Meal Planning

Monday: Tangy BBQ 'Samich'
Tuesday:Italian Sausage and Potato Roast
Wednesday: One-pot Spaghetti
Thursday: Thai Chicken Pasta
Friday: Chicken Nuggets & Fries
Saturday: Burgers & Hot Dogs
Sunday:

I was reading a friends blog and found from her blog a really good blog to follow and loved readying everyones menu plans for the week. I always find it hard to find a good reciepe and an easy one to prepare. This site has helped me out so much.
I love planning it in advanced b/c our evening go so much smoother when we all know what is for dinner.
ENJOY!

Bringing it all back!

Yup it is that time again...headed back to Weight Watchers last night with my buddy. We made an agreement to take the summer off and then August 26th we would join up again. We really didn't want to go, we knew we had to but still to walk in the door knowing you are up from the summer it is just not a comforting feeling. BUT with my buddy by my side we walked in the doors.
We were welcomed back with smiles and encouragment and a comment that will keep me going..."IT'S A NEW START!" Yes it is! Yes, I did put on 10lbs over the summer but that is alright, I really thought it would be more. So here it goes.
I woke up this morning... pulled out my 4cup water jug and 3cup water cup from tupperware. Filled them up and set them up on the counter. Pulled out my WW book and tracker and placed it on the counter top with a pencil to record what I eat and last but not least i pulled out my food scale to make sure I can measure my food...if it is out in plain sight I will measure and weigh my food more and keep on track.
I can do this, I will do this!

BONUS...I cut the grass this morning....which equals 4 extra points to use!!!

Organizing with a Friend

This week is just filled with schedules and organizing. This morning I woke up not wanting to stay home so I thought I would head into the church and start getting things ready for September's Awana Club and Sunday School. I thought I would call my dear friend who I think loves organizing as much as me and see if she would come and help. Her girls would play with mine and we could get some things done.
We all arrived at around 9am, we chatted for a while with Heather and then headed downstairs to tackle the office. It wasn't too bad but alot of things were out of place and things just needed to put back. Charlene just knew what to do and so did I...what a purger she is...if we don't use it, then we don't keep it...that was our motto...and boy did things gets done fast...oh you should of seen the organizing and the rubbermaids with all there lables on them...oh it was so exciting and fun.
By 11:00am we were done the office...now to tackle the classrooms. We set up a table and just gutted the classrooms...took everything out and just started to organize. We broke for lunch and enjoyed some yummy pizza. But we couldn't sit long b/c we were such on a roll and we wanted to get it done...After all the cleaning and sorting we came out with 4 class rooms with their own containers for glue, scissors, markers, crayons, pens, pencils and even a teachers supply container...they were all lined up and ready to be stock up into the classroom.
As we closed up the classrooms at 2pm, they all had the tables, chairs, clocks, and all thier supplies...how satisfying it was to have everything ready for September.

Thanks Charlene! Love Ya

Schedules & Routines

I know it has been awhile since I have written but with summer holidays and having the girls home it just isn't at the top of my list. But as our family vacation comes to an end it makes me start to think about September and the routines we being as school resumes.
I love schedules and routines...things just run so much smoother when there is something to follow and it just makes the day flow so much nicer...
Reading a friends blog last night I found a new blog to follow which is all about organizing...I was so excited I could hardly sleep...
Even though school hasn't started I have my Weekly schedule hanging on the fridge along with my daily time schedule which helps the girls know what happens nexts. This also helps them learn to tell time b/c I have put a picture of a clock with the time on it so they can match it to the clock on the wall.
Now that I think about it...my life is full of schedules/routines/and Lists....below are the ones I love and have around our house

Menu Plan
Weekly Schedule
Monthly Calander
Time Schedule
Morning Routine List
Night Time Routine

AHHH. I love being organized!

Have a great day!

My Sister's Wedding is coming soon

I never even thought about this until Brad pointed it out...MY BABY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED in one week.

I have been in weddings and attended many but to be your sisters wedding it is feeling a bit different.

