Well we are off to Taughannock Falls!

Today was not good at the start- couldn't do my workout :(

So I instead made healthy snacks for our trip and ate a good breakfast!

Lost 2lbs this week- As they suggested at Self- I did the meal plans and exercise plans to lose approximately 2lbs and I did.

Groceries are slowly going away and I'm not felling too bad about that huge bill last weekend.

I better make sure to work hard on hike up the falls and then do my workout tonight????????????? Yikes I'm bad at that but will try.

It's very important to eat right when exercising. Yesterday I did o.k. with eating, but I didn't get in a good amount of protein, veggies, or fruit and I felt it this morning.

A few Summer THINGS we tried

Here's a couple oldies but goodies: Chalk - This ultimate chalk kit is from Walmart and it was GREAT FUN for kids of all ages!

Guess what these are?
Yep Hula HOOPS!

There were 2 sizes at Walmart and I preferred the larger ones- easier to HULA! I used to love to hula.

A new twist on an old favorite- WATER BALLOONS!

Also found at Walmart- you put a water balloon in it and wind it up. The object is to pass it back and forth till the device inside pops the balloon. This was also fun.

I really like these for removing my waterproof make-up. I was purchasing a name brand, but gave these a shot and they were just as good.

I love this little wireless mouse. My office at home is tiny so it needed a tiny mouse and when I seen this red one........had to get it.

So I don't get to splurge too much on shoes b/c it's just not easy for me, but I did purchase these RSVP shoe at Zappos and I like em.

This summer I had taken in a Gardenia and I had my 1st flower- How beautiful. I understand Gardenias are difficult so I'm praying I can do it!The other day I needed a flower for a friend having out-patient surgery; so I bought 2 grocery store bouquets and split them up by colors (I read somewhere that you can do that for something different) and I had these guys for work:

These I gave to my mom for helping me out when I brought 3 boys to work with me.

These guys just looked so good in this little bottle.Gee -I didn't take a picture of the flowers for my friend, but they were but yellow button mums.

Veggie Wedgie Wednesday

Guess what it is?

OK- I made this little mushroom looking thing out of my squash.

Yellow or Summer squash is always available but it's harvest time is May-July.

Yellow squash is an excellent source of manganese and vitamin C and a very good source of magnesium, Vitamin A ( through its concentration of carotenoids, including beta-carotene), fiber, potassium, folate, copper, riboflavin and phosphorus.

I know I am trying to fit in HEALTHY veggies with as little prep as possible BUT Rob bought one home from a farmer who told him to make it just this way:
Fried
with a little bit of salt and pepper
YUMMY

Like most people frying is not my favorite b/c it's messy and you have to watch it. There's no throwing in a load of laundry or any thing.

Can't leave the kitchen :(

So to make it not so bad I set up everything to make it as easy and quick as possible.

What you need-
Canola Oil
Italian bread crumbs
Egg whites- I had 1 squash and used 2 egg whites
Nonstick Spray
Spatula
Tongs
Pinch

Set up your bread crumbs, egg whites, and tray so that you have a little assembly line.


Ok-I use tongs to dip my squash, but you can use your hands it's just that it's messy.

I sprayed my pan with nonstick to make life easy. And Easy is the only reason why I used a cookie sheet to transport my Squash to the Pot.


After the egg white- lightly run them through the bread crumbs.

Notice they don't have to be totally coated; because too much breading will not be good.


Now in a fry pan or pot add enough canola oil to fry your squash.

I use a pot b/c it's less messy for me.

Add a little Pinch seasoning to my breaded squash before frying them.
You need to fry them till they are golden brown.

They were yummy!

The only other way I do squash is steamed with some margarine and pinch, but that is LAME.

Speaking of cooking I'm dying to see this movie:

Here is the real Julie-

Shoes and pretty things coming.........

Well on the weekend I did get to browse a few shops....Payless, Target and a Jcrew catalog.

Payless is dear to my heart because I wear a size 5 an it's hard to find 5s and

ordering online I can't be sure of the fit until I get it.

So here's what I seen in Payless:

Next shoe Jcrew (very similar)

I also loved this one from Jcrew-

And then there's this one similar from Payless that looked a lot better in the person. This picture doesn't do the shoe justice

OK - this next shoe I posted a bit back

Here it is from Payless

Another Payless

These sneaker are so cute- I think Payless Boots

I really like this pair

And I would love them with this Jcrew dress

Now things I would like to have-

RED Tstrap shoes

A BLACK and BLUE outfit....something about blue and black together :)

A short full skirt

Textured HOSE

Feather headband- well I did get one of these

Beautiful Flowers

these are the biggest and best http://emersonmade.blogspot.com/

I wear my yellow flower like mad

Layers and Layer of cool bracelets

Update

Self Challenge- I'm really enjoying it! Last week I did the exercising, but this week I am also doing the food!!! I had major anxiety at the grocery store this weekend. I spent a TON of money on groceries!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I get so worried about eating it all. I know it seems like a ton of money; but if we never eat out it's worth our HEALTH!

In the past I never used the logs on the Self website, but this time I'm logging my workouts and food. It's neat to see how well I did at the end of the week.

So Monday went like this

5:00am workout

6:30 Yogurt Crunch

7:30 Shower

8:30 Leave the house- Drop Lucas

10:30 Snack- cheese stick, crackers and grapes

12:30 Lunch 260 calorie Lean Cuisine

4:30 Get Lucas and get home to prepare Dinner for Rob

6:00 Drop Lucas off at Camp -Powerwalk with friend

7:00 Lacrosse Camp

8:30 Heat up Lucas' Dinner and prepare mine- steak on a salad

11:30 Bed- went to bed WAY to late!

We'll see how it goes

Only time will tell

Lucas' Summer

Part 1

Summer is a great time for kids to VEgg-Out
That's what we did. But when you think about it, it's a whole different LEARNING going on. We learned how to spend our whole day; picking what and who we wanted to play with. Mom would sometimes do something different like take us to the library. On weekends my father would make sure we were up early because he didn't think it was good sleeping in. We would also help with LAWN and GARDENING and play BASKETBALL, go FISHING, TAG, BARBIES, WALKING around the block with a BOOM BOX. Summertime was always great fun.

Now kids get to do camps and learn more fun things. Lucas recently attended a camp and learned a little bit about digital photography. He really loved it. His summer was packed with fun stuff so I'm going to try and blog about them, if I can keep up.

Looking at pictures Lucas took during his class on the campus is really touching to me.
Here are some:

Lucas has attended sports camps most of the time so this class was a little more exciting because the boys were different. They weren't walking around with lacrosse sticks busting on each other they carried camera bags at talked photoshop, a refreshing change. Great guys!


OK- I wouldn't think a 12 yr old boy would catch this Polaroid moment He said this gentleman was there every morning enjoying a cigar......

Self Portrait

Pictures taken at home:

Now this is more like 12 year old boy stuff

Cool-

Besides the guy on the bench-

I LOVE this one!

Lucas had his annual doctor appointment and I had to make some decisions on SHOTs- Yuk.

I ended up going with all 3! Poor kid.

The doctor asked if Lucas minded that I was in the room when he had to get down to his underwear- WHAT?

Boy did Lucas got old quick. "(

Now I'm trying to decide if I should get him a flu shot. I don't usually, but missing school is such a downer!

There's a lot of decent information here:

http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/