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Ellianas Pictures

October 7th, 2011 . Posted in Elliana, Random Thoughts | 1 Comment »
I've been practicing with my camera again. This time on Elliana.

She was a very good sport the other day while I made her wander around the back yard looking for the best light to take some pics. Here are some of our best ones, and a couple hula hoop pictures she insisted on :)

We have a patio that opens up off our bedroom. Its rarely used other than to go outside and yell down for kids to come inside or something. Its usually in the full sun all day because of the direction our house faces so it is a little hard to enjoy. It also explains why when we looked at the house before buying the previous owners had a very large rocking swing with a sun shade on top up here.
I don't have anything like that so our patio isn't enjoyed as much as I thought we would. Oh well. It had great lighting for pictures
These were taken on the patio (which explains the wood slats behind her)





We ventured downstairs and out to the back yard because Dash came out onto the patio with us and he is a climber, so I was getting worried that I couldn't keep my eyes on him and in my camera at the same time!





This is one of my favorites!


And a couple of her doing the hula hoop. She is so proud that she has mastered the skill and she wanted to show it off :)




I have a few more to edit of Ellie, and then I need to tackle Jamie and force him to humor me and take some pics too :)
Then of course I need to get all 4 to sit still and let me take some pics of all of them together. Maybe I'll actually have decent enough pictures to give out at Christmas this year, hah!


Dashel at the park.

October 4th, 2011 . Posted in Dashel, Random Thoughts | No Comments »
Yesterday I met a friend at the park for a lunch playdate. She is one of my former doula clients and her son is 15 months old. I brought my camera along hoping that I could catch a couple of cute pictures of Dashel. I also ended up getting some great shots of my friends kiddo too :)
Here are some of the best pics of the day!
While waiting for our friends to arrive we had some lunch. I packed a Bento lunch for Dash of course, I snapped a pic of him right after he took a bite of his gluten free muffin. I loved the look on his face, and the crumbs I guess just add to his adorableness


He's standing on top of a rock here, thinking about jumping off. I said "Hey Dash look at Mommy" and he said "No, I gonna jump!"


I said "Dash, Mommy doesn't want you to jump, can you look at me real quick?"
And he gave me this sort of look...


I got him to climb down and then he ran over to another area and this happened before I could get his attention!


He's fine of course. This kid jumps off everything! None of my kids have ever broken a bone... yet!

After that we went over to play on the playground!
This is the face of extreme laughter. He LOVES this spinning thing. And squeals "faster! Faster!" every time he is in it.




Then he decided he was going to run to the top of a hill nearby and roll down. This was taken after his second downward roll. He said "whew! I tired!"


And of course he ran right back to the top of the hill!


Then Dash wanted to play with his Nemo ball. So we went over to the field and tossed his ball around. He LOVES to kick a ball!



With our little friend Jack.


Kick!


Then he decided we were done and he wanted to go home.




I still want to get some pictures of all 4 of my kiddos together. We are planning to do that this weekend. Hopefully we can see some of the beautiful Fall colors before they are all gone too!

Olivias Senior Year.

October 3rd, 2011 . Posted in Olivia, Parenting, Random Thoughts | No Comments »
Olivia is a Senior this year. I can hardly believe where the time went. I feel like it was just yesterday she was this squishy little newborn with perfect features and hardly ever cried. Now she is this 17 yr old young lady who is so grown up in some ways but also my little girl in others. I'm so proud of her. She has all A's and B's this year so far and is working hard to keep her grades up. She really wants to go to College and I really WANT her to go too, but money is stretched so thin around here that I just don't know how we will afford it. I guess student loans and grants. Or maybe I will win the lottery. HAH!

Anyway-
Senior pictures are something everyone seems to do. Olivia really wanted to hire a professional photographer like all her friends are doing and get some pictures taken. Spending $200-$500 on pictures is just NOT in our budget right now. (Or any time for that matter) I did tell her that maybe we could get some Professional pics taken when we file taxes and have a little more wiggle room with cash. She was happy with that, but the other day came home from school and told me that she HAS to submit a Senior picture to the yearbook before Oct 14.
So I decided to see what I could come up with by taking my own pictures. I'm not a professional, nor do I play one on the internet. But I do think that these pictures turned out really great! And she is over the moon happy with them, so that makes me even more happy.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures out of about 200 that I took that day. I want to send some off to be printed and hang on the wall. I'm really pleased with the way they turned out.

































