300/30 day challenge

ok so this one is actually about a fitness challenge failure.  I don't like to quit these things but I can barely sit up today.  I started this 300 for 30 days ab challenge 4 days ago.  I just can't do another day of it.  It is so painful.  The exercises are great, and I will be adding them to my regular workouts but the number and rep counts are way to high.   How useful is a workout if you have to spend the rest of the day in recovery?  This morning I read through the comment section of the blog post and as it turns out this is actually just ab ripper ( I think it's from the P90x series) and if you do it every day you are at risk for actually ripping your abs.  My abs have survived 2 pregnancies so I'm not going to tempt the ab gods.

Ok so I'm not going to be finishing my 30 day challenge, but I do like the exercises demonstrated and I'll add them to my workout rotation.  So I guess there is a good thing that came from this failure.

ok so carpet is boring..

ok so Carpet is boring, but I have been obsessed with mine lately.  Zelda (that naughty little puppy)  is finally house broken!  Hurray! Hurrah! She wakes me up at 7am by sitting on my chest and licking my face till I take her out....cutest way to wake up ever!  But there are all these little wee wee spots by the front door and in the hall (two of her favorite spots to make a mess).  I did the whole iron out your stains with ammonia trick and it worked wonders, but it is slow and adding that much heat to ammonia really smells awful, and I'm starting school again in the fall and I'd rather not kill off my brain cells by cleaning.  Cleaning...what a waste that would be.

One day after I tried the ammonia and hot iron trick I found this pin that says I can dilute the ammonia in my carpet shampooer and clean my carpet with it.  AWESOME! So I did it today.  It works wonders.  Now I feel I must explain to you about my carpet, it looks like a drunken Kool aid man lives here.  There are little red juice stains everywhere!  Our carpet is terrible.  I looked it up to see how much it would cost to replace, it is 50cents per square foot, the cheapest carpet on the market.  The carpet is so cheap, that after every tenent management replaces the carpets (even after just a few months).  Anyways it's aweful stuff and it doesn't clean very well.   So no, the juice stains and the marker stains did not come out (by the way if you give my kids markers I'm going to let them use them at your house...you will need to repaint when they are done).  HOWEVER all the stains that I call the "brown" stains came up!  The dog mess, the chocolate milk that for some reason cannot be removed by convential methods, the food stains...and just plain ole dirt...up...gone!

I cannot tell you how happy this has made me.  I have been doing battle with this carpet for 2 1/2 years, since we moved in and Vi spilled the first cup of milk.  I have spent hundreds of dollars on this, I have tried every little bottle of stuff in the cleaning aisle.  I have had it professionally cleaned twice since we have moved it.  I have rented a professional grade cleaner, and now I own an upright shampooer and a little green machine spot remover.  All that and all I needed was a 1.25 bottle of ammonia. blerg.

A couple of disclaimers: Ammonia is a harsh chemical.  I am not a professional carpet person or even a very good housewife so use at your own risk.  KEEP IT AWAY FROM BLEACH.  If you mix it with bleach, open the windows and leave the house and call poison control...you have just created a fatal cocktail of chemicals.  Seriously don't do it.  And last but not least, as a friend of mine pointed out to me, ammonia is a component of pee so if you have pets, let it dry and air out and then use an odor neutralizer.  I'm using one called no-go, but you can find a variety of them in the puppy training section.  I reccomend doing this because do we really want to turn our homes into one giant wee wee pad for our pups?  I think not.  So far Zelda has not been attracted enough to the carpet to pee on it, so I'm calling this a success!

The Bad puppy Cure

Yeah sure she looks sweet, when she is sleeping.  But those of you who have had a puppy know they are little peeing machines!

 Zelda peed everywhere when she was brand new, and always right in front of the door because I don't have super speed skills when it comes to putting a leash on.

 I think we have finally come out on the other side of house training and I think I'm going to say we were successful.  But as I look around I see all these little stains she left behind.

I've tried regular carpet cleaners and they just don't seem to work very well on puppy stains. So I have been looking for any solutions to my stained carpet ( If we weren't renters I would just rip it up, I hate our carpet even without the stains)

Tonigh I tried this "make at home" cleaning solution, which is 1:1 water and ammonia. It worked great!

1. Find a "Bad Puppy" stain

 2. Heavily soak the stain in the ammonia solution ( #1 rule of ammonia is KEEP IT AWAY FROM BLEACH!!!! The combination creates fatal fumes)

3. Place a WHITE towel over the stain (only use a white towel so you don't transfer the towel color to the carpet and make the stain worse) and iron up your stain with your iron on it's highest setting.

