Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for May 1 - May 7)

I did a great job of eating healthy and sticking to my calorie goal pretty much every day last week and I'm really proud of myself.  I didn't stick 100% to my menu plan but that's OK because it made this week very easy to plan and shop for.  I didn't know that Adrian had a happy hour one night so I didn't cook what we had planned that night, the boys and I ate pasta.  Then I forgot we had ham leftover from Easter so I used that to make soup for one night.  The soup was awesome, we enjoyed it for dinner one night and lunch the next day!

My plan was to start cleaning out the fridge this week but between carrying over three meals from last week and going camping Saturday night, there isn't a lot of wiggle room this week.  We also fixed our grill, filled our propane tanks and are planning on grilling out at least once every week.  I am not buying any new vegetables this week as I have a bunch to work with from last week.  Next week I will hopefully get back on the clean it out, use it up train!

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Cauliflower Soup with Baked Kale Chips (carryover from last week)
Tuesday - Chicken Enchilada Casserole - we'll be eating at different times because of my work schedule and Daniel's baseball game.  Love the crock pot for nights like this.
Wednesday - Steak Salads with the leftover london broil from this weekend (eating on the run due to double soccer classes for the boys)
Thursday - Pizza Chicken Casserole (carryover from last week)
Friday - Chicken Sloppy Joes and salad (carryover from last week)
Saturday - Camping with our Cub Scout Pack
Sunday - Grilled Chicken with whatever veggies we have left to finish up

Water Flavor - Strawberry Mango (Yum!)

Overnight Oats Flavors - Original, Chocolate Peanut Butter, & Banana Chocolate Chip - it was SO nice to get back to eating these every morning this past week.  I have fallen into the habit of just making these 3 flavors.  Maybe I'll research a new one or two to try next week.

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 3/31 - 4/6)

Friday (3/31) was the day of Pop's funeral.  It started early and was a very draining day.  We went to the funeral home to say one last goodbye to Pop before heading to the church for mass.  I was honored to be asked to be a pall bearer during the service.  While it was a solemn occasion, it did have some humor including Zak announcing loudly "Look at that beautiful picture of Jesus!" when he walked into the church.  He's not used to a Catholic church with all of the "pictures."  When we finished at mass, we headed to the cemetery where they did a beautiful military ceremony since he is a veteran.  I enjoyed watching the flag folding ceremony and hearing taps on the trumpet.

It was a very rainy day so everyone headed out quickly after the ceremony to head to the hotel for lunch.  It was nice to have some time to catch up with family that we don't see very often.  The food was really good and the kids were amazingly well behaved.  We finished up with Pop's favorite dessert, an ice cream sundae with a brownie in it.  After a very long day, we headed back to the house and were all in bed before 10pm.

Saturday (4/1) we decided we needed to have some fun after the very emotional past few days.  We all had a lazy start to the day and then headed to Seaside for some walking on the beach and boardwalk.  But not before we devoured almost all of the delicious pretzel tray my uncle brought for us!

We started with some time on the beach, the kids loved running around in the sand and collecting shells and sand.  It was pretty cold so no one braved the water.  After we spent some time in the sand, we headed up to the boardwalk to walk for a little while.  Then "Pop" gave all of his great grandchildren money to play in the arcade.  My boys thought this was amazing!!  Most of the group stayed and played in the arcade while a few of us walked the boardwalk and chatted.  It was really relaxing and also nice to move for a little bit after a few days of not a lot of activity.

 

 

After our walk, we were ready to hit up some NJ food!  Sarah and I got some deep fried cookie dough, our favorite from the Ohio State fair.  It was OK from Seaside, but better at the fair.  Then we all shared a giant NJ pizza.  And we finished up with some ice cream from Kohr's.  After all of that, people were getting tired so most people headed home while we took the boys to finish using their money in the arcade and get their prizes for the day.  They decided to pool their winnings and get a giant Pokemon character - Charmander.

 

 

 

After we finished up at the boardwalk, we headed back to the house.  My good friend Kim and her family came to visit and pay their respects since they weren't able to come to the services earlier in the week.  It was nice to visit with them and the kids all had a good time together.  After they left, we just hung out with my parents for a while and started getting our stuff together for our trip back to OH tomorrow.

Sunday (4/2) we were up and moving and ready to get back on the road to Ohio.  Since we were all going back to work and school on Monday, we wanted to try to get home as early as possible.  As Adrian was finishing loading up the car, he noticed a nail in our tire!  Since we don't have a spare (apparently new cars no longer come with a spare, only a repair kit), we had to go to a local tire store to have them put a new tire on the car.  While it was an inconvenience, I'm so thankful that we saw it before we left, found a place that was open and were safe in the house with my family while it was fixed - instead of it happening while we were driving home.

