Weekly Winners

Here are my favorites from this week:

Reflections.

The snow that didn't stick around long.

Be sure to go to I am Lotus to check out more weekly winners.

Fitness Friday

I'm the type of person who gets overwhelmed if there is a lot to do and does nothing. The house is a big mess. I find it hard to figure out where to start the cleaning. This is how I felt after reading Jillian Michael's Master Your Metabolism. It is hard to make all the changes she discusses at once. So here is what I did this week. I ate no artificial sweeteners. I did not use those plastic steamer bags in the microwave. I microwaved no plastic. (A big no-no according to Jillian.) I brought more organic food. I brought organic chips at the local health food store. They were really good. I discovered I can overindulge with organic healthy foods as much as I do with the processed less healthy alternatives. I still need to learn portion control. I hate counting the calories in everything I eat but I know I need to do this. I've proven that if I don't that I will not lose the weight. I know that I probably won't have to do this forever but I do need to do this now.

I trying to work in more of healthy foods. Jillian suggests eating more legumes, alliums (onions, leeks, etc), berries, meats and eggs, colorful fruits and vegetables, cruciferous veggies, dark green leafy veggies, nuts and seeds, dairy, and whole grains. She suggests a balance of 40% carbs, 30% fats and 30% protein.

I only did 2 workouts this week. I got a bad cold that made my eyeballs feel like popping out of my head. Needless to say working out was out of the question. I'm sure I'll get back to it next week.

I'm a little disappointed in myself this week. I didn't lose this week. I'm going to try harder this week to hopefully see a change next week.

Kisses

Who doesn't love kisses?

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 6/52 for me.

Looking for Rainbows

When it looks like this...

...I feel like doing this.

Since the kids wouldn't let me nap, we tried to make rainbow cupcakes.

They were not perfectly layered but they were pretty and yummy.

The goofy kids liked them too.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

And when all else fails, Kitten Little Superhero saves the day.

Head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.

Dinner with Friends at Home

So this week, we had our friends over for dinner with all the kids. It is hard to get babysitters to go out without the kids so had everyone over. The dinner had its challenges. What do you serve when one can't have dairy, another tomatoes, and two more meat? I made pasta primavera, ziti with sauce, and meatballs on the side. I thought we could play Wii games for entertainment but we simply enjoyed talking and watching the kids play. It was so nice to get together with friends. Not only did I connect with Dave but my friends too. I hope we can plan another dinner again soon.( I know that this date violates the no kid rules but it was enjoyable and the only way see everyone.)

This is date 3 out of 52 for us. Check out Simply Modern Mom's Project 52 to join in on the fun.

Weekly Winners-Walk Around Town

I took these shots on another walk around town with Maximus.

Reaching high.

Shake baby, shake.
As you can see Maximus is feeling much better.

Reflections.

Pretty Church.

Be sure to go to I am Lotus to check out more weekly winners.

Sunshine Award

Wacky Mummy was nice enough to pass this Sunshine Award to me. Thank you very much. The only obligation for this award is to pass it along to 12 bloggers that spread sunshine wherever they blog.

Here are 12 bloggers I read everyday (or as often as they post) unless my computer is broke.

Heathen Family Revival-Kelly takes wonderful photos. HFR is home to Wardrobe Wednesday, where you can see how all the cool kids are dressing.

Feet Off the Table-Aliceson is witty and takes fabulous photos. Plus she has one of the best gardens I've ever seen. She hosts Monday Garden Club meme once garden are growing again.

From Cow to Wow-Amanda inspires me writing about her weight loss journey. She has already lost over 40 lbs.

Good Girl Gone Redneck-Andrea's blog is a new find for me. She is funny mommy blogger telling tales from the trenches.

Shady Lady: My World Behind Big Shades- Shady Lady is a fun home schooling mama with lots of great project ideas for kids.

Pudget: Losing Weight on a Budget-Jessica writes another motivating weight loss blog. She has already lost over 40 lbs.

Our Daily Big Top-Jen is another fabulous mommy blogger who take great photos. She often has crafty ideas on her blog too.

Reservation for Six- Rachel is a very funny writer. She doesn't post as often as some of the other bloggers but she has 4 kids and another on the way. I'm impressed she finds time to post and write great posts at all.

Carma Sez- Carma is a witty, fun, juggling mom blogger. Seriously you should see her juggle. And home of Project Cheeseball.

Let's Have a Cocktail-Jenny Mac is a witty writer who always finds the humor in life.

Kitty Tells It As It Is-Kitty writes each blog post like a short story about her life. I look forward to seeing what will happen next.

How To Survive Life in the Suburbs-Modern Mom tells funny tales about life behind those suburban doors.

