National Anthem & a Hockey Game

On Tuesday, Zach's Honor Choir sang The National Anthem at a Thunder Hockey game!! They were all SO excited!!

Lily was super excited that her BFF Allison was there too! :0)

Zach walking in to sing!

 

They were in a weird position, so this picture was taken through glass. (We were actually behind them.) :0(

 

Jumbo-Tron picture of them singing: 

They were awesome!! :0)

Then the game started!!

Zach got to come back and sit with us after they sang.

He had lots of fans come to listen to him. :0)

My dad & Riley:

My mom came too, but I don't have a picture of her.....


Lily, Jeff, and his mom:

And my niece Rachel, and her son Ares:

Some of us on the Jumbo-Tron!! (there's my mom!) ;0)

And Thunder Dog even came over to our section!

The kids had fun watching the game (and eating popcorn & drinking pop...), and we all loved hearing the All Saints Honor Choir!!

Low Carb BLT Wraps & "Fries"

Since I am trying new recipes here & there to help control my blood sugars & lose weight, I thought I would start sharing some of my favorites here on my blog.
Before I share my first recipe, I want to share a few condiments that I love that are low carb. Since I have been looking at nutritional info a lot more now, it is crazy to see just how many things have carbs. I'd rather get my carbs from things that are healthier than condiments, so I have been looking for ones that are low in carbs & are yummy. That's not always easy. The first one is this Fire Roasted Chipotle Mustard. Regular mustard is  a "free" food because it has 0 carbs and 0 calories, but I'm not a huge fan of plain mustard, so when I found this one that has "less than one carb" and 5 calories for 1 teaspoon, & I liked the taste, I was happy. It is sweet, but spicy, and is yummy on sandwiches or with chicken. :0)

I just found this dressing & I love it! If you love red peppers, you will too. It's sweet and tangy. It only has 60 calories and 3 carbs for every 2 tablespoons. That's pretty good for dressing!

I found both of these are Dillons (Kroger).
**I am not being paid to advertise these, I just liked them & thought I would pass them along. :0)

Now, on to the recipe!
I made Low Carb BLT's with "fries". The fries were actually butternut squash. I cut the squash up into slices, then added salt, pepper, and olive oil.

I put them on a pan, and cooked them at 450* for 30 minutes. (Which was way too long, so next time I will cook them for 20 minutes & then check them.)

While those were cooking, I started the BLT wraps. I needed a head of lettuce, tomato, lean bacon, and light mayo.

While I cooked the bacon, I cut the tomato up into chunks and then added salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of light mayo.

I cut up the bacon,

then put the tomato mixture and bacon on a lettuce leaf & wrapped it up.

I took the fries out of the oven & realized they were a little over done. They were still good though! They were even "Lily approved" and if you know Lily, you know that means they have to taste pretty good, because she is a super picky eater!

I had two wraps and about a half a cup of butternut squash. It was yummy & very filling!

The squash was about 8 carbs & 31 calories. (for 1/2 a cup) The wraps were about 8 carbs & 160 calories. (for 2 wraps) So 16 carbs & 191 calories total. Not too bad for a yummy dinner!

Snowman Day!

Jeff & Zach went to the Trappers Campout last Friday & Saturday, so Lily, Riley, & I were left at home alone. I decided to let them have some fun too, so we had a snowman day! I made pancakes for Lily & Riley & turned them into snowmen! I made pancakes of two different sizes, used mini chocolate chips for the eyes & mouth, M&M's for the nose & buttons, and a little whipped cream for snow.

They also got hot chocolate in their snowman mugs!

Carrying on the snowman theme, for lunch we had snowman grilled cheese sandwiches. I cut out circles in bread & cheese, and made the sandwiches. (Be warned though, this wasted a lot of bread...) I added raisins for the face & buttons, and pretzel sticks for the arms. They really liked these too!  

After lunch we made snowman using shaving cream "paint". To do this, you need liquid glue, shaving cream, and iridescent glitter. (and construction paper)

Use equal parts shaving cream & glue, and mix together.

Add glitter and mix that up.

Then make your snowman on paper. We used light blue paper & sponge brushes to paint the snowmen.

You want to lay it on nice and thick so it's puffy.
The kids decided that they wanted to add more glitter when they were done with their snowman shape.

Then they used more construction paper to add to their snowmen:

Here are their finished snowmen! I think they are so cute!!

I loved the way these turned out! They are glittery & shiny & they are puffy and soft when you touch them.
I think we will do this again, but add food coloring and different colored glitter to make different kinds of pictures!!

A New Way of Living

So, for awhile now, I have been asking God to help me get more motivated to lose weight and get back into an exercise routine. (which hasn't happened since I was pregnant with Lily.) I had not been feeling well for awhile and when I went to the doctor to get blood work, I was thinking they were going to tell me I needed more iron. Well, on January 2nd, I got my blood results back. Iron was not the problem. I was diagnosed with diabetes. Which shouldn't have been super surprising since it does run in my family, my dad has had it for years & does an awesome job of keeping it under control. (And me being overweight probably didn't help either). But, I was still surprised and not too happy. I think I was in denial for the first few days. I thought that if I just stopped eating carbs & sugars that when I went to the doctor again, that they would tell me I was fine. I wasn't. In fact, I probably have had it for about a year. So, note to self, go to the doctor when you don't feel good. Don't wait!! After my second appointment (and then going and bawling on my mommy), I was not in denial, I was (and still am) in full learning mode. I have completely changed my eating habits, I have started exercising again, and I have even lost 14 pounds so far. My blood sugars are at a good level, and I am feeling better. I am pretty proud of myself. I do know that this is a lifetime change, and I am OK with that now. I know I will slip up and eat something I shouldn't, but I will not continue to slip up, because I want to be healthy for my kids and Jeff. But mostly for myself.

I am putting this out now, because I was afraid to tell anyone before (besides my parents & one sister who happened to ask how my blood work came out). I don't know why. Embarrassment maybe? Scared of people's reactions? Scared to admit it to others because it made it more real? Maybe it is a combination of all three. I do know that I have an amazing family and a supportive family. No judgment, only people who listen and let me tell them what I am doing and just being supportive. And I guess I would like to bounce ideas off of other people as well.

So, while this is not where I saw my life going, and it would not have been my choice of how I got motivated to lose weight, it is what it is, and I am finally listening. It may be hard at times, but I am going to make the best of it!

Pinewood Derby 2014

Saturday was the Cub Scouts annual Pinewood Derby. The boys both made cars, and Lily made a car for the Outlaw Race again.

Lily's:

Riley's:

Zach's:

The Cub Scouts all race against each other trying to eliminate another scout.

They also have the Outlaw Races at the same time, so it gets a little confusing at times. The Outlaw Races are for anyone who is not a cub scout that wants to race.

My nephew Johnny is a cub scout this year & raced a car!

His older sisters, Tabitha & Alyssa also raced cars. Here they are racing each other. Taby was a little excited that she beat her sister.... ;0)

As was Riley when he beat Zach:

The Outlaw winners! Taby's BFF, Mia (whose brother is a scout in Riley's troup) won 1st, Lily won 2nd, and Taby won 3rd. Way to go girls!! 

The Cub Scout winners! Link (Mia's brother) won 1st, Riley won 2nd, and Zach won 3rd. Great showing boys!!

They were all pretty excited to win and to bring a trophy or medal home. I guess Jeff is getting pretty good at building these cars! ;0)