I think this is one of my favorites-



THIS is the one she has decided to submit for the yearbook. I really like it!


I'm planning to take all 4 kiddos out this weekend and try to get some good pics taken of them too. I want a picture wall. I have very few family pictures on my walls and it makes me a little sad. I want pictures! Lots and lots of pictures!


Interviewing my lil ones.

September 27th, 2011 . Posted in Dashel, Elliana, Random Thoughts | 1 Comment »
A few years ago I started "interviewing" Elliana. Dashel was too little to do more than point and grunt when I asked him questions so today was the first time I've interviewed him. I can't remember if I ever posted the answers from Ellie at ages 4, 5, or 6. Today I did yr 7. Here they are in order from youngest till today. Its so fun to go back and read her answers. I never let her see the old ones until she has answered the new ones. I don't want to "give" her any answers. And I always type things exactly as she says them. Dashels interview made me laugh too! (his is at the very bottom)

Interview with Ellie age 4-
1. What is something mom always says to you?"I love you"
2. What makes mom happy?"kisses"
3. What makes mom sad?"I don't know"
4. How does your mom make you laugh?"saying "no smiles allowed!"
5. What was your mom like as a child?"I don't know"
6. How old is your mom?"45"
7. How tall is your mom?"20 feet"
8. What is her favorite thing to do?"knit!"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?"go to the store"
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?"for being a magician"
11. What is your mom really good at?"knitting!"
12. What is your mom not very good at?"saying oogla laa ga booga"
13. What does your mom do for a job?""knit"
14.What is your mom's favorite food?"chicken"
15. What makes you proud of your mom?"her making me laugh"
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?"strawberry shortcake"Why?"because shes special"
17. What do you and your mom do together?"fold clothes"
18. How are you and your mom the same?" we love each other"
19. How are you and your mom different?" she finds my socks and i don't"
20. How do you know your mom loves you?"because she gives me flowers"
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?"giving him hugs"
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?"to skate class with me"



Interview with Elliana age 5.

1. What is something mom always says to you?"I love you"
2. What makes mom happy?"don't know"
3. What makes mom sad?"getting glass in her foot"
4. How does your mom make you laugh?"having a "screaming" fight"
5. What was your mom like as a child?"just like me"
6. How old is your mom?"don't know"
7. How tall is your mom?"super tall"
8. What is her favorite thing to do?"knit!"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?"nurse Dashel"
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?"knitting!!"
11. What is your mom really good at?"knitting!"
12. What is your mom not very good at?"eating"
13. What does your mom do for a job?""you don't have a job" "or maybe a lot of knitting?"
14.What is your mom's favorite food?"mac and cheese"
15. What makes you proud of your mom?"kisses"
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?"kelly- from Handy Manny" Why?"I don't know!"
17. What do you and your mom do together?"go places, like at playgroup"
18. How are you and your mom the same?"we both play on the computer"
19. How are you and your mom different?"we both don't draw much"
20. How do you know your mom loves you?"because shes always with me"
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?"uumm I don't know"
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?"wal mart"


Interview with Elliana age 6-

 1. What is something mom always says to you?" I love you "
2. What makes mom happy?" knitting "
3. What makes mom sad?" when I don't listen"
4. How does your mom make you laugh?" tickling me"
5. What was your mom like as a child?" the same as me "
6. How old is your mom?" 33"
7. How tall is your mom?" really tall "
8. What is her favorite thing to do?" knit!"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?" knit "
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?"I don't know"
11. What is your mom really good at?" knitting!"
12. What is your mom not very good at?" keeping track of kids"
13. What does your mom do for a job?"" she doesn't have one"
14.What is your mom's favorite food?" bacon"
15. What makes you proud of your mom?"when she knit me that sweater"
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?" I dunno"
Why?"because I don't really know!"
17. What do you and your mom do together?" cook"
18. How are you and your mom the same?"we both have brown eyes"
19. How are you and your mom different?"my moms hair is curly and mine is kinda straight"
20. How do you know your mom loves you?"because when ever I say I love you she says I love you back"
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?" I dont know"
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?" the beach"


Interview with Elliana age 7 (todays answers)

