Keeping Up With...Food (Menu Plan 9/5 - 9/11)

It's Labor Day weekend which is normally seen as the end of summer.  I feel like our summer ended a few weeks ago when the boys went back to school, but I am really enjoying the break from just about everything this 3 day weekend.  We're having a both productive and fun weekend, my favorite kind!

Last week I told you I had meals planned for this weekend, but I got really overwhelmed which leads to me being lazy so we have been eating junk food all weekend.  I know I will pay for it this week, but it's nice to take the weekend off.  I'm bumping all the meals I had planned for this weekend to next week.  I should have very little food shopping to do this week, which is nice because I will be losing my Monday morning alone time since no one has school or work tomorrow.

I also have a ton of veggies to use from our CSA!  My in-laws also get a bag each week and they are on vacation so I have about half of their bag as well as my own.  Thankfully we are starting to get a lot of squash which will keep for a few weeks so I'll hold on to those.  Some of the things that I have to use up soon include tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants & basil.  We have gotten so much basil since it's been so humid, I don't know what to do with it all.  We have a ton of pesto sauce frozen, I guess we'll be eating a lot of that this winter.

Here's what we'll be eating this week:
Monday - Frozen appetizers or sandwiches
Tuesday - Homemade Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese (soup didn't get made last week)
Wednesday - Homemade Taco Hamburger Helper
Thursday - Pork Chops in Mushroom Soup & Pierogies
Friday - Lasagna Pepper Boats
Saturday - Crispy Parmesan Chicken & Zucchini
Sunday - Italian Turkey Zoodle Bake

Water Flavor - Lemon & Basil

Food Prep - Not a lot going on this weekend.  I honestly have so much else that I need to do between today and tomorrow, plus trying to squeeze in a movie night and a trip to COSI, that I don't think I'll have a lot of time.  The water is set up, melons are cut up for snacks and my food list is made.  I plan to hard boil some eggs and make some protein ranch dressing so I'm ready for lunches for the week.  Other than that, I'll be holding my breath that I get all of these meals made during another busy week!

As always, I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast.  Go check out the other blogs on the link up for some more yummy recipes!  Have a great week!!

Keeping Up With...Workouts (Recap of 8/24 - 8/30)

Another great week of workouts in the books and I again got to classes that were not mine.  However the big deal in exercise this week has been trying to figure out my schedule for the next few weeks.  I've had lots of opportunities and for that I am extremely grateful.  And I am happy that everything panned out wonderfully for me, but I also had to play the waiting game for a while and I have to give up a few classes that I love.

The good news is that I will start working at a new gym Brickhouse Cardio Club in Gahanna.  I will be teaching there two mornings per week, Silver Sneakers Classic and Zumba Gold back to back.  I'm excited to teach these classes because they are a really nice change up from the pounding my body takes teaching regular Zumba and Zumba Toning.  I'll be there every Tues and Thurs starting next week.  If you are local and want to check out a class, let me know and I'll get you more details!!

The not so good news is that I will be leaving the gym I have been at the longest, the one who gave me my start as an instructor.  I have been back and forth about this but I believe it's time to close that chapter.  I love the students there and will miss them terribly!!  But I hope we will stay in touch and I'm sure our Zumba paths will cross again.  I will teach there one morning per week through the end of Sept so again if you want to come dance with me, let me know and I'll give you more details.

And finally in addition to adding the two new class at Brickhouse, I'm also adding a corporate class to my schedule.  I have taught there from time to time in the past, 6 weeks at a time.  But now they have their own onsite fitness center with a group exercise room so they want classes full time.  I'm there for 6 weeks for now, but if they go well (fingers crossed!!) I will continue on there.

OK enough about my ever changing schedule.  I'm just very glad it's all figured out.  Most of last week was Zumba, still trying to find my routine with the boys going to school.  But I did teach part of a Silver Sneakers class and then stay for the rest of the class with the other teacher.  And I also went back to PiYo class on Friday, I plan to rotate between that and Relentless starting this Friday.  I am also hoping to get to Body Pump most Weds mornings & Barre class on Monday mornings starting in Oct.

