School's In!

So I got our school books and stuff on the Sunday night before the Wednesday we were scheduled to begin our homeschool year. Mind you, this is the VERY FIRST TIME for me at homeschooling with the exception of K-4 with E.

Total Panic.

I am a planner, so I spent the entire next day freaking out and staring blankly into all the books I was to have a 2 week lesson plan for by THE NEXT DAY. Seriously. Then my friend who I ordered books with (she got hers at the same time as me) posts on FB that day how "Today is our first day of school!" and junk. What? Apparently I lack serious fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-and-have-a-blast-doing-it skills. HOW IS SHE ALREADY STARTING SCHOOL WHEN I'M NOT EVEN SURE WHAT A POCKET CHART IS? (btw, I found out what a pocket chart is and I am totally in love with them and want like a bagillion of them. idk why but they look so exciting to me!)

So the next day I spent most of the day reading homeschooling blogs and desperately searching for something that could bring me a smidgen of peace about not having everything perfectly together and planned and organized and so on. I also gave my friend a call because I had a million couple of questions and she totally eased my flailing about by telling me that everything would be fine and that she didn't have any fancy shmancy pocket charts or a chalk/dry erase board and that she only ever needed the magna doodle a few times if any. Nothing to it.

Well, I guess I am just not as entertaining and creatively talented as to be able to teach my kids with no visuals, so I had to at least get a dry erase board. And pocket charts are definitely on the way.

After all of that, we made it through our first week of school! Successfully! Actually, it was better than I even expected, to God be the glory. It wasn't that I was worried about school not going well, it was the fact that I had only 2 days to prepare and because I am...well, the way that I am, I just didn't know what to expect.

Then the thought of my babies learning to read while they sit snuggled up in my arms brought tears to my eyes and filled me with more joy than I have ever had. I know this will be the best thing I have ever done.

EVER.

Read more...

Long Hiatus

I haven't blogged since the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend. I guess the long weekend started on that Thursday night for me since my hubby was off that Friday, and the long weekend turned into almost 2 weeks before I knew it. I have to say, I don't really like keeping up with everything I eat all the time. Not because of what I'm eating, but because it's just kind of a hassle for me. I know that may sound lazy, but by the end of a day full of taking care of 3 kids, I really don't want to think about anything! So, I won't be blogging about every single thing I eat, but I will be blogging about my progress. While the blogging was very helpful in making better food choices, I'm still doing pretty good without it. I haven't derailed at all, and I lost 2 more pounds since my last weight post. I may start again if I start to gain weight or stop making progress, but for now, I'm just gonna see how it goes.

Read more...

Day 15: Sweet tooth

I keep letting my sweet tooth get to me. I'm feeling much better today than I have the past 2 days, so hopefully I'll get back to walking tomorrow or Friday.

Breakfast whole wheat bagel w/honey nut cream cheese
Lunch Mediterranean lentil soup w/pita chips
Snack 2 Milano cookies
Dinner Turkey Joe sandwich w/roasted potatoes
Coffee 2 cups
Water about 52oz

Read more...

Day 14: Blew it

I'm still recovering from last night. Basically, I felt awful today, and I ate that way. It was field day at Jessi's school, so we were there most of the day. I was so tired when I got home I didn't even want to think about dinner, so Jason took care of it for me. I hope this week gets better.

Breakfast pretty sure I skipped it
Lunch Sonic Kid's hamburger, small tots, cherry limeade, and the other half of Jessi's grilled cheese and fries
Snack the rest of those peanut butter crackers and sprite from last night
Dinner takeout Sesame chicken, fried rice, and an eggroll
Dessert 5 Oreos and some milk
Water I have no idea but it wasn't enough

Read more...

Day 13: Graduation Day

I'm just now posting this for yesterday because I suddenly got sick last night during my nephew's graduation ceremony. I had to leave right at the beginning but thankfully I made it through his salutatorian address.

Breakfast Naked smoothie
Lunch Chickfila grilled chicken sandwich
Snack strawberries and bananas
Dinner was supposed to be TGIFRiday's but ended up being 1 peanut butter cracker and a few sips of sprite
Water about 50oz
Exercise walked 3 miles

Read more...