I read so many great bloggers. If I didn't pass the award to you this time I'll get you next time.

Master Your Metabolism? We'll see.

I've started to read Jillian Michael's Master Your Metabolism this week. She starts by telling her own story of how she was a heavy kid and still had trouble managing her weight even when she started working on The Biggest Loser. She was thin and fit but if she deviated from her routine she once gained 15 lbs. in one week. This sounds so familiar to me. I gained 7 lbs. on my 7 day honeymoon without going overboard with the calories. Just like Jillian, the amount of calories I ate should not amount to such a large gain. Also like Jillian at that time, I eat a lot of diet and processed foods. In this book, Jillian explains why toxins like artificial sweeteners damage our metabolisms.

It is not totally new information to me. I was a health and physical education teacher before I chose to stay home with the kids. I know that these food are not great for me. I know real foods for better but I thought that by eating these diet and convenience foods that they would help me lose weight. I thought if I just became stricter in watching my calorie intake that I would lose the weight. Jillian explains scientifically why eating these foods is making losing harder. I know it is sad that my health was not enough to make better eating decisions but I'm ready to make them now.

Jillian makes me want to throw out most of the food in my pantry. In fact she tells you to do so in the book. I can't justify that but I'm going to start buying better food. She advocates eating organic, no can foods, and eating whole grains and whole foods. This is going to be more expensive but I'm going to try to do this often. A big thing for me is giving up the artificial sweeteners. I love my diet soda and Splenda in my tea. Having Jillian continually describe these sweeteners as poison is helping my make that switch. I just need to make adjustments in my diet for real sugar in my tea.

So I'm still reading this book but hoping making these changes can help fix my metabolism. I have a scheduled doctor checkup so maybe the doctor can check my hormone levels too. This week, I did my exercise (JM's Making the Cut) routines. I also added a day of the EA Active Wii workout. It was fun. Dave says he will use it with me too. We'll see if that happens. He is a little obsessed with Beatles Rock Band at the moment. My diet was ok but not great. A little of that dreaded but delicious Valentine's candy made it into the house. I'm not good with temptation. So I neither lost or gained this week. I'm ok with that. Next week will be better.

I'm in no way being compensated to review any of Jillian Michael's books or programs. I'm just writing about them because they are interesting and/or working for me.

Skywatch Friday

Go to Skywatch Friday to see skies from all around the world.

One on One Time

Last week, we had some one on one time with the kids. Dave took Caitlin to a program at the library and Davey and I stayed home and played. I forgot how nice it is to spend one on one time with them. There was no arguing and lots of hugs and kisses. We will have to do that again soon.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 5/52 for me.

Shake Baby Shake!

Caitlin refused to stop dancing so I could take a photo of her Valentine's Day outfit. So here she is shaking it. Head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.

Here is a shot of Maximus shaking it after rolling in the snow.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Project 52: Monopoly

So this week, I decided we would play monopoly for our date night. Dave loves playing it and we hadn't played in a long time. We had fun. But I decided that it was getting late( after playing for over an hour) and that we should put the game in dry dock to finish later. At last, there seems to be no safe place to store the game in our house. This is what it looked like after Davey found it. I feel like we are failing a little on the 52 date challenge. I fell asleep on the first date and now we didn't complete the full game on the second. But I guess the important part is having fun with my husband and connecting more. That I think we have accomplished.

This is date 2 out of 52 for us. Check out Simply Modern Mom's Project 52 to join in on the fun.

i Heart Faces-Dancing

This week's theme at i heart faces is dancing. This is my daughter busting a move. I love how she really gets into it.

Be sure to go to i heart faces to check out all the other beautiful faces.

Conversation Hearts

This is the conversation I had with my four year old Caitlin as we opened her Valentine's cards from her preschool party.

Me: This one is from Logan. It says "Have a monstrous Valentine's Day."

Caitlin: Logan hates me. That is rude.

Me: No, he is not. Monstrous can mean big, like the monster truck on this card.

Caitlin: I'm going to write him a letter.

Me: What are you going to write?

Caitlin: I'm going to tell him it is rude to wish someone a monstrous Valentine's Day.


And I thought that pre-schoolers didn't analyze Valentine's cards.

Mostly Sticking to the Plan

I lost 3.5 lbs this week. Yay me! I saw my brother last weekend, he was the first person to notice I'm losing and getting in better shape. It is nice to see people notice my hard work.

I stuck with the exercise plan from Jillian Micheal's Making the Cut and one extra day of cardio. This is my second time doing the plan. It is nice that the exercises are getting easier, although there are a couple of exercises that I still can not complete the the full set.

