A fit family and our menu.

Another weekend come and gone,, almost half way through Feb!!  It really is true that as you get older life just moves on faster.  And the weekends sure do fly by.  Through the week our days are pretty much the same,, get up kids go to school Ben is at work, I babysit until 5:30 every night which then we have dinner, clean up dinner, workout, get kids ready for bed, watch a little TV, wait for 3rd shift babysitting girl to come and then go to bed to get up and do it all over again.  The weekends are always a little different and as of lately working out is part of those also.  I am really happy that fitness has taken over our household.  I cant believe I'm saying this but I am loving being active.  I really cant  wait until the weather warms up some I we can get outside more often and take walks and I"m dieing to go hiking somewhere.  Tennessee and all those hills are really calling my name.  I bet we could tackle them a lot better now than we did a few years ago! 

Jess and I right before doing The Shred.

 

We took a little sneak peak at level 3 of the Shred and since the mats were open Emma decided to do some of the stretches with Evil Jillian.

Saturday the sun was out and even though it wasn't really warm we took advantage of it and the whole family went for a walk. Gary wanted to ride his bike.  We went for 2 miles!  Our ears and cheeks were frozen but its all good.  I loved getting some fresh air. Emma was whining on the way home about being cold and tired but hopefully this summer when its not freezing she will be more into it. 

I really wasn't this far behind everyone, my shoe was untied so I stopped to tie it and snapped a pic while I was back there. 

 

Ive decided to start posting our menus again like I used to.  Keep in mind that lunches are always subject to change, just depends if we have leftovers or not and what the kids and I are in the mood for..I also don't always eat the same thing as the kids in the mornings and lunches,,if you want to see exactly what I eat find and add me at myfitnesspal.com  my user name is everydaymom. 

 

I also always have a veggie or two at dinner but dont always right then down on the menu plan because we just have whatever one sounds good that day. :)   More or less nothing is written in stone,I just like to have a basic plan.  This little markerboard came with a calander set my mom got me for Christmas,, I love it for posting our menus on the fridge. 

If you need some dinner inspiration check outhttp://orgjunkie.com/ There are tons of menu plans there every Monday morning

Rainy Tuesday

Today its dark and dreary outside.  Really makes me wanna climb back into my bed and sleep the day away.  HA,, ,yeah right.  Maybe I can do that when I'm 60, have no kids at home and don't babysit anymore. :)   I have a lot on my todo list today so I cant be lazy.  Last week I told you I was working in my kitchen,, decluttering and reorganizing.  I got a good start but didnt finish,  I needed more shelf liner to finish the cupboards.  I got that last night so I will try to finish the cupboards today and then I need to wash the walls to finish up the spring cleaning in that room.  I will attempt to post some pics as requested, but let me warn you, My kitchen is nothing special! Rather boring if you ask me.  I am promising myself that we will get it repainted before the summer is over,,, I'd like to do it before May actually so when Ben's mom comes out it will be completed.  I'm so excited to do it, I've had the color I want in my head forever!

Also today I am plugging away on laundry, somehow I've fallen behind a little.  I want to get all the bed sheets changed and remade too.  That can become a big job with 5 beds to do.  I wish it was sunny so I could hang them outside to dry but its supposed to be rainy for the rest of the week and I dont wanna wait that long. 

On a totally different note,  last night I was in town with my oldest doing some grocery shopping and she told me about this pair of shoes she REALLY  wants.  She had a sales flier in the car with her and showed them to me,,,, One Hundred Dollars!!!!!!!!!!!   I laughed and said yeah right,, you know I will not pay that much for a pair of shoes.. Then she informed me how EVERYONE in her school has them(sure).  And how totally amazing they are.  Thats when I started feeling bad,,,then she said,,, " yeah, you'll probably get them for me when they are marked down to clearance for 20 dollars like 2 years from now and they arn't cool anymore".  :(  That made me feel really bad.  I think life would be so much easier if I homeschooled and the kids didnt watch t.v., then they wouldnt even know about these types of fad things.    I would love to be able to just go out and buy everything my kids wanted but what would that teach them?    

