Thanksgiving Morning Musings.......
I LOVE Thanksgiving.......the cooking and preparation, the scents around all the comfort food, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, football on the television, the crafts the kids make to decorate the table, the crisp weather and most of all the gathering of family and friends taking time away from the craziness of life to remember how blessed and thankful we are. It's probably my favorite holiday.

Yesterday day I made the cranberry relish, the pecan pie, and Grandma Hall 5-cup salad (but it's 10-cup for us b/c the kids LOVE it). Ian cut all of the celery for the stuffing and assembled it with Collin last night. This morning I'm prepping the green bean casserole, baked corn, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and baking a pumpkin pie. I am queen of the oven; that's because Collin is frying the turkey this year. With recent oven issues (and not even knowing if we were going to be able to use it) along with its small size, he decided to attempt frying the turkey this year. So, Pepperidge Farm gravy it is. (shhhh, don't tell his mother)

Another part of the day I enjoy is checking out the Black Friday sales. I have a short list of things left to get so I'll see if there are any MUST HAVES that I don't want to miss out on. Midnight is SO MUCH better for me than 5am :) But I refuse to fight with insane people over things like TVs we don't need or the latest Wii game. I don't mind the spot at the far end of the parking lot, the long lines, or the crowds. It's all a mind set......savoring in the holiday sales b/c it's the HOLIDAYS. Merry Christmas, folks. If someone tries to lose their marbles on me, I just smile and nod and wish them a Merry Christmas. It usually shuts them right up! It reminds them of what the season is truly about.

And, last but not least, let the Christmas decorating begin. Clark, aka Collin, usually starts tomorrow. Being in a rental this year, our house is MUCH smaller, but I'm sure he'll do his best to win the neighborhood decorating contest. (He's been trimming the front tree for weeks to make sure the lights will be seen, lol)

And with all the festivities DO NOT think I'm straying from the Game On! challenge. I'm taking ONE meal off today and then going to take Friday or Sat. as my food day-off so I can enjoy leftovers and maybe even some movie popcorn. I think I'll even exercise this evening to make sure I work off those extra carbs. (what is wrong with me?)

Off to cook in my pjs :)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

......yawn....
Today has been a VERY LONG day. I'm not sure why b/c I got out of bed at 7:15am which is not far behind my normal waking-to-make-lunches time. I woke to my children UP AND AWAKE (why can't they ever get up for school like this?) playing Wii with their sleepover buddy. Cue: mad dash to the coffee pot. I worked on finishing up a digital scrapbooking project; started laundry; made breakfast; and basically just piddled around. It was a cool, dreary Saturday morning so pjs were my fashion of choice.

I got my act together around noon and we headed out to a few awesome sales and to take advantage of a promo they had to support our local public schools foundation. Successful shopping with four children is NEVER easy but we went, we shopped, we conquered! A little bribery of In-and-Out burger went a long way and it was the PERFECT treat for my Game On diet day off. We dashed home to catch the LSU game and I began to climb the laundry mountain while I banished them to their rooms for leaving their crap everywhere and being lazy laundry folders. After the shopping adventure and seeing the chaos of my living room, I simply needed them to go play quietly. I waded through three loads; made some cheater Zatarain's jambalaya for dinner and then cleaned the kitchen. HOW was it only 8pm???? Oh, and I still need to exercise (already took yesterday off, dang it!).

AND to add to my long day.........my oven is broken. Four days before Thanksgiving. Thankyouverymuch!

Much ado about the Game On! Challenge.........it's on my brain constantly so I thought it would be the perfect time to shed a little on light on my latest bit of madness.

Recently I began to notice that my clothes were getting snug and once my birthday came and went, I really realized I HAVE TO LOSE WEIGHT. To some folks, I may look just fine, but when you aren't comfortable in your own skin and you are the heaviest you have ever been NOT pregnant it's truly eye-opening. And wouldn't you know, a group of awesome women from community theatre were starting this challenge so I asked if I could join. With a little info., I was GAME! And apparently it's just what I needed.......a bit of friendly competition to make the world go round.

The basic routine: 5 small meals a day (on a schedule --carb,protein,fat), 3 liters of water, exercise daily, and adding a new habit while abandoning an old habit. No alcohol, no soda, no artificial sweeteners. You get points for meeting goals and penalties for others. There is more to it but that is it in a nutshell. Sign-me-up; I can do this. We all have good things we SHOULD be doing and things we SHOULD not be doing and you are telling me I get points for it. Awesome. Time to come clean: for good habit-- I'm taking a daily multivitamin and have to have an empty kitchen sink when I go to bed (no dishes, utensils, etc.). In other words, stop being lazy. For ridding myself of a bad habit I chose no more falling asleep in front of the tv.  My teammates are doing a variety of things as goals ranging from bible study time to no more snooze alarm. You make it want you NEED it to be. And the best part, smack talking is allowed!

In recent years I have tried to eat more healthy overall and have done a bit of meal planning here and there. But now, it helps SO MUCH. Not only are my family dinner meals planned for the next two weeks, but now I am writing down what I plan to eat during the day so I can pack my lunch w/o thinking about it. I have to get two meals in during my work day schedule so it's easy to have it in my bag and not have to worry about what might be tempting me in the staff lounge. I usually eat what my family eats at dinner for my meal 5; I just revise it a little b/c I'm not super hungry. Example: tomorrow night is turkey burgers, french fries, and fresh berries. I'll have the burger (my carb and protein) with lettuce, tomato, mustard, a tsp. of mayo (the fat). No fries or berries for me.