Day 10: TGIF

I've been waiting for Friday all week! I'm finding it easier to turn away from the sweets because I know the weekend is coming. No, I'm not going to pig out, just going to relax a little.

Lunch Mediterranean Lentil Soup with pita chips
Snack Kashi Oatmeal & Dark Chocolate cookie
Dinner Chicken quesadilla...again
Coffee 2 cups
Sweet Tea 1 glass
Water about 32oz

Yes, I know I shouldn't skip breakfast and I should drink more water, but I have 3 kids and sometimes, it just doesn't happen. It's definitely NOT on purpose because I LOVE breakfast! No exercise this week, but I will be back at it on Monday.

Read more...

Day 9: Movie Night!

I didn't get this posted last night because we got in really late and just crashed. But here is yesterday's food journey.

Breakfast Kashi cereal (the GOLEAN Crisp-Toasted Berry Crumble is my absolute FAVORITE!)
Lunch Atlanta Bread, 1/2 Turkey sandwich & 1/2 Greek Salad w/small piece of sourdough
Snack Naked brand fruit smoothie and some pita chips
Dinner Moe's, Personal Trainer vegetarian salad (I really just picked at it because I knew what was next!)
Movie snack Popcorn and Cherry Coke
Coffee 1 cup
Water about 52oz

I weighed 145.0 this morning and I'm so excited about that! No, it's nowhere near where I want to be, but it's 2 pounds in 1 week. If I can do that consistently, then that means that this is working and I'll be there very soon! I know it may not look like I'm eating that great, but this blog has already made a big difference in my food choices. I may not always make the right ones, but I definitely spend more time thinking about them, and I can't tell you how many unhealthy choices I've already turned away just this week! I've definitely still got a lot of progress to make, but knowing that I'm making progress is very motivating!

Also, the idea of being able to eat without posting on the weekend has also influenced my decisions throughout the week. Just yesterday I refused a cookie because I knew I could have it in just 2 more days without posting, so that's 1 less cookie for me! I may or may not eat a cookie this weekend, but I didn't eat it yesterday.

By the way, we saw Date Night at the movies and it was hilarious!

Read more...

Day 8: Jessi got a new cast so we had to go for ice cream:)

Breakfast Kashi cereal
Lunch Leftovers. All the same ingredients from the quesadillas except wrapped up in a tortilla instead of grilled flat, chips & salsa
Snack took the kids to Coldstone Creamery. I got a mixture of coffee ice cream, dark chocolate ice cream, Heath, and fudge in the "like it" size and I liked it...ALOT
Dinner skipped
Coffee 1 cup
Sweet tea 1 glass
Apple juice 1 glass
Water about 16oz I think
11:20pm Snack bowl of strawberries and bananas

Oh yeah, and I weighed in this morning at 145.6...almost a 2 pound loss from last week.

Read more...

Day 7

Breakfast 1/2 whole wheat bagel w/low fat cream cheese
Lunch Some kind of layered salad that Anna made, hummus dip, pita chips
Dinner I skipped my snack because I knew we were eating Dante's Pizza for dinner (2 1/2 slices)
Coffee 2 cups
Water about 68oz

Tomorrow I post my weight again...

Read more...

Day 6: New Week

No mistake, Day 4 and Day 5 did not get posted because I've decided to take the weekends off. We do a lot of eating out and treats for the kids on weekends, so instead of worrying about what I'm eating the whole time, I'm going to enjoy the family time, make good decisions when I can, and if we go out for ice cream, we're all going to have ice cream!

I accidentally skipped breakfast again.
Lunch Grilled chicken wrap (just chicken, cheese, & tomatoes)
Dinner Chicken quesadillas! (Homemade and YUMMY. Fat free refried beans, shredded & seasoned chicken, cheese, & flour tortillas) and some homemade salsa w/Multigrain Tostidos
Sweet Tea 2 glasses
Water about 64oz
Exercise walked 3 miles

Today kind of got away from me because we had some errands to run. I usually try to have a snack, but that just didn't happen today.

Read more...