 1. What is something mom always says to you?" I love you"
2. What makes mom happy?" Me"
3. What makes mom sad?"Me being mean"
4. How does your mom make you laugh?"By tickling me"
5. What was your mom like as a child?"What?! I don't know!"
6. How old is your mom?"22"
7. How tall is your mom?"Um, as tall as the curtains in her room"
8. What is her favorite thing to do?"knit!"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?"knit!"
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?"cooking"
11. What is your mom really good at?"cooking" "and by cooking I mean making my lunch and stuff"
12. What is your mom not very good at?"remembering"
13. What does your mom do for a job?""take care of 4 kids"
14.What is your mom's favorite food?"I dunno"
15. What makes you proud of your mom?"that she IS my mom"
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?"Spongebob"
Why?"cause shes funny and Spongebob is funny"
17. What do you and your mom do together?"stuff" (I ask what kind of stuff?) "Um- like fun stuff"
18. How are you and your mom the same?"we both like each other"
19. How are you and your mom different?"she likes purple and I like pink"
20. How do you know your mom loves you?"cause shes always around me"
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?"that he's nice to her"
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?"Hmm, thats a tough one... You're really going to write that down? (laughter) (more laughter) shopping!"



Interview with a 3 yr old. Dashels answers from today-

1. What is something mom always says to you?"something where you mad"
2. What makes mom happy?"hugging and kissing me"
3. What makes mom sad?"hurting"
4. How does your mom make you laugh?"going potty"
5. What was your mom like as a child?"a baby"
6. How old is your mom?"8!"
7. How tall is your mom?"high!"
8. What is her favorite thing to do?"Picking up dirt"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?"knitting"
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?"something"
11. What is your mom really good at?"something"
12. What is your mom not very good at?"something. A mad thing"
13. What does your mom do for a job?""sweeping dirt"
14.What is your mom's favorite food?"chicken"
15. What makes you proud of your mom?"hugging"
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?"Max and Ruby!"
Why?"because. Because you do something"
17. What do you and your mom do together?"sweep up da floor"
18. How are you and your mom the same?"I'm free (3) and you're eight!"
19. How are you and your mom different?"you're 8 and I'm free (3)"
20. How do you know your mom loves you?"cause of kissing"
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?"food!"
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?"the farm and the store!"



What is interesting about these answers? For one I never EVER tickle my kids. I hate tickling. In fact I have a very strict "no tickling" rule. So I dunno why Ellie said I tickle her so much. Unless she means when I pretend to, I wiggle my fingers at her sometimes, but I never tickle. And apparently I knit, a lot! Who knew!? LOL! Also, according to Dashel I sweep up the floor a lot too. Of course he is probably right, because he makes SO MANY messes during the day I feel like I am constantly sweeping!

Our eating habits are not stupid or a fad, tyvm.

September 19th, 2011 . Posted in Exercise and Health | 1 Comment »
We've totally changed our eating habits at home and away. I've taken a lot of flack for it too, people don't seem to understand why this is important to us, or they make fun of me, say I'm just following the latest fad. But the truth is, my Medical Doctor suggested we eat this way and at first I was thinking I could never do it because I knew certain people around me would mock me or say certain things but my skin is thick and I can handle it. Because I know I feel DAMN good, and I've lost 30 pounds in 2 months eating this way!! I feel great, I have loads of energy, my skin and nails look great, my hair is thick and shiny again, and hey, dropping 4 pants sizes? Bonus!

My kids are also doing so much better eating healthier too!

I'm blogging about the kids Primal/Paleo Bento lunches on another blog. You can check it out here- http://www.primalbento.blogspot.com/ I decided not to clutter up my personal blog with the pictures :)

Here is a very good write up of the Paleo diet. Because we still eat dairy and some things like rice, we are closer to Primal eating than Paleo, but whatever, LOL!.
Despite having read up on paleo and believing in it yourself, you probably get a lot of questions about your diet. When people notice you passing on the bun, opting for the salad or studying food labels, they might want to know why. When they notice you looking and feeling better than ever, they’re really going to want to know how you did it.

Handing them a book is fine, but chances are they won’t read it. Take your opportunities when they come to let your friends and family in on your newfound paleo goldmine. Below is a Paleolithic diet elevator speech of sorts. Remember these points and you’ll probably pique a few people’s interest (and maybe change their lives).

