If you love scented candles like I do....

I LOVE burning candles. Vanilla, cake, sweet flavors are my favorite but I have a bunch of different scents. I found these on clearance today--was $9.99 and now $4.98 FOR FIVE CANDLES! Sorry I don't mean to shout but that is just crazy. At the Target I went to they had this Vanilla Frosting scent and a Spiced Apple. I may have to go back and get one more of each. In the box were 3 glass votives and 2 large jar candles. The votives were 2.3 oz and the larger jar candles were 18.9 oz. The only downside is the large candles don't come with lids but I found my other lids do fit them and I have a lot of those ornamental jar toppers that I use when burning them. Run out to your Target today and see if you can pick these up!

A boy and a chair.....

I took these pictures yesterday of Brody and this rocking chair. He loves it! He loves to sit in it, rock in it, push it around and yes I have to tell him to not stand on it. :) It was my mom's chair when she was little and it's so nice to see it getting another "life".

Make your own Jello scented Playdough?

I lifted this from Cori's blog (thanks Cori-I am spreading the good word-lol). I haven't tried it yet but she says it works great and smells delicious! :)

Jello Playdough
Wondering what to do with all of that jello you bought on sale but never seem to have the time to make into something? Here's a really cute recipe for using it to make scented playdough. The kids love it!


Ingredients:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 T. cream of tartar
2 T. Vegetable oil
1 c. warm water
1 three oz. pkg. jello (any flavor)

Directions:
Combine ingredients and cook over medium heat until it thickens and pulls away from the sides of pot and becomes dull. * Note: it burns easily so don't put over too high a heat and keep stirring. Mold and knead until cool enough to touch. Store in a closed plastic bag.

New favorites

I love Cream of Wheat and I thought this would taste pretty good. What I wasn't prepared for was how GOOD IT SMELLED! I smelled exactly like a Cinnabon! It tasted pretty good too! For 130 calories instead of 880 for the real deal I will take the 130 calories thank you very much. ;)

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These are found at Wegmans and are called "coco pops". If you live near a Wegmans you may have seen them making them there in this machine that shoots them out and makes this loud popping sound when they shoot out. Alone they taste--well like bland corn or rice cakes but they have a great crunch and satisfy that crunch craving that normally only chips can cover. They are 16 calories each (yes 16), fat free and they are about the size of a side salad plate. I have topped them with 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter, strawberry jelly and one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. (not all at once of course) I feel they work alone for that craving and with other things as a small snack. Be brave and try them today!

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If you haven't already tried this Weight Watchers yogurt you should. Not only is it really yummy, creamy etc but it tastes like apple pie--complete with tiny chunks of apple in it. If you are counting with their new points system it is 2 points for a decent sized cup or 100 calories if you are doing the calories in-calories out system. I also really like the Amaretto Cheesecake flavor but you have to be an Amaretto fan to like that one I think. :)

Is there anything better........

than the sound of your 2 little boys playing together and laughing like crazy? I think it's the best sound there is. Now I just need to try and catch it on video--I tried a few minutes ago but Brody saw me and started chasing me around instead. :)

I love tubes!

Earlier today I noticed why Brody was just a little off yesterday afternoon. He has an ear infection--well not really since the tubes that he got back in January have done their job! He was sitting on the couch this morning with me eating cereal and I noticed it looked like snot (dried) in his ear canal! Well since Travis had tubes I knew this was a sign of an "infection" but the tubes have drained it out. So he will get his ear drops and it will clear itself up! I love the no fever, no pain, no problem side of an ear infection with tubes! Thank you Dr. Batti and team!

Do you need a laugh?

I am looking for pictures for a school project of Travis'. They have to make a timeline of their life and they can add pictures if they want. I was just searching for the picture of Travis' 1st lost tooth and I found this:



It still makes me laugh. I hope it helped brighten your day!

Kids art.....do you buy it?

