New Business

I don't have enough to do. Really. Each day between 11pm and 7am there is this empty space of time, of nothingness, so I decided to fill it. That's when I dreamed up this (really, I dreamed this up about 3am, one morning)!

So enjoy my new little business Dulu Designs! You can read all about how it got started here!

Oh, and check the sale page, I am running something special this week!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Dear Carter,

Happy Birthday to you!

This weekend we spent Carter's 3rd Birthday at the Andover Fire Department with some of his good friends.

We got a chance to tour the trucks, roll and unroll the hoses, and enjoy some fire safety tips. A fireman came out in full gear to meet the kids, and Sparky the fire dog made an appearance also!

Everyone took home a fire shirt and hat for their party favor.

A good time was had by all!

I think this will be one that Chief Carter will remember for a long time!

Holiday Cards

It's here. The hustle, the bustle, the sleepless nights trying to bake, wrap, clean, impress, and address...

YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS!

For many years I went and purchased our cards at any random store, but since the kids were little, I started ordering cards from Shutterfly. I like how they make things so personal. I am able to put pics of the kiddos on there, or a family pic, and boom, done. They have such fun designs that tailor to my needs (less traditional, bright, funky!!!), and I always receive them quickly.

Here are some of my favorites for this year:

Or this one:

I also really LOVE this:

Shutterfly is offering bloggers an amazing gift of FREE CHRISTMAS CARDS this year! Go here to find out more about it!

So which one will you find in your mailbox this year? I'm not telling...

What to say?

I'm not really sure what to say or where to begin... our family has been up to SOOO much lately. It seems we are constantly in motion. It's no excuse, but it does make it hard to sit down an write about it. Here's a quick rundown:

Cole is such a busy guy, but mostly my clothes horse. He is constantly worried about his outfit, and he creates a TON of laundry for me each week. Recently we went to our first football game with him, and he picked this adorable hat. He wore it through the entire game even though it was about 85 degrees that day! Cole is playing soccer for the Blue Monsters, and although "BE AGGRESSIVE" was something I never thought I would scream at my 4 year old, our fault still seems to be that he just won't get in there and take the ball. (I will not even mention scoring goals for the other team... not Cole!) He is doing great in preschool, and has been learning to write his letters. So far we have E, F, D, P, and B done. He melts my heart each day when he runs up to me and says, "Mom, kiss." He is growing so fast, and continues to amaze me each day.

Does anyone recognize this boy, and would you tell me where I left baby Carter? This boy is so cool. He is quickly becoming a huge help to his family. Yesterday I took him grocery shopping, and he wanted to push a little cart. Against my better judgement, I said yes, and he did great! He only put the things in his cart that I chose, and at the end, he unloaded his cart on to the belt. It really felt good to see him being so responsible. He has recently mentioned that Cole is going to school on the school bus, and "I go on the party bus." which worries me a bit : ), but this free spirit is one cool dude. My other favorite thing (that I have to post or will someday forget) is the lack of the letter "Y" in his vocabulary. I will someday miss the moment when "les" is yes, or "Backlard" is the backyard. Until then I smile each time that sound is missing.

Daddy is always and forever the hardest worker in our family. He never complains, he just does what he needs to. Each morning his alarm goes off in the middle of the night, 5:30 is still the middle of the night, right : ), and daddy heads off to work at Terradyne. He puts in his hours each day, and usually on the weekend to make the grass green. Then daddy heads home to wrestle babies, workout, help with dinner, whatever is needed. He's a pro at being a dad. Brian has also been working hard on launching his business, and had a successful fall with 9 customers for aerification and seeding. I am so proud of him. When the day is done, and kids are snugged, he still finds time for me. I love him so.

As for me, well, you know. I write about me all of the time here if you haven't noticed.

So there you have some of it. This fall the Andersons have been to football games, soccer games, Chili feeds, pumpkin patches, and there is more to come. As Barney, yes, the BIG PURPLE DINOSAUR, likes to say, "You can call it fall if that's what you please, but I say I like autumn!

New Neighbors!

Guess who moved into the neighborhood today?

Congrats Chris, Erin, Felix, and Kaiser on your new house!

We are so excited that we can stand in our backyard and yell at you, or take a morning stroll over to your house to eat your breakfast, and I can't wait to borrow milk, or toilet paper, or bring over trash when ours is too full. I can't wait to use your washer when ours is broken. Man it will be nice to have someone close to help babysit the kiddos on a whim.... aren't YOU glad we're neighbors also :) ?

All kidding aside, we are blessed to have you so close after you have been so far for so long. We love you!

Hit the Trail

Mix that is! Today we worked on counting, measuring, and reading at our house. We made trail mix. Here's how it went down:

We had directions to follow.

We put in 1 scoop of craisins

Some snuck bites while mommy wasn't looking!