• For 2.5 million years we evolved as hunter-gatherers eating meat, fish, eggs, veggies, fruits and nuts until 10,000 years ago when agriculture came along and gave us grains, beans, dairy, vegetable oils and refined sugars.
• Those foods cause digestive problems and chronic inflammation, and they lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease, among other things.
• With a few exceptions, we still have the same genetic make-up as those hunter-gatherers. Our bodies don’t handle the agricultural foods well.
• By not eating the agricultural foods, you get to go back to your roots, eating the foods you’re designed to eat. People on this diet see major improvements in their health. They lose weight, gain muscle, feel more energetic and stop taking all kinds of medications because their blood pressure improves, blood sugar normalizes and inflammation of all kinds subsides.
• Humans have the ability to subsist on foods that aren’t optimal for health, which is what we’ve been doing for the last 10,000 years. If we want to actually thrive, the Paleolithic diet is the way to eat.
• And no, hunter-gatherers didn’t just live until they were 30 and die brutal deaths. They’ve been known to live for a hundred years or more, free of the modern, chronic diseases we die of now
http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/09-19/paleo-nutshell/

Now, as far as the 'lived for a hundred years thing' I dunno. I can say that I have never felt so good. I have zero cravings for soda, sweets, carbs, breads, cookies, ice cream etc. None at all. I eat as much as I want during the day, I make sure to get GOOD fats in every meal and I'm losing weight. I have way more energy to deal with my crazy hectic life than I ever did before. And I am not treating this as a DIET but more a lifestyle change.

I know lots of people think the science behind Paleo is bunk. And I don't really care too much about that because I'm not following every rule to a T. I'm not hunting my own food, gathering my own veggies or foraging in the woods for grubs! LOL! But I am eating really yummy foods every day, not counting calories, exercising, drinking plenty of water and losing weight and feeling great.

Daniel is doing great, he is losing weight and feeling good too. He is very happy with the foods I buy and prepare. Hasn't had an ounce of complaints since we started this journey. I know it can be hard to understand, but if anyone should know anything about me, its that I do NOT jump into things feet first with out thinking them through, researching, reading books after books and finding out all I can about it. I'm a nerd like that.
Also, my kids are so much healthier since cutting out all grains from their diet. Ellie for sure has fewer tummy aches and GI issues. The poor kid has suffered from constipation most of her life and now she is very regular and much happier. She is focusing better in school (minus the usual to be expected stuff from her concussion) she is going to bed earlier and sleeping all night. Her behavior is improved too. And I can always tell if she has eaten something with grains/gluten in them.

Don't knock it till you try it ;)

Helmets!

September 6th, 2011 . Posted in Elliana | 2 Comments »
(If you're on my parenting board you have already seen this. I'm too lazy to retype everything so I'm just going to copy what I wrote last night)


Please for the love of everything make SURE your kids wear a helmet for any biking, rollerskating, skateboarding etc you do outdoors. Even if you think you are safe on your sidewalk, near your home etc.


We have been going on regular family bike rides on the weekends. We usually go around 8 miles or so round trip. We stick to the bike trails around Erie, we avoid the roads and we are really careful. I've been working with Ellie on proper bike "rules" and what to do during biking to avoid crashes etc.


Yesterday we all took a ride together on one of Eries trails and everything was fine, we rode about 7.5 miles and had to come home cause one of us got a flat. Ellie was disappointed because she really wanted to go father, so today I promised her we could take the longer trail and see how far we could get. So this morning we all set out and it was a beautiful day, lovely ride. We got to the trail and set out the opposite way we'd gone yesterday. Our first time riding that way and we had NO idea there were very steep hills. The first few were ok, steep to climb but gentle declines and everything was fine, the last one was very steep and Ellie was complaining and getting whiny about it being so hard, and I wasn't being the sweet mama I could have been, I told her she was almost to the top and that we'd get some water and take a break up there and then we'd go down and everything would be fine. I was losing patience because I was trying to ride up the hill and she kept stopping in front of me, I yelled at her to "just go dammit" (not my best moment) and she zoomed to the top of the hill, didn't stop and just zoomed down the hill. Right at the same time I was yelling after her to "slow down, take it easy, watch it!" she lost control, flipped over the top and landed on her head.


It was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen.