We finally hit the road around 1:00pm after another delicious lunch of homemade food.  The boys did great on the trip back and we only had to make 2 stops.  We had a quick dinner in a rest area complete with ice cream for dessert and for the most part powered through our drive and got home right around 10pm.  While we were exhausted, we also wanted to get settled so Adrian and I unloaded the car while the boys played and watched some TV.  It was a late night for all of us so we decided to take the morning off, except for my 10am Silver Sneakers class.

Monday (4/3) started too early even though we all slept in.  We were all really tired after the busy week we had.  Adrian took the morning off from work and we decided to let the kids stay home from school too.  I did have to go teach two classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  Other than that we mostly just unpacked, did laundry, caught up on stuff and tried to rest.  The boys played a lot of video games and also spent almost 2 hours playing with their toys in the play room - I think they missed their "stuff" while we were gone.  Back to our full busy schedule tomorrow!

Tuesday (4/4) we finally got back to our regular schedule after almost two weeks of being off of it.  We all got to work and school on time this morning, although I did forget to pack snacks for the older boys again.  I ran a few errands and taught a class while all three of them were at school.  Then I picked Zak up and we played for a little bit, then he played some video games while I got a few things (laundry, laundry & more laundry!) done around the house.

We picked the older boys up and headed to our monthly chiropractor appointments.  I really needed an adjustment after all the travel last week!  Adrian was supposed to meet us there but he got stuck at work so the boys ended up coming to work with me and he met me in the parking lot to pick them up.  He ran them home and cooked dinner while I taught a class and then he took AJ to Brain Balance while I took the other 2 boys to the book fair at school.  Everyone was cranky and not very well behaved, I think we all finally hit the wall after all the late nights and travel.  Hoping for an easier day tomorrow!

Wednesday (4/5) started as rough as yesterday ended.  The boys were just not following directions or doing what they are supposed to do.  We did barely get out the door on time and everyone got to school.  I ran to the grocery store and then to teach a Silver Sneakers class.  Zak was able to bring the shells and sand that he collected in NJ to school today.  He shared at circle time about finding them and the students got to feel the shells.  He was so excited that he was able to do that.

After school, Zak and I grabbed a quick lunch then headed over to visit my brother who is recovering from having his tonsils out.  We visited for a bit and then headed back to pick up the other boys.  It was so nice out that we decided to walk up to get them.  Then we headed to the Y for my Zumba class.  We ran home and had a quick dinner before I ran to soccer with AJ and Daniel.  We finished up with leftover ice cream cake and Survivor.  It was a long and tiring day.

Thursday (4/6) was slightly better than the past two days thanks to a good night of sleep for all of us.  We got up and out to work and school on time today.  I ran a bunch of errands and taught a class before picking Zak back up after school.  He and I grabbed a quick lunch before helping my brother out by driving him to his doctor's office.  That took up most of our afternoon, although we had a little time for some work around the house and some video games.  We picked up the big boys and came home to play and watch TV.  It was a very calm night thanks to baseball practice being cancelled due to weather.  Adrian took AJ to Brain Balance and the rest of us just hung out, watched TV and relaxed.  I'm hoping to catch up on sleep and work around the house this weekend!

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 4/21 - 4/27)

Friday (4/21) started early when Zak came in to wake up Adrian and I at 4:30am.  We all dozed on and off for about an hour then finally got up to start the day.  I got everyone ready and out to school and then I headed in to AJ and Daniel's school to help out with some PTO stuff that needed to be done.  I finished up in time to go pick up Zak and his friend Noah from school and then head over to Noah's house for a short play date before we headed home for lunch.

After lunch, Zak and I played a game of Life and then he played some video games while I did a few things around the house and got ready for my Barre class at the Y.  We walked to pick up the older boys because the weather is perfect today!  Then we headed to the Y so I could teach my class.  We had a quick dinner of leftovers and appetizers and then played in the yard for a bit.  When we finally got the boys to bed, Adrian and I enjoyed some wine and snacks while watching some of our shows on the DVR.

Saturday (4/22) was a very busy day for us!  We started early with Adrian and AJ heading to Brain Balance while I started working around the house.  Then I took the other boys to soccer and met Adrian and AJ there.  Zak had his normal class and then AJ and Daniel did a make up class.  They all played really well.  And AJ and Daniel were excited that they were finally on the same team and with their favorite coach, Coach Cody.

