New school new beginning

This year, just as we have in previous years, we put our names in the bucket for the arts infused magnet school.  We thought surely with 3 kids we would stand a better chance of getting a slot.  Not only that we had a kindergartener. 

We waited till lottery day

And no dice.

So we were OK with the decision and geared up for another year at the bigs school and starting E at the primary school.

I should be clear.  They have received a great education at the schools they have attended.  They are smart, have friends, get great grades and love going back every day so they are doing something right.

A weeks before school started I got a call.  Your child has been selected for a lottery spot this am.  Which child?  A.  My super bright aspie.  ACK.  The one who I knew would excell, but might be the most reluctant to switch schools.

So we loaded up the car and went to check the school out.  He was mesmerized....ceramics...steel drums...news crew...  So I let him make the decision.

He chose to go.  Yay!  But this then meant I would have 3 kids in 3 different schools, and A's new school doesn't run busses...so I would have to drop off/pick them up every day.

Then the Friday before school started at 4pm we got a call that E got in too.  She was apprehensive because she had already met her teacher and some of her classmates, but in the end she too decided to go to the new school.

So last week was their first week.  And they have had a great week.  I didn't get a slot, but she did get into the gifted class and she is really excited about that.

I am excited and hopeful for the new school year, fingers crossed the year goes by without a hitch!

One

Today was the first day of the year.  Last night the kids stayed up til midnight and rang in the new year by playing wii and having a great time.

Today the reality of staying up so late was unbearable and the kids were in bed asleep by 6:30.

I guess it's good though.  The second half of school starts back on Monday and it takes a few days for the kids to get back on track.

Hubs works tomorrow so me and the kids will probably work on laundry and maybe watch movie or two. 

I need to make out our meal plan for the next 2 weeks.  We have some things coming up so we need to budget tightly the next few paychecks.  

One of our goals for the year is to pay down on debt we owe.   In fact it's of high priority.  It will be nice to be free of it all buy it will take a lot of hard work.

End of the road 2014

I really neglected the blog this last year.  Not one single post in 2014.   I thought about it more times than I can count but I never felt I had a while lot to say or that what I did have to say I really didn't want a while lot of people to read.   I decided to start it back up.   I guess to be more of documentation for me than foe the readers at large.  

2014 brought several surprises and disappointments.  I had my first nephew born.  I found out we were expecting #4.  Subsequently we found out we had lost #4.  Eve started her last year of preschool. Andrew was diagnosed with ASD/ADHD.  Isabel made her school chorus. Mike works just as much....sometimes more.  We went to arkansas.  To disneyworld. And camping for spring break (it was super cold).

We laughed a lot. Loved a lot. Lost a lot.  Cried a lot.

We are thankful for what we have.   But are not too content in where we are to give up on things that may seem out of reach.

Moving on

So it's been a while since I have blogged.  But I am back.  I have decided to move all the fitness/weight loss stuff onto another blog and use this one for rants, brags, and reviews....and for just about anything else I see fit.  This is a busy week for us - Holidays, parties, early release days, dr appts, dentist appts.....for some reason trying to cram it all in one week.  Yeah what was I thinking!.

I have added a little banner to the right of the page because I became an influenster recently.  I have several reviews to do because I got my first box which was the MamaVoxBox.  However I have been chosen to get the Violetvoxbox so I am excited to see what I get in it next! So stay tuned!

Day 3 and 4

Everything seems to be going great.  Interestingly the craving aren't too bad this time around.  I haven't been had a cup of coffee yet - mostly because it has been spring break and the kids and I have slept till after 9am most of the time.   Next week when the kids are back in school I plan to kick up some dust on the treadmill, but this week proved too difficult because every time I tried I got thwarted by someone needing me for some sort of "emergency" or another.  Tonight (if the kids have their rooms clean) we promised them we'd do s'mores and hot dogs on the fire. I kinda doubt this is going to go down - mainly because of the stateof their room last night as they went to bed, but if it does I will allow myself one s'more :)

DAY 2 - welcome back spinach

Spinach - I protested eating it for years - now I love it, especially cheesy spinach.  Today was good, I woke up late so I just had a light snack for breakfast.  Followed by a turkey wrap for lunch (low carb tortillas) and then a bun-less hamburger patty with cheesy spinach for dinner.

