Our Holiday Guests

We've had some guests in our house for a few weeks now. They came to celebrate the holidays with us, get some rest and rejuvenate or maybe I should say be transformed. I think a few weeks in our house trying to get rest would be awfully hard, but they were able to do so. The funny thing is that the kids didn't bother them at all, but the cats were sure interested!










Nana provided us with five caterpillars, four of which made the transformation to Monarch butterfly. If you look closely at the picture of the chrysalis, you'll see gold flecks - the first day they were all green and then the gold flecks appeared. Unfortunately we missed them hatching out of the chrysalis because we were out of town. I guess we'll have to pick up a few more in Nana's backyard! This time I think we'll go ahead and put them in the butterfly home that Katie's friend Thomas gave her for her birthday so they have more room!

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Bah Humbug!

Nothing like some good ol' check fraud to ruin the holiday spirit! I just happened to check the balance on my fun money account today and lo and behold, there's an electronic check on there that I did not authorize. I have spent the last hour trying to get the rest of my money out of that account and close it, but since there is a legitimate transaction that I used it for yesterday, I can't close the account. So I drove across The Woodlands and withdrew what I had (minus the money for yesterday's gas) and came home to call the forgery department. They put a restriction on the account which means that any future debits (including the gas) will not be paid. So I have to go back to the branch to open another account so they can route the gas transaction through that. Ugh! I didn't open the account because they closed my original branch and the other one is not convenient anymore. She of course mentioned that I can now use Chase and I reminded her that yes I can withdraw from Chase, but I cannot deposit into Chase...therefore, it is not convenient. And yet, here I must go to open another account just to pay for gas.

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Presents!

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Sisters Weigh-in

Merry Christmas to All and to all a skinny butt! If you haven't already noticed the new button to the left (ahem, look to the left!), I am pleased to report that I am now down 5.1lbs since December 1st. Hooray!!! I lost 1.6lbs this week and even went to a party last night and had two drinks. I am very proud of myself. Not only for the 5lbs that I have lost during this challenge, but that this fall I have now lost 10lbs. I'm not exactly sure when I was at my "high" (not one of those milestones you like to remember!) but it has been since school started, so we'll just say during the fall. So I have reached my first goalof 5lbs...now onto the next 5! I think this challenge is over at the beginning of January, but I hope they start another one to keep us all motivated!

Today we have Christmas Eve dinner (lunch) at my in-laws house which will be delicious as always. But I have figured out that if I eat my big meal at lunch, I usually do better at dinner. So I am not going to stress over it and will just enjoy it in moderation.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

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Deceptively Disgusting

No offense Jill (or Jessica Seinfeld), but so far I'm 0-2 on the Deceptively Delicious recipes. Granted, I have had to alter them quite a bit, using special flour blends and egg substitute. But I just have to say - do not try the Gingerbread Spice Cake...your kitchen will stink for hours. I think it would have been better with zucchini rather than broccoli. And the chicken nuggets with sweet potato did not exactly turn out as planned. Kyle did try one, but that was after being bribed with sherbet for dessert.

The good news is that I did bake him some Christmas tree shaped sugar cookies that turned out great. So he will have something to decorate at the party tomorrow night. I felt really defeated after I spent so many hours in the kitchen today trying to prepare purees and foods that he could eat. Maybe I should skip the purees for a while and just focus on the foods he can eat. Tomorrow I will be on the hunt for a new waffle iron and the doughnut molds.

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I knew the day would come...

When I would have to actually break down and start baking, prepping and freezing things that Kyle can eat. He's starting to miss the things he used to love...muffins, doughnuts, waffles, french toast, chicken nuggets! I started to make him some muffins this morning when I realized that I was out of butter. He settled for oatmeal which was a welcome change to his usual breakfast bar. I was overwhelmed at first when I purchased a few gluten-free (GF) books that included "flour blends" for all of the recipes. But what I have found are several alternatives that are already commercially prepared. It's just a matter of sifting through and figuring out which ones work best for which recipes. Since I have a couple of weeks off, I plan to start making some of his favorite foods and freezing them to make it a bit more convenient for me later on.