After soccer we were all hungry so we headed to Red Robin for lunch (Daniel's request).  We all enjoyed yummy burgers (even got one for free, yay!) and the boys were excited to get balloons.  We headed home where they played some video games while Adrian worked on our landscaping and I worked around the house.  We spent most of the rest of the day doing that kind of thing.

Zak and Daniel did play outside some, even though it was pretty cold.  They were riding scooters around the block and met the kids that live behind us.  Zak stayed and played with one of the boys for a while.  I walked over and met the parents and we are all excited to have new friends to play with all summer.  It felt very old school to meet someone that way, I loved it!

Sunday (4/23) started with all of us sleeping in - I'm loving that the kids sleep in a little now.  We got ready and headed to early service at church as a family.  I loved hearing about Andre and Audra's time in Haiti!  When we came home, Adrian and I hit the ground running to try to get as much done around the house as we could.  We have fallen behind between our emergency trip to NJ and our jam packed Easter weekend so we are trying to catch up before summer.  The boys bounced between playing outside and playing video games.

We were supposed to have dinner with Adrian's parents but they called around lunch time to let us know they had to cancel so since we had so much time back in our day and the boys were having so much fun in the yard, we also decided to blow off swimming lessons this afternoon.  We continued to work around the house while the boys played.  Adrian took a break midday to take Daniel to baseball practice.  And he made multiple trips to Lowe's, including one to buy us a new dishwasher!  We're hoping to install it this week, I can't wait!!

Monday (4/24) we were back to our normal grind, but only 5 more weeks of school before summer break, yay!!  I dropped everyone off at school and then did some power grocery shopping.  I hadn't shopped in about two weeks and the cupboards were getting bare.  I went to 3 stores, plus refilled our propane tanks and dropped off dinner to a friend while everyone was at school.  I picked up Zak and we had a short play date at his friend Noah's house so his mom and I could catch up.

After that we got home and I put away as much of the groceries as I could while Zak had lunch and watched TV.  We had just a short pit stop at home before picked up AJ and Daniel and heading to the pediatrician for appointments for both of them.  AJ had his 3 month med check and everything looks great.  He is continuing to grow and gain weight and the doctor is pleased with his progress.  We are going to try taking him off one of his meds this summer and see how that goes.  Daniel had his 8 year well check and he is doing great as well.  He continues to be in the 50% for height and weight, but is gaining consistently in both.

When we finished up at the doctor, we headed next door to the Y for my Zumba class.  We were about 30 minutes early so we hung out in the group exercise room, the boys played on their tablets and I practiced my two new songs.  After class, we headed home and had a short visit with Grandma and Grandpa who were in to help Adrian fix the leaking water heater.  Hopefully that is done for now.  We had a quick dinner then Adrian headed out to his basketball tournament game which they won!  We finished up with some healthy snacks and DVR shows.  I'm exhausted and it's only Monday!

Tuesday (4/25) was a lighter day than yesterday thankfully!  Everyone got up and out to school and work on time.  After I dropped everyone off, I headed to Meijer to finish up the grocery shopping and then to my Silver Sneakers class.  I picked Zak up after school and we came home to play a game of Life - which he won again.  We did a few things around the house and then walked up to school to pick up AJ and Daniel.

When we got home, I started to get ready for my Zumba class in the evening when I got the dreaded phone call - Adrian was stuck at work.  So I cancelled my Zumba class and went into single mom mode.  I got everyone through homework, dinner and ready for Boy Scouts.  Thankfully Adrian got home before we left so I left Zak with him and took the other two to their meeting.  I signed us all up for the spring camping trip next weekend & day camp in June while the boys finished up their stuff for this year.  Daniel finished all of his Wolf requirements last night & AJ will finish up during the camping trip.  I accidentally volunteered Adrian and I to help lead/start up a Lion den next year for kindergarten boys so Zak can start a year early.  We'll think about it and see what we want to do.

Wednesday (4/26) was another busy one!  I dropped Zak off at school and then headed into West to volunteer in Daniel's class.  We thought AJ had state testing so I couldn't go into his class but the schools were having internet problems so the testing was postponed.  I spent a little over an hour in Daniel's class reviewing subtraction facts with about half the class.  Then I headed into AJ's class to continue working on the Math books I've been working on all year.  I got to observe them starting on one of their end of the year STEM projects - they are designing a mini golf course for the other kids in school to play on during the last week of school.  I am very excited to see their finished product!

