the scale my weight has gone up a pound. Each day!!! Ive been staying in my calories so Im not sure whats going on. Im guessing its because my muscles are swollen? I hope thats it. I took measurments of my body this morning so I can track that on top of the scale. I dont want to get discouraged. I wanna be a hot mama!!
Tonight me and Ben are going out to dinner with a gift certificate I got for Christmas from one of my babysitting kids parents. Gotta love a free meal and a mini date night!!

Fitness

Ok, so I'm getting a little excited.  I've decided that I'm going to restart Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred!  I've tried it once before but never even got to level 2.  So I"m gonna start and I WILL  make it through the 30 days!  I feel that I should be in better shape than I was the last time I tried it and I know I weigh less so I know it wont be easy but I'm gonna try again!  Yay!  And then I'm gonna move onto another program.  I was looking on YouTube and there are a LOT  of options on there!!   So now I just need to figure out a start date.......   I could wait until Feb 1st and that would be easier to track the days.  Oh why put it off,, I will start tomorrow.  Better do it while I'm still excited about it!:)  Ill keep my progress updated on here

Weekend birthday party



We had a great weekend.  We had family over to celebrate Emma and Gary's birthdays.  We had the party here at our house and I made food and Jess made the cakes!

 

 

She did a amazing job!  She wants to study culinary arts in school! Its nice having someone else that likes to cook around the house although she prefers to make deserts I think,  Which is fine and dandy unless you ask my waistline. LOL

It was nice to have everyone over to our house.  I'm so glad everyone could make it!  The kids both got things they wanted and everyone was happy I believe. 

 

My family has been begging me to make granola bars again... that's right, we don't buy those anymore either.  this is the recipe I have been making.  Everyone likes it accept for Gary, not sure why.  I cut them into 24 bars and they come out to 120 calories.  I do want to try some different things out and see if I can make them healthier.  This recipe uses butter,, I'm wondering if I could replace it with coconut oil.   Here are the bars setting up before I cut them

 

 

 

And here they are in the "cookie jar". (which we never have cookies in)

12

Playing video games, one of his favorite things to do

The middle child. I hope little man doesn't feel that cliche of being looked over and forgotten about. Being the only boy and stuck in the middle Im sure can be hard. He isn't really the mama's boy I dream of having but that's ok. Hes defiantly a daddy's boy. They go hunting and fishing and play video games together, all that boy stuff. Im pretty sure if it came down to him choosing
between me and his dad he would for sure choose his dad but I guess thats ok. I know I love him and Im pretty sure he loves me. Ill just keep working on him trying to root into his life lol.

Hes actually home sick from school today. Running a low grade fever :(. Not a fun way to spend your birthday.
For dinner tonight we are having meatloaf, cheesy potatoes, and corn, his favorite! And this weekend we are going to take him to a local seafood restaurant that serves sushi. He loves it and so do I. One of the things we have in common :)

Emmas 5th

5 years ago today my beautiful little baby girl came into this world.  She awoke me this morning by coming into my bed around the same exact time that she arrived 5 years ago, before 6am.   I was a nice mommy and since Ben had left for work decided that I'd let her lay in our bed and falls back to sleep,, it was her birthday and all :)  

She requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, so I made some, they were super yummy!  I used this recipe and just added the chocolate chips after I ladled them onto the griddle.  I love my griddle by the way, Id be lost without it!

 Then the poor doll had to wait until daddy got home from work before she could open her present from us. And once she could have it she dug right into it

 MarioKart!!  She has a new love for Mario and she loves racing so we thought she would like this gift and she defiantly did! Shes playing it now as I type.  We also got her a couple things that were on after Christmas clearance. LOL  little bath sets and stuff.

 Then we had told each kid that this year they could pick a place they would like to go out to eat for their birthdays since we are limiting out out to eat trips.  She of course chose Mc Donalds!!  Here she is at play land.

Tomorrow is Garys birthday, he will be 12!!   We are having a combined party for family for them next weekend.

Homemade is the only way

Oh, I really need to start doing better with this blogging business. . I just cant decide if I wanna do it or not, I can totally write the post in my head while I'm folding clothes or making dinner, but to actually take the time and sit down to type it out and upload pics is hard.  

Anyways we have been doing fabulous not eating out and  making things from scratch.  In fact if I mention buying something from the store, for example tortillas, Ben about goes crazy.  He says why buy something when we can make it ourselves.  Its all good and dandy, but geez it sure is a LOT  more work and a LOT more kitchen clean up for me!  We have been making all kinds of pizzas, we've done tortillas

, I made some breakfast hot pockets that went in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast for the the kiddos before school.  We made homemade egg rolls the other day and they were delish!!!  All this yummy food and we are still trying to lose the weight.  Its coming off still, slowly but surely.  43 pounds down,, it was 50 but I gained some over the holidays.  We try to fit in our exercise most days.  I've decided without it I wont be losing any weight.  So elliptical and weights it is along with some exercise videos thrown in here and there.  And counting my calories on myfitnesspal.com  feel free to add me on a friend on there!

2013

Jan 2, 2013!  Seems so strange,, I can't believe another year has come and gone.  So much happened last year, we prepared our house to sell, then at the last minute changed our minds because the 2 oldest kids ended up getting their braces....  Priorities right?  I quit smoking!  Yay!   I lost 50 pounds!  Over the holidays I gained a little back but its gonna go away fast,, this morning started me recommitting to healthier eating.   So right there were 2 resolutions from last year,, quiting smoking and losing weight.  I have more weight I want to lose but I'm heading in the right direction!! 

This year my main focus is going to be going strong on paying off our debt,, that is a goal every year, but Im going to try my hardest to make it work.  By the end of 2013 I will be debt free accept for my vehicles and home!  I know I can do it!  
I will also keep focusing on eating healthy and exercising and hopefully be down to where I want to be weight wise by the end of the year. 
I will continue to use my time wisely and be resourceful with the things we have.  I want to keep making as much homemade as I have been and learn even more!  I also want to try to do more freezer cooking to help out when I dont really feel like cooking. 

Here's to a new year!