It takes a gingerbread village..

When I was little one of my favorite things to do during the holidays was make a gingerbread house.  Each December my Grandma Halstead would mail us a package.  It would include sausages and cheeses for my parents and 3 little gingerbread house kits for my sister, brother and me.  Sitting around the kitchen table trying to outdo the other's design and munching on candy we would have never of eaten otherwise is one of my best memories.  It has always been important to me to carry on those traditions with my girls.  But once I started buying more than one kit my little memory was turning into quite a holiday expense.

Last year we started a tradition of making our own houses from scratch and buying the candy we liked so we could continue as before.  Many of my friends have decided I am completely crazy for doing this, but if you have more than 2 kids I think you're crazy not to.  It's pretty simple so I thought I would share what I've learned.  Keep in mind you'll probably want to plan on this taking 2 days, especially if you're making more than 2 houses.  But the total cost of 4 houses was about $15, and we went crazy with the candy!

Step 1:  Make the dough

I used this recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gingerbread-cookies-101-recipe/index.html

I doubled the recipe and got 3 full sizes houses and 1 smaller version.  If you do double, make 2 batches, don't just add twice as much into your mixing bowl.  I learned the hard way that it will not fit even in a 6 quart Kitchenaid mixer.  If you do not have a stand mixer.  Mix the wet ingredients with a hand mixer and then incorporate the dry with a wooden spoon and then just knead in the rest.

Divide the dough evenly into the number of houses you wish to make.  Form into disks, wrap in plastic and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Step 2: Cutting the dough and baking

While the dough is chilling you can decide the shape of your house.  I have always just done a normal rectangular house.  This year my dimensions were 4 X 4 X 6.  Just cut 1 template for the front and back, 1 for the sides, and 1 for each side of the roof.  That way you know that each will be exactly the same size.  Label the templates because after awhile the roof template will start looking a lot like the side template.

Sprinkle your counter with flour and roll out one disk at a time.  Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  Lay the template on the dough and cut out your shapes with a sharp small knife.  Run a thin metal offset spatula under the cut out and then move it to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Once it is on there you can cut out the door(s) and windows.  This year we even added crushed lifesaver hard candies to melt inside the cut out windows.  You will probably have to gather the scraps and roll out the dough 2 -3 times in order to get all the pieces cut for one house.  Refrigerate the dough if it gets too warm or you won't be able to move it.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 9 minutes.  If your pieces were a little thicker it may take a little longer.  Once baked let them cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet.  While they are still warm put the template back on top to trim the edges to match exactly.  Let cool completely on a rack.

If you have any dough left over you can make any extras, like chimneys, doors or gingerbread people.  Once completely cool you can start building your house or place in a ziplock bag to build the next day.

Step 3:  Building your house

Once your gingerbread walls are completely cool you can begin building your house.  You can put the sides together with caramel or royal icing.  I prefer icing.  Mix together:

1 pound of powdered sugar
3 pasteurized egg whites
1 tsp of vanilla

If it seems too thick add more egg, and too thin more powdered sugar.  If you have piping tips, add about half the icing to a piping bag to pipe onto the edges, if you don't you can use a knife.

For the base you can use a cake board or I just cut out the side of a shipping box and wrap in foil.  Ice the bottom and all the sides together.  If you need to, use a can to hold up the side until they dry.  Just don't forget to remove the can before you put on the roof (happened last year!)  Once the 4 walls dry a bit you can add the roof.  Let the house dry completely before you decorate.

Step 4: Decorate your house

If you are still with me you are obviously very serious about making your own gingerbread house.  Good for you.  The fun is about to begin.  I like to take my girls to the store and have them pick out the candy they would like.  Just about anything goes.  If you plan to eat the candy off the house, chocolate and small candies do not work so well though.

Cover the area you want to decorate with the remainder of your royal icing.  Don't forget you can also decorate the board around the house.  Let the little ones at it, and count your blessings.

What a difference 2 years can make

On December 17th, 2012 Brandon's MBA classes will officially end.  In our home you will find countdown calendars everywhere.  Our entire family has been waiting for this day for so long.

