Afternoon Snacks

One thing I have learned in this weight loss journey is that snacking is good for me. But I don't mean sneaking bits my little people's snacks like I used to. My typical go to snack in the afternoon is an apple and it has be that color to hit the spot!

Sometimes I pair it with a cheese stick. I usually have a coupon for these and the yogurt so it makes it affordable!

I do like variety so the apples are always in fridge for when I run out of yougurt and other fruit.

I had blueberries and strawberries today!

I used to gorge myself on chips and salsa. It was really the salsa that I enjoyed the most. Granted I do love chips and I can down a bag of jalepeno kettle chips really fast but I have learned to not eat them everyday and if they are around me to count them out. I love the Special K crackers and I really enjoy The Laughing Cow cheese. I have also put the cheese on celery. A lady at one my WW meetings suggested salsa and carrots. It is also one of my favorite snacks. When I eat a snack in the mid afternoon I tend to be less hungry at dinner and my portion sizes choices are better too! It has really helped me lose the 52 pounds. I have 7 till my WW goal and I would really like to be 10 under that :) But its not really about the number as it  is about clothing sizes and how tone I am.

Pete's Birthday Weekend!!

                                                  Pete and my friend Mindy share a Birthday!! This year we thought we would celebrate us moving back to Oklahoma and their birthdays together and since it fell on a Saturday it worked out.
 

We watched the OSU Cowboys play at Texas A&M. We all sat mad and unhappy the first half. Then the 2nd half  we all got a lot of exercise jumping up and down off the couch... All our little people were with grandparents for the day so we were really able to watch the game and enjoy it!
After a nail biting win we helped our friends put OSU flags in their neighbors yard that are Texas A&M fans.

There was like 18 of these. Our friend broke his collarbone last week and so he had lots of time to come up this idea.

Pete loves Crabtown. On our budget its a special treat but well worth it!

The girl in the black with green lettering is a foreign exchange student that is staying with our friends till May. I wish I would have thought to take a picture of her face when they dumped the crab boil on our table and everyone dug into with their hands..

But I was too busy eating...

Parade Part 2..

Ryan was so excited to go to his first parade! He made a candy catching friend immediately!

Lily wasn't a fan of  the loud noises at all.

Ryan loved these!

This looked like something Pete would make

Proof that boys never really grow up!

Can't wait till next year cause that BBQ sandwhich was that yummy.oh and Ryan had a blast.

Carnival and Parade Part 1...

We got to take the little people to the carnival and parade last weekend. Pete and I also got to eat the best BBQ brisket sandwich, and yes I was down 1.8 at weigh-in.. If I dont write my food down I have to give my friend Suzanne a dollar for everyday. This has been awesome in helping me focus on my goals. Just the kick in the butt I needed!!!

Ryan and Lily loved the carnival. We were excited that Lily wanted to ride the carnival rides this year. I have great childhood memories of riding carnival and fair rides with my sister. It's defianetly a special treat and we are teaching Ryan to use his tickets wisely but he is still a work in progess when its time to go home.

Here's some more carnival pictures...

...fun family time!!

Fly soup anyone?

So we are more settled in Perry now. Granted, I have to organize my craft closet but overall feeling settled. So I have been in dinner rut. I decided to go through all recipe books and write down recipes that looked like it would fairly simple and yummy to eat! 

I love cookbooks. Especially ones with pictures. But I haven't really ever went read them with the intent of making meal plans.

I also love a new notebook. I came across this one one clearance at Walmart for 50 cents. Its my dedicated meal idea  notebook now and I put what book and page number the recipe can be found in.

Then in my other notebook I am writing down my weekly meal plans so that I can remember what was made - I can write down what the family thought about it. (OK so Lily doesn't count because she is so picky,LOL) Also want to keep track so that I don't repeat a recipe over and over wear it out too much.

I got this menu board at a garage sale a few years ago. I try to keep some flexibility during the week because sometimes things come up and change the afternoon or evening plans so I have some fast quick meals (sandwiches, fish sticks) that can easily be substituted if it's needed like this week when we ended up taking wheat to the co-op to get cleaned for planting so Tuesday nights meal ended up being at Braums. Ryan requested baked ham, corn and grapes for his birthday dinner on Wednesday. I was really excited to try baked potato soup on Thursday. Its my sister in law Lori's recipe and it smelled awesome cooking and tasted even better! Well that was until Pete got to the bottom of the bowl and found a cooked fly. He was not happy. Bless his heart, he has survived alot of my cooking experiments over the years. So when I walked in the kitchen I wasn't really surprised to see he had rewritten my menu plan for TThursday and Friday. Since I threw out the leftover soup we are having BBQ pork chops not fried possum as Pete seems to have requested!  I do print off recipes off the Internet and cut them out of magazines but its nice have other resources and not be dependent on the Internet all the time.

suddenly September...

I have been wondering where August went and then I realized we moved from Kansas to Oklahoma so thats where the mental gap went (moving with little people will make u loose your mind here and there). But I don't miss August it was 105 way too much. Lily is 2 1/2 now and is reminding me some of Ryan at that age. She lines her toys and foods up in row. Not as much as Ryan but some.

We have got to be outside alot the last few evenings and relax.

Ryan loves taking pictures and being in them alot now. He ran the battery down on Pete's phone taking pictures.

This is the "Look" Lily has her on her face most of the time.

A moment where they are getting along and relaxing!