I left school barely in time to pick up Zak and get him home for lunch.  It was a "no fun" day because I had a bunch of stuff to get done before picking up the other boys and heading out for a long night.  Zak watched TV and played some video games while I grabbed a quick shower, made dinner and packed up.  We walked up to pick up AJ and Daniel and then loaded into the car to head to the Y for my Zumba class.  I had a great time teaching tonight, I felt like I really hit a good groove!  Then we ran to soccer for Zak to do a make up class while AJ, Daniel and I ate on the sidelines.  After an hour we switched and AJ and Daniel had their regular class while Zak and Adrian ate dinner.  When everyone was done at soccer, we headed home for a few games and a little TV before heading to bed for the night.  This week feels like it's going on forever!

Thursday (4/27) started late because we all overslept thanks to Daniel having a rough night.  I somehow got everyone up and out to school on time.  I went and taught my Silver Sneakers class and then picked Zak up from school.  We headed to Costco to do our monthly stock up run.  As always he enjoyed all of the free samples!  We came home and unloaded, had lunch and did a few puzzles together.  Then we did our normal routine of him playing some video games while I shower and prep for our evening.  We were able to walk up to school to pick up AJ and Daniel and got home right before a rain storm came through.

I rushed to get everyone through dinner and ready to go to baseball only to get in the car and realize it cancelled at the last minute because of the weather.  We unloaded and headed back in the house.  The boys headed upstairs to play while I sat and caught my breath (and watched the last 15 minutes of a Real Housewives episode).  Adrian got home and turned around to take AJ to Brain Balance.  I had to turn in our fundraising money for baseball so I walked up to the field while Daniel and Zak rode their scooters.  Another busy day in the books!

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for April 24 - April 30)

Wow, I didn't mean to take a month off from menu planning.  But it just kind of happened.  I wasn't really buying or planning anything, just eating what we had for the last few weeks of March because we were anticipating needing to go to NJ (which we did).  Then we came back and were so busy and overwhelmed that we were just kind of surviving.  Then we hosted Easter so all of my energy went into that (and the food was awesome!)  And the past week we have been eating Easter leftovers and trying to get all the unhealthy food out of our house.

So now that I have been eating amazing yet fattening food for like a month, I really need a reset.  I have gained some weight and also just am not feeling 100% myself.  So we'll be getting back to basics starting this week and hopefully eating really well from now until Memorial Day.  I'm excited to see more fruits on sale in the stores now, it's always easy to have healthy snacks over the summer (except for all of the ice cream!)

This week I'm mostly cooking new things.  I'm doing a huge restocking grocery trip on Monday since we are very low on nearly everything in this house.  I will get back to using up things that I have in the house starting next week.  This week I'm using a few things that I bought last week that I never got to use and also just a few things left over from Easter.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Pork Chops with leftover sweet potatoes
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Asian Noodle Salad - on the go as we have a very busy night!
Thursday - Cauliflower Soup and Grilled Cheese
Friday - Chicken Sloppy Joes and salad
Saturday - Pizza Chicken Casserole
Sunday - Meatball Subs for the kids & Zoodles & Meatballs for the adults

I'm also making these muffins and these cookies so we have some healthy snacks in the house.  I'll also be buying and prepping a bunch of fruit for snacks, and we have some cheese sticks and nuts already.

Water Flavor - Apple (we have some apples that we really need to use up - it's almost time to pick new ones, yay!)

Overnight Oats Flavors - Original, Chocolate Peanut Butter, & Banana Chocolate Chip.  After a week without having the oats set up, I'm really missing them!  We are keeping it simple this week with our three favorites.  I might branch out to something new next week, we'll see.

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 4/7 - 4/13)

Friday (4/7) We finally made it to Friday!  This week seemed super long even though it was a short week for all of us.  I really think we're all just really worn out after last week.  We just barely got out the door and got to school on time this morning.  I decided to take the morning "off" and get stuff done around the house.  I got so much done in the 2.5 hours I had no kids.  I picked Zak up and he told me he was tired.  He laid on the couch for a long time after school, I thought he wasn't feeling well.  He seems to have bounced back, again I think he is just worn out.  We went to the Y for my barre class and came home to have family night - Jets pizza and "The Peanuts Movie."  Nice and relaxing night!