2 small bags of M&M's


3 scoops of goldfish



4 scoops of marshmallows

and 5 scoops of Cheerios

We all took a turn stirring up the mix.

And we enjoyed!

Big Boo!

Guess who INSTANTLY potty trained himself...

This Big Boo did!

He woke up bone-dry Friday morning. Thinking it was a fluke, I took him to the potty, where he went, then put him in a Pull-Up. Later that morning he had pooped in his Pull-Up (still working on that part), but HE WAS DRY! So I put him in underwear just to see what he would do, and he has been dry ever since! Amazing.

Carter is doing such a good job. I can take no credit in this other than giving him 2 jelly beans when he goes. Yesterday he got to go to Chuck E Cheese as his reward. He keeps saying "I stay dry, go Chuck E Cheese." Who can resist?

Congratulations Carter Boo!

Whatcha Been Up To?

Here is how we spent our Easter...

Thursday morning we had some of our good friends over for an Easter Egg Hunt.

Cole is the funniest Easter egg hunter. He could care less about how many eggs he had. He wanted to know what was in each of them He would find an egg, open it, unwrap the candy, and eat it. Notice all of the eggs are broken open.

Carter on the other hand found tons of eggs. He knew the point was to hunt now and celebrate later!

We ran in the Easter Sun Run on Saturday morning. Click on the link to read more about it. Then, after a Saturday afternoon nap, we headed over to a friends house for an Easter picnic, and egg dying. The boys had so much fun dying eggs. Carter went to town with his eggs. We enjoyed another egg hunt... this time with money in the eggs!

Sunday the easter bunny came, and left some fun surprises for the boys. He left Toy Story 1 and 2 to watch along with Toy Story t-shirts and Buzz Lightyear flip flops, but the favorite was all of the new pool toys he left. The bunny knew that the boys swim every Monday night at the Y, so he left them new goggles, dive sticks, pails, and splash balls to take... Thanks EB!


Sunday afternoon was spent at Aunt Lynda and Uncle Don's playing outdoors. We just couldn't get enough of the beautiful weather! The boys have never been so dirty, but it was worth it. After a hot bath, and a bowl of popcorn with a new movie, the beautiful day was over.

Christ has risen. He lives indeed! Happy Easter to each of you.

Climb Family Climb!

Here are some pics from one of our most recent adventures. We got to go rock climbing as a family for a friends birthday. (Well Brian and I didn't know we were going to climb, but the babies pooped out early leaving time for the grow ups.)

The boys looked so cute putting their belts on. It has been a dream in their short little baby lives to rock climb, but the Y usually asks that they be 4 to start climbing, so we have never had the chance.

Cole took the first shot at the wall. He's definitely a climber. He would just plant his foot and move up the wall. He got a few feet above my head before he was done.

I think he looks adorable just hanging there. I kind of think he just wanted to come down so he could swing from the ropes.

Carter is so trusting. He would have climbed without a harness at all. He's getting to be such a big boy that wants to do whatever everyone else is doing.

Brian is quite the climber. He's fast, and the wall gave him no trouble. He even tried a "harder" climb the second time. He's a natural.

After some coaxing, I decided to give it a shot, and I did it. I made it all the way to the top to honk the horn! One friend even said that she thought Brian and I should race because I was very fast (so she says)... maybe we will have to rock climb for our next date night!

The Eat It Too Lifestyle!

So here it is! Today I created a new blog that will be devoted to seeing the changes you want to see in yourself. You can find the new blog here or by typing http://theeatittoolifestyle.blogspot.com/ I named it The Eat It Too Lifestyle because I believe that is how I live. I can have my cake and eat it too. I hope you take a peek and want to become a follower. I will be posting some fun things in the coming days! Enjoy.

On a side note: This blog will remain, and I will work harder to devote this blog to the things of my family.

Fitness Coaching?

So I had an instructor e-mail me to start coming to meetings about fitness coaching.... excuse me.... did you e-mail the right girl? The one who at one time weighed 262 pounds? The girl who still loves a piece of cake or a slice of pizza. Yep, she got the right girl... because this girl and that girl are different girls now. So I started thinking (along with some friends and family) who are pushing me to do a little more with my weight loss. I have people asking me to write a book about weight loss, or to start being a trainer. There is a new song that I have been listening to, and one line is "I pray to God don't take me soon, 'cause I'm here for a reason." Right now, I feel like this is my reason. What I've been doing is so hard, yet easy at the same time. I spend 15-30 minutes a day answering e-mails, Facebook, etc. about my diet, lifestyle, etc... anyone have any input? I would love to coach people, support people, encourage people. I love giving advice and figuring out problems. What do you think?

