Poke Free for Two Weeks

My acupunturist called and canceled my Wednesday appointment. He said he hasn't been this sick in years! So, I haven't had a treatment for two weeks now and I'm going on a week with no herbs.

I'm feeling things in my abdomen. Not pain really. Maybe I'm feeling myself ovulate? Not sure if I'm at that point in my cycle and am too lazy right now to check. Do you even ovulate when you're on the pill? I'm so ignorant to all of this stuff. You'd think I'd be an expert on it with all of the issues I've had over the years! Anyway, I also feel what I felt when I was pregnant and would move the wrong way and there would be a quick, sharp, shooting pain. I hope going two weeks without treatment won't set me back!

The meat eating is going surprisingly well. I actually made a dish with ground beef and not only ate it but have eaten a couple of days worth of leftovers too! Of course I bought the expensive grass fed beef so that may have something to do with it. I hope not though since my budget won't allow for the organic, grass fed stuff for every dish! Well, I guess it would if it were just me eating it and I made it the side dish instead of the main dish. It's so hard to relearn what a complete meal should look like! I'm trying hard to make my salad the biggest portion on my plate and the meat the smallest. I think I should just keep practicing cooking the perfect steak (for me, there's no trace of pink but it's tender enough to cut with a butter knife) and forget the casseroles. After all, I still am trying to get the whole family to eat healthy!

I thought meal planning would be easier but it's just as hard! So many yummy sounding/looking recipes out there. I think half of the problem is I don't think the recipe will taste as good as it sounds/looks and the other half is I just don't feel like making it! Yet another reason to just do the seasoned meat, big salad and veggies etc. Maybe I'll throw in one casserole a week or something. I hope I get it figured out some day! As it is, I've spent all morning trying to come up with a meal plan for next week!

I think I am ready to give chicken a try again. I know I'd love the breaded chicken strips that are so bad for us so I don't even want to go there! I'll have to search for a healthier recipe for my first bite in three years!

We made it to the gym every day this week except today! I still don't feel like I have enough energy to work out like I want but I did do a lot of walking and some running on the treadmill and then yesterday did some of the machines. I haven't made it to any of the classes yet.

I'm interested in trying Cross Fit. It's basically an intense 15-20 minute cardio and weight workout that a lot of army and firefighters do. A lot of folks run classes out of their garages around here. It would be great but I would need some sort of daycare for the girls - not to mention some more energy! I guess I could do it while they are both in school but that would only be two days a week (that they are both in school at the same time) - and those two days are when I'm going to try to work a few more hours so that wouldn't work at all! I'll figure something out, I'm sure!

We decided to have Quinn's birthday party at the gym! We can rent out the playroom and the exercise room for a good price and she can have up to 15 friends! I'm sure she'll want to invite all of the kids in her class (whom she hasn't even met yet!) so that will work out well.

Lazy day today! I've spent it on the couch with the girls, reading cookbooks while they watch their shows. I picked up a shift last night so I decided I deserved a day off before my long weekend shifts start! Yet another 6-day work week for me. It's no wonder I'm always tired!

Off to watch a Netflix movie before I have to get ready for work! Dishes/laundry/cleaning will have to wait!

Look Out World, I'm Hitting Snooze and Beef - The Gateway Meat

My first morning of getting back on track. Alarm went off at 6:30, I rolled over Sydney and turned it off. Next thing I knew, Sydney was asking me for breakfast at 8:30. So much for hitting the ground running! I got a total of zero chores done but we did manage to make it to the gym. Not in time for the Boot Camp class though so I just walked on the treadmill and sprinkled in some running here and there.

We invited Jack and Ben to the gym with us since we haven't seem them in over a week (gasp!) so brought them back to the house for lunch too. I really wish I had their energy! I just want to take a nap! I'm off tonight so we'll see how much (productive things) I can get done between now and bedtime.

