Keeping Up With...Food (Menu 3/31 - 4/6)

We spent half of last week celebrating my birthday and it was a lot of fun.  But of course I didn't eat real well and didn't really stick to my menu plan.  Luckily I could shuffle a few things around, use up the veggies that are turning first and I should be good to go for this week.  This is another weird week since my Mom is still here and my Dad flies in for next weekend.  At least I'll have help with the cooking!  And it's always great to spend time with them, I don't get to see them enough since they are in FL.

I did have and upsetting event this past week:

My beloved slow cooker lid broke.  It actually broke a few months ago, I have glued it on a few times.  But this one was the last straw, it seems like every time I use it & wash it, the handle breaks.  It still works & I actually have another lid that fits pretty well, but since it was my birthday I decided to ask for this:

Isn't it pretty?? And it matches my sort of new red coffee pot.  Now to figure out how to break replace the toaster for Mother's Day.  I can't wait to cook something in it!  Too bad nothing this week is slow cooker.  Maybe next week...

Here's what I'm cooking this week:
Monday, 3/31 - Chili Stuffed Squash - this didn't get made this weekend & I can't wait to make it!
Tuesday, 4/1 - Mexican eggs (Relish recipe) - this also didn't get made this past weekend
Wednesday, 4/2 -  Chicken with Mushrooms (Relish recipe)
Thursday, 4/3 - Southwestern Pork Stew (Relish recipe)
Friday, 4/4 - Chicken Gumbo (Relish recipe)
Saturday, 4/5 - Out to my brother's house for dinner.  He's making sauce & we're having another cake to celebrate my birthday.
Sunday, 4/6 - Spending the day with my parents, not sure what we'll do for dinner.  There has been talk of Thurman's To Go.  Yum.

I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast & Jill at Fitness, Health and Happiness.  Go check them out for some more yummy recipes!

Keeping Up With...Family (Spring Break)

This past week was spring break for the boys, although the weather was not very spring like.  I asked the boys what they wanted to do this week and they said relax and hang out around the house, so that's pretty much what we did.  I wanted to keep a little bit of a schedule, so we headed to the gym a few times.  Had a few friends over the play dates.  And relaxed a lot!

The biggest excitement of the week was Wednesday night when my mom flew in from Florida to spend about 10 days with us.  The boys were so excited to see her when they woke up Thursday morning.  Well, two of them were, Zak was freaked out by the strange lady sleeping in his room.  We spent Thursday just hanging around, celebrating my birthday.  Then Friday Adrian took off and we had a fun family day.  Our plan was to go to the zoo, but the weather didn't cooperate so we went to Polaris instead.  Then we made homemade pizza for dinner & had more birthday cake for me.

Saturday and Sunday have been spent getting caught up on stuff around the house (the maid took Thurs & Fri off to celebrate her birthday) and hanging with the boys.  Saturday Adrian took the two big boys bowling and they had a blast.  Both boys really enjoy bowling and are getting pretty good at it.  Daniel bowled a 93 yesterday!  Of course that was with bumpers, but that's still a pretty good score.  They also enjoyed playing air hockey & ski ball in the arcade there.

This week we are back to our regular schedules with school, hockey, tee ball and the gym.  My mom will still be here all week, although she is spending a few days at my brother's house as well.  My dad flies in Thurs night so we'll be spending the whole weekend with family next weekend.  I'm looking forward to it all!!

A few pictures from our week:

Two cuties in the tub

Enjoying some Graeter's ice cream for Mom's birthday

Zak enjoying the slide at Polaris Mall

AJ hanging with Mom & Dad while the little ones play

Daniel the tiger tamer

My birthday cake.  I'm not 35, it's 35 plus 3 = 38

Keeping Up With...Workouts (Injured)

About 4 months ago I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis by my amazing foot doctor.  He "shot my foot" (as Daniel keeps saying, it was a cortisone injection) and with some stretching and a brace a few nights each week I was doing fine.  Last Thursday I woke up with a familiar pain in the bottom of my foot.  I did my normal stretching & went about my day.  As the day went on, it got worse & the stretching was hurting more than helping.  I called my favorite doctor (seriously, he's awesome.  And you don't have to take off any clothes to see him, win!)

