Weigh In Wednesday: on a crappy day.

Before I get started on WIW, can I just say that today pretty much sucked. Started out last night with Ben hitting his brother and then lying to me about it. Then this morning Jacob forgot his bookbag and as I was coming back home with him to get it, I go to stop and my brakes make an awful grinding noise....needless to say $800 later (of money that we don't have) I have new front brakes (Oh did I mention that we just spent $450 to get Bill's van fixed last Friday!). I spilled a glass of pop all over papers on the counter. I dropped several items during dinner. Then tonight  Ben got put to bed early because he was kicking his brother. I am so stressed out it is not even funny....I am hoping that the next 24 hours will be better. But who knows?? Anyhow...let's get on with this week's Weigh In Wednesday. 

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

My weight last week was 236..

My weight today is: 235.8.

So a loss of 0.2 pounds. 

Total loss from 1/1/17: 6.2 pounds

Exercise wise this is what happened since last Wednesday:

Thursday: When we recommitted last Monday, I was teasing Bill that I would make him walk 5 miles. Well on Thursday we did. We walked 5 miles on the Kokosing Gap Trail. It was a very peaceful walk. We even saw 3 deer--- a mama deer and 2 juveniles.

Friday: Bill really didn't want to go walk, however he agreed to do a short walk with me. So we drove out to Howard to explore a part of the path that we had never walked on. We ended up going 2.17 miles.

Saturday and Sunday: I took the days off from walking as we were really busy on Saturday and then Sunday I just wanted a day to relax.

Monday: I walked the kids to school then walked around to the post office box to mail off our rent check. I ended up walking 3.32 miles.

Tuesday: Bill and I went hiking at Wolf Run Park for a total of 2.64 miles. It was actually kind of cool out, so the walk felt great.

We also had our weekly date lunch! We have decided to try to take one lunch time during the week to have a date. It has really helped our relationship.

Tuesday we went to The Bad Apple Pub and had 1/2 price appetizers for lunch. Yummy? Yes. On the diet? No. But sometimes you have to live a little. 

Wednesday (Today): I didn't do anything. After we took the van in,  Bill asked me if I wanted to go walk. I said no. I came home, went back to bed for the morning and just ignored life for the morning. It is what it is.  

I am hoping to get some activity in tomorrow morning barring any other stuff going wrong.    

       If you are on a weight loss journey, how are you doing? 

Happy Homemaker Monday: August 28th edition

Happy Monday! Once again I am joining in with the lovely Sandra over at "Diary of a Stay at Home Mom" in her Happy Homemaker Monday meme.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Mine was busy. Saturday, Rebecca and I headed out to a baby shower for my cousin. I haven't seem some of the family members in years so it was good to go (even though I really didn't want to at first.). Then came home to get Rebecca's stuff and pick the boys up and head out to Rebecca's bff's house so Rebecca could have a sleep over there. Then we went out to dinner. Yesterday, we went to pick Rebecca up. Then it was home to work on laundry and watch the Indians. I was so tired yesterday. Then before I realized it, it is Monday morning once again. So time to get this week started.  

THE WEATHER:::
It has been absolutely beautiful here. Temperatures in the middle 70s with low humidity. I will definitely take it. I think we are supposed to get some storms this afternoon through tomorrow night though. We are definitely blessed with our weather right now. 

Speaking of weather, I cannot imagine what the folks in Southern Texas are dealing with in terms of the destruction from "Harvey." I cannot imagine....    

ON MY READING PILE:::
I am taking a break from review reading and I picked up "Any Dream Will Do" by Debbie Macomber at the library. It is her newest book.  

ON MY TV:::

Cleveland Indians baseball
Bringing Up Bates
Everybody Loves Raymond (I rediscovered this last week and man oh man there are SO many similarities to the show and our life!)
Country Music videos 

ON THE MENU FOR THIS WEEK:::

SUNDAY: Ham and Broccoli pasta alfredo and homemade garlic bread 
MONDAY: Meatball subs, green beans, corn
TUESDAY: Buddie boy sandwiches, chips and fruit

WEDNESDAY: Whole chicken in crockpot, stuffing, corn

THURSDAY: Macaroni and cheese and peas
FRIDAY: pizza sticks and fruit

SATURDAY: ??? (Our Saturday plans are up in the air, so I am not sure what we will be having yet.)

