A Super 7th Birthday!

Hey y'all! I just wanted to drop in with an update on Remington's Super 7th Birthday party we did this past Sunday.  Geeze! I can't believe my baby is 7... Where has the time gone?!

This boy right here is super sweet and he loves all things Superman. I try to go all out for birthdays, just becuase every kid needs to feel like their birthdays are special.  My kids are lucky enough that their birthdays fall during the school year, so most of the time, they have school kids that get to attend. We invite all the family and I try to go all out... That being said, party prep started FRIDAY & Saturday night...

And then got finished up on Sunday!

Kitchen

Dining Room

Cake Table

Cake... thank God we didn't have the debacle like last time

Cake & Cupcakes

Chocolate covered, cheesecake stuffed strawberries

Kryptonite Krispies & Chocolate dipped pretzles

Living Room

More living room

Cupcake stand in Kitchen

I love doing big parties.. I'm a planner, and I love to constantly have a house full of people. Always.  I love to cook, bake, decorate.... so what better way than with a party!  One day I'll be able to do that full time... One day! :-)

The party got started, the boy opened his presents

 

And blew out the candles...

And a great time was had by all!

my nephew in his Clark Kent glasses

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REMINGTON!!!

Weigh in Wednesday Day 17 of 30

Hi Folks! It's weigh in Wednesday, again! I'm here with an update about the 30 day challenge that I'm doing with Adie.
Sunday's weigh in with her was this:

Which means I only lost .6# last week with the challenge.  I know that my workouts sucked due to the cold weather, but most of it was just because I was too damn lazy! I didn't do any flights of stairs at work, I didn't take any walks, I didn't do a stitch of yoga either.  I've had a lot going on, and while I know that isn't an excuse, my head just hasn't been in it.

Well, that all changed on Saturday.  After some morning shopping and a great lunch with my honey, I went home and worked in the yard for a couple of hours, then detailed out one of my cars for a couple of hours.  Even went and washed and vacuumed it! After, I may or may not have eaten a peep... or two.  But I earned it!

I also started party prep for my sons birthday.  Superman is his party theme this year and I've made the chocolate dipped pretzels and kryptonite krispies.  We're also going to do a black bean and corn salsa, and cheesecake stuffed chocolate dipped strawberries. MMMM...

I try to go all out for my kids birthdays.  Mostly because I remember what a bummer my birthdays were, and I don't want them to feel that way.  Then again, my birthday was always in the middle of the simmer, so kids were less likely to come. Oh well.  Until they say they don't want it, we'll just keep on partying! 

Sunday was SUPER nice (#seewhatididthere?) and I ended up taking the top off the front half of the jeep! 

 

It was so nice! I can't wait till I can leave if off all the time.  Right now, the mornings are chilly, and we're entering tornado season... so that means RAIN. All. The. Time. Speaking of chilly mornings... 

Monday morning, I forgot to put the top back on... so it was a very chilly ride to school! Oh well... I was def awake at work that morning! The top got put back on around noon since it was going to rain.  Still haven't taken it off since then. C'mon nice weather! I'm ready to go topless all the time! (HA!)

Monday night I came home and push mowed the back lawn. It was a workout that I swear lasted an hour... it was only 20 minutes. Blah... Oh well, I came home and moved. That's what's important. Right? 

Tuesday... SUCKED. Seriously.  I've had this kick ass attitude since Saturday and it all went to hell yesterday. I won't go into detail again, but know that it sucked all the way around. I ate so terribly. I felt terrible. I didn't workout. I just didn't.  But, I also DIDN'T have the big old greasy cheeseburger that I wanted either. I DID however eat tacos... with cheese, cheese sauce AND sour cream.  I also ate 15387654324 rice crispy treats.  Yup.  And they were so good.  I ain't even gonna lie. Unfortunately, neither does the scale.

This blows... and I don't even want to talk about it. Seriously. An unfortunately, this is my weigh in at the beginning of the month. Blah... 

Linking up with Heather and Ash over here...

And I also wanted to tell you about a Swag swap going on over with two of my favorite bloggers, Candra and Alicia!

These two ladies have put this group together for people that want to swap some swag that is for fitness or just plain old Diva-ness. All ya gotta do is send an email with your name, pick of category and your info for social medias.  They'll link you up, you swap info with the person you're paired with and then get to swapping! I can't wait to get this thing started!

Hope you all have a happy hump day and that you're doing MUCH better than I am on this whole thing! What do you do when you fall off the wagon? 

Thursday'sYummiest Healthy Food Linkup

***EDIT: I jumped the gun on this, and there is no linkup this week. I'll link this post to the next one I suppose.***

It's that time of the week to linkup with Alicia and Candra for the Yummiest Food that's Healthy too!