I went in for an appointment on Friday and after some x-rays they found that because of the planter fasciitis, I had an inflamed bursa sac.  The treatment was antibiotics, stretching and rest.  I did two of the three.  I tried my best to rest it, but I had a super busy weekend.  I did spend Saturday night like this:

Numbing the pain

Now I am almost a week out of the initial pain and I'm feeling much better.  I've been trying to rest & pick my foot up as much as possible.  And I've been stretching more than usual.  I have a follow up visit for April and if I'm still in pain then I will get another cortisone injection.  I'm hoping it's fine, those things hurt!

I was been super busy this weekend because I had 4 Zumba auditions this past week.  And I am happy to say that I am back up to at least 4 classes each week, possibly 5.  I'm also on the sub list at a bunch of gyms so that may yield more work.  All of the lasses start in April and I'm super excited to start my new "normal" and get back to a good routine.

Here is how last week looked:
Wednesday, 3/19 - One hour TBC class with my awesome friend Beth.  I'm SO glad this class is back on my regular schedule!!
Thursday, 3/20 - One hour PlyoFit class (my new favorite) in the am & taught one hour Zumba class in the evening
Friday, 3/21 - Rest Day because of foot pain
Saturday, 3/22 - 2.5 hours of Zumba including a one hour class at Body Rebellion where I'll be subbing and an audition at AussieFit where I'll be working starting next Fri
Sunday, 3/23 - Taught a one hour Zumba class.  Only one friend showed up so she helped me rehearse and fix my playlist for my upcoming auditions.
Monday, 3/24 - 55 minutes on the elliptical - a new personal best!!
Tuesday, 3/25 - 10 minutes on the elliptical and taught a one hour Zumba class for an audition at Victory Fitness.  I'm waiting to hear back but hopefully this will be class #5

Weigh in:
3/12 weight - 215
3/26 weight - 215
Change - none 

If you are a regular reader, you'll remember that last week I didn't weigh in for my own sanity.  I had a carb induced coma the weekend before so I knew I'd be up.  I'm very happy to see that I maintained over the 2 week period.  Now it's time for my birthday celebration, so I may not weigh in again next week, I'll see how I feel.  But April will be hit the gas hard for me and I'm hoping to see big results on the scale!

Keeping Up With...Food (Menu 3/24 - 3/30)

What an interesting week we have ahead of us!  It's spring break for the boys which means lots of time relaxing and hanging out as a family.  It also means a break from pick up and drop off which should mean more time to cook.  However it is also my birth-week which means I'm taking some time this week to relax.  And my mom is coming to town so I get to have our family tradition of homemade pizza for my birthday!

Last week we did pretty well about staying on our menu plan.  I didn't cook on Saturday, after 2 hours of (unplanned) Zumba, I was really exhausted.  Plus with all the basketball Adrian wanted a "cheat" meal.  I didn't want to undo all of the exercise so he went & picked up dinner for us, Chipotle for him and Panera for me.  I got to "cheat" but still stay under my calorie goal for the day, win!

St Patrick's dinner from last week - green scrambled eggs (made green with spinach & pesto)

I planned out our week last night but then I noticed our fridge is stuffed with leftovers so I'm switching the menu around a little on the fly.  I want to empty some of the fridge out...and make room for pizza leftovers!  The plan is to eat in my calorie goal Mon-Weds, then take a few days off to celebrate and back on the plan by next Mon.

Here is the plan for the week:
Monday, 3/24 - Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Brussels Sprouts that I bought on a whim
Tuesday, 3/25 - Leftovers
Wednesday, 3/26 - Gnocchi and Sausage Soup with leftover Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
Thursday, 3/27 - Tortilla Chicken Casserole (bumped from last week)
Friday, 3/28 - PIZZA made by my mom & hubby!  Can't wait!  We are planning on 6 pizzas - cheese, pepperoni, sausage, white, veggie & wildcard (usually use up all the toppings we have left).  And Coldstone cake!
Saturday, 3/29 -  Brunch with friends & then Chili Stuffed Squash for dinner
Sunday, 3/30 - Mexican eggs for brunch and Potato Soup for dinner (both Relish recipes)

I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast & Jill at Fitness, Health and Happiness.  Go check them out for some more yummy recipes!