Here's what I did last week:
Wednesday - Taught/took a 45 minute Silver Sneakers class, taught a one hour Zumba class and walked back and forth from school for pick up.
Thursday - Taught a one hour Zumba class, a one hour Zumba Toning class & a one hour Zumba Gold class and walked back and forth from school for pick up.
Friday - Took a one hour PiYo class, taught a one hour Zumba class and walked back and forth from school for pick up.
Saturday - Taught a one hour Zumba Toning class
Sunday - Rest Day.  Practice Zumba for about 15 minutes
Monday - Taught a one hour Zumba Toning class, a one hour Zumba class and walked back and forth from school for pick up.
Tuesday - Rest day.  Walked back and forth from school to pick up the boys

Great work out week!  It was not a particularly good eating week, my hormones won this battle.  But it wasn't as bad as it could have been (minus the Jets pizza on Sunday - yum!)  I maintained this week which is what I expected.  I'm happy about it!

Keeping Up With...My Fab 40! - July review

July was another fantastic month here enjoying summer break!  As you can see I have been enjoying life so much I'm very late with this review.  I almost didn't do one for July, just skipped to Aug, but decided to go ahead and do 2 updates in 2 weeks.  We have done a ton of fun things this summer.  You can skim around the blog to read my recaps for the month if you're interested in reading more about that.  I didn't focus a whole lot on my goals though in July, but that's OK.  Part of this was just to challenge myself to do fun things that I wouldn't normally do in my day to day life and I have done that this summer.

Here's how I'm doing after 7 months.  I have broken them down into three categories (on-going, one time and finished) so it's easier for me to update.  The goals are in black and my current month comments are in red.

On-Going
1.  Lose 40 pounds - one for each year - Lost 11 of the 40 lbs.  I was actually up at the end of July.  I'm not sure by how much since I was on vacation and didn't weigh in the last Weds on July.  But I know I was up.
2.  Read 12 books - I was so close last year! - Read 9 of the 12.  I finished 2 books this month, "Becoming Marta" and "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret?"  I started on this list of 50 books this month and am excited to read them all.  "Becoming Marta" was an OK book.  It was one I got for free from Amazon.  It was a quick read with a pretty good story, but it dragged in some parts.  It could have been a great short story.  "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret?" is one of my favorites!  I loved rereading this classic from my childhood!
3.  Go on 12 dates with Adrian - Went on 11 of the 12.  We had one date night in July while the boys were at VBS.  We went shopping for a few things we needed for our TN trip and started on back to school shopping for the boys, including their new sneakers.  We also treated ourselves to fruit smoothies from Dunkin' Donuts because it was SO hot!
4.  Get rid of 12 bags of stuff - I got rid of 1 bag of clothes this month.  Where are all of these clothes coming from??  9 of the 12 bags are gone.
5.  Take 1 picture every day for the year - Up to date on this 213 of 366.  You can see them here.
6.  Go on 2 special dates with AJ - Went on 1 out of 2.  I took AJ & Daniel to see Snoopy: The Musical at the local children's theater in April.  We had so much fun!  We stopped at Krispy Kreme for donuts on our way home too.  I'm counting this for both boys & may aim for 3 dates each, another together & one alone.
7.  Go on 2 special dates with Daniel - Went on 1 out of 2.  See above
8.  Go on 2 special dates with Zak - Went on 0 out of 2, I'll be saving these for the 2nd half of the year when he's in preschool everyday.
 9.  Do a 365 day exercise streak - 83 days of 365 for take 2 at this streak.  So far I've exercised every day from May 10th through July 31st.
10.  Finish the 30 Day Shred - Did 0 days of 30 - I need to get started on this one!
11.  Attend one class each week that isn't mine - Did this 12 weeks out of 52.  I didn't get to any classes that I didn't teach in July.  I pretty much only taught my classes, went swimming or walking this month.  I was trying to minimize the time the kids were in childcare.
12.  Teach an average of 5 classes each week - Did this 25 weeks out of 52.  I did it every week in July.  It was a busy month but I kept up with all of my classes.
13.  Menu plan and prep our dinners each week - Did this 24 weeks out of 52.  I planned every week this month.  Granted the last week was a lot of leftovers, but I also used up all of the veggies I needed to before we left for vacation.  I think this is the best planning of using up my food before vacation that I have ever done.
14.  Go to church every Sunday - Did this 21 weeks out of 52.  I missed 1 week in July because of vacation.  I have also started volunteering in childcare every other month.  July was my first full month in the classes.  I had a blast!
15.  Do one blog post each week - I did 15 posts in July, easily one per week.  I hope you're enjoying all of my posts! 
16.  Pay off our Best Buy card and not incur any new debt - The Best Buy card is payed off!!  We bought the new car so that counts as new debt and we invested in a costly (not insurance covered) therapy for AJ so that also created some new debt.  We have a plan for paying the therapy off and I feel good about where we are.
17.  Have a family board game night once per month - Did this 7 out of 12 months
18.  Have a family movie night once per month - Did this 7 out of 12 months (Inside Out, Charlie Brown Valentine's special, Justice League Frost Fight, Big Hero 6, Star Wars, Avengers, Pokemon movie)
19.  Have a family video game night once per month - Did this 7 out of 12 months
20.  Go to 4 Zumba jams this year - Went to my 2 out of 4 and I loved every minute of it! 
21.  Make one homemade breakfast for us each month - I did not do this again in July.  I'm slacking on this goal, probably because we're so rarely home for breakfast.

