Back from Fast~ An Update

Well, it was hard to take a week long break from blogging. I went ahead and checked email and went to my Weight Watchers site each day to add points.

Update:
Last Friday, June 22nd, precious Elesha went to heaven! She is now healed and cancer free. Praise God for that! Pray for her faithful family. You need to go to her blog and read about her last days and all about her funeral and burial. It is so touching and life-changing to read this family's words about their daughter. I will never forget Elesha. I learned many lessons about life, death, and the Lord from this tiny little girl and her parents.

Last Friday was also my oldest child's 13th birthday!!! Yes, I now have a teenager living in my home. I will not even go there!
She is a wonderful, sweet, loving girl and we are so thankful God gave her to us to love and raise. Happy Birthday, Allie!

Weight Watchers progress~ I gained 2 pounds last week. I am not sure how this happened because I followed my points. I didn't exercise last week so maybe that is the deal. This week I have been on the treadmill every day. Hopefully that will kick start my weight loss and I'll be back on track this week. Roni lost all of her stuff on her wonderful blog! She is pretty upset about this, but she is going to rebuild it so we'll still have an inspiring, encouraging place to go for WW help.

This week my 7 year old sons and my 4 year old son are in Oklahoma with grandparents. I only have 4 kids at home so I feel like I am on vacation! ha ha They will be back Sunday.

Also on Sunday I am taking dd13 to church camp and I am going to visit my aunt and grandmother, whom I haven't seen in one year.

We were supposed to close on our construction loan Friday but there is a kink we have to work out. It may be next Friday before we can close. I am getting excited but also nervous about starting such a huge project.

That's all I have time to write! Gotta go feed Baby!

**Oops! I forgot to tell you that my sweet friend Leslie and her family are going to rent our house for one year! This is an answer to prayer for both of us! They are moving back here from out of state and needed a place to move to, and we had an empty rent house, as you read in my last post. Thank you all for praying for us. God is good!

A Fast

Last night Hubby and I had to evict the tenant who is living in our rental property. This property is for sale because we decided a few months ago that we are not in the right financial state to own a rent house at this time in our lives. So we put it on the market in April. The tenant was going to live there until it sold.
Well, tenant hasn't paid rent, so he has to move out. This puts a huge burden on us financially. The whole reason we are selling it is to avoid having to pay the mortgage while it sits empty. So we have just added several hundred dollars to our monthly expenses. I have been very upset about all of this, and have spent hours looking over my budget trying to figure out how to make ends meet.

The reason I am telling you all of this is so you will understand what is going on in our lives.

I go very quickly from normal to stressed out. It seems like life with 7 children can take you from Happy Mom to Nutty Mom in about an hour, sometimes less. The house can go from cleaned and pretty to disaster area in very little time, because if all of us make a little mess here and there, pretty soon it is chaos. Not doing the dishes one night after dinner can off set my entire next day. Not doing the laundry for a day or so can mean a week's worth of catch-up. So, this financial crisis plus a couple of days of mess have shut me down.

I shut down when I reach a certain level of stress. I can only handle so much and then I just go numb. I can't think clearly. My mind is foggy and I am tired. I have prayed and prayed and asked God to take care of this mess. He is the wealthiest Father out there, so I know He can handle this. My logic tells me that my Super Daddy will take care of it and everything will be fine. But I also know that when He takes care of us, He does what He knows is best, not what we think is best. I don't always like that. It is usually uncomfortable and makes me stretch my faith. I don't necessarily want to stretch my faith right now.

Right now I want to buy 11 acres and build a pretty yellow house with a wrap around porch. I want to close on the loan on July 6 like we have planned. I don't want to have to let that dream go. I want my children to grown up in that house and I want my grandkids to come stay with us there, in this town, on that piece of property. I don't want God to say, "That isn't what I have planned for you."

