The Base Line - The starting point for my weight loss

This is a tough post to write, just putting this all out there, but here it goes!

As a kid I was always on the heavier side, or at least I thought I was until I saw these photos.  Amazing what a few years worth of perspective will do and how much teasing can convince you of something!  My Mom says I wasn't but I think that's because that's what Mom's say.  It could also be that I just had a bunch of smaller than average friends.  Either way, my perception was that I was the chubby girl growing up.  I was always very active as a child; involved in soccer, dance, riding my bike, not to mention running around our town for hours on end each day.  Even with all that activity I still thought I was a heavier kid.  Granted I also remember a day when I ate an entire can of cherry pie filling as a snack... Throughout elementary school I was teased about being "fat".  I was called horrendous names and even had my hair lit on fire at the bus stop.  Kids can to so cruel!  Because of the teasing I didn't join the fun groups I wanted to or play as many sports as I wanted to.  I kept to my small group of friends and my school work.  Luckily back in this day once I was home I escaped most of the teasing since social media wasn't a thing yet.  Heck, texting wasn't a thing yet.  Man I sound old...  When it came to food, I wanted to eat the chicken burgers and chocolate milk for lunch every day just like everyone else did.  As you can imagine that doesn't do much for your health.  I remember being in grade 7 or 8 and hitting the 100 pound mark and being so sad.  I often thought to myself "maybe in high school the weight will go away".

In high school I was never teased.  Thank heavens for small blessings!  Either the girls that had teased me had grown out of it and didn't care anymore, went to another high school, or ended up pregnant and weren't in school at all anymore.  I was now one small fish in an ocean of about 300 fish.  I didn't change much during high school.  I was still super self conscious and kept to my few good friends and kept my nose in my books.  I didn't play sports, even though I love volleyball, and I didn't join any groups.  Luckily I had an awesome friend, and Siamese twin, who I spent almost every waking minute of the day with.  We had all the same classes, worked at the same place, and spent whatever free time we had together.  Without Trellyn my high school experience probably would have been very different.  We did our thing and if people thought we were strange, weird, or stupid, at least we were strange, weird and stupid together! (I know your hormonal with your new baby Trellyn but try not to cry!!).  I left high school a little bigger than I entered thanks to the easy access to chocolate working at a gas station and the delicious cafeteria cheese fries (I can already taste them already!!!), and I thought "I'll probably lose the weight when I move out to go to college".  I'm going to guess that I was 130 pounds.

Ahh the fresh start of college!  Nobody knew who I was or how I had been teased in the past.  I'm a pretty shy person but I recognized a girl from my high school (who was a few years older than me and really didn't know me) and we immediately became friends.  Sometimes it's nice to have someone familiar to you when you're in a whole new town.  In no time flat our entire class became great friends.  No need to be self conscious which was an amazing change for me!  At the time I thought I ate pretty healthy.  For supper I used my George Foreman grill to cook chicken, beef or pork and sometimes I'd switch it up with some frozen fish.  I always had Lipton Sidekicks or Rice-A-Roni and steamed veggies with some sort of store bought sauce as a side.  I ate these exact things every single night for 2 years.  It was a good attempt at being healthy but looking back now, the thought of how much salt I was ingesting flat out terrifies me!  It's amazing what a few years can do to your perspective.  Short of slow pitch, volley ball, and walking around town with friends, I wasn't very active at all.  By the end of college I was probably 160 pounds.

After college I started working at the YMCA.  I worked the night shift (1:00pm-10:00pm) at the front desk.  This shift came with a great perk; I got to use the gym after closing and was completely alone other than the cleaning staff!  Isn't that every woman's dream, to go to the gym without anyone there to see her?  Being around people that ate healthy and having access to the gym made a good change in me.  I became more active and started to notice that my shape was changing.  Unfortunately it was short lived.  I took a job in an office and quickly put any weight I had lost back on.  Around that same time John and I moved in together.  Bring on the weight!  We LOVE food! I especially love sweets!  I would go so far as to call it an intense love or addiction.  I could honestly eat sweets from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep.  We both love cooking so we made delicious, but not so healthy, meals all the time.  By the time our wedding came around in 2011 I was 180-190 pounds.  This is when I started freaking out!  I know, it took me this long to realize I had a problem.  Like a lot of people I wanted a quick fix with as little effort as possible.  Oh how much I had yet to learn.  I decided to give Herbal Magic a shot.  A cousin of mine had great success with it so I figured maybe I could too.  At first I was overwhelmed with the amount of food I had to eat and had a hard time eating it all, and I did manage to lose about 10 pounds.  But it didn't take long for the novelty of the plan to wear off, plus it was very expensive.  In no time flat I gained back all the weight I had lost.

