Weigh In Wednesday #17 of 2017

So one of my 2017 goals is to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year. This is a necessity for me, as in the last few months I have gained 15 pounds. That is not good. I want to be healthier and feel better about myself. 

In order to keep me accountable, I am hoping to come back each Wednesday to share my weigh in and my successes and failures from the previous week. So let's hop to it and see how I did this past week, shall we?

SO HOW DID THIS WEEK GO??? 

My official starting weight (on 1/1/2017) was: 242.0 pounds!

My weight last week was: 234.2 pounds.

My weight this week is: 233.8 pounds. 

So a loss of 0.4 pounds! :-/
Total loss from 1/1/17: 8.2 pounds 

First of all, I apologize that this is going up so late. It has been a long day/ long week and it is only Wednesday. I have been extremely busy today and only now have had a chance to type this up. So I am down 0.4 pounds. Not a ton, but I will take it. I am at the point where I am beginning to get frustrated because I seem to be doing really well on the food part, and I am walking/hiking at least 3 days a week. I will admit yesterday was bad. All I wanted to do was eat junk and more junk! It was supposed to be a low carb day, and I made a new recipe for dinner that was a bust and that just made the day even worse and I ended up eating a bunch of mini cookies. :-( I am really struggling right now and I just can't seem to get out of this funk and get more weight down. I will just have to keep on it and know that even if it is extremely slow, the scale is moving in the right direction.

If you are trying to lose weight in 2017, how is your progress going?

Happy Homemaker Monday (4/24/2017)

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. We spent some time on Saturday hiking around a local park in honor of Earth Day. Then we spent some time with my parents before heading back to town for dinner. Unfortunately Rebecca began to feel ill as we were heading to dinner. She had an upset stomach and a low fever all day Sunday as well. Last night Jacob also came down with a temperature. I am keeping them both home from school today so hopefully they will go back tomorrow. I am exhausted as the cats woke me up at 3:30 this morning fighting and meowing. They are still being brats even now. It is going to be a long day!  

For now let's join in with the lovely Sandra over at "Diary of a Stay at Home Mom" in her Happy Homemaker Monday meme:

THE WEATHER:::
It is partly sunny today with highs around 73. Supposed to be in the 70s most of this week with Wednesday being in the low 80s. Overall, I can't complain about the weather.  

ON MY READING PILE:::
I picked up Debbie Macomber's new book "If Not for You" at the library on Thursday. I have until Wednesday to read it and return it as it was in the "Rapid Reads" section- where you can borrow new releases for 1 week with no renewal allowed.

ON MY TV:::

On Friday nights, we typically do pizza and a movie for the kids. This year I would like to try to remember what movies we have watched, so I will be recapping here.

This past Friday night, we watched "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Rebecca has read the books and so when I saw this at the library I knew she would want to see it. We have also had the NBA playoffs on as well as some baseball, and LOTS of cartoons! LOL  

ON THE MENU FOR THIS WEEK:::

MONDAY: fish sandwiches, carrots, green beans 
TUESDAY: Low carb chicken tenders (new recipe), corn, salad

WEDNESDAY: ham and cheese tortilla rollups, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, chips

THURSDAY: bratwurst, macaroni and cheese, broccoli

FRIDAY: pizza grilled cheese, salad and fruit

SATURDAY: ????
SUNDAY: ????

I am hoping to be able to go to the grocery store tomorrow, but if the kids are still sick I don't really NEED to go until Wednesday morning.

ON MY TO-DO LIST FOR THIS WEEK:::
Monday: Ben speech and OT, tutor, trash and recycling to curb

Tuesday: kids to school, grocery store,  tutor

Wednesday: kids to school, tutor

Thursday: kids to school, tutor

Friday: kids to school 
Saturday:

Sunday: PSR, church

And each day has the daily housework that needs to be done!

I also need to do the following this week:
Call and make Ben his 5 year physical appointment
Do Ben's kindergarten registration online
Email Rebecca's AHG leader her service hours
Summer Tutoring ad for Facebook
Call to make Jacob an eye doctor appointment
Clean both bathrooms
Mop all floors with Thieves EO
Rough Draft of Summer chore charts for the kids

LOOKING AROUND THE HOUSE:::

It doesn't look too bad. Yesterday I spent a lot of the day on laundry and the kids don't have very many toys out.  

FROM THE CAMERA:::

WHAT I'M WEARING TODAY:::

 

SIMPLE PLEASURE:::
Sleep.

DEVOTIONAL OR QUOTE:::

So there you have it. A little peek into my life on this sleepy Monday. Hope everyone has had a great day and let's see what the rest of this week will bring! 

 

Tuna Avocado Salad (new recipe #7 of 2017)

One of the things that I would like to get done in 2017 is to try to expand our menu items. I have decided to share the recipes that I try so that maybe I can help a few of you out with some new menu ideas. I know that I get inspiration from other bloggers so maybe I can help.

I was doing really well with this in January and the beginning of February. Then life happened and I haven't really made anything new. I think that was because the temperatures got warmer (on some days) so I was able to make some things that I hadn't made since last Summer (like taco salad!). Now that I am trying to cut out some carbohydrates on some days, I am once again looking for newer low carb recipes to try. Last week, I came across a tuna avocado salad recipe that looked really good, and healthy. Since my dear hubby is also trying to watch his carbs, I decided to make this for us for lunch.

