Bren's First Day Of Preschool

Today was Brennan's first day of Preschool.  *Sigh*  I am so happy for him and so sad for me!  Here are a few pics of his first day.  Ok, guess not. Darn Blogger!  Ugh.  Ok, when I get this straightened out I'll share the cute, sweet, amazing pics of my sweet little Pea Pod.

Erin

Cheating On My Pal

Today was weigh-in day and I failed epically!  Ugh.  It was all my fault (no kidding, Mr. Obvious).  Here's why:
~ yesterday I decided to make chocolate chip cookies and instead of eating 1 small spoonful of dough I ate 5 or 6 spoonfuls
~ Monday was a bad day at work for my husband, so to help him drown his sorrows I went to the gas station after the boys were in bed and bought us each a bottle of pop - duh!
~ I started Jillian's 30 Day Shred on Monday, which means I started building muscle (weight?), therefore I didn't lose any weight
~ I didn't use the My Fitness Pal app I downloaded to my phone a few weeks ago

So here's what I discovered about myself where My Fitness Pal is concerned -- I'm a cheater.  I cheat!  I have never cheated on a test before but I cheat on this almost daily.  I don't put in every single thing I ingest (fountain pop from lunch out, chips and salsa at a restaurant, etc) and if I am having a bad eating day I don't input anything into my food log.  I figure if I don't see it it's not that bad.  WRONG. SO wrong!  So who am I cheating by not keeping good track and facing my demons?? ME!!!  I am cheating me.  It's so disgusting and embarrassing.  I honestly thought if I set it up so other's could see my daily food log I'd be held somewhat accountable.  Instead I just cheat. 

Well, no more.  I weighed in today and gained back 2.8lbs. Yikes!  I can't keep doing this. I am determined to do better, determined to lose this weight, determined to look better, feel better, BE better.  I AM DETERMINED!!!  So even though I was super frustrated this morning when I stepped on the scale I put on my shoes and did the 30 Day Shred.  I will do it again tomorrow.  I will do it the day after.  The only way I am going to beat this demon is to keep trying, keep pushing myself, keep going.  And to not eat shovelfulls of cookie dough anymore. 

Erin

Weekly Menu Planning

What kind of a grocery shopper are you?  Do you go daily to pick up ingredients for supper that night?  Do you go once a month and do a major stock up?  Do you go weekly and get enough for one week at a time?  I'm the latter, I go weekly and get what I need for meals that week.  It's easier for me to write down a menu before I go shopping and get the ingredients I need.  Some weeks I do a good job, other weeks I drop the ball and go shopping blindly.  I usually spend a lot more money when I go in without a plan.  So here's my menu for this week, in case you were wondering.

Monday: Ravioli, garlic bread, corn
Tuesday: Roast, potatoes, carrots
Wednesday: Chicken grillers, chips, cottage cheese, raw veggies (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli) -Aiden has his first football game this night, needed s/t easy
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: Grilled pork chops, grilled veggies
Sat/Sun: I wing it.  Usually eat up leftovers for lunches and grill or eat out for supper.

So there you have it.  I pull out fruit with most meals but don't include that in my menus because I just buy a bunch of fruit and we eat it as we go.  This week I picked up strawberries, bananas, oranges (that was Bren's idea, I don't buy oranges in the summer because they aren't as good as in the winter), apples and some canned pineapple. 

What do you think, could you plan and stick to a weekly menu plan?  I have no problem doing it because if I don't have this at 4:00 I'm scrambling for an idea and usually end up making breakfast for supper.  One of my favorites but Andy doesn't love it as much as I do.  Sometimes I don't feel like having what's planned for supper that night or something comes up and we need something quick to eat so I switch that night's menu with another night's menu - no biggie.  I make it work for me.  How about you?

Erin

Good Answers

Last night when we were settling in for the night I asked Aiden, my 6 yr old, what he thought was the most important thing about being a husband.  Here's our conversation:

Me: "Aiden, what's the most important thing about being a husband?"

Aiden: "Um, to love your kids?"

Me: "That's the most important thing about being a dad.  What about being a husband?" 

Aiden: "To love your wife?"

Me: "That is very important.  What do you think Daddy does really well as a husband?"

Aiden: "He loves you."

Me: "And?"

Aiden: "He gives you hugs and kisses!" (giggle, giggle, giggle!)

I love kids' answers to serious questions.  Aiden is so funny, he's a really fun kid.  I also asked what is important to be as an adult.  "Nice."  Amen!

