Trampoline!!

Hello There!  This is the post that I meant to get posted on Tuesday.  I am just a little bit late.  Oh well.  I finally got back to the computer and I wanted to share some pictures of a recent purchase of ours….

That’s right, last weekend we bought a trampoline.  It was between a trampoline and a swingset, and we went with a trampoline.  Cooper’s cousins Layne and Larissa have a trampoline and Cooper has such a great time when he goes there, we thought it would be the best option.  Plus, the entire family can enjoy this gift. 

Last Sunday, we bribed Ryan and Andrew with some of the Pioneer Woman’s pulled pork and some other goodies for lunch and then we got busy assembling the trampoline.   

Here are a few pictures of the assembly process, we didn’t document it all, but it was not too bad to put together.  It was pretty easy with 4 of us.

Then, we got busy jumping.  Here is Ryan mid flip.

And Andrew, getting his jump on….

And a few of Cooper too….

After all that jumping, Cooper needed a break, so Stephanie and Ryan sat with him while he had a drink.

Then it was Tim’s turn.  He hadn’t jumped on a trampoline since he was in elementary school, so it was pretty new to him.  He says he didn’t care for it much, but he’s been on there a few times, I think he likes it a bit more than he is telling us

Finally my turn.  Here’s one of Cooper and me jumping together. 

Then me remembering how to jump a little, I had to try some old cheerleading jumps, but obviously, I didn’t feel like keeping my legs very straight during the jumps.

Then we got some of the neighbor girls to come over and jump with Cooper.

And finally, Cooper laying on top of his dad.

Have a great weekend friends!

What is wrong with me?!?!?

I am in a funk.  I cannot seem to kick it.  My attitude is good, my life is good, but I don't feel normal, or like me right now.  It's weird I tell ya.  I've been diligent about getting into the gym every morning.  I've been playing with my son every night, cuddling with hubby watching TV after that.  Things with the rest of the family are good and last night I even mowed some of our grass (this might be the only time Tim lets me mow this year :) so I have to take the opportunity while I can). 

I didn't lose any weight this week, I didn't gain either, so I'm ok with it, but I just sort of feel like I'm floating around this week.  Not really "here" and with it if you know what I mean. 

Which is why I haven't blogged much this week.  I have a post almost ready to go that was supposed to be posted on Tuesday with pictures from our weekend last weekend.  Maybe I'll finish it up tonight.  Maybe not. 

Dear Funky Emily -

GO AWAY!

It would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Me

Meal Plan Monday

Wow, what a weekend!  I’ll wrap that up tomorrow, but for now, I want to give you our meal plan for the week.  I am wrapping up last week’s first.  I said I was going to take a break from wrapping up prior weeks plans, but here’s the thing.  They keep me accountable.  When I didn’t recap last week, I went on to be terrible on eating our scheduled meals last week…… Here in lies the start to a vicious cycle, so I won’t be repeating those mistakes again….. I hope.
Last week 4/9 – 4/13:

• Sloppy Joe’s - Tim got the wrong meat out for Wednesday, so they had hot dogs instead
• Hamburgers & Chips - They didn’t have this either, they swapped spaghetti for it on Thursday night.
• Stir Fry – we had this Monday night, it was delicious.
• Spaghetti – They had this Thursday night while I was gone.
• Tacos – We didn’t have this either.

So, We’ve got Tuesday and Friday nights that we were bad.  And by bad, I mean BAD.  Tuesday we had Qdoba.  What can I say, we had a coupon for a $5 chicken entrée and I couldn’t pass it up!  Friday – We ate out again…. Only this time, it was Culver’s fish sandwiches and fries.  Oh my was it good and oh so worth all of the points!!!
This weekend I made the Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork, and it was AMAZING! It took 6 hours, but after it was over, we had 6 lbs of delicious pulled pork.  LOVE.  Sunday’s lunch was that pulled pork with the entire family and we had baked potatoes and green beans as sides, yummo!
Ok, onto this week’s meal plan.  4/16 – 4/20…

• Kevin & Amanda’s Cheeseburger Macaroni – now, I’m making some big changes with this, so I hope they work.  I haven’t made this since starting weight watchers, but we really miss it, and I’m going to have a go at it.  I’ll use 99/1 lean ground turkey instead of ground beef, instead of butter, I’ll use the go to: ICBINB Light.  I’ll use skim milk, and 1 cup of light cheddar cheese.