As I knew it would, my beef consumption has turned into bacon consumption. Bacon is my favorite meat and what I miss the most when I eat vegetarian. How sick is that? Probably the nastiest, worse thing for you (hot dogs aside) and it's my favorite. I don't get it.

My acupunturist called this morning to cancel my appointment for this afternoon. He's sick. I'm out of herbs so I get a little reprieve from that. Although I think I'm getting use to it now. And I've only been doing once a day since I didn't see him last week to refill.

I guess the moral of the story is that I am starting to feel better but I'm not quite there yet.

In other news, I got Quinn signed up for the Jr. Kindergarten class at Sonship (her old preschool). Oh, I just got a call that Sydney has a spot in the Tues/Thur class at the same school (with Quinn's teacher from last year no less)! That is going to be so much better than the Lake Wilderness class! Sonship has a day care that we can utilize so that I can go to work earlier and get some more hours at some point. BIG stress off me now. Whew!

Well, on that note, I guess I'll go try to get some chores done.

Sick Bugs

Well, I was hoping to keep the sick bugs away from us with our new green smoothie habit, but, a few got through:(

Quinn has had sniffles on and off for the last week and it looked like we were stopping those sick bugs in their tracks! But, the last couple of days, she has developed a cough and has complained of her ears hurting. Cue the call to doctor! I really wanted to give her homeopathic remedies, but think she was too far into it to give her the immediate relief she was begging for - my poor baby:( She just couldn't get to sleep Thursday night so I finally went to Safeway around 2 in the morning (after she said "Mom, I just want to go to sleep")to get her some Robitussin. It took awhile to take effect and then once she got to sleep, she kept having bad dreams. :(

So, I took her in to get her checked out yesterday and sure enough, she has a double ear infection. So, we are on a full prescription and otc medicine regiment: Motrin, Robitussin, ear drops and Amoxicillin. And plenty of green smoothies, of course!

I need to get a list together of homeopathy meds to dole out - especially since Syd is starting to sneeze and cough now!

Quinn's 1st Day of Preschool!

Quinn had her very first day of preschool yesterday (09/09/09)! She has been very, very excited to go to school - even before we ever enrolled her! In fact, we finally enrolled her because she wouldn't stop asking us when she could go to school. I hope that enthusiasm continues!

Anyway, I was totally unprepared for it. I didn't think about going to buy her a special 'first day of school' outfit or even plan out the day at all. Like have a special breakfast and lunch planned and fun things like that. But, none of that seemed to matter to her. We did head out in the morning to get her some clothes. Well, we set out to get her A outfit and we ended up with several outfits plus a pair of shoes.

I did manage to take some pictures and video so I'm happy about that! Here's how the day went:

Quinn poses for pictures on the front porch. She looks so grown up to me here. Where did my baby go?:


Sydney got in on the action too. They were so funny. By the way, Quinn picked out her whole outfit by herself!:








Here is the before school video:

One of Quinn's BFF's, Jack, is in her class. They posed for a picture before we headed in:

We've got to meet Mrs. Laura a few times and just really love her already. Other friends that have had her love her too so we feel good about her teaching our girl!

Here are Jack and Quinn getting their name tags on:

Quinn finds her coat/backpack hook:

And Mrs. Laura shows her where her cubby is. Quinn is excited that her cubby is marked with a horse sticker!

Sydney and I sat out in the parking lot for a little bit then snuck back in to see how Quinn was doing. I really wanted to stay and watch her all day - not because I thought she would have a problem, but because I knew she would love it and I just wanted to see her experience it. But, I controlled myself and snapped a couple of pictures without her seeing me. She was content and so was I:

Since the whole morning was about Quinn, I decided to take Sydney to McDonald's for a little treat and Mommy time. Needless to say, she loved it!:

Here is the after school video:

After class we took some photos by the fancy sign out front.

