Off to See the Wizard

Jacob and I are off today to see his Pediatric Cardiologist for his yearly appointment. Jacob was born with a heart murmur and after several tests he was found to have a bicuspid aortic valve. A bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a defect of the aortic valve that results in the formation of two leaflets or cusps instead of the normal three. This is something that needs to be monitored to make sure it is not thickening or changing for the worse.

He could live his whole life with this condition and be just fine. Or when he is much older he could require heart surgery to repair the valve. Either way, even with this condition he is a healthy little guy with no side effects. It is one of those "watch and wait" type of things. As a matter of fact, many people have a heart murmur and are walking around with this very issue not even knowing they have it.

Today we will be meeting with the Cardiologist and doing the regular tests of an EKG, sonogram, and possibly another x-ray of his heart. Sine he is rarely sans little brother and big sister he will be treated to lunch out with mom afterwards. Here's hoping that everything is looking good on the tests this year...

Freeze Frame

We are planning our fall portraits to be taken within the next week or two. Our fall portraits will also be the photos that we send out with our Christmas cards so we will be killing two birds with one stone.

The nice thing about this whole setup? My brother is the photographer, which means the kids are comfortable around him and I don't expect any tears or weird faces like the ones we have gotten before from other studios where the "photographer" tries sticking feather dusters in the kid's faces or yells "boo!" at them. That won't be happening this time around!

Yesterday we had a test run, to try out a few poses and look at different styles of photos. I had to share a few favorites:

The next two are just extras for your viewing pleasure. This one is an older photo with strange lighting. It wasn't intended to look this way but I thought it looked too cool to just delete:

This is the photo Jacob requested for himself. He wanted a battle scene, and he got one. It reminds me of a pathetic 1960's war movie!

I can't wait for our fall/Christmas/back-to-school/family portraits!

Photo credit: Daniel Kenyon, Kenyon Studio

This & That

Since school has been in session I feel like my days are filled to the brim. While the actual book work with little ones is just an hour or less a day, there are activities throughout the day which keep them (and therefore me) busy. It's a good busy but at times lately I have felt my brain go to complete mush. I feel my brain is screaming at me *Circuit overload, must shut down*. Maybe it would help if I would write things down instead of trying to keep my to-do list, school lesson plans, appointments,what to have for dinner, etc. running through my head. After all, isn't that exactly why they make To-Do List notepads?!

Fall is in the air. Leaves are turning colors and the air in the morning is crisp and delicious. I love fall, I truly do, but it is a reminder of what is yet to come - winter - which is a season which I dread. I'm not hyperventilating about winter so much this year as I have grand plans to head to a warmer region in the middle of winter. Let's hope those plans can become a reality.

You know it is lovely weather when the blankets and sheets are flapping in the breeze...

and the boys are building forts (of some sort) in the backyard.
We spent much of the afternoon yesterday at our homeschool meetup. We are lucky to be able to meet at the perfect park which is all-age friendly. There aren't many around here that aren't death traps for a toddler so while scouting parks out this summer I was thrilled to find this one, which is just 10 miles away. I had every intention of snapping some photos of the kids at the park today and completely forgot about my camera in my purse when I left it in the van. Just another sign of circuit overload!

The kids had a blast. It seems that there are new kids at every meetup and everyone meshes so nicely that no one is left out of any of the activities. Whether it is playing board games, playing a game of ball, or playing on the playground equipment - they do it all.

I finally received my other two ThredUp purchases late last week. I've written about ThredUp here in detail. Basically, you trade clothes through this site and pay just $13 shipping for a box of new-to-you clothing. I'm a bit torn about the site as of late because I found out that they are raising the "cost of a box" to $15.70. I don't know if trading a box of my own children's clothes and paying $15.70 for a box in return is such a good deal. Some of the boxes people receive are great and would be totally worth the $15.70, but some boxes are not worth that at all. I can get a lot of clothing at a garage sale for less than $15.70. When the price increase happens (Sept. 24th) I doubt I will be doing any trading, unless I am looking for something very specific that I can't find elsewhere.

The boxes I received were worth the $13 this time around. The picture below shows only half the stuff that was in one box, the rest is in the wash for Becca to wear. Nice brands such as Cornelliki, Gap, and Children's Place:
This box was stuffed with 11 pieces of Gymboree:

I have one credit left and will be saving it to find a box of 5/6 boys tops as Jacob is in need of those for this coming winter. After that?! I won't be jumping at a chance to get a box when it is raised to $15.70.

I am preparing for a garage sale next week and have been clearing out dressers, drawers, closets, and bookcases. I am also looking forward to some city-wide garage sales in the upcoming weeks. These are the last of the season so I better get my fill now!

What have you been up to this September?

