wednesday April 29th

Praise the Lord! I managed to get in some exercise today! I did three miles (40 minutes) of aerobic walking! According to sparkpeople.com I burned 363 calories! WOOHOO! I'm so into that. Travis was in the wrap the whole time I think I should get extra calories burned for that!



Breakfast

1/2 cup rice/hemp milk

Granola 3/4 cup homemade



Snack

Carrot with dip

Lunch
3 sandwiches (white bread no crusts, peanut butter and jelly, my mom brought lunch)
Cookie thing my mom brought
2 rice krispie squares 2x2x1"
1.5 cups rice/hemp milk

Snack
Rice Krispie square

Dinner
3 chicken thighs, baked with breading
1/3 cup corn
1 large potato with butter

Tuesday April 28th

I'm going to add my picture to this post later since I'm on my laptop right now. So I weighed myself this morning and there's been no change. But I feel skinnier. So whatever that means. My goal today is to chop up a lot of veggies to have on hand for all different things and to do 20 mkinutes of cardio...

Someone asked why I drink apple juice. Mostly it's because I'm craving sugar in a big way and it's better than drinking a coke. I pretty much only have it with breakfast. There is something in me that has a hard time drinking water with my breakfast.

Breakfast
Pancakes (1/4 inch thick and about 4 inches across)

Maple syrup

2 cups apple juice



Lunch

3/4 cups meatloaf

1/2 cup yams

1 cup cauliflower

1/8 cup corn



Snack

Carrot sticks with homemade dip (1/2 cup mayo, 1/4 cup olive oil, juice from half a lemon and 8 cloves garlic crushed, recipe from thetwosisters.com)



Dinner

Cowboy food (scrampled eggs with all beef hot dogs, mushroom and onions

1/2 in thick slice of white toast with butter



2 cookies



(we are really short on fruit right now and I'm missing it a lot. Can't wait for payday!)

April 27th 2009

Okay so I'm not going to be posting on Sundays and Mondays. You may have noticed.



I have a bit of a problem. I'm having a really hard time eating in the morning. Lunch is usually my first meal. I am praying for God to give me the time to eat. I also forgot to weigh myself this morning when I first woke up so hopefully I'll remember tomorrow.

Breakfast (at lunch time)

Scrambled egg wrap with salsa
1.5 cups apple juice

Lunch (at 4:30)
Two Tim Hortons chicken wrap snackers with grilled chicken.

Dinner

3/4 cup chili


4 cookies
1.5 cups hemp/vanilla rice milk

It wasn't a good food day. Not nearly enough food and I didn't take my iron. I still haven't taken my iron today but it's been a much better food day. Thankfully my husband did all of my dishes last night so it set me ahead as far as time goes today. LOVE HIM!

Friday April 24th

Good morning. What a difference 1 hour of sleep makes. Yesterdays picture was so much nicer and I only slept an hour later. I've been getting to bed very late as there is just so much to do around here and I just want my kitchen clean before I go to sleep. Nevermind all the laundry and floors. And that's only one half of my house. I've been completely ignoring the other side. I may have to give up facebook, even though I only spend about 20 minutes a day on it. I am looking forward to the day that I can work without interruptions. It may take 20 years or so.

This is Joe sporting a pinafore that I made for Jenny. 99% of the time I love that I have four boys and one girl (who is 6 by the way) But when I put this on Joe to model it for some pictures for Jenny I started pining for a baby girl.

Anyway on with the info and then on to my work.

Breakfast (this meal was pretty much skipped yesterday due to busyness which I know is aweful but hey, that's just life people!)

1 sticky bun

2 cups apple juice. These were scarfed down between nursing and blogging and cleaning.

Lunch

1 cup veggie chowder

1 w.w. tortilla

1 t. Ketchup

1.5 cups scrambled eggs

Snack (we were at Megan's birthday party and that Laura sure does put out a good spread, mercifully she also picks really good yummy fruit)

Lots of grapes, strawberries and watermelon. Mmmm.

1 small brownie

1 small handful of chips

1 small handful of cheesies.

I just want to say that I'm really proud of how well I did at the party. They were my favorite kind of chips and the brownies were so good.

Shoot I just remembered that I ate anothe sticky bun before we went to the party. Ah well whatever. At least they're healthy-ish sticky buns.