 4. Go...EEWWWWW gross at the sight of the funky towel

5.  Be amazed! now to just repeat in small sections.  Ammonia is pretty smelly so make sure you do this only in a ventalated room and don't do it for more than a few minutes at a time.  I did three stains tonight and tomorrow I'll pick another spot to do. (that dark spot in the bottom corner is a shadow of my elbow not another stain....don't worry though there are plenty more for me to practice this technique on).

sorry the pictures aren't great, I forget to turn off my camera everytime I use it so the battery is never charged (plus no one wants high def pictures of a puppy stains...bleh)

Have you had your daily laugh?!

It's been a hard year.  Peter has been in Grad school, and is gone a lot.  And life has just been very busy here without him.  It is really hard to be home with small children all day. The other day I was feeling a little discouraged, because it had been a long night followed by a long day with some grumpy kids.  So during naptime I visted two of my pinterest boards.  I have a "Cool Words" board  with lots of quotes and inspiration.  I found several quotes that gave me a boost so I just printed them out and tacked them to the wall around my apartment.

Today I was bored and the laundry and dishes were piled high and I just needed a 10 minute break from the housework.  So I visited my "Random" board, which is just a bunch of random thing that didn't really fit a category when I pinned them and jokes (mostly innapropriate ones) I HAD THE BEST LAUGH EVER!!  I highly reccommend that you take 10 minutes to check out all the funy things you pin on the internet.  Even though it's been kind of a tough day I really had a good laugh :)

Summer Bucket List

Isn't this picture cute?  I found it here.  I think I will do this for Violet when school gets out.  I can't believe her last year of Preschool is ending in just over a month!  Even more unbelievable is that she will be a kindergartner next year....when did she grow up?

When I was a kid I remember summer being so much fun!  We went on trips, we played a ton of sports, and I think I spent about 18 hours a day outside riding bikes and playing kick the can. As a parent of two small children, summertime seems like the Parenting Olympics! My girls are so busy and they love to always be going somewhere and doing something and there is nothing more frustrating that spending the afternoon indoors! I have been collecting ideas on my pinterest kid activities, to prepare.  So I decided to make a Summer bucket list for the girls.  It's going to be busy and fun and hopefully it will help me retain my sanity over the summer. There is so much to do around town here in Olympia, I love it here.  So here is my list!  Let me know if you have any suggestions or if you want to join us for any of our activities.

1. Public Art Walking Tour

2. Pick a new park and go play!

3. Tumwater 4th of July Parade

4.Lacey Spring Fun Fair

5. Lattins Cider Mill

6. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

7. LOTT water treatment WET center

8.  Hands on Childrens Museum

9.  NW Trek We have a pass with 3 visitor passes per visit, if anyone wants to join us!

10. The Reptile Man

11. Wolf Haven

12. Farmers Market

13. Library Summer activities- they haven't put the schedule up yet

14. Library reading challenge

15. Soccer

16. Swimming- we have an indoor pool and we can bring 2 people with us

17. Lacey Parks and Rec Children's entertainment series in the park

18. Indoor Camping

19. Lets take a walk scavenger hunt

20. Homemade baggie ice cream

21.Water fight, water balloons, spongeballs, splash pool, water pinataand sprinklers

22. Giant Water Blob

23. Balloon Ninjas

24. Hallway laser gridwith tape

25. Wash the car

26. Have a picnic

27. Bowling

28. Go to the beach

29. Downtown fountain

30. Chuck E Cheese

31. Fly Kites

32. Olympic Flight Museum

33. Farmers Market

34. Tour a fire station

35. Plant some flowers and help in Grandpa's veggie garden

36. Go for a Hike

37. Side walk Chalk

 38. Putt Putt Golf

39. Home Depot kid workshops- 1st Saturday of each month 9am-12

40. Cabelas Kids story time- First Saturday of the month 10:30-11 in the hunt/camp tent, camping department

41. Jumpin Jacks

42.Lake Fair parade and fireworks

43. Olympia Pet Parade

44.Sand in the City

45. Harbor Days

Have a fun summer!!  I'll post some pictures of our activities over the summer!

14 day challenge done...woo hoo!

 Day one:  Modeling my new cardigan and t-shirt scarf on the night before I started the 14 day Challenge.  My goal was to lose some inches, especially my double chin, and get back into the gym!

 Here I am on day 6.  I feel great, I've already lost inches and I am working out every day and it is starting to show.