In addition to working on the GF (and egg-free) side, my friend Jill introduced me to a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld called Deceptively Delicious which gives recipes that include vegetable and fruit purees, so your kids are eating the things they need without realizing it! After studying this cookbook for a few days, I've decided to alter some of her recipes to fit our needs.

We are also going to a cookie decorating party on Tuesday night hosted by one of Derek's co-workers. I thought it sounded like so much fun until it dawned on me tonight that Kyle won't be able to eat any of the cookies (without repercussions). So I will be making a batch of GF sugar cookies tomorrow that we can take for him to decorate. Granted, the frosting will still cause him some trouble, but at least we can make it a little easier on him. So while I didn't plan on baking for the holidays, it looks like I will be tackling that anyway!

This week I plan to try out:

GF Gingerbread Spice Cake (with broccoli and carrot puree)
GF pepperoni rolls (Katie requested that I try to make some like DoubleDaves because she misses them!)
GF Chicken Nuggets (with sweet potato puree)

and if I can find a doughnut mold somewhere:
GF doughnuts (with pumpkin and sweet potato puree)

I did freeze several GF pancakes yesterday so that will help out in the mornings. And I am planning to purchase a waffle-maker so I can freeze some waffles as well. I think the hardest part is breakfast because we were so used to popping some waffles or french toaster sticks in the toaster and heading out the door. So yes, we are still adjusting to this lifestyle. I have not decided whether to follow the rotary diet yet. It seems a bit daunting to me. Especially with a child who rarely eats protein and is so picky about everything else. I guess I need to give it another look, but at first glance I wasn't sure how we would undertake that.
I guess I will be spending Monday in the kitchen!

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Submit...

You know what I love about the blogosphere? That you can jump from story to story and never know what you are going to stumble upon. Last night I was reading my friend Jen's blog when I saw a link to another one of her favorite blogs, MckMama, also known as My Charming Kids. The title of her post caught my eye, "Submission is not a four-letter word." Every now and again I will pop over to read what MckMama has to say. She is an amazing Christian woman who has touched many, many lives through her blog, probably because she is very honest in her writing (and I appreciate that). I will not go into MckMama's whole story, but if you'd like to know feel free to head on over there.

What I did want to talk about was that post on submission. She said so many things that hit home with me regarding marriage and happiness and God's will for your life. I was reading the post thinking, this sounds an awful lot like that book I read a few months ago, Sacred Marriage by Gary L. Thomas (which she mentioned at the end). It reminded me that marriage is not intended to make a person happy, but rather through marriage we are to become more holy. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when we made the committment to be married, we committed not only to each other, but also to God. And that even when we aren't feeling all that committed, God is still there and He is still committed. So I guess what I too am saying is that we don't have a perfect marriage (just as MckMama revealed in her post), but I am hoping that if we step back and let go of the reigns for a bit that we will see God taking over control and maybe we'll get a glimpse of His will for our marriage. Go read her post and you'll understand a little more of what I am talking about. Thanks MckMama!

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Wheat-free Wonderbread

Okay, so it's not Wonderbread, but it's wonderful! Do they even still make wonderbread? I never really liked white bread and I think that's what wonderbread is. Anyway, I had to make another batch of bread for Kyle last night. He's gone from eating at least two slices of bread a day to about two (or less) slices a week now. And most of the bread mixes I have found require you to freeze the bread because it will crumble if you don't. So, that leaves these little spongey slices that you have to toast in order to get them to stay intact before you take a bite. I say spongey because if you put anything on them (such as butter or jelly) it soaks it up within about 2 minutes leaving nothing but a hint of color on the slice. Can you see why he has gone to eating on average 2 slices a week?

