Day 1 of 5 of Single Mom to 4; 2014 Edition

Wayne left this morning to Colorado for a conference on using some awesome laser cut machine (I think) with some fellow teachers. Basically it's a man cave men's trip with some hours of learning useful, fun and cool stuff. Honestly I can't wait to see how that machine works!! Some way cool stuff can be made and I want to learn myself. 

....and I can't say much because I went on a business trip last month that totally kicked ass (Philly- yet to be blogged because it was so big and so awesome). 


Here's Day 1:

Wayne was here for breakfast, which he made for everyone, had the lunches done last night, a roast in the crockpot and the sink clear of dishes. (All his chores, at least for this semester. I did lunches and breakfast last semester.... through Thanksgiving anyway. I keep hoping if I continue to shove more of it off on him he will want to buy hot lunches, or with any luck, give up entirely and let me stay home again <haha>). He took Jake in to daycare in Belle on his way into the High School as usual. All in all, we didn't feel our impending struggle yet. He rocked his exit.


The boys and I even got out of the house at 7:10 instead of 7:20 and were able to drop off the Preschooler first then park at the school and make the bus instead of flying down the hill and slamming on the breaks in front of the bus lane to keep the busses from pulling out while the older boys piled out, followed by a mad dash around the corner, up the hill and across the service road to the preschool and back just as quickly to rush into the building 5 minutes before the bell. I'm sure it was an illusion. It will not go this smooth the rest of the week. 


The school was crazy with all that is May. I spent most of my morning collecting calendars, compiling calendars, dissecting calendars, assigning staff to events and scheduling meetings. 

Luke visited the school this morning with his preschool....

It was lunch before I knew it. We had decided to order our local (and best) Mexican, Guadaljaras,  takeout for lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.....

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!





The afternoon went just as quickly doing the same thing, only in preparation for next school year. I received a text at some point which informed me that Andy's game was in fact tonight instead of tomorrow and he needed to be at the fields at 4:30. Great. On the up side, it's Teacher Appreciation Week and a wagon came around making us Italian Sodas. I chose Peach....mmmmmm!!!!

Then I had an IEP meeting, cleaned up and impatiently waited for the boys to get off the bus, hurried them out the door, grabbed the other 2 kids from 2 different towns and ran home to change.

We all got our gear, a cup of the roast meat, a jug of water, the camera and the stroller then flew out the door to the ball fields.....






















Andy is a magnet for head shots.


I found two of my students from Spear there.....

Jake was incredibly entertained all evening....

 




















A storm was rolling in....

Luke's on the green team this year.....

3 HOURS LATER......



We got home to find Vanilla's rabbit hutch open!!!! She was okay and wasn't eaten by the neighborhood cat, but I was LIVID!!!!!! The damn delinquent neighbor kids are going to catch the wrath of Miss Kandi soon. 


Next it was a snack, some homework and a thunderstorm.....

I LOVE ancestry projects and Andy came home with his first one. He had 3 questions to answer for my side and Wayne's side on which countries we originated from, about when did we immigrate, why and where did we first settle? 

After calling both grandma's and grandpa's, we filled in some gaps I couldn't remember and found out some new fun facts:


Wayne's Side....

Tonsagers came from Norway, possibly could have came from Vikings, kick ass!

Feterls were crooks. One branch changed his name multiple times to get more bank loans. Another evaded Germany to avoid the German Army. 


My side....

Walker's are royalty (King William Henery Howell of Wales & a Cornwall guy too) and the earliest Walker traced was Hillary B. Walker in 1782.

Amans were Pennsylvania Dutch Amish. Brushed that culture a bit in Philly and will gladly claim it. 


Here's one of our ancestry sites that tracks King William Henry Howell down to my great grandpa Leslie Howell. 

http://howellresearch.com/WmHenryHowell-NC_IA.htm

But I know there's one out there that goes all the way to Andrew himself that I would like to find for him to show at school. 

I found me here:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=maris&id=I264050 

Like I said, I like this stuff ;)

Currently my well hydrated and very talkative husband is annoying me on the phone and Netflix won't connect on Chromecast so I'm watching "Look Who's Talking". 