So this was day 3 of the kids spring break.  Yesterday we loaded up their bikes and took them to the park/walking track and walked/biked once around.  Today we took the kids to play their first game of putt putt golf then for ice cream.  Tomorrow we were supposed to go to the Aquarium, but since the weather is supposed to be rainy, so we may make it a day of movies and stay curled up on the couch.

Day one of Round 2

I came so close to making my goal last month - but failed.  I took it out on my Easter feast and ate creamy mac and cheese, potatoes, and cheesecake.  Today I started round 2 up 6lbs from where I ended round 1.  So I am starting back on the Atkins Induction today.  Another girl in our group lost quite a bit on the low glycemic diet, so I am debating on after my 2 week induction to go into the low GI diet.  I need to first read a bit more, so I plan to buy a book here in the next day or two to see if it is right for me.  I know from my guide to PCOS that both the low GI and Atkins diet are both recommended for PCOS so I might switch - but who knows!

Almost there

So as of today I have lost 16.8lbs.  (my ticker only shows 16.7 - but lose it shows 16.8....I'm going with the bigger number ;) )

My goal for the first 3 months was 20lbs - so I have 3.2 to get there, and 14 days to do it.  

My next goal will be another 20lbs by the end of June.  That equals to about 1.5 lbs a week starting June 1st.  I know that some weeks will be more, some weeks I will fail and gain, but I really do think I can make my goal.

I am also pretty much done with induction.  However I plan to stay low carb, just in the 30-40 carb range instead of under 20.  Of course I will adjust this if I stop losing, but it should give me a little more flexibility with my food planning.

death by carbs

So I did really good, stayed on track till this weekend.  I was so looking forward to eating some carbs, especially cheesecake.  I did pretty good - I ate baked salmon and steamed broccoli for lunch (ok it also came with mashed potatoes - but I seriously only ate a bite or two.

We then went shopping, Andrew got lots of new clothes from Brothers (super great sale!) and the kids got a Lego set, and I got them some stuff for Easter at the Disney store.

Then it came....CHEESECAKE....a huge case of choices...Mike got red velvet, I got vanilla bean....I kinda panicked with all the choices and went with something simple, which still, it was sooo delicious.  We only got 2 pieces for the 5 of us, so I only ate about 1/3 of a slice, but honestly as good as it was what came next I could have did without.  I ended up getting sick at my stomach, then a migraine ...a migraine that is still here 24 hours later.

Tomorrow I am going back into another week of induction to clear the carbs from my system.  Tomorrow I will post photos from the trip!

My review - Super Chili bowl.

So yesterday I posed my meal plan part one.  Today I was to try out a new recipe for Super Chili Bowl.

Next time I will take photos ( I promise)

Overall the recipe was super easy to make.

I omitted the jalapenos (we were out)

The taste of cinnamon was different.  I am not saying it was bad...just not your normal chili taste...next time I may omit it and see if it tastes any different.

The best thing, it gave me another induction friendly recipe in my arsenal.


So today I searched for a few more - one thing I came across was a cheesecake/muffin hybrid made with cream cheese, eggs, and splenda.  I am intrigued and my make it in the near future to see how it goes, if so I'll be sure to actually document it and share it with all of you :)

March Menu part 1.

As predicted I completed my menu for the month....hey I can't eat my homework...lol  I have included links to recipes I am using,

3rd - Steak and salad

4th - Chili 

5th - Cheddar burgers (bunless) - cheesy spinach

6th - Spanish chicken and salad

7th - Baked tilapia with homemade rub with cheesy broccoli

8th - Burger (we are going out - and eating at Red Robin = YUM! - you can get your burgers here on a lettuce bun - the bacon cheeseburger with no bun is only 3 carbs)

9th - well all bets are off this day - we are making our annual voyage to the Cheesecake factory - then going to a hockey game.  I have no intention of skipping the cheesecake factory however I will not eat a whole piece by myself (last time we split 2 pieces between the 5 of us)

Back on the low carb track....

10th - pigs in blankets (minus the bread) with salad

11th - baked rotisserie chicken with cheesy spinach

12th - smothered pork chops with cheesy cauliflower (will sub crushed pork rinds in place of bread crumbs)

13th - baked salmon (with homemade rub) - salad

Until the 8th this meal is for lunches because my husband works at night.  When we return from our trip he starts working days, so this will be for dinner.  My meals from when he's not here usually consist of leftovers from the night before.  My plan is to go grocery shopping again on the 13th, but before then I will make my next half of the menu.