ON MY TO-DO LIST FOR THIS WEEK:::
Monday: kids to school, turn in dental paper to school, walk, laundry, mail rent, get Rebecca's AHG papers ready for tomorrow, send out more invites for tutoring sessions

Tuesday: kids to school, walk, Kroger for pop and bananas, Rebecca AHG meeting and parent meeting

Wednesday: kids to school, walk, tutor in afternoon

Thursday: kids to school, walk, tutor in the afternoon, menu plan for next week and make out grocery list, call Dad to wish him happy birthday

Friday: kids to school, walk, grocery store, tutor in the afternoon
Saturday:??

Sunday: family walk 

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

LOOKING AROUND THE HOUSE:::

It doesn't look too bad. I need to sweep the downstairs and deep clean litter boxes. 

FROM THE CAMERA:::  My sister and I at the baby shower on Saturday. She has started her senior year in college and I am so proud of her. She came home for the weekend. She HATES being hugged...LOL 

WHAT I'M WEARING TODAY:::

purple tanktop, black workout capris, black flipflops

 

SIMPLE PLEASURE:::

Seeing different wildlife on my walks. This morning, I saw a huge hawk that had landed in a tree. 

DEVOTIONAL OR QUOTE:::

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

 

20 Questions.....

Anne in the Kitchen over at "new happenings at the table and whatever" had these fun questions on her blog the other day and invited everyone to play along at answering them. I decided to go ahead and join in the fun. So here are 20 questions and my answers: 



1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? 
Straw from my cup of Diet Dr. Pepper
2. Where was your profile pic taken? 
My picture on here was taken on the beach of Indian Beach, North Carolina in the Summer of 2016
3. Worst pain you've ever experienced?  
Toss up between my kidney stone pain or my hysterectomy pain. Both were worse than when I gave birth. 
4. Favorite place you've traveled? 
Indian Beach, North Carolina
5. How late did you stay up last night? 
11:00 PM
6. If you could move somewhere else, where would it be?
North Carolina
8. Which of your Blogger friends lives closest to you? 
Not sure...Maybe Sluggy in Pennsylvania. Any one read this who lives in Ohio?
10. When was the last time you cried? 
Earlier this week when I dropped the kids off of school. Still can't believe Ben is in Kindergarten.
11. Who took your profile photo? 
I did. It is a selfie with Dear Hubby and I.
12. Who was the last person you took a picture with? 
My hubby! 

13. What's your favorite season? 
Spring
14. If you could have any career, what would it be? 
Working with kids
15. Do you think relationships are ever worth it? 
Of course.
16. If you could talk to ANYONE right now who would it be?  
My Grandma
17. Are you a good influence?
I try to be. 
18. Does pineapple belong on pizza? 
About once every few years I will get a craving for Hawaii style pizza, so sometimes pineapple is acceptable on pizza. 
19. You have the remote, what channel? 
Sports Time Ohio or a sonic tap music station
20. Whom do you think will play along?
I have no clue. Maybe no one. Who knows. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of your day and weekend! 

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Ranch Tater Tot Casserole (new recipe #10 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. In April, I made a yummy tuna avocado salad. In May I made a yummy monkey salad. In June I made mini mozzarella stuffed Italian meatloaves. 

Tonight, I made my 10th new recipe of 2017 and my whole family loved it!

I made Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Ranch Tater Tot Casserole found on Crockpot Ladies blog.

It was fairly easy to make and I served it with corn on the cob and salad. (Originally I was going to serve it with green beans, but my mom gave me a dozen ears of corn yesterday so decided to serve that instead.) I tutor late on Thursday night so am trying to use the crockpot those nights. Tonight, I didn't even make it into the house and Rebecca opened the door and said "Mom, before you come in I have to tell you dinner tonight is AWESOME!" Lol If that isn't a ringing endorsement I don't know what is. 

Have you tried any new recipes lately? Any crockpot recipes that you care to share? 

