WWW

Today is Weight Watchers Wednesday! I went and weighed in today... and I have lost 5.3 more pounds. So that puts me at a total of 11.6 pounds lost for my first month on WW!

I am so proud of this. I love that I still eat things I want, but that I am just more cautious about my portions and choices! And I never come to AR and lose weight!

I am still drinking my water like crazy and try to eat more fruits and veggies. I actually feel a little "off" if I dont have them. I do think I have eaten too many salads lately, because my stomach kills me afterwards. (It could be the banana peppers that I PILE on top too... hmmm...)

Other than that, I am happy with my loss. I know realistically it will start to slow to a pound to maybe two a week. I am perfectly fine with that! I am not looking for a fast fix. Definitely want to do it right!

We are trying to stay dry here. After 10+ days of rains, floods, hail, and tornados... I am ready for the sunshine!!

Easter Coconut Cake!

I took one of my favorite Coconut Cake recipes and gave it an Easter twist!

1 box white cake mix
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can Cream of Coconut (Located by the mixed drinks)
Small Tub of Cool Whip- Thawed
1 bag of Coconut
Green food color
Jelly Beans

Make cake according to box. While still warm, poke holes with knife through cake. Mix together cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Pour over cake. (It will look like a lot, but keep pouring slowly til it all soaks in) Let cake completely cool. Top with cool whip. In a bowl, mix bag of coconut with a couple of drops of food color. Stir til its mixed together. If its not dark enough, add just a couple more drops. Top cake with coconut and add jelly beans! Refrigerate.

This cake is so simple, but is SOOOOO good! It's the best even after it sits in the fridge a few days!

Happy Easter!

So much going on!

There is SOOOO much going on right now, especially in my head! So much that the stress has given me a lovely fever blister. Nice, huh?

I would love to give details, but there are none as of right now. Just a bunch of ideas that Robert and I are trying to work out.

We are still hoping he can come in for a visit in May. If not, then the boys and I will just go back to CA to try and spend the time with him while he is on off cycle.

We had a great weekend! The boys, my mom, my nephew, and I met up with my cousin, Linda and her little girl, Ansley at Silver Dollar City! So much fun!! I was worried because when we got there it was freezing. But in true Arkansas (well, I guess we were technically in Missouri) fashion... if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it'll change! And that it did! It turned out beautiful. Perfect weather! The kids rode rides and we went and saw a little show. We ate some awesome food, too! Mom always gets those curly potato chips with cheese. I usually get the sausage, potato, and corn mix but since I am watching it, I went and found the yummiest salad! It was huge! It was a ton of fresh spinach leaves, grilled chicken, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and then some raspberry vinegarette! I ate every. last. bite.

Afterwards we went to dinner at Freddy's. It is kind of a cross between Steak-n-Shake and In-n-Out. I had a grilled chicken sandwhich and a handful of their yummy shoestring fries! For dessert, I did indulge. Brycen and I shared a scoop of chocolate frozen custard. It's higher in points than regular ice cream, but in my opinion, it is SOOOO worth the splurge!

I guessed on the point values of my meal and then later asked for a nutritional menu. Turns out I was right! I feel like I am learning more so of foods and their points plus value. Funny story, I was in the restaurant and I whipped out my Weight Watchers eating out guide book. I can usually find restaurants with similar foods to base what I am going to get. I was studying my book and this guy asked if I was on WW. I told him yes and he said his wife was doing it too and she is always nose-deep in her book too! I later saw her and she said I stuck to it a lot better than she did. (She apparently didn't see my frozen custard I had later on! ha!)

Sunday, Mom and I took all 3 boys to watch Hop! Brycen wasn't such a big fan of sitting still and he preferred the idea of climbing all over the chairs and screaming. So he and I sat outside for the last 45 minutes of the movie.

Also, forgot to mention... Friday I went with my friend Becca to Fayetteville. We decided after dinner to go watch a movie. We ended up seeing Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaughey. It was GREAT!! Love lawyer movies and he played a great role! Definitely recommend it!

It is supposed to storm for like the next 10 days here. Hoping it will be pretty this weekend so the kids can do their Easter egg hunts!

Brycen's 1st Haircut!

Tuesday, I took Brycen to get his first official haircut! He was getting a little mullet in the back, so we just needed a little trim. Cindy (who probably did my first haircut) cut his hair while my mom was getting hers done!

{Getting ready for his 1st haircut!}

{Such beautiful hair!}

I didn't get a final picture because I had to leave to go to my WW meeting. But he looks adorable, of course! :) Such a little man!

Jump, Jump!

On Wednesday I took the boys to the new Boingo Bounce in Fayetteville. It really is a fun place. They had 3 different big jump houses, 2 HUGE inflatable slides, and a toddler area. It was a clean place that I won't mind taking the boys back to. Also, if you are military you get a 15% discount! Be sure to remember to bring socks for the kids!

Here are the boys having a BLAST!!

WWW-- on Thursday!

I meant to do a post last night, but I was exhausted! I went shopping all day yesterday and came home and was in bed before 10!

Anyways...

I weighed in at the meeting in my hometown on Tuesday night. (So it had been 2 weeks since I weighed in officially) I lost 4 pounds! I was proud. I had a little mess up on Saturday night, but I am trying not to dwell and look forward to the new day. So I am at about 6.5 lbs lost.

As you know, when I come to my parent's house we eat out A LOT! This can be a challenge because you never realize what they put on your food while preparing it. Instead of a recipe this week, I am going to put some tips to use when eating out.