Helping Meg with all the wedding plans is so much fun. I have had to realize it is HER wedding and not mine...we are two different people and do things differently. I am overly organized and plan everything down to the last minute...Meg, well she is very relaxed and organized in her own way. But everything for her wedding is coming together so well.

I have had so much fun putting together Meg & Mich's wedding program, picking music for the ceremony, picking out the dresses, finding decorations, and my favorite...the Slide show. I can't wait.

Things have been a little stressful at times...getting dresses altered, finding the equipment for the music and slide show and finding time to do it all...but now as the weekend has given time to complete the tasks on my list I am getting so excited for the wedding.

Julia and Jade are the flowergirls and are so excited to wear thier "princess" dresses.

This weekend is going to be so much fun with spending Thursday with Meg, Kate, Mom and Dad getting the hall ready and having a few drinks up at Killbear around the fire. Friday the rest of the family and wedding party come up and we settle into the hotel and get ready for the rehearsal and the main event on the beach!!! I can't wait!!!

JULIA the BALLERINA

Last night we were able to watchJulia in her 1st Ballet Recital. I was so proud of her. She worked so hard. Here are a few pictures of her amazing night.

Can't wait til next year! Jade will be joining her too!

Looking Ahead

May was such a busy month with so many things....

1. Dan and Jenna's Wedding
2. Amy and Corey's Wedding
3. BG Club wrapping up for another year
4. Sunday School coming to a close for the summer
5. Ballet for Julia
6. Kids Day at church
7. VBS gearing up
8. VBS fundraisers going on
9. Wedding Preparations for Meg
10. Oh and then there is the daily routine with the girls, Brad's work, family matters and then all the other things that go with when you are a stay at home mom.

But with all the hustle and bustle of May brings the month that welcomes in summer. When I became a mom, summer holidays were just nothing special. It was still days at home with the kids which is normal.

But with Julia and Jade in school, ballet practice, BG CLUB, church meeting and all I am now looking forward to taking a break from the routines.

June is still busy but that is what I am use too and kind of live off of but the schedule kind of goes a little more low key...

Here are a few things I am looking forward to this summer.

1. No early mornings
2. VBS at Hillside
3. More BBQs with friends
4. Walks with the family in the evenings
5. Family Vacation to Brockville and Ottawa
6. Camping Trips with Wendy and the girls
7. and so much more that is not planned yet.

God is so Good and has blessed me with so much. I am so thankful we are able to enjoy it all.

A Great Weekend

What a great weekend! Brad and I were able to attend his cousin's wedding. The girls headed to my parents place for the night so we wouldn't have to worry about babysitters driving home late and then us being able to stay out as late as we wanted.

The wedding was a little bit different. Every wedding I have been at has always been a dutch CRC wedding...the structure of the whole day is always the same. This one was very different. It started at 5pm at the Banquet Hall. The reception began right after it. There was no music until the brides maids came down...no ushers, no unity candle...I don't even think it was a minister that married them but just an officiator...What i realized though is something that I kind of took for granted. The wedding ceremony had no mention of God. All the weddings I go to have that foundation. As nice as the wedding was, it kind of felt empty...no hope. Knowing that we have God part of our marriage gives us a foundation and something we can build our marriage on and a true example of what marriage is. I feel so blessed to have this.

It was such great time being at the table with his cousins and Wendy & Chris.. Our table was labled as the "Present Table". The table to my left was filled with all the young cousins in thier teens and early 20s. Our table was filled with 30something adults with kids under the age of 13. But my right was the table filled with all the parents...or what we labled "our future". Having a night with family, great food, great conversation. We laughed a lot and enjoyed each others company.

I love my life, my husband, my family, Brad's family and everything God has blessed me with.

Daily Struggles

As I sit down this afternoon to blog I realize that today has been a pretty good day. But in the last week things seem to be clouding my mind and covering the things I can be thankful for. Trying to figure sort through all my thoughts and make sense of them sometimes can be overwhelming. But here they are as best as I can describe them.