Dinner

1 large helping of spaghetti with meat sauce.

Snack

2 pieces w.w. raisin toast with p.b. and chocolate/almond butter (recipe to come hopefully)

1 almond milk/blueberry/banana smoothie

Okay so it was a really high carb day. the more tired I am the more I want the carbs and sugars and since Travis was really fussy and I just had so many things to do it seems that I gave into the carbs more rather than preparing something better. I'm so thankful for the nice fruity break of the party (and especially the visiting!)

I am still taking my iron every day. I use spirulina, which is an algae and doesn't make you feel sick or constipated. I love this stuff. It doesn't taste so great though.

Anyone else out there who has a great Iron source? Please share!

It was so beautiful outside yesterday so I rushed the kids through their school and we headed out. For the first time we let the chickens out and had a lot of fun with them. Here's some photographic evidence.

For the first time since Ephrim was a baby his finger cold sores have returned. Yes you can get them on your fingers. Poor kid. Time for naps, probiotics and no sugar.

Thursday April 23rd

Today feels like it's going to be a good day, and no I'm not going to knock on wood.

Okay no fitness yesterday, at this point I'm not going to take this part seriously. There simply isn't any time in my life for it.

Breakfast

1 Sticky Bun

2 Hard boiled eggs

2 cups apple juice

Lunch

1/2 and apple

1 banana

4 pizza rolls (Maiya made them and they are incredible) They are about 1 inch thick and 2"x4"

Snack

1 pizzza roll

Dinner

2 hotdogs

1/2 carrot

1 Marshmallow (we had a wiener roast)

Snack

1 sticky bun

1 cup vanilla rice milk

Poor Travis is fussy today. There was cheese in the pizza rolls. It'll be a hold the baby close with a soother morning.

Wednesday April 22nd

Good morning from a tired Lady. I'm always exhausted when I wake up but then as I get giong I perk up.

Again there was no exercise yesterday as I'm still working hard to get caught up in my house work, I also have some sewing commitments that have to be met.

Breakfast
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup rice milk
2 T. cane sugar
1 t. coconut oil

Some time before lunch I had a bite of Joe's tortilla with hummus. He loves tortilla with hummus and it's such a great snack for him. I just slather the hummus on and roll it up.

Lunch
1 cup home made noodles
Butternut squash sauce
1 cup asparagus

Snack
Blueberry banana smoothie with dates and almond milk. I put too many dates in and it was too sweet so I only drank half of it and passed it off to the vultureskids.

1/2 a tortilla with hummus (Joe's was just too yummy)

Dinner

Kona Chicken - 2 drumsticks
1/2 cup yam
1 cup peas

Snacks
I was still very hungry after supper so I chopped up the left over potatoes and yams and threw them together with the leftover peas and corn and cooked them in rice/almond milk. I then scrambled two eggs and mixed them with some butternut sauce and some corn starch. Then I boiled it all together until the eggs cooked. I had a half a bowl of that and I was good for a while.

Emma made bread dough before she went to bed to I finished it and decided to make Dalen some sticky buns. Instead of giving into the temptation of all of that refined badness I decided to try an "unrefined" healthy spin on sticky buns. They were still made from white, refined flour but you just have to make lemonade people!

I replaced butter with coconut oil
Brown sugar with organic cane sugar
Whipping cream with almond milk.

These are absolutely delish and decided to treat everyone this morning with sticky buns and boiled eggs for breakfast!

I also had 1.5 cups of apple Juice.

I am so happy with my food yesterday! It was an awesome day and I feel really good about it. I am not trying to cut out all sweets, I am a sweets loving girl, I am just trying to cut them back and make them as healthy as I can.

Mr.Travis has a mohawk. He looks incredibly bald in this picture. He isn't it's just that fluffy newly grown in baby hair. Oh well he's still SO incredibly sweet and kissable, especially when he's smiling at my boob me ;)

Oh I think my blog rating just went from a G to an A.

Tuesday April 21

So I'm also going to endeavor to take a picture of myself every day. I will also try to make myself smile for these pictures. You are going to get the good, the bad, and the ugly. I'm going to be photographically honest. No editing here folks.

My food intake for yesterday.

So I woke up at 6:00 yesterday and I felt great all day. Today I felt like the living dead ;) Travis is very gassy and fussy today so it's neat to have everything I ate written down so I can see what may be bothering him.