Travis brought home one of the flyers for "Original Works" on Monday. It's one of those companies that puts your kids art on various things like magnets, tshirts, mouse pads etc. I am always wondering what (if anything) I should buy. I think last year I just got a magnet but it started to come apart from taking it on and off the fridge (which might be why they are using a new company this year). When I was looking at the list I was trying to think of something I can get every year (hopefully) for both boys and display them somewhere. I can try the magnet route again (which is only $6) but I was also thinking about a ceramic tile/trivet (which is $18). My decision is made a little more difficult by the fact that the art they chose is when the kids did flowers--kinda girly and definitely not something he cared to paint. What would you choose?

Awesome find at Target!

When I was at Target this morning I found these great LED candles on mega clearance. The package says "Energizer Flickering LED Candle Lights" and they come in a pack of 4. Originally they were $15.19 and were marked down to $3.78! I love burning candles but there are some places in your house that it just can't be done--kids will tough it, could ruin what it's near etc.

Here are the candles out of the package



And here they are on my mantle! I think they make a nice addition to the pictures don't you? I've always been wary of burning candles close to my priceless pictures so this is a great alternative!



I will be keeping my eye out for more of these at the 2 Targets I frequent. :)

Brody is such a big helper!

Brody has no idea that the thing he is holding is to clean the floors but that didn't stop him from pushing it around on the carpet! He cleaned up a few Cheerio pieces. :)






He was very hungry after all of his cleaning so he stopped for a quick snack.

3 Weight Loss Sites

I started this new diet/healthy way of eating last Monday. Knowing it was crazy I started tracking my food and excercise on 3 different iphone apps (and on the computer as well). There are a ton of websites and apps out there but the 3 I used were Spark People, My Fitness Pal and Weight Watchers. Here are my thoughts:

Spark People-- www.sparkpeople.com

Pros:
it's FREE
They give you meal plans on the site if you want to use them-including a grocery list
Lots of people that use it and groups you can join
Tons of food already in their database

Cons:
Their website isn't as usuer friendly as others for the food diary

My Fitness Pal-- www.myfitnesspal.com

Pros:
it's FREE
has a Facebook-type interface where you friend people and can comment on their goals etc
Their food diary is super easy to use and has recent foods used right there every time
Everything I have looked up so far has been in their food database

Cons:
No meal plans offered

Weight Watchers-- www.weightwatchers.com

Pros:
No calorie counting-just need the "points" for everything
The plan does work-I lost weight with the old points plan
Lots of recipes on the website

Cons:
They have a monthly fee
A lot of foods aren't in their database
At the end of the day is was telling me I had a bunch of points leftover and the other 2 sites/apps said I was at my goal. (probably bc the new plan gives a zero value for fruit-so it's "free")

I could go on more but after using all 3 sites/apps for almost 2 weeks I found that My Fitness Pal (www.myfitnesspal.com) was the easiest to use, had more foods in their database and I liked the Facebook-way about it. You have friends and can comment on things and post things to people. Losing weight and being healthy can be a team effort if you want it to be. :) So if you join My Fitness Pal you can "friend me" and we can do this together!

Here is an example of what the diary looks like on your phone:

You lift weights? Yes...yes I do.....

http://health.yahoo.net/rodale/WH/lose-your-fear-of-lifting

A full 24 hours

That is how long it took Brody to snap out of his post-shot funk. This round of shots seemed to hit him harder than others-could have been the ones he had, could have been the time change or some combo of those or something else entirely. After his nap on Monday he was whiny, clingy and an overall grump. He had zero appetite but was still drinking his milk and juice. (one of the shots had loss of appetite listed as a common side effect) He may have had a slight fever but he is always such a hot body it's hard to tell without--well you know. ;) The course of action was alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen and hoping for the best! By mid morning on Tuesday his personality was back (which was my main concern) but his appetite was still terrible all day. He ate some but not like normal. Thankfully his appetite has returned today-still picky as ever but eating again so I will take it. I really hope he doesn't have that many shots at his 18 month appointment. Maybe I will be "sick" that day and Evan will have to deal with him alone this time. lol

Brody is a thriving little peanut

Brody's 15 month check up went very well today. I learned he is still a peanut and shots still do a number on him. He's been a grumpy, clingy, whiner most of the day. Here are his stats today:

Length: 30.5 inches 25th percentile
Weight: 23 pounds 4 ounces 25th percentile
Head: 48.25cm 75-90th percentile

So he is short, light and has a Ross head. ;) I dug out Travis' baby book and found his stats from the same appointment:

Length: 33 1/4 inches 92nd percentile
Weight: 28 pounds 15 ounces 90th percentile
Head: 49.25cm 92nd percentile

Travis has always been a beast but I had to go back to his 9 month check up to find basically the same height and weight numbers as Brody today. ;)

Brody at 15 months



For comparison this is Travis at 15 months (though I now feel the need to have a close up shot of Brody but that would need to be taken first-lol)

Love/Hate relationship

I have a love/hate relationship with well baby checkups. Of course I love to see how much he's grown, milestones etc but I hate having him getting shots. Not only does he scream and cry like crazy when he is getting them but he is a grumpy little thing for about 24 hours afterwards. Lucky for me Evan is out of town so I get to deal with the post shot grumpies by myself. A W E S O M E...... Hopefully we all survive the appointment tomorrow morning! I will post his stats tomorrow......

All by myself!

As the title state I ate a whole bag of salad by myself before it expired! That has NEVER happened around here. The only time an entire bag has been eaten before it gets tossed has been when we have people over and 4-5 people are having salad. I can't tell you the number of bags I have thrown away in the past few years after buying them saying I will eat salad and then forgetting about them in the back of the fridge. Wow. What a great feeling! (it's the little things-lol)

A few new favorites

Fiber One brownies

Yes I talked about them the other day but they are definately worth mentioning again. 90 calories of pure YUMMINESS! They are finally on the Fiber one website and are going to be in retail stores starting June 2011 and select club stores (Sterling Costco) now. The only picture I could find was on the Fiber one website and it wouldn't let me copy it.
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I was a little scared at first since fat free chesse is usually gross. The texture is perfect and though it doesn't taste like feta it tastes like the herbs and some lemon I think with the texture of feta. I think it's great on salads but would probably work well in recipes that call for feta as well. 2 ounces for 60 calories and no fat?!?! I'll take it!
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This is my new go-to salad dressing. It's light and tasty-great of course on salads but a decent dip for veggies too. 2 tablespoons is 50 calories and 5 grams of fat.
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Sugar free Jello can be yummy and can also be a little off. This pack shown here from Wegman's comes with 4 grape (YUM) and 2 fruit punch (not as yum). Don't get me wrong I still ate the fruit punch one but the grape is way better. If you like the old school grape popsicles from when you were little you will love this!

Dear Brody,

Please go to sleep soon after I put you down for a nap. Rolling around in your bed talking and singing for an hour plus is fine on the weekend when we don't have somewhere to be in the afternoon but M-F it's no good. What you don't realize is now I have to pluck you out of bed after about a 50 minute nap (as opposed to the regular 2+ hours) to get Travis from school. I can't wait to see how much fun you are tonight when you are super sleepy.

Love, Mommy

My new love

I LOVE the Fiber One brownies that I discovered today at Costco. I bought them on a whim thinking--"I like all of the other Fiber One products so I will surely like these." Considering I was buying a huge box of them that was a huge risk to take. When I am on my good eating plan (as I am now) deep chocolate Vita Tops have always been my go-to dessert. These are WAY better than Vita Tops! Tonight for dessert I heated one for a few seconds in the microwave and sliced some fresh banana on top of it with a tiny bit of fat free whipped cream. It was like I was eating a full fat banana split! The brownie is only 90 calories and 2 WW points. These are a must have for everyone that is trying to eat better. :)

20 minutes

That is how long I have until Travis goes to bed, the kitchen is "closed" officially and I brush my teeth. It's really the final thing listed there that will keep me from eating anything else today. For day one on my new eating regimine I did very well. I had cream of wheat for breakfast, a WW frozen meal and fresh veggies for lunch, an apple with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter for snack, a salad with chicken, apple and fat free feta cheese for dinner and a sugar free pudding for dessert. I did spulrge and have a biscuit with my dinner and it was GOOD. Even with my spulrge I was well within my range for calories, points, protein, fat grams and carbs. I tracked everything on WW, sparkpeople and myfitnesspal. In a month or so I will just use the tool that is the easiest to use, has the most items pre-loaded etc. My workout today was great and though I was hungry when I was done I felt good. Here's to day two tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the day and I am NOT prepared......