What's on your menu this week?

Keeping Up With...Family (Milestones!)

Wow, this has been a pretty big week for all of us around here!  Four of us hit pretty big milestones this week.

AJ had two exciting things happen this week.  He started hockey two weeks ago and played in his first scrimmage this past week.  He came home and told me "Mom, I love it!!"  He is so excited to play.  We are so broke happy for him.  Then later that night we went to brush our teeth and noticed that sometime after school AJ had lost his first tooth!  We don't know what happened to the tooth, but thankfully the tooth fairy still came and left AJ a $5 bill for his first tooth.

Missing his first tooth

Zachary has hit a milestone and is no longer using his bottles.  He was only getting one each day to go to sleep at night.  It was a rough time Fri putting him to sleep but by the end of the weekend he was doing fine.  I packed up all the bottles today to donate.  I am a little sad, but am also happy to see him grow and change.

And Adrian & I hit a milestone of sorts...we paid off one of the two mini vans!  It is so nice not to have that one bill anymore.  Now we can pay off the work we had to do to that van right before Christmas.  Thankful for 6 months same as cash!!  It's also very nice that the payment is exactly what I was making at my Zumba job that I no longer have.  Although it's looking like I will be back to at least 4 classes per week very soon.

Daniel had a pretty status quo week, no major milestones for him.  He did have a great week in school and was one of the only few who managed to stay on green for his behavior in class on Friday.  He also continues to be popular with his classmates and has tons of play dates.  He is looking forward to playing with his best friend, AJ, this whole week while they are on spring break.

Happy Spring Break!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

This last picture reminded me of one more story.  The boys both had visits from leprechauns in their class rooms this year.  One visited Daniel's class the Friday before St Patrick's Day & made a "giant mess!"  The class cleaned it up and left a note for the leprechauns that if they did that again, there would be a trap set up.  The leprechauns came back to play over the weekend & left the room clean & an apology note.  Then they visited AJ's class room that same weekend and left a mess and a treasure hunt for the class.  AJ had to do math problems to travel to the main office, the teacher's work room and the library only to find out that the treasure was hidden in his classroom all along.  The kids got to enjoy the Rolos that the leprechauns left.  Such fun!! 

Looking forward to a relaxing week for spring break this week and a visit from my mom later this week.  Also expanding our family with my newest niece arriving within the next few days.  Exciting stuff!!

Keeping Up With...Workouts (3/12 - 3/18)

It's been a pretty bad week around here for workouts.  I feel like I say this every week, but I'm really having a hard time finding my routine.  Ugh!

I did take some time out of my amazing retreat weekend to call around & do some research for Zumba jobs at local gyms.  I left messages at about 10 places, filled out 2 online applications and got one audition scheduled for next week.  I'm also hoping to hear about an audition at AussieFit very soon.  If neither audition pans out, I will call everyone again throughout the week next week.

Once I get my teaching schedule set, I'm going to seriously reevaluate my workouts and make a plan for myself.  I'm on the fence (again) about the half marathon.  I'm not sure where I'll land for a gym.  The summer will be hard since I won't want to drag the boys out to the gym every day.  I have some ideas & I'm going to make a plan and stick to it starting April 1st.  I'm going to do the best I can for the rest of March, especially since next week is party week for my birthday!

Here's what my workouts looked like last week:
Wednesday, 3/12 - Rest day because Zak freaked out at the gym
Thursday, 3/13 - No one showed up for my Zumba class so rest day
Friday, 3/14 - 1.5 mile walk in my awesome new shoes

Saturday, 3/15 - Nothing, retreat weekend
Sunday, 3/16 - Nothing, retreat weekend
Monday, 3/17 - Tried a new class, Battlebells.  I really enjoyed it and I'm still sore 2 days later.  Also 30 minutes on the elliptical
Tuesday, 3/18 - Nothing, boys didn't want to go out

I didn't weigh in this week, I know I'm up and I'm OK with it.  I'm guessing about 3 lbs, that's pretty typical for me after a retreat weekend.  I'll weigh in again next Weds and hope to be where I was last week.  Here's to a better week!!