For the next while I plugged along, overweight but happy.  Until I became pregnant.  I was so sick in the first trimester that I lost close to 10 pounds.  Eating nothing but Cheerios is a great way to lose weight!  Of course that didn't last long (nor should it have), and by the end of the pregnancy I had gained a healthy 30 pounds and was a whopping 213.  I was never really concerned because this is the one time when some weight gain is good.  Why stress about it when it was healthy for Roman?  I knew after I had Roman that I HAD to get rid of the weight once and for all.  Roman was born July 31st and by March I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 195.  This is what I consider my starting point.

 

This weight loss journey was triggered by a typical lunch for Roman and I.   I was going to have some leftovers but had to make Roman something else to eat because what I was eating wasn't good for him.  Then it hit me, if it wasn't good for him, then why on earth was I eating it?  This is when I started to make some real changes in the things I ate. I made small and gradual changes so that they were easy to maintain over the long haul.  This time I'm not dieting, I'm changing my lifestyle to a much healthier one.  Let the journey begin!

Follow Us Friday - Pumpkin Hallow - Lumsden, SK

Today was an amazing day!  We had some great family time and made some great memories with Roman.  Our entire day basically revolved around Pumpkin Hallow.  It was the first time any of us had been there so it was a great adventure for the whole family.   I will apologize in advance for the overload of pictures, I couldn't help myself! 

6:30am - Breakfast
As you can see Roman is back in the habit of getting up bright and early.  It's taken me a few days to get used to it, but now that I am it's awesome to get an early start on the day.  Today Roman had an apple cinnamon waffle with syrup, blueberries and milk for breakfast, and I had a couple egg cups from a recent freezer cooking day.  Obviously I wasn't quite with the program yet this morning because I didn't snap any pictures of breakfast.  I can assure you it was delicious!

7:15am - Breakfast with Dad
This time I managed to get a picture!  It never ceases to amaze me how this child is always hungry and ready to eat.  Even though he had already devoured his own waffle, Roman decided it was necessary to help Dad with his.

8:00am - Play time with Dad
One of the perks of the weekend is that I can get ready alone!  John and Roman headed outside to play while I made myself presentable.  One thing nobody tells you when your pregnant is how much you are going to miss doing small things by yourself, like brushing your hair, or washing your face, or putting on your makeup without fishing your brushes out of the dog's water bowl.  From what I could hear through the wall John and Roman seemed to have a fun time.  John has been trying to get Roman to say "Mommy" instead of his usual "Daddy".  I could hear the lesson going on just outside the bathroom window.  Unfortunately it didn't click.  Roman is still all "daddy" and "dada". 

9:00am - Pumpkin Hallow!  Or so we thought....
Dogs were in their kennels, bags were packed, and we were all in the vehicle ready for the great adventure!  Something in the back on my mind told me that I should check the Facebook page to see if they were open, just in case, since the road to Pumpkin Hallow is impassable when wet.  About a block from the house I found out that the road was too wet and that Pumpkin Hallow wasn't opening until noon.  Perfect.  So we turned the car around and headed back home to play.  On the plus side Roman seemed to enjoy the little excursion!

 

10:45am - Lunch
A very odd time for lunch, I agree.  Because we wanted to be on the road at 11:00am we had to feed Roman a little early today.  Luckily I had some delicious pizza spirals on hand that only needed to be warmed up.  Roman LOVED them.  As soon as he saw them he was pointing and "oooing".  Who knew he loved pizza so much!?  He quickly devoured two pizza spirals, which is shocking because he ate the same amount as me....  These pizza rolls were super easy to make and even John thought they were delicious!

11:00am - Pumpkin Hallow! (for real this time)
With his belly full, Roman was asleep before we even got out of town.  Not only did this make for a nice quiet drive, it also allowed me to indulge in a book I recently started reading.  "And Then She Was Gone" by Rosalind Noonan is a story about a young girl who was kidnapped from her community and held prisoner in a compound for 6 years.  It chronicles the girl's and her family's journey to getting their lives back together.  At least that's how much I know so far haha.  Thanks for the book Trellyn!