• Grilled Chicken, Couscous and green beans.  We use Marakesh Express Couscous, it asks you to add oil, but we don’t, and it doesn’t taste any different.  So the point value isn’t too bad for a carb side.
• Picky Palate’s Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake – I’ll do the same with replacing the cheese with lowfat cheese, other than that, same recipe.
• Mama Laughlin’s Skinny Doritos Taco Bake – yummo!
• Spaghetti
• Breakfast Foods (eggs, turkey bacon, toast)

I have high hopes for this this week.  We shall see!  Enjoy your week!

POTW: Diet Mountain Dew aka LIQUID EXCELLENCE

Linking up with Aly today for POTW.

Ok ya'll, I know you think I'm strange that this is my product of the week, but seriously, I'm in love with this stuff right now.  I cannot get enough.  I've been this way for years.  In the mornings after my hour long treadmill sessions, I cannot wait to get a cold refreshing Diet Mountain Dew.  It's like the kick in the butt I need to proceed with the day.


Now, I'm diabetic, so I only drink the diet kind, and I know some of you who go all out with regular "pop" "soda" "soft drinks" "coke", whatever.... I can't do that, so I have no idea how the real thing compares to diet (I was probably 10 the last time I had a full sugared beverage) but the diet version is good enough for me.


In fact, when my husband and I were beginning to socialize he used to bring one to me at my desk at work secretly.  Now, at the time, I had no idea it was him who was leaving them for me, so I didn't drink them (you know in case they were poisoned) but once I found out it was him, I was a happy girl with a lot of the "LE" sitting around waiting for me to consume it.  He knew right where to get me, if only I had known it was him and not "the stalker."  Ha.


That's my product of the week and I'm sticking to it.  Have a great Thursday! 


One last thing... Shout out to my Stephanie, Girl....If you're reading this, "hey! =)"  Just wanted to show you some love today.

What I’m Loving Wednesday

Linking up with Jamie for some Wednesday love. :)  I’ve missed linking up and reading so many lovely ladies posts, so I came back to link up today.
I’m loving that today is the first day of the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale, and that I’m going!  Today!  My bestie, Erica, and I are ditching work early to get our shop on up in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  We’ve got our tickets, we’ve registered so that we can make some purchases and I for one am super excited.

I’m loving that I’ve started some running on the treadmill during my walks.  I haven’t ever been a runner.  I don’t know if I can be a runner, but I’m going to try.  Last night, I ran 6 of my last 20 minutes.  I was hot, sweaty, and happy.

I’m loving that I carried on my mom’s Easter tradition and made a bunny cake :)  Isn’t it cute?  And… It’s really low in WW points.  A box cake mix and a can of crushed pineapple in pineapple juice.  The frosting is fresh pineapple, cool whip, a sugar free/fat free pudding mix and 2-3 oz of fat free cream cheese. 

I’m loving my son’s babysitter.  She is so neat and organized, and awesome and great.  This is a picture I took one afternoon last week when I picked Cooper up early.  It was snack time.  The only time throughout the day she lets the kids watch about 15 minutes of a movie or educational tv.  They love it and I love how cute they all look all lined up around the room eating their snacks.  That’s my Cooper on the far left.  Such a cute bunch.

I’m loving my sweet Hubby.  He’s so good to me/our family and I’m so blessed to have him in my life.   

What are you loving this Wednesday?  Do you have any special loves this week?  Link up with Jamie so that you can share them with us!  Happy Humpday ladies.

Weekend Things

I wanted to write a post about this weekend, because this weekend was awesome.  I’m going to wrap up via pictures!!

