April Fool's Day Idea for Kids

I'm all set for April Fool's Day in the morning!

More fun pranks planned for later in the day. My kids will love it!

#79 - Go to the gym five days a week every week for a month

image credit

For some reason, over the last 18 months or so, I've allowed myself to get pretty out of shape. I still workout, I go to the gym, I try…I do...but not too hard.

For months and months, I've been waking up and putting on my gym clothes, fully intending to exercise. But all too often, I'd busy myself all day and never leave the house. At night, I'd get changed out of my (virtually clean) workout clothes and feel like a complete slacker.

Several weeks ago, I committed to scheduling mandatory gym time into my day in the same way I'd schedule any other appointment. I made sure everyone was awake with plenty of time to eat and clean the kitchen and make it to the 8:30 cycle or weights classes. Getting it done first thing in the morning was the only way I could assure it would actually happen. 

So here I am, almost 7 weeks later, and I can feel huge changes in my body. There's less jiggle and I feel stronger. Going to the gym 5 days per week has become a habit and I hope I can keep it up for months to come!!!

#79 is definitely crossed off my 101 goals in 1001 days list - and a habit was formed, which was my intention!

Getting Healthy

I have felt helplessly out of shape for way. too. long. I blame the beginning of this downward spiral on having a stupid cast last summer. Being out of my gym routine for 6-8 weeks and unable to chop and dice my daily salad proved disastrous. Truth be told, I'm still not back in the habit of eating salads for lunch every day and my cast was removed in August. It's been six months…enough with the excuses!

Once we returned from Hawaii (and after my quick-turnaround trip to Dallas for a convention) I decided to tackle my health head-on. My body responds really well to exercise, so committing to cross off #79 on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days seemed like a good place to start.

#79 - Go to the gym five days a week every week for a month

And while I was at it, I decided to tackle #28 too. 

#28 - Take either weights and/or kickboxing class every week for 3 months.

Unfortunately, my favorite kick boxing instructor no longer teaches at my gym, so I'm counting on the weights classes to pull me through that goal. And considering my Cycle/Spin teacher is brutal, I'm counting her class in that category. My goals, my rules!

Both of these goals have the ultimate goal of losing a few pounds, which would cross off another hefty item off the list. 

#95 - Lose 15 pounds

I'm down 4-5 pounds from when I originally posted my 101 in 1001 list, so it's a start! I still need to get serious about reducing my portion sizes and am considering giving up butter for Lent. (I've been adding butter to everything lately!) All of these things combined has to help me shed a little weight, right?

I'm two weeks into my month-long goal of hitting the gym 5 days a week and WOW! I can already tell a huge difference in my body. I put my hands on my hips today and realized there's significantly less to grab!!! Let's hear it for small victories!

My weekly routine is: 
Monday - Spin Class
Tuesday - Weights Class
Wednesday - Zumba
Thursday - Weights Class
Friday - Spin again

These classes are not for sissies…I hate every minute until it's over. This past week, I had a freezer meal workshop on Wednesday morning, so I missed Zumba. By the time I got to the gym, all of the classes were done, so I hopped on the treadmill. I surprised myself by jogging for about 10 minutes, then walking a bit, then jogging another 7 before I had to finish with walking again. Crossing the other goals off my list might get me closer to #29, which I haven't done in more than 3 years!

#29 - Jog for 30 minutes straight

I think the key there is going to be to get my legs in shape again and increase my lung capacity. I'm hoping to cross that one off sometime in March. We'll see!

The best decision I've made is to force myself to get to the gym daily. I was doing the Bikini Body Mommy Workouts for a while last fall and again after the New Year, but found myself wandering around the house in workout clothes all day, only to take them off (without a bead of sweat on them!) before bedtime. I need to work out first thing in the morning and get OUT of the house to do it. Or it won't happen. Period.

Another reason I should stop working out at home - one kid or another snaps pictures of me in the weirdest positions!

So here's to getting healthy. The scale isn't moving as quickly as I'd like, but I can feel myself getting stronger and my body is already feeling firmer. Progress…it's what keeps us from giving up, right???

A Perspective on Parenthood

I've seen this floating around online, but just in case you haven't taken time to watch it, please do. It might help you get through the exhausting week of motherhood that lies ahead. Go hug your kids and appreciate whatever phase they're in, because it will be over too soon!

Detoxing my Sugar-Addicted Family

It is no secret that my family loves dessert. I love to bake, Mike is an ice-cream-o-holic, and our children…well, they've been doomed from the beginning.

But recently, I've been less than amused by the constant longing…craving…of sweets whenever possible. The boys, in particular, hone in on the 1% of our pantry which is sugar-laden treats. Rice Krispie Treats are gobbled up in less than a day, cookies and brownies don't stand a chance in our house, it's ridiculous. And I'm no better than the little addicts I've created.