12:00pm - We have arrived!
An hour later we arrived at a little slice of heaven in the Qu'Appelle Valley.  Pumpkin Hallow is a tiny fall oasis that just screams happiness!  There is so much to do and see; corn maze, cow train, corn cannon, corn sandbox, hay slide, jumping pillow, animals, and tire swings.  You could literally spend an entire day there and not be bored for a single minute.  Today was superhero and princess day so a lot of the kids were all decked out in their costumes.  Even Roman dawned his finest Batman onsie and Batman crocs!  Roman's favorite attraction was definitely the corn sandbox.  He started out a little hesitant but soon he was swimming in it and scooping up piles of corn with his mouth!  We even found corn in his onsie once we got home! 

The second Roman saw the garden tractor there was no keeping him away.  My Dad has been taking Roman on tractor rides all summer in the hopes of instilling a love for it in him.  I think it's safe to say his mission is accomplished.  Roman was the youngest kid in line for the cow train and rode the entire time without crying at all!  Of course he didn't smile either, because riding in a cow train is serious business!  Roman had an amazing time running all over the grounds.  We will definitely be visiting again this year and will have to take Grandma and Grandpa with us.  I wonder who will have more fun, the grandparents or Roman...

 

*NOTE: Roman has decided that Mom has been right all this time and we truly do need a pony!

2:30pm - Part City
I needed to pic up a tray for a diaper cake I'm making so we made a quick stop at one of my favorite stores.  I could literally spend an entire day at Party City, and it isn't even that big.  I love parties, especially planning parties, and this store has it all!  They currently have all their Halloween costumes out, but unfortunately they were sold out of the costume John wanted for Roman (I've been told he's in charge this year).  So the hunt for a cool, big boy, superhero costume continues!

3:00pm - Supper at Swiss Chalet
Another bizarre meal time today!  John has a special place in his heart for Swiss Chalet.  Why is completely beyond me, but he loves it, particularly the chicken sauce.  He was pretty excited to introduce Roman to this nectar of deliciousness so how could I say no when he suggested we have supper there?  The service wasn't the fastest but luckily I packed some crackers and toys so I managed to hold Roman over until the food came.  I again was surprised at Roman's appetite.  He cleared the vegetables of his kids 1/4 chicken dinner and also ate half the chicken!  What 1 year old eats that much food!?  Our plates look the same!!

5:00pm - Good to be home
After a long day on the road it was nice to finally be home.  Roman and the dogs were quite excited to see each other after being separated for a whopping 6 hours!  So, Roman and John headed out to the yard to stretch their legs with their furry companions.  Obviously Dad isn't used to chasing this little man with a camera!

6:00pm - Snack
Since we had an early supper Roman had a snack at 6 to tie him over to breakfast in the morning.  John served up some avocado, cheese, banana and milk.  Roman gobbled it all up, no surprise there.

6:30pm - Outside time with Dad!
Roman's new favorite activity is throwing golf balls down the driveway.  I'm not sure how much John enjoys chasing the golf balls around but it's fun for me to watch from inside the house! haha  While the boys were outside I decided to quickly devour a few chapters in my book.  I don't know about you, but I'm the type of person that wants to read at all times once I get into a book.  Must. Read. Book.

7:15pm - Tubby Time!
Lately tubby time has been a bit of a battle.  We haven't quite narrowed down what the problem is, but Roman sure does a lot of screaming and crying in there lately.  I could hear John singing "Old McDonald", desperately trying to calm him down, but nothing works.  Once he's out and dressed it's a bit better but sheesh.  Maybe we just need to move tubby time up so it's not so late?

7:40pm - Bed Time
Given how unruly Roman was in the tub he calmed down fairly fast and went to sleep.  I'm sure the busy day and all that fresh air had something to do with it.

8:00pm - Tea Time
Ahhh the moment John and look forward to every night!  Bring on the tea!  Tonight John had Apple Cider from DavidsTea and I had a cup of Pink Lady from Steeped Tea.  I think Pink Lady might be my new favorite!

Get in, get out, save money! Tips for shopping at Superstore

It's no secret that I do 99% of my grocery shopping at Superstore and love it.  Why do I love Superstore?