I'm sure she lost consciousness because she just lay there. By the time I got down the hill, screaming for the others to STOP! and dismounted from my bike and to her she was in shock, freaking out flailing about, she didn't know me, she was talking nonsense about "this is all a dream, I am sleeping, I want to wake up, who are you!" and fighting me trying to keep her still and calm. Robot mommy took hold and I went into serious business emergency mode instead of freaked the hell out mommy mode.


I kept her still, made sure nothing was broken, wiped the blood off her with my shirt, Dan took off his shirt and dumped his cold water on it to put on her face to keep her cool and after I was sure she hadn't broken her neck/back/legs/arms etc I evaluated the situation. We needed to get her home, we were on a bike trail with zero road access, and I had one freaked out in shock child. She kept talking about things that made no sense and kept asking for her mommy. Even though I was talking to her calmly and telling her I was her mommy, everything was ok, she was safe she was not getting that I was her mom. She was fighting me, pushing me away, trying to get up and walk home. We were about 2 miles from home, Daniel jumped on his bike and rode as fast as he could to get home while the big kids and I tended to Ellie. I kept her laying down and cool. Gave her sips of water and kept her shielded from the hot sun. After about 10 min she seemed to "come to" and asked where we were, what happened and why we were on the ground. She did not seem to understand that she'd crashed and didn't remember riding her bike even. When she stood up to walk, she was very wobbly and unsteady. She seemed to get confused again and wanted to "go talk to my mommy" about that time Daniel arrived and we walked through the field to get over to the road where he was waiting. He got her into the car and took her and Dashel home while me and the big kids rode our bikes home.


By the time I got home he told me she was still acting "weird" and had thrown up. So I called Kaisers nurse line to find out if there were any offices open today or if I should get her to the ER. The nurse told us to get her to the ER asap. So we got her into the car and over to Childrens Hospital.


They saw us right away and checked her out. The Dr said she suffered a "significant concussion" and she was extremely lucky she had her helmet on. She said she has seen "worse outcomes from much milder bike accidents in kids with no helmet" and praised Ellie for wearing her helmet. We are to watch her closely, not let her do anything that could injure her brain again, no recess at school, no bike, no skating, no trampoline etc. And she is to see her Ped in a week to recheck her.


I can't stress how important it is to wear a helmet. Yourself and your kids. We were so lucky she wasn't more severely injured.


.

This is my sad girl in the ER.

Today she is doing a bit better, she has had moments of confusion and "fuzzy brain" she will be talking to me and then give a blank look and say "what?" like she forgot...
I took her to get a chiro adjustment this afternoon and she is in a much better mood, smiling a little and chatty. A drastic improvement from yesterday and even this morning...


I'm exhausted and still a bit freaked out. It was so scary but I'm glad to know I can remain calm and collected in an emergency situation and not freak out until later!
Here she is today. Her scrapes and bruises are looking a little better.

Schools back in session.

August 25th, 2011 . Posted in Dashel, Elliana, Jamie, Olivia, Parenting, Random Thoughts | No Comments »
...and with that means that I have 3 kids in full time all day school who also need to eat. Part of our new lifestyle change with food is including the whole family. I simply do not have the brain power or function to buy, cook, and prepare separate meals every day for each person. Eating Paleo means we've cut out all breads, grains, gluten, beans/legumes, soy, processed foods (I cut most of those anyway) HFCS (another that I avoided already) and excess sugar. It has also made fixing lunches for kids a little more difficult.


Previously my big kids would make their own lunches,which was usually a PB&J, apple and what ever else was in the fridge they wanted or if they didn't have time they'd ask me at 6am for lunch money for hot lunch. Which they would then spend on Jamba Juice and pizza. Not the most healthy decisions there, or the most cost effective. So I decided a while ago that I would pack lunches for them each night and have them ready in the mornings. I packed Ellianas lunches all last year, so I had that routine down. It was a little more challenging trying to figure out what to fix for two hungry teenagers, but they haven't complained about the food I've packed for them yet. And they're eating it!


Last year I figured out pretty quickly that Ellie would eat more of her lunch if I prepared it "cute". So I started to cut her sandwiches into shapes. Hearts, butterflies, etc. I also started reading a bunch of bento blogs and learning how to create really cute and healthy lunches. Since we're doing Paleo now they are a little more work but worth it I think. Elliana is eating about 95% of her lunches, which is a huge improvement from last year where she'd maybe take 1 bite from each thing and then run off and play and come home totally starving! I've also started taking pictures of her lunches and sharing them on my message board and Facebook. I love Bento. I'm becoming very obsessed with making Bento lunches, haha. I've also been making them for the two bigger kids. I think Olivia is enjoying it way more than Jamie, but only because "its just not cool for your mom to make a cute lunch for you dude." Last night Olivia gave me a big hug and said "I like when you make my lunch Mommy" which made me go "awwwwww" and then of course "what do you want?" haha.


