Keeping Up With...Diet & Exercise (Weekly Wrap Up & Menu Plan)

Wow last week was so much fun!!  And horrible for diet and exercise.  :)  We had a blast celebrating fall and Halloween with the boys and were running around a lot more than usual.  I may have eaten too much candy, take out and processed foods.  I'm struggling with a headache today so I'm sure it's from that.

I'm not upset, it's life, it happens.  But now I need to regroup and get back on track.  I'm giving myself today because I have a ton of stuff to catch up on around the house so I don't want to stress myself with cooking.  But tomorrow, I'm back to cooking, eating fruits and veggies & exercising!  The next two months are jam packed for us so not every week is going to be perfect.  I'll be happy with most days being under my calorie goal.

I'm also starting a new challenge next Monday.  I recently started learning about and using essential oils and I'm a big fan!  DoTerra has a branch called TerraFit and they are hosting a 90 day challenge that starts on Nov 10th.  My friend is doing it and I thought I'd join her.  It's a team and individual challenge, so I'm hoping the team aspect of it keeps me in line through these holidays.  I'm excited!

So here's the not great recap from last week.  I was so off that I didn't even log my exercise anywhere and I didn't weigh in, but I know I gained a few pounds.
Monday - Taught a one hour Zumba class (my 2nd one no one showed up)
Tuesday -  Taught a one hour Zumba class (my 2nd one was cancelled because I volunteered at the book fair)
Wednesday - Taught a one hour Zumba class
Thursday - Trick or Treat!  Walked about 2 miles
Friday - Taught a one hour Zumba class
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - rest day

Treats for my students - now we work them off!

Here's what's on my menu this week to get me back on track:
Monday - Chicken Phillies (carry over from last week)
Tuesday - Mac & Cheese (Relish recipe) with this roasted cauliflower
Wednesday - White Chicken Chili - trying out a Veleeta recipe for a friend
Thursday - Pita Pizzas (Relish recipe)
Friday - Zucchini Boat Casserole (Relish recipe)
Saturday - Out - I'm taking the older boys to their first ice hockey game.  SO excited!
Sunday - Book Club for me, Sausage & Potatoes for the guys

As always, 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 (Boo at the Zoo!)

Last weekend we went to Boo at the Zoo.  We try to go every year since it's an event that is fun for all of us.  In past years they have had the "treat stations" all throughout the zoo which makes for a ton of walking.  This year the zoo changed the format and had all the treat stations together at the front of the zoo.  They also had a few activities in that same area for the kids to do.  The boys enjoyed going to the different stations, running thru the hay maze and playing in the Candy Land mansion.

Adrian & I dressed up too

AJ & Daniel in the Candy Land mansion

Daniel and a storm trooper

AJ and a storm trooper

After we finished with that area, we spent the rest of the day walking in the zoo.  There were still a bunch of Halloween themed things to do, but no treat stations to try to get to.  Our zoo is huge so we can only do one side of it each time we go.  We really wanted to do Africa again this time since it's closing for the winter next weekend.

We walked through North America first, where they had a Toy Story treasure hunt which the boys enjoyed.  We also saw a bunch of the animals out in that section including wolves, bears, bison and deer.  We stopped for lunch in the Polar Frontier and checked out the polar bears and they play area.  Then we went on to Africa and saw the cheetah run and most of the animals.  The giraffes were not out that day since it was a little cold.  The plus side of that was that the area wasn't very crowded so we go to see everything else there.

Playing in North America

Polar Frontier play ground

In the Heart of Africa plane

Zak meeting the headless horseman - he was excited to touch a horse

Our final stop was Asia Quest which had a Harry Potter take off set up for Halloween.  The boys were kind of done by this time, but Adrian and I thought this area was really cute.  The tiger statues were all decorated for Halloween, there were some cool displays and most of the animals in this area were up and moving.  After we went thru this we headed to the car since the boys were getting tired and cranky.

Adrian & I loved this - lockers for Mickey, Dorthy & Harry Potter

We all had a lot of fun at Boo at the Zoo!!  It continues to be a favorite event of ours.  I am glad the treat stations were all together, hope that continues.  I would have liked to see the super hero show, but it wasn't until 5:00 and 7:00 and we were long gone by then.  Next year I think I would go later in the day if it's the same schedule so we can see that too.

