THM yummies

I have had to learn new ways of combining foods and have tried a few new recipes. Here are some of my new favorites.

This was my breakfast one day. Egg whites scrambled with green peppers and onions and covered with homemade salsa, slices of a crunchy delicious yam, and THM Trimmaccino (a delicious hot chocolate with a fluffy foam cap).

A delicious E lunch. Waldorf salad. 

Diced apple, celery and almonds mixed with a cup of blenderized cottage cheese mixed with stevia and cinnamon. Yum! 

A yummy little S snack. Cream pops.

Cream cheese sweetened with stevia and mixed with some skinny chocolate then frozen into little Popsicles. Delish!

Yummy, quick S breakfast. Cinnamon muffin in a mug. Topped with cinnamon cream cheese sweetened with stevia. 

What's not to love about a way of eating that allows you to eat this kind of food in quantities that leave you full AND helps the pounds drop off???

Good things:

I'm still happy with this plan after 2 full months

I've lost almost 10 pounds

I saw a number on the scale I haven't seen in about 7-8 years!!

Joy School Christmas program

On the last day of Joy School before Christmas, Curtis and I got to go see their rendition of the Nativity Story. Charles was a shepherd and I was pleasantly surprised to see him participate in the play. Later when they sang their Christmas sings the real Charles was back. He stood in place, chewing on his fingernails and sang not even one single note! 

After the singing the kids were to take a plate of goodies to their parents and he hunched his shoulders and hung his head and stomped in and out of the kitchen to do it. For someone who does not like to draw attention to himself, he's awfully good at it!

I am thankful he has had this opportunity to be in a group setting with kids his age before he is thrown into kindergarten at school next year. It hasn't been easy for him, but it's been good for him. I hope he will have good memories of his time inJoy  School.

Good Things:

Sweet little voices singing loudly off key!

A wonderfully patient teacher

My husband's job which gives him flexibility to attend things like this!

A little Christmas Day project....

Weve been contemplating removing the cupboards from above our peninsula for a while now, hoping that it would give the kitchen a more open feel. 

With Mom's ok, we decided we'd use the afternoon hours of Christmas Day to do that. 

We emptied out the hanging cabinets, unscrewed them and down they came. Amazing!! It did just what we hoped it would. Just a small, no cost job made such a difference!  Our kitchen and dining area now feel like one large space rather than two small cramped spaces. We love it!!

Prepping the cabinets for removal.

The cork board that has been on the back for almost 40 years is scraped off.

Cabinets down, time to remove the one on the wall which will be replaced by swinging around onto the wall the ones we already removed.

Removing the soffit. I'm do thankful Curtis knows how to do this stuff, and then repair it to look finished.

Mom smiling in the background. Her comment, 'Why didn't we do this years ago?'

The newly repaired soffit and moved cabinets and open countertop. So much space!!

A look at our new, open kitchen concept. 

Eventually we will get all new cabinets but this small thing has made such a huge difference. I love my kitchen now!

Good things:

A handy man hubby with skillz!

Light flowing into both kitchen and dining area

Mom allowing us to use her home.

Dueling or duet-ing guitars...

We had a nice, rather quiet Christmas Eve with Grandma B and Karla's family. We ate some Mexican food and visited. At one point Cambria and Allie got out their guitars and showed us their stuff. They are both still learning, but it was fun to listen to them and I'm thankful they'd be willing to share their developing skills. I think Grandpa B would be very proud of   them. He would occasionally share his accordion skills too. If we begged hard enough!

Good things:

Living near family!!

I love that Cambria and Allie have this in common

Peaceful Christmas Eve! No running around with crazy schedules!

Gingerbread

Last year after Christmas I bought a cookie cutter that cuts out all the pieces needed for a tiny gingerbread house in one cut. The kids were excited to try it out this year. We made the dough from the recipe that came with the cutter. (It was divine!) 

We cut out lots of house pieces and then cut other shapes til the dough was gone.

Baked. And decorated. Ate candy, but managed to get some of it stuck onto the houses! Fun activity to spend some family time in the days following Christmas. I imagine we'll do it again next year. I will for the gingerbread! It was delicious!!

Sadie's house

Charles' house

Cambria's little estate 

Hannah's house with no snow

James' house

Soren's interesting house

Good things:

A large, open countertop on which to work

Creative children

New traditions!

