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Showing posts from June, 2013

Pardon Me, I'm Stressed

I look in the mirror and what do I see? One stressed out flabby stomached Momma looking back at me. Ever had one of those times in your  life where you are stressed about pretty much every area of your life? Well that's where I find myself this week. Exercise: I decided that I needed to up my cardio to try to burn more calories and increase my endurance. So, what do I do? I up my cardio. What happens? I start having some issues with my knees. I had to actually go get a brace and take a few days off from exercise. I've got in a few runs this week, but they haven't been the runs that I had hoped to get in. And my cardio has decreased instead of increased. So I've burned less calories than more.  Nutrition: For several days I watched exactly what I ate, and stayed within my calorie 'range'. I had even lowered my calories in an attempt to drop a few pounds. What happened? I gained 2 pounds.  Freelance work: I am very thankful to have the work, but w

Packaged Clean Eating

I'm sure for a lot of you your diet/lifestyle is a work in progress. I know mine is. I've had some great days, and I've had some 'eating everything that contains sugar' days. For the last couple of days, I've eliminated 'sweets' other than natural sweets and one cheat food. I'm allowing myself to eat Dole Banana Dippers  as my evening snack. I'm not a huge fan of banana, but it's giving me that little something 'sweet' instead of a candy bar. Don't get me wrong, I'm allowing myself some sweets in moderation. This week, Lil Man and I will be going to Hershey. I'm going to eat some chocolate while we are there. I have to create a lifestyle that I can be happy with. Totally eliminating all chocolate/ice cream from my diet just isn't something that I desire to do at the moment. That being said, I am trying to create a healthier lifestyle where I eat more fruits and veggies and eat more 'clean' foods. We are a f

When Dining Out Turns Into A Horror Film

We had our first public puking. And it was totally unexpected. Lil Man was happy, playing, and not showing any signs of anything being wrong. We went out to dinner for Father's Day. Lil Man was eating, laughing, and on his 3rd glass of chocolate milk. I know, I know. But he was enjoying himself, and it's not like he wasn't eating his dinner along with drinking apparently a HUGE amount of chocolate milk. We'd just finished eating our meal, and we were waiting on dessert. Just as the server started to put our ice cream and cake on the table, I saw a little movement from him and knew what was next. But there was no way I could pick him up in time. He started vomiting everywhere. I grabbed a napkin and tried to do what I could without making a huge scene. But let's get real. Everyone sitting around us in Cracker Barrel knew that this kid was puking everywhere. I waited for it to stop coming out of his nose. The poor little guy was gagging so. And I grabbed him up an

Mike the Knight DVD “Knight in Training" and Sword and Shield Set Giveaway

Have you heard of Mike the Knight ? It's an animated preschool series about a young knight-in-training. Through his adventures, Mike learns about responsibility, and how to do things right. It airs on Nick, Jr in the USA.   I just learned that Mike the Knight is coming to the Mall at Robinson ( 100 Robinson Centre Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15205). The information about the event is below.  But I am also giving away A Mike the Knight DVD (Knight in Training) and Sword and Shield set .  The Giveaway Ends June 29th. Enter to Win! Good Luck!  a Rafflecopter giveaway MIKE THE KNIGHT ™ CHARGES INTO MALL AT ROBINSON FOR “MIKE THE KNIGHT AND THE MISSION FOR HIDDEN TREASURE” ON  JUNE 30 Two Free Live Interactive Musical Show Performances at  11:30am and 1:30pm New York, NY (May 28, 2013)— Huzzah! On  June 30 ,  Mike the Knight™  and his friends are galloping into Mall at Robinson for special live performances of  Mike the Knight and the Mission for Hidden Trea

Children's Book Lucky By Craig Inglis Review and GIVEAWAY - Does your child like to read?