Keeping Up With...Diet & Exercise (Weekly Wrap Up & Menu Plan)

Last week was crazy around here!  Between Adrian working overtime, me volunteering for the book fair at school and the boys normal crazy schedule, I felt like I was always running around.  I was very thankful for a bunch of healthy meals that were already made.  I also made a huge pot of vegetable soup with some veggies that were on the verge of going bad that provided a bunch of meals this past week.  This next week looks similar since we have Halloween events on Thursday and Friday plus the second week of book fair, probably more overtime and I have to get my stuff together for the consignment sale next weekend.

My workouts were pretty good last week.  I had to call out of a Zumba class because Adrian got stuck at work on Monday and I didn't get to any classes that weren't mine, but I exercised five days out of the past seven.  I would like to get up to six days of exercise, but it's just not in the schedule right now.  Here's how the week look:
Monday - Taught 1 Zumba class, walked to school once
Tuesday - Taught 2 Zumba classes
Wednesday - Taught 1 Zumba class
Thursday - Taught 1 Zumba class, walked to school twice
Friday - Taught 1 Zumba class, walked to school twice
Saturday -Rest Day
Sunday - Rest Day

Weigh in:
10/15 - 215
10/22 - 215

My eating wasn't the best for most of the week so that explains why I didn't lose anything.  I have had a lot of compliments recently about looking like I've lost weight and also just looking "great."  And 3 people commented on my confidence this week.  Plus I just noticed that a pair of jeans I bought at the beginning of this year (and were tight) are now pretty loose.  So I'm taking all the NSVs for now and will see that scale move one day.

The menu plan for this week is simple.  Make what I didn't make last week and use the crock pot and casseroles for most of the other meals.  And I plan to do a freezer meal at least once this week.  Here's the plan:
Monday - Mexican Stuffed Peppers (Relish recipe)
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday for the boys, leftovers for me (I'll be at the school all night for book fair & parent teacher conferences)
Wednesday - Bacon Pierogi Bake
Thursday - Freezer Meal or leftovers (our trick or treat night)
Friday - Out to IHOP, they have free pancakes for the kids & we have a Halloween event at 6:30
Saturday - Chicken Phillies
Sunday - Tequilla Lime Chili (I'll be gone from 3-7ish so I'll set this up and the guys can eat then I'll eat when I get home)

As always, 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 (My Time in School)

The past week I have been very lucky to have my "village" take care of the younger boys so I could be in the school for various things during the day.  I'm thankful to my husband, mother in law and friend Melissa for watching the other boys so I could do all of these things.

Last Monday Adrian had the day off for Columbus Day, but the boys still had school.  I set up times with both AJ's and Daniel's teachers to go into their classrooms.  I spent about an hour in Daniel's class in the morning.  His teacher was out of the country but I still got a good idea of how his class runs.  I saw some of circle time, then helped with Math and Reading.  They headed out for recess after all of that and I headed to the workroom to do some PTO stuff.

Daniel was the "rule helper" during circle time

Then in the afternoon I got to see AJ two different times.  First he had asked me to go to lunch with him.  That was fun for him...loud for me.  The cafeteria is an interesting place with a group of 1st and 2nd graders.  But in all seriousness I had fun getting a glimpse into this part of AJ's day.  He bought lunch that day so I went thru the line with him (I packed mine!) and then we ate and chatted with his friends.  After lunch I headed into his class and helped about 10 students with their sight words.

Cafeteria Selfie

Last Wednesday was AJ's field trip to Slate Run Farm.  My mother in law was able to come in to stay with Daniel and Zak so I volunteered to go with the class.  There were so many parent volunteers that some of us had to drive by ourselves!  I'm glad they had so many willing parents to go on the trip.  I met the bus there and AJ was SO excited to see me.  We had a great day learning about history and farm life, touching animals like baby pigs, cows and sheep, playing old fashioned games and running around with his friends.  We also got to go on a nature hike after lunch and we saw a snail, a few frogs and tons of birds.  It was a fun day and the other boys had a great time with grandma!!

Petting the baby pig

Farm chores!