• First and foremost, their prices are very competitive
• They have a wide selection of products. (ie. food, personal care, clothing, housewares)
• They have quality store brand products
•  Their awesome reward points system 

Superstore sometimes gets a bad rap for it's long lines, crazy shoppers, and sometimes confusing layout.  But don't let these minor points deter you!  There are many treasures and deals to find if you can work around these negative points.  With these tips you will be cruising through Superstore finding what you need fast and saving money!

1. Get in on the PC Points!
I know what your thinking "Great another card to cram into my wallet. *eye roll*", "Why bother when I'll never get enough points to qualify for any rewards?".  If you can stick with me on this one I promise it will be beneficial to you!  First off, you don't need a card!  You can have a card if you like but I prefer to download the PC Points app.  No card in my wallet and I always have it with me, because who leaves the house without their phone? 

What do you get with your PC Points!  Free groceries, that's what!  For every 10,000 points you get $10 in free groceries.  Now I know 10,000 points seems like a lot and that it would take a long time to earn them.  Quite often I will find products that give me 700 points for buying 1 of them.  For example, if orange juice is 500 points and you buy 2, you get 1,000 points.

Points are assigned to various products in the store and are posted in the flyer.  You don't earn points of your overall purchase (which is a bit of a bummed) but you do receive your own personalized offers.  Each week on the app you receive PC Points deals that are based on your past purchases.  If you buy a lot of peppers you will often find peppers have a points value attached to them.  They also throw in a few new products each week, which I enjoy because sometimes it's a product that I wanted to try and the points give me the incentive to do so.  You can also earn points on gas if you fill up at a Superstore gas station

2. Check your PC Points offers and flyer before heading to the store.
I like to check my PC Points offers and the flyer when I'm making my meal plan.  This was I can shop the sales and take advantage of as many points as possible.  Each week the flyer will have some sort of extra deal included in it.  When you spend a certain amount of money (usually $100-$250 before taxes and deposits) in store you earn the deal.  This varies from a $25 gift card for the store to 20,000 PC Points.  That's $20 in free products!!  If I don't like the deal for the week I will often try to stretch what we already in the house to see if the next deal is something I want to take advantage of.

3. Make a list and add items in order you encounter them in the store.
Maybe I'm just a creature of habit but I always shop Superstore in the same order.  Making your list to correspond to your path will save you time and headache.  No more running back and forth across the store because you skipped over an item.  This will take a few trips to get just right as you perfect your path through the store.  Knowing the layout of the store will also help if you remember half way through your trip that you forgot an item on your list and need to find it fast.

4. Shop weekday mornings!
I know this isn't possible for everyone, but if you can, hit Superstore first thing in the morning during the week!  I love to shop at this time because there are very few people in the store.  Usually I'm lucky if I see 5-6 customers in the entire store, which means great parking spots, no cluttered isles and walking right up to the till to pay.  The fresh produce is usually being put out at this time as well so you get the freshest of the fresh.  The only down side is the rotisserie chickens don't come out until noon!  I guess you can't have everything though...

If you absolutely can't make it to Superstore during this heavenly hour, Superstore has recently announced a guarantee that all tills will be open from 10:00am - 3:00pm every Saturday & Sunday!.  Now this won't cut down on the number of people in the parking lot or isles, but at least you won't have to stand in line at the tills for an hour!

5. Buy the Green Bins!
$15 per bin may seem like a lot of money for a bucket to put your groceries in.  I promise this is an investment you will never regret!  These bins are surprisingly large and can fit a ton of items since they are much sturdier than a plastic or fabric bag.  Plus you won't have to pay 5 cents per plastic bag.  We have 3 bins and I have no problem fitting $250 worth of groceries into them, minus big items like milk and kitty litter.  Now this is the part that is going to blow your mind!  These bins hook onto the bottom of the cart giving you extra room for your groceries!  My Mom and I discovered this while shopping one day when we saw a woman hook them on.  Not only does this give you more room for food, but if you're hopping with kids, it allows you to get up to 3 kids into the cart (two in the seats and a bucket seat in the top) and still be able to fit all your groceries!  I personally wouldn't want to shop with 3 kids but sometimes it has to be done!  *NOTE: I'm aware that you aren't supposed to put bucket seats in the carts but sometimes it's the only way to get the shopping done.  Just make sure that seat is secure and won't tip or fall out and you should be fine!

