An Update in Pictures

I went on a girls' trip last week, the first time I've gone away from my kids for more than 24 hours in 4 1/2 years. It was looong overdue, and it was fabulous. Two friends, including "Cuz," and I took a road trip to New Orleans, I hadn't been in at least 10 years and I had missed it so. We skipped the college-ish drinking scenes and did some more grown-up stuff. Not to say that we didn't have a few cocktails or anything, we did, but thankfully we all agreed that downing hand grenades on Bourbon was a pastime best put behind us. :) We left on a Thursday morning and came back early Sunday afternoon, it was the perfect length away. It was enough time to relax and really start to miss my family and then it was time to come home. I took this picture when I arrived back home on Mother's Day, because I had just said in the car, "Maybe The Husband will have cleaned the house for me for mother's day."

Welcome home and Happy Mother's Day, lol!

The next picture can go under the heading of Why I'm Always Cleaning and Yet My House is a Mess. Meet "The Box." This box full of The Husband's winter clothes went into our storage room when we moved into our house 7 years ago. There it stayed for about 4 years, until one day we cleaned out the storage room and the box ended up being shuffled into the attic to be sorted through on a later date. Again, there it stayed for about 2 years until we cleaned out the attic and The Husband brought it downstairs to our bedroom, oh in November, he was going to go through it since it was full of winter clothes. Well, this box stayed by the wall of our bedroom until two weeks ago (end of April), when I finally had enough and The Husband moved it next to the stairs. Still full of winter clothes, and with a few newly bagged items on top. I am really chuckling as I write this, I'm not being snarky at all, but this picture truly says a thousand words.

Another addition to Why I'm Always Cleaning and Yet the House is Always a Mess.

The Pantry. I organize this pantry a little bit every day, and it gets a huge overhaul at least once a month, but this is what it looked like when I came back from my trip. Ignore all the junk food in there, I had been gone for a few days, remember? I see this and can only think that it's nice to know that my family needs me. :)

This next one I took after I made the bed for the third time that day. As you can see, making the bed around here is a HUGE waste of time. :)




I made yogurt! And it was easy, and it tasted good!! Baby Girl is eating us out of house and home with her yogurt consumption. Even when I buy the big tubs we are spending quite a bit of money on yogurt. So....I thought I would give making it myself a try. It worked, who knew you could make your own yogurt?!

Poor Little Man, his momma loves classic children's clothing, and classic children's shoes. So last year when he started asking for light-up tennis shoes, I balked - and said "No." Well, after nearly two years of asking, and when after completely growing out of the line of nice shoes I like to buy, I caved. He now owns light-up tennis shoes. He couldn't be happier with them, and that makes me love them, too.

Shrinking by the week

So the week before Christmas I joined a boot camp. It's an exercise program taught by an honest to goodness retired drill sergeant. It's also a little different from most boot camps, as it's not a month-long class taught by an exercise enthusiast, but instead it's a year-round, outdoor experience taught by a drill sergeant (who happens to also be an exercise enthusiast!). We are even affectionately called maggots on occasion. :)

I am loving it.

There's just something about getting up at 5:10 to go workout in a parking lot, in the cold, and be done before the sun rises. Camaraderie abounds.

If I tried to do these workouts by myself at home, or even in a gym, I would quit halfway through. They're hard. However, when doing it with 30 or so other people, who are grimacing and grunting their way through it just as you are, it becomes easier. And the hour flies by.

It's also so very nice that I get home and at the very least I am wide awake and out of bed before the kids wake up. My kids are demanding when they wake up. Milk - now, breakfast - now, cartoons - now. No time to change the pull-up, warm them up with socks and a sweat shirt, or even for Mommy to go potty or make coffee. Now, now, now! Sometimes after boot camp I'm even able to take a shower, get dressed, and make a pot of coffee before the little monsters, er... sweethearts, wake up. Heaven.

And the icing on the cake, oops I mean healthy, all natural, low fat snack, is that I've lost about four pounds. Now I know some people might not dance a jig over four little pounds, but that comes out to a healthy average of losing one pound a week, lost over the holidays, from someone who is only about 15 pounds overweight. Seems pretty good to me! Let's also not forget the fact that I've gained a lot of muscle. Heavy muscle. My legs and arms already look more muscular. No jiggle - anywhere. Even at rest. My behind and belly are not quite there, but they're closer. There is definition in my abs. Yes, my "15 pounds overweight I've had two children abs" have some definition.

And it's only week four!!

Whoo hoo! God willing and the creek don't rise I see a bikini in my summer future! :)

It's Gone Too Far

For breakfast - Cookie Crisp and a glass of milk with a generous shot of chocolate syrup
Snack - Jellybeans
Lunch - McDonald's Happy Meal (hamburger, fries, chocolate milk, cookies)
Snack - Pringles, Dove chocolate, more Cookie Crisp, a Kool-Aid drink (basically water, flavor, food coloring, and HFCS) and candy
Misc. - numerous undiluted sippy cups full of juice, chips, crackers and cookies here and there

A junk food addict's dream?

No.

Sadly, this is what Little Man ate at his grandma's house today. (which grandma is was doesn't really matter)

(I witnessed the afternoon snack food orgy myself. Little Man, Baby Girl, and Grandma all stuffing their faces with junk as fast as they could before I came back into the room. Really???)

I'm a bit in shock about the amount of junk, of non-food, that my sweet baby ate.

He's been miserable all night. His sugar high turned into a sugar low. He was tired, cranky, his stomach hurt. It's 9:30 at night and he's still awake and complaining of a stomach ache. He wouldn't touch his healthy dinner I made for him, even the stuff he loves.

I totally understand how a grandma would want to spoil her grandson, to give him the treats he desires. But come on, boundaries anyone? At least offer the kid some fruit with his junk.

Sheesh.

Sadly, this is pretty typical of what Little Man eats when he sees this particular grandma. The Husband and I have talked and pleaded with her not to feed him mass quantities of this non-food. A treat - sure, junk all day long - no. We've informed her of what this kind of food does to his little body. How eating non-food like this is priming him to develop diabetes and is for sure causing him to develop bad eating habits. Using the expression, "we talked until we were blue in the face" is appropriate here. Unfortunately, it's done nothing. We've also brought food over to her house, made lists of yummy, healthy snacks that Little Man loves and will eat, and gone grocery shopping with her.

It still hasn't helped, she feeds him this non-food anyway. Hasn't made a difference, not at all.

Now I know that The Husband and I aren't perfect examples of perfect eating, I'll admit to that. However, if we feed Little Man chocolate muffins for breakfast, we pair it with some fruit, and later on provide a healthy snack and lunch. Trust me, there's no deprivation in this house, but it's not a free-for-all, either.

I'm not sure what to do. I can't just let it go anymore, not at this level. Little Man sees this grandma on a regular enough basis that this kind of feeding is not acceptable. She is teaching him horrible eating habits, not the least of which is to hide what he is eating from his parents and to sneak food behind our backs. Not okay, not at all.

What to do, what to do?

I'm at a loss. Ideas anyone?

Craaazy

Did a kick-butt workout this morning. Afterwards I felt super skinny and toned. I was so excited!! I tried on some of my cute summer clothes, which DO fit better than they did a few weeks ago! I felt like a goddess. By then I was cooled off, so I took a shower. By the time I got out of the shower I felt like a gelatinous blog again. Am I going crazy or were my post-workout endorphins really that strong? Hmmm...