Saturday (4/8) started with me being able to sleep in and wake up feeling rested for the first time in weeks!  Adrian got up early and took AJ to his Brain Balance appointment while I slept in.  Then I got Daniel and Zak ready and met up with AJ and Adrian so we could all go to the Cub Scouts Blue and Gold banquet.  We had a delicious lunch from Milano's, watched the boys get some awards and won 2 silent auction items - a Disney gift card and a Minecraft video game & Graeter's gift card.

After we got home, the boys played some video games while Adrian got to work on our outside yard work and I worked on the housework inside.  We finished up and got cleaned up because we had a sitter and were headed out for a belated birthday dinner at Cooper's Hawk.  We had delicious food, short ribs for him and gnocchi with short ribs for me and split a wonderful bottle of sweet red wine.  When we were done eating we walked around Easton for a bit then grabbed Jeni's ice cream for dessert.  We came home to a clean house and the boys asleep.  It was a great day!!

 

Sunday (4/9) started early when Zak came in and woke Adrian and I up at 5am.  Thankfully he and I were able to go back to sleep while Zak watched TV for about 2 hours.  Then we got ready and headed out to church as a family.  We got back and did a few things around the house and had lunch.  While there my trusty washing machine died on me after almost 12 years of faithful service.  I knew this day was coming and we were actually getting ready to research and buy one this month anyway to avoid it being an emergency and low and behold, we had an emergency!

We headed out to swimming lessons at the Y with the boys where all three did a great job.  Zak is a little scared about going under water and jumping in this session.  I'm hoping that wears off for this summer.  Adrian and Daniel left a few minutes early to get Daniel to baseball practice in the afternoon.  While they were there, I had a guy come and power wash our house - it looks awesome!!  When practice was over, Adrian headed out to buy a washing machine - it will be here Thursday.

We finished up with a nice family dinner talking about things we would have changed about our day.  We did as much as we could around the house, pulling it together pretty well and getting ready for a super busy week ahead.  Adrian headed out to his second sleep study tonight so I was on my own with bath and bedtime for the kids.  I got them all tucked in and now I'm finishing up a few things around the house before sitting down to do a manicure and pedicure and enjoy a glass of wine!

Monday (4/10) Adrian and I were up and moving very early, which was nice because I got a few things done before the kids got up.  Then I got everyone up and out to school and while they were there, I was a shopping machine.  I went to both Meijer and Kroger and got more than half of my list done for Easter weekend.  I also did a few other smaller errands.  This week is going to be a marathon, I'm tired just thinking about it.

I picked Zak up and we came home for lunch and some playing.  We played a quick board game and then he played video games while I worked around the house.  Before I knew it, it was time to go pick up the other boys.  We walked up because it was a gorgeous day today.  We stopped home for drinks and snacks then headed out to the Y for my Zumba class.  We came home and had a quick dinner before Adrian headed out to his weekly basketball game.  We finished up our night with a little cleaning and a little TV watching.

Tuesday (4/11) We were up and running early again and everyone got out to work and school.  I ran a bunch of errands and am just about ready for a weekend of cooking for guests and Easter.  Zak and I ran to Giant Eagle together after school so I could finish up.  We came home and I unloaded and put away all of the groceries while he had lunch and played video games.  Before I knew it, we had to go pick up AJ and Daniel.  They wanted to play outside when they came home so we played in the front yard for a little bit while we waited for Adrian to come home.  When he got here, I left to go teach my Zumba class and run my last 2 errands.  I came home in time for Adrian, AJ and Daniel to go to their Cub Scouts meeting.  They picked up our winnings from the silent auction on Sunday and worked on finishing up their levels for the year.  Daniel also had the most surprising thing happen during the meeting - he lost another tooth!!  The tooth fairy will be visiting us tonight!  And AJ had the mayor of Pataskala visit his den to talk about his political career.  How cool for AJ!!

Wednesday (4/12) was a very fun but very exhausting day!  I dropped Zak and Daniel at school then I went into AJ's class to go on his field trip with him.  We went downtown to the Ohio Historical Society for the day.  I had a group of him and 2 classmates and we explored the whole museum.  I think the boys favorite part was the house that looks like it's from the 1950's.  They loved running around and playing with the toys that were there.  I really liked learning about Ohio history, especially the animals that used to be here and the Indians that lived here.  Since I didn't grow up here, a lot of this is new information for me.  I got to ride on the bus there and back with AJ which he really enjoyed.  I signed him out when we got back so he had a shorter day of school.