Pre breakfast snack (I was up too early to not have this) Homemade granola and rice milk

Breakfast

Whole grain flax pancake (no egg) with maple syrup

2 scrambled eggs.

Lunch

Homemade whole grain noodles in chicken broth

Snack

1 cup rice milk

1 medium banana

Dinner

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup sweet and sour hamburger

1.5 cup coconut milk stir fry

Binge

3 marshmallows (yes they are sugar but the are only about 25 calories a piece and it's a whole lot better than a whole chocolate bar or a bag of chips)

My goal for today is to slice some veggies for quick quasallias when I need something to eat. I make them with my butternut sauce instead of cheese so they are a lot lower in calories. Also if I need protein in something I add eggs. Even to soup and stir fry.

I didn't get any exercise in yesterday I was too busy about the house and just didn't have time. I'm hoping to go for a walk today and try to get through one of my circuits from Kim. I still can't bend my legs withough feeling like I'm going to collapse after the last work out so I'm hoping to get something in today to warm up those muscles again.

Travis is unhappy this morning. I'm hoping that he'll sleep soon.

No more calorie counting.

Accountability.

Well it's nothing too exciting but I've decided that I'd better work my rear off to lose as much weight as I can and get as healthy as I can before I get pregnant again :) Seeing as I never know how long that will be, but judging by last time, I've got to get going! So yesterday began my boot camp, and I mean boot camp people! I have a five circuit work out and at this rate I'll be happy if I'm good enough shape to just finish it one day... far, far away! Also another biggy is diet. So I'm attempting to avoid refined sugars and flours and whatever else they have managed to refine :) I am off of dairy for Travis and have discovered that I like rice milk and am looking forward to making almond milk today. So in an attempt to hold myself accountable, I'm going to post everything I'm eating, honestly. Here goes. (did I mention there would be eye candy?)

Monday April 20th 201 pounds (oh yes I'm posting my weight, it's really not a big deal, people know I'm fat, hiding the numbers won't change it ;)

Breakfast
1 cup steamed asparagus
1 whole wheat tortilla
1 cup rice milk
Scrambled eggs with squash mix ( I cook butternut squash, carrots, onion and yam in chicken broth and puree, then I use it for mixing into eggs, in place of cheese in quasadillas and for pasta sauce)

Snack
1 Banana

Lunch
1 cup brown rice
Stir fry with coconut milk ( coconut milk, a little soy sauce, garlic and corn starch)
Egg/soy sauce noodles (whisk some eggs together with soy sauce to flavor and then fry like a crepe on a griddle or in a pan, flip and then roll up and cut into strips like noodles)
Ephrim is in love with his little brother Travis

Snack
Homemade granola with rice milk
1/4 of a cantelope
2 small squares of organic chocolate

Dinner
2 tortillas
Salad with apple cider vinagrette
1/2 cup chicken
6 small taters (this was an indulgence, but I'm fine with it)

"Can you take a picture of me mom?" "Sure but you have to make it look like you're actually doing something"



Snack
2 small apples in slices
3 tablespoons Adam's natural peanut butter

Total calories (estimated) 2217!

eek! The thing that really got me was the peanut butter. Over 300 calories! But I'm wondering, if the majority of these calories (say 90%) are from very healthy sources, and lets say I only ate until I was full and spent parts of the day hungry, should I really be aiming for less calories? No I dont' think so.

Oh Travis, poor baby.
What I noticed yesterday. I wanted sugar. So I ate protein. It really helpped. Also I would drink water when I felt hungry (most people confuse thirst with hunger) if the hunger came back after that I knew I was hungry and would have a snack. When I'm watching what I eat I usually make the mistake of being careful with meals but not with snacks. I'm really happy with my snacking yesterday!
Emma is the other mom in these parts

My goal for today is to dig out my exercise ball and fill it up. Then find my weights. I'm not using them today though, it's a cardio day. So I'm going to aim for 2 miles of walking aerobics. Me and Leslie are friends again. Oh and I also have to care for my 5 children and home. PRAY FOR ME!

