To Lose or NOT to Lose....

The decision to lose weight was one I was ready for. I felt "puffy faced" and ridiculously uncomfortable. The last time I felt this uncomfortable and wasn't pregnant and huge was back in the summer of 2004. I had just returned from a vacation with my Dad, Stepmom, and two step-sisters. I had a blast but I still had a hard time looking at pictures of myself. I just didn't feel like myself and I knew something had to give... FLASHBACK...

Now, that picture was taken in June...and naturally, hee hee, June gives way to July :-) By this point, my cousin Karen and I had decided we had had enough. So, we went down to the local Weight Watchers meeting place and signed ourselves up. I was living with Karen and her husband at the time, so we were able to learn together and challenge one another as we radically changed our lives, as well as all of our habits. Together we lost around 100 pounds in the course of about nine months. But...a lot has changed since then!! Life has happened. I got married in 2007, and between 2007 and the current day, we have had five kids between us. Jobs have changed, kids have grown, and Karen and Terry (and the boys) even moved out of state. It's been a happy time, mixed with its ups and downs. For me personally, the last year and half or so has been a real change of pace. I left my job in August 2012 after nearly 14 years. I became a stay-at-home Mom as well as a homeschooling Mom and a general domestic engineer. I had never been any of the above before and over the course of time, I let my emotions and situations control my habits. I recovered well from the birth of my third child in December 2012, better than my other two pregnancies. But it didn't take me long to pack on the "Freshman Fifteen (plus...)." I started feeling uncomfortable about looking at myself in pictures again and knew it was time for a change. Sooooo...here I am. Needing another true life change. I am asking God to help me and my family through this, both mentally and financially. I have learned to be more thrifty since we have gone from two incomes to one, so now I am having to recalibrate my thriftiness to make this work. Eat less...move more (as my cousin just told me this morning!!). I did make a minimal investment...$18.95 to join Weight Watchers online, which will help me track my activity. But I have many valuable resources which should help us do the most with less! Firstly...a supportive husband who is also joining me on this journey. As well as our kids. :-) The local public library, which gives access to recipes and advice for changing the way my family and I eat and live!

Aldi's has definitely become my second go-to place. I am sooo thankful that I have one nearby! They have so many more, high quality, low cost natural, organic, and low fat options than ever before. I will share more as time goes on regarding my savings there.

Wal-Mart and Sam's Club is another good place to get affordable items. These were purchased at a local Neighborhood Market, using coupons, which brings me to my next helper....

COUPONS! COUPONS! COUPONS! Clip 'em, print them, whatever works out, just use them! There have been a lot here recently for more diet conducive items, so keep your eye out! Those are just a few helpers. I am going to keep this up, listing meals and their costs, both financially and nutritionally. Maybe someone will be helped out by the information. I am hoping, though, that it will be more of an accountability aid for myself. I won't stop making Pioneer Woman recipes because, well, they're just totally scrumptious. I just won't be able to make them as often, or might need to adapt them for our needs. I'm just praying for strength, wisdom, and will-power. :-)

Catching up....Yikes

Well, we have been super busy with school and now we are in the thick of the holiday season, slammed somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's hard to believe the "big day" is in a little more than two weeks! I'm going to try and get things caught back up, hee hee. This first post will be about a trip Big Red and I took to Sedgwick County Park here in Wichita...it was a cool, dreary day and it ended up raining for several days straight. This day away just kind of reminded me why we are choosing to homeschool. Being able to think beyond the classroom and observe the world without so much structure is awesome. Big Red enjoyed himself. Hope you like the pics.

The trees had just started to turn colors and some beautiful leaves had fallen and stuck to the path.

Just walking along...

Some more beautiful views... One last look at a set of prints we found in the mud. We had some fun pretending it was a dinosaur or some other wild beast, LOL!

Hope you all enjoyed that...I have several more posts to come!

Getting to Meet the Pioneer Woman!