I have decided that even though I should be done with induction on the 7th, I am going to start it again on the  11th and do one more week before adding more carbs. 

Day lost count

So today I slept in (yay) and totally missed breakfast.  For lunch I had leftover cheesy spinach and baked chicken.  IT WAS DELICIOUS. For years I hated spinach, of course the spinach I grew up on was the spinach that either came from a can or was home canned by someone in my family.  I hated it, I hated the texture, the taste, pretty much everything about it.  Then about 9 years ago I was introduced to creamed spinach....OMG.  Then came spinach artichoke dip...OMG OMG.  from then it escalated into a love of spinach.  I still refuse to eat it from a can, but I have the frozen kind a few times a week (even when I am not doing low carb).  Best thing of all....my kids love it.  Andrew had almost a full cup of it, Eve ate a good portion of it, but Iz (who normally gobbles it up) only ate a few bites, but she is what I like to call "food moody"  one day she will eat something  and ask for seconds, the very next time she refuses to eat any.

Case in point. Spaghetti. Iz used to eat spaghetti like it was going out of style.  Now she will eat noodles, she will eat the sauce, but she balks at eating the two together...drives me batty!

So, I am hoping to get my meal plan up on here in the next day or two.  I have homework due tonight, so I'll probably use a meal plan as procrastination tool to push my homework back to the last possible minute :)

Day 8 and 9

Day 8 of Induction went great - not a lot to say.  I ate meat, cheese, and veggies.

Day 9 - Well it started as normal - I had my cup of coffee, was running late to my hair appt so no time to eat.  Finished my hair appt - ran to Chuck E Cheese's  stayed away from cokes, cake, and pizza.  Ran to Target, picked up tights and then had to deal with the mist incompetent check out lady ever.  Then we got home....It was 1:30, I was starving, I had no meat thawed out...so cheated....I ate one of those prepackaged small ice cream sundaes....it was 16 carbs, but it was pure heaven and I didn't care....in fact I still don't care right now. I'll finish the day as if it never happened and move on :)

day 4-7

Days 4-7 have kinda flew by, I have stuck on target and I am kinda excited to see where I am at tomorrow. My cravings have been less, my headache finally went away, but I noticed my temper seems a little short with people.  While on induction this week I have started browsing for low carb recipes to try.  Yesterday we had "mexican chicken" - made with ground chicken, onion powder, granulated garlic, rotel, heavy cream and cheddar cheese.  I have to say it was quite tasty and while I did miss the crunch you normally get from the chips, I decided it was an acceptable substitute for the real thing.  Today we are going to eat some grilled pork chops and cheesy spinach for lunch/dinner.  Hubs doesn't work this weekend, so we will get to experiment a little more on some eating - plus we got PAID and I will get to load my pantry with low carb goodies once again :)

Day 3

Induction Day 3 didn't turn out too bad.  It could have been much better if I would have gotten to sleep in, but NO, my kids decided to wake up at 5am and go wild, so we got up and made them clean the entire second floor.  We told them no breakfast till it was all picked up.  Needless to say we didn't even eat breakfast 'til almost 11.  BUT their rooms are clean, as is the loft....I however would feel much better if I could get some carbs in me for a quick pick me up.  Since that isn't possible, I ate dinner (braised chicken and broccoli) and drank my one glass of tea (with truvia) and now it's time to watch the Oscars and muddle through my homework.

Induction Day 2

I am on day 2 of Induction.  I have had a headache most of the day....I haven't craved too many carbs....but I know it's coming.  I stayed at 20 carbs yesterday, 19 today.  2 days down, 5 to go.  I didn't exercise today, I instead was in crafty mode.  Iz and Eve no longer have curtains because they keep pulling them down, so I saw a cute idea on pinterest and I have worked most of the day on that....I will share photos once it is finished.  Eve and I also worked on hair bows. Unfortunately I can't find my clips, so we made part of the bows, now I have to go back and add clips to it once I make a run to AC Moore.