I am taking a week long fast from the Internet. I tend to zone out on the computer, especially the Internet, and let other things go. This week has been one of those weeks. You have probably noticed the multiple blog posts each day. Needless to say, I have let other, more important thing go. I have ignored my children and my home. I have ignored the mountain of laundry that is growing (Mt. Never Rest). I have eaten out and spent too much money (okay, that has nothing to do with too much time on the Internet...). The list could go on.

Now it is time for me to refocus, stop crying, and let God put me back together and show me what to do. I know He can and will take care of us. He gave us these 7 kids; they are each a gift from Him. He wasn't surprised by any of them, even if we were. : )
I know that He will not give us gifts and then not equip us to take care of them. I know He will not let us starve or be homeless. We are loved and well cared for by our Daddy, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

Please pray for us this week.
Pray that we will hear His voice, that He will speak to us.
Pray that He will give Hubby and me peace in the midst of this small storm in our lives.
Pray that our rent house will sell.
Pray that our financial issues will be resolved.
Pray that we will learn from this and not make the same mistakes in the future.
Pray that we will honor God with the money He gives us.
Pray that our children will understand. We are going to have to make some sacrifices that they will not like. Pray that they will be understanding of this.

A List

I am overwhelmed right now so I made a list. That always makes me feel more in control, even if I don't get any of it done. :)

To Do List

1. Start over with morning routine
2. Take kids to library program
3. Eat lunch at home
4. Put ironing board away
5. Work on laundry- today is mine and hubby's laundry day
6. Call mortgage broker- what is status of loan?
7. Take hubby’s clothes to cleaners
8. Buy contact solution
9. Call and find out what time eye appt. is Thursday
10. Balance checkbook
11. Sweep kitchen floor
12. Make bed
13. Cleanup living room floor
14. Take picture of stuff to sell on eBay
15. Mail check to Pathways lady
16. Make a list of thank you notes to write
17. Buy stamps online (Oklahoma stamps and 2 cent stamps)

Ah, much better.

Time Travel Tuesday~ My First Cooking Experience

The first cooking experience I remember was when I was 16 and pregnant with dd12. I was very careful with my nutrition, since I was a pregnant teen. I had read that I needed 100 grams of protein a day, so I counted out everything. I remember cooking grilled cheese in a cast iron skillet and eating it with tomato soup because it was supposed to be healthier that way. I can't remember exactly why at the moment.

Is making grilled cheese really a cooking experience?

My next real cooking experience was when hubby and I were newlyweds. We had been married about 2 weeks, and we lived in this cute little house in Norman, Oklahoma. We had a tiny kitchen, and I remember spending so much time on this elaborate meal for my new husband. I thought it was elaborate, anyway. I was so proud of it. I made some kind of tex-mex burgers. They had guacamole on them and Monterrey Jack cheese in the middle of the burgers. Yes, it took me forever to make them. What I remember the most vividly is hubby biting into one, with me watching expectantly, and he said, "This really isn't my favorite meal. It's okay though." Ha!
I was crushed! I got so mad!

After that I just remember getting out cookbooks and teaching myself to cook, one recipe at a time. Annie helped me learn to cook with her spinach lasagna. That was one of the first things I could cook well. I still make that often.
I must say that I remember as a young teen, my dad asking me if I wanted to learn to cook venison. He fries venison and it is so delicious. But I said no, I didn't want to learn. I wish i had taken him up on that offer, because I still haven't learned to fry venison the way he does. : )

Please go over to Large Family Logistics and read their news!

My Before Picture and My Goal

Here it is, the Before Picture! This was taken on June 10th, and I started Weight Watchers on June 12th.

And this is my goal:

This was taken in April of 2003, after I completed my first Body for Life 12-week Challenge. I am about 40 pounds heavier now than I was in this picture.

So there you have it! My Before Picture and my Goal Picture. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get back to that.

I have several goals that I want to meet along the way. I will post about those some other time. Thanks for all of the support I am getting from you, my family and friends. It helps me so much.