I visited my local Asian Market place and found some cheap bento supplies like rice molds, cute sticks to put food on, & veggie cutters so that has increased my enjoyment big time! I'd like to find some hard boiled egg molds so I can shape eggs for Ellie. I often send a HB egg in her lunch and she really loves those. I've also found that since I'm using foods I already have and buy each week for us anyway, I'm saving money. Because I'm not going to Costco every week for sandwich stuff, juice boxes, applesauce cups etc that I did last year for them.


Here are some pictures of lunches the kids took last week and this week. They're about 99% Paleo, not fully because I'm still doing dairy. I'm just not ready to cut dairy from our diets. I buy full fat yogurt and milk/cheese because I think those are important for growing children. I do purchase organic of course to limit their exposure to hormones and antibiotics that are found in conventional dairy products. (but, I've always done that...)


Lots of pictures here! These are my "Bento" supplies-



And lunches-



Ellie- 8/19- Ham rolls, cheese cut into teddy bear shapes, a red plum, red bell pepper, melon balls. Whole fat yogurt with raw coconut on top. Small orange and plum for late afternoon snack.

Ellie- 8/22



Thin slicked pork (dinner leftovers from night before), broccoli, teddy bear and heart cheese, flower carrots, flower peaches, home made plantains, cucumber and red bell pepper. Not in pic for afternoon snack a baby orange and cheese stick.

Ellie-8/23



HB egg, cheese on sticks, carrot flowers, blueberries, cucumber slices, half red plum. Orange slices for snack

Dashel and I went to playgroup on this day, so I packed a Bento for him and he was SO excited. He couldn't wait to get to the park to "eat my lunchie" and as soon as we arrived he sat down next to me, set out his napkin and asked "can I have my lunch now?" (even though he'd had breakfast about an hour before that time, heh) and he ate every single bit!

Dashel- 8/23



HB egg. Plum, flower carrots on turtle picks, ants on a log with enjoy life choc chips, Colorado peach with blueberries and a cute fork pick, and cheese on cat and mouse picks

Olivia- 8/24



This picture turned out terrible, and I didn't realize it until I saw it on the computer, but by then she'd already taken it to school, heh.

Olivia had 3 flower rice onigiri (Japanese rice ball), HB egg, cheese on sticks, melon balls, red bell pepper and cucumber slices. In the small container is some spaghetti squash with cheese. I also included a small container of GF Soysauce for her rice.

Elliana- 8/24

Ellie got a hand shaped cat onigiri, HB egg, cucumber and tomato slices, cheese on sticks, melon and blueberries. I also included a tiny bit of soysauce for her. The cat was a surprise and she came home very happy about it! And begged me to make her more pretty rice balls :)

Olivia 8/25 (today!)



Turkey rolls, cheese butterfly, kiwi slices, celery sticks with cream cheese, black olives under the celery, and a fruit mix of blackberry, raspberry and strawberries. I also included a pear for a snack later

Jamie 8/25-



Jamie got ham rolls, a cheese fish and bubbles, cheese and olives on sticks, celery with cream cheese, cherry tomatoes under the celery and a fruit mix.

Elliana 8/25-



Ellie got ham rolls, a cheese butterfly, cheese and olive sticks, a big strawberry, a fruit mix of flower shaped kiwi, blackberry and raspberry, and celery with cream cheese, under the celery are some cherry tomatoes.

< These lunches are fun to make and fun to eat! I'm having a great time thinking up creative things to do with food to make them cute and pretty, and my kids love eating them. I prepare lunches right after dinner is done, so that they're finished and waiting in the fridge for the kids to grab in the mornings. So much easier that way!

I have another post brewing in my head, all about the end of Daniels juice fast. He did great! And I'm so proud of him, but right now I need to go do more laundry! :)

I’m still alive!

