Happy Birthday Grandpa Peters

I love this photo - Happy Birthday Grandpa - Have a Great Day - Love the Peters.

Pay Day!

I got paid today!!!  AS the college students opened their checks they cheered.  

I guess I'm used to making more money - no cheers for me.

But I do get to spend time with my kiddos and we are having a great time playing, swimming, tagging, and lots of stuff.   Not to mention the food they get to eat and help me save money on groceries.  This new diet is a fortune with shopping at least twice a week to keep the stuff fresh.  We saw Brave this week as our field trip and I cried...Cenny is heartless she didn't shed a tear.  I ended up at the pool 3 times this week since everyone needed to see the movie.  I use the 100 spf and I'm still pale except for my rocking awesome farmers tan from forgetting to use the spray in the AM.  Cenny teases me because my hands are tan and yet my fingers are more pale.  I put my spf on in the morning under my makeup and then rub the excess off on my fingers.  They are staying paler than the hands,  silly!

Diet and lifestyle changes.

Well some think I'm crazy and others wish they could skip the desserts and breads.

I feel great, a bit tight some mornings and a twinge here and there, but I'm playing everyday and walking and climbing and hanging off the jungle gym...today I hung upside down.

It was great except for the sand from my feet pouring on my head.

Grainy gum...Yuck!

This is not easy I miss lots of things, but everyday it gets easier to do it.

Saying NO and passing the treats and breads by is easy when you know why.

I see people that are huge and watch them eat donuts and cookies and wonder why their cholesterol is high.

Its sugar and carbs not fat that is making people fat.  Remember that FAT is 

your friend, F and F hard to forget.  Sugar is your Satan...sort of works.

You get it.  Sugar is bad and Fat is good.

Most people have it backwards and eat fat free items that are full of additional sugar to make them taste better.  Eat the full fat and skip the sugar you will feel better and be healthier.

I was a sugarholic....one of the things I always ate when I was hungry was brownies, cookies or any other sugar filled items I could find.  I would skip most food so I could have the sugar packed ones.  When someone tells me that my diet is easy for me because I look like I always eat only healthy food.

Bull-ony  I used to skip the vegs and the fruits to eat the junk.

Life is full of choices and I am making mine for the future- today!  

I expect it to pay off in the end.

Reading and reviews

I really appreciate all the work that everyone of my readers and reviewers is doing.  I have fallen off the wagon in reading at least.  Working 40 plus hours a week and having trips and on the weekends is really wreaking havoc with my ability to keep my eyes open.  I have turned down lots of review requests lately and will forward ones I think you will enjoy...but do not feel obligated.  Keep up the reading and great work.  I will get better as I get used to running and playing 8 1/2 hours a day.  So tired and beat that I can't keep my eyes open once I do get home.  We had the same dinner 4 times last week.  Poor kids and husband...oh well life goes on.  Keep reading and if you read something you want to review send it to me....thanks.   Lisa

David and the new calling

David was set-apart as a High Priest today at church, about time he falls asleep in church and I think that is a requirement or something.  He was also called to the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric.  Things are a changing around here and only getting more busy not less.  I hate to tell you guys, but life doesn't slow down as your kids get more self reliant it just gets more busy.  Different but the same in many ways....less time at home and more time out....less little problems and more big ones....less things getting done and yet more at the same time... Strange I know but it is life.

My new to me car

5 speed- hatchback- 2006 Kia Spectra with 70,000 miles.  Small compact-good gas mileage- a bit of bumping along until my 22 years ago experience driving a stick comes back.  Now it needs to be licensed and we have to pay the taxes-more money- well now to take a nap so I'm ready for a crazy week at Day Camp.  We bought it from a man transferring with Hormel out of state.  This is a stock photo but it looks identical with a moon roof.

Day Camp again....great fun and yet I need a vacation to recover from everyday.