Happy Friday, y'all!  Have a fun, great, relaxing weekend and I'll see you back here Monday.

Erin, a.k.a. Luckiest Mom In The World!

1st Grade Excitement

A quick one:

The first thing Aiden said when I picked him up from school yesterday was, "Today was AWESOME!" What a great thing for a mom to hear!  To celebrate his first day we went to supper at the Mexican restaurant, Aiden's favorite.  Anxious for today's report. :)

See you tomorrow,
Erin

Whoa-oa! I Gotta Go! Back To Schooooooooolllll!

Have you seen Grease 2?  If not, shame on you!!!  Otherwise, sing along with my post title!  Love that movie, I think I like it better than the first Grease.  Plus who doesn't love Michelle Pfeiffer?

So today is Aiden's first day of 1st Grade.  Oh boy.  He's getting so big!  He is such a kind, considerate, loving, helpful, funny, smart, goofy, athletic, energetic boy.  I love that kid so darn much!  It's really true, you feel like your heart is walking around outside your body when you have kids.  Every morning last year when he'd hop out of the car to walk into school Bren and I would say "There's goes our buddy!"  I thought it this morning, with sadness.  I'm sad he's going back to school, I will miss him so much.  We had our battles this summer, but we had more fun times.  It was a really great summer, one of the best I can remember having.  So today it's just Bren and me.  And next Thursday when Bren starts preschool I will write a really sad post, full of tears, because he is my Pea Pod and I will be totally devastated that he is gone, too.

But in the mean time, here are pics from last night's Back To School night. 

Bren's load of supplies and BIG smile!

Aiden's load doesn't look as big but believe me, he had more stuff than Bren.

Outside Bren's classroom, before going in and finding his cubby.  What a happy boy!

This morning, my big First Grader!

Do you do anything to make your kids' first day back to school special?  We made pancakes this morning.  Usually we have cereal, toast, waffles, or toaster strudels for breakfast on a school morning.

Happy first day of school to all the mommy's out!
Erin

Wedding Card And Gift

My cousin got married this past weekend.  She asked me to be a part of her most important day by doing the readings during the mass.  I was scared as heck but am so honored she asked me.  So I wanted to do something extra special for her gift.  I'm all about making gifts but usually don't take the time to do it.  Pinterest has given me a ton of ideas and I finally decided on this.

I bought a wooden letter 'D' and wrapped twine/jute around it.  As I wrapped I'd put on some hot glue to hold it every so often.  Then I added the flowers as accents an the ribbon to hang it.  My thought was they'd hang it on their apartment door with one of those 3M removable hooks (I put that with the gift).  But if that's not how they want to use it they can cut off the ribbon and set it on a shelf.  It was super easy, although the wrapping was a little time consuming.  You can find the wooden letters at most craft/hobby stores.

Can't figure out how to rotate these 2 pics -- sorry.

For the card's flower I used a round tag I had in my stash as a base.  Then I took a long strip of cream fabric that was about 1 1/2" wide, folded it in half and applied a dollop of hot glue to the center of the tag.  I used that to attach the fabric at one end, then twisted the fabric and wrapped it around that end that was glued down.  Every so often I'd add glue to keep it attached.  I just kept twisting the fabric and wrapping it around until I filled the whole tag.  Then I added a pretty button in the middle to accent it and hide that beginning part (not necessary but I liked the added bling).  I glued it down to my card, again w/ the hot glue, and added the flowers around it to spiff it up.  The added flowers and the ribbon going across the middle were leftovers from the letter 'D' I made them.

I love being creative and sharing what I make with others.  Do any of you stamp, scrapbook or craft?

Erin

One Last Hurrah

Before I tell you about the boys' and my last hurrah of the summer I have to mention my sweet cousin's wedding that we were a part of this past weekend.  It was such a beautiful day!  And it was so well thought out, it fit Meliah and Mark to a T!  They were creative and made the whole day suited just for them.  The priest forgot the exchanging of the rings but luckily remembered before the ceremony was over.  Otherwise everything went so smoothly.  I did the readings.  I got a lot of compliments (someone even told me I commanded the podium!), was glad they couldn't see my knees shaking behind the podium! :)   I'm so happy for Meliah and her new husband, Mark.  They will be happy for years and years to come. 