 

 

 While I was on the trip, my friend picked Zak up from school and took him to a park to play and then out for pizza for lunch.  He said it was a super fun day!  I'm so thankful I have friends to help me out!  AJ and I picked Zak up and we all headed home.  Soon it was time to go pick up Daniel and then head to the Y for my Zumba class.  We finished up there and then ran home to eat a quick dinner.  I headed to my church for rehearsal for our Easter program and Adrian took AJ and Daniel to soccer.  We finished up the night with a few games, some TV time and snacks.  I am so tired!!

Thursday (4/13) was our last day of school for the week thanks to a four day weekend for Easter.  We got up and out on time to school and work.  I taught my Silver Sneakers class and then quickly ran out to get to the last 20 minutes of Zak's Easter party.  They were just finishing up their egg hunt when I got there and then they played a few games and packed up.  It was fun to be able to go in and surprise Zak and spend some time with him and his classmates.

 

Zak and I came home and had lunch and he was telling me about what I missed of the party.  Then he played some video games while I started prepping for a weekend of guests.  I hard boiled 4 dozen eggs so the kids can color them tomorrow and also made ice cream cake for tomorrow's dessert.  It was nice outside so we played in the yard for a little bit and walked to pick up AJ and Daniel.

The boys finally were all home with some free time so they played their new Minecraft game on the WiiU.  They love the Mario world, although they are disappointed that we don't have the right controllers to play it as a muli-player game.  While they were playing I had the bug guy over for a home inspection (everything  looks great!) and also had my new washer delivered.  I was so excited to do my first load in it!!  And three days without a washer is definitely too long for us!  We finished the night with Daniel going to baseball practice.  He came home very tired because he ran a lot during practice.  We stayed up a little later than normal since there is no school or work tomorrow, Adrian only has to work a few hours from home.  We're looking forward to a long weekend with our family!

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 3/24 - 3/30)

Friday (3/24) For the first time all week, we all got a good night's sleep!  Daniel had ibuprofen at urgent care last night and I think that helped him sleep, which let Adrian and I sleep better too.  He woke up this morning looking and feeling better than he has in 2 days!  Here's hoping he's on the mend and no one else gets strep.  I got AJ and Zak out to school then spent most of the morning hanging out with Daniel and getting stuff done around the house.  Adrian is working from home again to help make it easier for me to do what I have to do outside of the house.

In the afternoon, I took Zak to the pediatrician for his 5 year well check and he did great. He took his 3 shots like a champ, no tears at all!! He is 45 1/2 inches, he grew over 5 inches in a year and he weighs 72 pounds, more than Daniel and almost as much as AJ. Doctor said keep doing what we're doing and get him into football.  He also gave me prescriptions for AJ and Zak just in case they get strep.  We got home, picked up AJ, dropped the boys off at home and I headed to the YMCA to teach my Barre class.  When I got home, we were all exhausted after the week.  We had a quick dinner, watched a few shows and headed to bed.  We bumped our date night movie night to tomorrow when we hopefully both have more energy.

Saturday (3/25) started early for me because I volunteered to sub a Zumba class for my friend.  I headed to the Y to teach while Adrian got the boys ready for the day.  He took Zak to soccer and I stayed with AJ and Daniel, who is feeling better but still taking it easy.  After a quick lunch, I dropped all three boys off at their friends' house for a play date.  They were so excited to play with the other 3 boys all afternoon and everyone had a great time.  Adrian spent the afternoon fixing our leaking water heater and I got some stuff done around the house.

We picked the boys up and decided to do an easy dinner of picking up Bibibop.  We spent the night doing a few more things around the house, watching some TV and playing video games.  After the boys went to bed, Adrian and I had our movie date night that we postponed from last night.  We watched Deadpool while snacking on ice cream.  It was an OK movie.  It was funny, but a lot of that was overshadowing by the violence and the language.  It wasn't my favorite super hero movie that's for sure.

Sunday (3/26) started with lots of changed plans.  My parents were supposed to be out here to visit but they needed to stay in NJ with my ailing grandfather.  We were supposed to go to church together as a family but Daniel's fever spiked again so he spent the day on the couch trying to rest and recover.  The rest of us took turns going to church, swim lessons and the grocery store.  We also finished everything we needed to do around the house.  AJ and Daniel are on spring break this week but we're not sure if we're doing anything between Daniel being sick and a possible emergency trip to NJ later this week.  We're being flexible and playing it by ear.

Monday (3/27) Happy 41st Birthday to me!!  The day started very early when Daniel woke me up at 4am.  Thankfully Adrian decided to take the day off and take over on Daniel duty (he's still not feeling well) around 6am so I could go back to sleep.  I slept in until about 9am and then had donuts for breakfast with my boys.  We hung out around the house, played with my new game "Bounce Off" and relaxed until I went to teach my afternoon Zumba class.  We danced to all of my favorite songs and then enjoyed cupcakes after class!  Some of my students also gave me gifts, they were really sweet.  I love my new soaps, key chain and Target gift card!