1)My weight...I know, have and always will struggled with this issue. 75% of the time is really dosen't bother me and I don't think of it.I joined WW and have stuck to it this time and am very happy with the results. But on those bad days...I am so ready to throw the towel in and head to the Bulk Barn and buy everything sweet and sit in my room and indulge. I hate having to watch my wieght. This isn't fun or even fair. Do I want to be skinny? No not really. I don't think I will ever be but I do want to be healthy. I am not trying to reach that "skinny" wieght but I just want to reach a size where am healthy and it is managable...I get so down on my self when I give in to my cravings and feel like I am such a failure but then I look at what I have lost and mark it off as a bad day, go to bed and wake up ready to start again.
2) JULIA...boy is she ever like me. Right now we are struggling with the issue of TEETH. SHe needs a lot of work. She dosen't like the dentist but who really does. She hit her dentist when he went to put cotton gause in her mouth. She cries, sweats and hypervenalates...I feel so sorry for her...but it has to be done...she need one molar pulled and a few filled but with out x-rays they don't realy know so they we have schduled her at RVH to be put to sleep and the work to be done then. Every time I talk about it she cry and runs away...it is so heart breaking. She also has two loose teeth that should be out but she is scared to pull them out so they are starting to hurt and so it is a stuggle to brush her teeth...no one ever told me how heartbreaking being a mom could be I feel so helpless with this, not being able to take this pain and fear away from her....
3) JADE...Toilet Training, My last one to train! I really don't remember training Julia b/c I was pregnant with Jade and Wendy helped me out alot. So Jade goes to preschool for 2.5 hours and goes to it in underwear...and she stays dry but when I bring her home she likes to stay in the underwear but she will not tell me when she needs to go ...so that means I am always on edge and always have to have her around to watch her...then she really doesn't play well, I don't get anything done and then she ends up getting upset at me b/c I keep bugging her. The way I see it when she is ready she will tell me when she has to go and really...it doesn't bother me that she is in pull ups b/c she is still my "Baby"...but still it does stress me but I think it might be my problem b/c I am lazy in really buckling down and training her

Well, I think I am going to leave it at this right now...I do have more stuff that is wieghing heavy on my mind but maybe tomorrow.

Trying to Refocus

I really don't know why this is blog is called Trying to Refocus b/c if I look back on the last few weeks of my weight loss it has been a good few weeks with a 1.5, 3, and 2.5lb loss. That is making my total 21.5lbs! I am so excited.I don't know why when you hit 20lbs it feels like you have finally sucessed when each pound is a sucess! I have 5.5lbs till I reach my 10%.
But lately I have not been tracking what I have been eating, not drinking my water and just really not caring...but how did I have such a great weight loss, I don't know but it has made me realize that i kind of got off kind of easy at the scales. The scales have been working in my favor...but I thought to my self, you neve know when it is going to sneak up on you and on a week you really tried to stick to it I have gained. I don't want that to happen so...this week I am back to refocusing
A new week started yesterday...started the morning off great, but then we got a call from Brad's family and was told the flu was going around and the easter dinner was cancelled...that is fine but what was I going to do with the Oreo cheesecake in the fridge. It called my name...Anita served it when we were visiting and it was so good I could not wait to make it again. So after doing some yard work I sat down with a coffe and had a peice...oh it was so yummy...by the end of the day I had had another piece with Julia, for dinner we had steak and I also had a mini snack sandwich at Mc Donalds...Well there goes that day...
Well waking up this Saturday, getting ready for Niagara Falls I am starting fresh...looking forward to all the walking and some time with the family, I am going to try to stick to it or at least pick healthier meals and walk lots. One day at a time and one pound at a time...

