Humidity Relief

No, not a break in the weather. It hit 37C (98F) here today with the humidex (heat index I think in the US). Ewwwwwww. However, I had a light bulb moment and suddenly remembered my brother-in-law giving us a kiddie pool a couple years back. I had tried to refuse it, saying we had a perfectly good one, but he insisted since we may need it later. Well sure enough, last year our pool got a hole in it and it hit the trash. We found a similar one, but with Lee laid off, $40 is a little out of budget. I swear the kids wanted to kiss Uncle Steph's feet this afternoon LOL

Brianna wouldn't even wait for the pool to fill up!

Once she got over the initial shock of "this aint my bath!" Olivia looooved it!

Apparently "swimming" for 20 minutes is very tiring

Menu Plan Monday

Last week got slightly side tracked toward the end. Mostly cause I forgot what I had planned and didn't bother checking here lol

Monday - Ground Beef Stew (vegetarian with TVP instead) (from last week)

Tuesday - Stuffing Quiche (from last week)

Wednesday - Ham Steaks w/ Primavera Potato Bites

Thursday - Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Chili Pepper (made with regular pasta) (from last week)

Friday - BBQ including Turkey Stuffed Burgers (but with ground beef)

Saturday - Pork Roast w/ carrots and potatoes

Sunday -Lazy Lasagna Roll Ups

Hopefully I'll get around to making....
Breakfast Cookies
Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes (without the icing)
Stuffin Egg Muffins

Check out hundreds of other menu plans at Organizing Junkie!

12 Week Sprint to the Finish!

I've joined in with one of my homeschool friends, Kris, on her weight-loss blog in a 12 week challenge. I forgot all about it until now and have failed miserably for today *blush* So we're starting this as of tomorrow lol

My overall goal for the challenge (which ends Aug 22) is to lose 15lbs. I actually do hope to lose more than that, but I know how ill my body reacts to summer and humidity so I don't want to kill myself trying to push for 20+lbs. I also want to have my 1.86m route down to 23 minutes or less. Right now I'm over 25 minutes.

My goals for the week are:
Nutritional: I will start tracking in Daily Plate again. I have totally slacked off here, and while I *have* lost a bit of weight, I feel I would have done better if I was tracking. I will drink 80+oz of water each day. With the hotter weather coming I really need to do it anyways, but I noticed I was losing easier when I had a lot of water in my diet. I will eat breakfast everyday *before* 10am. I stopped eating breakfast for a few weeks (a life long bad habit) and have noticed even after eating lunch I am starving by 3pm.

Physical: I will walk at least 6 miles this week. I've gotten lazy lately and have not even hit 4 miles in recent weeks. I will do 2 days of my walk/run program. I've started doing this in the park and find it much more enjoyable than the treadmill. I will do at least one days of weights. My main motivation for this is to keep my skin flexible as I lose weight so I don't get as much sagging.

I even wrote my goals out on a sticky so I can see them without having to remember to check my blog

Five Question Friday

 Yeah, I'm awesomer this week and am doing my Friday questions on Sunday.... I'm behind in reading my blogs....

1. Do you apologize to your kids? Absolutely, if I did something wrong I say I'm sorry. It's hard to teach apologizing if you're unwilling to do it!

2. What color are your nails right now? An awesome teal color :D

3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good".) For me it was more how could I pretend to be healthy so I didn't have to stay home! I loved school so I'd whine to go in when I was sick.

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed? About 3 yrs ago. It sucks and we need a new one.

5. Favorite website(s)? Well, I'd say my daily visited ones would be facebook, blogger and several random homeschool ones.

See other people's answers at My Little Life!

Exercise Log - Week 15

Not horrible, not good. I had hoped to get in a walk today, but the evil humidity bug hit. I know, I know, I coulda gone this evening once the heat was better, but by then I was pooped from cleaning and organizing all day!

Mileage: 3.94m
Time: 1h 27m

Also spent about 2.5 hrs putting in the garden. Tilling by hand and planting.

Milestone

The day Isaac was born (almost 12 years ago) I weighed 176lbs. This morning I weighed in at 175.8lbs! I haven't been so light in sooooo long!

I have a weird thing happen after I have kids. Rather than lose weight (and I nursed all of them), I gain it. I mean sure, the day my kids are born I lose about 10lbs. But by the time they're like 4 mths old I've gained more than I gained through my whole pregnancy! I've struggled so long with the roller coaster that is my weight.

Isaac
Pre-pregnancy weight - 137lbs
9 mths - 175lbs
Brianna
Pre-pregnancy - 187
9 mths - 200lbs
(Here there was a 7 yr stretch where I had lots of weight ups and downs)
Olivia
Pre-pregnancy - 202lbs
9 mths - 209lbs (Funnily enough, I had weight loss issues during this pregnancy)

This time around I'm actually seeing my weigh going down, and not just by a couple pounds. This time I'm down over 30lbs. Not UP 30lbs, but DOWN. I've never had that happen before.