Yes we got a wii, I don't really want to talk about that, anyway how sad it is when a 1 year old knows how to turn on the TV and the wii and then stands below the basket containing the wii controllers saying "Moe Moe Moe!" (more)Said 1 year oldI love sunshine at supper time! It means that spring has sprung!Travis has a shortage of neck, see? All the skin for a neck is there under his chin, but the rest is missing.

The chub is starting to form!Yummy smoochie baby lips!

Luogon :)

So just an update. I talked with Karen Barkman from Provision of Hope. She is the one who got us connected with Luogon again and who is taking care of the administration side of things for us. She put together a info sheet for Luogon that I can e-mail to people if they are interested and she also works with Hope of the Nation and can get tax receipts for anyone who is giving a donation if it is made out to H.O.T.N.

So far we have $197 in donations and orders. Please share this with anyone you know. Also Ruth helped me set up a facebook group if you are interested. It's called Made for Mercy.

Thanks guys!

Wowzers, it's been a long time.

This post is being put together little pieces at a time. I have a lot of things to talk about but right now there is one thing predominantly on my heart.

Luogon.

Luogon is my African son. You didn't know I had an african son? Well I do. Technically he's not mine, but in my heart he is. And as far as my children are concerned he's ours. He's too old to be adopted (and that just something that our family can't do right now) and we will probably never ever meet him. But we love him. Honestly I'm too scared to call him because I think, "what if I can't understand him?" Liberian english is very different from Canadian english.

So I lost contact with Luogon for about a year. We prayed all the time for him and that we would have a way to get a hold of him (Liberia doesn't have a mail system so any letters have to be brought there in person) Two days ago I received a letter from him sent by Karen Barkman. She runs an organization called Provision of Hope out of Kelowna!

Luogon has been living with a pastor in Liberia and has been out of school for two years. Finishing school is a huge thing in liberia. I know it is here too but there it's their only hope. I dont' think it makes that much of a difference as to wether they can get a job or not but it's a big deal for them. It will cost us about 400.00 to put him in school for a year. And get this. He is currently living with a group of 20 boys in their late teens all in the same situation as him, their orphanage closed. For about 7000.00 us we could shelter and feed 12 of them for a year. That's pocket change for our God. The thing about these boys is that they really don't know how to do for themselves. They don't always have great attitudes either. They have been given everything they have and haven't had to work for it. That doesn't make for an entirely productive character. Does that make them less deserving of our love and offering? No. They need us. Luogon needs me. He considers me his mom. Do you know how heart breaking that is to me? I think some of you obviously do.

When Karen met the boys in Liberia Luogon offered to run a bible study with the boys and they instituted a prayer and singing group. I am trying to contact Luogon by e-mail but it costs about a dollar for them to check e-mail and they really just don't have that money. Anyway if I can get into contact with him I want to hold him accountable to these things. I want to see an willing heart from him to do something. Apparently he has some sort of apprenticeship right now. That is really encouraging to me.

So here is the deal. ALL of my sewing money is going to be going to putting Luogon through school. Believe it or not my little business doesn't really rake the cash in. So I am believing for a miracle. And sometimes you have to do for yourself when it comes to God too. He also wants to see a willing heart :) So here's the word for all of you (all five of you).

I'm going to get sewing. I am going to believe that if this is God's will there will be people to buy what I have to sell. This is going to be a painfully slow process as I have a four week old and can't even keep up on marking school and house work so please pray that God will multiply my time, keep me focused and give me help if I need it. My goal today is to get as much of my house in order as I can. Tonight Dalen is going to help me clean my floors. I am so thankful for this as they are not the color they were a month ago.

If you want to help me, then I'll take it. Any of it. Money, time, prayers... if you want to give it I'm there. And if we get more that 400.00 I'm sure one of those 20 boys wouldn't mind going to school.

400.00

That's
12 wraps
40 pairs of beanie legs
20 Kimono tops
40 pairs of pants hemmed

20 boy x 400 is 8000

That's
229 wraps
800 pairs of beanie legs
400 Kimono tops
800 pairs of pants hemmed

Two homes with rent, food and medical care is 14,000

That's
400 wraps
1400 pairs of beanie legs
700 Kimono tops
1400 pairs of pants hemmed

22,000 for a year to care for 20 Liberian boys and put them through school.

That's

629 wraps

2200 pairs of beanie legs

1100 Kimono tops

2200 pairs of pants hemmed

Things could get real busy ;)