Frugal Friday

I need to lose some weight and tone up, desperately. I am going to be in a wedding this summer that I would like to look good (better than I do now) and I would like to feel better. So here is my new, frugal plan for weight lose.

Pedometer: I found a pedometer I got a couple of years ago for free. I did some research online and found that "sedentary" people walk 2,000 to 3,000 steps per day. Walking 6,000 steps per day will keep you healthy and reduce your health risks and walking 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day will help you lose weight. Last night in about 4 hours, which included working in the front yard and having a race with Cadence, I walked close over 4,000 steps. Today I have been wearing it all day, and am so far at 4,000 steps. Today Ben took Cadence to and from school for me, so I definitely lost some steps right there. My goal over the next couple of days is to see how many steps I average per day so that I can increase them. I will have to add activity of some sort to get to 10,000 steps.

DVDs: I have 5 work out dvds that I have collected over the years. My goal is to do something every single day, and hopefully to work these dvds into my routine. I think for right now I am going to have to do them in the evening, because I just can't seem to get up early enough to do them. Maybe once I start doing them and realize how much better I feel, then I will be able/willing to get up earlier.

Watching what I eat: I think this will also help me alot. I am switching fruits and 100 calorie snacks for chocolate and otherwise fattening snacks. I am going to try to eat more slowly and not get "lost" in my food and not pay attention.

The only thing I will have to buy is a new sports bra. My old ones are from high school, enough said.

I am also planning on using this blog to post what I have done to motivate me. So you see, you can work out and lose weight without spending any money! Wish me luck!

Not Me! Monday

Yes, its baaaaack! I stopped the Not Me! Monday about 4 weeks ago in respect for MckMama and her baby Stellan's battle with SVT. Click her name to read more and please pray for this sweet baby, his 3 siblings (under 5) and their struggle. Here we go:

I have not taken to giving the Prince an empty bottle to use as a pacifier to go to sleep. I also have not been taking a bottle of formula with us when we go places where it would come in handy to keep him occupied (like a wedding).

I have not been told more times than I can count lately that I am "the worstest mommy" by my ever so dramatic 5 year old daughter. And she definitly did not add "on the planet" one really bad time.

I have not recently realized, nor am I admitting, how much my daughter loves tv and movies. This is her zone time and relaxes her, however she has recently been watching too much of it! So it has been a battle scaling back, which is where most of the "worstest mommy" comments come from!

I am not constantly amazed by how fast our house can go from clean to dirty. I swear it is clean when I go to bed and dirty when I wake up. How does that happen?

I have not been super jealous of my husband's new tattoo. I have definitely not been heavily hinting that it will be my turn soon. FYI: The blue fish is for Henry and the orange fish is for Cadence.



I have alot to be thankful for, so I am going to combine my Not Me! Monday post with a Grace in Small Things post.

Grace in Small Things
5/365 (still determined to do 365, even if it takes me a long time!)
1. A long talk with an old friend
2. Sunshine
3. A friend who babysat my children so I could attend a wedding shower
4. The way Henry hooks his right arm around mine when I hold him, and clings like a monkey!
5. My house, I love my house. Its not fancy, but it is ours!

Missing in Action

Yes, I have been missing in action. I was finally getting some organization and rhythm to my blogging, and then life came and it was gone! Here are some numbers to give you an idea of how busy we have been the last two weeks:
Trips to Walgreens: 8
Doctor's Appts: 3
Volunteer Trainings: 3
Conference Calls: 3
Firefighter trainings: 4
Birthday parties: 2
Cheerleading tryouts: 1
Wedding Shower: 1
Trips to Target: 4
Trips to Border's (Twilight obsession): 2
To BOK Center: 2
Trips to Owasso (for JBF Sale): 2
Books read: 3 (Twilight series)

Wow. Now, this may seem like a normal couple of weeks for some of you. Its not at all normal for me. First of all, now that I work from home, I just don't drive that much. Since I am not already out, or in a certain area, I really re-consider my trips to the store and such before I go. I make sure there are more than just one or two goo deals before I make a trip to the store. In fact, thanks to my coupon stockpile (and tiny kitchen with no cabinet space) I have not been to Wal-mart (Neighborhood Market, my main grocery store) in over a week! I am happy about this, because I am trying to use some of our stockpiles because our kitchen is bursting at the seams.

The amount of doctor's visits were definitely not normal. All three trips were in one week. First, Henry had his one year check up, where he received 5 shots and had blood drawn. Two days later, Cadence had a check up for her perforated eardrum. That same evening Henry came down with a 103.3 fever (too late to be caused by the vaccines) and was miserable. I took him to the doctor the next morning, where they discovered he had double ear infections. He was also mildly dehydrated from such a high fever and from feeling bad. Unfortunately to make sure he got enough fluids, we had to give up weaning (we had two nights down!) because he drinks so much better from a bottle, to make sure he got re-hydrated. The day after his appointment, he started dripping from his eyes and mouth, so I gave him some of his as needed allergy medicine and if it is not better on Monday, we will call the doctor. He also has a follow up visit next week from his ear infection. You can always tell when Henry is sick because it changes his personality so much. Normally, he is a smiley, non cuddling baby who is too busy to stop and is a voracious eater. Sick Henry falls asleep while I am holding him (which he has not done since he was 6 weeks old!), never smiles, rarely eats, and only wants to be held. He is getting a little better, but is definitely not back to his normal self.
So, in a nutshell, these are all the things that have been going on that have caused me to be MIA. I am back. Thanks for your patience.