I also discovered today, that in 1.8lbs I will officially be out of the obese category! Never in my adult life have I been simply over weight. I've always been obese. Never has "overweight" sounded so good!

Questions....

A questionnaire is floating around blogland and I thought I'd post it if anyone has any interested in the oddities of me :) Feel free to post it yourself, leave me the link to yours in my comments!

What is your middle name? Lynn... I hate it. Especially with my first name (Sandra), you say them together and it sounds like a hick name. Which my sisters loooove to make fun of *gee thanks* :P

How big is your bed? Double. A lot of people's jaws drop at this, but I'm happy with my double. Me and Lee and my giant body pillow fit just fine in it. Oh, and don't forget the cat....
 
What are you listening to right now? Other than the radio, blissful silence

What was the last thing you ate? Supper. And amazingly, what it (----->) say I was supposed to make for supper today!
 
How is the weather right now? Clear and getting chilly not that the sun has gone down. The clouds are supposed to be rolling in for rain tonight (and the next 3 days *sigh*)
 
Do you want children? I *have* children, but that's not the question... Most of the time I want children... course there's days that Olivia's teething and Brianna's refusing to do school work that I don't want them! (j/k!)
 
Hair color? Which layer? The part that's dyed is dark reddish brown. The 3 inches of roots is dark brown with growing amounts of gray.
 
Do you wear contacts? I'll stick with glasses, I'm not a fan of stabbing myself in the eye several times a day
 
Last Movie you watched? Um... in the theater? 21. About 2 yrs ago lol Any movie at all? Um... ah... oh yeah! Shut Up and Sing. Do documentaries count?

What books are you reading? Do Brianna' school books count? Amazingly I'm not reading anything of my own right now (that would explain why I'm a month behind on my reading challenge!)
 
What were you doing before filling this out? Delivering Avon books for my sister
 
Have you ever fired a gun? Nope, and I hope that answer never changes!
 
If you could go to any place right now where would you go? Into my bed with a laptop. Course then I'd need a laptop with internet connection... then I'd never leave my bed... maybe it's better this way....
 
Are you missing someone? Well I hope not! Everyone here is accounted for other than mom, who I know is at work!
 
Are you hiding something from someone right now? I'm hiding from myself how much I ate for lunch *shhhh*
 
3 things you can't live without? Family, music, books
 
Stuck on a deserted island, and can only bring one thing? Since it's a thing I guess that doesn't include my family, so I'd say an MP3 player with like 500 songs and unlimited powered batteries
 
What do you usually do when the alarm turns on? Why is it set?!?! I don't use an alarm
 
What do you think about before you go to bed? Ok, stop moving, breathe even, pretend that doesn't itch, cat - get off my feet! (or something similar)

Menu Plan Monday

Wooo! For the first time in any menu planning I've ever done, I actually made everything on my menu last week, on the days they were planned for!

Monday -  Bean and Cheese Burrito Casserole (with ground beef)

Tuesday - A bunch of random/leftover stuff thrown in a pan and called supper lol

Wednesday - Spicy Chicken Casserole

Thursday -  Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Chili Pepper (made with regular pasta)

Friday - Ground Beef Stew

Saturday - Stuffing Quiche

Sunday - probably a BBQ, otherwise, Lee's cooking

A couple of non-supper recipes I'll be trying are:
Breakfast Cookies
Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes (without the icing)
Stuffin Egg Muffins

Check out hundreds of other menu plans at Organizing Junkie!

Wooo!

I knocked 1m 29s off my walk/run around the park today!

Exercise Log - Week 14

Not as much as I hoped for, but at least I got *something* in!

Mileage: 3.41 miles
Time: 1h 3m

Also did about 30-45 mins garden work (digging up grass and moving sod)

Five Question Friday

Found a new link up to follow! It's called Five Question Friday. I know, I know, it's Saturday, but I only found it today!

1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?

Not often, maybe once or twice a week. With Lee laid off, he goes to bed whenever. Usually sometime between midnight and 3am. I go to bed between 10pm and midnight. He still gets up with the kids in the morning so I don't mind. However, even when he was working, he got up at 3am and was gone by 4am so he went to bed between 8-10pm, and of course I went to bed at my normal times.

2. A question for the ladies...What kind of facial hair do you like on your man?

If I could get him to shave 2-3 times a day, I'd love it! I hate facial hair, not just on Lee, but on anyone. 

3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?

