Growing

Our household just keeps on growing! We started fostering in September of 2011 with this desire to provide a safe a loving home for children in need. Since then we have had the pleasure of having 11 children in our home. There is training before becoming foster parents and then training every year which is good for us non-parents. But even with this training we were not quite prepared for the roller coaster ride we were willingly strapping ourselves into. And boy has it been a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs and twists and turns. There were even those times when we felt like we were failing at everything we tried. But we would not take any of them back for anything. 

We know that God brought each child into our home for reasons we many never understand. And we trust that he will use their time with us as an example of a better life. It has been a blessing and a growing experience for both HIM & HER. Each child has forced us to grow in areas that we would never have thought of before and has given us a different outlook on life.

We still have Little miss S who is now 20 months old and 8 year old A. But on February 1st we added 14 year old miss K and 11 year old T. I was a little nervous about having a teenage girl. Little miss S has been the only girl we have had. And as many of you know teenage girls are an unexplainable and sometime scary force of nature. Even though it has only been 11 days, I don't see us having too many issues with either miss K or T. Both of them are such good kids they seem to just fit right into our little family. Both Little miss S and A love having them here. 

The scariest thing that we have to deal with is having only one bathroom, yes i did just say ONE bathroom (Gasp). We still haven't quite figured out a good schedule for everyone (if there is even such a thing). But we have found a way to make our morning mayhem work for us. It just means earlier mornings for me and a lot more coffee to get the day started.

2013

The crazy Christmas season is all but a distant memory now. As we have jumped head first into the year 2013. Where some may be oh so happy to be done with the holidays, others like me are thinking back to it with longing. For me this year was a nice and peaceful time with HIM and Little miss S. While we did do some traveling and visiting with family, we also had some great down time that would be so nice right about now. It seems like I have not been able to catch my breath since 2013 began. And now with January already coming to a close, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Add to that the failure of most of our resolutions and stores pushing Valentines day on us, it is no wonder that we all get a little down about now. Then to add injury to insult there is the extra weight that if you are like me was so kindly added to our midsections during the wonderful holiday season that is making all of us grumpy. So what are we to do about all of this depressing weariness and make 2013 a more joyful and fulfilling year? 

I say keep it short term, with nothing to crazy like loosing 25 pounds in 3 weeks(this is the real world NOT the Biggest Loser), and make them fun! It is easier to commit to something for a short period of time. You get a higher sense of accomplishment instead of failure when it is a shorter period as well.  

1. Drink more water! (easy enough right, wrong I HATE drinking water) At least one glass before every meal. 

2. Exercise at least 3 times a week .... any form of exercise from Zumba on the X-box to ten minutes on the elliptical to plain old jogging in place I am gonna move it...move it!

3. Journal daily (easier said than done, I was journal-ing regularly, but lately I have become very erratic) 

4. Have a date night with the HIM at least twice a month. (this is something we have talked about but never done) 

5. Most importantly I will focus on my relationship with GOD! I have joined a growth group at my church on The Forgotten God by Francis Chan (this Wednesday was week one). 
Also both of us are taking the Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey at our church. (We are excited to see ourselves out of debt, a retirement plan in place and well on our way to fully fund an adaption!)

These are five small ways that I can make my 2013 a little bit more fulfilling! What are some things that you all are going to do to make it that way for you? 

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Storm #2 is making itself know here in Southern Indiana. The first one dumped around 4-7" with strong winds making drifts 10" or more deep. Now this one was only suppose to bring 1-3" but now it is looking to bring more like 3-6" of this lovely white stuff. It started out with some lovely freezing rain but soon turned into some nice big snow flakes. We are suppose to have a few days without snow then here comes storm #3. I just hope we don't get snowed in again. This first storm already had our county under a state of emergency and urged people to stay off the county roads until Saturday. But with Storm #2 coming down nice a heavy today, it may be even longer. 
 

My little brother Terry came home with us on Christmas Day and went home today. While he was here Terry and HIM built a snowman while HER and Little miss S played in the snow. She didn't quite like the snow at first, but after a little bit of coaxing she came around to it and has some fun. Well besides not wanting to keep her gloves on. She would take them off and grab the snow then start crying and getting mad. So finally I took her gloves off and shoved mine on her so she couldn't take them off and her hands would keep warm. 

