Discovery

I discovered this website Kiwi Crate.  This is a wonderful idea for a mom like me that could be really creative if I had the time and energy.  Each month your child gets a box in the mail with fun and creative activities.  I just signed up and I can quit at anytime, but I wanted to try it out.

I have reached my limit on many things in my life right now.  I am sick of having all this baby weight, so I have become desperate to lose weight.  Dave and I are going to work really hard for at least the next two weeks (I wanted a shorter attainable goal) to eat better and exercise.  I will let you know how it goes.  I am about to roast some butternut squash, acorn squash, cauliflower and carrots.  I want to be able to add it to my salads all week and then hopefully the boys will eat it too.

I am also going to buy a label maker and lots of organizational bins, containers, baskets, etc.  I need my pantry to be better organized.  I need my life to be more organized.  I have to start somewhere.

My memory has really been going lately.  I can't remember things, I forget things and I just simply feel like I am walking around in a fog.  I really need organization in my life in order to feel like I am functioning properly.  It is part of my perfectionist, OCD personality.

I am off to do some cooking and organizing.

Sick House

Our house has been full of sick people for at least two weeks now.  I don't think I have had a cold like this in a really long time.  I still have a runny nose and a little bit of a sore throat, but I feel a hundred times better then last week.  Simone has been sick this week too.  She has a runny nose and a cough.  It has changed her sleeping a little bit.  She is waking up around 4 every morning, instead of her normal 6 am, but she eats and goes right back to sleep. I can't complain when I have such an easy baby.

As I mentioned in a few previous posts, I have really been making an effort to cook meals at home since the beginning of the new year.  I am constantly searching for new and easy recipes.  There still aren't many things that the boys will eat, so it makes dinner time pretty difficult.  Another new years resolution of mine is to not be a short order cook.  I want to get to the point where I only make one meal for dinner and everyone eats it.  Wouldn't that be nice! I would say we are about halfway there.  I always give the boys steamed vegetables or a vegetable option for dinner and they have to eat at least one bite.  Samuel is pretty good at eating his veggies every night, but Joseph is terrible.  He refuses to even take a bite most nights.  Then he will throw in a random night where he will inhale the veggie.  That is why I give it to them every night with hopes that they will eat the veggies more often.

My kids also really are not fans of meat.  They will eat a hamburger every once in a while, but mostly they won't even touch the meat.  I am slowly trying to come up with more and more vegetarian dishes.  They seems to eat those best.  Anyone have good ideas for food for kids?  My kids are not normal.  They will not eat macaroni and cheese, cheese quesadillas, grilled cheese, chicken fingers...you know all the normal kid staples.  They love bean and cheese tacos or burritos, veggie corn dogs, some pasta and rice.  Please help!

The good part about me cooking at home is that it is helping me lose some more of this baby weight.  I have lost 6 pounds since the beginning of the year.  I would still like to lose a lot more, but I am sure it will come off soon.  Now that I am finally feeling better, I have got to get back into exercising.  I have two half marathons scheduled this year.  One in April and one in October.  I would like to attempt to run some of the one in April and most of the one in October.

Lots to do and so little time.

My life is Chaos

My life seems so chaotic lately.  I think part of the reason why it seems so out of control is the fact that I have had a cold for the last five days.  It just doesn't seem to want to go away.  It is a total head cold and I just feeling like I am walking around in a cloud.  It is really hard to get motivated to do anything.

I feel like I always set myself up for stress.  My to-do list seems to grow by the day and I commit myself to so many things.  I am trying to prioritize and trying to accomplish at least one thing a day, but it just isn't satisfying when I have piles of stuff I need to do.

Since I haven't been feeling well, I haven't been going to Bikrum which I can really feel in my body.  I haven't gone now in almost a week and I desperately want to work out, stretch and sweat.  I am going to have to wait until next week though because I have zero energy to do anything.

I have really made an effort to make dinner these past two weeks and I have tried out some really delicious foods.  I have also lost 2 pounds.  Working my way back to my pre-baby weight.  These pounds just don't want to come off.

Another stress in my life is that our wonderful babysitter is moving to Chicago tomorrow and I am searching and interviewing new sitters.  We are interviewing one girl tomorrow and another next week.  Hopefully we will find someone soon that I like so I can get myself on some type of schedule too.

