Happy Friday one and all!! I love weekends so much. Kev and I are thinkin’ we may go on a short date tonight. Woo hoo. That sounds so so nice!
Look at this cutie pie…
I took that pic just now. He’s totally sacked out on me while I’m typing. I am LOVING having a baby SO MUCH! He is such a sweetie and he’s starting to get a little chubby! Check out that double chin. Love it.
Anyway, I’m still doing pretty good on my healthy diet thingy, but I did have one “small problem” that I’ll talk about in just a sec. I’ve mostly been eating a lot of the same things; eggs, more eggs, salads, yogurt, protein pancakes, fruit, chicken, cottage cheese, etc.
I didn’t take too many pictures this week, but here are a few things I did take pics of…
This was my yummy breakfast this morning…
It was my version of a breakfast sandwich. I scrambled one egg + 3-4 egg whites, topped it with cheese and put it in a La Tortilla Factory tortilla with some ham. I also cut up a peach on the side. Everything tasted so good to me and I was stuffed for hours! Sadly, there weren’t any veggies in it, but it was chock full of protein. It was super tasty and I’m sure I’ll be making it again.
I’ve had a crazy busy week, so I grabbed this as I ran out the door the other day…
A few slices of turkey, an apple and a Greek yogurt. Totally random. I ended up eating the turkey and apple and was too stuffed to eat the yogurt. It was such a quick, easy and portable meal though.
We had this for dinner the other night and it was so so good!
It’s a recipe for Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli soup and it is awesome! My friend gave me all of the ingredients for this soup at my diaper/frozen meal shower that my friend’s held for me just before Carson was born.
The soup is TASTY, quick to throw together, somewhat healthy and super filling. We’ll definitely be making it again. Here is a link to the recipe my friend gave me. It’s a keeper. 🙂
I also decided to make a batch of my Best Breadsticks Ever to go with it. They are seriously SO DANG GOOD!
They are NOT healthy at all, but I decided to have just ONE with my soup. They are just too dang good.
Oh, and I didn’t consider the breadstick to be my “one problem” this week. THIS ended up being my problem…
Auuughhh! Yes, my 10 year old is now ELEVEN. I thought I could resist the birthday cake, but I COULD not. I just had one small piece, but it was so so good, I must say.
My son decided he wanted to have a “Lego birthday.” We let the kids have a “friend party” every other year and they have a “family party” on the off years. This year it was a “family party” and we had a great time.
He wanted a Lego cake, so I decided just to make the cake myself (I think homemade is much better than store bought!) I also decided to just take the easy route and buy a $10 Lego set to go on top. My son was thrilled. We washed all of the Legos the night before his birthday and I told him he could build it ON his birthday. Soooo, he woke up at 6:00 AM to build his car. Too cute.
My son wanted Dominoes Pizza for dinner, but I made myself a big salad instead. After dinner, we took the family to The Lego Store at the mall.
It was such a fun store and full of so many cool Legos. I totally forgot to take any pictures while we were there though!! Lame. As we were leaving the mall, I said, “Wait, I forgot to take a picture.” So, this is what we got…
We let the kids each pick out a small thing to buy at the store.
When we got home, we had cake and opened presents. Guess what my son got!???!
He was in heaven and said it was one of his all-time favorite birthdays.
Ya know, I felt pretty good about having just ONE small piece of cake and I didn’t beat myself up about it. HOWEVER, that night my baby had the WORST night sleeping ever. He woke up at 3:00 AM and didn’t really want to go back to sleep after that. 🙁 It was torturous.
In the morning I felt terrible. I had a huge headache and just wanted to crawl back into bed for the rest of the day. Sooooo, when I saw the leftover birthday cake on the counter, I just thought, “Hand me a freakin’ fork!”
Ya, it wasn’t pretty. It did make me feel a little bit better though. I have to say that lack of sleep is one of the biggest factors in how well I eat. When I’m super tired, I lose all motivation and just fall apart.
But, after the “cake massacre,” I got back on the wagon and have eaten well ever since (that was Thursday morning.)
I guess we just live and learn, right?
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I have to share some cute pics with you guys. On Wednesday, I went over the Elementary School to watch my kiddos run in the Jog-a-Thon for the school’s fundraiser.
My 4 year old gave his older brother a high five every time he came around.
The kids were also encouraged to wear “crazy socks” and “crazy hair.” We didn’t do much with my boy’s hair, but they both wore crazy socks.
It was such a cute event! The kids ran for 20 minutes or so and the parents cheered them on. There was a DJ there playing songs like “Everything is Awesome” and “What Does the Fox Say.” It was such a fun event and I have to say I got teary-eyed as I watched and cheered for my kids.
Yes, I’m a sap.
Sadly, it was 95 degrees (WOW!), so my boys were melting. Thankfully Carson stayed nice and cool in his stroller…
I love my kidlets.
Oh, and look what Kev brought home from work yesterday…
HOLY COW! He spent the day with a client who gave him all of the things in that green box (zuicchini, spaghetti squash, peppers and corn.) He also stopped at a local fruit stand and bought a bunch of apples, peaches and tomatoes.
Sooo, we plan on making some salsa tomorrow and will make applesauce if we have time. Otherwise, we’ll do applesauce next week. I’m also going to be busy making a million zucchini things! I’ll let y’all know what I decide to make!
Well, Kev’s home from work and we’re getting ready to head out, so I gotta run! Have a wonderful weekend!!!
Hey! I nominated you for The One Lovely Blog Award…check out the details here…http://journeytotheson.wordpress.com/
Awww, thanks so much! Checking out your blog now….