Keeping Up With...Food (Menu Plan 3/17 - 3/23)

Well, I'm back to reality after my wonderful retreat weekend.  I'm thankful I planned my menu for this week and shopped for it before I left.  I have a bit of vacation hangover today.  (I drove right past the preschool on the way to pick up this morning.  Thankfully the 2 year old knows my schedule better than I do & yelled from the back seat "Pick up Dan!"  Oops!)  Plus I'm enjoying spending time with my dudes.  This post will be short & sweet.

I have been eating stuff like this for the past 3 days:

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast - Made for me & served to me

So, this week is all about getting back to clean eating and exercising.  I indulged way too much the past week or so and I feel it.  My birthday is coming up in 10 days and I'm hoping to stay under my calorie goal for the entire 10 days.

We are also busy this week with the normal stuff and the addition of CrossFit to my workout schedule and Daniel having a ton of play dates.  He has recently become the social butterfly and I love it!

Here's our plan for the week:
Monday, 3/17 - Lasagna Roll Ups (I didn't make these before leaving so they are bumped to this week)
Tuesday, 3/18 - Chicken & Grapes (Relish Recipe)
Wednesday, 3/19 - Santa Fe Stuffed Peppers (Relish Recipe)
Thursday, 3/20 - Cauliflower Pasta (Relish Recipe)
Friday, 3/21 - Brinner! A family favorite.  Probably some kind of eggs and hashbrowns
Saturday, 3/22 - Tortilla Chicken Casserole
Sunday, 3/23 - Chicken and Kale Soup

I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast & Jill at Fitness, Health and Happiness.  Go check them out for some more yummy recipes!

What's on your menu this week?

Keeping Up With...Family (Retreat Weekend!)

So this is really about the whole family, it's about my retreat weekend with my friends.  Honestly since I left on Thurs night and am up here in Oak Harbor at the Inspiration Inn Bloom, I don't have a lot to write about the guys.  They are having a fun weekend with Dad and I'm sure I'll hear all about it when I get back.

I have been lucky enough to go away on a retreat weekend with my girlfriends twice a year for the past 4 years.  The group has changed and the places have changed, but the result is always the same.  I come back from the weekend refreshed and mostly rested.  This retreat is a weekend away at a scrapbooking bed and breakfast.  It is fabulous and I feel super spoiled!

I got here late Thursday night and pretty much just chit chatted with my friends then headed up for an early bed time.  They were able to get here earlier on Thursday, but I had too much going on to sneak away.  I slept like a rock Thursday night and woke up refreshed, if a little early, Friday morning.

My room that I'm sharing with Marcie

Love the nautical theme in my room!

Sleep mask that we got as a gift for being here.

And of course a mint on my pillow

While my friends are here scrapbooking, I'm here tackling my never ending to do list.  I got started bright and early Fri morning by calling around to about 15 gyms to try to get a new Zumba job.  I left a bunch of messages and will hopefully hear back soon from some places.  I do have one audition that I'm super excited about at Victory Fitness.  The rest of the day I just relaxed and checked things off my list.

Our table for the weekend...and our beautiful view

The pampering started with Friday night's dinner.  From Fri around 6:00 until Sun at 4:00 I have been instructed not to lift a finger.  We sit down for our meals and they are served to us.  Fri night we had BBQ beef sandwiches, mac & cheese and string beans.  Then about 2 hours later we had an amazing carmel brownie sundae for dessert.

YUM!

 They told us breakfast would be at 9:30 Saturday morning.  We joked about setting an alarm, but I thought, there's no way I'll sleep that late.  9:15 I jumped out of bed to run downstairs for breakfast.  Guess I was more tired than I thought!

Breakfast - egg casserole, hashbrowns, cinnamon roll and fruit

Saturday was spent much the same as Friday, checking things off the list, including catching up on Box Tops for AJ's school and researching for the Easter party for Daniel's class.  I also ate a bunch, chit chatted a ton and relaxed.  And I got an early birthday present from Adrian, a wonderful pedicure.