For the life of me, I cannot find the link that I used but here is the recipe I used. If you google Tuna Avocado Salad, there are a ton of different variations and recipes. The only thing different I would do is to add some diced onions or jalapenos next time, as I felt it needed a little something else to make it pop. Bill and I both had it as sandwiches (as it was a higher carb day) but you could easily eat it as part of a salad. 

Tuna Avocado Salad

2 ripe avocados

2 cans tuna, drained

2 TBSP light mayo

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

juice from half a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Scoop out avocado and dice. Combine avocado with rest of the ingredients. Serve immediately either on top of lettuce greens or between bread for a tuna sandwich or refrigerate.

Enjoy!

If you make it, let me know what you think!

OTHER NEW RECIPES TRIED IN 2017:
Pork Chop and Scalloped Potato Bake
Tex-Mex Tilapia
Baked Chicken Parmesan
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins 
Pizza Grilled Cheese
Southwestern Style Egg Scramble

Easter 2017

Sunday the kids were up bright and early, so excited because the Easter bunny had left them maps to find their baskets. They couldn't wait to head downstairs to find their goodies. (Rebecca had to guess where hers was as her map was missing the bottom part...she was told the cats had gotten ahold of it as they were chasing the bunny!)

The kiddos found their baskets pretty easily.

Benjamin's basket was hidden in the games closet and had a ball toy, a small bubble wand, a Star Wars bubble wand, 2 Star Wars themed hotwheel cars, a jump rope, a small notepad a chocolate bunny, a tube with m&ms, and a couple fun size packs of m&ms, along with an emoji stuffed animal in it.

Jacob's basket  was in the downstairs shower stall and had a ball toy, a small bubble wand, a jump rope, a small notepad, a chocolate bunny, a tube with m&ms, a couple fun size packs of m&ms, an emoji stuffed animal, and 10 packs of sports cards in it.

Rebecca's basket was in the kitchen pots and pans cabinet and had a ball toy, a small bubble wand, a jump rope, a small notepad, a chocolate bunny, a tube with m&ms, a couple fun size packs of m&ms, an emoji stuffed animal, and a shopkins set that had 5 shopkins in it.

While the kiddos were checking out their baskets, I made breakfast. I made bunny shaped cinnamon rolls (from refrigerated dough), bacon and cut up strawberries.

After breakfast, we all just kind of relaxed for the rest of the morning.

Around 1:30 we headed out to my parents' house. After my brother and his wife and kids showed up (an hour late), my parents had their annual Easter egg hunt. My mother hides over 250 eggs for the grandkids to find. The kids love the egg hunt!

After the egg hunt, it was time for dinner-- ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, cut up fruit, rolls, little meatballs (as my niece can't have pork).

Then it was time to head outside to play and chat. The kids had a blast blowing bubbles, playing with balls, playing basketball and 2 square.

My mom also corralled my siblings and I for her obligatory picture at the holidays!

Overall, it was a pleasant Easter full of good memories and lots of laughs.

Weigh In Wednesday #16 of 2017

So one of my 2017 goals is to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year. This is a necessity for me, as in the last few months I have gained 15 pounds. That is not good. I want to be healthier and feel better about myself. 

In order to keep me accountable, I am hoping to come back each Wednesday to share my weigh in and my successes and failures from the previous week. So let's hop to it and see how I did this past week, shall we?

SO HOW DID THIS WEEK GO??? 

My official starting weight (on 1/1/2017) was: 242.0 pounds!

My weight last week was: 234.4 pounds.

My weight this week is: 234.2 pounds. 

So a loss of 0.2 pounds! :-/
Total loss from 1/1/17: 7.8 pounds 

So I feel like this is just a minor victory. I went through so much Easter candy last week it is not even funny. Stupid Reese's eggs! I countered that with lots of walking and hiking, which is the only reason I didn't gain. I truly believe that. Now I am just kicking myself because I probably would have lost a lot if I hadn't eaten so much crap. Gotta get better at that....

If you are trying to lose weight in 2017, how is your progress going?

Honey Run Waterfall and Dyeing Easter Eggs

On Saturday, the weather outside was BEAUTIFUL! The sun was out, it was nice and warm (80 degrees), and my hubby was home for the day after having to work in the morning. So what was a family to do?

Well we headed out to Honey Run Waterfall to look around and hike one of the trails.

The waterfall was flowing pretty well and Jacob (with my assistance) climbed up near the water! His face when he said I did it was pure joy!

After we decided to tackle one of the hiking trails. This one had a stretch of grassy areas with huge ant hills. Then you hit a wooded part where you had some steep inclines then straight paths then more inclines. We hiked for a little over an hour.

After coming home and getting some dinner, my sister came over to dye Easter eggs with the kiddos. I had a couple kits in our Easter tote in the basement so we used those. The tattoo one I had didn't work, so I gave the kids sharpies to decorate the eggs.

They had a blast and even tried eating one of the eggs. All the kids decided that they liked hard boiled eggs!

 

After my sister left it was time for the kiddos to head to bed so that the Easter bubby could make an appearance!