Thinner Thursday

I weigh 211 pounds today. Frustrating because the number went up; not frustrating because of the week I've had.

It's been a good week. I went to the gym for cardio on Sunday, Tuesday, and today. I worked out with Faith at her house on Tuesday. (Visit www.flairforfitness.net!) Faith is out of town Friday, so she sent me a workout to do on my own. I got serious about my calories too. For breakfast each morning I had one hard boiled egg and one piece of toast. For lunch I had a can of tuna with a touch of mayo with baked Lays and a 100 calorie cookie pack. I did have Wendy's on Wednesday with Alicia, but I worked out twice that day and only went over my calories by 50. With the exception of one soda, I had water all week. I cooked regular dinners for the family since I had calories to use for the day. They shouldn't suffer for my weight problems and I don't have time at this point to cook two different things. I'll slowly work on dinners getting healthier. We had bbq chicken sliders Monday, beef drip subs Tuesday, poppyseed chicken Wednesday, and we're having chicken ceasar pasta salad tonight. This is one of the first weeks I have really counted & watched my calories closely along with working out. I like it & hope to keep it up!

I'm not even thinking about giving up or stopping what I'm doing. I've said all along a number doesn't bother me. It would be encouraging to see some tiny gains whatever they might be. We'll be on "vacation" starting Sunday through Sunday, so hopefully I'll make good choices. We're just staying with my parents in Virginia Beach, so it will be pretty normal each day.

Ideas for healthy dinners?

Wife Wednesday

A few weeks ago at church, Rob said his prayer for our marriage was for people to think we were still newlyweds even though we are going on 11 years of marriage. While out together last week, I casually mentioned that I didn't really think we acted like newlyweds and he was taken back. Now, I think our marriage is great and I wasn't complaining, but wasn't sure what classified us as having newlywed behaviors. Thus begun us randomly calling out "newlyweds" every time one of us did something that seemed newlywed-ish. It was funny. I think laughing at each other is a good sign of being newlyweds. Here are some things that caused us to holler "newlyweds!"

• Rob opens my door for me every time we get in the car. Always has, always will.
• When he got in the car, I told him I missed him while we were apart.
• We gave each other random kisses for no reasons.
• He rubbed my back and played with my hair during a movie.
• A sneaked swat on the butt in public.
• He turned off the monitor twice this week so I could keep sleeping in the morning while he played with the twins. I'm not sure if that's classified as newlywed behavior, but whatever it is, it's awesome.
• We held hands in Costco when we weren't eating samples.
• I got a frozen yogurt and occasionally fed him bites as we drove around.

Rob asked me to brush his teeth for him Sunday night because he was too tired to get up. I said no as any self-respecting woman would. He said that was NOT newlywed behavior and it was old-fart behavior. He said one day when he's old and I had to take care of him, I would regret not practicing brushing his teeth. It made me laugh hard, so I say it's newlywed behavior.

What are other newlywed behaviors? Keep it PG please! Ha.

Twin Tuesday

I was going to blog about the poop-tastrophe of summer 2012, but Rob got to it first. Most of you probably read it on Rob's blog, but to save time- here it is again!

Read Rob's version of this poop-tacular event here.

It was gross and hysterical all at the same time. I almost took some pictures, but that is a little embarrassing for both the picture taker and Hayden in the future.

Manic Monday

man·ic adjective pertaining to or affected by mania

mania noun excessive excitement or enthusiasm

Much like robshep.com’s Mind Dumps, Manic Monday is just a snapshot of the random excitement that is inside my head.

• We had a wonderful week! It was busy, but that's our normal.
• On Tuesday we had to take the twins to their 15 month check up, and you need to know that they hate the doctor. Well, Reese hates nurses and doctor's and Hayden responds to her terror. It was exhausting. I couldn't even hear the doctor talking to us because of their crying.
• Reese has two follow-up appointments, and the thought of that already exhausts me! She has to see an audiologist this summer because of her low birth weight and a physical therapist to check out her gimpy left leg. I might need to medicate both of us.
• In other news, Hayden started walking and it was amazing!
• We had a wonderful 4th of July! Rob had the day off so we headed to our friends' pool, the Colgans! The kids loved it.

Poolside snacking on watermelon and Doritos!

• That evening, Bob and Marcia graciously put the kids to bed for us so we could play with friends! The 4th of July was also the Eve of Dan and Danielle's 10th wedding anniversary, so they had people over for a double cookout! We celebrated the 4th and their 10th! We ate delicious food and hung out with some of our favorite people. We watched the fireworks in downtown Newport News and sweat our tails off!
• On the 5th we headed to my parents' house for dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday! She makes an amazing spaghetti. They had offered to keep the kids overnight and all day Friday, so we were just a couple for over 24 hours!
• After dinner Rob and I saw Spiderman with his dad. I really enjoyed it! We went to bed without a monitor and it was bizarre! I kept looking for it and wondering why the light was off. I finally put it on the floor.
• Friday morning I worked out with Faith and Rob ran the Nolan Trail. After that our day was one big adventure!
• I also tried a couple new Pinterest recipes this week. One was a keeper, but it wasn't really a recipe- just an idea.