Packing your own groceries is definitely one of the things that used to drive me nuts about Superstore, especially with Roman.  How am I supposed to fill bags, keep Roman entertained, and not hold the line up?  Maybe I just over think this whole business but I swear I can feel peoples eyes beating down on me as I scramble to pack up my groceries and get out of the way.  Tell me I'm not alone?  Green bins to the rescue!  They make loading your groceries back into the cart extremely easy, and I can usually have 85% of my groceries loaded by the time the cashier is done scanning them. 

I realize I haven't divulged any top secret information here but hopefully these tips will make your Superstore experience a little more enjoyable.  Who knows, maybe I'll see you at 7:00am in the vegetable isle!

Dollar Giant Haul - Fall 2014

This is a bit of a random post on a random day.  I hummed and hawed trying to decide if I should even bother doing this post, but I found some super cute things that I just had to share.  I wanted to get this post out fairly quickly (hence the strange day) so there was a chance for you to find these items in store.  This type of post won't be a weekly event but if you like this type of post let me know and I'll try to do them whenever I have a successful shopping trip!

So I originally went into Dollar Giant looking for a magnetic note pad for the fridge.  I love a good To-Do list and I had used up all the paper on my current one.  Would you believe I didn't find a single one in the store?  Isn't that the type of product dollar stores are built on?  The shopping trip wasn't a total failure though.  As you can see I managed to find a few other things that just had to come home with me.  Bella also liked what I found, particularly the cat window cling, but she might be a little bias.

I have to start with the gem of the trip.  When I walked into Dollar Giant they had a large sign on the door advertising "Solar Turkeys"!  That's right, solar turkeys!  My Mom and I have a small obsession with these tiny solar, bobble head, creatures.  Usually they are flowers, so when I saw these turkeys I knew we both needed them.  My Dad and John were a little less excited by the tiny treasures, I can't imagine why?  I personally don't want to be known as the girl with a dash full of bouncing solar creatures so I switch mine out when I get a new one, unlike my Mom.

Halloween isn't a big holiday for us.  Don't get me wrong, I love handing out candy and seeing the kids all dressed up, but I don't usually put up many decorations, if at all.  I tend to save all my creative juices and cash for Christmas!!!  Now that Roman is growing up and can actually enjoy the decorations, I decided to pick up a couple small things.  I love window clings because they are decorations for inside and outside, and they are easy to put up and take down.  They had several different characters but I liked these two the best.  Once I got them home and looked at my windows I decided I wanted one set for each window, so I'll have to stop in and grab two more sets one of these days.



I love to fill treat bags for the little goblins at Halloween and as soon as I saw these little sticker boxes I new I had to have them.  18 sticker boxes for $1.25, I'm in!  Who wouldn't want to get stickers while Trick-Or-Treating?  The green floral foam circles, orange ribbon, flowers and tin vase are for an Autumn Flower Arrangement that I plan to make for our kitchen table.  I LOVE fall and all the beautiful colors of the season.  I don't normally decorate for fall either but I'm thinking it's something I need to start doing.  When I was little my Mom always had decorations out for every season/holiday and I'd like to continue that tradition with Roman.  Plus who doesn't love buying fun décor for the house!

To go with my sticker boxes I picked up some candy corn print treat bags.  These ones have sandwich bag-like closures on them which will make them much easier to close once we fill them up.  I personally like the treat bag idea because then I don't have to worry about each kid getting the same amount of candy.  Everyone gets a bag and it's much quicker to grab 4 bags rather than 4 handfuls of candy.  40 bags for only $1.25, how can you go wrong?  Plus I remember loving finding treat bags in my pillow case!

The last item I picked up were these pumpkin and corn fridge magnets.  I have a few sets of these (a snowman for winter and a bunny rabbit for Easter) and they are a great way to dress up the fridge.  Now that Roman is older he loves to play in the kitchen while I cook or clean.  We have (had) a set of the classic magnetic letters but most of them have vanished, never to be seen again.  Where in the world do those things go?  Roman loved the bunny rabbit so I thought the pumpkins would be great for fall.  They still end up all over the kitchen but at least these are easier to find and don't send you tumbling when you step on them.  Those letters are as bad as Lego!

So that's what I came home with in place of my magnetic To-Do list.  Not a bad haul and I only spent $26 including tax!  This is why I love the dollar store!