Lazy snow days are always the best. Even if we were not able to stay out there as long as I would have liked to.  But the time we did spend out there was great. And then there is the time spent lazing around the house playing video games, reading and watching movies. I am just thankful that my not so little, little brother is not too cool to hang out with his big sister. And I hope that doesn't change.

Thanksgiving and HIM's 30th Birthday

We normally go to my in-laws for the Thanksgiving since Him's birthday is on the 28th. But this year we weren't sure if we would be able to go since we have Little miss S. What with having to have the courts approval to take her out of state and all. Which we finally got right at the last minute!! I wasn't too worried about the 3-4 hour drive,I figured Little miss S would just sleep most of the way there. That was until we were asked to take one of our nephews with us. And guess what happened....Neither of them slept.  And let me tell ya it is not a good thing when Little miss S doesn't get her nap. She gets very goofy, whiney and very sassy. But luck was on our side, Little miss S was in a good mood and did really good meeting HIM's family.  I was nervous since she doesn't do well with men sometimes but for the most part she was good with everyone. She latched onto  my mother in-law following her around all the time. And she slept good too. It is always hard to know how she is going to react to things since we have only had her since August. Also this is the first trip that we took with her so we were in a whole new ball game and anything was possible.

We went there on Wednesday and came back on Friday. Yes it was a short visit, but that is really all that we were able to do with work, school and all. But the best part of traveling on Black Friday is that there are so few people driving on the interstates and highways. They are all either driving to and from the stores or sleeping off their late night shopping. Which makes for a perfect day for the 3-4 hour drive. We did have better luck with her sleeping on the way home YAH us. But we also didn't have our nephew with us on the way back either.  But our day was not over when we got home. HIM stayed home to work on homework while HER and Little miss S went to E-Ville for a little bit of shopping for HIM's birthday.

For HIM's birthday, this year I wanted to make it a special one since it was his 30th birthday. But he didn't want anything big or a surprise party or anything like that so I was a little at lost for what to do. So after a LOT of thinking and brainstorming with the hubby, we came up with a very good plan for his 30th party. We invited only 8 of our closest friends and asked that no presents to be brought. I cooked HIM's favorite meal and baked his favorite cakes. I even made up an about David quiz. We had a nice meal with some great fellowship. Followed by the cake and the quiz. Then we had a surprise for our guests, one that we hope has blessed them just as much as it has blessed us. We presented each of our guests with a gift to hold on to. Then HIM got up front and addressed each guest personally with a little something that we admire about them and why we are thankful to have them in our lives. Along with a scripture or a quote that we felt fit their personalities. When HIM addressed the last person we asked them to open the gifts. Ones that we took special care to pick just for them. They also were given the slip of paper that HIM read to them as well.
After all of that then HIM got to open his gifts, even though he asked for none to be brought they guest still gave him a little something.

We don't live close to our families, and these 8 people invited to the party have truly become family to us. HER family lives in Illinois while the majority of HIM's family is in Missouri. The distance does make it a little complicated to have a close relationship with our families. But we are truly blessed that God has brought some amazing people into our lives here in Indiana. And it was our pleasure to be able to honor them in the small way that we did.

Oh and HER really got some bonus points from HIM when we all went to out basement to reveal one of the gifts I got for him. So HIM has been wanting a punching bag for I don't know how long. He drops hints left and right about them. Which is a good thing because I am horrible at picking up on hints. I tell everyone I am like a guy because it could be the biggest slap you in the face type of hint and it would go right over my head. So I just tell HIM that if him wants something you need to drop repeated hints or just flat out tell me. Because if not I will not get it. But anyways I did get this ONE (or a thousand of the same hints on punching bags) and HIM was so excited for it!

3 Day (Military) Diet Day 3

So I have been surprised about how much food you eat each meal and how full you really feel from them. The only thing is I am use to not eating half as much for breakfast and lunch. So I am not sure how that is gonna play out here. I can see how for people who do not diet or watch what they eat can lose up to 10 pounds. I just don't think I will be one of those people. 

