Making progress

Monkey graduated to being a bi-ped! Here's a little video of her walking across the living room : ) She still prefers to crawl most of the time, but each day she gets bolder and bolder in her walking. And her climbing. Today she climbed onto things 3 times & then screamed because she didn't know how to get back down. (screaming is a new thing too. not so cool.)

Chick started preschool on Wednesday! She liked it. They learned about the letter "A" and played outside, and made placemats that have their coloring & individual photos on them (to use at snacktime). It was at a friend's daycare. There were 4 boys there, I think, but there will be another little girl too.

(While she was at preschool I shunned productivity & took Monkey for a walk nearby. We stopped and picked almost a gallon bag-ful of blackberries. Mmmm. We ate some on our pancakes this morning. Scrumptious.)

I wrote in an earlier post that I didn't know whether I liked SparkPeople, but I've totally decided that I do. At least for now (new things are always exciting and then are replaced by something else). For now I find it very helpful. Here's a blog posting that I wrote about it on Kelly's Biggest Loser Friends Blog. Anyhow, I'm starting to see some results, which is SOOOO exciting.

This was a very long, hard week. Layout, HH getting home later than usual, still recovering from colds, tired, etc etc. (and btw, Katie, I'm really sorry for not getting our newsletter submission in...it was just a horrible week).

BUT, Friday night we went to bed early & got a good night's sleep. Saturday was a great day, and made up for all of the previous stress. I took the girls for a walk to the grocery store while HH got some home work done, then lunch & I went shopping ALL BY MYSELF, for as long as I wanted (it ended up being only 4 hours, but that was enough). The sun was shining, I turned the music up really loud, and it was one of those can't-keep-yourself-from-dancing-while-you-drive kinda times.

Some of it was just errand running, but I also bought a much MUCH needed dishwasher!! YAY! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that. It'll arrive on Tuesday. Also I looked at the Optical shop in Penney's and found glasses & sunglasses that I love! Honestly, I have a horrible time finding any that I really like, and I LOVE both the glasses & the sunglasses (not going the transitional route...maybe next time). I didn't have the perscription with me, but at least I have them picked out.

While I was out I bought "The Holiday" at the thrift store, so when I got home I did my weights & then cuddled up with HH to watch the movie. I thought it was pretty cute, have you seen it?

this week's menu plan

I'm not the greatest at planning my meals. That means that I get too hungry and eat whatever is fastest (which coincidentally is not usually healthy in the least). Since today is the start of Kelly's biggest loser competition, I made myself a menu. I (loosely) calculated weight watchers points, which I've never used but have several family members who swear by the program.

Anyhow, breakfast, lunch, & snacks are all "pick one" and dinner is determined for each night. Knowing what points I'll use for dinner, I just pick the other meals to add up to my daily total (or thereabouts). Here it is:

Breakfast

• Cereal with non-fat milk & a piece of fruit (5)
• Oatmeal with non-fat milk & a piece of fruit (5)
• 1 egg and 1 egg white, 2 pieces of toast, & a piece of fruit (5)
• Saturday: wheat and honey pancakes (lots)

Lunch

• Leftovers (varies)
• Tortilla & egg & pepper strips (6)
• Sandwich & raw veggies (5)
• Tomato & Pepper soup with cheese & veggies (5)

Snacks

• Popcorn & 11 almonds (3)
• 1 c milk with cocoa & 1 Tbsp sugar (3)
• Apple with 1 Tbsp peanut butter (3)
• Smoothie [2 fruits, veggies, tofu, yogurt] (5)
• Apple cheddar pitas (3)
• Cottage cheese dip with veggies (2)
• 2/3 c Cottage cheese with grapes (3)
• Pear bread (or other) muffin with 1 c milk (10, approx)

Dinners

• Sunday: Lentil & veggie stew (3)
• Monday: Hawaiian haystacks (10)
• Tuesday: Chicken & veggie stir fry over rice (8)
• Wednesday: Rice and beans (8-10)
• Thursday: Burritos (10)
• Friday: Chili Soup (7, approx)
• Saturday: Tuna sandwiches on wheat (10) or Sloppy lentils on rolls (6)

(Oh, and I also can have one Dove dark chocolate each day. I keep them in the freezer to keep them out of sight & help them melt slower.)