Friday night, we dyed Easter eggs.  With Kool-aid.  I posted about it, and we did it.  Check those babies out.  Didn’t they turn out great?  So vibrant and pretty.  The best part, no stink, only fruity smells!  Picture round up, Steph and Ryan, Andrew, Cooper saying “tada!” Tim with his egg, our eggs, and me with mine. 


On Saturday, we went down to southern Indiana to visit the family for Layne’s birthday celebration.  Layne finally got his big blue truck..  He had been asking for this truck for a loooong time and when he finally got it, he was so excited.  Since we weren’t going to be down for Easter, my mom also hid some eggs for the kids to hunt together.

Top left.  Layne in his big blue Ford Raptor truck for the first time.    Middle, Little sweet Layne letting his cousin drive his car.  Top right & bottom left, Cooper hunting for the Easter eggs.  He had a great time gathering up almost 75 eggs.  Bottom right, Larissa driving the boys around in the truck.  These kids had an awesome time draining the battery on that truck.  So fun.

Sunday was great also.  Easter service at church is one of my favorites.  Then we had breakfast and got ready for Tim’s birthday celebration and Easter celebration.  Baking, cooking and just putting the last minute touches on everything is always a good time, ha.  When the guests arrived, we ate all of our goodies, had cake and ice cream and sang to the birthday boy then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.  After visiting Layne for his birthday on Saturday, Cooper decided he was ready to drive his Mustang that we got him for Christmas.

Top left, the kids helping Cooper open his Easter gift, they were supposed to open theirs too, but Cooper often requires more attention….. Middle, Cooper driving his car, having fun. Top right, Steph and Ryan.  Middle left – if you click on the picture, you’ll notice there were about 10 of us in a big circle in our cul-de-sac making sure Cooper was safe in his car.  Middle, Tim with his cake.  Bottom left Steph and Andrew.  Bottom right is our latest family photo.  I think it turned out pretty great. 
That’s a wrap.  Have a great Tuesday!

Meal Plan Monday

Another Monday again.  I feel like they are coming so quickly.  How in the world does the year seem to fly by so quickly?  This weekend we celebrated our nephew Layne’s birthday, Tim’s birthday and Easter.  It was a busy weekend.  But, we loved it.  We saw lots of family, friends and loved ones.  How was your weekend?

Onto the meal plan for next week.  I get tired of wrapping up the prior week’s plan, so I will probably skip that for awhile.  Here’s the meal plan for next week:

• Sloppy Joe’s
• Hamburgers & Chips
• Stir Fry (yeah, yeah, we haven’t had it yet, but we are having it TONIGHT!)
• Spaghetti
• Tacos

Super easy week around here this week.  Remember when I said my goal was to try at least one new menu item every week? Well this week it isn’t happening.  I’ll be gone both Wednesday and Thursday nights, so the boys are having Sloppy Joe’s and Hamburgers those nights.

Next weekend, I am planning on making a pork butt just like The Pioneer Woman.  I saw this on an episode of her show last week (I was watching from the DVR and it was her first episode of the current season I think).  It looks delicious. I cannot wait.  I love pulled pork, and think it will make a scrumptious weekend meal and hopefully we’ll have enough meet for lunches too.  Yum!

Recent Pinterest Finds

I love Pinterest.  I spend too much time on it at night, instead of blogging, or housework, or anything else that I could do that would be much better for me.  After I get a good walk in for the evening, I plop on the couch and pin things until time for bed.  (in between scarfing down some ice cream that is.) 

Click the link below to follow me on Pinterest.

I thought it might be nice for me to share a some of my recent finds, things I’ve tried or things I plan on trying.  So here goes.  A light and easy Friday post for ya…  Click on the image to find the source of the pin.

This might be the neatest thing I’ve heard about in a long time.  No vinegar smell.  We’ll be trying this method tomorrow night…  Cooper’s first time dying Easter eggs.  It should be fun.

This isn’t very nice, but sometimes its true and that’s why I like it. 

This clock is awesome.  It lets a child know when they can get up in the morning, it shows them the stars at night time and when they are allowed to get up, it shows them the sunshine.  Love it!

I love this hairstyle!  I think it is so pretty!  I would have no idea how to do it, and the link actually goes to some website that tells how to shop for plus sized women's clothing, so that doesn’t teach me how to do this hair, but I’m telling you, I LOVE IT.