Overall....too busy to notice. Check back tomorrow. 

Final #s of the 24 Day Challenge last month....

I had a lot going on and never did get this posted, but I want to move on to a series on my Philly trip, so before I do that, here are the final numbers from my 1st Advocare 24 Day Challenge......

Still have work to do, but it's a start. 

Final #s lost: 8

I also forgot to take about a week’s worth of supplements which is HUGE. If I had taken them, I gaurentee I would have been in the 10-12lb range. As it is, I am saving them for after my next cleanse phase in May/June.

Final inches lost: no clue,

Wayne never did measure again for me. Noticeable amount though.

Final clothes sizes lost: 2

I can comfortably wear my jeans and I can get into my dress pants again….I’m not going to say those were ever or will ever be comfortable….they’re Dress Pants!!!

Did I think it was “worth it”?

The question I have been asked so many times along with 

“did it work”?

These questions go hand in hand….obviously it worked. I lost weight, inches and clothes sizes. I also had my cravings reset and formed new habits. I had more energy and felt less BLAH. This is exactly what I went into it for.

Examples:

I had a sluggish period mid morning and mid afternoon where I was just lethargic, groggy and unfocused. I also was ready to go to bed by 8:30 every night. When doing the challenge, I overcame the sluggish periods and was able to go longer through the day and get more done. It’s been a month since taking the supplements and I can feel myself slipping back to where I was energy wise. I finally ordered and received some spark and can’t wait to get back to drinking it every day.

I used to drink tons of milk a day, a pop a day, and craved things like chocolate, cream cheese products and comfort foods high in carbs and fat. Now I rarely drink milk (I get enough calcium), I don’t have to have comfort foods every meal and actually crave raw veggies and instead of chocolate, fruit for my sweet tooth.

I have been working for over a year to get back to running instead of walking. On the challenge I started a running regiment that works for me. It was the push I was looking for. I’m working up to running longer and farther verse walking parts. It feels amazing and has been a long time coming.

I have been approached with many weight loss solutions and diet plans. I have tried a few throughout my pregnancies and after. I also struggle with diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome, which are a deadly combination for a hell of a battle with weight, especially around the middle. Many are restrictive, don’t allow for the protein I need to maintain my blood sugar and most leave my feeling starved and unsatisfied. I can honestly say, any time you try any of these, that will likely happen for a few days but if you can make it through those days with Advocare, it provides you with a portion guide and suggested food list that is not terribly restrictive and meets dietary needs.

It was also not terribly exspensive. I’ve seen quite a few 10 day challenges or cleanses or whatever name they claim, which are far more pricey and more restrictive. I am not one who will ever entirely replace a meal with a beverage. I like my food, I need my food, I WANT my food. I can rock the right foods and the right portions, but I have to have food. The 24 days were less expensive than I’ve seen many 10 day challenges as well. I was able to purchase a 24 Day Challenge, an additional 10 day cleanse and a huge canister of Spark for less than what a friend paid for her 10 day challenge with another product that she could not finish because it was nearly all drinks no food. So, yes, again, I feel like this was the best option out there.

Now to stop sounding like an infomercial testimonial, I will quit trying to sell you on this product line. That’s not my intension here anyway. I am just sharing my story to hold myself accountable.  ( I kind of like my storyJ  )

Days 19-22

Friday:  

   Friday was scrambled eggs for breakfast, Spark, almonds, leftover chili for lunch….then there was this:

And this:

And this:

And some of this:

And some of this:

Buuuuut it was a BLAST!

If only Redden would have brought his wife.

Saturday:

We slept in slightly on Saturday, the boys & I, while Wayne was running a mat at National Wrestling in Spearfish.

I made myself an Egg Sandwich for breakfast but it tasted terrible to me so I stuck it in the fridge and had planned to make something else, but never got around to it.

 

I worked on my bedroom and closet all morning  day.

Cleaning your house is like a slider puzzle, you have to slide everything one direction to clean an area, then slide it another direction to clean that area, ect, ect.

My goal was to get the clothes out of the living room by cleaning my closet and organizing it so all of Wayne and I’s clothes could be put away in there. Almost completed it. A few straggling articles left.

