Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Graphics


I wish you & your family a Happy & Safe Halloween.
 

Bird Eye Steamfresh Review

Who doesn't like free stuff?  I know that I do & I had the fantastic opportunity to sample one of the many fantastic creations offered by birdseye, thanks to the fantastic group I belong to, Mamavation!  Every Monday the Mamavation moms host a giveaway and a few weeks ago I actually won a coupon for a free product!  **happy dance** Well I rushed to my local grocery store & was shocked by vast amount of product I could choose from.  So I decided to go off the cuff & try something completely different....

I am so glad that I tried something new! It was absolutely delicious.  Even my husband enjoyed it & he usually doesn't care for Risotto.  For more information on this product please visit birdseye!
Thank you  Mamavation for hosting such a wonderful giveaway.

#Mamavaion~Let the 2 week Challenge Begin!

I don't know about all of you, but I am super excited that its Monday!  Why?  Well because today I get to be one of the 100 mamavation moms to have the amazing opportunity to workout with Bob Harper!  Yes, you read that right!  Thanks to  Mamavation 2 week challenge, they were able to partner up with Bob Harper himself to create the workouts the I need to do for the next two weeks.  I am beyond excited about this.  I have 1 goal for this challenge, its to be able to complete every single work out with out missing a day.  If I can do that than the weight will follow!


“This post is sponsored by Omron Fitness and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway” at the bottom of your post.”

What About Heaven

Aurthor: Kathleen Long Bostrom
Illistrator: Elena Kacharik


Have your children ever asked you about Heaven?  I know mine have multiple times.  As a parent we often feel stumped  and don't know how to appropriately answer this common question, simply because we don't know how to answer it without scaring our kids.  This children's book is part of the Tyndal Kids Little Blessings series, which focuses on answering the fundamental questions about faith for kids. 

This book follows a simple rhythmic pattern to help answer the tough questions we, as parents face.  Such questions include will there be animals?  What kind of food will there be?  How will we look? Where is Heaven?  The answers are simple & not over theological for children to grasp.

One of the other features that not just myself, but also my children liked were the illustrations. Elena Kacharick, who also is the artist for Care Bears did a fantastic job drawing out the story. The pages are full wonderful drawings which help encourage the children to visualize what they are being read. 

This children's book can also serve as a reference guide to us parents.  Every page has a reference to a bible verse to help tell us  where in the Bible God tells us this information.

My children have greatly enjoyed this book & I feel that it may have tamed some of their fears about what is in Heaven.  I would recommend this book for children of all ages as well as adults.  

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

#Mamavation Monday

I can not get over how fast the days are passing by.  It seems like I just put all my summer out door items out & now I am already putting those items back into the shed for winter. Which is getting me nervous.  Not because I don't like snow, but because that generally means more time in front of the TV, and more time in the kitchen baking all those wintery treats that we all know & love.  Yet our butts & waist lines don't like the outcome of eating too many of those treats.  With this in mind I have been experiencing more with healthier options & trying new products to get a better healthier treat.  Such items I've been trying include using different types of flour, and pure sugars.

I have this week off of work, so my husband & I are extremely happy that I will be able to get all of my workouts in this week.  I am also hoping to try a new class or two to help keep me challenged.  But I am so proud of myself for what I accomplished last week.  I managed to get in my workouts & I was able to cook my family HEALTHY meals which included home made turkey nuggets,  banana pecan pancakes and more.   I also got both of my kids motivated & managed to get them outside almost every day to go on nature walks.

My weigh in this week went well too.  I am down 1.5#s from two weeks ago!

This week weight = 206.5#s
Goal weight = 150#s

Only 56.5 pounds to go!

#Mamavation Monday ~ The ever changing body

I don't know about the rest of you, but this week has literately flown by!  This past week my workouts have mainly consisted of being outdoors as much as possible.  Living in Wisconsin one never knows when snow will come, so I decided to make the most of it.  I even managed to get my kids outdoors to play most everyday. Thanks to  Mother Nature who has given us all some great tools to keep the kids active with her color palate of leaves.  I only managed to make it to the gym once this past week due to my schedule, so my goal for this week is to at least try to get to the gym twice.

This week the Mamavation Moms are talking about Menopause and were learning what we need to know before it starts.  No one likes to talk about the "change" or the "curse".  In fact in my family when I was younger my mom actually used to say that "Aunt Flow is in town"  I never knew who "Aunt Flow" was until I was 12 when "Aunt Flow" visited me.  In fact she never really ever gave me the "talk".  But lets face facts.  If your a woman, your body like mine is going to experience some of the best and worst changes.  As some of you know I have ovarian cyst, that like to burst & than grow back,  which as far as I know scientifically doesn't cause early menopause.  But the thought is always on my mind.  Especially since I have been told the best thing for my body to help with the heavy bleeding (I know TMI) was & is to have another child.  But since the hubby isn't on board with that idea I have to deal with the cramps, bloating, the feeling like my ovaries are going to burst open at any given minute not to mention the periods that like to try to stick around for two weeks at a time.  Than again, maybe menopause wouldn't be the worst thing.  Any way I am extremely interested in this show tonight. 

Even though I wasn't going to weigh in tonight I decided to say heck with it & did it anyway.  Well drum roll please....even with weighing in at 7:00 CST I am still DOWN 2 #s!  Yea!!!!


This week Weight: 208
Goal Weight: 150

Plus I just re-met my first 5# mark!  I have officially lost 5#s in two weeks!!!


(ok granted I had gained that all back three weeks ago, but its still a new loss!)

Only 58#s to GO!
  

“This post is sponsored by Schick Intuition and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway” at the bottom of your post.”

#Mamavation Monday ~ Lemons to Lemonaide....

I am sooo exited to share with you that when I weighed into today I am actually down 3 #s.  This is exactly what I needed to help keep my moral up this week.  Last week I had gained some extra weight, which I was not expecting & I put all this pressure on myself to loose it all.  My husband is a fantastic cheerleader for me & when he saw how stressed I was about making sure I didn't over eat, and getting all the workouts in he had four simple words for me. "You can do it"  Even though I only lost half of the weight I set out for, I am still very proud of this achievement & no one did it for me.  To top it all off this past week flew bye & I as a family we got many things crossed off our to do list.  Which is good considering so far today has been dealing with a sinus infection for me, and both kids having minor colds.  I'm hoping all of this passes soon because the weather is supposed to be gorgeous the next few days and I really want to get the kids out to enjoy the fall colors.


Starting Weight: 207
Last Week Weight: 213
This week Weight: 210
Goal Weight: 150


Only 60#s to GO!