Nature walk selfie

Finally this Monday I was able to drop the boys off at a friend's house and go in to volunteer at the book fair.  I didn't get to help AJ's or Daniel's class, but it was still very fun to be in the school and help kids pick books for their wish lists.  Some of the kids recognized me as AJ's mom from volunteering last year.  And I got to meet a few other parents which is always a nice thing!

I am so thankful I'm able to be in the school as much as I can.  It's always a challenge with the younger boys but I'm doing what I can.  In November I'll get at least two days in the school and in December I'll have at least one.  I'm hoping for a few more, but not sure it will work out.  I'm also exhausted after I'm in the school so I have to balance it with all the other stuff we have going on in the evenings.

Keeping Up With...Family (Disney - Part 6)

If you haven't been reading along, you can see how the trip started by check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.  Today after being home for six weeks, I'll finally be finishing up the recap of the vacation.

We left Lego Land around 4:00 in the pouring rain.  Adrian was feeling horrible and I wasn't much better.  But we needed to do the 6 hour drive to Atlanta, we already had a room reserved and paid for.  We had to stop multiple times between the boys and our stomach issues, but we finally got to our hotel right around midnight.  Adrian had to drive the last hour, I was so tired I couldn't even see straight.

We all crawled into bed and planned to sleep in the next morning.  The boys slept until well after 8, which is very late for them.  We were planning on spending most of the day at Six Flags over Georgia at Hurricane Harbor, their water park.  It opened at noon so we were in no rush that morning.  We took our time eating breakfast, getting washed up and ready and headed out a little after 11.  Adrian was still feeling rough and even though I insisted he stay in the hotel, he came with us.

That park is HUGE!!  And it's on a mountain!!  OK, maybe not a mountain, but it sure felt like it!  Especially pushing 100+ pounds of kid up some of those hills.  And Hurricane Harbor is in the total back on the park.  But we got there, set up on a few chairs and played in the water for about four hours.  It was very relaxing and the boys had a blast!  When they finally got bored, we decided to do a few rides before the park closed at 6:00.  They have some great roller coasters there, including one of my favorites from my past, the Great American Scream Machine and a new favorite, Mindbender.  I didn't take any pictures in the park because we were in water most of the day, but we had a blast!  It was a nice relaxing day and it was nice to break up the drive.

By the end of the day, I was back to myself and starving!  We ordered pizza for dinner for me and the boys and Adrian managed to eat most of a salad, but he was still feeling pretty awful.  We got to bed early that night (seriously I think we were all asleep before 9:00) so we could hit the road bright and early the next morning.

We grabbed breakfast and headed out for the last leg of our trip by around 9:00am Monday morning.  I drove the whole way home from Atlanta since Adrian was still sick.  We had a bunch of stops, including one for ice cream for lunch at a dairy in Tennessee!

We finally got home around 8:00pm and I was SO happy to be back home!  This trip had a little bit of everything but all in all it was a fun and memorable experience.  The boys had an absolute blast and can't wait to go back to Florida in 3 years.  Hope you all enjoyed reading about our vacation!  Now after this summer of travel, I don't plan to leave the state for a very long time!!

Keeping Up With...Diet & Exercise (Meal Plan & Recap)

So the past few weeks I've had a hard time writing my Wednesday workout recap post because I didn't really have much to say about my workouts.  It's mostly teaching Zumba right now, not a lot else going on.  Then I looked at my stats and those are my posts with the lowest number of reads.  So I'm going to try combining the workout summary into my meal plan post.  It will be a little weird because I do my menu plan over the weekend, then weigh in on Weds, but I'll make it work.

Last week was pretty good.  I kept with my menu plan, used up almost all of the veggies I have in the fridge (haven't had to throw anything out yet, yay!) and stayed under my calorie goal for 5 of the 7 days.  That wasn't my goal but seems to be my trend and it's working for me.  I exercised every day except yesterday which was my rest day.  This week the news probably won't be quite as good since I have eaten all the things this weekend.