For almost two years now HIM and HER have made a major overhaul on our eating habits.  We have gradually taken out a lot of the really bad stuff and gone to more natural and lower calorie products. We try to regularly count our calories and be conscious of what we eat. Though HER is not as good as HER should be. We usually use Stevia in the raw instead of sugar or Splenda but the past few times I have been to the store they have been out of Stevia so we compromise. Some of those little changes have been fresh or frozen veggies rarely if ever do I get canned veggies anymore. We also do a lot of turkey like turkey bacon, turkey burgers,  turkey pepperonis etc.  And bread we do not eat much bread. :(  When we do it is the 35 calorie white bread. Sometimes I might splurge and buy a fresh loaf of bread from the store or at subway get the Italian herb and cheese but that is rare. There are other changes, but those are the big ones. 

Anyways here is the break down for day three.

Day 3: 185.1

Breakfast - 5 saltine crackers, 1 small apple (the hubby and I halved a large apple), and 2 ounces of ham (about 4 slices of thinly sliced lunch meat) 

• After yesterday I just had to have some coffee with Splenda (still no creamer, I can not wait until tomorrow to have some yummy french vanilla creamer in my coffee!) 

Lunch - 1 hard boiled egg and 1 slice of toast (35 calorie white bread)

Dinner - 1 cup tuna, 1/2 banana, 1 cup Vanilla Ice Cream

• I had to have a Diet Mtn. Dew again today. I just can not seem to go with out at least one soda a day, but especially after yesterday I need all the pick me up I can get.
• Now I almost couldn't get all the tuna down. I did not add anything to it this time but really wished I would have. 

Day 4: 

Saturday morning I woke up a weighed myself and.......I came in at 183.8!  So like I thought, I did not lose 10 pounds. But 2.8 pounds in three days is still pretty good. Not to mention a healthier weight to lose in three days. But as I mentioned above I can see how someone who is not currently counting calories, dieting, or being food conscious could be able to lose 10 pounds in these three days. So by all means please try this diet and share your results with me. I would love to hear about your experiences. I may also try to do this diet again here in a week or two, to see if I have different results the second time around. Also I will make sure that I do not have plans for these three days so I will not have to deviate from the plan. 

Also here again is the link to the full 3 Day (Military) Diet breakdown. Please go there and read all about it. There are substitutions to most of the foods and helpful hints as well. 

3 Day (Military) Diet Day 2

So I wasn't thinking when I went shopping for and started this diet. I have had a girls day-night out planned for a while and completely spaced it when preparing to go on this diet so I had to improvise just a bit. I tried to be as true to the diet as I could considering I was in a movie theater for over 12 hours.


Why you ask would I be in a movie theater for more than 12 hours, I must be crazy right. No I am not crazy, I was just in need of some girl time. It just happened to take the form of a twilight marathon ending in a 10 pm premier of Breaking Dawn part 2. Yep I was one of those crazy people along with four other great girls. Not that I am that obsessed with the Twilight saga like many out there are. I just find the whole experience fun. If you have never done a midnight premier or an all day showing then I recommend you do it at least once. The excitement in the place is contagious and so entertaining. I think I enjoyed the audiences reactions just as much as I do the movies themselves. It also helps that I did like the books, they are not the best literary work out there but they were enjoyable. Plus the movies aren't that bad either, but I have to say the final one is by far the best. It differs some from the book, but I think it made the movie that much better.  

Anyways enough on Twilight, here is the break down for day two. And remember I am not sold that I will lose 10 pounds in three days, especially since I only lost 1.5 pounds in one day (which is still good). The outcome is not looking as promising as they suggest, but we shall see.

Day 2: 185.6

Breakfast - 1 egg (fried), 1 slice of toast (35 calorie white bread), 1/2 banana

• I had coffee with splenda too (no creamer which is KILLING me. I love creamer it takes my coffee to the next level.) 

Lunch - 1 cup cottage cheese (fat free), 1 hard boiled egg, and 5 saltine crackers.