Pretty purple toes

Saturday most of us stayed up late working on pictures and watching movies.  We got a surprise midnight snack.  It was so cute.  The "pamperista" brought around a cart with snacks on it for us.

The snack cart

Milk and cookies

Root Beer Float

Sunday is already going by way too fast.  We are doing more of the same, crafting, chatting and eating.  We can stay until 4:00, but I'll be heading out a little early, my 4 guys miss me.  Soon after this delicious brunch, I'll pack up and head back south towards home.

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

It has been an amazing and wonderful weekend.  And I'm ready to take on the next week...or at least Monday.  Thanks to all at the Inspiration Inn Bloom and my friends for a fantastic weekend!  See you in in Sept!

Keeping Up With...Workouts (Zumbathon!)

So even though I've been in a little funk with my workouts and Zumba teaching since the gym closed, I had an awesome time organizing my first ever Zumbathon this past weekend.  A few months ago I had volunteered to do this fundraiser for Daniel's preschool and the day finally arrived on Saturday.

We had about 30 people there for two hours of Zumba fun.  About half of them had never done Zumba before, or never did it with me as their instructor.  The other half were my friends from the gym that just missed my class.

I had a hard time narrowing down my play list to just over an hour.  I wanted to do every song I had!  I had my awesome friend Jaime co-instructing with me so I did about 75 minutes and she did about 30 minutes.  We also did 2 songs together.  And then I cut another two songs to let my other friend Joe lead a few songs.  It really felt like a mini-reunion and just a big party, so much fun!!

Everyone had an awesome time and we raised a good amount of money for the preschool.  Most of the people who came are asking for a weekly class, so the church is looking into getting that on their schedule.  We would do it as a fundraiser for the preschool, which would be pretty cool!  It would be open to the community so people who are missing my weekly classes would be able to attend as well.  I'll keep you posted if it happens.

Most of the group (a few left early)

Zumba Love!

Instructors (me, Joe, Jaime & Aziza)

Here's how the rest of the week has looked.  Again, I've been in a bit of a funk.  Don't feel like exercising or eating right.  I'm giving myself some grace and some time off and lots of cookies.  I'm away on my girls' retreat this weekend but when I get back on Monday, I am hitting it hard!  I will be back in the gym on a regular basis.  I will hopefully be adding one or two Zumba classes to my schedule.  And I will be starting a trial at CrossFit.  Plus I'll be finishing training for my half marathon.

Wednesday, 3/5 - Rest/lazy day
Thursday, 3/6 - Taught a 60 minute Zumba class (pm)
Friday, 3/7 - Rest/lazy day
Saturday, 3/8 - Zumbathon!  2 hours of Zumba
Sunday, 3/9 - Taught a 60 minute Zumba class, 20 minutes on elliptical
Monday, 3/10 - 40 minutes on the elliptical (new time PR!), 20 minutes on the treadmill
Tuesday, 3/11 - 3.5 miles of walking outside!!

Weigh in:
3/5 weight - 211
3/12 weight - 215
Change - up 4 lbs

I'm starting to feel like a ping pong ball, bouncing up and down between 210 and 215.  I know the reasons why, just can't seem to break thru this.  Hoping April will be my month!!

Keeping Up With...Family (Dad's Day at Preschool)

Since Father's Day is after school is out for the year, Daniel's preschool does a Dad's Day every year for the Dads to come in and have a party with their kids.  All the kids were so excited, especially Daniel. 

This year the theme was Superhero's Day.  When Adrian got there, they both got masks, then took a picture together.  This was a big deal because last year Daniel wouldn't pose for a picture with either Adrian or I.  How cute is this picture?

The kids and dads had snack together and played a few games, including pin the mask on the superhero.  Daniel liked this game because he got to "spin Daddy."  Then they made a craft together.

"Here's a Monster Hug for you"

They played some more games and had free play and then all the kids gave the dads their presents.  They got a "superhero survival pack" which had Life Savers, smarties & a giant sucker in it.  They also got all of these homemade crafts, most of which are now decorating Adrian's office.

We asked Daniel about "flying" in the picture above.  We were asking him which city he was flying over and if it was "downtown."  He told us "No, I'm just laying on a blanket, it just looks like I'm flying."  He totally missed the point of not telling us the secret.