One Time

22.  Go zip lining
23.  Go on a family hike in Hocking Hills
24.  Host an alcohol exchange with my girl friends
25.  Power wash and stain our play set
26.  Renovate our downstairs bathroom
27.  Conquer the Lynd's corn maze in the fall
28.  Renew our Zoombeezi Bay passes and go at least once every other week over the summer - I renewed our passes this summer and we went one time so far this summer.  There are about 12 weeks in our summer break so my goal is to go 6 times.

Done


29.  Go to Dollywood - We will not be doing this one.  We decided between the heat, the cost and the fact that there was more than enough to do in TN we would not invest in this on our recent trip to TN.  It will stay on the bucket list for another year.   
30.  Go on a family trip to Tennessee - Done!!
31.  See 2 movies that aren't animated - Done!!  I've actually seen 3 - "Star Wars:  The Force Awakens," "Ant Man" & "Avengers:  Age of Ultron" 
32.  Go on family camping trip - Done!  NJ was a camping trip and we survived 8 nights in the tent.  Not sure if we'll get to do another one or not this fall, will have to see how our schedule pans out.
33.  Go on a family trip to NJ - Done!!  You can read part 1 and part 2 of the recap and part 3 should be up this week.  Spoiler Alert - It was an amazing week, we had a blast!! 
34.  Go to Six Flags Great Adventure - Done!  I rode El Toro & The Joker, I was a happy ride warrior. 
35.  Do something special to celebrate mine & Adrian's 10 year wedding anniversary - We bought a new car.  :)  We also had a very nice date night where we bought new dishes and went back to Carrabba's, the restaurant we went to for our first date.  We were hoping to do something a little bigger, but 3 vacations & a new car in the same year seems like enough.
36.  Go on a family trip to Dallas - Done!  You can read about it here, here, here and here.
37.  Get 1 fitness certification - Done!!  Got Silver Sneakers Classic & Silver Sneakers Circuit in March.  Also got Zumba Gold in May.  Going above & beyond on this goal.
38.  Go to the doctor for routine check up and tests - Done!  Did my physical, pap, blood work & mammogram in March.  Everything looks great, I'm supposed to keep doing what I'm doing! 
39.  Tour Dallas Cowboys stadium - Done, sort of.  It was actually closed for the guided tours while we were there.  But we drove around it, took some pictures & went in the Pro Shop.  I'm considering it done.
40.  Go to Six Flags Over Texas - Done!  Also hit Six Flags St Louis, loved that park