This picture was taken of our family Christmas 2010.  This was 3 days before we learned that Brandon was accepted into the Duke MBA program.  I was hoping I could find another picture where I took the time to put on my makeup and was not in my pajamas or all the girls were actually looking at the camera.  After a lengthy search I have realized that we haven't had a chance to take a better family picture in the last 2 years.

In December 2010 Caroline had just started her first year of elementary school.  She received  a violin for Christmas, and spent all her free time playing with her friends.  Summer was a sweet, yet shy little 1 year old.  She stayed home with me, still in diapers, and would crumble into a tiny pile of tears if you just gave her a stern look.  Bella was only a few months old.  I think she was sleeping through the night by this point, but not much beyond that.  Brandon and I were trying our best to manage work and home life. We thought we were prepared for one of us to go back to school.  We were nervous about what a MBA program would involve, but were so excited about what the future held for us.

If you have read my blog at all, you know that the last 2 years have not been easy for us.  Brandon has been swamped with school.  I have been up to my eyeballs in kid activities.  We have spent weekends and even weeks apart.  His classes have seem to fall on every one of the girls' birthdays, our anniversary, and countless soccer games.  But we have found a way to make it work and loved every minute that we could all be together as a family.

Today that little kindergartner of 2010 is a bright and talented little 7 year old.  She is loving 2nd grade.  She just finished her 3rd violin recital, played T-ball, tennis, soccer, and learned to swim.  Summer is halfway through her 2nd year of preschool, is such a good big sister, and still falls to pieces at the utter of the word no.  Bella is now a wild and crazy 2 year old.  She's running. and talking, and completely running the show.  It's hard to believe that in just 2 years my little babies have become wonderful little ladies.

With 1 month, 2 days and a few hours left of the MBA we have started to look beyond school, and are still excited about what the future holds. Whatever that may be!

Home alone

For over a week now Brandon has been on Duke campus for his final residency of his MBA.  These two weeks have been staring me in the face on the calendar for the last 2 years.  I knew this time would be a little bitter sweet.  Brandon would be gone for 2 weeks straight, day and night.  His residency falls on a time that is right when we have a ton to do around the house in preparing the yard for fall and putting up new autumn decorations.  Caroline is in her last weeks of preparing for her violin recital and smack dab in the middle of soccer season. It was also surrounding our baby, Bella's, birthday.  On the bright side when these 2 weeks are over Brandon never has to step foot on campus again until he is walking across the stage.  He will still have classes until December, but it can all be done from home from here on out.  Although his course load this term will be the heaviest he has had to endure, we are hoping with the time saved from when he used to be in class it won't make for such a tough schedule.

But until then, Brandon is there and I am here.  When we first looked at his schedule it looked so simple.  Some days classes didn't start until 11 o'clock.  Almost every day he was done before dinner time.  Maybe the 2 weeks of vacation time he had to waste to be there wouldn't be a complete loss and allow him some free time.  What they don't put on the schedule is everything the students are doing outside of class.  It's not unusual for Brandon's team to be up until 1 AM trying to finish a case study before class the next morning.   They work through lunch, and even on the one day he had no classes and was allowed to come home for Bella's birthday party he had to rush back that evening to get things ready for the next day.  To be fair Brandon did pick some of the most difficult electives of the term.  Some he could have chosen wouldn't have been nearly as difficult and could have allowed him a little golf time with some of his classmates.  What Brandon keeps reminding himself in the wee hours of the morning is he's not there for all the fun campus can allow.  He's there to learn all he can before this is over.  Every night when Brandon gets to Skype with the girls he is reminded of why he is working so hard.

I feel like I am holding up my end of the bargain as well.  I'm not exactly sitting at home popping Bon Bons and marking off the calendar each night.  I don't know how couples where one spouse is gone for long periods of time do it.  Every night I lay exhausted in bed but unable to sleep because I have a million things running through my head about how I am going to handle everything we have to do the next day by myself.  You haven't lived until you try to handle 3 little ones during a violin lesson or prepped for a party alone in between diaper changes and temper tantrums.  Although, knowing it will be the last time makes it so much easier to get through.