This looked super easy, so I tried it. 4 chicken breasts, 1 low fat cream cheese block, 1 can of corn, 1 can or Rotel, and 1 can of black beans drained & rinsed. Cooked on low for 6-8 hours.

It looked nasty!! It didn't have a ton of flavor- trying to decide what I can add to spice it up, even if it is just a packet of taco seasoning. Some of us ate it over chips, some ate it in a flour tortilla. We added some salsa and cheese, too. It was okay. It was better heated up the next day with some chips. I like my white chicken chili much better, and it's just as easy.

I followed a link on Pinterest on how to improve a box cake mix, and they were ok. They were moist and alright. I used regular frosting from a can- should have made it. For the sprinkles, Pinterest also had a link to mix sprinkles with Pop Rocks on top for the fourth of July, and it was supposed to be like a firecracker in your mouth. Not so much. The moisture from the icing took most of the pop out. It sounded fun while I sprinkled them though!

This is the one that is not really a recipe, but an idea. I've done fruit kabobs before, but added pound cake and a white chocolate drizzle. I thought they were delicious!

• Saturday was uneventful. We drove home from the beach in the morning, hung out at the house, and did our weekly grocery trip.
• Sunday was special because Connor came to spend some time with me and the kids and it was like old times! It was so fun to watch the three of them play together again. 
• Church at Next Level was awesome! We had a night of worship with communion as we kicked off a series called "Worship Happens". I teach the 1st- 5th graders, and they are learning about worship being a lifestyle- not just singing a song at church. It was cool to see them connect. One kid said tonight that it was cool because he never realized the songs we sing at big church teach about who God is and what he has done for us.

What are your plans for this week? I'm trying to figure out ways to be a blessing to people this week whether through a meal or a gift , etc. Is there something you can do to be a blessing to someone else?

Wife Wednesday: Guest Post by Danielle Peters

I'd like to take a break from this regularly scheduled blog to wish my mother a happy birthday! She has to share her birthday with the country, but she gets fireworks every year! My mom, aka Dodi, is one of the funniest woman I know. She knows how to have a good time, how to laugh at herself, and she loves me and my kids unconditionally. My mom is full of honesty; you always know what she's thinking. She makes the best spaghetti sauce in the world despite her insecurity! So, happy 48th birthday to my mom! :)

Today's Wife Wednesday is written by my dear friend Danielle. You can learn about her here.

Let me give you just a little background about Dan and I.  Tomorrow will be our 10-year anniversary!  We do not have any children, but we have two dogs (which we find to be enough responsibility for us at this time).  In these past 10 years, I can count on one hand the times Dan has been worried about my safety leaving the house.  He does not worry about someone taking me or assaulting me, nor do I worry about those types of things.  I am fairly confident that any would-be attacker will lose a vital appendage to my teeth or death grip.  Dan understands this and lets me roam freely.

One summer night, not long after getting our dogs, I could not sleep.  The dogs kept scratching, which led me to believe they had fleas.  The thought of fleas, much like lice, creates the need to scratch. (Did you just scratch your head?)  I developed an insomniac’s paranoia and was certain the bed and carpet were infested with fleas.  I had to remedy this problem right then.  “Right then” happened to be 2:00 am.  I got up and went to Walmart on a mission to buy flea powder for both the dogs and carpet.  Dan was sound asleep when I left.

Meanwhile, Dan wakes up to Scout scratching at the bedroom door- the universal sign of, “let me out, or I will pee on the carpet.”  In his half-awake state, he doesn’t notice that I am not in the bed.   Dan follows Scout to the back door where he usually sits and waits patiently to be hooked up to the tie out.  Instead, Scout runs out the door to the front yard.  Dan chases him down and brings him into the house and Scout proceeds to check every room of the house.  This has Dan a little worked up; he turns on lights and checks everything out before returning to bed.  Upon returning to bed he finds it empty…. 

“Danielle, where are you?”

Dan checks the bathroom.  He knows the downstairs is empty, because he just searched it.  He attempts to check the guest room.  It’s locked.  “Danielle, are you in there?”

Dan begins to think.

Maybe she went in there to sleep.  Bang louder so she will wake up.  No response to the banging.  Let me check to see if the balcony door is locked.  Our bedroom and the guest room have access to the same balcony.  That door is locked as well.

Then Dan’s mind goes into rapid fire.

Maybe someone climbed up the balcony!  That’s why Scout ran to the front of the house; he must have heard it!  They came in our balcony door, took my sleeping wife, and they are holding her hostage in our guest room!  I’ll call the police.  No time for that, they could be assaulting her right now!   Plus, they could go out the other door while I stand waiting at this one!  I’ll break down the door and fight them!!!

To this day, the guest room door is broken because my husband busted it down to save me! 

Happy 10^th Anniversary to my protector and defender!  I love you, Dan, more today than I did 10 years ago!

Do you have any great/funny stories about your spouse?

Twin Tuesday

Last Friday we took the twins to the beach for the first time! It was oodles of work, but so fun! I wish I had taken a few of them reacting to the water, but I was enjoying the moment!