The other thing is, we are doing ok with money right now, so its not like I don't have the money for them.  I just can not bring myself to buy a pair of shoes for that amount of money,, especially for a kid that will probably grow out of them in a years time.  I told her she could buy them herself with her own money.  She will be getting some soon from her report card.   I just have this guilt inside me.  Am I a bad mom for not getting them for her when I have the funds to do so?   Ugh.....   

Do you guys spend that kind of money on things like that for your kids?

Sunshine!!

Its beautiful outside!  We were able to get out and play yesterday and today!  The kids are just thrilled to get to run around outside after being couped up all winter.  And the outside toys seem like new to them after not playing with them all season.  I love being able to get outside but there is also something about the first days of being able to open up the windows and let fresh air in that makes me want to clean and organize.  This morning I've been going through some kitchen cupboards and trying to reorganize a few things.  There is not a whole lot of cabinets and storage space in my kitchen,, and defiantly not much counter top room.  After 7 years now of living here though I've come to accept it and make due.  Sometimes things just need a little creativity to make them work for you.   Now I actually need to get back in the kitchen and finish what I started while the kiddos are napping. 



Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Can't find the time

I have this running to do list in my head.  Things that  I want/need to get accomplished.  The problem is its hard to find the time/energy.  Here is a few thing I need to get accomplished and hopefully soon:
*go through kids closets and find stuff for the Kids Market sale, then hang, tag, price them.
*go through Emma's and Gary's toys and purge like crazy!  Emma's toys are totally outta control.  I think part of my problem is since I do daycare in my home I feel the need to hang onto things because even though some stuff she is growing out of others still enjoy. 
*Wash down walls in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom
*Scrub the shower(i'll admit, I hate this job  because no matter how hard I scrub, it never looks clean!)
*Start going through everything else to find stuff for summer garage sale

Then there is a whole other list but I need Ben's help and extra money for that
*paint kitchen, new counter tops and maybe even sink, new kitchen floor

Am I the only one that has a hard time with these things?  The ideal time for me would be during naptime, but that is my only downtown for the whole day and I often try and relax during that time.  I feel like I need a break every once in a while.  Ugh.....     Well now that I have my list written down maybe that will help me tackle some of these things. 

Productivity

Ahhh,, what a lovely weekend we had.  Friday night Ben and I got to go out and see a movie....then Saturday the boys spent the day hunting and us girls went and visited my sister and niece.  We had a nice time while there and the two little girls got along pretty good!(which always makes everything much more pleasant).  Sunday the boys went hunting again....I got a lot accomplished here on the home front,,, sweeping, moping, laundry, dusting,,all that fun stuff.  Then went we to mom's for dinner and Uncle Mike cooked us a very yummy meal!  I learned how to make mashed cauliflower,,, it was so good and everyone in the family Loved it,, even the ones that don't like cauliflower. .He cooked it in beef broth,, I think that's the secret!
The boys never did see any deer, so the hunt continues.  I sure hope they can get at least one this year.  It's been 3 years since Ben has got one. 

Today I've been plugging along on housework,, the kids have all gotten along great,, making things much easier on me :)   They are napping now, and I just put together my first batch of homemade liquid laundry detergent. The powder stuff didn't work for me so I am trying the liquid version. It was still very easy to make,, it has to sit for 24 hours so I wont be able to try it out until tomorrow.  After a few weeks of use I'll let you all know what I think. 
 I feel so good when I am able to be productive and get things accomplished around here!  After all, it is my JOB to keep the house clean tidy and organized,, and take care of the kids and my husband.  I think as stay at home mothers we need to look at our day just as that... a job.  If you were going out to work each day you wouldn't lounge around an watch tv...or surf the net most of the day.  I'm not saying we don't need and deserve a break, but the sitting shouldn't take more time than the working and time with our children.   Some days it seems that I've accomplished nothing, but when I stop and look at the things I've really done a lot.  Its just hard to see it sometimes due to little ones under foot constantly making new messes.  I am really concentrating on teaching the kids once they are done with something you need to put it away before moving on to the next thing.  It's a lesson that should be learned by all.  

TGIF

Woo HOo, it's Friday! This week went by fairly fast and uneventful, which is just the way I like it. Today we had another dermatologist appt. for Emma, her eczema is really improving, her face is cleared up, and I think we finally found a cream that works for her. She still was one problem area, but we are working on that.