Okay, so for our last hurrah of the summer.  We went to the children's museum in 'the big city' about 40 minutes from here.  We've never been but have been wanting to go for a long time.  It was so much fun for the boys, very interactive.  They change their main exhibit every year or so and right now they have an airplane exhibit.  Very cool.  The boys love airplanes! They also have a pizzeria where they 'make' pizzas, a grocery store, bank and lego room.  It was a lot of fun for me and the boys, glad we were able to do one last fun thing before school starts Wednesday.

Once again Blogger isn't uploading pictures nicely.  I think it's time to find a new blog host, you want to see pics, right?  Yea, me too.

What do you do as a last hurrah before school starts?

Erin

Scrappy Sunday

Another fabulous weekend in the books.  And this weekend was especially fabulous because the weather was a-mazing!  Perfect temps.  Sunday afternoon was rainy, which is much needed around here so that adds to the amazing-ness of it.  So what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Scrapbook!  By the time I got started I only had time for one full page and time to finally finish another page I've been scratching my head over.  Here they are.

This layout gave me a ton of trouble.  I had the entire thing done except the bottom left corner.  I just could not figure out a title for this page, which I was planning on putting on that green.  I scratched my head, put it away, got it out, looked online for ideas, put it away, etc, etc.  Sunday I got it out - AGAIN - and finally genius struck!  I love how colorful this page is!

I used some buttons as embellishments, and doubled up the white one on top of the red.  

The star is made up of 3 layers, then I used my sewing machine to stitch them together.  If it wasn't in the clear plastic page protector it'd be more 3-D, but I couldn't 'fluff' the layers under there.

I am a scrap lifter.  I have a hard time getting my creative juices flowing and need some guidance from sketches.  I use the DCWV blog for ideas, also Scrapbooks.com.  This sketch is from Sketch Savvy.  They have awesome sketches!

 These flowers I cut out of coordinating paper, then used Dimensionals to give them a bit of a 3-D effect.  Then I used brads for the centers to spice them up.

Happy Scrapping!
Erin

Early Spring = Early Fall?

Boy does it feel like fall today!  Yum!  Or ahhh.  Whatever, I love it!  There's an awesome breeze, cool temps, overcast.  *Sigh*  We had such an early spring, temps in the 80's in the March of all times!  So I wonder if that means we'll be having an early fall, temps in the 50's/60's in August.  Today's high is supposed to be in the mid-70's, but so far we're not out of the 60's.  It's amazing.

So crazy/funny/awful story.  Last evening I went out to fill my hummingbird feeder. I have a pair of hummingbirds who frequent this feeder about 30 times a day, no lie.  So last night out I go to refill it and the string hanging it breaks as I place it back on the shepherd's hook.  Down it goes, crash, boom, BANG and the part holding the nectar breaks.  Ker-splat.  No fixing it.  Ugh.  So I throw it away and come into the house to pout.  After about 5 minutes I look out and see my friends buzzing around where the feeder used to hang then they fly off.  A few minutes later they come back, looking again.  At one point the poor things are sitting on my clothes line looking longingly at the lonely hook where their food used to be.  I had to stop watching I felt so sad.  I was just sure they'd leave and I'd never see them again. 

This morning there they were again, flying around looking for their breakfast.  We were going to town today to meet my mom for lunch so I stopped by the store and bought a new, nicer feeder for them.  I have it filled up and hanging on it's hook but so far I haven't seen my dear, sweet, little hummingbird friends.  I hope by the end of the day I see them out there trying it out.  I bought a deluxe version compared to what I did have, hoping to buy their love back. Ha, weirdo. :)

Wow, Blogger, you uploaded that very nicely.  Dare I try my other pics?

Anyway, if you want to make your own Hummingbird nectar here's the recipe:

1c. water

1/4 c. sugar

Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

4:1 is the ratio of water to sugar

Do you have any Hummingbirds in your garden?

Happy bird watching!

Erin



Down 1.4 lbs!!!

Today I weighed in for Mama Laughlin's Fit Camp and am down another 1.4lbs!  I am so ecstatic!  I didn't do any exercising this week besides the normal gardening (laying mulch, planting, raking) so I thought for sure I'd gain back the pound I lost last week and then some.  The only thing I did do was sort of watch what I ate, although some days I didn't log into MFP to count my calories.  A small victory, I am so happy to see that scale go down!  My sweet, amazing, loving husband told me today at lunch that I looked thinner.  I of course told him he was full of it and he said "no, I can see the difference that pound made!"  He is full of it, but I love him dearly for it.  How sweet of him to say what I needed to hear, even if it was big, fat, giant lie!  <3  I owe him tonight for that! :)