Here I am today!  My face is much slimmer, I've lost inches all around and most importantly I am looking forward to hitting the gym every day.   I have loved this 14 day workout challenge and I'm planning to keep going on the cardio half of it but I need to mix it up on the strength training side.  I've done some of these things before with out much success but this one was well laid out and the time commitment was minimal, which I think is important.  I probably spent about 45 minutes a day doing my workout, 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical (I mostly did elliptical) and it takes about 15 minutes to complete the weight training exercises.

The challenge calls for a 1600 calorie a day diet...that did not happen.  I was more mindful of my portions and my eating habits but I have been changing my eating habits over the course of several months so I wasn't going to mess with what I've already done.

ok so here it is....my inches lost report after 2 weeks I had lost:

7 inches from my bust
5 inches from my waist at my belly button
4 3/4 inches from my waist at my love handles
3 inches off my hips
2 1/2 inches off my thigh
2 3/4 inches off my calf
1 1/4 inches off my bicep
1 inch off my neck (bye bye double chin!)
 ok so I took the measurements of the places that mattered to me.  I didn't see any specific places to measure in the challenge so I don't know how I compare to the other women in the group but according to my measurements I lost a total of  271/4 inches over all!!!!!

WOO HOO!

I highly recommend this if you are looking to get back in the gym.  I haven't had time to hit the mall to see if I shrunk a size but I can tell I definitely need some smaller clothes....come on Tax return!  mamma needs a new pair of pants...and a shirt...and a dress.... :)

ok so  here is the original post.  Go check it out and get started!

Day 12 inches check

Just got back from my half hour on the elliptical (I switched to the elliptical in exchange for running on the treadmill because its easier on my knees and back)  and I did my measurements and I just wanted to brag about how many inches I have lost.  I have been doing this 2 week challenge for 12 days now and I am loving it!

Check out my original post from when I started to get the link to the exercise instructions

I gave my specific measurements a few days ago and I will do my final results in a few days too, but so far I have lost a total of 23 inches! I couldn't believe it, I had to count it twice!

so with my 14 day challenge coming to a close I am scouring my fitness pinboard to see what exercise challenge I should take up next :)

stuff I've tried round up and the 1 week check in

Ok so I haven't been blogging much lately...what can I say...life happens.  Anyways.  I have tried a few things from Pinterest lately that I have really liked.  Let's start with $5 dinners

why not?  I would love to cut our grocery bill down.  So I gave the dinners a shot and for the most part they are ok (the list above is half $5 dinners and half of the Freezer meals, I had leftover from last month)  So the cheap meals are Chicken or tuna casserole, chili and cornbread, grilled cheese and tomato soup, breakfast for dinner, chicken fettucini, and spaghetti and meatballs.  

First off I hate casserole, it makes me physically ill, but I tried the tuna one anyways and nope nothing has changed about my bodies ability to eat a casserole and a spent the night sick...blah.

I like the chili and cornbread because it all came from a box or a can and it took 10 minutes to make, the kids ate and I like it so I would call that a successful cheap meal,  I like grilled cheese and soup but the kids don't so that one is an adults only cheap meal.

Of course pasta is always an acceptable meal for our family, fettucini and spaghetti were a big hit.  Oh and breakfast for dinner...who doesn't love that?

conclusion: they were cheap and I liked about half of them, however they are not very healthy and these dinners still require the addition of a veggie.

UP NEXT:  Brownie Pizza

I made this for V day.  I simplified the recipe even more by using a can of cream cheese frosting and omitting the apple butter.  

It was delicious.  The frosted brownie was super sweet so the raspberries were perfect for on top because they were a little tart.

Up Next : A t-shirt Scarf and a DIY Cardigan

These are both super easy.  I took a sweater that fits me weird

and two t-shirts I didn't like anymore (for obvious reasons)

  and turned them into this:

I didn't use the hemming tape the sweater I just did a roll stitch to get a clean edge.  I also used a sweater so it was a little wavy when I finished but once it was washed once it took a better shape.

The above picture also serves as my "BEFORE" picture for my 14 day challenge.  It was taken on Wednesday when I took my first measurements.  So it has been about 6 days of working out and I'm starting to see some great results!

here I am today. 

Here is my inches lost report

Bust: - 4 inches (some may not like to lose in their bust but I am super happy to lose it!)