 

I came home to home made pizza that Adrian made for us for dinner.  The boys also gave me my other present - a new box for my essential oils.  Since Daniel wasn't feeling well, we decided to do an extra family movie night and watched Moana.  It was really good, I really enjoyed it!  We took a break halfway through the movie to enjoy some ice cream cake and then all turned in for the night when it was over.  Most of us were really tired from the past few days.

Tuesday (3/28) started early again for me when I woke up at 6am and just couldn't fall back asleep.  I'm glad I didn't because soon after I got out of bed, my father called to tell me that my grandfather had passed away.  I spent most of the day bouncing between crying and being super productive.  I did manage to get Zak to school in the morning, do a couple of errands and teach my Silver Sneakers class.  I also took AJ and Daniel to their dentist appointment - no cavities for either of them!  The rest of the day I was either packing, cleaning or crying.  We leave tomorrow for NJ for the funeral.

Wednesday (3/29) We got up and moving as quickly as we could to head to NJ.  It was a late night trying to get everything together and we didn't get on the road until nearly 11:00am, almost an hour later than we were hoping.  The drive across to NJ seemed to take forever!  We finally got to my grandfather's house around 8:30pm.  While it's not a fun reason for a visit, it is always nice to see family.  When we got there, my parents, uncle, cousins and brother and his family were all there.  We had dinner and visited for a bit before settling in for a little sleep before a busy two days of services for Pop.

Thursday (3/30) was the day of the viewing in the afternoon.  We had a few errands to run in the morning to get things ready and then we also visited a little more with family.  We got everyone dressed and headed to the funeral home in the afternoon.  It was really hard for me to see Pop like that, I just wasn't ready to say Goodbye.  There was a really nice service by both the VFW and his church and a lot of friends and family came to pay their respects.  Adrian and the boys stayed for about half the time and the boys did a very nice job with a hard day.  When the service was over, we headed back to the house for dinner together.  Again while not for a good reason, it was really nice to have the whole family together.

 

Keeping Up With...Fitness Goals (March Recap & April Goals)

As I mentioned the other day in my Family Goals Recap, March was a weird month for me and my family.  There was a lot of stress, sadness and changed plans.  There was also a lot of sleepless nights.  I didn't exercise as much as I had planned because there were days when I just physically couldn't do it.  I did pretty good with my family goals and great with my goals for my classes.  But my own exercise and weight loss suffered this month for sure.

I'm struggling a lot this year with motivating to exercise when I'm not teaching.  And my eating is still less healthy than I would like it to be.  I teach Mon-Fri and do pretty good on those days.  Then Sat and Sun I don't exercise and I eat horribly and I undo all of my work from the previous week.  It's not a pretty cycle.  I really want to get a handle on it.  My plan for April is to do the best I can for the next week or so (until after Easter) and then that Monday get a handle on my eating.  I'm going to set a goal for Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer & the end of my boys' school year.  I'm not sure what that goal will be yet, come back next month to find out.

Here's how I did with my March goals:
1. Lose 2 lbs/week (8 pounds lost for the month) - I actually ended the month by gaining 5 pounds.  That goal was a big giant fail.
2. Lose 1 inch for the month (1 inch lost for the month) - I didn't even both measuring this month.  I know I didn't lose any inches, probably gained some.  I will keep this as a goal for this month for sure.
3. Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes every day this month - I ended up exercising 26 of the 31 days in March.  Not horrible considering I was out of town for the funeral for 3 of the days that I missed. 
4.  Go to one class that I'm not teaching each week (4 classes for the month) - I went to one 1 dance fitness class, that's all.  I did end up subbing a Zumba class that I was planning on being a student in when the teacher had an emergency.  So I'll count that as 2 for the month.
5.  Learn 3 new Zumba songs to add to my classes (3 songs for the month) - Done!  I learned Guarachar, Shape of You & Hey Mickey for my Zumba classes.
6.  Switch up two circuits for my barre connect class for the month & add band work to class (2 new circuits) - Done!  I actually love the class right now, I won't be changing it up for a few weeks now.  It took all month of testing and tweaking it but now it's a pretty good class!
7.  Split up my Silver Sneakers exercises to teach 2 different classes each week - Done!  I teach 4 times per week so I have 2 classes - one for Mon/Tues and the other for Weds/Thurs.  It's nice for myself and my students to have the different exercises.