This time alone has really showed me the things Brandon does to help.  Even though his time is limited every little bit helps and adds up.  Having him back full time will feel like a permanent vacation.  Well, at least for a little while.....

The beginning of the end

Well, here we are.  We are about to enter the 6th and final term of the Duke MBA program.  I'm sure you are sick of hearing me talk about it.  Heck, I'm tired of talking about it, and I'm sure Brandon is tired of living it!  Am I glad we spent all this time and money for Brandon to get his masters in a new career field?  You may want to save that question for a time when Brandon has found a new job and we have paid our student loans.  Would we do it again?  I really don't know.

When we started this program we had so many different goals than we do now.  Our original plan was to open ourselves up to any job, any place in the world.  We were excited about the idea of living in a new area, meeting new people and changing our lifestyle.  The girls are all still pretty young and we thought it would be a great time to make a change.  Sure, we would be leaving our friends and family behind but we could manage on our own for awhile.

The funny thing about the last 20 months is while Brandon was in school and we were making all these plans life still happened.  Since May 2011 the girls have had school functions, birthday parties, violin recitals and soccer practices.  We've all been sick or hurt and we needed help getting through all of it.  Our parents and siblings have loved and watched our kids when we couldn't.  Our friends have stopped their own lives at the drop of a hat to come help us by cooking a dinner or to stay with the girls so we could run to the ER for the second time in a week.  We are so thankful that we have so many wonderful people in our lives.  No fancy new job is going to replace our network here.  I'm not saying that we are going to stay in our exact same house or even in the Triangle, but we'll be staying close.

We have both been feeling this way for some time.  We have always known that work came secondary for our family and we have always planned to avoid higher paid positions that require more time away from our home.  We didn't know how much we would be willing to sacrifice until recently.  I believe the precipice came this week.  We had just returned from a great family trip with our family to the mountains.  We had spent 3 days in my in-law's mountain house having a wonderful time.  I watched my in-laws loving my children at the same level as I do.  We did crazy fun things, we talked about what was going on in our lives, and we could just be completely ourselves.  We came back so refreshed and ready to tackle the week.

I know Brandon's MBA will open a lot of doors for him, but we've learned that a lot of them we won't be willing to walk through.  In the coming months we hope to find a wonderful company that shares the same feelings about family as we do, and we are willing to take our time to find it.  In the meantime we are looking forward to spending a lot of time catching up with all of you!

Midyear Update

I haven't had much time for blogging lately.  The last few weeks (and months) have flown by in a flash.  I guess the title of my blog is holding true!  I wish we had more time to spend with our friends and family and catch up.  Hopefully soon, but in the meantime here is an update since my last post.

Brandon:  Has been so hard at work.  He is about to begin the 5th term of a 6 term MBA program.  This term is only 1 month long and will be over before we know it so we are truly finally reaching the end and there's a small light at the end of our very long tunnel.  Since his GATE (Global Academic Travel Experience) trip to China was cancelled he had the last 2 weeks off from school.  It was so nice to have him home to spend some much needed time with the girls and help me around the house.  I think we are all a little spoiled now and it will be hard to let him go back to his normal routine.

Caroline:  had her first week of 2nd grade last week.  She seems to love her new teacher and is so excited to tell me what she has learned everyday when she gets home.  She only has 14 kids in her class this year which is unheard of for public schools.  One of the reasons I love track 2!  We took this last month off of violin lessons, but she has learned 3 new songs during the break.  She is starting to play real songs and surprises me with her great ability after only 1.5 years of playing.  I'm starting to learn to read music in helping her practice each day so it's a learning experience for me as well.  She turns 7 next week so we are having 4 little girls and all our family come with us to a Durham Bulls game this weekend immediately followed by Caroline's first sleepover.  The countdown to Friday has already begun!

Summer:  Went to her first year of VBS last week.  She was a little shy and had a little trouble settling in each evening, but I could tell she had a ball.  She is very disappointed that she can't go again this week.  She'll begin preschool in the 3 year old class in about a month and can't wait.  In the meantime she is keeping me on my toes with dress up and wanting to learn to ride her scooter and bike as much as possible.