Panko Pork Cutlets

It has been a long time since we had pork in our house, so I thought I would bring back a classic.  John and I used to visit Butcher Boy Meats for our meat and they had the best pork cutlets I've ever had, super thin and super fresh!  So fresh in fact that when asked if they had any more cutlets than what was in the meat case, the butcher brought a side of pork to the counter and cut some cutlets just for me.  It doesn't get much better than that!  Unfortunately we aren't close to them anymore so I just used regular grocery store pork chops.  I also recommend picking up one of the giant pork tenderloins at Costco for about $30 and cutting your own pork chops.  You get major bang for your buck that way!

 

I LOVE Panko bread crumbs because they never become soggy like regular bread crumbs. They give the pork cutlets the perfect amount of crunch that you look for in a breaded dish.  They also toast to a beautiful golden brown color which makes for a great looking dish.  For me the perfect side for pork cutlets is mashed potatoes!  How can you go wrong with creamy mashed potatoes?  I prefer mine unpeeled and on the chunky side.  Interesting fact - most of the nutrition in a potato is in the skin!

Panko Pork Cutlets
4 boneless pork chops
1 egg
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2T dried parsley
2t smoked paprika
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Cover the pork chop with plastic wrap.  Using a meat mallet, or a rolling pin, pound the pork chop out until it is 1/4 inch thick.  An ice cream scoop also works well but be warned that the scoop might not survive.  Rest in peace cow ice cream scoop *tear*.

In one bowl mix together the Panko, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper.  In a second bowl whisk the egg.  Dip each pork cutlet into the egg, then coat both sides with the Panko mixture.  Shallow fry the pork in oil for 2 minutes on each side until cooked through.  Set on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

If you are freezer cooking, pound out and crust pork chops as directed.  Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop them in the freezer.  Once they are frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag.  To serve, thaw and fry as mentioned in the recipe or bake them in the oven!

If you want to make a gravy for your pork cutlets, add a bit of flour to the oil leftover from frying the cutlets to make a roux.  Then add some chicken stock, salt and pepper.  Reduce the sauce for a few minutes and you have yourself some delicious gravy!

Follow Us Friday - The Solo Mission

Today is going to be a crazy day!  Roman has swimming lessons tonight and John has his monthly meeting after work so I'm on my own for supper and the night time routine!  I guess it's only fair since John was on his own to put Roman to sleep last night while I was at my fitness class.  Let the craziness begin!

I also just want to put a disclaimer out there.  I am aware that my son is covered in spots.  It's not chicken pox or measles, he unfortunately jus takes after me and had an adverse reaction to the penicillin he received for his recent infection.  Just wanted to put that out there in case you think I'm taking my infectious kid out in public!

8:00am - Breakfast
Since Roman has recovered from being sick he's been sleeping later than normal the last few days.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm just used to getting up early and getting the day started!  We've already missed 2 hours of the day!  For breakfast Roman had a scrambled egg with vegetables, blueberries and milk.  I had a couple Breakfast Burrito Bites, but I think that will be the last day for that since they were the last ones.  I really need a freezer cooking day!

8:30am - Odds & Ends
Our vacuum recently kicked the bucket and we decided to bite the bullet and buy a Dyson.  We usually buy a cheaper vacuum but we're really tired of buying a vacuum every year.  The Dyson wasn't cheap but I have to say, the stuff it pulls out of our carpet is revolting.  The first time we used it I had to empty the canister twice just after vacuuming the living room!  The novelty of the new vacuum hasn't worn off me yet (I hate vacuuming with a passion) so I did a quick trip while Roman held the cord.  Much to Roman's dismay it was also nail cutting day.  He used to be so good with this but lately he hates it.  I think it's because it requires him to sit still which doesn't happen often anymore.  Of course after sitting still for a whopping 2 minutes he was raring to go as soon as I let go of him.

9:00am - Outside!
It was a little chilly out this morning so we bundled up and headed outside to play.  Roman has a bizarre fascination with tires, specifically the lug nuts.  I'm not sure if this is something John is secretly teaching him or something he does on his own, but we often have to walk up and down the street checking the lug nuts on all the vehicles/campers/trailers parked on the street.  I'm sure our neighbours think I'm scoping out the contents of their cars.  Hopefully there aren't any break ins or I know who the prime suspect will be!  Roman also discovered a small sandbox in the middle of the street!  The City of Moose Jaw is notorious for their horrible roads and ours in no different.  Great for toddlers, not so great for our vehicles.  To complete our play session in the front yard we took a bike ride around the crescent!  I recently found Bronx's ball in the back yard and Roman is loving playing fetch with him.  I'm not so crazy about Roman also carrying the ball around in his mouth but I guess it could be worse?