Things have been busy here around our house these days...Big Red's soccer career has blossomed, lol. Last weekend (the weekend of the 28th) of the we had about 17 million things going on...My husband was attending a Baptist men's recharge out of town, my nephew was having his 12th birthday party Saturday afternoon, Big Red had a soccer game first thing in the morning Saturday, and there were a few other miscellaneous going's on sprinkled in there as well. Then I found out my favorite chef/Food Network TV personality, Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, would be signing books here at a local bookstore. Was it possible? Would I get to meet my favorite chef...the one who actually presents recipes that are just as good eaten as they are pretty to look at? Meeting her might actually happen! Then, I read that the bookstore had started handing out numbers to see said chef back in August. My heart sunk. I was sad for a minute but tried to cheer myself up. I asked my husband what he thought about me going to the bookstore to see if there were anymore tickets. He thought I ought to go and see if there were more tickets. So....after Big Red's soccer game, my mother-in-law, Big Red, Little Red, and I moseyed on down to the bookstore. And guess what?! They had tickets!!! So, guess who was going to see the Pioneer Woman? My mother-in-law and I and the kids, that's who!!!! It took forever for the next week to pass. Time ticked away...ever-so-slowly. Then came "the day!" It was cold and raining, basically absolutely miserable. Big Red played in his soccer game at 9am, which I was slightly upset about. It was about 58 degrees and very windy. Little Red and Baby Red went to Grandma's house during the game. My husband was out of town, so I got to shiver through my poor little guy's game alone. After quick high-fives and "good games" we headed back to Grandma's house to meet up with Grandma and the girls. Soon we were loaded up, tickets and books in hand, and we made our way toward the bookstore. Upon our arrival, we were able to get a good parking spot and we made our way up to the shop. It wasn't long before we got to meet our first special person of the day...Ree's daughter, Alex!!

Alex was very nice and we chatted for a few minutes. She even signed Big Red's "Charlie the Ranch Dog" book!! We made our way inside and waited in line. It moved so quickly and I have to say the kids were pretty well-behaved! I have had worse experience in the line at the grocery store! When we were next in line, I just about couldn't believe it! My mother-in-law and I were beyond excited! Ree was very nice and very down-to-earth! All three of my redheads fell in love with her and I think the feeling was mutual!

I thought Baby Red was going to jump out of her lap, though, LOL

I am taking a picture with my camera this time and Ree is helping me get the kids to look at me!

She was soooo awesome and signed something for a friend of mine, too!

Big Red is telling Ree about the haircut his Mama gave him the night before. And now my favorite pic, no blinking, everyone looking at the camera...an exciting memory for all of us...

It was so cool to get to meet Ree and her daughter Alex! For those who don't know the Pioneer Woman, she is the wife of a rancher down in Oklahoma (our neighbors to the south) and she blogs and cooks and she is an all around nice lady! I can't wait till the next time she comes to town so we can go see her again!!

A Soccer Career Begins :)

This past week has been a blur. My "bigs" were sick with an upper respiratory infection and I've been protecting Baby Red like a big, ole bossy hen. The last thing that girl needs is to be sick. Her two little front teeth are pushing themselves out crazy fast! By Saturday, Big Red was feeling better, so Dad and I agreed that he could play in his soccer game Saturday morning. BTW, he is playing AYSO soccer here in Wichita this year in Region 208 (NW Wichita/Andale/Goddard/Colwich/Maize)and his cute little team is called the "Green Hulks!"

The kids took turns sitting out every other quarter

Getting ready to kick off for the second quarter!

Gotta make sure Mommy and Daddy are watching!

Kieran and one of the "Ian's" on the team

Another action shot and a shot of K throwing the ball back into play!

It was a good game...the Green Hulks won, like 10 to 3, or something along those lines. Kieran scored a goal and a good time was had by all the boys!

Here is to a great season, Big Red (and the Green Hulks)!!!!!