Since our Christmastime bake-fest, I've significantly cut back on making desserts and have stopped buying any and all snacks containing sugar. For our morning snack, we generally have fruit or Greek yogurt, afternoon snacks are mostly vegetables and hummus or chips and salsa. No more granola bars, no more trail mix (Jason didn't think I noticed that he only ate the M&Ms), no more.

We haven't been perfect (most of January has consisted of traveling and getting back into our routine) but things were improving. Kind of.

Then we went to a Super Bowl party yesterday. There was pizza, 7-layer bean dip, potato chips, veggies and dip, mixed nuts, guacamole and salsa…plenty of savory (even gluten free) options. But it wasn't good enough. Where did the attention of my children fall? On the cupcakes and bowl of Valentine M&Ms. Most kids are drawn to the sweet stuff...I get it! I'm right there with 'em. But seriously, it was like a moth to a flame, if moths were allowed to beg, plead, negotiate, and whine for fire. I was appalled at the depth of their sugar addiction.

So this morning, I took a different approach. Instead of banning, restricting, lecturing teaching them about the harmful effects on their bodies, and preaching to them about making "healthy choices", I searched on You Tube for "the effects of sugar on the body" and showed my kids a couple of videos. 

And IT WORKED!!!

They pulled out our cereal boxes and compared the Nutrition Facts on the Go Lean vs. the Joe's O's. They created charts of what they'd eaten so far today and we looked up the calories and sugar, continuing to track them for the rest of the day. By the end of dinner, the kids had only eaten 5 grams of their maximum daily recommended 16 grams of processed sugar. (We didn't track the sugars in unboxed foods like fruits, veggies, and meat) So what did they do? Grabbed a {1 gram of sugar} chocolate covered almond, ate a {5 grams of sugar} Dove dark chocolate, and finished their dinner by slicing up an apple. 

I was so proud!

Now let's see if we can continue this trend tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

Jason's First Plane Ride

The kids have been ecstatic about flying to Hawaii for weeks. If they didn’t have Christmas to look forward to in the meantime, I might have gone crazy with the anticipation in our household. Jason had never been on a plane and Ryan hasn't flown since he was a year old.

I spent the early part of last week thinking of every last thing to pack. I tend to dread packing and my mom finally told me that it was because I always forgot something when I packed myself for summer camp every. single. year. And now I have anxiety about forgetting something obvious.

But not this trip! I had a backpack full of electronics (iPad, iPods, iPhones, my laptop for movies), DVDs, healthy snacks, unhealthy treats, baby wipes, and napkins. I even packed an empty grocery sack for trash on the plane...I seriously thought of everything! I had another backpack full of books, games, workbooks and Rainbow Loom materials for the big kids. I had a third backpack full of gift-wrapped trinkety toys and activities to keep Jason occupied. (my international world traveler friend swears by wrapping one Dollar Store item per hour of travel to keep kids entertained and to eliminate drama when something is dropped and rolls to the back of the plane or is left behind at the terminal.)

Yes, I totally used up my "Wedding Wishes" wrapping paper for our airplane gifts!

We were up and loading the car at 4:15am and standing in line to check our bags within the hour. I got up to the counter to be told that our 6:45am connection flight through L.A. has been cancelled. No. NOOOO!!!! We got in another long line (along with the gazillion other passengers who wanted to get to L.A. or Hawaii that morning) and somehow got on a direct flight that would only get us in 3 hours later than originally expected. The problem was that there were only three seats together and two of us would have to sit randomly in other parts of the plane. 

We decided to deal with that later, grabbed breakfast and settled in to our gate with just four hours to spare before our new flight departed.

At 10:45am, the attendants finally arrived at our gate. Mind you, we arrived at the airport 5.5 hours earlier...keeping the excited kids occupied while Mike and I were walking zombies was a joke. I explained to the staff person that we were told they could shuffle some single passengers since children can’t sit alone on a 6-7 hour flight. The man seemed uninterested in helping me, but somehow, by the grace of God, after I'd given up completely, it all worked out. Originally, he reassigned Mike and Ryan so they were sitting together only a few rows away from the rest of us, but when I shouted a “Thank you!” as I boarded the plane, he grabbed Mike and Ryan out of line and placed them in the row directly across from us. It pays to NOT be the squeaky wheel sometimes!

None of this has to do with my story except for the fact that Jason was asking every 15 minutes all morning, “Mo-om, can we get on the plane now?” I put him in the window seat. 

Jason: “Are we in the air yet?”

Me: "Do you see the sky below us?”

Jason: “No.”

Me: “Then no.”

(1 minute later...)

Jason: “Are we in the air yet?”

Me: Do you see the sky below us?”