At lunch I made the kids mac goulash, but I didn’t like it. Sooo I got a frozen cup of soup from the freezer and ate most of it.

The boys made unsalted popcorn for snack, I had a handful.

Cleaning was a workout in itself, but then I ran on the treadmill. I meant to do C25K Week 2 Day 2, but forgot to switch it, so instead I started over at Week 1, day 1. It really did feel like I needed to go longer and harder on the run. I upped my pace and it felt awesome.

For supper we went to a neighbor’s 30^th Birthday party. That was FUN as well.

I had some yummy pasta salad and half a bbq beef sandwich and 1 measly crown and coke.

Wayne pulled a real dick move and said he was ready to go home and go to bed, then diched me in the driveway and went to hang out with his guys. Jerk.

I made him a “Get out of the Doghouse” list for Sunday. He completed most of it.

Sunday:

Part of the Dogouse list stated that I got to sleep in until breakfast was ready and another item was that I didn’t have to wipe poop that day.

Breakfast was a potato, onion and low fat, low salt turkey sausage stir fry with coconut oil. It wasn’t bad.

Lunch was Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti with bratwurst. YUMMMMM!!!!!!!

Supper was popcorn. By choice. We really do eat that much of it.

I ran and forgot to change the week again so I did Week 1, day 2 AGAIN. It kicked my butt. I felt like I was dragging dead muscle the entire time. I survived though.

We also finished putting together our new entertainment center!! LOVE IT!!!

Monday: 

Today I had a severe case of the Mondays. I was grumpy AND frumpy. Things weren’t going right and were making me mad left and right.

The scale made me mad.

My breakfast hit the floor, made me mad.

We were running late, made me mad.

My emails made me mad.

People made me mad.

Buuuut, I was pretty productive this morning. Which was great because after lunch my stomach went rogue and I started to feel pretty terrible.

Lunch was leftover spaghetti squash spaghetti and garlic bread. Somewhere in there I also had a meal replacement shake. Those things are really growing on me.

I barely made it through my afternoon. Wayne had up and decided we are finally going to try out the Safeway app and Just4You couponing. They really do have some good deals. Take that from the WORSE COUPONER EVER. I HATE to

coupon. I only like going to the store once a month. And yes, usually that works. The last couple of months we haven’t been quite as efficient at it though and have had to go back for eggs, milk, cheese and bread in the middle. That’s what we needed today. It just so happened Safeway had some Just4You deals on those exact things. I pushed myself to go grab just those few things after school.

I made it through in record time before the boys even missed me. I also seen an old coworker and friend there and got a bonus chat with her.

After I grabbed all 4 boys from 3 locations and 2 towns, we headed home and scarfed down some roast, potatoes, carrots, celery and “nut and seed” bread which I got for 20% off at……yep, Safeway. OMG….YUM!!!!! I admit, I had a slice AND the heal.

Now I’m lying in bed with chills and a churning stomach. Grrrrrrr.

I was really hoping to run tonight, as I just can’t seem to make 5am work. I can do 6am, I can do 10am, 2pm, and I can do 4pm, but I really struggle with 5am.

I don’t know if I will be able to push though this round of ailment for something as strenuous though. I bailed on yoga this afternoon too after the first round.

I only have 2 personal days left and am using one next Friday for little Lukie’s field trip to the kids fair as a parent chaperone. I was hoping to save the last one for Zach’s field trip to the Wildlife Sanctuary toward the end of the year. I still have banked sick days left I could tap into AFTER that, but if I use up the last personal day, I can’t take any more of those and wouldn’t be able to do the field trips at all. I’m super bummed and trying hard to push through.

Wayne took all the boys, all 4 boys, including the naughty almost 2 year old, to the last wrestling practice. Luke wrestles Saturday in Rapid for State, then we will have completed an ENTIRE SEASON of AAU for the first time. It began earlier this year, December 2^nd for practices, January 3^rd for tournaments and has been pretty much every weekend since. That’s 4 entire months. I’m so ready to be done. I’m also so proud of the boys for how far they’ve come this year and of Lukie for all his effort and earning his spot.

We shall see if I’m able to push through tomorrow and finish strong Wednesday!