All in all July was a pretty good month.  I kept up with a lot of my on-going goals and finished a few of the one time ones as well.  I'm hoping to pick up some momentum when everyone goes back to school next month and finish out the year strong! 

Keeping Up With...Food (Menu Plan 8/29 - 9/4)

It's been a busy weekend over here and I'm just popping in really quick to share my food plan for the week.  Some of the meals are carry overs from last week because I just didn't get to make them this week.  Thursday night I didn't plan well and didn't have time to make the pesto pasta dish I had planned.  So we had tortellini alfredo.  Then Saturday and Sunday I didn't feel like cooking so we used some coupons and grabbed dinner out both nights.  Yesterday I did great staying under my calorie goal for the day, today not so much.  But hopefully being way under every other day this week will help me still see a loss on Weds.

I'm still trying to use up tomatoes and zucchini from last week's CSA bag so you'll see a lot of that this week.  Our pick up day is changing to Friday so I won't know until that afternoon what I'll have for the next two weeks.  I'm assuming more tomatoes and squash.  I'm hoping no more basil as I have a ton of pesto sauce frozen.  I am not using it up quickly enough!

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - BBQ Chuck Roast with Celery Salad
Tuesday - Baked Pork Chops with Carrots & Cranberries
Wednesday - Baked Pesto Rigatoni with Salads
Thursday - Taco Thursday! (has to be pushed from Tues to use up what we should have eaten this weekend)
Friday - BLT's & Homemade Tomato Soup
Saturday - Pork Chops in Mushroom Soup & Pierogies
Sunday - Crispy Parmesan Chicken & Zucchini

Water Flavor - Lemon & Apple

Food Prep - I have the celery salad made and the roast ready to throw in the crock pot in the morning.  I also have the pesto made for Wednesday.  And I have a bunch of fruit ready to go for snacks.  I also have reviewed the lunch menu from school with my boys and decided which days they will buy and which days they will pack their lunches.  This saves us from trying to decide each morning.

As always, I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast.  Go check out the other blogs on the link up for some more yummy recipes!  Have a great week!!

Keeping Up With...Family (Weekly Wrap 8/19 - 8/25)

Friday (8/19) Zak and I dropped the older boys off to school and then we had a date day!  We headed to Zoombeezi Bay for the last weekday that they are open for this season.  We spent about 3 hours there between Tiny Tides (the kids area), the Lazy River and the wave pool.  We had a lot of fun there together!!  Then we had to race home to pick the older boys up from school, get everyone dinner and head back out to baseball practice.  I was so tired after that (plus PiYo & Zumba at the gym) I was asleep by 10:30!

Saturday (8/20) we decided to head out to Utica to continue our family tradition of picking apples and peaches at Legend Hills Orchard.  We picked two pecks of peaches and one bag of Gala apples.  We also enjoyed a few in the field.  Then we headed up the road to Ye Old Mill Inn for some Velvet ice cream.  Daniel & Zak enjoyed chocolate while the rest of us got the Buckeye Classic.  It was SO good!  We played at their playground for a little bit before heading home.  Very fun family day in Utica!

Sunday (8/21) was a crazy busy day, not how we like to spend our Sundays.  We went to church in the morning then I stayed for second service to volunteer in childcare.  After that Adrian took the boys to start in their new session of swimming lessons at the Y.  They did a great job, and both of them jumped off the high board finally!  I skipped swimming to stay home and get a few things done before I headed to the Y for Dance Mania and then a group fitness meeting.  It was a crazy day, but thankfully we still managed to get some of our stuff done & get ready for a busy week.