Finally, the kids made a book that talked about an awesome superhero.  How he could do all these amazing things and on the final page, the superhero's identity was revealed to be...

Such a fun day for Adrian & Daniel!  I'm so thankful that the school thought to do this day.  I know a lot of schools do Mother's Day since the kids are still in school for that.  It's nice to have the Dads recognized too.  And Adrian so rarely talks to Daniel's teacher or sees the classroom or anything so it's nice for him to have a glimpse at that part of Daniel's day.

Keeping Up With...Food (Menu Plan 3/10 - 3/16)

Last week I pretty much stuck to my menu.  I had one day that I was supposed to be out all day and ended  up changing plans and being home so I saved my crock pot meal and pulled a different meal up to last week.  We also had a crazy busy weekend so we grabbed sandwiches on Sat night instead of cooking.  They were so good, really hit the spot!

This week is another busy one so I'm keeping the menu simple.  I may switch a few things up depending on my veggie situation.  I'm going out of town on a scrapbook retreat this weekend so I'll only be cooking Mon-Thurs.  The rest of the week my guys will be on their own with leftovers.  I will be eating whatever they serve at the Inspiration Inn Bloom.  I can't wait!

I've also been doing some baking.  I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Lemon Blueberry Muffins over the weekend.  I'm making 2-3 different kids of cookies this week as well to make a platter for our teachers on conference night.  The rest will be for the guys while I'm gone and the girls that I'm spending the weekend with.

Here's what's on our menu this week:
Monday, 3/3 - Shrimp Scampi over Spaghetti Squash (Relish recipe)
Tuesday, 3/4 - Apricot Lemon Chicken (Relish recipe) - this is the slow cooker meal I bumped from last week
Wednesday, 3/5 - Catalina Chicken (Relish recipe)
Thursday, 3/6 - Chicken and Grapes (Relish recipe)
Friday, 3/7 - Sunday, 3/9 - YOYO (You're on Your Own) - I'm out of town!  Have fun boys!

I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast & Jill at Fitness, Health and Happiness.  Go check them out for some more yummy recipes!

What's on your menu this week?

Keeping Up With...Family (Pennies, Parties and Phantom)

This has been another fun and exciting week for us...and no one was sick all week!!  I'm really hoping this is the turning point and we will be back to our normal routine.  Of course now we have daylight savings to deal with and I'm going out of town this weekend.  OK, maybe next week.

Our week was mostly normal with school, the gym and soccer for everyone.  We had the week off from ice skating before we start up with hockey again next week.  We also had a bunch of play dates this week.  We had friends over Wednesday and Thursday and Zak and Daniel had a blast.  Daniel has become quite popular at school, we have a play date set up with another friend next week and a few more in the works.  I'm so proud of him for making so many friends!

Friday was Dad's Day at Daniel's school.  He had so much fun with Dad there for the party.  I'm going to do a separate post about that, so stay tuned.  When they got home, they took Zak and went outside to play and I headed to AJ's school to volunteer.  We did another popcorn party for the blue hallway and I got to make popcorn with Batman.

Why was Batman at AJ's school?  Well it was superhero day of course!  The school has been fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society all week thru their Pennies for Patients program.  The school has raised close to $12,000 in the week and we had the weekend to add to that.  AJ's class is about $100 away from their goal.  If they raise that over the weekend, they will get 30 minutes on an inflatable obstacle course!

My superheroes on their way to school on Friday!

After a weekend off, we returned to our partying ways.  We had two parties this week.  We celebrated Daniel's friend Mason turning 5 at World of Bounce in Grove City.  The boys had a blast on the inflatables, bouncy balls and hula hooping.  They also enjoyed pizza, chips and cake.  We all went home exhausted.  And AJ went to another classmate's 7th birthday party today.  He got to go bowling and play video games at Rule 3.  He had a blast and didn't want to stop bowling.  Good thing he has another bowling party next weekend.

Adrian and I also got to sneak in some fun this weekend.  We went to see "Phantom of the Opera" Friday night.  It was the second time for both of us, but it's been 15-20 years since we last saw it.  It was SO good!  I was exhausted going into it, but that didn't matter once the music started.  I'm so grateful that Columbus brings so many Broadway shows here and that they are top quality.  We are blessed to see 5-7 different shows each year. 