Italian Subs

My husband and I love the Italian Subs that the restaurant East of Chicago makes. We don't have any East of Chicago chains here...well...because we are west of Chicago.

I finally found the right combination that tastes almost exactly like the Italian Subs! I used to use small, individual buns to make it but like the recipe I used on Saturday much better, so will be sticking to that from now on.

1 loaf of french bread

Hard salami, pepperoni, and ham slices

tomato slices

diced onion

shredded mozzarella cheese

lettuce

Italian salad dressing

Slice french bread loaf halfway. Lay meats on one side of bread. Layer onions, tomatoes, and cheese on other side. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once out of oven, sprinkle with shredded lettuce and pour Italian dressing over the sandwich. Close the sandwich "lid" and cut into manageable pieces. Enjoy!

This sandwich is messy but oh so yummy!

Saturday

Two loads of laundry hung on the line...check

One load of laundry folded and put away...check

Menu written out, grocery store run...check

Breakfast and lunch made...check

Kitchen and bathroom floors mopped...check

Playroom organized...check

Toys picked up out of living room, office, and dining room...check

One more box packed up for garage sale...check

Dishes, laundry taken down from line, supper all still needing to be done.

Going to visit my Grandma after all this is said and done and relaxing with family...priceless.

What have you been up to this beautiful Saturday?

A Step In The Right Direction

I'm feeling a bit better today, as opposed to my piggy self of late.

For supper last night I had a big salad. For a snack I had an apple. I took a 2 mile walk with my dog and sister. The only thing I am disappointed about is my water intake; I really need to force myself to drink enough water and didn't do as well as I should have yesterday.

The best achievement thus far? Yesterday when I went shopping I really, really, really wanted some candy corn. It is a weakness of mine and considering it is only available about two months out of the year I tend to overindulge. It isn't the plain ole candy corn (which I do find in stores year round) but rather the autumn mix candy corn. Those chocolate candy corn pieces and little pumpkins are scrumptious. I promised myself to cut the sugar way down, and I was determined to stick to the challenge.

I walked by the candy corn display and only paused for a moment before continuing on my merry way. I was proud of myself...until I saw a lady ahead of me in line with not one, not two, but three bags of autumn mix candy corn in her cart.

She was beaming with a happiness that only those with three bags of candy corn in their cart can beam. I thought to myself 'I could be happy too if I went back and put three bags of candy corn in my cart'. She was glowing. 'I could glow too if I had candy corn!' I thought. She looked as though she didn't have a care in the world. 'All my problems could go away if I just go back and grab some of that darn candy corn!' my brain shouted at me.

Then I snapped out of it. She didn't just have candy corn in her cart - she also had cases of soda, bags of Doritos, and a bunch of other junk food. That was me just a few days ago! That junk doesn't make me happy, it makes me feel like junk.

I walked out of the store candy corn-less and actually looking forward to the organic apples that I bought...for just 79 cents a lb.!

I've Fallen...

...off the wagon, that is. The healthy eating, mindful of body wagon.

I've even quit TOPS for the time being. I didn't want to quit TOPS, mind you, but this summer has been incredibly busy so I was unable to fit the weekly weigh-ins and meetings in. Then when the kids joined Tae Kwon Do it was pretty much impossible to go since it is at the same time as TOPS and someone has to be at home with Joe. Even if I could go to TOPS I would be scared to step on the scale now.

The thing is, this past spring I was at the exact weight that I felt comfortable at. My clothes fit perfectly, I had more energy, and I felt healthy. Now, not so much. I bet that I only gained five pounds or so but my clothes are feeling a bit tight and I feel so blah. I'm not eating the right foods and not exercising enough.

Actually, this is what I feel like...

My summer was quite stressful. Recently more stressful events have taken place. When I'm stressed I eat. Add to the fact that I had a raging case of PMS last week where I wanted to shove every bit of food in the house into my mouth and also felt like murdering everyone for the littlest thing and we can come to the conclusion that things have taken a downward slide in the healthy department.

It is hard to dig yourself out of the pit of despair. It is a vicious circle...I get stressed therefore I eat, I eat crap therefore I don't feel good, I don't feel good therefore I don't feel like fixing healthy food, I don't fix healthy food therefore I feel like a pig, I feel like a pig therefore I am stressed...

Not fun. Not productive. Something needs to change.

I don't have a scale at home so I can't chart my progress. Here's the thing though, right now I don't want to focus on weight, but rather how I feel. Right now I feel like crap. My goal is to not feel like crap.

Today marks a new day and I am going to challenge myself to get back into healthy mode. Better foods. More exercise. A lot less junk. My goal is to get back to where I feel comfortable with myself; where I have energy and feel healthy.

I will begin with going to the grocery store today and picking up healthy foods. I will take a long walk today. It's a beginning...and I need a new beginning! Because right now I feel like a pig.