Induction

So a friend and I are going to try Atkins for a while - Today starts 14 days of hell - known as "Induction."  The name alone is bad enough.  I mean couldn't they have called it Heaven....or Vacation....or Retirement...anything but Induction.  So yesterday I kinda did carb overload to prep for 14 days with only 280 - 350 carbs total (I have one sheet that says 20 carbs a day - another that says 25).  What can I eat?  Meat, cheese, meat, low carb veggies, oh and meat.  For breakfast I had my cup of coffee with 1 tsp of sugar (instead my normal 3) and 2 eggs, cheddar cheese, and a handful of bacon.  Yeah I said it...Bacon.  If there is one good thing (ok two good things) it's the fact I can eat 2...3...4...5...heck I can eat all the bacon I want because I can. Which reminds me I need to get more bacon.  The bacon we have is maple bacon - which has carbs, so I need to get regular bacon.  I have went through this before - years ago.  Even bought the testing strips to monitor ketosis.  so I know about day 4-10 I will be in a fog...a carb hungry, mind boggling fog.  but it will clear and I will live.  :)

Word of the day....procrastination

pro·cras·ti·na·tion

 [proh-kras-tuh-ney-shuhn, pruh‐] refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time.

So I am in my last semester of school, 2 weeks in and already my favorite word has snuck back  into my vocabulary... PROCRASTINATION.

Here I sit, 5 hours and 10 minutes till my assignment is due and I instead decide to write a blog.  A blog I have neglected for the last few months, but suddenly I NEED to update.

And now here I sit - updating the blog instead of doing homework. Thinking of all the fun things I could do or say on here....like update everyone on the trips we have taken, or the holidays, or a million other things that are going on.

But now, I really will close this blog because I cannot procrastinate any longer :)

Until Next Time!

3 more sleeps...

Remember the Disney commercial where the kids can't sleep - then the adults can't sleep all because they are going to Disney World the next day...

Well this is us....except it is still 3 sleeps till Disneyland.  

Unfortunately I have a to do list that is about a mile long.  It also seems like as soon as I cross one item off the list I add 2 more to the bottom.

Thankfully the kids are packed, and hubby is packed, so it's just me and all the other non-clothing crap.

We have all our reservations made for meals.  Some of those we are trying...

Rainforest cafe

Storytellers breakfast

Goofy's dinner

Ariel's Grotto

Surf's up breakfast

Minnie's breakfast

Carthay Circle

Steakhouse 55

Cafe Orleans

Naples

Oh and at some point DH must have In-N-Out.  We have decided to take some snacks with us...pop tarts, granola bars, cold fish, animal crackers, fruit pouches, etc.  just to save one some snacks for the kids.

I am really going to try and update this blog as our trip progresses so that way I won't have to try and do it after (yeah I still don't have our trip from Feb up and going - lol)

Well, it's time to get to sleep so I will only have 2 sleeps left!

It all starts with a wish....

Have you ever wished you could win a free vacation?

Well, I won a trip to Disneyland.  Well ACTUALLY I won a trip to my choice...Disney World or Disneyland.  Cool eh?

Upon talking to some people they were amazed that I wouldn't choose WDW.  Well the truth is uhm I won the trip in January, and we already had a 8 night trip planned in Feb....so we decided to mix it up a bit.

One thing you much know - everyone thinks a free vacation is awesome, so let me assure you it is TOTALLY awesome (SQUEE)  there are a few drawbacks....

• If you are a larger family you must pay for them out of pocket (555 for one ticket for DH to fly as our 5th...and thankfully our 5th was Eve and she is 2 so parks, room, food at buffets....well she still gets for free)
• Other expenses...ie kennel for our dogs, money to vaccinate said dogs because their kennel cough vaccine runs out 2 weeks before our trip, money to extend our trip by a few days (figured why not since we are already there), parking at the airport.
• Taxes on the trip....hopefully it isn't that bad....hopefully...lol (I will update you)

So we have everything - our travel vouchers for the bus to take us from the airport to Disneyland and back, dogs have their boarding reservations, pins for trading have been bought, stroller tires are aired up (still on the fence as to take it or not).  But we are no where ready to actually go yet....

I have a small packing list...well 4 pages so far 

• one for meds (which I had to buy pill versions of for the flight - I figure we would use it anyway at some point either her or there so I might as well get some just in case) 
• one for stuff in the carry on
• one for clothes
• one of things I still need to buy

On top of all of this I am knee deep in my semester of grad school and I have homework due tonight, so that's it from me tonight - see ya tomorrow :)