Then on Saturday night I hosted my first ever Zumba-thon.  I will blog about that on my Wednesday workout post.  But for now I will just say, it was awesome.  And I am tired and sore.

Daniel took Fox & Knox to pick up AJ one day this week

Zak having breakfast...and that melon container doubles as a foot rest.

AJ on silly hat day with his dollar for LLS

Keeping Up With...Workouts (2/19 - 3/4)

So I skipped this post last week.  Not because it was a bad week, it actually was a pretty great week workout wise.  But because on Thursday 2/20 my gym of the past 3 years abruptly closed.  It was a total shock and I'm honestly still trying to process my feelings on the whole thing. 

I'm feeling pretty much every emotion possible about this.  I'm angry that they closed and didn't give us any notice.  I'm sad that the place I went almost every day isn't there anymore.  I'm anxious about where I will work now.  I'm annoyed that there was no notice and lots of us didn't get to say goodbye.  I'm concerned because Zak has only ever stayed in their daycare and now he's freaking out every time I bring him to the temporary gym.  I'm uncertain about where and if my next gym will be.  The list goes on and on.

But above all of those negative emotions, I am also thankful.  I walked into that place 3 years ago a different person.  I was overweight & out of shape.  I never felt judged or made fun of by the members or staff there.  The group fitness instructors were amazing and kept me coming back.  I walked out of there for the last time in possibly the best shape of my life.  I have new friends family and a new career.  I will always be grateful to them for that.

So what now?  Well, I'm still figuring it out.  I'm using the free membership at AussieFit (they bought out our memberships) for now.  I like it there, but it's very big & overwhelming, for both me and Zak.  Plus it's very expensive.  I will audition for them but if they don't hire me, I won't be staying there.  I really like South Beach Fitness in Gahanna and am trying to get on teaching there in the mornings.  Hope to know more about that very soon.  And I have a lot of leads for other gyms in the area that may be hiring.  I'm also trying new things, like a Hot Barre class & CrossFit.  I'm enjoying doing new things and taking different classes.  And my muscles are sore again so that's a good thing.  I miss teaching though.  I really hope to be back to 3 or 4 classes a week by the end of this month.

Now on to my workouts for the past 2 weeks.  All things considered, they have been pretty good.  I've missed a few days, possibly more than I would have if this all hadn't happened.  I had a great walk on Saturday for my half marathon training, finishing 8 strong miles.  The first 5 of those counted as race #4 for the year as part of the 5 by the 5th Virtual Series.  It was a great morning for a walk!

Wednesday, 2/19  - Taught a 60 minute Zumba class, Did 25 minutes of Beth's TBC class
Thursday, 2/20 - Taught my last class at KeepFit10 for about 90 minutes (am), cried a lot, pulled it together and taught another 60 minute class at the other gym (pm)
Friday, 2/21 - Did 35 minutes on the elliptical
Saturday, 2/22 - rest day due to stomach bug
Sunday, 2/23 - rest day due to stomach bug
Monday, 2/24  - Took a 60 minute Zumba class (am), Did 25 minutes on the elliptical (pm)
Tuesday, 2/25 - Took a 60 minute Body Pump class
Wednesday, 2/26 - Took a 60 minute Zumba class (am), Took a 60 minute Cardio Dance class (pm) at a different gym
Thursday, 2/27 - PlyoFit class (am), Taught a 60 minute Zumba class (pm)
Friday, 2/28 - Rest Day since Zak freaked out in the parking lot of the gym
Saturday, 3/1 - Walked 8 miles, Did a 20 minute Zumba audition
Sunday, 3/2 - Rest day :)
Monday, 3/3 - Practiced my play list for 30 minutes, played Dance Central with AJ for 20 minutes
Tuesday, 3/4 - Did the elliptical for 35 minutes, rode the bike for 20 minutes and taught a 20 minute Zumba class to my friend's Daisy troop

Weigh in:
2/19 weight - 215
3/5 weight - 211
Change - down 4 lbs

Yay!  I'm proud that thru all this stress I didn't overeat too much.   Still moving towards one-derland, really hoping to hit it this month, but I have a retreat & a birthday so it's not looking good.  :-)

Keeping Up With...Food (Menu Plan 3/3 - 3/9)

We did pretty good last week staying on our menu plan.  I had to shuffle a few things around when we decided to get pizza for our family date night on Fri night.  And then since the weather looked bad we cancelled our dinner with my brother (for no reason, we got no snow!)