My own little kewpie doll!

James has a habit of twirling his hair as he drinks his bottle. This is what the results are. 

A cute little twirl/swirl of hair at his crown. 

Good things:

His bottle was left for Santa to use for baby reindeer. No more bottles for James!!

He still twirls when he's eating food now

Next challenge: potty training!

Playing Little House on the Prairie

I was trying to make the boys some lunch on Halloween day and I could not get the stove to light. I wondered if Curtis had forgotten to pay the Questar bill. We microwaved something for lunch and when I texted Curtis I found out that the entire town had no natural gas service. 

Thus began our exciting 'Little House on the Prairie' adventure. 

We went on through our day, waiting hopefully for it to be restored. I had plans to make mummy pizzas for dinner. But after we got back from trick-or-treating it was obvious that wasn't going to work. I told the kids we'd go to Taco Time. Guess what? no gas for them either. We ended up at home microwaving something to eat. Again.

Curtis was gone on a football trip to Rich and so that night I brought everyone into my room where we just ran the one electric heater. It was a little crazy but I felt better knowing everyone was warm. 

The next day we had to dress very warmly and we moved the little electric heaters into the area where we were so it wasn't too bad. We again just ate what we could nuke or eat cold. We all slept in our own beds the second night and Curtis got home around 2 am. 

At 8 am on Saturday morning, there was a knock at the door and there were the Questar heroes, here to get us back up and running with natural gas heat. 

It's amazing how it just takes a few hours without a utility to realize how blessed(spoiled) we are and how much we take these things for granted. I need to be more resourceful and know what I need to/can do to care for my family's needs if such a situation were to become permanent.

Good things:

Warm bedding and blankets

Warm clothing

An electric water heater! No cold showers.

A view of our 'cabin'

also known as Mom and Dad's room

First snow of Winter '13-14

Although there really wasn't much snow, that did not deter the boys from going out in it to play. There is something magical about that first snowfall of the year. (By Feb, it gets old!)

Not a lot of snow for snowballs but that didn't stop them from trying to have a snowball fight.
James and Charles

Probably ought to put boots on, boys!

Almost got you, Charles!

Trying to catch snowflakes on tongues is a must!
James 2, Charles 4

My attempt to become a THM*

I can't believe I'm actually allowing this picture to be seen. It's frightening.

For years I have watched my weight slowly but steadily creep up to numbers I had never seen unless I was pregnant. No matter what I did I couldn't drop any weight unless I exercised like a fiend, (not something I could keep up for more than a day) and/or starved myself.

I had reached a point where I had just accepted that I would never be thin again and I was trying to not be sad about it. 

In August as I was reading through blogs the name of a book kept popping up. Trim Healthy Mama. I had never heard if it but I was intrigued. I looked at the website for the book and googled it to see what I could find about it. I found that a couple of people I know of from other things (DYT) were having success with it. I joined the FB page and started learning as much that way as I could. When I got a paycheck I bought the ebook. I printed it out, all 650 pages, and began reading.

As I was able to, I bought the things necessary to eat sugar-free and lo-carb. I have been loosely following it since the first weekend in Nov and to date I've lost 8 lbs, and an average of an inch off all my measurements. I started at 174.2 and today I weighed in at 166.

And I've done it by simply not combining my fuel sources at meals. I either eat meals that are most fat fueled or mostly carbohydrate fueled. I have exercised a bit but not more than 20 minutes/3 days a week. And I never feel deprived or hungry. 

To say I'm happy would be putting it mildly. I feel so liberated to have found a way to reduce when weight creeps on and how to maintain a loss for more than a month. I no longer have that sad feeling that it's inevitable that I'll be chubby for the rest of my life. I know I can be trim and healthy. I'm so thankful for this information that I believe I was led to. I believe it was an answer to my silent prayers about my health and weight!

another nasty 'before picture'
I hope to have some nice after pictures one day soon.

the 'strange' things i ordered from Swanson vitamins to get me going.
Whey protein powder, Apple Cider Vinegar, Glucomannon, Psyllium powder,
Milk Thistle capsules, Rooibos tea packets
What in the world?????

This was the first time I made 'Good Girl Moonshine"
It's a tangy drink made from Apple Cider Vinegar, ginger, stevia and lots of water and ice.
I wasn't sure about it the first time I tried it, but Charles slurped it right down.