You are one busy mama!!! Your kids are all so cute!
Glad you and Kevin were able to get out for a little date – always a good thing.
Great idea to top that Lego cake!!!
Thanks so much Kim! We are a wee bit crazy right now, but it’s all good! Our little date night (i.e. get away and breathe for a sec) was so so nice.
Mmm, cake! I agree, when you’re sleep-deprived, will power goes right out the window.
Thanks for sharing the recipe for Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli soup and for sharing the adorable pics of your little ones! I love the idea of crazy hair day. How cool is that, just show up out of bed and pretend your hair looks crazy on purpose! I wonder if I can persuade my boss we need crazy hair day every Monday at work?
Ha ha, I love the idea of Crazy Hair day at work! Too funny. I really loved that soup so much. If you make it, I hope you love it!
I agree homemade cake is way better than store bough. Cute idea to put the little Lego set on top.
Happy birthday to your son! The home made cake looks like you bought it at a store which mean it looks amazing. I am still sleep deprived and my twins are 1 years old, so I understand you completely about not being motivated to eat healthy because you are tired. I just seriously grab whatever I find in the fridge because I just need something to wake me up and fill me up for that moment in time. I glad you all had a great time!
Thanks so much! I’m sorry you’re still sleep deprived with your twins, dang it. I never knew how much I cherished a good night’s sleep until I had kids, lol!
I hope you get enough sleep soon. It would be very, very difficult for me to resist that cake too. Looks wonderful.
I can’t wait for the day when I can get decent, consistent sleep! I miss my sleep so much, lol.
You and I are seriously one in the same when it comes to cake. It’s my weakness and when I see leftovers I cannot control myself. It’s quite scary actually. I need all things like that to be OUT OF MY REACH. Happy belated birthday to your 11 yr old!!
My love for cake is scary too, lol! I really have no willpower if cake or cookies are in my vicinity. It’s pathetic, lol.
I just put 2 + 2 together and realized the mindless snacking and sleep deprivation equation. Crazy how that works but it makes sense. Should have realized it sooner.
The lack of sleep gets me EVERY time! I can eat well day after day after day, but if I get sleep deprived it seems impossible to keep it up!
Yes, sleep deprivation makes weight loss difficult, but it sounds like you’re doing a great job and instilling healthy habits in your kids while you’re at it.
Oh, and if my husband brought home that load of produce while I was dealing with a baby and exhaustion, I’d have collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Thanks so much! I laughed out loud at your “heap on the floor” comment because I can SOOOO relate! Thankfully, I’ve been giving a lot of the produce away. It is quite intimidating, lol!
GAH! There are so many things I want to comment on but it would take forever! LOVED your food pics–you NAIL it with balancing everything, great example!!
I love how many fruits and veggies your hub brought home! I just froze a TON of peaches–super stoked about that!
You’re so right about how being tired affect what you eat–it’s always easy to eat junk when I’m tired or hungry!
You’re awesome Melanie!
Thanks so much Kirtley! I should have frozen a bunch of those peaches, dang it. That’s a good idea!
Wow! That is A LOT of produce! I guess your family is a tad bigger than mine. I literally buy three apples and four bananas for the week and call it a day! Lol.
I totally agree with you that lack of sleep makes eating healthy so hard! Those breadsticks look amazing! I definitely want to make some!
Carson is beyond adorable.
That’s a LOT of produce for our family too! I’ve been giving quite a bit of it away. Oh, it’s so tough to eat well when I’m tired! Thankfully Carson sleeps pretty well MOST of the time. 😉
Same sentiments here. Whenever I get too stressed, I always end up eating fast food type of foods like burgers and fries because I am too tired and lazy to make something healthy for me. It is really hard to be working, at the same time, caring for my kids when I get home.
Oh, I think that would be so tough to work all day and then have all the kid stuff to do as well. Kudos to you! I guess we can just try to avoid the “Fast Food demons” as often as we can, right?
I keep forgetting to make those breadsticks! Your kids are so cute and you can tell that you guys are doing such a great job parenting them. Glad to see he had an awesome birthday! He looks so happy!
Awww, thanks so much! As I’m sure you know, parenting is a tough gig and I always hope we’re not doing more harm than good, lol! Those breadsticks are dangerous. You’ve been warned. Hee hee.
Wow, look at all that produce! How do you manage to eat it all before it goes bad?? I know you have a big family, but still, that’s a lot! I think you are way too hard on yourself too, don’t feel bad for eating cake for your son’s birthday! 🙂 Life is short and I’m sure it made him happy to see you eat a piece. I looooove cake…love, love it. I just love the contrast of icing and soft cake. My very favorite dessert ever, ever (besides Tiramisu) is cupcakes…I swear they are like crack to me. I seriously can eat 5 at once. It’s bad, hahaha! That is precisely why I love to make my own desserts…I trust what’s in them and know they won’t make me sick or are full of chemicals!
Speaking of cake, that cake you made looks fabulous….I serioulsy thought that was storebought at first! Storebought cakes taste sooo horrible….ugh! The last time I had storebought was when I went to a friends birthday party, I honestly couldn’t even finish the slice…it was dry and totally flavorless and tasted like chemicals…disgusting.
We rarely buy that much produce! I gave a lot of it away and have been making salsa and applesauce. Unfortunately, the peaches didn’t last too long and we had to throw out a bunch of them. I LOVE cake so much too, especially cupcakes! They are addicting! I really don’t like store-bought cakes at all. They are nasty!!! Ewwww.