Lori's Baby Shower

Well the day finally came where we got to celebrate the soon arrival of little baby L. Since Lori and her hubby Dave have decided to keep the name of this baby girl a secret/surprise we just refer to her as either baby girl or baby L. Lori's best friend Jaime from college, her sister in law Lisa, her mom Sharon and myself all worked together to plan a beautiful pink and brown themed shower for Lori. We couldn't have asked for a better day as it was beautiful here with temperature getting only to the upper 70's with lots of sunshine. The shower started at 2pm but, Lisa, Jaime, Sharon and even the soon to be momma showed up around 1pm to help get everything ready. Everything work out as planned probably even better than planned and Lori made out like a bandit with all the gifts.

How it all began!

Lori looking fabulous at 8 months pregnant.

Lisa, myself, Lori, Jaime and Sharon

I ordered the cake from Sarah's Cafe and it turned out GREAT!! It was just as I had pictured it, the outside was pink icing with chocolate brown fondant polka dots and the inside was 4 layers, yes, you read that correctly 4 layers of chocolate cake with almond icing in between each layer!

We of course had WAY too much food, but it was all delicious. We had chicken salad sandwiches on dollar rolls, home-made banana bread, fruit, spinach dip, mini quiches, and white pizza dip all along with punch and cake.


The party favors were probably one of the most fun for me to plan. I found the cutest little glass jars online that I filled with M & M's.

I also made some really cute pacifier cookies as well. I tried to take a picture of them but for some reason they picture didn't turned out very well. I got the idea from another blog I read called designergirl007

I also got a matte that we had everyone sign with a note to baby L, I wish I would have taken a picture of that once it was all signed it turned out really cute. Lori can take a picture of baby girl once she is born and place it in the matte surrounded with all that loving words from everyone here at the shower today, get it framed and hang it in her room.


Lori and her mom who is excited to be a grandma to her second grandbaby and granddaughter!

Grandma, Lori and Sharon

Future dad and mom

It was such a fun shower and I am so lucky to have been able to be a part of it. Thank you to Lisa and Jaime for going along with me and all my crazy ideas and emails. Lori you are such a great friend and person, I know that you will be the best mom, your baby couldn't ask for better parents.

Weigh in Wednesday

Down two more pounds, total weight loss so far 5 lbs.

Who else is going to weigh in with me this week???

Banana Nut Bread

Some of you have been asking me to post a few recipes that are low in fat. I have to be honest, I don't have many of those, however, here is one that is lower in fat, notice the word lower not low. :)

What you need:
* Vegetable Shortening, enough to grease the pan.
* 2 cups of flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 3/4 cups of sugar
* 1/2 cup of applesauce
* 2 T Veg. Oil
* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
* 1/2 cups nuts

How to put it all together:
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees
* In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
* In another bowl whish together sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla extract.
* Whisk in eggs until combined.
* Using a large spoon stir in bananas and nuts.
* Gradually stir in flour mixture until just combined.
* Evenly pour batter into prepared pan
* Bake 50 minutes to an hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean.

Yum, Enjoy!

First Day of School!

Well today was the first official day of school, both the girls were SO excited! I am pleased to say that there were NO tears except for maybe a few inside mommy's heart when I left Paige. We dropped Claire off in her classroom first which was good because Paige got to see Claire's room and that she was staying. Then we made our way down to Paige's room and she was all smiles. She walked in, hung up her bag in her cubby and starting playing. I told her goodbye that I loved her and would be back soon, she did need one more hug/kiss before I left, but then she was off playing before I was out the door. Here are a few pictures I took of them before we headed out the door this morning.






Girls yelling "school"


Some of the other moms in Claire's class and I got all the kiddos lunch from Mickey D's and then headed to the park to eat and play, what a great way to start off the school year. It was a fun time for all of us! Cory and I are going to take them to the snocone place down the street from us tonight to celebrate them both having such a fabulous first day!