Trim Healthy Pancakes with Raspberry sauce. YUM!!

Good things:

Watching and listening to my girls in their band and choir concert

No one has thrown up in almost 24 hours

A large washer that can handle tons of bedding

'Good Helper!'

James has been helping with the dishwasher unloading procedure since last spring. He's had a lot of practice at it since then, at least one load a day. I try to thank him for his help and praise him for a job well done.
One day he said to me,"I good helper." And I had to agree with him. He is a go-getter, always wanting to do things, by himself - "I do it!", "I do it myself!", and when he wants to do them, which is usually right now if it's his idea.
I love that he is willing to try and do things and isn't shy or reticent about it. He just jumps in and gets things done. He is definitely project oriented, like his Grandma B. It will be interesting to watch him grow up and see what this boy can accomplish with that kind of attitude.

His daily job, helping unload the silverware from the dishwasher.
He's really good at it, when he chooses to be.

sometimes he doesn't care to put them neatly in the drawer, sometimes he does.

Good Things:

Heaters to warm this house during this Arctic Cold spell

Doing THM/weight control/exercise accountability with my sisters.

Preparing things to return to part-time work as a nail tech...

Saving a book!

I picked up this book at the library sale. I've been wanting it for my personal library for a while, so when I saw it there I snagged it. 

But the binding was falling apart and the pages were coming out of the book. 

I knew I had to do something to preserve it and so I started searching the internet for ideas on how to save a paperback book. 

Here you see the pages coming loose...

I found instructions for Japanese book making and decided that that would be the easiest, least expensive way to try to save this book. I began by removing each page from the old glue binding.

Removing the pages from the binding. Felt strange to tear pages from a book.

Then I removed the spine part of the cover and kept the front and back covers. I poked 4 holes through the covers and pages in the recommended places according to the instructions. Then I used a length of dental floss and reassembled the book, following the directions.

Here you see what it looks like inside the book...

I was not as satisfied with the dental floss as I wished. It has a bit of give and it slips off the ends when the book is opened. My intention is to find some thicker, stronger twine and rethread it, but it's not high priority right now.

I am happy that the book is in one piece and can be used with care and I'm thrilled to have found a way to inexpensively save books that seemed doomed.

Good Things:

Christmas Movies as a family

Reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever as a family

More snow!

Glitter pits-Thanksgiving 2013

On Saturday afternoon we loaded up the vehicles and headed south and east of St. George and just across the state-line into Arizona to the 'Glitter Pits'. They are a deposit of gypsum where the tailings piles shimmer and shine in the sunshine. Local legend has it that the gypsum was mined and crushed and mixed into the white finish on the St. George Temple. That would explain why that building is so blindingly white and shiny that you cannot actually look at it when the sun is shining on it without hurting your eyes.
This is such a fun place for families and for little kids. They can run and play and find beautiful rocks to keep and to throw. My only concern was that they might fall off the piles into the quarry hole.
We had a picnic lunch while we were there and after we left here we went on down the road a ways until we found a spot where we could set up a makeshift shooting range. The guys and some of the kids and moms took a few shots at some bowling pins. More rockhounding and playing in the sand occurred. It was a nice day out in the country and we all enjoyed the day.

Checking out the tailings piles of gypsum crystals. They really do glitter in the sun!

Soren-one of my rock loving boys, looking for the perfect piece.

Ethan and Charles, comparing rocks.

The ground was absolutely littered with crystals. It's interesting stuff. It's smooth and can be quite clear, but can be peeled into very thin flexible (to a point) layers. Also known as selenite or mica.

I tried to capture the glitter, but I just couldn't get it. You'll have to use your imagination.

Montana found his new pair of glasses. So attractive.

Hills to climb! Rocks to find! What more could a boy ask for?
Soren, James and Charles.

This hole allowed us a peek into the inside of the deposit. The crystal layers went every which way and were so beautiful. The pictures just don't do it justice.

Another shot trying to show the reflective ability of the gypsum. The whole wall of the pit was shiny crystal which shimmered with iridescent colors in the sun.

A shot to show the depth of the pit.
(notice the man in the dark shirt on the left who is picking out crystals with a pickaxe.) 

Our stash of keepers!

Dad's big find.