Oh, one more thing, if you haven't heard the song by Mark Harris that I have on my playlist, you just HAVE to click on it and sit and listen to it! It is a great, meaningful song. Moms, it may make you tear up. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Weight Watchers Progress

Today is my weigh in day. I have lost 5 pounds! Yippee!

The best thing is that I don't feel deprived. I hate feeling hungry and deprived all the time. That just won't work for me. I'm not into starving myself. I love to eat! Right now I get 33 points with WW because I am nursing. I get to add 10 points for nursing. Thank goodness!

I am going to add a "Before" picture of myself later. Then I plan to add a picture every 4 weeks or so.

Have a great Monday!

Monday: Spaghetti, garlic bread, some kind of veggie, maybe a salad
Tuesday: omelets, toast, apple turnovers
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken, zucchini fries, sweet potatoes
Thursday: Crispy Baked Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, corn on the cob, green beans
Friday: Salisbury Steak, noodles, Green Bean and Tomato Salad
Saturday: out of town
Sunday: Grilled Chicken Fajitas, baked tortilla chips, salsa

Did y'all notice that I am loving Roni's Weight Watchen recipes? I have already tried the Crispy Baked Parmesan Crusted Tilapia and it is delicious, easy to make, and quick. Hubby even liked it and the only seafood he likes is shrimp, and it has to be blackened! So the fact that he likes the tilapia is amazing!

I did pretty well this week with my WW plan. Tonight I overdid it a bit (ate the rest of Baby Girl's slice of pizza then ate another slice and THEN ate some 94% fat free popcorn!! And this was after all of my points for the day were gone and I only had 2 of my extra weekly points left!!!). Tomorrow is day 1 of week 2. I'm excited because I know WW is healthy and is working. I am going to follow the plan and get rid of my extra weight once and for all. No more weight problem for me.

Our oldest 2 children are in Oklahoma at their grandparents' house. Baby Girl, the twins, and ds4 are under the weather. So Baby got his picture taken with Daddy! Everyone else was lying down watching a movie and feeling awful. I left my digital camera out in the rain a couple of weeks ago and now the flash doesn't work. That's why these pictures are so dark. Time for a new camera.

Happy Father's Day, honey! You're the best dad and husband ever!

An ER Visit!

I have to make this short, because I have a lot going on around me. Baby Girl has had fever since Tuesday, in the 102 range. Yesterday she was screaming and crying of stomach pain and her fever had gotten to 102.6. Her pediatrician wasn't in so I took her to the ER (her pediatrician was at the hospital doing her rounds).

Okay, I was going to make this short, wasn't I?

Baby Girl has strep throat and a urinary tract infection. This morning I have 2 more with fever, headaches, and stomach pain. So we have an appt. at noon with the pediatrician.

So much for that trip to Oklahoma I was planning next week. Oh well, maybe everyone won't get it and we'll still be able to make the trip. I was planning to go to Oklahoma Monday and stay through Saturday at my parents' house with dd12, Baby Girl, and Baby. The 4 older boys are going to the other grandparent's' house.

Here's a cute picture I took last week.

Have a great weekend!

A Change of Plan

I know, I know, I know, I told you all about The Best Life Diet and how it made so much sense and all of that. But then, I went to Bob Greene's website last night to join the online thingy. I ran into some problems. First of all, they do not accept debit cards. I don't know how they would know if it was a debit card versus a credit card, but they made it very clear that they do not take debit cards, only credit cards. The second thing was a questionnaire that I had to fill out to join. It asked, "Are you pregnant or nursing?" Well, yes, I am nursing. It told me that I can't join the online thingy because their diet is not for nursing moms. That doesn't make sense to me because the diet is healthy and balanced and it will work for everyone, nursing or not.