• Whenever they grill foods, they are probably using butter and seasonings. Last night I was at the Outback and told them to do mine "Light Style" and they didn't use either. It still tasted amazing! They also just simply steamed my green beans instead of sauteeing them.
• When you get a salad, ask for the dressing on the side. This way you can control how much dressing goes on it. And when they give you a packet, look on the back at the nutritional info. Chances are it is a 2 serving packet. Be aware! Also a great way to cut back on some points is to skip the croutons and ask them to put the cheese on the side.
• Water, water, water! I try to drink about 96 ounces a day. While you are eating out, try to drink a few glasses before your meal comes. This way, you are likely to eat less!
• Portion Control! This could be my biggest obsticle. I need to realize that the amount of food they give you doesn't necessarily mean you have to eat it all.
• Pass the bread-- to the next person. I have found this to be easier than I thought. If you can't stand to see it on the table and not eating it, ask your server to take it away. Out of sight, out of mind.
• Plan away! If you know where you are going to eat, start researching. Most places have their menus online these days. This gives you time to plan your meal out. I have read somewhere that if you go into a restaurant with your choice already, you will be less likely to order something bad for you.

Ok, hope those tips help! Oh, and I meant to share this... my new favorite thing is Sonic's diet cherry limeade! They are soooo good! And a medium size drink is 0 points!

Laying Low

Well, the past couple days we have been relaxing at home. Brycen has not felt well and has been in one those moods. Poor guy! I think he is teething because he has been snotty-nosed and whiny. I haven't felt the best either. My allergies have been horrible since I have been here. Thompson has been in a pretty good mood, actually. He even is taking a nap for me today.

Tonight I am making this new dish. I am actually throwing a bunch of random stuff together and hoping it turns out! Haha! We'll see.

Tomorrow, I am taking the boys to this bounce place. I know they will have so much fun! Hopefully I will remember to take my camera with me.

Here are some pics I have taken in the past couple of days...

My sister Brittany won free TCBY for year while we were shopping Saturday!

Funny Faces!!

Brycen trying to do a funny face!

This is our normal, haha!!

Whew!!!

Well that was a close one.

I was FOR SURE thinking that the government would soon be shutting down. I was counting every penny making sure we would be ok for who knew how long. It's stressful. One thing I always said was that I would never have to worry about Robert not getting a paycheck. Boy was I wrong! I have been stressed to the max all week long!

Thankfully, our wonderful leaders came to an agreement and the world is a happy place again... for now. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of this again come this October.

Tomorrow I am getting to go shopping...without the boys! Whoo Hoo! No crying that they don't want to sit in the carts and I can browse as loooonnnng as I want to! :) Then we are going to dinner to celebrate my sister's 21st birthday!

Oh and I chopped my hair off today. When I say chop, I mean short! I love it though. Definitely will be so much easier to manage with blow drying and fixing it. And it won't be so hot. I have extremely thick hair and it can be hard to manage. Plus my sister said I needed a "mom haircut" again. Haha.

Ok, going to bed! Have a great weekend!

WWW

So today is WWW (Weight Watchers Wednesday!). I didn't weigh in yesterday because I am going to try to limit my weigh ins while I am in AR to every other week. (I am already paying CA monthly dues and I really don't feel like shelling out $12 more dollars every week to weigh in.) I promise I am being good and will do an official weigh in next week!

Right now, my guesstimate would be that I am down at least 5 pounds since I started 11 days ago.

So my goal is when I do WWW, I want to include a recipe that I love that is great for anyone!

Proscuitto wrapped Chicken Breasts

Serves 4

7 Points Plus per serving

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

4 wedges Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb cheese

4 pieces of proscuitto -- about 2 ounces

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and peper

Butterfly chicken breast to make one big, thin piece. Spread cheese on top of chicken. Add salt and pepper. Roll chicken breast from one end to the other. Wrap in proscuitto and secure with a toothpick. Heat oil in a skillet. Sear sides of chicken. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cooked thoroughly to about 165 degrees internally. (Some ovens vary, so check at about 15 minutes or so.)

Hope you like this! I am going to be making it for my parents tomorrow night!

Happy 21st Birthday, little sister!

Tomorrow is my little sister, Brooklyn's 21st birthday. It still feels unreal that she should be that old. That just means that I am getting old!!

Last night we had a little family get together to celebrate her and my Aunt Glenda's (both born on the 5th) birthdays. We had some yummy food! My Granny Lola brought 2 strawberry pies-- which is my absolute favorite dessert! You best believe that I saved my WW points for a piece of that!

{Granny with the birthday girl}

{Cute cake!}

{Happy Birthday Brooklyn!}

We made it, PTL!!

Well we made it to Arkansas yesterday! The boys were pretty good. Both had their moments. Brycen couldn't sit still to save his life. On the connecting flight as we were taking off, (you know the quiet moment where everyone is saying a prayer that the plane doesn't crash! Or is that just me???) Thompson screams out "BLASTOFF!!!" Kid. you. not. And then proceeded to make all of these booming noises and yelling "Oh no! We are going to crash!"

If he weren't my child, I probably would have given the mother the evil eye.

Today we went to Fayetteville to get groceries (since my parents have the bare mininum... you know, blue cheese, peaches, and cranberry drinks) and we met my sister, Brittany and cousin, Jaime Nicole for lunch at my favorite, Rick's Bakery! I had one of their yummy chicken berry salads. And then had a bite of chocolate pie for dessert! Did you know that they give you a free dessert during lunch? Yep, makes me love them even more! ;)

Then we had to do our grocery shopping. That is always a chore. Especially when you have a 3 year old and a 1 year old who hates sitting in the cart. Didn't help that I went right during Brycen's nap! Who does that??? Apparently this mom!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I am going to spend some much needed time with my family! :)