Brianna was about a year, Isaac was 4, we went to Super Aqua Club in Laval, just outside Montreal. The trip itself was fine, the water park was lots of fun, it was just all sorts of little things. Brianna slept with a bottle of water. She used sippies all day but a bottle of water at night. We forgot a bottle. We tried to get her to sleep without it and it may have worked if we were at home, but a different place, a different kind of bed (the hotel provided playpens) AND no bottle? No way. So at like 11pm we went looking for ANYTHING that was open that would sell bottles. We found there was a grocery across the highway from our hotel. Anyone who lives/has traveled in Montreal knows that only *sounds* close. We didn't get back to the hotel with the bottle for over an hour. Then the next night we got lost again (this time looking for a restaurant for supper) and ended up in a car accident with a young woman who hardly spoke any English. Thankfully her father who she called was bilingual. Also thankfully, it was just a dinner plate sized dent in front of the driver's door, so it was perfectly driveable.

4. What's the first-ever blog you followed?

I can't really remember my *first* blog. When I discovered blogs (and gave a crap what they were) it was around the time I was looking into homeschooling late last summer/early last fall. These are 3 of the first blogs I know I've been following since near the "beginning"

A Year of Slow Cooking (I loooooove my crock pots (yes, that's plural), and this blog is awesome!)

My Life as a Help Meet and Homeschooling Mom of Many (a fellow July 09 mom. She's ultra conservative religious, so if that's not your thing, just skip this one. I'm not, but her kids are just too darn cute!)

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers (a totally awesome homeschooling blog. I link up here for a weekly wrap up)

5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?

Yes and no. I'm not really a rides person. I like kiddie-land. I'm terrified of rollercoasters (even the ones in kiddie-land!), and don't like anything that tips you on your side or upside down. My all-time favorite ride is the Gravitron, but sadly, my local yearly fair-type-thing doesn't offer this ride anymore. I do love amusement park games though. Which is funny cause the most often offered prize is stuffed animals and I hate those LOL

Linking up with My Little Life

Walking

I did Brianna's 3km (1.86m) route by myself tonight. My time was 26m 21s. Not happy. I even did 3 little running spurts in there. I know what the problem is though, my walking pace after I stop running is too slow. It was however, my first time running outside though, so I did have some slight incline changes. I hope to get a few more walk/runs in by myself to get the start/stop places in and then get Brianna to do the same walk/run with me. If they weather would stay nicer for more than 5 minutes too, we'd be able to get more walks in!

Exercise Log - Week 13

Crap all! Well, walking at least. Yup, we had a beautiful week and I did nooooooooooothing. And I probably won't get much done this week either since it's gonna rain all week.

I did at least shovel dirt for about an hour, trying to even out my garden after adding 4,346,876 sq feet of dirt. But yeah, that's it for the whole week.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday -  Sausage and Corn Casserole (from last week)

Tuesday - Chili (crockpot) (from last week)

Wednesday - Quick Tuna Salad

Thursday -  Pork chops and Roasted Carrots

Friday - Beef Taco Nuggets (minus the sauce) and mixed veggies

Saturday - Whatever Lee Makes

Sunday - Spaghetti and Spicy Rice Balls

A couple of non-supper recipes I'll be trying are:
Breakfast Cookies
Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes (without the icing)

Check out hundreds of other menu plans at Organizing Junkie!

Toys

I've been called something of a toy nazi. I just happen to think that kids don't need all the toys in the store to be happy! I would also rather my kids use their imagination and their brain than swim through thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of toys.

In a practical sense, we also just plain ole don't have the room nor the financial means to give up for the latest cool commercial touted things. I'd rather spend out space and money on things that will last more than 5 minutes and things that will bring REAL entertainment or meaning to our lives.

Our house is approx 750 sq feet. In it we house 3 adults, 2 kids and a cat. We are lucky enough to have a "toy room" which is more and more becoming a "schoolish" room. Really, it's an oversized hallway with a window at the end of it. It's about 6x8 feet. There's also 3 doorways and a staircase = no wall space. The girls shared bedroom is about 10x12. That's feet. I know people who's bathrooms are bigger. Then there's our living room that's a spacious 12x14 (feet). Again, people have bathrooms that are bigger. Needless to say, we don't have a lot of room for extras.

Going back to spending money and space on things that will last more than 5 minutes and things that will bring REAL entertainment or meaning to our lives.... I love educational toys. I love books. I love real-life play toys. I love craft stuff. Generally stuff that will have  long shelf life.

My kids share toys. I am grateful that Brianna is not the kind of child who demands the latest things. Maybe she would be if I bought them, but she knows I won't. Olivia of course, doesn't care. So I buy toys that appeal to both age groups, will last a long time and can be used in a variety of ways or situations.

My favorite toys:
- Books
- Lego/Mega Blocks
- Wooden Blocks
- Wooden Train Set
- Play Kitchen and Foods
- Cars
- Any Type of Craft Supply
- Baby Type Dolls (not barbies)

These are toys that my children don't get bored with in 10 minutes. These are toys that my children can learn from. These are toys (if quality items are acquired) that will last their whole childhood.