Back to the loaf I made last night. I tried Pamela's Products Wheat-free Bread Mix. On the package it boasts that you can make bagels, pizza and pie crusts all with this mix. I followed the directions and while the bread came out a bit more moist than I expected, it is the best loaf of gluten-free bread I have made yet. I haven't had to freeze it which amazes me. It's still soft and tastes good. You can't even tell it's wheat-free. It's a bit more dense than regular sandwich bread, but Kyle is eating it up - he had a slice of toast with his breakfast and now he's enjoying a "special" grilled cheese sandwich.

Unfortunately I did not have as much luck using Pamela's Products Classic Vanilla Cake Mix. This is the mix I used for the crust of the pumpkin cake and it came out very gritty. But I will keep searching! I have a month (yikes!, he'll be 3 in a month!) to find a cake mix to make his birthday cake. It's all trial and error with this new diet...

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WW

So I'm not quite floating on air like I was last Wednesday. Unfortunately I did not lose weight this week, I gained .5 pounds. But I guess after last week's loss that's not all the surprising. Add into that a party with pizza and cake (and dip which I apparently felt was left out just for me) and some emotional eating this week and it's pretty clear where the gain came from. My biggest downfall is the emotional eating and honestly it's been a really rough few months which is how I ended up here in the first place.

I'm supposed to blog about how I am going to avoid temptation over the next two weeks and honestly I don't know how to answer that right now. I have a class party on Friday, but I don't expect that to be a big deal. A few chicken nuggets, a cookie and some veggies. That's not a big deal. Then we have a party next week on the 23rd which will probably be difficult for me because I don't know a soul there (friend of hubby's from work). I guess I will camp out by the veggie tray.

This morning we also took a visit to the allergist to learn more about Kyle's food allergies. He is starting a rotary diet which is going to add new complications to our life. Basically I have to rotate certain food groupings through each day to try to figure out if he is intolerant to anything besides wheat, eggs and peanuts. I'm very overwhelmed by his diet as it is and now it has to be more structured for a few
weeks.

Wow this turned out to be a pretty depressing post. I guess that's the kind of mood I'm in. Like I tell my kids at school: I'll try to turn my day around.

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What's for Dinner?

Okay, so I made another "let's take a peek into the pantry and see what we have" meal last night. It turned out pretty good - even the leftovers I took for lunch today. I'm not really sure what to call it, but it's a twist on my friend Shelly's Cheeseburger Pie recipe but tweaked quite a bit.

Turkey and Wild Rice Cheeseburger Pie

1/2 lb Ground Turkey
Seasoned salt (I used Lawry's and Chicken Fajita seasoning)
1 T Allegro marinade
1 cup cooked long grain and wild rice (we had leftovers)
1/2 can of corn (drained)
1/2 small can of green chiles
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Season the turkey with seasoned salt and marinade and then brown in a skillet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove turkey from heat and drain off excess grease. Add corn, green chiles and cheese and stir until cheese is melted. In a pie dish (I used a Pampered Chef round stone) layer the cooked rice and then top with the turkey mixture. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese on top. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes.

Serves 4
WW points: 5

The kids even ate some of it which is saying alot because they NEVER eat what I cook. Granted I bribed them with a popsicle, but at least they took a few bites!

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Busy, busy, busy

The week has just started but I already am exhausted! I don't think I ever recovered from last week and the whirlwind of activities going on everywhere.

Saturday we drove all over Houston - to Jersey Village to drop off the kids, to South 610 and Telephone Rd (the hood) to wait around for a drawing for a Harley that Derek was a finalist in (no we did not win, but he was in the last 7 finalists) and then to Kingwood to pick up a new (used) blue race car toddler bed for Kyle. Yes he is finally out of the crib! And he loves his new big boy bed. It was funny because we found the bed on Craig's List but once we showed up at the couple's house it turned out that Derek had gone to high school with both of them and was good friends with the wife's brother. We drove back to The Woodlands to drop off the bed and then I headed to Spring where I met my parents to pick up the kids again. Back to the Woodlands, a quick trip to the mall to find Katie a dress for her program and it was bedtime! A LONG Day.