 

10:00am - Snack Time
John picked Roman up some strawberry banana Minigo yogurt last time we went grocery shopping so that is what he has been having for a morning snack lately.  After demolishing the yogurt, Roman sucked back an apple fruit pouch and a little milk.

10:15 - Play Time
With Roman full and happy it was time to destroy the living room.  At least that's what it looked like to me.  He immediately dumped out all the food from his play kitchen; which officially signals the beginning of the day in this house.  If you have young kids I highly recommend getting them a table and chair set.  Roman got this set from my parents for his birthday and he literally lives at it.  He's always hauling things onto it, shoving them off, and repeating.  He also likes to sit in the chairs and look out the window.  I'm sure it won't be long before he wants to eat his snacks and meals at the table, which I'm sure Bronx will love given the height of the table.

11:30 - Lunch
Sometimes it seems like all I ever do is cook, at least that's what it feels like when I'm writing these blog posts!  For lunch Roman had leftover meatloaf with veggies and milk.  He gobbled it up in a hurry so he must have been hungry!  I had some leftover beetniks and one of my "healthy" pops.  This time I mixed strawberry kiwi juice in with my club soda, delish!

12:00 - Daycare
Roman hasn't been to daycare since he caught his bug over a week ago, so I was pretty nervous for the drop off.  Like normal he got a little upset once he saw the building outside the vehicle, but the drop off went surprisingly well.  He went to his favorite person with his chooch (soother) and I didn't even see him cry.  It could be that he started once I was around the corner but I'm going to pretend that he didn't cry! 

12:30 - Get stuff done!
Whoop, whoop for daycare!  I love that I'm able to get things done each day while Roman is in daycare.  I'm really going to miss this time once the month is up!  I started by finally cleaning up the garage from a recent project that I finished.  Don't worry the blog post of it will be coming soon!  My next victim?  The craft room!  I'm desperate to get this little oasis up and running so today I finally got the work table set up.  Once John screws the top down it will be go time!  Well, I guess I'll have to organize it all first... yay.  With perfect timing John came home for lunch so I got to sit and visit with him for a bit.  It's so strange to be able to sit and have a conversation without having to pause for a scream from Roman or to pick up a sippy cup for the 10th time.  Finally I decided to get supper started so it would be basically ready for when Roman and I got home from swimming lessons.  Roman now likes to help with all meals so the more I can do without him on a chair beside me the better sometimes.

4:00 - My baby!
This is when I learnt a tiny tid bit that shocked and terrified me.  Roman didn't nap at all!  His teachers tried everything they could to get him to go down but he fought them tooth and nail.  He was still in good spirits when I picked him up, but to say I was a little nervous for swimming lessons is an understatement.

5:00pm - Swimming lessons
Roman LIVES for the water.  I really don't think he could be any happier than when he's in the pool.  Today we worked on back floats, front floats, jumping in from the edge and Roman also learnt how to blow bubbles!  He was so proud of himself!  It's a lot of work to get a toddler in and out of the pool for a 30 minute class, but how can you deny him something he loves?  Especially with that face!

6:30pm - Supper
Roman and I had spaghetti with chicken, mushrooms and homemade alfredo sauce.  Thanks to my pre-cooking, supper was a synch!  All that was left to do was boil the pasta and reheat the sauce.  As you can tell it was a hit with Roman.  Really as long as you serve this kid pasta he's happy.  Such a little Italian boy.  On another note, I don't know how people have kids without dogs.  Seriously though!  I can't imagine having to pick up all that food all the time!  The dogs are much more efficient and I just have to mop up at the end of the day! 

7:00pm - Tubby Time
Since John is at a meeting tonight Roman has to put up with me doing the bathing.  We had a dandy time splashing, swimming and blowing bubbles.  Not a tear was shed and I consider that a huge accomplishment considering how long he was awake!

7:45 - Bed Time
Roman had 4oz of milk and collapsed into a heap in his crib.  Completely asleep.  Can't imagine why he's so exhausted...