I am so boring right now.  I am off to get Samuel ready for school and then hopefully I can get some relaxing in and start feeling better.

Pictures from the holidays

This year the holiday season was so much fun.  Samuel was really into putting up the Christmas Tree/Hanukkah Bush.  He loved looking at all the ornaments and figuring out which ones were his.  He was really excited about lighting the Hanukkah candles too.  By the end of the 8 days, he pretty much had the prayer memorized.  Joseph also picked up on the prayer too and tried to say it along with us as well.  

On Christmas Eve, Samuel was so excited to make cookies for Santa (he requested snowball looking cookies) and he wanted to leave carrots for the reindeer and chocolate milk for Santa because that was his favorite.  You can see pictures below of all the excitement.  

The boys did really well this year with gifts.  Their grandparents and Jonathan and Laura spoiled them.  They got most of their gifts from them.  We gave them one gift on the first night of Hanukkah and then a dollar each additional day.  Then on Christmas, we put stuff in their stockings and they had a few really small gifts.  

Although I really love Christmas and Hanukkah and know how excited the kids are for those holidays, I decided after this year that we are only going to give them a few gifts for each Hanukkah and Christmas.  Their birthdays are in February and March and I think birthdays are much more important then Hanukkah and Christmas.  I would rather give them more gifts on their birthday.  I think that holiday is much more important.  

My parents came in town for the last night of Hanukkah and we had a big feast.  Jonathan, Laura and Haidyn came over and we celebrated by eating, lighting candles and opening more gifts.  It was a great way to end all the celebration.  

Then several days later, we celebrated New Years.  Justin, Charisa, Vance and Vaughn came over.  The kids played so hard.  Joseph was worn out by 8:30 and then Samuel couldn't make it past 10:15.  They played and the adults were able to relax and have some adult time, which we don't get very often.  It was a wonderful way to bring in the new year.  I feel like 2012 is going to be a great year for us.

I have signed up for two half-marathons already.  I am doing one in April in St. Louis with my mom.  Then I am doing a second one in October in Detroit with my mom and Dave's mom.  I am so excited that we can do it all together. 

Here are some pictures:

The kids on Christmas Eve.

Samuel sitting with the chocolate milk, cookies and carrots.  He was SOOO excited.

As you can tell, he was going crazy.  Joseph was trying to steal the food.

So nice to have a little family time!

It snowed while my parents were here and my mom made the fist snowman of the season with the boys.  They loved it and so did George.  She ate the carrots off of the snowman's face.

Another picture with the snowman and Samuel

Last night of Hanukkah

Another attempt at a family picture

All the kids freaking out about opening gifts.

Samuel and Joseph sitting on their new big pull out chair from Savta and Papa.  This has been a wonderful gift.  Samuel has even had one sleep over on it already.  

Samuel got a drum set from my parents.  The kids are actually really good at playing.  I'm impressed.

The kids with Savta on her birthday.  

My parents with the kids.  

All the kids on New Years Eve

Catching up

I can't believe that the first week of January is over.  We have had a very busy last few weeks.  I thought Samuel being home from school for almost two and a half weeks was going to drive me nuts, but it has just flown by.  He has been asking to go back to school all week.  I know he misses going too.  Joseph hasn't had a break from school which has been nice because I have had two days where it was just me a Simone.  Next week we will be back to normal hopefully.

Dave and I have been going as much as possible to Bikrym.  We love it.  I wish it weren't 90 minutes long, but it feels great when I am done.  

I am really trying to make a effort to cook dinner during the week and have healthy options.  It is really hard to come up with ideas and then finding time to cook it all is nearly impossible, but I am making a huge effort to do it.  I will be posting recipes and pictures of my food on my other blog: Dinner for Two

In other news, Simone turned three months old on Wednesday.  I can't believe how fast the time is flying.  She is starting to laugh out loud, is talking like crazy and is almost able to roll form her back to her stomach.  

Here are a few pictures.  I will post again with more pictures from the holidays and when my parents came to visit.  

Samuel somehow got himself in the laundry basket.  

Simone in her holiday dress

Cute picture of Joseph.  My phone was taking strange red pictures one night, but I kind of like it.

The kids hanging out together

Joseph in his new Thomas the Train Pj's

My little ballerina!

Here are some of her three month old pictures.  She is so happy.

Here is a half smile

I just love this picture.  It reminds me of Joseph and his big huge brown eyes.