We've been working on potty training with her over the last couple weeks and she is doing wonderful! I'm very impressed with how quick she is catching on,, she has very few accidents and the only real problem we were having is her going #2 in the potty, but 3 outta 4 days now she has went in the potty so that is excellent! We cant wait to be diaper free. Although, it kinda makes me feel like my baby is growing up a little to quickly :(

Jess and Gary are doing great. They are both doing after school adventures of bowling on Thursdays after school and there really enjoying that. And they cant wait for soccer to start up here in April.

Ben is still on the used car hunt. Seems that you have to act really fast when a good one comes up on Craig's List and with his crazy schedule sometimes its just not possible to get out and look at the vehicles before someone else comes and snatches them up. I keep reminding him to be patient and it will all work out. I reminded him about the Little Tike's car I wanted for Emma last year and how I looked at garage sales and everywhere for a used one all summer and finally at the end of the summer we got one for ten bucks! Good things come to those who wait :)

I just finished up my old laundry detergent so I'm now ready to exclusively use my new homemade stuff! I want to try some other homemade cleaners also, but I need to use up what I have before I rush out and buy stuff to do that. I'm really trying not to waste anything. OH, speaking of laundry, I spent yesterday cleaning out and organizing my laundry room!!!! It was a big task, but I feel so good now that its done. Every time I walk in there it makes me smile :)

Stuff

Stuff....clutter....crap.. there's lot of words for it and I have come to realize that I have way to much of it!!!! How much stuff does a family really need? Why do we think we need so much?

It really is ridiculous!!! We are having a garage sale next Sat., and so I've been going through things, cleaning and organizing, and getting MAD!! It makes it hard to clean things when there is stuff on everything! Sometimes I long for the days when Ben and I first got together and had hardly anything. Honestly, when we moved into our first house there wasn't even a stove, and we didn't have the money to buy one so we did without. It actually didn't even bother us that much because back then we just ate junk and I never really cooked anyways, we also didn't have a kitchen table. So needless to say, we didn't have a lot of extra crap laying around the house cluttering up things........................... now don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be in the situation that I am now, but there is a happy medium I think. Somewhere there is a point where its just enough. I am sure that that point is different for each family, for example, I have 3 kids, so the stuff needed in my house would obviously be different than say for example, my sisters house who will just have herself and her husband in it.

My point I guess is that I am on a mission to find out what I really need, and what is just cluttering up everything. And also I need to figure out the best place to store the things that I really need due to lack of space. It's bothering me so much today that I am debating on if I really even want/need to go to the big set of garage sales that I am planning on going to this weekend. Will I just be bringing in someone elses junk that I don't need? There are things that I do need for my kids though..... UUggghhhh,, I don't know what to do.

People just remember that STUFF doesn't make us happy!!!

Emma's Room

The long wait is finally over!! We spur of the moment decided to do Emma's room over the weekend. I am very proud of us! We didn't start until about 4 Sat. night, we did two coats of paint, then Sunday morning Ben did the carpet, ripped up the old and layed the new, then we did the boarder and moved everything back into the room all by 3:30!! I know you will ask for pics so here ya go:)
We need to get a different window covering still. But for now the old blind will do.

We have some butterfly wall stickers that we will put on later. I have to decide just where I want them.

We all love it. Jess is jealous and wants to redo hers now.......Gary too!

So tonight she will be sleeping in her own room,,, not mine:( I'm a little scared,,,,,, I know I should be happy, but I just liked having her in the room with me.......

She went right down to sleep like always,,, the night will tell if she wakes up scared or not...

Moving and organizing

Well yesterday I decided to go ahead and start moving Emmas things into the back bedroom! What a job! It was fun though. I moved everything accept for her crib, because I don't think we can get that in there without taking it apart so we will wait on that until we put the new carpet in so we only have to move it once. Its nice having everything in there. She loves playing back there so we will go and sit and play, along with the babysitting kids,, they all like being back there. I'm still very excited for when we paint and carpet it but for now, this will work. I also organized a little in the laundry room,, thats a ongoing job. Its to easy for everyone to just cram things in there so its always a mess :( I really have caught the organizing bug lately,, thats a good thing though!!