Miss Julia's First Birthday

As I am writing this, I am hoping to get all pictures posted. It sounds like Baby Red is awake and it doesn't help that I have managed to sneeze about 700 times in the last 20 minutes. I have, however, had two giganticus cups of coffee, so it is going to be a great day! I took pictures of the birthday girl eating her cake, but I used my Dad's 35mm camera, LOL, so this will be pics and captions of the kids' pool party pre-cake! The Birthday Girl!

Ta-Dah! Little Red is enjoying herself!

Big Red and Little Red and photo bomb, courtesy of Cousin Indy!

Baby Julia and Little Red enjoying one another's company. I think they will be good friends as they grow up!

Baby Julia and her Daddy! I love this pic! Has to be one of the sweetest ones ever!

Big Red watching the kids play. My cousin says his skin color is clear, LOL. Poor lil redhead! :-)

Grammy Elaine and Sweet Baby J!

Big Red decided to take a nap in Baby Julia's pool, LOL.

It was a great day, even though it was pretty steaming hot! Julia has been such a blessing to our lives and I can't wait to watch my little niece grow and change through the years. Here is to many, many more birthdays, baby girl! Love you lots!

A Wedding Fit for a Princess and Her Prince!

My littlest step-sister, Alice, was married here recently to my newest brother-in-law, Bryce, in a beautiful ceremony in the KCMO metro area. It was a beautiful wedding! The weather held out very well and everyone had a great time. Even Baby Red enjoyed herself! Little Red was in the actual wedding party as a flower girl with her darling cousin, Julia. Here is a photo of our group:

Family from England made it as well. It was great to see Grandma Christine and Auntie Lorna!

The beautiful bride, my baby sister, Alice and my awesome Step-Mom, Elaine!

Little Red after her duties as co-flower girl. Her hair was gorgeous, but it had started coming out just a little at this time. She loved twirling in her dress and both baby girls looked like absolute Princesses!

The wedding party, just as the couple was being presented!

A happy and jubilant bride and groom!

All in all, it was a terrific wedding weekend! The kids had an adventure traveling up to Kansas City. It was surreal seeing Alice getting married. I guess it's just hard to believe she isn't a little girl anymore. Or even a young lady, for that matter, LOL. I sniffled a little thinking to myself just now, what a beautiful woman Alice has become! I am glad she found such a wonderful man in Bryce. He is a good man and will make a wonderful father. He is certainly a doting Uncle! Welcome to our family, Bryce! Looking back, I think each of us four girls had wonderful weddings, which were well suited to our personalities! We have all married men who instantly proved to be great husbands and wonderful fathers. I cannot wait to see how we all grow and change as the years go on and our families increase in number. We are all truly blessed!

Keeping Cool in the Heat

This summer has been unlike any other summer of my adult life. I am not working out of the home, I have five children currently in my care, and our budget has been tighter than ever. None of those are bad things, in my opinion. Each of those points has been something that I have been able to take a great deal from. Today, the temperatures are slowly skyrocketing. Even my nephew didn't want to stay outside too long this morning. My fair-skinned little Reds have no business being outdoors in the blistering heat. I asked myself last night, "How will I keep them occupied and entertained and not feel like I am holding them back from having a fun summer? Ah ha! Lets have a movie day! I turned on the Blu-Ray and popped in Cars. The kids were instantly excited. Well, all of them except for the babies, who weren't really sure what we were doing. I turned off all the lights, turned up all the ceiling fans, and now they are chilling out, watching a Cars/Pixar Movie Marathon while I scribble this down (okay, type it up). I also have laundry going, which could not be avoided, so lights off and fans on will help keep the house temps down. I normally do laundry late at night in the summer time, but the kids needed clothes, LOL! I want to post something else up later tonight about my most favorite Food Network cooks, the Pioneer Woman, and the onslaught of people I found that can't stand her. It's really been an eye opener!