200 Posts!

I thought I'd post a stats post as my 200th post.

Top Posts
Menu Plan Monday
Blog Party!
Toaster Ovens Rock!
New Year, New Goals
Random Tuesday

Top Referring Sites
I'm An Organizing Junkie
Blogger
5 Minutes For Mom
The Un Mom
Facebook

Top Searched
Kids Walking Log

Reader Stats
Most users are from Canada with the USA a close 2nd
Most people are using Mozilla with IE trailing behind
Not surprisingly, more than 90% of readers are using a Windows OS

I know most people don't care about this kind of stuff, but I've always loved random stats!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was a very blah and run down week in which it rained 5 of 7 days, I was out of town on Sat and spent most of Sunday lazing in bed. Needless to say, there's several hold overs from last week's menu. I hope to actually get them all made this week!

Monday -  Pita Pizzas

Tuesday - Apple Chicken Nuggets and Potato Coins

Wednesday - Black Bean and Rice Burgers (from last week)

Thursday -  Mexican Casserole

Friday - Sausage and Corn Casserole (from last week)

Saturday - Chili (crockpot) (from last week)

Sunday - Bacon Quiche Pie (though not gluten free like the recipe linked) (from last week)

A couple of non-supper recipes I'll be trying are:
Breakfast Cookies
Carrot and Apple Muffins
Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes (without the icing)

Check out hundreds of other menu plans at Organizing Junkie!

Exercise Log - Week 12

I didn't do much this week cause we had non stop rain all week. I made up for it on Saturday though with almost 8 miles of walking! I also moved a bunch of garden stones from the back to the front yard. They weighed a ton!

Mileage: 10.12 miles
Time: 3 hours 39 mins

Puddles!

Olivia loooooves her ducky rain coat and boots and today we went out in search of puddles

Menu Plan Monday

I'm spending a lot of time and effort trying to not have to buy anything at the grocery store right now. Lee's lay off makes that hard to do, plus we have loads of food right here in our cupboards already. Lacking fresh stuff (dairy, produce...) makes it hard, but we're managing!

Monday - Tuna Noodles

Tuesday - Festive Frittata

Wednesday - Black Bean and Rice Burgers (from last week)

Thursday - Tuna Pasta Salad

Friday - Sausage and Corn Casserole

Saturday - Chili (crockpot)

Sunday - Bacon Quiche Pie (though not gluten free like the recipe linked)

A couple of non-supper recipes I'll be trying are:
Breakfast Cookies
Scrambled Egg Muffins
Carrot and Apple Muffins

Come check out hundreds of other menu plans at Organizing Junkie

Exercise Log - Week 11

Did pretty well this week since we had nice weather. I didn't do any treadmill/C25K this week though. No reason, just didn't get to it.

Mileage: 8.12 miles
Time: 2h 10m

Walking

Mine and Brianna's time for our 3km walk was 27 mins 46 sec. I was amazed at that cause I felt slowed down by the shin splint I developed only 5 minutes into the walk. I guess that really means I'm getting into better shape!

My Weight Loss

A friend of mine posted a similar post and I thought I'd throw mine out there too!

My loss since my highest weight (9 mths pg with Olivia) - 32.6lbs
My loss since I started losing weight this round - 15.8lbs
Weight to lose until my first major goal - 9.2lbs (25lbs lost since starting again in Jan)
Weight to lose til my final goal - 26.4lbs (150lbs is my goal)

I didn't measure myself this time. I do have my measurements from when I was about 5lbs from my top weight around somewhere. I have dropped from wearing size 18 or so pants and 1X - 2X tops to wearing size 12 - 14 pants and L - XL tops.

Berry Muffins

Got this great muffin recipe from one of my blogger friends. I switched it up a little so I'll post how I did it (you'll notice she used a strudel, I don't like strudel so skipped that whole part)

Ingredients
1 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c wheat bran
1 c rolled oats
1 T baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt

3/4 c honey
1 c plain yogurt

1/2 cup raspberry yogurt
1 6oz container of blueberry yogurt
1/2 c milk
3 T unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1 c each frozen blueberries and raspberries

Prepare muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray or paper cups. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dry muffin ingredients well. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients except berries and beat together well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and beat firmly and quickly until just thoroughly moistened. Add berries and fold in gently. Divide into muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in muffin tin and the move to a wire rack. Makes about 30-32 small muffins or 18 larger muffins. (Adjust cooking time for larger muffins.) ***This made 18 regular sized muffins and 18 mini muffins for me***

With the ingredients as I wrote them, it's only 104 calories per muffin and 2g fiber, 3g protein and less than a g of fat! Wooooo!

Lee says they compare in yumminess with Tim Horton's Fruit Explosion muffins. Which is aweeeeeesome considering the nutritional facts of my muffins compared to Tim's (360 cals and 11g of fat!)