Looks like she's missing her leg in this one!:

Group photo! We posed with Cindy, Jack and Ben in front of the sign. I'd like to say that Syd was so excited for her sister that she peed her pants. But, I think the reality was that she was wanting some of that attention so peed her pants. She had gone to the bathroom right before we left to pick up Quinn. Oh well.:

Quinn and Jack posing by the sign. They sure do have fun together!:

All in all, she had a great first day of preschool! We ran a few errands after that and then it was time for her soccer practice. K.C. met us there (he also came home for lunch so he could see her off to school with us) and then we headed off to Red Robin for a 'Happy First Day of Preschool' dinner. By the time we got home, we were all tired from the day and everyone fell asleep with little to no issues. Ahhhh, another milestone passed. ;-)

Lasts, First and an Awwwwww

Sadly, I have dropped out of Stroller Strides. You know from reading my blog that it has been building for awhile. It was just too stressful for me to get there, be there (because of the girls fighting) and then leaving again. I was stressed after my workout instead of destressed. The good news is that Bonnie has just started a personal/small group training so I am able to trade in my August 'tuition' for a personal session. I may just have a session with her every month and half or so and just exercise on my own. We'll see. I've also bought an exercise ball over the weekend that I have yet to use. I just have to find the best time to use it and then make it a part of my routine.

We've also decided not to enroll in The Little Gym after the summer session ends in a couple of weeks. Well, we are still thinking about if we are going to keep Syd in it or not. Quinn for sure will not go. With pre school starting up, we don't have the funds to do both. We did sign her up for Pee-Wee Soccer for the fall so she can get in her exercise. This will be her first official 'team sport' so we are super excited to see her in action with that.

Syd is still in the biting stage and just terrorizes Quinn. Quinn usually has a bruised bite mark on her body at all times. Poor girl. K.C. and I have become so frustrated with Syd and her biting, hitting, pinching, scratching, hair pulling that we have both told Quinn on different occasions to bite/hit/pinch/scratch/pull hair back when Syd does it to her. Yesterday, Syd left a big bite mark on Quinn's leg. Much later, when I was putting them to bed, this is what Quinn said to me: "My little sister just bites me all the time. But I don't want to bite her back because I just don't want to hurt her." That's my girl! Now if Syd could just learn that lesson.....

Movies, Trails, Goodwill and the Lake

We had quite the day on Tuesday!


Every summer a certain chain of movie theaters (I don't remember which one right off the top of my head) does a free movie once or twice a week. I've always wanted to go but knew the girls wouldn't sit through a whole movie. Plus, it's always during the time I'm running on the trail.


Cindy decided she was going to give it a try this year so we came up with this plan:


The girls and I went to their house. We put Quinn's booster (by the way, she is now in a backless booster seat! Sydney has Quinn's old one) in Cindy's car and Ben's seat and stroller in my car. Cindy took the older kids to the movie (Veggie Tales) and I took the little kids to the trail.


This was Quinn's first time in a movie theater. I guess they keep the lights on so that helped. I hear neither one of them was real interested in the movie. When asked about the movie Quinn says that it was about vegetables that don't have arms or legs but that talk. LOL! I think if it was a different movie, she would have loved it. But, it sounds like they had a good time anyway.


Meanwhile, when we were done running and were stretching, Sydney peed her pants (she was out of the stroller - thank goodness!). I just happened to have an extra pair of underwear in my purse so we hit the coffee shop (I HAD to buys us some cookies and a smoothie since we used the restroom) so she could finish going potty and to change her underwear. The other gals and I had already decided that we were going to go to Goodwill after we ran to find pirate costumes for the Torchlight 5k on Saturday. So, I was planning on running home to get Syd another pair of shorts but then decided to just let her go in a bronco shirt and underwear. So ghetto I know, but I didn't want to waste the gas driving home and back.