August 16th, 2011 . Posted in Random Thoughts | 1 Comment »
Its been 3 months since my last update? Insane! I could come up with a ton of lame excuses but the reality is I just haven't felt like it. My computer was moved upstairs to my bedroom and I do the majority of my internet browsing on my iphone. I can't blog from my phone. (well, I guess I could, but I don't want to deal with the tiny screen and painfully slow typing, heh) so mostly I check my email, facebook, and my local Parenting board.


Anyway, what have I been up to? Well... I started getting really serious about exercising back in April, and counting calories. Every single thing that went into my mouth has been logged and counted, even when camping and eating s'mores! :) I've been very careful to stay under my calorie goal daily, get my water in, and get to each class. I did that from April to July. And I lost a whopping 8 pounds. Thats it. Kinda sucked. I got discouraged and annoyed and frustrated. I also had some terrible knee pain and shoulder pain. It was so bad I started skipping classes due to the pain... I see my chiropractor every 3 weeks and when she told me to see my Family Dr I got concerned. I hemmed and hawed over it and finally made the appt to go see her. Turns out I had a flare up of bursitis in both my knee and my shoulder. She injected me with some cortisone and told me not to do zumba or body pump for at least a month so my joints could rest. I told my dr about my counting calories and all the classes I had been taking and she reminded me that counting calories was great, but people who have my body type and conditions really need to be counting carbs instead. I knew that. I guess I was just trying something new? I dunno. She mentioned a few diets, atkins, south beach, metabolism miracle (been there on all three...) then she said "some people have success with Paleo, its a lot stricter and I don't usually recommend it, but you could give it a shot.." I came home and looked it up and then decided that I wasn't going to do that. Caveman eating they call it. Eating only the things the cavemen ate. Lean meats, fruits, veggies. No grains of any type at all.


That sounded just too strict and not fun to me, LOL! While sitting around on my butt waiting for my knee and shoulder pain to go away, I spent lots of time on netflix watching documentaries. A few that really caught my eye were "Fat sick and nearly dead" and "Fat head". Fat, sick, nearly dead was about a guy who was about 100 pounds over weight and had some pretty major health issues. He went on a 60 day juice fast, lost ALL of the weight and cured his autoimmune disorder. All under the care of a dr. and by juice I mean greens and a small bit of fruit, not all sugary fruit juices. Since I already drink green smoothies I was intrigued. Daniel was too.


The second one was about a guy who ate all fast foods for a month and lost 25 pounds. Its too much to type all out but basically he managed to eat fast food, watch his carbs by skipping the fries and opting for diet drinks and lost the weight and his fat % in his body went down, and his cholesterol went down. In the end he talked a lot about nutrition and how we are meant to eat, and really went into details about people who have Insulin Resistance and Diabetes. It was a good show and I've watched it several times now. I checked out his blog and apparently he eats Paleo style.


So, that got me thinking maybe I should be doing that, at least then I could say I did it and it didn't work, right? Well... apparently it works. Have you seen my weight loss ticker over there? Cool eh? And thats with out any exercise, because I still had pain. I'm not strick Paleo. I'm still eating dairy and some grains. I love quinoa and brown rice, and can't live with out my Fage greek yogurt! But I've been keeping my carb count under 50 every day and its working. I'm not totally surprised because I had great luck with Atkins when I did that, but the limiting of fruits/veggies and the "eat more bacon!" thing had me kinda worried, too much bad fats! Paleo is different. It really focuses on GOOD fats, GOOD carbs, and all the lean meat, fruit, and veggies you can eat. And no calorie counting. I still log everything, because I'm anal like that, LOL!.


Daniel was most moved by Fat, sick, and nearly dead. He has these weird episodes that the Drs cannot explain, that totally knock him off his feet for 3-4 days at a time. Fever, chills, body aches, sweats, etc. They've run every test they can find and cannot figure it out. I've kinda thought all along that it was diet related, because he doesn't exactly eat well. I guess at home he does because I don't cook crap. But he practically lives on Mt Dew, crap from the snack machines and monster energy drinks at work. Not good.


So, Daniel spent a few weeks researching the juice fasting and decided to give it a shot. He wanted to see if it would make a difference in his episodes (if they are food related) and his skin condition (tinnea versicolor) which has never gone away even after massive abx does. He decided on a 15 day fast...