Sweet Hayden with Danielle

Sweet Reese playing in the sand

He was so sandy, but loved it!

They seemed to love the beach which made this momma happy! 

After we got tousled in the waves a bit! They were exhausted, as were we!

Love our beach hats!

We did not photograph the part in the water! They both loved the water, were splashing, and Reese kept wanting to sip it. In the water was me, Rob, Reese, Hayden, Carlyn, Danielle, and Jamie. Out of no where we got attacked by some crazy waves. I was holding Reese as high as I could and jumping while I screamed for Jamie. I was terrified I was going to drop Reese, or that she'd go under. Jamie was beside me in a flash helping me to hold her up, but I was yelling, "You're too short! You're too short!" Jamie runs marathons regularly and completes in triathlons- she had this under control. Hayden was with Carlyn at the time with Rob nearby. Rob said that she was holding him high over her head and she would totally disappear under the waves with Hayden in the air. He was laughing hard through the whole thing. Reese was a little phased by my yelling, but seemed to find it fun as well. 

We'll definitely take them again, but I need to get in better shape. Walking them and all their junk from the house to the beach, piping hot sand, getting everything situated, holding them in the water, dodging death waves, and hiking back to the house to give baths and put them down for naps was exhausting. I slept hard Friday night and so did the twins. 

Any good beach tips for the beach with kids?

Manic Monday

man·ic adjective pertaining to or affected by mania

mania noun excessive excitement or enthusiasm

Much like robshep.com’s Mind Dumps, Manic Monday is just a snapshot of the random excitement that is inside my head.

• Last week, Rob did a blog on what it's like to be a man. Read about it here. He had a few people comment that I should follow up with what it's like to be a woman, so I took a shot at it. Read about it here. 
• What did we leave out from either list?
• Today starts week 3 of summer- I can't believe it! I've already had three amazing beach days, so I count it a successful summer so far! 
• Two weekends ago we stayed with our friends Dan and Danielle since Rob's parents were having out of town guests. Hayden and Reese were in heaven because they have two dogs! Here are a couple of my favorite pics!

Watching a little Elmo. This is how I picture them at age 15 too. Ha.

Cuddling with Danielle! We fell in love with her this weekend!

Danielle and I made homemade laundry detergent. Super cheap and made 10 gallons. I've done 8 loads of laundry with it and it works great- no problems! We got the recipe from the Duggars. They seem clean. :)  Here is the link to the recipe we used.

• Dan and Danielle had a beach house in Croatan this past week, and we had the privilege of joining them Monday and Friday for some fun in the sun. Here are a couple pics!

These are total strangers, but I dream of getting old on the beach with my friends!

Danielle reading a book down by the water.

The view from their house! Slice of heaven!

• On Wednesday we had the Shepherd event of the year! My sister-in-law, Nicole, gave birth to a 9 pound 15 ounce baby boy- Brody David Shepherd! That sounds huge (and it is given how children are birthed), but he's still so small!

About 2 hours after she delivered. Always gorgeous and he is perfect!

Shepherd family of four!

Sweet Brody David Shepherd!

Brody makes me an aunt x 5!

• We also welcomed Macie Miller to our friends Mark and Mollie Miller and Ephraim Medford to Rob and Alicia Medford in the last week! 

Hello Macie! The twins have met four new friends in two weeks: Kellen, Macie, Ephraim, and Brody!

Our new cousin!

• How about these crazy storms in the 757? On Friday night our power went out, but thankfully was back on minutes later. On Saturday night, we had to pull the kiddie pool and trash cans into the garage because it was about to get crazy! I'm not a get into the bath tub kind of person, but several people I love are. No judgment at all....in fact I probably should use better caution at times especially with the twins. My mom always had us get in the tub or in the safest closet. 
• My bestie Courtney is out of town for like 10 days. Might be our longest time apart in 7 years. Hoping she buys us some great souvenirs in Chicago, Vegas, and Denver! 
• Right now I am reading the second book in the Game of Thrones series. They are really long books, and it is written from approximately 31 different perspectives. Every few chapters I have to pause and figure out who the character is again. They are really good though! Anything else I should read this summer?
• I made a delicious Pinterest recipe last week! My goal is to try one new one a week. I would change a few things, but here it is! Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata!

The chicken was the best part. You marinate it overnight in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and basil. I'm going to make the chicken part again this week and put it on a salad. Delicious!

• Want to know some other exciting news?? Shima, my best friend from middle school, got engaged two weeks ago! (You can read about her here!) Rob and I are thrilled. We love Eddie and can't wait to celebrate with them! To make it even more exciting, they've asked Rob to perform the ceremony- what an honor! 
• I should mention that Shima is Iranian, and I got this text from her Saturday: "And have him google Persian wedding sofreh. We have a lot of creative thinking to pull together a half Persian half American wedding." Classic.
• If this wedding is anything like their New Year's parties growing up, it's going to be the event of the year in 2013. I googled what she said and in one place I read that the feast and celebration could last 3-7 days. Who can watch the twins that long??

Do you have a favorite Pinterest recipe? Great book suggestions? (No 50 Shades of whatever please) I've been celebrating births and engagements- what are you celebrating these days?