Here's the quick recap:
Monday - taught 2 Zumba classes, walked to school once
Tuesday - taught 2 Zumba classes
Wednesday - went on a field trip with my oldest, walked around the farm for 3 1/2 hours
Thursday - both my classes canceled, boo!  So I did a quick 20 min elliptical and 20 min bike workout
Friday - taught 1 Zumba class, walked to school once, walked around a Halloween event for 90 minutes with the kids
Saturday - REST
Sunday - walked around the zoo for 5 hours, just under 4 miles
Weigh in:
10/8 - 216
10/15 - 215
Change - down 1 lb!  Pretty much what I expected for this week, I'm happy!

The plan is more of the same this week, lots of Zumba, a few strength sessions if I can fit them in, walk to school as much as possible and hopefully go swimming one afternoon with the boys.  The menu plan is a lot of leftovers and freezer meals because we are super busy and I'm trying to clean both the fridge and freezer out.

Here's my menu plan:
Monday - Leftovers (volunteering at book fair all day)
Tuesday - Gnocchi with asparagus & chicken (Relish recipe)
Wednesday - Leftovers or a freezer meal
Thursday - Mexican Stuffed Peppers (Relish recipe)
Friday -  Leftovers or a freezer meal (we may do a fall event tonight, if not I may cook the Sun meal this night)
Saturday - Crockpot Chicken Phillies (Halloween activities all day!)
Sunday - Bacon Pierogi Bake (again, Halloween activities all day!)

I also have some broccoli that I need to use up so I think I'm going to make my favorite Broccoli Cranberry Salad for either a side dish or a lunch this week.  I'm super excited about next weekend and all the fun stuff we're doing.  Not excited about all the candy that will be in my house, but I'll have a piece (each day) and that will be enough.  Why does Halloween candy taste better than any other candy??

As always, 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 (Disney - Part 5)

If you haven't been reading along, you can see how the trip started by check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.  After a rough start, we had finally hit our stride and had 3 great days in the parks.  But as I suggested in the last part, my stomach was starting to bother me.  I'll spare you the details, but I had a rough night Thursday night and realized I couldn't do Lego Land on Friday.  I tried to get some more rest, but even after that I felt horrible.

So I spent the day in bed while Adrian took the boys to meet up with my brother and his family in the Magic Kingdom.  They had a great time, spent most of the day in Fantasy Land riding all the rides.  They also met a few more characters and AJ discovered the sorcerer Mickey game that you can play in the park.  The park closed early that day so everyone was back home by around 8 so we could pack up and try to be ready to leave Saturday morning.

Meeting Tink!

Teacups with Uncle Jon & Luci

We did debate about all going to Epcot on Friday evening but I really thought I should just rest.  I had a feeling that Adrian would get this too and if we were both down it would make for a very rough day at Lego Land and a horrible drive home.  I'm bummed that my last day went to waste, but it was the smartest decision for all of us.

And sure enough my feeling was right, Adrian got it Friday night (why does the stomach virus always hit at night?) and was sick all weekend.  We still got up and out on Saturday morning and said goodbye to the family and Orlando and headed west to Lego Land.  The boys had been looking forward to this park the whole time, and we had to reschedule it twice.  We got there just as it opened and started hitting the rides.

We had a great day, all things considered.  Adrian felt horrible and I was still struggling.  But thankfully there are a lot of play areas in the park so we'd ride a few rides then let the boys play for a while so we could rest.  It's also a fairly small park so there wasn't too much walking.  The boys LOVED every minute of it!  We rode all the roller coasters, the Chima water ride, walked around mini city and rode almost all of the rides.  We skipped the 4D movie because it started to rain so all the other rides closed.  The line was super long and it was already close to 4:00, which was when we had to be on the road since we were driving to Atlanta that night.

AJ and Daniel both said Lego Land was their favorite part and that they can't wait to go back in 3 years when we go back to Florida!  Zak also had a great time since whenever we had to split up so the boys could ride something he wasn't tall enough for, he had either a play area or splash pad to play in.  That's a brilliant idea!!

We finally got here!

Riding the "dragon" coaster - the boys favorite ride!

Happy Hump Day...on a Saturday!

Zak in one of the many splash pads

Awesome shot Adrian got of us on this coaster - my favorite ride

The boys loved watching the cars race on this Lego Daytona track

I'll be back in a few days for part 6, the final part of this recap!  We still have one more park to visit and our drive home.