Here are some ideas that are popping into my head right now:
1. A new blog based on lifestyle changes, so those of you who don't want to read this don't have to.
2. Meetings, monthly, weekly, set up some sort of support system... a time to share, struggle, and rejoice with each other.
3. Workout groups

I would love any feedback that anyone would like to give at this point. Would anyone be interested, or am I spinning my wheels?

Shoot...

I thought I would open today (and the next couple of days) to ask any weight loss questions you might have. I need to say that quite obviously I am not an expert or a doctor, but if there is a recipe you are wanting, a secret you think I'm keeping, anything weight loss related I will answer to the best of my ability! So come on shoot me some questions...

A Beautiful Bowl

Isn't this a beautiful bowl full of veggies?

This is one of my favorite new kitchen tricks. I am in love with my bowl full of veggies. You see, each Sunday I purchase 1 stalk of celery, 2 cucumbers, 1 bag of baby carrots, 1 green pepper, and 1 container of grape tomatoes. All together, I am sure I spend less than $10 on fresh produce. (I purchase a few other fresh items, but this is the majority.) So I take my veggies home, get out a LARGE bowl, cut the celery, slice the cucumber, cut the pepper, and pour in the tomatoes and carrots. This takes about 10 minutes. I clean the items off, and there you have it, a beautiful array of fresh veggies for the entire week... what to do with all of them?

Well, since they are ready to go, I eat them every day as a side for lunch. I get 1 serving of my favorite salad dressing, and then I make it a challenge to see how many veggies I can eat. I am guessing that I am eating close to 3 servings of veggies at lunch for approximately 75 calories (I don't even count!)

I set the beautiful bowl in the center of the table at dinner, and everyone loves picking out of it. I don't care what they eat, as long as they eat it! I mean really, do you think I am going to say, "Cole please don't eat so much celery!" Ha! Cole is especially loving eating the bowl of veggies, and I think it's fun to see what they are going to pick. Celery and cucumbers are turning out to be favorites, 2 things I probably would have never set on their plate alone.

Make a quick salad. Once you have all of your veggies ready to go, salads are a breeze. Just grab a bag of salad, pull out your veggies, and pick some to throw on. You can have a salad ready in 1 minute flat. To make a salad a meal in a jiff, grab a bag of precooked chicken strips, and throw some heated ones on top. Use either a LITE Honey Mustard, or a Wing Sauce, and you can make salads as good as Doc Green's for 1/3 of the price.

I should mention that I don't store the veggies in the bowl. They are OK in the bowl for a little while, but to keep your veggies as fresh as possible, I store them in a gallon size Ziploc bag with just a little water in it.

Now, go eat your veggies!

Meatloaf

So I had planned on posting a recipe today, and since Kylie asked for meatloaf, here they are:

NOTE: I think if you are going to take the time to make a meatloaf, double all of your ingredients and make two. Don't cook the second one, wrap it in foil, and freeze it. When you need a quick meal take it from the freezer to the oven for an EASY dinner. Most times the only extra item I have to buy to double the recipe is more meat. Enjoy!

The first meatloaf is Buffalo Turkey Meatloaf. I absolutely LOVE this dinner. It replaces buffalo wings around here. When I serve the meatloaf, I also drizzle a little more buffalo sauce over the top for an extra kick (and buffalo sauce has hardly any calories!)

Buffalo Turkey Meatloaf
What you will need:
2/3 c. old fashioned oats
1/2 c. fat free milk
3 tbsp buffalo wing sauce
1 pound extra lean ground turkey
1/2 c. finely chopped carrots (I buy matchstick carrots, then chop them more)
1/4 c. purple onion
1/2 c. finely chopped celery
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
2 ounces reduced fat blue cheese crumbles (when I purchase the little cartons they are 4 ounces, perfect for doubling the recipe!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mist loaf pan with olive oil spray..

2. Combine oats, milk, and wing sauce. Mix and allow to set for 3 minutes. Add turkey, celery, carrots, onion, egg whites, and salt. With clean hands mix the ingredients. Gently add in the blue cheese.

3. Transfer mixture to pan, and pat flat. Bake 35-40 minutes (until turkey is no longer pink).
** I always have a small layer of grease that pools on top of the meatloaf that I scrape/drain off.

4. Cut into 8 slices.

Nutrition Stats: Each serving is 2 slices. 298 calories, 13.9g fat, 14g carbs, 30g protein, 781mg sodium

The next meatloaf we love is Manwich Meatloaf

Manwich Meatloaf

What you will need:
2/3 c. old fashioned oats
1/2 c. +1/3 c. Manwich Sauce
2 egg whites beaten
1 pound ground turkey
1/3 c. minced green pepper
1/4 c. purple onion
1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mist loaf pan with olive oil spray..

2. Combine oats, manwich sauce (hold back 1/4 c. sauce to spread over the top), and egg whites. Mix and allow to set for 3 minutes. Add the turkey, green pepper, onion, and garlic. With clean hands mix the ingredients.