Waist at belly Button: -2 inches

Waist @ the dreaded love handles: -3 inches

Hips @ bum: - 2 inches

Thigh: - 1 1/4 inch

Calf: - 1 inch

Bicep: - half inch

Neck: -1 inch

yay!  If you haven't read about the 14 day drop a size challenge head on over to my previous post.  And get started today!  I have a pair of leather pants from High school that I would like to fit into and with these inches lost I am getting closer every day!

14 day challenge!

This Pin from Prevention claims that I can "Shrink a size in 14 days"  Ok...I'm in!  Let's do it, who is going to do this with me?  Let me know if you are so we can complain about being tired and sore together.  I'm currently a 14/16 and I would like to be my High school size of a 12 so my realistic goal in the next two weeks is to be a solid 14 verging on a size 12...I would be happy with the banishment of my double chin too :)
So take your measurements (I'm not going to share mine but I'll tell you in 2 weeks how many inches I've lost) check your weight and print out the workout plan.  I'm starting tomorrow so I will check back in with my results on March 1st.

Freezer meals...my saving grace

Ok so I love to cook.  I really do.  I love to try new recipes and there is nothing I love more than that moment where you realize it turned out perfectly and may possibly be the best thing ever created! (yes I am that good of a cook...watch your back Martha...but don't stop selling recipes because I need them!)

What I don't like is doing dishes.  I hate dishes.  Cooking from scratch seems to create a lot of dishes, but eating less processed foods is important for our health and our budget so I cook a lot of things from scratch.

This month is going to be a little busy.  First of all we brought home a puppy named Zelda....

Isn't she cute? She was happy to trade in a box with 6 other puppies for the end of a King Size bed.  She has already claimed her spot.  As cute as she is, she is a lot of work, she likes to play and snuggle and she has to be fed 3 times a day, and of course there is the matter of house training.

Then of Course these two little monkey's still take a up a bulk of my day....

not that I am complaining cause they are pretty cute too :)  And they are totally psyched to have a new puppy in the house and nothing is more sad than a sleeping puppy to them, so not only am I working to train the puppy, but I'm training the girls on life with a small puppy...oh and it's about time to potty train Claire too (I see a lot of little messes to be cleaned up in my future).

on top of this Peter has started his second quarter of Grad school and is in class one night a week and doing homework a few more nights a week.   So dinner isn't always my number one priority and I have to admit that on more than one occasion I have served pancakes or had Peter pick up take out on his way home because I haven't left enough time to make something for dinner.

So I decided that this month I wanted to eat less take out and less pancakes and enjoy more balanced delicious meals at the end of the day, but I just don't always have time to do the prep work or clean up the mess.  So this month I am doing freezer meals! I found this post on freezer meals that promised I could have a bunch of freezer meals for cheap.  She recommends a cook book called Don't panic dinners in the freezer, my library had the sequel available so I checked it out.  (I hardly ever buy cookbooks, I always borrow them from the library first and if it is something I have to have then I buy it....hopefully used. My only exception is Martha stewart cookbooks...I love Martha)  So I spent 2 nights cooking and I have about 20 meals prepared.  There are a few more things I'm going to make to finish up a month of meals but I need to organize my freezer first....can you guess which freezer is mine and which one is from the bloggers?  hint... mine is a mess :) I'm posting it to show you that you don't have to be perfectly organized to do freezer meals. ( I subscribe to the just shove it in there and run method of freezer organization).

So bottom line:
1. The meals we have had so far are delicious we have loved everything.

2. I wouldn't call this a cheap method for making dinner but it was about the same cost as my normal "from scratch" groceries. (you can freeze just about anything so you can tailor your menu to your budget if cutting your budget is something you need to do).

3. I have a lot less dishes!  yay!  next time I'm going to avoid the meals that go in the crockpot because I hate cleaning my crockpot, it takes up half my dishwasher so I have to do an extra load when I use it.

4.  We have not had pancakes or take out once...YES!  I simply pick a bag out the night before and then I pop it in the oven or on the stove about half hour before dinner.  It's working great.

Time to go make dinner!

Not so fast

I was pretty excited when I first tried this homemade dishwasher soap 6 weeks ago, but I have steadily become disenchanted with it.  It started with a few dishes being a little spotty and then steadily progressed into not being able to tell the difference between clean and dirty dishes.  This one lasted a long time and if it had actually worked long term it would have been amazing but I've given it all the time I can and now it is time to eat off of clean dishes.

******UPDATE***** I mixed it with water into a paste and used it as cleanser for my tub.  So all is not lost, it works great as a mild bathroom and kitchen cleaner :)