Bella:  Is changing daily.  I could write a daily blog just telling you all the things she does each day.  She is loving the summertime.  She has no fear of water or heights and tests my blood pressure everyday by trying new maneuvers in both.  She loves to point to or bring me things all the time to test her newly learned words.  Last weekend while the big girls were at VBS together she was home with Brandon and me all alone.  I think she would have loved being an only child, walking in the middle, holding both of our hands and getting our undivided attention.  Luckily, she was the youngest and won't have the deal with a younger one taking anymore of her time away!

Me:  I'm probably the most boring of the family.  I feel like I just try to keep up with the rest of them.  I have kind-of reached my July weigh goal that I set at the beginning of the year.  The number on the scale is what I had hoped for but the physical results are not.  I'm guessing I need to go a little bit farther than I had hoped for the results I'm looking for.  I hope to find a crossfit program once Brandon slows down with school.  I have done a few of those type workouts using the Bob Harper website and I really enjoy it.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from our trip to Carowinds over the weekend.  When we left in the morning to drive to Charlotte Caroline had no idea what that place was.  Each morning this week she has told me that she wished today was the day that she was going.

Caroline and Summer on the little roller coaster.  Caroline rode it 3 times (with her hands high in the air each time).  Summer rode it twice, but cried at the end of both rides.

Caroline and Summer riding the Snoopy airplane.  Summer could have done this the entire time and been happy.

The highlight of my trip!  Summer, Caroline, even Bella got to drive their own cars.

 Brandon and Summer riding the pirate ships, Caroline is in the boat behind them.  Caroline loved it, Summer, not so much.....

The girls in Snoopy's doghouse.

Me, Bella, and Caroline while Caroline drove the car around the park.

Brandon with Summer, Caroline and Snoopy

Better late than never

I feel lately that my blog posts have turned more into a diet diary than anything else.  I'm sure a lot of people find it odd that my weight-loss seems to be at the forefront of my mind in these last few months.  Unfortunately, I have found it hard for myself to not lose weight unless it is something that I think about everyday and plan everything I do around.  I'm looking forward to the day when I can just eat when I'm hungry, not completely avoid the treats my family is enjoying, and maybe even skip a workout if I would rather do something fun with the kids one day.  I'm so close.  This morning I finally hit my first weight-loss goal that I set at the beginning of the year.

It took me almost 2 months longer than I had hoped but I am finally down to my pre-pregnancy weight.  I know this is not a huge deal, many people are able to do this, some before they even leave the hospital.  The reason it is so exciting for me is because I lost 30 pounds to be at this weight prior to getting pregnant.  If I lose one more pound I am going into uncharted territory.  Since I was this size when I was 10 years old I literally only weighed less when I was in elementary school.  It also puts me only about 10 pounds from my ultimate weight goal.

You may also remember that I also set a goal for myself to run in a 10K by the end of the year.  If I'm being completely honest I don't think that is going to happen.  With Brandon in school and me watching 4 girls during the day I don't have much time for long runs, if any runs.  I usually can go for a nice jog once every other week by myself, which is not ideal for training.  When I do go out, I run farther and a few weeks ago Brandon did set me up for a 10K.  Caroline rode her bike, Brandon pushed the jogging stroller with the GPS and I ran.  In my defense it was just after a rain and the dirt path on the Tobacco Trail was a little mushy and I had to stop for cars when I crossed the street, but I did run the entire 6.28 miles.  It took me 1 hour and 9 minutes to finish with a tremendous amount of support from my husband (who by the way ran the entire way with me while pushing a double stroller and making sure Caroline could get her bike through all the gates).  If you are looking for a GPS tool, I love using the Map Your Run app on my Droid.  It's pretty simple and very accurate.  I may not make it into an organized 10K race this year, but I know it will be a definite possibility in the future.  I currently have my eye on a mud run for my next race.  It's a 5K in the mud and you and your team have to make it through all kinds of obstacles along the way.  I have a few friends that have done it and it looks like so much fun.