Still no pics, so sorry.  I was so excited to show you some scrap book pages I'd worked on, too.  I will try to have my amazing husband help me figure it out tonight.  Although if another long walk like last night comes up I'll take that over having him fix this picture uploading thing.  We went 2 miles last night, in 35 minutes.  Not sure if that's fast or not, but it felt like we were booking it.  We even ran a couple of blocks, just to see how it went w/ the boys riding their bikes ahead of us.  I think it'll work fine if we decide to do that, although I enjoy the talks we have while walking and won't get to have those if huffing and puffing our way through a run.  Guess I need to figure out what's more important, long talks or being a MILF.  Heck, we can have long talks while washing the dishes.  MILF it is!

I see Ruffles With Love has Mama Laughlin tanks out now!!!  I am getting the one that says "Mama's MILF's".  :)  Mama L wears these tanks and swears by them for workouts.  I've wanted one for quite awhile but have been putting off getting one.  Not no more!  I am ordering one as soon as I get off here!  Can't wait!  I like feeling sassy and like I look good when I workout, makes the process feel better for me.  It's all in my head, but hey, whatever works, right?

What do you do to help you get your workouts in?

Love to you all!
Erin

Frustrations With Blogger

Ok, I'm trying to do a post with a bunch of pictures but they won't upload correctly.  I always have this problem with Blogger.  Anyone else out there ever have this issue?  How do you correct it?  Blogger's Help Forum is no help at all.  I'm about to pull my hair out over this!  I'd love any advice or tips on fixing this.  In the meantime, no post. :( 

Tonight I'll have my techie husband try to fix it for me.  May be time to find another free blog site.

Erin

A Visit To Amish Country

We are fortunate to live near an Amish community.  I think it's a neat way of life and have told my husband how I'd love to be Amish -- he just laughs and tells me I'd never hack it. My obsession stems from one of two things: 1. I grew up 15 min away from this Amish community therefore grew up around them, 2. I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a kid and always, always, ALWAYS wanted to live like her.  Either way, it's fun to make a trip up there a few times a year to shop in their country store.  You can buy bulk spices and baking goods, plus a ton of kitchen items, some toys and books, farmer boots and shoes and some fresh produce.

The boys' favorite part is seeing all the horse drawn buggies.  One of my favorite parts is seeing all the little kids dressed in their dresses, bonnets, pants with suspenders and straw hats -- barefoot!  They are so cute.  No pictures allowed, tho, it's against their religion.  So I must draw from my memories. 

So today at the country store I bought a 2# bag of baking soda for $1.69, a 4oz container of fine ground black powder for $1.75, 2 kitchen towels at $1.15 a piece and a set of 3 washrags for $1.25.  The smells in the country store are amazing, spicy and fruity and leathery.  I wish they could bottle it up and sell it.

Have you ever wanted to live 'simpler' like the Amish?

Erin

Dog Days Of Summer

As summer winds down (boo hoo hoo!!!) I find myself trying to cram in as much fun as possible for the boys.  Trips to the park and pool, playing outside as much as possible, family bike rides and other crazy antics, like boosting my boys up into the tree to play. 

Honestly, can I not get Blogger to upload these all the way?  Ugh, sorry for the cruddy pic.

Aiden can about get up there by himself, just needs a little 'oompf' from Mom.  Bren gets a full-on assist from me.

Another summer treat - a movie in the middle of the week at the theater.  Tonight Ice Age 23 (or whatever number they're on) is playing in town so my husband is taking the boys.  During the school year we'd wait until the weekend to go so they weren't up past bedtime (8:00), but it's summer and they can sleep in tomorrow (pleeeeaase let them sleep in til at lest 6:30 tomorrow!). 

What rules do you bend because it's summer and you can?

Erin

Wonderful Weekend

Happy Monday, friends!  How was your weekend?  Mine was fantabulous!  It felt like a nice, long weekend and we got a ton of yard work done yesterday.  The temps were amazing (low 80's, low humidity, sunshine!) and we had a ton of motivation to get outside and get some things done.  We went outside at 9 yesterday morning and didn't come in until 5 last night.  We even ate lunch outside!  It was a perfect day.  The boys played and played and didn't fight!  My in-laws brought over Subway for lunch then helped us clean up the mess we made while trimming bushes.  We cleaned out a flower bed that we've not touched since moving here a year ago and now it looks so much nicer.  The boys and I even went and got a load of mulch this morning to put in there.  It's so nice to make little improvements around the house, makes you feel like you're taking care of your investment and leaving it better than it was before.