Lately...

...Monkey is taking a step here and there, and she's so great at standing unassisted, but she still likes a hand to hold.

...Chick is old enough for longer story/picture books. I'm thrilled. All along the path of parenthood there have been little, "THIS is what I love about being a parent" moments...storytime is one of those things. We've read some good books lately:

"In a Blue Room," which has beautiful illustrations & a nice soothing lyrical quality.

Though I didn't appreciate this one until we'd read it 2 1/2 times, I liked "Rain Makes Applesauce." While we were out for a walk Chick was repeating, "You're just talking silly talk" which is kind of a fun phrase in and of itself.

...I haven't done any sewing. I had layout, and then I opted for reading a book ("The Romanov Bride" - the second that I've read by Robert Alexander) which made me very grateful that we are not having a revolution in this country right now. Both of his books (the other was "The Kitchen Boy") do have some swearing & inappropriate parts, but were fascinating nonetheless. Another revolution/ communist "must read" is "Wild Swans." It's hard reading, especially because it's not fiction, and much of China's history would have been better left in the realm of fiction/horror.

...My only project has been to reorganize the girls' clothing. Out with the summer clothes, in with the warmer fall & winter wear. Darn kids, just seem to keep growing. Anyhow, it's fun because it's like getting to wear new clothes myself : )

...We got our plane tickets for the cruise, which makes it feel very close. Which is good, because it is giving me motivation to get moving. I went for a jog a couple of days ago, a walk yesterday, and am considering joining the local YMCA. (I'm also going to play biggest loser with some friends, starting Aug 30th...I'll keep you updated).

...I've had fun grocery shopping--this is my favorite time of year for groceries because of all the "back to school" promotions. We've gotten a ton of pantry items for very little money. Some of it, like Skippy PB, isn't as healthy as we usually eat, but it's good to have on hand for when we run out of Adams. Anyhow, I love free food. Last night I spent $8 out of pocket and got: 2 cans of olives, 2 6-packs of Dole fruit cups, 8 boxes of cereal, 1 pk of M&M's for HH, a pkg of bacon, and 3 bananas. I have our year supply of pop tarts, totally unhealthy, but I like to have them on Sunday mornings as a special Sunday treat...and at 30 cents a box, who could resist? We also used coupons in combination with the Kraft promotion at Albertsons--so I got over $30 worth of Kraft products for $0. Yay!

...I thrifted.

The first pic is the rest of my $50 trip (I returned some). I didn't read the coupon carefully, though, and so when I returned it I forfeited the discount on the additional stuff. Oh well. The arm and the turtle weren't included in the purchase...she just wanted to help with putting things in the picture. (the items pictured are what I got for free--it's not $50 worth, but free is free)

I used a second "spend $100, get $50 back" coupon and got this: (Not pictured are 2 chairs, a stool, and a Little Tikes bike for Chick). The Halloween dress is for Monkey's costume this year--she's going to be a Halloween fairy. Chick is going to be the cutest little bee you've ever seen, but I'm making that one, so don't hold your breath. In the back are 2 red blankets to use in the living room. Better than the purple that we had that didn't match at all : )

Oh so sad! *Updated*

So I'm totally distraught. Biggest Loser just finished for the week, and KRISTIN is out. She and Sione were my favorites and they are both gone now. So so sad.

I don't even really care who wins if it's not Kristin. All I can say is NOT MIKE. jerk. cocky, selfish, jerk.

**Update: We had a lot of distractions last night, so I didn't realize how much a part Ron (yes Erin, EVIL EVIL RON!) played in Mike's decision. Honestly, I didn't trust him before, but I didn't realize that he was so out and out terrible. I was just watching online when the two of them were talking & I can barely stomach the thought of him. Talk about the "letter of the law"...sure he didn't write down Kristin's name, but he designed her elimination nontheless.

I'm still ticked that Mike decided as he did. However, he's not COMPLETELY a selfish jerk...he did give his year of groceries to Aubrey, etc.