Now, for the weigh in..... After thinking about it and talking with a few of you I have decided to move the weigh in date to Wednesdays. I remember back when I did Weight Watchers I never would weigh in on a Monday because know matter how hard we all try you are bound to gain a pound or so over the weekend. So from now on we will weigh in on "Weigh in Wednesdays", however, I told you all that I would weigh in with you today so I will keep up my end of the bargain. From last Monday to this Monday I lost 3 lbs. As of Sunday morning I was down 4, but then I didn't go to the gym on Sunday and we had the family over for dinner so I gained a pound. Never the less I am pleased with my 3 lbs, now I only have to lose 12 more to be back to where I was and then I would like to lose another 10 after that, we will see. How did everyone else do?

Claire's Classroom Visit

The long awaited day has finally arrived Claire got to go back to school. It was so neat to see the excitement in her eyes and face this morning as we left to go meet her teachers. She was practically running to get down the stairs to her classroom. It makes me feel so relaxed and happy that she loves school and couldn't wait for it to start back up again, she has only been asking since the middle of July when she got to go back to school.

Claire outside the classroom waiting to go in!

Claire and Emma introducing themselves to the class pet "Patches"

Concentrating on the puzzle

Cutting out the circle that she had traced to make her name tag for the teachers to get to know her.

Making a new friend.

With her teachers Mrs. Howren and Mrs. Flynn



On another note, ladies don't forget that Monday is our first "weigh in" so keep on exercising and try to eat the best that you can over the weekend. I am going to have a hard weekend with the food as Cory and I are going to The Fox on Saturday night to see Mary Poppins and before hand are going to eat dinner at Vito's. I have already looked over the menu and am planning on getting a salad and then am going to split a pizza with Cory and try to only have a few pieces. Then on Sunday we are having Cory's side of the family over to celebrate my mother in laws 60th birthday. So again the food is going to be VERY tempting. I am planning on going to the gym both Saturday and Sunday to hopefully burn as many calories as possible so I do not gain back any of the weight that I have lost so far this week. Ahh, the joys of dieting!

Paige's Classroom Visit

Waiting outside the door for them to welcome us in, with our new squinty smile!


We played with babies

Checked out the sensory table

Painted

Called daddy to tell him how it was going and sent him an email

Played in the kitchen

Tried out the potty-twice!

We also went outside to try out the playground, it was a good day! Her first day is Monday and mommy does not stay so we will see how it all goes, my prediction is.......she cries.

Tuesdays Tasties

Cheesy Bread Bowl

What you need:
* 1 bread bowl (Hawaiian Bread)
* 16 oz. cream cheese
* 16 oz. sour cream
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
* 7 oz. chopped green chilies
* 1 package ham lunch meat, diced

What to do:
1. Cut off top of bread- scoop out insides
2. Wrap bread bowl in foil and place on cookie sheet
3. Mix remaining ingredients and stuff into bread bowl
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350
5. Serve with crackers, Frito scoops, or hang on to the insides of the bread bowl you scooped out and dip that in the cheesy mixture!

This makes my mouth water just thinking about it! Enjoy!!

Ahhh.... Enough is Enough

Back in July of 2007 I decided enough was enough and I had to get off the baby weight that I had gained through my pregnancy with Paige plus some, so I went on a major diet. Seven months later I was 40 pounds lighter and felt great! However, then in October of 2008 my clumsy a$$ stepped wrong coming down the steps in my sisters garage and broke my left foot. I remember the conversation I had with my sister so vividly like it happened yesterday. I was crying telling her how I was going to gain my weight back and get fat again. Being a sweet sister she consoled me and told me that no I wouldn't. Well we were both right, I did not gain any weight back then, well maybe 3 or 4 lbs, however, I did start eating like crap again, thus causing me now 9 months later to have put back on 15 of the pounds that I had lost. Before I broke my foot I was going to the gym at least 3 times a week and eating better than I have in a long time. Once I broke my foot obviously the gym was out of the question, I was not released from my doctor's care to start exercising again until February of 2009. Well heck by this time I was so out of the routine of the gym and exercising that I had NO desire to start back up again. Plus in all fairness I truly believe that I was going through a bit of depression, therefore eating what ever I wanted and that habit is SOOO hard to break. I have tried many times to get back on the wagon and start exercising again and I do great all week and then the weekend arrives. That is so hard as we eat out quite a bit on the weekends because I don't want to cook and we all know what happens when you eat out!