Sunday was the Preschool Christmas Program. So very cute! And my class did an exceptional job, so I was very proud. Then we had a staff party afterward, so it was a late evening.

Today we kept Katie home because she had her dentist appointment to have her cavities filled. Like Dr. Wheeler said, it was no big deal. She watched a movie the whole time and he was done in 10 minutes. No shot, no drill, no pain. Amazing. After the appointment we headed to Chick-fil-a to play and eat. Then Derek took Katie to the mall for a haircut while Kyle napped. I think I did laundry, but I honestly don't remember anymore. This day has been a blur. Katie's hair is super cute - 3 inches shorter! She doesn't like it, but that's what she asked for, so what do you do? I keep telling her it will grow back. After a trip to the grocery store and whipping together dinner, we finished painting our bedroom. We even got all the furniture put back and almost all of the painter's tape pulled down. Still waiting on one wall to dry.

School promises to be crazy this week. All of the kids are so wound up about Christmas that it's hard to get anything done. We wrap up with Christmas parties on Friday and then we're done for a couple of weeks. Hooray!

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Wake up call

So, after my success this morning (see post below) and pretty much being on cloud nine all day I came home this evening only to have the wind knocked out of my sails. The photographer who took our family portrait on Saturday dropped off the pictures. Did anyone watch Biggest Loser last night when they showed all the people on the first day and they were all like, "I didn't realize I looked like that?!?!" Let's just say that was me when I saw some of the pictures. Now I am not saying that I am morbidly obese or anything like that, but I didn't realize how round my face has gotten and I really didn't realize how HUGE my A$$ is. Yes, she took a picture of me and Kyle walking from behind. I think that I need to print that picture out and post it all over my house, my car, my desk at work and everywhere else just to remind me to keep moving and stop eating.

Because I am not about to post THAT picture, I will post this one just to remind me that this where I don't want to be. There is a beautiful, skinny face in there somewhere. But look at how sweet my little Katie is!

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Wednesday Weigh-In

I put on my jeans this morning and they're not shrinking. But I AM!!! I am pleased to report that I have dropped 4lbs since last Wednesday. It's not Biggest Loser sized numbers, but I don't live on that ranch and have a personal trainer trying to kill me for hours everyday.

The most difficult thing for me this week has been trying not to snack. I love salty snacks and I did catch myself late one night diving into a chip bag. But now I've started grabbing a baby dill pickle instead of a bag of chips. I am most proud of the fact that I made not one, but two Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes for a party last week (one for the party and one for my little guy who can't eat regular cake, so the version I kept at home was wheat and egg free. But neither cake turned out as good as the one I made for Thanksgiving. I used a different cake batter for the crust on both of them. While it was still decent, I did not feel the need to grab a slice of cake here and there all week. I've had one tiny little square of the one I kept at home, but otherwise have stayed away. Oh and that delectable cookie tray from last week? I got smart and had Derek take them to work on Friday. He left four cookies at home for us and I am happy to report that two of them are still wrapped up on that plate!

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What's for Dinner?

At 5:15pm today I still didn't know what I was making for dinner. After a peek into the pantry and looking for a few recipes online, I tweaked something into a delicious healthy meal. I found a variation of this on WW online, but I changed it up a bit due to taste preferences and veggies on hand:

Thai Chicken Noodle Salad
Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh green beans
1/4 cup carrot (I used crinkle-cut slices)
1/4 cup green peas (I steamed some frozen ones in the microwave)
1 cooked chicken breast shredded (I used last night's leftover Rotisserie chicken)
1 cup(s) cooked rice spaghetti (you can use regular spaghetti, we're just wheat-free)
2 tbsp Sweet Chile Sauce
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Instructions
Fill a medium saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Add green beans and carrots. When water returns to a boil remove pan from heat, drain and refresh veggies under cold water. Mix veggies with remaining ingredients in a large bowl until well-mixed.