The one negative of our menu last week was that it yielded very few leftovers.  Adrian takes the leftovers for his lunches at work, and I usually use them for my lunch as well.  Last week I had to figure out other things to eat.  And he took our last container of leftovers today.  I have some turkey frozen from the last time I made it so I'm hoping to make turkey noodle soup this week to give us some lunch options.

We have a busy week so once again staying with our menu will be super important.  We are staying home today so I'm hoping to do some food prep today, including setting up tomorrow's dinner.  Thankfully I have a few meals in the freezer just in case things don't go as planned this week.

A highlight from last week - crab cakes, asparagus & coleslaw

Here's what's on our menu this week:
Monday, 3/3 - Pork & Pears with Lemon Vodka Sauce (Relish recipe)
Tuesday, 3/4 - Eggplant Lasagna - hoping to make this today
Wednesday, 3/5 - Shrimp Quesadillas (Relish recipe)
Thursday, 3/6 - Taco Salad (Relish recipe)
Friday, 3/7 - Apricot Lemon Chicken (Relish recipe) - this is a slow cooker meal because I will be out all day volunteering at AJ's school and then we have date night
Saturday, 3/8 - Lasagna Rollata Al Forno (Relish recipe) - squeezing this in between walking 9 miles, a birthday party and a Zumbathon
Sunday, 3/9 - Chicken Fried "Rice" (Relish recipe) - subbing cauliflower for rice

I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast & Jill at Fitness, Health and Happiness.  Go check them out for some more yummy recipes!

What's on your menu this week?

Keeping Up With...Family (Family Date Night)

Well this week was as close to a normal week as we've had in a long time.  It of course started with sickness, me and Zak were both sick.  But after Monday things went pretty normal.

Tuesday Daniel and AJ finished up ice skating for this session.  They both worked really hard this session and have improved a ton.  AJ really wants start taking hockey class and he worked really hard to master the skills from his Basic 2 class and get OK-ed to start hockey next session.  He did pass all of the skills and his teacher said he can do hockey!!  They have a week off between session but he will start next session learning how to play.  Daniel did a great job in Stinger 2 class but has decided to take some time off from ice skating.  He likes going with me and AJ on Saturday mornings (they have a special student & family skate time) but doesn't love the classes.

Since we missed a few classes this session due to the weather, we had 4 free passes to an open skate.  We decided to go as a family one Friday night when a friend could watch Zak for us.  We went this past Friday and it was a disaster.  Who knew that ice skating was the thing to do when you're a teenager?  AJ had a blast & was zipping around the ice with everyone.  Adrian could barely keep up with him!  Daniel hated every minute of it...loud music, darkness, too many people, etc.  Adrian & I took turns hanging out off ice with Dan and after about an hour AJ was thankfully done.  We went out for frozen yogurt to salvage the night.

Selfie at Menchie's!

Zak has a new favorite place to hang out...upstairs.  We tend to be downstairs most of the time since we have the living room and play room down there and very few toys upstairs.  But for some reason, Zak is obsessed with playing upstairs & watching TV in our room.  The problem is we can't really leave him up there, too much for him to get into.  The good news is I'm getting a lot of exercise running up and down the stairs. 

Zak has also become more independent about what he wants to eat.  The other day he made his lunch: went to the freezer took out chicken nuggets, put them on a plate, put them in the microwave and carried them to the table.  He then yelled "DIP!" and I gave him some Ranch, then his lunch was ready.  All with very little assistance from me.  It's so cool to see him grow up and learn all these things!

Zak helping himself to a snack

Now we are waiting to see what the weather brings over night and if we will have school in the morning or not.  I'm preparing for a snow day...so it will probably be nothing.  :-)