SO I have decided that I am truly going to stick with it starting today, Monday August 17th. I was thinking today while I was on the treadmill how I could make myself stick with it, I don't know about all of you but I need some kind of incentive. So I came up with two to hopefully keep me on the right track. First and probably the biggest one is that I have scheduled (and already paid so I can't back out) family pictures to be taken the end of October. Now everyone knows that you always look heavier in pictures especially in the face then you do in real life and I REFUSE to pay that much money and look fat in our pictures. So that is my biggest incentive, I have 2 months to lose at least the 15 lbs that I have gained if not more. Secondly, this is where you all come in, every Monday I am going to weigh in with you all. Now don't worry I am not going to tell you all my actual weight I am however, going to tell you how I am doing, if I lost weight and if so how much or if I gained weight and again if I did how much. When I did weight watchers back in 2002 I did really good because I dreaded going in every week and having them tell me I gained weight. I felt that I was not only letting myself down but I was letting them down as well. So every Monday I will blog about the previous week/weekend and how I did, I promise that I will be honest as lying defeats the purpose.

One last thing I know that a few of you out there are also having weight problems where you have lost some and are now gaining it back due to poor eating/exercising habits, so I am opening this up to you as well. Again you will have to be truthful as that is the only way it will work but if you want you can comment on my Monday blog and let everyone here know how you did the week/weekend previously. Maybe if we all do it together we can help/support one another. Wish me luck!

Just Between Friends

So I have decided to try something new and pretty time consuming in the hope that all my time and energy will pay off in the end. It is through an organization called "Just Between Friends" or also known as JBF. A college friend of mine told me how she looks forward to the two times a year when JBF sets up shop. They have one in the spring and summer and then another one in the fall and winter months. It is basically a consignment shop where you can buy used clothes for cheap. I go to Once Upon a Child a few times a year to find clothes that my kiddos can wear to school and get paint and other things on or for them to wear outside during the summer. I love and hate OUC for the reasons of if you hit at the right time you can find some great deals and really cute clothes, however, if you don't then you won't find squat. Also, I have sold a few items to them in the past and they don't even give you half of what you paid for it, not even a fourth of what you paid in my opinion and they are REALLY picky as to what they take. So when my friend told me about JBF I decided to go onto their website and see what it was all about. I wasn't really thinking that I would shop as I already have all the clothes that I need, however, I was excited to see that you can get your own consigner number and sell clothes there as well. You do your own pricing and get 65% of what you sell. I know it isn't ideal we would love to get 100% of what is sold, but they are supplying the location and handle all the sales for you, I don't even have to be there, so I guess it is only fair that they get a cut. I can sit at home and watch on line as my clothes do or do not sell and how much they sell for. They have a really great set up so they can keep track as to who sells what and you get the money that you earned. Within two weeks of the sale being over you will receive a check in the mail with the amount that you earned. Even better is after the sale is over they will donate all of your clothes that did not sell so you don't have to go back to pick up the things that are left. If you have time and are interested in seeing how it all works and if they have one close to your home town you should check out their website. I thought I would try it at least once and see what happens after all I have a TON of clothes in the basement that Paige as outgrown and did not sell at our neighborhood garage sale this past spring. I have come to realize that selling children's clothes is a hard thing to do, you have to have people that want just that children's clothing and toys and people going to JBF are looking for exactly those things. Wish me luck!!

Wordless Wednesday- Tax Free Weekend = Back to School Clothes

No Tuesdays Tasties Today

Sorry but I am not going to do a Tuesdays Tasties post today, I know there are so many of you out there that count down the days until I post a new recipe on Tuesday, Ha, ya right, but for those of you that do enjoy the recipes I will post a new one next Tuesday.
On another note the girls and I went to the Zoo today with Aunt Lauren and I am TIRED! Oh what I would give to be able to curl up in bed and take a nap, but that's not gonna happen. First of all Paige fell asleep in the car on the way home and did NOT go back to sleep once we got home so she is awake and secondly, I have orientation for work tonight from 4:30-6:30pm. Meaning I have to get the girls ready and dinner packed and head over to my parents to drop the girls off so I can then turn around and head to orientation, yeah fun!!
Here are a few pictures from the zoo, the animals were really awake and about today. We also visited a new part of the zoo called the Imagination Center or something like that, it is free and the kids get to play inside for 45 minutes, they loved it!









Paige didn't ride on the monkey but I had to get a picure of her on one as well most of you know why!