Here's my day tomorrow:
Meal 1 -- scrambled egg (protein&fat) with spinach and mush.; 1/2 grapefruit (carb)
Meal 2 -- Mini Babybel Light, 7 walnuts, apple (protein, fat, carb)
Meal 3 -- Blend of lettuce with carrots/bell pepp/cucumber add small amt. of chicken, sliced almonds (no dressing);  kiwi on the side
Meal 4 -- non-fat greek yogurt with fresh berries and 7 crushed walnuts
Meal 5 -- turkey burger on whole wheat bun with lett.,tom.,must.,mayo
I'll count my coffee creamer for calories and the mayo and I'm under my 100 allowed extra calories.

You can do this too. I swear it's super easy. Well, until the exercise part. At least that is the REAL challenge for me. Four kids keeps me busy enough but add in a commitment to exercise and my brain goes a little wonky. BUT I have been doing it (except for my one allowed day off) so far and I must say I think I'm rockin' it. I hate the making time and getting-ready-to-go part of changing my clothes, etc. I would much rather sit on the couch and read or play on Facebook or even clean the house. When I am out there walking/jogging pushing my lazy butt across the pavement, I don't hate it. Well, sometimes I do, but it's not like I can quit half way and call Collin to pick me up. All I can say is.....if the scale doesn't go down, I'm going to be a little  completely peeved.

Weigh-in for the week is on Wednesday morning; you have been warned.

JUMPING BACK IN....

I'm still here. I think about blogging often and even have a little list of things I want wanted to blog about. But life gets in the way and then I get so far behind that it seems silly to post about things from two months ago. Do you really want to see pictures of an Arizona trip from August?










Well, I did post pictures on Facebook from our camping trip.  Oh yes, Facebook.....another interference with my blog. See, if I post pictures there I forget to type 'the story' here.

The story of one of my favorite pictures.....Sean teaching Ian how to skip rocks. A tender moment. Those are few and far between.

And I really need to do that because I'm trying to put these blog posts in a hard-bound book. Sorta like a journal since I don't journal or anything cool like that.

Anyway, here I am. Two months into the school year. And I never did post a photo of Maggie starting 8th grade b/c she started on a different day than my other school post. Here she is....growing up too fast......

She is playing the french horn in the symphonic band and loving it. Her grades are better but she still has room for improvement. Recently she finished up her role as Freida in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown and she will be on Royal Court at Musical Theater Village this year (it's a teen group that does extra chores around the theater, helps with tasks like scrip distribution/ ticket-taking/and show welcome speeches). She is with a great group of kids. 

Sean is next. Poor Sean is going OUT OF HIS MIND! (and taking me with him) He is counting the days until his x-rays -- Nov. 15th. We are hoping and praying that his knee is healing on it's own and that he won't need surgery. AND hoping and praying he can ease back into some physical activity.....recess and PE would be a nice start. Batting practice would be a nice bonus. The break from organized sports has been nice (for our whole family) but it's been long enough. His teacher says he is a great kid and his grades are pretty good too so I'll take it! These days his hair is the longest it's ever been with blond curls in the back (I'll try to sneak a picture). He is loving LSU and Saints football while he manages his fantasy teams. He loves telling me ALL he knows about football players and helps with my team each week.



Then there's girlie. Miss Amanda. She's such a miracle. She just finished her part as Little Red-Haired Girl in Charlie Brown and is looking forward to starting some sort of martial arts class. She has been wanting to do it for a long time and it will help with her motor control, balance, and discipline. She is doing well in school especially since she has to work REALLY hard. She isn't super far behind and often works quickly (sometimes too quickly) so she can help her teacher with stuff. Here's her book report quilt on Little Women:

She makes sure that Fritz gets fed everyday and loves Skyping with her cousin, Sarah, at college. And at 10yrs. old wears a size 8 women's shoe. Not kidding.

And then there's Ian. He loves life basically. He loves anything to do with the outdoors.....fishing, shooting, bike-riding, swimming, the beach, sports, etc. He tolerates school.....doesn't love it, but doesn't hate it (because he likes the girls, shhhhh). His teacher knows him pretty well and appreciates him for his silliness while keeping him in check. His printing is beautiful; his math skills rock; his reading is his downfall, but we all have our crosses to bear. He loves having SHORT hair but had fun trying to make a water mohawk went we went camping (where doesn he think of this stuff?). Seven is an awesome age and I never want him to grow up.

And that brings you up to date with the kidlets.......oh, wait. Halloween.......one of our awesome jacks-o-lanterns....

and the kids all ready to go. Ian was a knight, Amanda was Punky Brewster, and Sean was some gross skeleton thing. Maggie was off with her friends (b/c that's what teenagers do).

Collin and I are plugging along. Just had our 16th anniversary. I still love my job; my co-workers are awesome and the kids keep us on our toes. Still doing Creative Memories and love taking pictures. I'm getting back into meal planning (shrimp stir-fry today!) and love cooking now that I have time with minimal sports and theater commitments. Collin is still working two jobs hoping the economy will turn at some point but he's not holding his breath. He's excited about going on a deer hunting trip that his buddy Dale got him a free ticket for.

And finally, I'm joining with a group of friends for the Game On! diet challenge starting this Wednesday. It goes until Dec. 9 with Thanksgiving day off. One of my goals is to blog at least twice a week so we'll see how that goes. I will certainly need the points of meeting that goal so I can back up the smack talk. Hoping to shed a few pounds while having some fun with friends. Oh wait, I think this involves exercise. Oh, no.