Serves 4-6
WW points: for 6 servings, it's 3 points and has 4 of the "filling foods"

I think I probably used more than 2T of the sweet chile sauce because I like it spicy. The kids didn't really go for the whole dish. But they did actually eat the veggies that I pulled out of it for them.

Yummy!

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Monday Musings

This weekend seemed to be a blur. There was a bustle of activity and very little downtime. Friday night was the Book Club Christmas party. Saturday we had family portraits taken (please Lord, let them come back looking decent!). Saturday evening, Katie and I went to see The Nutcracker with Carrie, Bethany and Andrea. That was Katie's gift for being the flowergirl in Carrie's wedding. What a fantastic idea and I got to tag along! We had a great time and Katie enjoyed the ballet so much. She had so many questions during it and confessed to me on Sunday that she wasn't able to follow along very well because it was kind of confusing. But she loved the costumes and the dancing.

Sunday we made it to church and then all crashed for the weekly SNAP - Sunday Nap. But then we got up and started prepping our bedroom for paint. Derek and I were able to get 3 walls painted. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do for a room! We'll tackle the other wall when we have time to dismantle the bed which is impossible to move.

After crashing Sunday night, I woke to a desparate cry for Mommy and then even for Daddy. Kyle just wanted someone to help him. It wasn't his usual "I'm awake and I'm not supposed to be" cry, which he just did for me about 2 minutes ago. So I headed upstairs to find him miserable with a fever. Poor little guy. He seemed fine this morning and had no complaints, so I went ahead and ran some errands. By lunchtime he was heading downhill and his fever came back. I ended up taking him to the doctor at 3 which is when she said, "does he usually have these spots on his tummy?" Um, no, I had not noticed those. He has a viral rash and should be feeling better soon. But because he still had a fever at 1pm, I get to stay home from work tomorrow.

The diet doesn't seem to be working, but that's mostly due to the fact that I haven't really been dieting. I tracked my points for a few days last week and then took a break over the weekend. I actually did okay at the Christmas party, but it was Wings and More on Saturday night with a few mugs of beer that did me in. Not to mention the fast food that we had on Sunday because we were trying to get the bedroom painted before the kids went to bed. And then there's the "I have no excuse other than I just wanted it" lunch I had today. It used up almost my entire days worth of points for one meal. And you know what? I enjoyed it and I will not regret it. I did very well and had a salad for dinner along with some one-point soup that didn't really turn out like it was supposed to. But it was loaded with veggies and that's what counts (or doesn't when it comes to points!).

The good news is I dropped one pound since last Monday. I don't weigh in for the Shrinking Jeans Challenge until Wednesday, so I have another day to fast.

Little boy seems to be having some trouble so I guess I should go check to make sure he's not running a fever again. Please let me get some rest tonight!

***He's got a 102.8 temp. Poor little guy!

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Sneak Peek from Santa

Last night was our annual Book Club Christmas party. I have missed book club for the past six (or more?) months, but I couldn't miss the party! It reminded me of how much I miss my friends, so I was a little sad. I will have to make more of an effort to go next year.

All the kids (except Katie who refused to get in the picture) waiting patiently for a special visitor:


And look who is at the door:


Kyle actually sat on his lap long enough to get a photo!


Katie was all smiles (finally):


And Santa did a great job picking out the presents - Kyle loves his pingpong shooter and Katie loves her makeup! Thanks Santa!

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Tis the season of homemade cookies...