I did track my calories most days. I need to do a better job with that so I can continue to loss. After losing and then gaining last month, I fear that the loss is not real. I hope it is not just a normal fluctuation and is really a loss.

So my goal for this coming week is to stick to both the exercise and diet plans. I plan on sending my husband to work with any Valentine candy. Chocolate is my enemy for now. Heck those little conversation heart are not any better either. I'm not good with moderation at the moment.

Snowy Fun

We were suppose to get a foot of snow today. So far we have only got a couple of inches. We went outside after dinner to enjoy the snow.
Snowball fight.

Our small snowmen. And yes Caitlin does have cat whiskers painted on her face. We had to find a way to entertain ourselves today.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 4/52 for me.

I See You!

My kids decided to wear their stylish chocolate covered pretzels as glasses. Head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.





Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Project 52: Hamlet Night

I'm joining Simply Modern Mom's Project 52. The goal is to have a date night with your hubby every week for 52 weeks. The rules are the date needs to be at least 1 hour and no jammies or kids allowed. Some of our dates will be out of the house when we can get a sitter but mostly they will be when the kids are sleeping.

Dave loves Hamlet.

So for our first date, we watched Hamlet. Dave use to be an English teacher. His favorite book to teach was Hamlet. When he left teaching for a better paying job, I promised to watch Hamlet once a year with him. I have not been living up to that promise. I thought our first official date night for project 52 would be a good time to make good on the promise.
I made yogurt parfaits to help make it the night more date-like. Dave gets so excited to explain what is going on. It is like having my own Shakespeare tutor. Unfortunately I fell asleep after an hour of the movie. In my defense, we started the movie at 9pm and I hadn't slept well the night before. I feel awful that I didn't make it through the whole movie. Lesson learned: Plan better. Start the movie earlier. I promise to make it through the whole movie soon.

Tagline Tuesday

I'm finishing up taglines for the whole family. You can look at mine/Secret Mom Thoughts, Caitlin's, and Davey's too.

Here are Maximus's taglines.

• Mischievous but lovable.
• 95 lbs. lap dog.
• Canine garbage disposal.
• This is the only dog you need to keep you warm on a long winter's night.
• Gentle but has been known to knock over small children with his wagging tush.

And here are Dave's taglines:

• 

• Slightly delusional but lovable.
• My partner in crime.
  
• The only thing that keeps me sane in this mad house.
  

Weekly Winners-Week in Review

I used most of these photos earlier in the week but they are the best ones this week.

Maximus and me cuddling.

Maximus earlier this week when he wasn't feeling well. He is doing much better now.

Davey with his crazy Cosby like sweater.

Be sure to go to I am Lotus to check out more weekly winners.

Thank You and Fitness Friday

I wanted to take a minute to thank all my readers for their support. I love each and every comment I get. It is great to know I'm not just talking to myself. Your comments on my Fitness Friday posts are especially appreciated. It is nice to have some extra encouragement to lose the weight. Also a big thank you to all you goggle followers, it is great to see people are following. I was so excited when I hit 100 followers I did a little dance.

I want to thank everyone who sent prayers and well wishes for Maximus too. For those of you following the Maximus saga, we got good news yesterday. He has some level of inverterebral disk degeneration. They have given him a mix of painkiller, steroids, and muscles relaxants. He seems to be feeling better. He is no longer crying and has started to jump up on our bed again. On the brighter side, they are opening The Maximus Wing for Insanely Expensive Pet Care based on all the money we have spent there in the last six months.

I had another bad week diet wise. Totally my fault. Who else can I blame? I am promising myself to get back on the healthy eating band wagon. As you would expect I did gain again. Depressing but I knew it was coming. It is a vicious cycle with me. I lose for a couple of weeks and then I gain it back again. I am back to my starting weight but the positive side of this is I have lost inches due to my more intense workouts. So I'm not as down on myself as I would usually be. I decided to do the Making the Cut workouts for another month. They are super intense, varied, and they are working for me. So next week, I should have stuck to healthy eating and the exercise plan and I should be able to post about a weight loss.

Snowy Day Past

February 2007
Go to Skywatch Friday to see skies from all around the world.

Maximus and Me

Maximus and I cuddling this morning. Maximus is not feeling well. We are waiting for the results of the blood tests but we think he has a neck problem. He is walking very stiffly and appears to be in pain. Hopefully he will get some pain meds today.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 3/52 for me.

WW: Cosby like Sweater

Do you remember the sweaters Bill Cosby wore on The Cosby Show in the 1980s? This set was a gift for Davey from a neighbor. All I could think of was Bill Cosby's sweaters when he received it. Bill never had the hat, which Davey loves the most. Don't forget to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival. And check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos. I love double dipping posts.