• I had water and some Diet. Mtn. Dew 

Dinner - 2 hot-dogs no buns (all beef/meat ones no fillers) 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana, and 1/2 cup Vanilla Ice Cream

• So here is where I had to deviate from the diet some. I was able to get the two all beef hot-dogs at the movie theater. Then I brought the broccoli (lightly seasoned with salt and pepper) and carrots both raw not steamed. I felt that would be easier to eat and not as smelly or easily spoiled as steamed veggies would have been. I did not have the ice cream, but did eat the whole banana instead of just half. 
• Also I brought with me some almonds to snack on through out the day. This helped curb those sudden cravings that came with the enticing scents of popcorn, candy and pizza. I had maybe 15 of them.
• I tried to drink water but lets face it 12 hours of movie watching I needed the caffeine that soda provides. I did stick with Diet Mtn. Dew. I am sure this has to have some effect on the diet, just not sure what. 
• I also did a short work out in the morning on the elliptical so don't know how that will play into it either. And did not get to bed until after 1 am. 

These are all of the factors that I felt I should let you know of. Sorry no pictures of the other two meals. But go check out the original site for more information on the 3 Day (Military) Diet.

3 Day (Military) Diet

Okay so I have been trying to lose weight for a little over a year now. And in the beginning I did really good losing around 30 pounds. Yeah for me right, I was so excited. But then I put back on a few pounds and have been hanging out around the 188 - 186 mark. Yikes!!! I so can not believe I am announcing my weight for all the world to see. It is more than a little terrifying. But in the spirit of full disclosure I feel I must be honest about my weight. Anyways, the word DIET makes me (like most people) totally cringe. The thought of not being able to eat the foods I like or feeling like I am starving all day does not sound very appealing. So while I was browsing pinterest one day I came across a pin that said

"3-day military diet. apparently you can lose up to ten lbs. in 3 days, with this special diet."

I was like yeah right, 10 pounds in 3 days, that's only possible if I starve myself. I am so not willing to do that I may be overweight but I refuse to starve myself. But to say that this pin didn't intrigue me would be a lie. So I opened up the link and started reading about this so called miracle diet. And to my surprise it seems legit with the best part being you eat a good amount of food too. Yeah to no starving!!! As I was reading the allowed foods I was surprised when I got to the dinner list and saw Vanilla Ice Cream listed yes you read that right Vanilla Ice Cream is allowed in this diet. By now I am sold! Below is what I ate and the above link has where I found it and how it breaks everything down. I followed the program pretty close any additions or changes are listed and explained.

DAY 1: start weight 186.6

Breakfast - 1/2 Grapefruit (with splenda), 1 Slice of Toast (35 calorie white bread) with 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter (crunchy), and Coffee (with splenda) you can have tea.

Lunch - 1/2 Cup of Tuna (single serving package, the lemon pepper seasoning), 1 slices of bread (35 calorie white bread), and Tea (Green Tea Tropical by Mighty Leaf)

• The single serving size packages are only 2.6 ounces so instead of having two packages, I supplemented with 15 almonds. I also added a tiny bit of light mayo with the tuna along with a Diet Mtn. Dew. 
• You can also have coffee instead of the tea. Also any variety of tea is okay as long as it is caffeinated. 
• When I say tiny bit of light mayo I mean tiny. Think an orange leaf spoon scoop. But not the heaping scoops like you would do with the frozen yogurt when you first get it. But the tiny scoops that you do when you are almost done to savor every last bit of the orange leaf goodness that you concocted. (I am almost drooling thinking about all that goodness yum) Anyways just enough mayo to make the tuna stick a little creamy. 

Dinner - 3 ounces Chicken breast lightly seasoned (salt, pepper and a lemon juice), 1 Cup of Green Beans (simmered in chicken broth with salt pepper, garlic and onion flakes), 1/2 Banana, 1 Small Apple, and 1 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream (YUM)!!!

• I cored then baked the apple with splenda and cinnamon then topped it with the Vanilla Ice Cream. We had this as a snack a little after dinner not with dinner (not sure if that will matter) 
• And I didn't even have the whole cup of Ice Cream either, I just wasn't that hungry and so I did a little over a half a cup. 

So here I am at the end of day one and still not 100% sold on this whole lose 10 pounds in 3 days thing. But I guess we will let the results speak for themselves on Saturday morning. Even if I lose a few pounds, and this helps get me over the hump that I have been battling since July then I am okay with it.

And sorry for not having pictures from the whole day I didn't even think about it until I was almost done preparing the apples as you can see. But seriously they were so so good.