I was sure he would give up after the first day, or cheat on the fast with a soda or something. But the dude has will power! He is on day 11 now. And feels great. The first two days were ok, he didn't experience any bad effects. He bought a juicer and juices greens like collards, kale, spinach, beet greens etc with some celery, apple, orange, melon and drinks for each meal. He takes two large jars of juice to work and sips on those and water all day. Around day 6 or so he felt an episode coming on. He got chills, fever, purple fingernails, sweats and body aches just like usual. He continued to drink his juices and came home from work and slept. The next day he got up and felt fine! These episodes usually last at a min 3 days, so for a 1 day episode we feel is a huge improvement. I noticed this morning that his tinnea versicolor has almost faded away! Its very light and hardly noticeable at all, which is also great!

And his weight has really dropped. He started his fast on day 1 at 221 pounds. And today on day 11 he weighed in at 203 pounds. I'm super impressed! And proud of him for sticking with it for so long. He has a new outlook on food and really wants to eat healthier and is very motivated to start eating Paleo style with the rest of us!


We spent a lot of time researching nutrients and such before he started. I already knew that greens were full of good things like calcium, but was slightly worried about protein. Turns out I didn't need to worry, they also have lots of protein! He is meeting or exceeding his requirements for all nutrients daily! And he looks and feels great, which makes me happy.


His last day is Friday. And he plans to still have some juice but also some fresh fruit. He will then go slowly onto eating salads and after a few days add in some meat. You can't break and go back to your old eating habits. You'll get sick and ruin all that hard work...


So thats what has been going on with us for the past 3 months. I have lots of pictures and some knitting to update later but for now I'm going to bed! :)

Picture Overload

May 17th, 2011 . Posted in Dashel, Elliana, Jamie, Olivia, Random Thoughts | No Comments »
Some pictures from the past month. Easter and Ellianas birthday party.
Easter-










Ellianas 7th Birthday Party















And bonus pictures of our class trip to the zoo ...









It was a cold and wet day for a field trip so we mostly stuck to indoor exhibits. Our zoo membership expires at the end of this month, we'll probably go back sometime before then, if only the crappy weather would stop.

Thats all for now!

Weekend Update!

May 2nd, 2011 . Posted in Exercise and Health, Random Thoughts | No Comments »
Every time I write that I think of the Saturday Night Live skits, LOL!

This weekend was pretty low key. Saturday was my off day from exercising, I did a few loads of laundry, some house cleaning and then Daniel and I went to chick fila for brunch. I know its not healthy, but we had coupons for free nugget meals that were expiring that day so we needed to use them up. I did log my food in my Fitness Pal app and since we did not upsize the meal and since I had iced tea it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It wasn't great, but I didn't go over my calories. After lunch we went over to Famous Footwear, I've been having some knee pain after zumba and the instructor told me to get "dance" shoes, I talked to a friend who also does zumba and she gave me a recommendation. I went to try them on. I ended up not liking the exact ones my friend told me about because the sizing was weird for my feet and they felt odd. I did like another pair of dance shoes though but the price tag was 59$ and I just can't afford that! So I came home with out the shoes.

Sunday morning I got up and went to Spin class with Dan and Jerusha and Julie. After class my other friend K txt me and asked if I wanted to go get a pedicure. Since its been months I happily said yes! We got our toes all prettied up-

Mine are a kinda wine color with lil white flowers on my big toes. Love!
After pedicures we went to a new Thai place in town. It was amazing. I ordered the Peanut Curry and it has to be one of the best curries I've ever tried. Yum!
And the presentation was so pretty I had to take a picture, HAH!


After lunch we went to Famous Footwear again, when we got home on Saturday I discovered a coupon in my email for 30% off shoes from them. And I also apparently had some "member rewards" to use from previous purchases. So I got the shoes and asked if they'd take both coupons, turns out they would! And I got my shoes for 28$. A much easier amount to swallow for me.

They have a pivot spot on the bottom so they don't "stick" to the hard floors. My regular shoes made it harder to do the foot movements because they'd stick to the floor and hurt my knees. I can't wait to try these out this afternoon when I go back to zumba!

Nothing much else to report. Breaking news last night of course, news the entire world knows about. I'm having a hard time with the celebrating I'm seeing on tv. I realize that he was a horrible person, and responsible for a lot of deaths and tragedies but I just can't bring myself to celebrate or be happy about a human being dying. Thats all I'm going to say about that.
Happy Monday!

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