Back to Routine...or so I thought

Well, I lucked out last week with dropping .5lbs. I can't say how it happened but I am taking it!
So here i thought it would be back to tracking, routine, and my normal eating girls in school but my body and my families bodies had another idea.
Friday night we went to bed.I wasn't feeling to well, but I chalked it up to being tired and I just rolled over and went to sleep. I woke up at 6am with such a sore stomach...oh no not the flu! I said to Brad that I wasn't well so he got up with the girls and I rolled over to sleep some more hoping I could sleep it off...nope I wasn't going to be able to keep anything down...just before I got sick brad came up saying Jade just got sick... it was true...the FLU was in our house.
I could remember the last time I was sick (puke sick) and it was 2 days before I had Julia... and it is not an nice feeling so I really was not looking forward to this...Knowing that Jade was sick downstairs with Brad and him being home all day kind of put my mind at ease and I knew I could be sick in bed all day and try to get better.
My "being sick" only lasted 1 l/2 hours and then I slept all day. I couldnt stop sleeping. I tryed going downstairs but it just made me more dizzy and sleepy.
I was finally able to force my self downstairs at 5pm to stay up and even have some oatmeal. It was so nice to be in bed at 8pm with Brad.
Jade was sick about 7x that day and then was good for the rest of the day. She slept well that night too with just abit of coughing.
Sunday was alot better. We went out for about 1 1/2hours just to get out of the house. Everything was good. Everyone was getting ready for bed...then it hit JULIA at 8pm and then BRAD at 12midnight... It was a long night...Julia up about 4x puking and Brad up every hour...Jade slept through it all. Julia was done at about 10pm and slept the rest of the night. Brad well as I write now, he is still in bed.
So there goes being back to routine on Monday...with both girls home, Brad in bed and me going on 4hours sleep.
Praise the Lord that Julia and Jade are back to their silly, arguing sisters and SO ready to go back to sleep. We also have been puke free for 7 hours.
And to find a bright side to all of this well I dropped 5lbs.
Well til tomorrow and here is hopping for a normal day!

Out of Routine

This week has not been the best week. I guess that can be alright b/c out of the 10 weeks on Weight Watchers this has been the hardest one yet. I am thinking b/c the girls are home for march break and that the time change has changed thier bed time routine and sleeping in habits, everything that keeps me on track has gone out the window.
Anyone that knows me knows that I love my routine and love to be organized. I didn't really notice how much my eating habits depended on it too. Everything runs so much smoother if it is in my day planner or written down somewhere.
I haven't tracked anything I have eaten. I have tried to keep track of it intay my head but by 4 o'clock, I loose track and throw it out the window and kind of start munching.
I love to keep busy. Walking around stores, visiting, surfing around the internet, and even just sitting and enjoying a nice cup of coffee. With being busy I stay out of the kitchen and I stay on track. But with the kids home we are in and out of the kitchen with snacks, baking, cleaning up after the kids and sometimes I seem to be in the kitchen all day which makes me snack.
But if I try to find something good out of the last few days is that this life style change has been a good one and something I love and love to stick with. Sometimes I find myself checking the nutritional value and watching my portion size b.c I WANT to know not just b/c I have too. I also find with dining out with the kid durning the march break I have been choicing better food for me and I put alot more thought into what I put into my mouth.
I kind of have enjoyed being "off" the diet for a few days but I am really looking back to my routine, even if it is predictable.

Quick Update

Weighed in last Thursday...to my surprised I was down 1.5lbs. I was so excited! What a great feeling. I was able to enjoy my Friday and Saturday away.
Looking forward to being back on track on Sunday.

Thursday...