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
Tuna Avocado Salad
Monkey Salad
Mini Mozzarella Stuffed Italian Meatloaves

Weigh In Wednesday: Walking with Hubby Now

So this is the first full week back to school for the kiddos. And with that starts a new season of routine for me. I have decided to start my walking routine again, and to make it even better Bill is working a new schedule so he has been joining me. Let's see If we can keep this up.   

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

My weight last week was 236.6.

My weight today is: 236.0.

So a loss of 0.6 pounds. 

Total loss from 1/1/17: 6 pounds

Exercise wise this is what happened this week:

Monday: I recommitted to walking. I walked the kids to school, then walked to Kroger for bananas, tissues and castlebury sauce, then home. I also walked to school and home again in the afternoon for a total of 3.7 miles. 

cute bunny that I saw after I took the kids to school

Sweaty was the name of the game. It was SO HOT and HUMID! 

Tuesday: Bill and I went hiking at Wolf Run Park for a total of 2.44 miles. 

Pretty butterfly we saw on our hike

This path had a pretty steep incline for 1/4 of a mile. 

The view from the top though was beautiful.

We made it up to the top. 

Wednesday (Today): Bill and I headed out to Ariel-Foundation Park for a long walk. We walked 3.55 miles. 

We saw LOTS of frogs today and turtles.

The sun was out today and no humidity! 

Cute little grasshopper that crossed our path.

So I am feeling pretty good about my physical activity. I hope that I can keep up some sort of activity each day. I love that my hubby is joining me even though I know that he prefers to run. Now hopefully this will translate to a weight loss next week. We shall see what the rest of this week will bring.  

       If you are on a weight loss journey, how are you doing? 

From "Mom Bun" to "Short and Sassy" (new haircut)

So for my birthday my mom told me that she was going to make me a hair appointment, after I mentioned that I was thinking about getting it cut. Well between life and the craziness that is getting ready for back to school, I finally had my appointment this past Friday.

Now here is the deal... as a busy mom, I tend to resort to throwing my hair up into a bun or what my dear hubby lovingly (or not) calls "the mom bun." I hate having to "do" my hair when it grows out. I have LOTS of hair-- it is very thick and even more thick. And unless I dry it and straighten it, then it is frizzy and just not nice looking. 

So I was looking for something different. Something that would give me a spark and remind me that I am not just mom, but that I am also Rachel. 

So at my appointment, the stylist, Abby was great. She recommended highlights and a shorter layered cut. I said sure, let's go for it. She cut off several inches before she did the highlights. 

After she got the hightlights washed out, she dried and straightened my hair. It was still a little long and she wanted to know if I wanted even more taken off. It was just even with my shoulders. I asked her to cut a little more off as I was afraid I would still put it in a ponytail each day because of the length. She agreed with me and took another inch off. Then she cut in the layers to get to the final product.... 

I love the final look! I think it looks cute and sassy! Every one that I have talked to has also loved the new look and that makes me feel good about myself! It is more work to keep it styled, but I am worth it. I will admit that yesterday I put it up in a ponytail, as the weather was HOT and I was working out and then spending time deep cleaning the boys' room and I was sweating like a pig. I plan on these types of days to be few and far between though (since I don't have many days where I stay at home and deep clean) and so I  will definitely be keeping this hairstyle up. No more "mom bun" for me in the near future. 

Happy Homemaker Monday: August 21st Edition

Happy Monday! It has been a few weeks since I have joined in with the lovely Sandra over at "Diary of a Stay at Home Mom" in her Happy Homemaker Monday meme so I decided to get back into the routine and join in again. This is my kids' first full week back to school so I am trying to start new routines and figuring out what our new normal looks like for now. I know that it will change but it is nice to have some semblance of a plan in place. 

I decided to start posting in this meme again, as while I am not your traditional homemaker since I do work part-time out of the home, I still am a homemaker in that I try to keep my home a place of blessing for my hubby and kids and friends and family. I found that this ties in everything that I need to plan my week-- to do list, menu plans, etc. that I can come back to in one place. So I have decided to keep up with this on Mondays! 