Monday (8/22) was the start to a more structured schedule for us.  Zak and I dropped the big boys off at school and headed out for our usual Mon stops - Aldi & the gym.  We also had a fun play date in the afternoon for him and one of his friends.  Finally, in the evening Adrian took Zak to meet his preschool teacher for this year.  He is very excited to start school on Weds!!  I took AJ & Daniel with me to the gym & they enjoyed some (rare) video game time while I taught.

Tuesday (8/23) was Zak's last day off before starting preschool.  I was planning to go to the gym and run a few errands but he really wanted to stay home and watch video games so that is what we did.  I got a bunch of stuff done around the house while he watched TV.  AJ and Daniel also had dentist appointments in the afternoon.  They are both cavity free although Daniel had a lot of tartar build up.  They gave us "tooth timers" to make sure we are brushing long enough (we probably we not).

Wednesday (8/24) was Zak's first day of preschool!!  He was a little hesitant this morning, but he did great.  I successfully got everyone to school ontime and celebrated with a solo trip to Meijer!!  I also had an interview at a new gym teaching Silver Sneakers.  When I picked Zak up I could see he was exhausted.  So we mostly relaxed the rest of the day.  AJ and Daniel continue to have great days at school!  They are loving only having reading as nightly homework.  Tonight they had baseball practice which they just got in before it started raining.  They're excited to start games this weekend!

Thursday (8/25) started with a change in schedule when we got a call (well, text) that Zak's school was closed for the day due to the power being out at church.  There were bad storms over night (which I slept thru!) which knocked out the power.  Zak was bummed not to have school, as were the other boys who were bummed that their school didn't have a power outage.  So Zak enjoyed some extra time with me running errands and going to the gym.

Keeping Up With...Family (Weekly Wrap 8/26 - 9/1)

Friday (8/26) all three boys were back to school!  I once again got everyone to school ontime, it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.  I'm sure there will be days we struggle but for now I'm enjoying the ease we seem to be having.  Since I teach late on Fri mornings, my friend picks up Zak & her son and they have a short play date on Fridays (and she and I get to catch up!)  In the evening the boys had their last baseball practice before their first game which was crazy hot!  But they didn't complain at all, only us moms sitting, watching & sweating complained.

We ended the day with Adrian & I going downtown to see "Wicked" again.  The boys were thrilled to see their sitters again since it had been a while, possibly all summer!  And Adrian & I had a great night out.  We've seen the show before but it is worth seeing again (and again and again).  Live theater is such an amazing thing.  Even though I was exhausted & still sweaty from baseball practice, I was transported to their world for 3 magical hours.  I love Broadway shows & am so thankful we have so many come through Columbus!

Saturday (8/27) was AJ and Daniel's first baseball games of the season.  They will be playing double headers for the next four Saturdays.  It was a hot one today but they managed to win both games, 7-3 and 12-4.  AJ got a bunch of hits in both games and scored 2 runs.  Daniel made contact and fouled a bunch of balls off, now he just needs to work on straightening his swing out.   They went straight from baseball to their friends' house to play.  Since it was so hot, Zak enjoyed some extra time inside watching video games and playing board games.

Sunday (8/28) was another busier than we like Sunday.  I volunteered at church then had a volunteer meeting after that.  Adrian took the 3 boys to swimming lessons.  We all didn't get back until around 2:00.  The rest of the day we spent trying to get stuff done around the house and get ready for the week.  We all did sleep in this morning which was fantastic!  And we ordered Jets pizza to celebrate a good start to our school year.

Monday (8/29) was back to the grind.  I got everyone to school on time again, yay!  I know this may seem mundane, but I have to drop Zak off to preschool by 8:45 and then the older boys to school by 8:50.  I'm impressed I'm able to get them all there on time!  After school Zak and I headed over to his friend's house so he could play and I could help with some PTO stuff.  Then we picked up AJ & Daniel and headed to the chiropractor and for hair cuts.  It was a full day!!