In the meantime I have been doing a lot of my workouts using the new Bob Harper website.  I was introduced to it by my sis-in-law, Melanie.  On the site Bob puts up new workouts every week so you can do different moves each time.  It is constant body confusion and I find myself to always be sore.  The workouts are only 20 minutes (I try to do 2 each day) so no one can tell me they don't have time.  He shows different moves if you are a beginner or advanced, and I love it because on the Team Bob workouts you feel like you actually have a trainer yelling at you to go faster and dip farther.  There is a $10/month charge (which I split with Melanie), but way cheaper than other options with similar results.

July was my next marker for my final weight goal.  It will be tough to make it by then.  At least I know that I'm giving it my all, and I'm so happy to be on my way.

New experiences with an Old Pastime

I used to be quite athletic growing up.  No matter what time of year I was always playing or watching some sport.  But I've never been much into professional sports.  I think the only professional game I've seen in any sport was when Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls played Muggsy Bogues with the Charlotte Hornets (am I showing my age?!).

Brandon loves to watch sports so I have gone to plenty of NC State, Duke and Durham Bulls games.  Although it's not major league a Durham Bulls game is a fun afternoon.  You can enjoy your foot-long hotdog and beer, watch a couple double-plays and maybe even get a suntan - what girl wouldn't love that?! Really I enjoyed it because it was some time to spend with my husband doing something he enjoys.

Last weekend we thought it would be fun to take the big girls to a baseball game.  We've learned our lesson in the past when Summer was about Bella's age that any event where you sit for long periods of time is not fun with an 18 month old.  So, Bella had her own personal date night with Grandad while Caroline and Summer joined Brandon and me for 9 innings.  At least we thought it was going to be nine innings.

We had spent all morning and afternoon that day at Caroline's soccer game, followed immediately by a cupcake fundraiser for Sixtyfeet.  We were so pleased that we somehow avoided all the storms headed our way.  So of course on the way to the game it started to pour.  Once we arrived the game was on delay so we spent way too much time in the gift shop trying on hats and explaining the difference between a baseball and a football.  We walked through the halls and finally decided rather than eat our dinner standing against a wall or on a dirty floor we would make a run for the Tobacco Road restaurant overlooking the ballpark.  Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so we waited about an hour for a table.  The girls were so patient sitting in my lap in the one chair we could snag.  They played a video game on my phone and just enjoyed some time with Mom and Dad.  We finally sat down to a nice dinner with a great view of the field just in time to see them pull the tarp and warm up.

After dinner we headed to our seats.  It was still misting a little, but we were armed with loads of paper towels and two excited little girls.  Summer and Caroline's eyes were as big as saucers when we sat in our front row seats.  There was so much to take in with the players running around, the giant "cow" in the outfield, and the anticipation of a foul ball coming our way.  I was so glad to have dealt with the rain just for this one moment.  We only watched half of one inning, and part of it included the sprinkler system going off around the pitcher, but that time will be etched in my brain for years to come.

Finally the downpour began again, so we promised the girls a treat from the snack bar and headed for the car.  Their smiles continued all the way to their car seats when I handed them their giant bags of popcorn and bottle of Sprite for the ride home.  The game was cancelled in the 3rd inning so our tickets are good for another game.  We have already booked our tickets and I can't wait to try it again.

These days any game is a little less about the score and a little more about the experience.  It's so great to enjoy them together and we're counting the days until we can do it more often.

Let them eat cupcakes!

Last year about this time I was preparing for the hardest 20 months of my family's life. Brandon was about to start school and the girls were so little. I was ready to bunker down in my home and try to hide out until the end of 2012. Before it even started my sister asked me to get involved with the Cupcake kids. Although I was hesitant at first our sale completely changed me. Below is a blog I wrote about our experience that was first posted on thecupcakekids.org website and sixtyfeet.org website last year:

Last September my husband and I welcomed our 3^rd child into the family. Life with a kindergartner, a 2 year old, and a new baby became interesting. Our children now outnumbered us and we basically went into survival mode. We would say, “Do or don’t do whatever you can, just try to get to the next day alive!” Finally, our youngest daughter, Bella, reached the 6 month mark. She laughs and sits up. Her sisters love and play with her and we are finally feeling back to normal, at least for the next 4 weeks. In May, my husband will begin study at Duke for his MBA. For him, evenings will be for studying, weekends will be for classes, and I feel like I am preparing for survival mode again for the next 20 months.