So without further ado, let's get started: 

THE WEATHER:::
HOT and HUMID describes the weather today. I walked this morning after taking the kids to school and the humidity was awful. I was dripping sweat by the time I was done. Right now it is 81 degrees but feels like 96 and it isn't even noon yet! We are supposed to get some severe storms tomorrow afternoon. Then starting Wednesday temperatures are supposed to be in the high 70s. Thankfully today the sun is out and it is only partly cloudy. I know my hubby wants to go out to see the partial eclipse that we will be seeing here in Ohio around 2:30.    

ON MY READING PILE:::
I just finished "The Buffer Zone Diet" (look for my review later in the week). I received The Two Of Us, The Rise of the Dawnstar, and The Last of the Firedrakes in the mail in the last week to review so I will probably start one of those later today if I have time. 

ON MY TV:::

Cleveland Indians baseball
Bringing Up Bates
Everybody Loves Raymond (I rediscovered this last week and man oh man there are SO many similarities to the show and our life!) 

ON THE MENU FOR THIS WEEK:::

SUNDAY: Homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken and rice 
MONDAY: Deluxe nachos (using up leftover taco meat from a taco party we hosted Saturday night with friends)
TUESDAY: Hot dogs, baked beans, salad

WEDNESDAY: Pancakes, bacon and fruit

THURSDAY: Chicken and Tator Tot crockpot casserole (new recipe) and green beans
FRIDAY: pizza and fruit

SATURDAY: ??? (Our Saturday plans are up in the air, so I am not sure what we will be having yet.)

ON MY TO-DO LIST FOR THIS WEEK:::
Monday: kids to school, walk, quick run to Kroger for tissues and castleberry sauce, laundry, continue to deep clean the boys' bedroom (I started this yesterday--trying to get back to decluttering mode), watch the eclipse with Bill

Tuesday: kids to school, walk, take Bill's van to dealership to see if they can fix it, meeting at school for 5th grade parent orientation

Wednesday: kids to school, walk, tutor in afternoon

Thursday: kids to school, walk, tutor in the afternoon, menu plan for next week and make out grocery list

Friday: kids to school, walk?, grocery store
Saturday: baby shower (not sure if we are going or not), take Rebecca to sleep over

Sunday: family walk 

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

LOOKING AROUND THE HOUSE:::

It looks really good. The downstairs was deep cleaned on Friday as we had friends over Saturday night and a potential babysitting client over yesterday. It was funny Friday night my parents took Jacob to our local high school football game to watch my brother play and when they dropped him off at the house my dad commented on how clean the house was as he is usually here when the kids have toys and everything else out. LOL 

FROM THE CAMERA:::  
Jacob got to go to his first football game Friday night. My brother is the senior starting center for our local high school football team. Jacob was thrilled to go and LOVED seeing his Uncle Josh play. 

WHAT I'M WEARING TODAY:::

pink striped tanktop, jean shorts and brown flipflops.

 

SIMPLE PLEASURE:::

having good friends who get me.

DEVOTIONAL OR QUOTE:::

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

 

1st day of Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, and 5th Grade

***Meant to post this yesterday but we have been having off and on internet outages and it was too annoying to try to deal with yesterday. 

Thursday morning was back to school for our area schools. My kids' school was no exception. This year all 3 kiddos will be in the same school with the same schedule. 

So Thursday morning found us taking Rebecca in early for Safety Patrol. Rebecca is starting 5th Grade.

It also saw us taking Jacob in for his first day of 2nd grade.

Benjamin in for his first day of Kindergarten. 

The kids were so excited to start school. Ben said he was excited, then he was nervous. 

When it was time to leave Benjamin in line with the other Kindergartners, Ben began to cry and gave us extra hugs. His teacher though was great and asked him to be her helper and calmed him down. I heard from his former OT that she saw him during the day in the hallway and he was all smiles. 

After we left the kiddos, I will admit that I broke down in tears in the van. It is emotional when it is your baby starting Kindergarten and you know that there will be no more babies. Bill told me there was a mom in the car next to us who was also crying. After we left the school, I treated us to a donut from Tim Horton's. I will admit that the day seemed so strange and quiet with no kids home. 

After school, they all said that they had good days! I am so blessed with 3 kiddos who love school and look forward to it!