Another day, another diet. WW did it again. They changed the plan. It doesn't look like it's going to affect much of what I'm used to, but it's kind of irritating to have to read something else or think about it any more. At some point in the last year, my friends and I went to a couple of meetings and they were using our center as some sort of pilot program. I'm guessing this is what it was for. I think that's what caused us to stop going - we had to rethink the whole thing and it was too much. It looks like they have stream-lined it a bit from what we were having to do. I'm sure I will figure it out soon enough.

In other news, I was happily going about my day, staying on track and eating great when a smiling mom opens my classroom door carrying this and cheerfully wishing us Merry Christmas:

There were more cookies in it and a huge bow, but the bow has now become a headband for "Jasmine" (I think she got confused with Pocohontas) and well the extra cookies have been devoured. Yes, day #2 and I caved a second time. Could you really have that sitting next to your desk for 4 hours and not open it? Apparently some teachers were able to resist the temptation. During the quiet of my lunch break after finishing some yummy triscuits and roasted red pepper hummus, I tried to stave off the sweet temptation by eating apple slices. All the while the fudge truffles and dream bars were calling my name. I opened it, took one out and then tied it all back up pretty as if I were hiding the fact that I opened it. Really? Who was I lying to? There was no one in the room and no other teachers would be coming into the room. It was just me. Just an example of how I can justify things and then pretend they aren't happening. Of course I also justified it by thinking how upset Kyle is going to be when he sees this after school and I can't give him anything in it because it will make him sick. With that train of thought, you can see that I was about to justify eating the rest of it! The good news is that when I once again opened it when I got home, I was able to find Kyle a pecan praline that he loved. He was so excited - I can eat it? It doesn't have wheat in it? Are there any more? The bad news is, I found something else in there to nibble on.

So I'm guessing the skinny people of the world would have graciously accepted the tray of homemade delicacies, hidden it in their classroom closet until the school day was over and then dropped it off at someone's house on the way home from work, right?

The season is just beginning, but I hope that's the last of the homemade gifts...

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Not shrinking yet

Well, the Shrinking Jeanschallenge has begun but I haven't been doing so well. I joined WW online AGAIN on Monday night. I did pretty well on Tuesday and stayed within my points range. I planned to do the same today.

Derek took the kids to school and I took his car to get new tires (Merry Christmas sweetheart!). Since it usually takes a while I had Amy pick me up at the tire place and we headed back to the house so she could write a paper and I could shower and pick up the house a bit. It turns out that the car was almost finished when she got there, but I had left my phone in the other car this morning so I couldn't call and let her know to just go to the house. So I went ahead and left with her and got a lot done around here today...all without snacking. Hooray!

But, by the time she finished her paper and we were heading back to pick up my car we were both starving. And I caved. We ran into Raising Canes and picked up a box of grease, fat and lard. You know it's unfortunate that they don't name their meals appropriately to make you think twice about eating them. The only thing on the menu is fried chicken fingers, french fries and garlic toast. And there is no nutritional information on their website for me to calculate my points. I'll just assume that I used ALL of my points for today and leave it at that.

So my short-term goal is 5 pounds. I think I'm going to have to break it into small little doable goals so I don't give up. But the long-term goal is 20lbs. I know I have more than that to lose, but once again baby steps. I also know that I look and feel healthy when I am that weight, so even though it's not really thin, I will be proud of myself for losing those 20lbs.

I did go ahead and figure out my points for the day and I (with dinner) have only gone over by 4.5 points. Since you have an extra 35 points per week, I'm still doing okay. But I will do great tomorrow!

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Camera Bugs...Check This Out!!!

Let me tell you this camera is fantastic! I have one sitting on my desk right now and I love it so much I'd LOVE to have another one. But I especially have my eye on the extra lens. It's for a great cause, so please check it out.

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Dreaming of a Light Christmas...

My friend Lisa inspired me to join this challenge. I spent quite some time today looking over the site while stuffing my face for the last time. I guess my brain thought if I was reading about dieting, then the calories didn't count. At least I went and worked out this morning...Feel free to join us.

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