 I'm getting to participate this week with a recipe that I tried a couple of weeks ago since going gluten and dairy free with the 30 day challenge with Adie. (you can read more about that, here) I love a good meatloaf and this one did not disappoint. I was actually quite surprised that this turned out so well! Here's the original recipe I found over here ... Pinterest has been a lifesaver for me and this whole gluten thing.

Gluten Free Meatloaf
Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 35 mins Serves: 4
Ingredients
•1 pound lean ground beef
•½ cup rolled oats (use gluten free if necessary)
•¼ cup ketchup, plus 2 Tablespoons
•¼ cup onions, finely minced
•1 egg
•1 teaspoon salt
•½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2.Place all ingredients (except the 2 Tablespoons of ketchup) in a large mixing bowl.
3.Mix together using your hands until well combined.
4.Place ground beef mixture onto a baking sheet and form into a loaf shape, or place into a loaf pan.
5.Spread the remaining ketchup on top of the loaf. 6.Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until meatloaf is cooked through and is no longer pink.
7.Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing to serve.

Now I tweaked it a bit, for my tasting. I added in some garlic powder, some chopped bell pepper, and rand my oats through the blender before adding them... and I may or may not have used more than the recommended amount of ketchup.  Oh, and I added brown sugar to the top.  And I may have greased the pan with my left over bacon grease...

*whaaaat?!*

What I would have done differently: def keep all the listed ingredients, and keep the ones I added too.  I did more than the 2T of ketchup on top, but I think if I would have mixed it with the SPLENDA brown sugar blend (I tried to stay healthy), then it would have went farther and I wouldn't have had to use as much. I also would have added a couple of tablespoons of the brown sugar blend to the meat mix too. You could also add some strips of bacon maybe even turkey bacon) to the top of the loaf as well, if you don't want to grease the pan with your leftover yummy grease. LOL. Don't judge me. We have to fit in all the flavors we miss, without adding AS MANY calories as if we were to eat the real thing.

Anyway, that's my healthier recipe for the week! I really enjoyed it, and so did my honey.  He did request more ketchup though. Hope you're having a great week and that you link up with these lovely ladies!

What are you're favorite healthy recipes?

Tuesday... a happier post

Hi y'all! Sorry about yesterdays Debbie-downer post, but I needed to get it out, and Facebook doesn't allow that many words, or pictures. ;-)

It's Tuesday, and a new day. I'm not bawling... yet. And am seriously trying not to today.  I had a great talk with Ayden's teacher this morning, and am so glad I have her as a friend.  We've been blessed with some of the best teachers in my kids lives, and Ms. Ramsey is one of them.

I mentioned yesterday that I've signed up with Adie of Four Fit Sisters, (yes, those are two separate links) for a 30 day challenge/accountability group. We got our first welcome letter last night, and assigned to a Facebook Group this morning.  It's called the Spring Slim Down group and it starts up Monday, the 17th.  After flying my boy off on Sunday, I'm going to need all the help and motivation I can get for the first week, I'm sure.

Anyway, she'll send out information on better foods to eat, things to cut out of our regular diet, hopefully some meal planning help and she's all about accountability.  We've already got homework of taking measurements and pictures for the start of the challenge! Now, if you've read my blog already, then you know that I just did photos for the beginning of the month, but because this is a new challenge I'm doing, and because I want to really see just how much this helps, I will be doing new photos, weight and measurements on Sunday. I may move my weigh in day around a bit, just so I'm not weighing too much during the week.  I'm a firm believer that if you weigh daily, it can bring you down. So.. Sunday night or Monday morning I'll have a new post up for you, with my starting... well.. everything.  I'll be changing my "before photo" outfit up a bit, as I want to see all of what it helps... BEWARE! lol

So today... and the rest of this week, I feel like I need to be doing some prep work.  Recipe searches, grocery lists, meal planning.  I need to not fail y'all. I NEED this to work. With Ayden leaving, I almost feel like I know I'll fail if I don't have someone pushing me. I'm an emotional eater. I don't want to pack on 15 pounds of crap just because my son is gone for 9 weeks.  I have vacation coming up. I need to drop 5-10 before it gets here. (especially if I want to have any money to spend at Tiffany's like I told y'all about) I have another little boy that I need to be healthy for... and for Ayden for when he comes home. I NEED this, so badly.

Anyone have any gluten free, dairy free recipes they want to send my way? Or healthy make-ahead snacks?

March Madness... in my world

Hey there and Happy March! I wanted to put in writing what my goals are fort his month. Maybe, just maybe, if I do that then I'll be more accountable?

I'm currently (as of weight in Wednesday on 2/26) down 9.6 pounds since January 2nd.  February has been terrible for me and I'm basically a month behind weight loss wise.  The scale literally hasn't moved. I still have so much further to go, but know that it's the little things I need to look forward to, rather than long term. So... Here it is.