Tuesday (8/30) started rough because Adrian stayed home to have our cable hooked back up.  Zak would not leave for school because he wanted to "be with Daddy."  It was a nightmare.  But I successfully got him to school (on time) and was free to go about my morning.  The funny part of the story is we still don't have cable.  Because Time Warner could not deliver what they said they could for the price they quoted us.  So we're still a no cable family.  The rest of the day I just felt off all day, probably because it was such a rough morning.  And I'm still struggling to find my groove since getting back from vacation nearly a month ago.

Wednesday (8/31) I was able to go into school to volunteer and help with picture day.  It was so cute to see all the kindergarteners taking their pictures.  The only downside was the fire drill, right before I needed to leave for preschool pickup!  Thankfully it all worked out I was able to get to pick up on time.  Daniel had his picture day today and said that even though it was after lunch and he had pizza sauce on his shorts, his picture will look nice because his shorts aren't in the picture.  Other than that, it was a typical day.  The boys were supposed to have baseball but it got rained out so we got some bonus relaxing time at home.

Thursday (9/1) was another typical day here at the Jones house.  It was AJ's picture day and he was ready to smile nice for the camera.  We also had a progress meeting at Brain Balance Centers for AJ and they said he is progressing along nicely.  He has made progress in all areas so we are supposed to keep doing what we are doing.

Keeping Up With...Workouts (Recap of 8/17 - 8/23)

Brace yourselves, I did other exercise that is NOT teaching my Zumba classes.  As a matter of fact, I took a class that wasn't Zumba.  Can you believe it??  It's amazing what I can do with a schedule and only one kid.  I have multiple classes that fit into my schedule now and I plan to go to all of them.  And I am SO excited to do it!!

The class I made it to this week is called PiYo.  It's a Beachbody class that is a combination of pilates and yoga.  But it's not just stretching and strengthening, it's also cardio.  They move from one pose to the next very quickly.  I really enjoyed it and definitely felt it this weekend.  The class I went to focused on legs and my legs were SORE Fri night and all day Sat!!  I plan to go back most weeks as I think it's a good compliment to the Zumba class I teach right after it.

In addition to going to another class, I also spent Sunday afternoon at Dance Mania at the Y dancing with all of the other super talented Zumba instructors who teach there.  We danced for over two hours.  It was a really fun party!  We had about 50 people come to dance with us.  I led two songs, my new favorite cumbia and the old class favorite "Country Girl."  I had a great time!!

Here's what I did this week:
Wednesday - Taught a one hour Zumba class and walked back & forth from school for pick up
Thursday - Taught a one hour Zumba class, a one hour Zumba Gold class and a one hour Zumba Toning class, plus I walked back & forth from school for pick up
Friday - Did 30 minutes of PiYo class, taught a one hour Zumba class, went to Zoombeezi Bay with Zak for 2 hours (we walked the lazy river 5-6 times!!)
Saturday - Taught 2 one hour Zumba classes and went fruit picking with the family
Sunday - Danced for two hours at Dance Mania
Monday - Taught a one hour Zumba Toning class and a 45 minute Zumba class
Tuesday - I planned to go to Muscle Conditioning but it was Zak's last day before school started and he wanted to stay home so I let him.  I walked around my kitchen/living room for 10 minutes to keep my streak alive.  I probably needed the rest day anyway.

All in all it was a great week.  I'm really proud that I did two things that weren't teaching.  I'm excited to do more in the next few weeks.  I'm also excited to report that after a disappointing week last week, I saw a huge loss this week on the scale - 5 pounds!!  That brings me back to my pre-vacation weight.  My goal was to maintain all summer and I'm going to call that a success!  Now on to losing a bit before I try to maintain thru the holidays.