8:10 - Mommy Time!
Every parent knows that you don't start doing something the second your kid goes to sleep.  That's just asking for them to wake up!  After a safe amount of time had passed I decided it was time for Mommy time!  Lately I've been loving face masks; clay, sugar, peel off, even chocolate!  Tonight I decided to use a face polish that has activated charcoal and sugar in it.  Of course no night is completely without a cup of tea!  Tonight I went with a Maple Sugar flavoured black tea.  Yum yum!

Saving Money on Electricity

Now that we are a single income family, I've been searching high and low for ways to cut back on our monthly expenses.  My first victim, the power company!  This is one expense that in my opinion can always been reduced.  We are all guilty of wasting power whether we are aware of it or not, and little changes can make a big difference over the course of a year.  Obviously some of these tips aren't anything earth shattering or new, but hopefully they help you trim your power bill down.  Might I suggest using the money you save to purchase a nice pair of shoes, piece of jewellery, or I guess you could save it.

Turn off the lights!  This is something I think every household struggles with.  In our house the problem room is the kitchen.  Because we are in and out of that room all day long, lights often get left on.  Case in point, they are on right now and nobody is in the kitchen, except the cat.  Turning off lights is a great job for kids.  It gives them a sense of responsibility and pride knowing that they are helping.  When Roman was only a few months old I started showing him how the light switch worked in his room.  Granted it was more of a "hey this is neat isn't it?" activity than it was an exercise in saving electricity, but now every time we leave his room he leaves over to turn off the light.  The grin on his face when he turns the light off is priceless, let hope he stays this enthusiastic!

Unplug it if you aren't using it!  Did you know that anything that is plugged in continues drawing power even if it isn't turned on?  Who knew!  Obviously you don't want to be unplugging and plugging in your stove all the time, but with smaller appliances this is an easy money saver.  I always make sure to unplug the toaster, coffee maker and cell phone chargers.  Obviously this isn't going to make a huge impact on your electricity bill, but every little bit helps!

Use your furnace fan and open the windows instead of the air conditioner!  With the heat wave we've been experiencing this summer it seems like the AC has been running non stop, day and night.  Every time I hear it kick in I swear I can also hear money running out the front door!  Unfortunately we live right beside a busy rail yard with trains smashing in to each other all night (it's not as bad as it sounds and you get used to it), so opening the windows at night isn't really an option.  I try to open the windows first thing in the morning, but if there isn't a breeze out it makes if difficult to cool it off in the house.  Enter the furnace fan!  I have to give all the credit for this trick to my Mom since she is the one who told me about it.  Instead of running the AC, switch your furnace fan from Auto to On.  This will suck all the cold air from the basement up and circulate it through the house.  Genius!  Even on a hot day I can keep the AC at bay for at least a few hours before I have to break down and turn it on.  But that's still a few hours of savings each day!

Turn off the TV!  I'm super guilty of leaving the TV on while I'm playing with Roman, cooking, or even typing a blog post (like I am right this second).  Nobody is watching it but nobody turns it off either.  I'm not sure what the obsession is with having the TV on but it needs to end.  We have a plasma TV so leaving it on not only eats electricity, but it also heats up the living room, which in turn makes me want to turn the AC on.  What a vicious cycle!  I'm turning my TV off right now!  Oh, Marilyn Denis is on.....maybe I'll turn it off after Marilyn....Hey nobody is perfect!



Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Protein Oats

Yes, that's right, you can have peanut butter cups for breakfast, and it's good for you!  Okay so its not actually peanut butter cups, but this tastes so much like it that you'll feel like your having dessert for breakfast!  If you've been following my Follow Us Friday posts you know that this is a very frequent breakfast of mine.  It's super quick, tasty and it keeps you full until lunch!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Protein Oats
1/3 cup quick oats
1 scoop chocolate protein powder*
1T peanut butter
2t agave syrup or sugar
boiling water

In a bowl, mix oats and protein powder together until well combined.  Add boiling water and stir.  You can add as much or as little water as you like depending on how thick you like your oats.  Stir in peanut butter and agave, and enjoy!

*If you don't have chocolate protein powder you can use unflavored protein powder and just add 1T of instant chocolate pudding powder.  It doesn't taste quite as good but it's still yummy!

I love having protein in the morning but I don't always want to or have time to cook eggs.  Plus by the time I add in toast, milk and maybe a little cheese (I hate plain eggs), I've eaten 1/3 of my calories for the day and I'm hungry in a couple hours.  The chocolate is satisfying, the oats and protein powder fill you up, and it's only 400 calories!