Does your child like to read? My Lil Man loves reading. Just the other day, I caught Lil Man with Mickey Mouse under his arm while he was reading to him. He was just jabbering away, and showing Mickey each picture. We usually read about 3-4 books at nap, and then 3-4 at bedtime (not counting any books we might read in between). So when I had the opportunity to review Lucky  by Craig Inglis, I jumped at the chance. Lil Man was pretty excited to check it out too. Reading Lucky Lucky is about dog who overcomes some pretty big obstacles after a car accident. I will admit, as I was reading the book, at first, I thought it was a little intense. But as the book progressed, I was pleased to see that it had an uplifting story about overcoming hardships. And I liked how the author ended the book with Lucky's new found abilities. Lil Man, since he's just 2, didn't grasp the concept about overcoming obstacles. But he was mesmerized by the vibrant pictures. He loved all of the

How I Make Money As A Freelancer

I keep getting a lot of questions about my freelance work that I do. So I thought, why not write a post about it, and get the information out there. As you know, I'm a stay-at-home mom, and we are a one-income family. So when I had Lil Man we cut back on expenses. But after awhile, I wanted to re-join the gym. So I used my money that I had saved from birthdays etc and re-joined the gym. But after a couple of months, that money of course was gone. So I started looking at trying to make some money from home so that I could pay for my gym membership. I looked at direct marketing. And don't get me wrong, they are an excellent way to make money. It just wasn't a good fit for me. So I was doing a google search one day, and came across an article with some websites listed as legitimate work from home sites. I signed up at Elance . It's not as easy as just 'signing up'. Once you sign up, you then have to fill in all of the important information. Filling in all of

Cleaning Eating.. The Journey Continues

Well, so far so good with the decision to change my eating habits. After just a couple of days of eating more fresh fruits and veggies, I've have less of a desire to snack on processed foods. Looking up some info about Clean eating really helped me be more informed about the subject. To read some tips that I found, and my post over the weekend click here (Clean Eating - The Journey Begins) For the first time in my life, I bought Kale yesterday. I had to google and ask friends what I was supposed to do with it. Image Source: WebMd I plan to make some Kale chips this evening. I'll let you know how it goes ;) 

Summer Decorating Inspiration Board

Check out this pretty Summer Decorating Inspiration Board. I wish I could say that I created it. Sadly, I did not. But it was sent to me, and I thought I'd pass it along to you. These images certainly remind me of summer! L to R:   table setting ,   wall art ,   living room ,   ice tea ,   snowdrops ,

I Got My Wake Up Call

It was an ordinary Tuesday. Lil Man woke us up on the baby monitor. Hubby and I groaned as we realized it was time to get up. I got out of bed and turned around to straighten the pillows when 'wow, the world started spinning'. I grabbed hold of the bed to keep from falling. The swirling stopped and I just assumed that I'd got up too fast. I went about my morning as usual. I needed to get in a short run. So while Lil Man and Hubby ate breakfast, I headed out the door for a quick 3 mile run. I wasn't really 'feeling it'. And on that run, I decided that I needed to taper before the Half on June 15. I changed clothes. Got Lil Man dressed, and we went to the gym. I did a half hour work out with weights. We left the gym, and went to a local park where I climbed stairs and slid down slides with my Lil Man. We had lunch. He went down for nap. I did my freelance work. I even had some time to relax. It was around 3pm, as I was laying on the deck, when I felt the world

Exercise With Your Kids

Do you exercise with your kids?  I'm finding that the older Lil Man gets, the more he participates in my fitness program. I admit that I usually have to keep the hand weights away. He lifts them (yes, even the 10lb ones). And I'm afraid he's going to drop them on himself. And if I use the bosu ball, it's also a challenge because he wants on it also. This is a pic when he was a little younger. He's got some pretty decent balance there. And lately, I've been utilizing the jogging stroller more and more. I started off with a 2 mile run. Then the next week I joined in on a group run and ran 7 miles with him. (That was the farthest we'd been.) He did great.  So last week, I went out for an 8 mile run that turned into our first Double Digit 10 Miler.   I have to say that I was actually surprised at the emotions that I was feeling during and after the run. Yes, it was super hard. It was humid that day. But it was such a feeling of accomplishment to p