So, I headed over to weightwatchers.com. I have done Weight Watchers online in the past and it worked for me. But, in the past, they did not have a program for nursing moms online. Now they do. And, they take debit cards. So I joined WW online. I am excited about it. And I can still follow the Best Life diet guidelines if I want to. It is all about being healthy and both of those plans are healthy and balanced. Plus, I love the fact that I get extra points for the activity I do! : )

I signed up for 3 months and if all goes well I will keep going month-to-month after that. One blog that I have read for a couple of years that is very inspiring is www.weightwatchen.com
It is the online journal of Roni, a new mom, who lost 70 pounds doing Weight Watchers. She is amazing! It is always encouraging to read her blog. I especially love her menus and recipes, and also her food finds. You HAVE to look at her pictures!! The whole website is great!

I plan to put a graph in the sidebar to show my weight loss progress and also put pictures of my weight loss journey, like Roni has done. Of course, I won't post any pictures or weight loss progress until I have actually made some progress and I have something to brag about. : )

Yesterday our cleaning and laundry did not happen. I'm not sure what happened, but I know the house is not clean and the laundry is still in dirty piles. Add to that a friend who showed up to spend the night and when her mom dropped her off she said, "I'll see you Thursday!" Huh??

Anyway, I hear Baby Girl crying and Baby is hungry, so I had better go!

Monday Morning~A Menu and An Update

Monday: Spaghetti, sweet peas, garlic bread
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Pecan Salad, Salad, rolls
Wednesday: Spaghetti Pie, Garlic Cheese Toast, Strawberries and bananas
Thursday: Lemon Pepper Grilled Fish, Wild Rice, green beans, apple turnovers
Friday: leftovers

Today is our clean up and laundry day. We spend Mondays recovering from the weekend and getting the house cleaned up. We work on laundry all day long, too. Right now I am taking a break while the baby is sleeping, the laundry is washing, and the big kids are busy doing their assigned jobs. All is calm, for the moment.

I have been walking twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. DD12 and I are out the door around 6 a.m. and we usually walk for 20 minutes. I jog a little bit, but mostly walk. This morning dd did not want to get out of bed so I went with Baby Girl and ds9. Hubster and I have been walking each night for 45 minutes. We take the babies with us, Baby in the Baby Bjorn carrier and Baby Girl in the jogging stroller. Needless to say, I am getting lots of exercise. It is fun!

I have to tell you what ds4 just said. He is holding Baby for me and he just said, "Uh oh, his head's falling off!!" He meant that his head was falling to the side. LOL

Last Christmas I bought a book called The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene. I read it then and decided that when the baby was born, I was going to use that diet to lose the weight. Well, here I am with a 6-week old baby and I need to lose about 35 pounds. I have lost all of the pregnancy weight and my old clothes fit me, although some of them are a bit tight. But I was overweight before this pregnancy.

The Best Life Diet has 3 phases. I am in Phase One. These are the guidelines for Phase One:

• a minimum of four weeks
• weigh to get your starting weight, then no weighing for at least four weeks
• focus on moving more and changing your meal patterns.
• increase your activity level
• stop eating at least two hours before bedtime
• eat three meals, including a nutritious breakfast, plus at least one snack daily
• stay hydrated
• take daily supplements (multivitamin, omega-3, calcium)

I like this plan because it makes sense. It focuses on things that are healthy and subtle. I have done other programs in the past that worked really well, but were too hard to follow for life. I want to lose this extra weight but I also want to make lifestyle changes that I can stick with.
I really recommend this book. I also bought the journal to go along with it because I do better when I can write down my progress and have something to look back on for motivation in the weeks to come.

Oh yeah, he also suggests that you quit smoking during Phase One and stop drinking alcohol for now.

Baby is now awake and I have kids telling me they are bored. Looks like it's time to assign more jobs. This house is far from clean. Don't worry, I do my share of the housework! I know it sounds like my children are my slaves, but believe me, they are far from that!

Wordless Wednesday