March Goals:

Weight loss of 8 pounds. (that's averaging 2 pounds a week)

4 flights of stairs a day (currently doing a minimum of 3 each day)

Work out at least 30 mins a day, 4 times a week. (I'm setting a realistic number here)

Complete #MarchYogaWithJoJo (Challenge Yoga pose a day)

Meal prep and actually eat what you cook (this is the hardest for me at dinner time)

March includes birthday prep for my son's birthday on April 3rd and it also includes Spring break for my boys.  They'll be off for a week, and my oldest is going to his Dad's in Colorado. I'll be able to take a week off of cooking dinner since they probably won't be here, so that might save my diet.  HOWEVER, St. Patrick's day also falls during that week, and that may or may not mean that a Pub Crawl is in play... 

While discussing meal prep- Do any of you have any ideas about calories and what your bodies need? I know what my Loseit App suggests,  and what my FitBit app says, but I'm not so sure it's what I actually need. I've been trying to stay at or under for two months now. This week, I've gone over, but I did it on purpose. Not just because I had too many cheat meals. I decided to up my calories this week and see what kind of a difference it makes with my metabolism.

I know that there are several factors to take into consideration when figuring out how many calories you should consume.  And I have done the research, but I guess I just don't understand it?  I have an 8-5 job that basically consists of me sitting at a desk that whole time, so I know that I am not near as active as I should be.  However, I have recently made the conscience decision to climb the stairs at work (up to an apartment) any time I leave my desk to go to the bathroom (or kitchen). That ups my active time, and if  I stick with my March goals, I'll be able to add much more active time too.  What bothers me, is that the yoga video I do doesn't keep my FitBit active enough to count as very active minutes. (You can read my review of the FitBit Force here) I can input the activity, but again, I really have no exact way of knowing what I'm burning or how my heart rate is. Looks like I'll have to make a secondary investment into a heart rate monitor/calorie counter for that.

Weigh in Wednesday

It's Wednesday again, and you know what to do! Grab a button, link up, and get that weight down!

This weeks number?

I've spent a couple weeks cheating on my diet.  I'm still trying to make sure i log every little thing that goes into my mouth, even if I have to guesstimate.  I've gone over my calories for the past two weeks, and quite frankly, I've been lazy.  I've also enjoyed just about every little calorie I put in my body! lol I'm jumping back on track this week, and so far, I'm doing okay. I meal prepped on Friday night...

and I'm ready to go! There are were 15 meals in that fridge and there is NO EXCUSE to go off track.  I've even got healthy snacks going on too! These are my new (easy) favorite:

But this is my favorite to make at home, right before bed...

That's dark chocolate covered, frozen banana slices, with some fat free cool whip.  YUMMY!!

We've gotten more snow this year than we have previously, which has resulted in more snow days than normal.  I'm lucky enough that sometimes the boys stay with their grandparents the night before in preparation, or Darrell has (most of) the day off and can keep them.  Today, I am home with them.

That's a one hour time lapse on Sunday ya'll...

I was a little worried that I'd go off track today, but I've actually don't really well... and even gotten in a one hour yoga session.

 

This girl feels SOOOO much better now.

Also, do you remember the last NSV I had? Well, here's the "uncovered" photo of the same pants...

Still gross... but it's so much better. :)

And because this is the funniest thing I have seen in a while... Enjoy!

Here's to another healthy week, ladies and gents! Lets make this year count!

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday y'all. Hope your weekend was all our was cracked up to be! Our weekend was rather uneventful. I spent some major time with my oldest boy, Ayden. It's rare I get one on one time with either of them, so it was a nice change.

We watched Calamity Jane like me and my granny used to do...

Then I even let him bring his sleeping bag in and camp out next to my bed.

Jillian kicked my ass Saturday with Yoga Meltdown... literally. My ass and left hip are killing me

I did more food prep and stuff on Sunday.

Baked chicken fajitas were amazing. And not too terrible for you, even after you add a whole wheat tortilla, sour cream, cheese and salsa. Here's the recipe, but I forgot to take a pic.

 Oven Baked fajita Ingredients: 
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips 
2 Tbsp vegetable oil 
2 tsp chili powder 
1 1/2 tsp cumin 
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp dried oregano 
1/4 tsp seasoned salt 
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel) 
1 medium onion, sliced 
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips 
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips 
Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish. In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat. Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are done

Also made some baked chicken with the new Weber's Grill Spice I got free in the mail from Marlboro. Yes, I quit smoking, but I still log in for my free stuff, yo!

I skipped the Jillian challenge Sunday... she hurt me way too much Saturday, so I just stuck with my plain old yoga video. Anything is better than nothing, and her version is just not what I want. Lol

Today starts back the school weeks again. I'm really hoping getting back in a normal routine helps get my kids under control... Sheesh! Also hoping that you teachers that have been off this whole time are rested up, too. My kids will be back in rare form, I'm sure.

My honey is sick this weekend, so it's a good thing he had Sunday and today off work.  He's at home sleeping and recuperating, I'm assuming.  Poor thing. lol

How was your weekend and whats on the agenda this week?