Day Camp is exhausting.  The kids(most of them) are fabulous and lots of fun.  This week I took two groups to the SPAM museum, two trips to the pool, a trip to the library, 6 trips to the park for over an hour and a half each time, 6 hours in the play room, 5 breakfast set-ups-clean-ups, 5 lunches, and more.  I come home everyday ready for a nap.  We run, play group games like tag and Fishes and Whales, we play pool and ping-pong which is more like room ping-pong then table since no one seems to keep it on the table.  Card games galore and a new one that I love called BLINK...great game.
Love this game.  Lots of UNO, Go Fish, Old Maid, Candy Land, Sorry, Bingo and many more.  We play we play and at meals we sit - thank heaven for the sitting part.  Lots of walking I get over 10,000 steps everyday on the pedometer.  Busy, but I get to spend lots of time with my kids.  Cenny held my hand today as we walked to the park, maybe a bit jealous that everyone else wants to hold my hand when we walk anywhere.  Yes, I am one of the day camp celebrities that everyone wants to stand and walk by.  When we leave at 4 or 5 PM depending on if we came in a 7:30 or 8:30 the Salvation Army gives us food that needs to go....bread, cakes, cookies, milk, butter....lots of stuff - my huge food bill may get a break for a few weeks.  I need hot dogs to make pigs in a blanket- I have a case of crescent rolls in the frig, and a large decorated sugar cookie for dessert.  I love working with the kids.

KTTC Interview

Here is the link I don't know how long it will be up.

The news KTTC

KTTC interviewed me at the pool today on what I was doing to beat the heat.  Well I was at the pool DUH!!!  I also said the wind was wonderful and making the day bearable.  I forgot to mention the Salvation Army day camp....oh well I did mention day camp.  I tried to get JT to stand infront of me...he was more to the side...I am so pale still this year.  Now I'm not so sure my body is exhausted because I can't tell if it is just regular tiredness or all the sun I had today watching kids.

Car Woes

We barely made it home from dropping Zeke at Band Camp in lower Wisconsin.  The car acted up on the way there and with lots of stops, turns and hills the transmission was working and started to bang between gears and then thump....it was awful.  We let it rest while we took Zeke to his audition, theory test, and dorm check-in.  On the way home the car started thumping again half way home so we rested the car again and made it home after 8PM and should have been home before 7 for Qatars play...we missed it and my parents went instead.  I now have the van parked in the garage until we have time to deal with it...maybe August.

Gunnar at the Temple - From my parents blog- Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the FATHERS out there.  Love you Dad.  Thanks for a great day yesterday.

Temple Trip

Gunnar went to the temple today and is now endowed.  Mom and Dad drove Gunnar, David and I up to 

St Paul and we had a long day-good day.

We stopped at Costco on the way home and Gunnar wanted to eat at Famous Daves.

It was a great-long-day.  I swear he was just learning to crawl the other day.

Day Camp is Exhausting

I need a nap everyday and after only two days Zeke came home from helping out and fell asleep on the couch.  Playing for 8 hours is a lot of work.  

Weight loss

Yes this diet has really made me feel better, but the weight loss is there also.  I weigh about 118(I've sat between 117-125 for the last two years since I discovered mal-absorption my gut is messed up.) and for years I sat at 135.  So that is a good thing.  I wear a size 3-4 and some 2's.  Things are going well there, but I don't want to lose too much weight.  I want to be healthy and fit not just thin.  Thin may be in ....but its not that great .  My bed is comfortable, but some things are too sharp and stiff for me to sit on...boney is not a great thing for comfort.  I do get hungry because no one really serves what I can eat.  My job serves breakfast/lunch/snack and yet I can't eat 99% of what they serve so I bring lunch and eat breakfast before I go to work.  Zeke more then makes up for it by eating enough for three people.

Osteo-Arthritis Diet Update.

It has been over 10 weeks on this Gluten Free- Wheat Corn Oat Free - Dairy Free - Sugar Free - Night Shade Free diet and I am no longer taking any pain-killers or muscle relaxers.  I feel great, a bit of achy at times but I feel like myself again.  My back pain is gone, my hip pain is here and there.  I think the diet is working.  No tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, no night-shade vegetables, no pork.  It is tough and sometimes I feel deprived and whiny about my life....poor me!!!!  But poor me will not be disabled in 10 years like the statistics.  I do eat dark chocolate and so not completely sugar-free.  No other desserts like I used to eat everyday(ask Amanda and Paige about after Christmas saltine toffee)....I do miss chocolate chip cookie dough.  I love sweet potatoes now....yummy.  Sweet Potatoes come in chips, fries, mashed and roasted....yum~

Tennis and close couples

David and I are looking for couple activities to do together as are kids get more independent.