Today is the day that we weigh in...a day that I look forward to and see the outcomeof the week, but then there is that part of me that doesn't want to go -thinking back at some of the things I ate and maybe shouldn't of. I think, it will e alright if I gain b/c Friday is a start to a whole new week, new flex points, a clean slate and excited to try harder.
It is pretty funny how I can find excuses on why I didn't lose..."It was my time of the month", "I was kind of stressed and I eat when I am stresses". " I was busy", or even " I just didn't care this week".
But this week wasn't like that. It was a change for me but I was thinking more positive and was actually proud of myself and wasn't putting myself down... This past Monday my sister and I took my Mom out for her birthday for breakfast at the Sunset Grill. I looked online for nutritional value on the food to prepare and figure out what I could have. They didn't have any values but I did find a "light Breakfast" menu. As much as I wanted the french toast with Whip Cream or the Greek Omelette with homefries, I chose the one egg, 2 slices of toast and a bowl of fruit. Now on paper it all looked great and I was ready to go...but when I get to a restaurant, reasoning goes out the window and I give in. But for some reason I stood by my choice and ordered what I planned on. It was so good and satisfying. I walked out of the restaurant feeling full and satisfied. I was so proud of myself.
I did the same thing yesterday when I was out with Jade for lunch...It would of been nice to have a chicken burger but I ordered the yogurt parfiat and loved it. Now I was a bit hungery when I got home but I enjoyed a big bowl of chili and enjoyed having cheese with it b/c I didn't blow it at lunch.
Now I can chalk it up to it was just a good week or I could really say and believe that I am getting a bit more willpower and my eyes are shrinking as my stomach shrinks.
I think when I weigh in tonight that even if I don't loose I can still pat myself on the back and stay I had a great week. I learned something. I HAVE THE POWER TO SUCESSED AT THIS! ONE POUND AT A TIME AND ONE STEP AT A TIME.

Beginning Again

January 14th began a new journey...one that I have been on many times before...losing weight. It is something I have struggled with all my life...it has bothed me but sometimes more than others. It really doesn't help having very skinny siblings and parents. Who knows why I was designed like this but I have learned over years to love who I am. I did not want to change for anyone. When I met Brad, he loved me just the way I was. Loved every bit of me.
When I decided to join weight watchers again I was doing this for myself, not for anyone else. Brad has joined me on this journey and we were going to do this for ourselves. We wanted to set a realistic goal so we joined for 20 weeks so it would not be to over whelming.
I gave myself a goal to acheive at the end of the week with 40lbs lost. It works out to be 2lbs a week.
I won't write my starting weight but I will keep you up date on what I have lost

Week 1 lost 2lbs
Week 2 lost 3lbs
Week 3 lost 2lbs
Week 4 lost .5lbs
Week 5 lost 3lbs
Week 6 lost 1.5lbs
Week 7 lost 2lbs

S0 as of today, I have lost 14lbs. I have lost 5% of my weight and am so happy.

Every week is different for the one before, some with more challenges than others. Sometimes I don't have to eat out and am able to stick to my points and have a great week and then there are other weeks where I use every point I have.

As for this week, it have been pretty good. It has been "that time of month" which doesn't help at all, but over all I think it has been pretty managable.

Thursday evening are the weight ins and having a friend with me makes it a lot more enjoyable.

Well, it is time for my evening snack I look forward to all day...Popcorn and Fresca with no kids interupting me or begging me for some.

Enjoy Life Pt. 1

It has been long since my last blog. Life has just been so busy and filled with so much love, laughter, family moments and so much more. What has happend in the 6 months well, let's start with Brad and his business and then we will get to the girls.

Brad and Chris (brother in law/partner) have been working hard to get these two new clinics up and running which means alot of hours spent at the office and on the computer. When these clinics launch Brad and Chris are on call 24/7 fixing anything that is not up to par for these clinics.
Even though theses are busy weeks, when they are all up and running smoothly life goes on and we enjoy the benifits of all there hard work. Able to pay off some debt, help our family out, fix up things around the house and even take a weekend trip or two. God truely has blessed Brad and Chris' business. But while these clinics were being launched, Chris sold the building where the office is. This is a answer to prayers for Wendy and Chris...this gives them a chance to pay off the debt to the building and even start looking for a place of there own. In the selling of the building this means we have 6 months to find a new office space. So with the hunt for a new office space means more changes for us.
The location for the office will depend on the location Wendy and Chris find a house. They are looking north-Thornton, Cookstown, Essa, Baxter...so where ever they go, the office will be close. The office needs to be close to the highway for easy commutes for Chris but not too far from the house too.
With the business moving north and Wendy and Chris heading north who knows where God will lead our family...We love to be close to Wendy and Chris and close to work, it just makes it easier for Brad...will moving north be somewhere in the future? Who Knows?