So tomorrow is the start of my newest quest to lose more weight. I have successfully maintained my last diet loss thanks to my insane gym routine. Therefore I can't really say it's the start of a new diet I guess since diet to me means I have gained weight again and this time I did not. I currently comfortably fit into a size 12 but I would love to see a single digit. I make this comment in reference to jeans specifically since they seem to run smaller than say dress pants. I can almost wear a size 10 in dress pants right now-almost meaning I can close them but it doesn't look very smooth in the front. ;)

You are probably asking why I don't think I'm prepared.....well I've been out of town for a week (except for one day in the middle) so I haven't gotten the chance to clean out some of the bad stuff and buy a bunch of good stuff. The plan will be to go to Wegman's after the gym in the morning to stock up on some fresh fruits and veggies. I hope tomorrow is an easy eating day!

My how times have changed......

I'm on a charter bus full of high school kids heading to Norfolk for the DECA state competition. As of right now I have 2 observations:

1. I was shocked that the charter bus has wifi and plugs at every seat! Granted the last time I was on a charter was in college but it was a pleasant surprise when I got on the bus this morning. Since my iPhone sucks battery it's great for me. (glad I put my plug in my purse not in my bag under the bus. :)

2. Apparently "sassy" is a popular high school word. I've heard it like 10 times this morning. I guess I should start working it into my daily vocabulary. Hahaha.

A problem with my "to-do lists" these days

I LOVE to make to-do lists. Evan makes fun of me sometimes since I love to make them before trips, grocery store etc. I always tell him "if it's on the list we won't forget it". There are a lot of things that get forgotten on a trip since they weren't officially on my list. Case in point is Evan's hairbrush for our trip to Vegas. Thankfully hair gel was on the list so he was able to use a ton of product in place of blow drying his hair in place. :).

I've lost focus here so I will bring you to the reason I felt compelled to write this blog entry. Back before I had an iPhone all of my lists were done old school on a piece of paper. Once I got my iPhone all if them were being "written" on the notes section of my phone. I have running lists labeled things like to do, target, store, Costco etc. It's nice to have them all handy so I can write something on the list at a moments notice. The thing I really DON'T like is that I can't scratch things out as they get accomplished on my phone. I know it sounds silly but I feel a higher sense of accomplishment when I can physically scratch out an item and see that it's been removed. Weird I know. Sometimes I would rather have a paper all scratched up with the things I've crosses off than a virtually empty list on my phone. I guess it's the price I pay for technology! ;)

Yes and No

This is my answer to whether or not I am looking forward to officially starting my diet on Monday. So on one hand I am ready to lose more weight, become a size 8 for the first time in my life and for once be beach/pool ready at the beginning of the summer. The other side to that of course is that I'm not ready to give up eating whatever I want to just maintain my weight. This comment comes on the morning after a 24 hour eating extravagannza known as the 24 hour buffet pass in Vegas. For $44 you can go to any of the 7 different casino buffets and eat for 24 hours. If you time it right (as we did) you can get 4 very full meals out of it. You name it and we ate it. If I'd been on my diet there's no telling how I would have made it through. Oh and I must mention today we are going to the pizza show at the convention center....pizza and various other foods for hours! I'm kinda hoping to stuff myself so much that I will be ready to give up pizza for awhile. :)

And don't get me started on alcohol. It's not fun to be on a diet and not be able to drink as you want to. The "skinny" margaritas are ok but the real deal is just so much better-lol!

With all that being said I'm ready. Well not today but I will be ready on Monday. ;). Anybody joining me on this quest to lose the last "x" pounds before the start of summer?