So today we bought two tennis rackets and 6 balls.

After 20 mins I had hit three balls over the fence and we called it a day.

Of course we had just walked 5 miles that morning and running around in 80+ degrees was getting to us.

Wimps?  Well yes sometimes we are.

So now we just need to grab the rackets  and the balls and walk to the courts.

I am awful I hit the ball everywhere and anywhere.  David has a bit better aim then I do.

Oh well we will see how it goes...neither of us know how to play so we are just hitting the ball back and forth between the two of us.

Qatar knows how to play maybe we need help from him.

The next adventure will be with canoes.

Swimwear

I got my new swimsuit, for this summer, in the mail today.  I will post photos once I get a bit of color.

I think the boy shorts are super cute and cover my dimply butt really well and my stretch marks on my hips and belly-  a bit bright maybe but fun.  I have mine from last year also and bought another pair of boy shorts for that top.  I have to swim with the kids at least twice a week for ten weeks this summer.

The good part of a gluten-dairy-sugar-free diet is the weight loss right before summer bikini weather.

Gluten Free Rosemary/Olive Bread

http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/olive-rosemary-bread/

Gluten Free Rosemary/Olive Quick Bread - It is good...I haven't had the real thing in over two months so I may be wrong....But I thought it was really good.


3/4 cup creamy roasted almond butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/4 cup blanched almond flour
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary


Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease a 7 by 3-inch loaf pan with grapeseed oil and dust with almond flour.
In a large bowl, mix the almond butter and olive oil with a handheld mixer until smooth, then blend in the eggs and agave nectar.  In a medium blow, combine the almond flour, arrowrrot powder, salt, and baking soda.  Blend the almond flour mixture into the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined, then fold in the olives and rosemary.  Pour the batter into the loaf pan.


Bake for 45 – 55 minutes on the bottom rack of the oven, until a knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Let the bread cool in the pan for 1 hour, then serve.


Amy’s note about pan size: I made this in an 8 by 4-inch loaf pan because I don’t own a 7 by 3-inch pan knowing it would affect the final result.  At first, it might seem like a small change but think about the following:
•              a 8 by 4-inch loaf pan as a surface area of 32 square inches  (8 x 4 = 32)
•              a 7 by 3-inch loaf pan has a surface area of 21 square inches (7 x 3 = 21)


I used a gluten free flour mix instead of almond flour and arrowroot powder.  So 1/2 cup of the flour mixture and then 1 teaspoon of Xantham Gum to thicken the bread.  Everything else was the same. I make my own roasted almond butter, but they have it a Traders Joe for about  6 bucks a bottle.  Mine was a bit darker and I used the larger loaf pan.

Savers

Gotta love that store when you've got picky kids who want name brands.  I also love it for things I need.  Last night we went to Rochester to pick up the parents at the airport and so we went into Rochester and went to Savers.  I found 10 pairs of capris to try on and 7 fit perfectly.  I came home with 6 pairs and now with the 5 dollar t-shirts from Target and Old Navy I now have enough clothes for the summer at a cost of about 60 dollars.  The kids have some much needed shorts and Gunnar now has three pairs that will cover his garments after next Saturday.  If you donate you get 20% off.

Lots of Field Trips.

I made it on 3 field trips in a week.  I had the time and decided "Why NOT".  The last Friday in May I went with Zeke to the U of M, and Augsburg college for a music seminar and then off to the Mall of America.  The next Wednesday I went with Cenny to the U of M and the Capital(I had never been then before...very interesting.)  Two days later I went with Cenny to Valley Fair.  All and all the trips were enjoyable even the bus trip and I met some new folks and talked with some older friends.  I try to hit the ones I can and I miss the ones I can't.

Giveaway on Book Him Danno

http://bookhimdanno.blogspot.com/2012/06/giveaway-book-review-last-refuge-dewey.html  Enter no entries so far.