Wow, isn’t this hair awesome?  I want to try it, like now. Or yesterday.  Regardless, I will try it soon, it makes me happy just thinking about trying it. 

Single serving carrot cakes.  The entire thing above only has two weight watcher points.  Awesome huh?  I cannot wait to try it.

And last, but not least, this:

Isn’t this outfit adorable?  Green, grey, beautiful.  Just beautiful. 

And that is it for me today.  Those are my favorites for this week. 

We have a birthday party tomorrow for my nephew, Layne, then Sunday is Easter & Tim’s birthday. What a fun and eventful weekend!!!

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter!!!!

Thursday Randoms

Good Morning Ladies!  I'm having a great day today, and so I'm posting.  I was going to skip today, but after this awesome mornining, I decided to post and share some random things (and copying the theme from a fellow blogger Becky, Thanks Becky for the "Thursday Randoms")that are going on in my life right now. 

1) I am so proud of Stephanie and Ryan.  They are 22 & 23 and they are married, they have their lives together, they have a budget, they are having a baby, they are going to buy a house, and MOST IMPORTANTLY they LOVE the Lord. 

2) I am so excited for my hubby.  Tim has decided to get back into umpiring.  He hasn't done it since we've been married, but he loves to umpire baseball.  The man went to professional umpiring school twice when he was out of high school.  I'm not entirely sure how close he made it to being a major league umpire, but I like to think it was pretty close.  Anyway, I'm pumped that he's getting back into something that he enjoys doing.  And....the extra money won't be bad either! :)

3) I have now hit the 30 lb mark on my weight loss.  Yep, that's right, that 30 lb dumbbell up there has now disappeared from my body.  It's really amazing for me to think that I've lost as much weight as my son weighs, almost as much 4 gallons of water, and more than 20 dozen eggs.  I'm proud.  I've still got so far to go, but I am so proud of how far I've come.  When I stepped on the scale this morning and saw that I'd lost 5 lbs over the last week elated was the emotion that I had. 

4) These two boys hit milestones in their lives this week.  My nephew Layne turned 3 on Tuesday and Cooper turned 2 1/2 the same day.  The boys were born within 15 minutes of being exactly 6 months apart.  We'll just say they are and let it go.....  Saturday we'll head south to celebrate Layne's birthday with the rest our family.  It is so hard to believe that these boys are this age already.  Time sure flies. 

That's it for me.  Have a wonderful day!

My Husband…… My Hero

A few weeks ago, I decided to reclaim our living room.  And by reclaim, I mean, take it back from the kid.  Bring back the adult.  So, I moved all of the toys into the front room, the one where my TV & DVR are stationed which is now the playroom and still my TV room, but mostly the play room. 

Tim had wanted to build Cooper a toy box for awhile, but with other projects that had come up, the toy box never came to fruition.  So when I moved all of Cooper’s toys in there, it was a mess, and it gave Tim the perfect opportunity.  Here’s the thing.  I was going to have a party within 2.5 weeks of moving his toys in the front room.  So….. Tim had a choice to make.  I could go buy something for toy storage, or he could get busy and build the toy box/bench that we wanted.

He chose to get busy!  WHAT A MAN, huh???  That’s what I thought.  He worked a few nights after work, he even got Cooper’s “help” one night.  Then he basically worked all weekend when Cooper and I  went out of town. 

This was after a couple of nights, we put the first piece in to make sure it was what we wanted.  You can see in this picture what it sorta looked like before the bench was there.  Please forgive me, but I’m terrible at remembering to take before pictures.

Now, onto my favorite pictures.  These are the after pictures.  Inside the bench are three compartments for toys and almost everything fits.  All of those toys on the window ledge are actually in the bench, this picture was taken before I’d gotten everything anything organized.  These were taken right after Tim installed it. 

Isn’t it beautiful?  I LOVE IT!!  He did a spectacular job and I’m so thankful to have such a handy husband who is able to build for me on a whim.  THANK YOU Tim!!!