Jason: “No.”

Me: “Then no.”

(imagine this conversation repeating 3-4 times...)

Jason: “When are we going to fly in the air?”

Me: “In about 8 minutes.”

(1 minute later...)

Jason: “Has it been 8 minutes yet?” 

Me: “No. It’s been 1 minute.”

Jason: “So there’s 7 minutes left?”

Me: (sigh) “Yup.”

(imagine this conversation repeating every minute for the next 7 minutes...)

Jason: “Why aren’t we in the air, Mom?”

Me: (veins are officially pulsing at my temples) “We’re probably in line with some other planes, waiting. Please be patient and stop asking.”

Jason: "Mom?"

Me: "Please. Stop. Asking. For real."

At some point in the next 10 minutes, we finally take off.

Jason: “Mom, I have to go potty.” 

Me: “You can't go potty, buddy. The seat belt light is still on and it’s pretty bumpy. I put you in a Pull Up just in case this happened...just pee in the Pull Up. I have another one for you to put on.”

(I’m not kidding when I say, I feel like I thought of everything!!!)

Jason: “No...I have to go POO.”

Me: “Oh.” (grabbing a nearby flight attendant) “Miss? When will the fasten seat belt light be turning off? My son has to go to the bathroom.”

Her: “Probably soon.”

Me: “Can we sneak in there real quick?”

Her: “Nope. You really must stay seated.”

Jason: (tearing up) “Mo-om! I really need to go NOW!”

Me: “I’m sorry, honey. You’re going to have to hold it.”

Jason: (screaming now...at least it felt like it) “MOM!!! I have to go. NOW!!!”

Me: “You’re wearing a Pull Up, so if you need to go in your pants, we’ll just clean it up. It’s fine...just go.”

Jason: (sobbing now) “I CAN’T!!!”

After 5 minutes of him wailing, I grab a different flight attendant. 

Me: “Excuse me? My son is freaking out. He has to go to the bathroom immediately.” 

Her: (looking past me, at Jason, who is suddenly perfectly calm and playing on the iPad) “Sure - that’s fine,” like it’s not a big deal at all and a little suspicious of the drama I’m creating.

Mike jumps in at this point: “I need to go, too. I’ll take him.”

A few minutes later, I peek toward the restrooms and see Mike flagging me over.

Me: “What’s going on?” 

Mike: “He’s crying in the bathroom, asking for you. He won’t let me help him.”

I go into the bathroom to find Jason stark naked from the waste down. The toilet has poop both in and ON it, but it’s also down his leg and on the floor.

Jason: (sobbing) “Mommy! I pooped on my LEGS!”

Me: (somehow, still perfectly calm...probably because Jason is freaking out enough for the both of us) “It’s fine, sweetie! Let’s get you cleaned up.”

300 tissues, 225 paper towels and 3 flushes later, I peeked out of the bathroom and asked Mike to get me the package of baby wipes from one of the backpacks.

While he searched through every zipper pocket of every backpack, I bent over to see if the Pull Up was able to be saved. Not only was there poo on the edge of the Pull Up, there was poo all over the inside of Jason’s right pant leg. 

(It was at this point that I realized I had NOT thought of everything. Extra pants would have come in pretty handy about now.)

I used AT LEAST half of the brand new package of baby wipes trying to get the pants clean enough to put back on him. At this point, they’re soaked, but we have no other option.

When we get back to our seats, Jason asked if he could sit by Daddy. 

I thought that was a lovely idea! 

#6 - Take Mike and the kids to Hawaii with my Tastefully Simple commission

Wondering where I've been lately? Of course you haven't, because I've been posting all of the organizational projects that I completed from my 101 in 1001 list while the kids were on Christmas break.

It looks like I've been super motivated, right? In actuality, this has been my view for the past 7 days. Details and photos to come from our trip to Maui…soon.

#68 - Go through books in bookshelf and donate what we'll never read

BEFORE in October, 2010
I used that space on the floor as a dumping ground for garage sale items.

Long, long ago, I went through my horribly-cluttered bookcases and made them pretty. Looking at them made me happy. Not many things in my house were worthy of an "after" picture at that time, but my bookcases were functional, organized, and definitely easy on the eyes.

Here we are again, nearly six years (and a whole 'nother kid in our family) later, and I knew it was time to comb through the bookcase contents once again. We have so many books that have been, and will continue to be, ignored. I had to solicit Mike's help with this task, since many of the books belonged to him. He was in anti-hoarder mode and had the "donate, donate, donate" mantra!

While going through the lower cabinets, Mike found the original plans for our house. (Um, why are we keeping those, again…?) Along with a huge stack of binders and paperwork that we recycled (that's the pile in front of his knees)

The final donation pile

AFTER

#68 on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days is done!