So, while we were shopping, she says she has to go potty. So we go in and she pees. Great! A little later she has to go potty again. Turns out she pooped a little in her underwear but did the most damage in the toilet. great. So, we finish up and plan to meet at the Dollar Store to get the rest of what we need for our costumes. I decided on the way there that I'd better go home and get her a change of underwear and shorts first.


I pull into the neighborhood and see Cindy, Quinn and Jack on Evie's front porch! Turns out she thought she had my cell# but didn't. So we all went to my house and had some lunch. Our original plan was to meet them after lunch to play at their beach (they live in a neighborhood that has it's own private lake - Pipe Lake). So, after lunch, the girls and I hit the dollar store and then met Cindy and the boys at their house.


Sydney doesn't go in the water too much. She LOVED it until she went under at Lake Wilderness one time. After that, she's not too interested. Here she is playing on the beach:


Quinn on the other hand just LOVES being in the water. We bought a couple of water floaties at the dollar store and Quinn used them all! I don't know where she learned how to 'swim' but she did it like she's had lessons and has been doing it for awhile. I was very impressed to say the least. She did fall off one floaty once and went under but that didn't stop her. She got right back on and kept going. I think we're going to have to get her some swim lessons now! I have a great video clip but can't seem to get it to post. I know the original is too big so I cut it down a little, but still can't get it to post! So, here's a picture of her swimming:


We had a very fun day and all came home and collapsed!

Princesses & Pirates

So this weekend is the Torchlite 5k and then the parade, which kicks off Sea Fair. So, we had a Princesses and Pirates themed stroller strides class and then craft on Wednesday. SO fun. A couple of the other moms that are running the 5k and I all hit Goodwill after the trail on Tuesday to put together our pirate costumes for Saturday. (That's a whole other story! Will post that one after this one!) We figured wearing them to stroller strides would be a good way to work out the kinks.

The girls and I ended up winning the best costume prize at stroller strides!

Here's Mommy the Pirate (although I think I look more like a Gypsy), Quinnie the Princess and Sydney the (pretend) Princess:

Here are a couple of little pirates we encountered along the way. Pirate Jack and Pirate Ben pose with the Princesses:

Here is Quinn doing her craft:

And Sydney doing her craft:

Arg Maties and shiver me timbers!

Happy Fourth of July (late)!

Happy Fourth Of July....Late! We had a great day. Very relaxing.

K.C. entertained the girls on the front porch (that's where the breeze and shade were) while I grilled us up some grub.

I wanted to do some sort of something fun and got all kinds of ideas off the internet. I settled on doing a combination of a couple of different drinks. I made blue and red ice cubes and we poured sprite over them - that was our red, white and blue drink:

Then I got some pop rocks and poured those into the drink for a little firecracker show. It was short and apparently not too impressive:

The grub turned out great though. K.C. and the girls had turkey burgers, I had a portabello mushroom burger and we all ate red, white and blue potatoes, asparagus, corn, watermelon and Tim's Pepper Jack Cheese flavored chips. SO yummy!
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Next up was running through the sprinklers. Quinn had a blast with it:


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Sydney tried it out once or twice but wasn't too interested in it. So, I've included some pictures of her eating. Notice how her food is stacked so neatly?!:

Next up was singing Happy Birthday to America. I originally was going to serve popsicles for dessert. But, I broke down and bought an apple pie at work the night before - since it was on coupon and all - so we stuck a couple of candles in it and off we went!


After some well deserved naps and a second round of grub, we headed out to Lake Wilderness to catch the fireworks show. This is something I've wanted to do since we moved here and finally felt the girls could handle it this year. It did not disappoint! When we got there the band was still playing so the girls boogied down:

I love this picture of Syd. It looks like she's doing the hustle!

Quinn was impressing everyone with her donkey kicks!

She also impressed us with her photography skills:

While waiting for the fireworks to start, we got in a few shots with the girls:


And, watching the fireworks. Sydney just about fell asleep!


It was the best Fourth of July I've had in a long, long time! Looking forward to doing it again next year!