What did you do this weekend?

Erin

Winning And Losing

Well, you win some, you lose some.  And yesterday I lost big!  If you are friends with me on My Fitness Pal you will note my food and exercise diary doesn't look so hot.  I was way over on my calories thanks to eating out at the local Mexican restaurant and drinking a 20oz bottle of Mt Dew.  (MD is my poison, but darn does it taste good!)  I also didn't get a workout in with the devil, better known as Jillian.  (Side note:  She probably is a really nice person, but it helps me to get through her workouts by calling her mean names, such as Crazy Bitch and Dirty Whore.  No, I'm not a saint, get over it.)  My diary really shows how bad of a day it was for me.  But, I can't let it bring me down in this weight loss journey.  Today I am back on track.  The boys and I went on a bike ride this morning (257calories burned!) and I WILL put Jillian on this afternoon.  No bottles of pop for me, but maybe a can.  A small victory but I'm working on it.  And so far I have 4 cups of water down with my 32oz jug filled up and sitting out for me to sip on as I'm working around the house this afternoon.

You win some and you lose some.  Don't let it bring you down, just get up and keep going!

How do you overcome bad days?

Have a great weekend,
Erin

Getting To Know You, Getting To Know All About You!

I realized the other day that I haven't really written (or is it wrote?) about myself on here much - aside from my day to day stuff.  So I thought I'd write a post about me today.

• I am a Pisces, although I don't follow that zodiac sign stuff
• My favorite color is GREEN, any shade of beautiful GREEN
• I was a cheerleader in high school and still regret not going to a University where I could try out for their squad
• I am a licensed cosmetologist and will go back to a salon when my kids are in school
• I am scared of bugs and spiders and will freak out until someone comes and kills them for me
• I am an emotional person and cry whether I am sad or very happy
• I hate growing up
• I love to garden
• I am a scrapbooker and am addicted to buying stuff for scrapbooking but don't scrap often enough to use up my stash
• I am very girly, even though I'm a born and raised farm girl
• I am very black and white (meaning in my head it's either 'this way' or 'that way' but nothing in between
• I am opinionated, VERY, and have had to learn to reign in my opinion
• If I love you I will lay my life down for you
• I am a mean ol' mama bear, don't mess with my kids! (Or my family and friends)
• I dream of going to Europe someday
• I like history, WWII era mostly
• I was born a few decades too late -- I should have been born in the middle 50's so I could come of age during the 60's and 70's and enjoy all that music, fashion and culture
• The Beatles are my all-time favorite group.  I know every song and have my boys digging them too
• I listen to country, pop and some rock music, but my favorite genre of all is Oldies
• I like to cook
• I love to sing.  I sing in the car, sing to my boys, sing while cleaning, sing, sing, sing! (Thus the musical title to this post and others!)

Ok, for now that's enough "I's". :)  Leave me a comment with one thing you think I'd like to know about you.  Happy Thursday!

Erin

Pool Motivation

I took the boys to the pool this afternoon.  Nothing like watching a bunch of skinny teenie-boppers walking around to make you feel good about yourself.  Ha! ( How do you make a face gagging on here?)  On the up side of that, it's good motivation.  So is Mama Lauglin's Fit Camp.  I have been a huge fan of Mama Lauglin's blog for quite awhile and when she announced her Fit Camp I joined right away.  Starting today I am doing a weight loss challenge for 60 days.  I got the My Fitness Pal app on my phone (can use it online, too) and have been tracking my calories in and out (exercise) for the last few days.  I hope seeing it right in front me every day helps hold me accountable for what I'm putting in and how I'm working it out.  That last part sounds weird, but you get my gist. :) 

Now I just need to get my butt going on Jillian's 30 Day Shred.  If you've been reading this blog for awhile you know I did it back in March.  I felt better, started to look better and was doing it every day but Sundays.  I also started running (not far, but was building up my endurance).  Then we went to Vegas in May and I haven't done a thing since.  All that hard work went down the drain.  I'm back to being tired all the time and the jiggly stuff I lost is back.  Ugh.  Losing weight -- and keeping it off-- is HARD work.  Not fun either.  I remember I was starting to 'crave' my runs, now I can't make myself get up off the couch!  Where did I go so wrong?  Ok, I know where.  How about why? 

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Erin

P.S.  Welcome to my new followers!  Another bonus of joining Mama Laughlin's Fit Camp!  Let's do this, girls!  We are worth it!