When I write it all out, this month wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was.  I accomplished a good chuck on my goals, almost all of the fitness related ones.  I just didn't eat well.  It's becoming apparent what I need to do going forward.  I'm honestly really tired and unmotivated right now, but I'm going to set some goals for April anyway.  Here's what I'm working on:
1.  Lose the 5 lbs I gained in March (5 lbs for the month)
2.  Do measurements at the end of the month & lose 1 inch total from my body (1 inch for 2 months)
3.  Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes 27 days this month - I've already missed 2 days due to travel and I don't want to have to exercise on Easter.  If I exercise every other day that would be 27 (27 days for the month)
4.  Go to one class that I'm not teaching each week (4 classes for the month) - I'm keeping this goal on the list until I achieve it!
5.  Learn 3 new Zumba songs to add to my classes (3 songs for the month) - I need to keep the classes fresh!
6.  Figure out which Zumba jams and/or events I will be doing in the next few months.  There are a bunch and I need to figure out what I'm doing.  I need a baseball schedule for Daniel before I can commit to anything.

I think that is a pretty fair list for me to try to achieve this month.  I'm a little late figuring this out so I have 6 less days to work towards these goals, but I still think I'll be able to do it.  Come back next month to find out how I did!

Keeping Up With...Family Goals (March Recap & April Goals)

March was another weird month for me between Daniel getting strep throat and my grandfather passing away.  We had a lot of changes to our normal schedule and I didn't quite get to everything I wanted to do this month.  I did pretty good with my family goals, but my fitness goals suffered (more on that later this week).  The one major change for us was that our spring break plans totally changed.  My parents were supposed to be here and we were going to do a stay-cation type of week.  Instead we did an emergency trip to NJ for the funeral and it wasn't the most fun week for us.  But it was great to be with family for those days and I am grateful we were able to be there together.

Here are my specific family goals for March:
1.  Finish "Love the One You're With" and read at least 50% of another book (1.5 books toward 14 for the year) - I read exactly 50% of "Love the One You're With" and then it was due back to the library and I'm still on the waiting list for it.  I got a copy of "The Westing Game" which is a book AJ read and his teacher suggested I might like it.  I was able to finish that book this month so I've finished 5 towards my 14 for the year.
2.  Have family dinner every Sunday night and use AJ's conversation starters during in (4 dinners for the month) - We had 4 family dinners this month.  One week, we described something we saw outside & AJ had to guess what we were describing.  We also talked about something we learned this weekend and something that is making us sad.  The fourth week was my birthday and Daniel was sick so we didn't use a conversation starter but still had dinner and talked about what we would do for my birthday.
3.  Continue doing my week in review blog (4 posts for the month) - 4 recaps done this month
4.  Continue taking one picture each day and posting on Facebook (31 pictures for the month) - 31 pictures taken for the month.  I did fall behind on posting while we were in NJ last week, but I posted them all last night and got all caught up for the month.
5.  Watch a movie every Friday night (5 movies for the month) - We watched 5 movies this month:  Kung Fu Panda 3, Capt America - Winter Soldier, Trolls, Deadpool and Moana.  I'm loving this goal and am hoping to keep watching one movie each week all year.
6.  Have one family board game night (1 special night for the month) - We played my new board game a bunch of times on my birthday.  We also played a lot of board games in NJ.  I'm calling this a win.
7.  Enjoy our spring break week with my parents here - As I mentioned, this didn't happen.  But I think we made the best of a bad situation while in NJ for my grandfather's funeral.  We even managed to sneak away to the beach for a day all together - so fun!

I'm excited to see that I met all seven of my goals this month, more or less.  While it didn't end well, we actually had a pretty good month.  I'm really enjoying reading more and watching more movies this year.  I'm hoping to keep this momentum up for the next 9 months!

Here are my specific family goals for April:
1.  Finish "Love the One You're With" and "Hungry Heart" (2 of my 14 books for the year)
2.  Have family dinner every Sunday night and use AJ's conversation starters during in (4 dinners for the month)
3.  Continue doing my week in review blog (4 posts for the month)
4.  Continue taking one picture each day and posting on Facebook (30 pictures for the month)
5.  Watch a movie every Friday night (4 movies for the month)
6.  Have one family board game night (1 special night for the month)
7.  Have one family video game night (1 special night for the month)
8.  Enjoy Easter weekend with my brother, sister in-law and nieces here visiting