3. Transfer mixture to pan, and pat flat. Spread remaining 1/4 c. manwich sauce over the mixture. Bake 35-40 minutes (until turkey is no longer pink).
** I always have a small layer of grease that pools on top of the meatloaf that I scrape/drain off.

4. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, and cut into 8 slices.

Nutrition Stats: Each serving is 2 slices. 256 calories, 9.2g fat, 17g carbs, 26g protein, 422mg sodium

Sometimes we put the sloppy joe meatloaf on buns (if I have calories to spare), and eat it like a meatloaf sandwich, however, I will say I kind of prefer it alone.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do. Happy cooking!

So What Do You Eat?

Back to food. A favorite subject of mine! It is hard to stay within your calorie count sometimes. It takes practice and some patience. Like I said when you are just starting on your journey, ONLY worry about calories. That is what will ultimately help you lose weight. NOTE: make sure when you are looking at labels that you are reading the info for 1 serving, and you are only eating 1 serving. A bottle of Coke has 2.5 servings in it, so you may think you are only drinking 100 calories, but if you drink the whole bottle, that is actually 250 calories! Once you have your calorie counting down, you can focus on getting 50% carbs, 25% protein, and 25% fat in your diet. It is easily tracked by going here and then clicking on the Analysis button after your foods have been entered. It will give you a grade for your food choices, and a pie chart to tell you what percentage of carbs, fats, and protein you are eating. I love caloriecount.com!

So, what do you eat? I wanted to give you some ideas of what I eat to stay within my calorie count (1400-1600) calories each day...

Breakfast:
My two favorite breakfasts are:
1. Egg Sandwich:2 slices whole wheat toast, 2 egg whites, and 1 ounce low-fat cheese.
Total calories: 212
2. Banana Bread: 2 slices and 1.5c skim milk. Total cal: 348
3. Peanut Butter Toast: 2 slices whole wheat toast, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 c skim milk. Total cal: 370 cal

Lunch:
1. Tuna Sandwich: Sandwich thins bread (these are new to me, and I LOVE THEM) 1 pouch tuna, 2 tbsp fat free mayo. Total Calories: 200
2. Grilled chicken sandwich: Sandwich Thins, 3 oz grilled chicken, buffalo sauce, lettuce, tomato. Total calories: 230
3. Grilled chicken salad: (Make a heaping salad- a whole bag of lettuce is only 45 calories!) Lettuce, tomato, 1/2 ounce cheese, 2 tbsp Ranch dressing, 3 oz. chicken, 2 tbsp Buffalo Sauce. Total calories:390

Sides I put with my lunch:
1. Sunchips: 140 cal
2. Jello Sugar Free pudding: 60 cal (dip some strawberries in the chocolate one- it only adds about 50 calories- yummy!)
3. Jello Sugar Free: 10 cal
4. Cheese stick: 80 cal
5. Fresh veggies: minimal calories depending on what you choose

Dinner:
I skip all around for dinner on what I eat, but be sure to always save yourself about 600-700 calories for dinner. One of our favorite things to eat are the Stouffer's or TGI Friday's skillets.




You can find them in your grocer freezer section for $4-$7. The are delicious, can be cooked in the microwave, and average about 450 calories. The most wonderful thing about them is they force you into portion control. I am positive these bags were a key to my weight loss.

We also do things like grilled chicken, meat loafs from the Biggest Loser cookbook, Subway. Whatever goes as long as you stay in your calorie count. Now, I won't lie. These skillets would probably leave me wanting more, so I always either make a big side salad or veggie to go with them.

Snacks: (I don't always snack, it truly depends on whether or not I'm hungry, but if I do, I try to keep it under 150 calories, and I try not to snack after 8 p.m.) Most of my snacks are afternoon snacks . Rarely do I eat any snacks after dinner.
1. Popcorn: mini bag 150 cal
2. Apple: 100 cal
3. V-8: small can 30 cal
4. Rice Krispy Treat (for something sweet): 90 cal
5. Pickle: 5 cal

As you can see, my diet is not perfect. I am not a rabbit! I eat things that normal people eat. The key is finding foods that fit. Get creative. Take a little time to prepare. I cut a bag of veggies each Sunday. I put celery, carrots, tomatoes, green pepper, and cucumber all in one bag, then when I need fresh veggies for a side or a salad, I grab a handful. Easy as that.

One other tip is, don't reinvent the wheel. As long as you vary your diet slightly, you can eat the same things. You can have the same general breakfast or lunch. Find a few things that work, and use them. You don't have to eat 30 different breakfasts or lunches each month. I stick to the same 3-4 breakfasts and lunches, and work to vary my dinners.

I would love to hear some of your ideas. It would be wonderful if you would add some ideas in the comments section! I hope this was helpful.