While Brandon is in school, I will be at home with the girls pretty much all day and night by myself. I decided we would put off everything. I needed to make my life as simple as possible. No added stress to tip the already rickety boat. I just wanted to care for my children and support my husband, and call it a day.

My sister, Shelly, asked me if I would be interested in helping with a Cupcake Kids sale in our area to help raise money for Sixtyfeet. I thought it was a great project, but I certainly wouldn’t have time with 3 little ones at home and a husband that is studying most of the time that he isn’t already working. Maybe this is something I could help with in a year or two when the kids are older and school is over.

The problem with that is these children need help now! I needed to do something that taught my own children the importance of helping others and serving the Lord NOW. I realized I needed to step out of my comfort zone and make any difference I could, TODAY. I rounded up a couple of friends and their kids, and we set up a table in my neighborhood. I figured if we at least made back the money that we put into it I would be happy. But the Lord had much more in store for my little sale and my heart.

As I watched my shy little girl waving down the cars that passed by, people handing me all the money that they had in their wallets, and the neighborhood kids stopping by because they wanted to help, I realized we were doing way more than selling cupcakes. We were building a foundation in our children and our community to help those in need and doing it for the joy of the Lord.

I am happy to send the money we raised to Sixtyfeet and I’m so glad it will be able to help some of the children in Africa, but I believe they helped me so much more. Forevermore I will do all I can for my family and those I can help, no matter if it’s 20 months from now or tomorrow. Our life is a gift from God, what we do with it is our gift to Him. Don’t waste it by waiting for things to get easier.

James 4:13-15 - Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

It truly was a great experience, one that my girls loved and are dying to help with again this year. Today, I'm in the thick of those 20 months I was so scared about, but we are still giving it our all. This year the international cupcake sale is scheduled for May 5th. If you would like to set up your own sale and would like more information contact me or visit the website thecupcakeskids.org If you would be willing to help with mine (I still need lots of help) please let me know. Either way please come by and buy a delicious treat to support this great cause. If there is not a sale near you or you aren't eating cupcakes (like me) you can buy a virtual cupcake to donate to the program. http://www.thecupcakekids.org/cck/mysale.php?refid=1333459293. Thanks for your support and hope to see you on the 5th! More details to come soon!

Happy 1.5 Birthday Bella!

Today my baby is 18 months old. It completely blows my mind that we have reached this milestone as quickly as we did. The day she was born really just seemed like yesterday. I do love this age though. She can get around on her own, she feeds herself, is starting to communicate and potty training is just around the corner. She's no longer my easy baby. She knows how to hold her own with her 2 older sisters and is not afraid to express her feelings. She is crazy about baby dolls and loves to try to do everything Caroline and Summer are doing. Bella can be a little stubborn, but with her adorable little smile, big blue eyes, beautiful olive skin, and bouncing curls she can make just about anyone surrender to her needs. She willingly gives out hugs and kisses, and can be completely comforted as long as she can find the tag of her Baby Suzie and her two middle fingers.

If you recall at the beginning of the year I set myself a goal to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by this milestone. I gained 50 pounds during my pregnancy with Caroline and was able to hit that goal by the time she was 18 months old. Since I only gained 30 pounds with Bella this goal should be a piece of cake. I would love to tell you that I crushed my goal and am only a few pounds from my complete goal weight, but I'm sad to report that I'm not even close.

I have lost 12 pounds from the beginning of the year, but that still leaves me short of my first goal for the year. I am completely disciplined during the weekday. By the time I'm washing the dishes from dinner I've usually only consumed between 900-1000 calories. On top of that I've spent my day chasing 3-4 little girls, and used their nap time for cleaning my house and doing either cardio or circuit training. The problems come in the evening. If I've had a bad day or the kids have pushed me to the point I want to pull my hair out, the first thing I want when I walk down the stairs after they are all snug in their beds is something sweet. The weekends also spell trouble for me. I have an extremely handsome husband that has worked hard to maintain his health. He should absolutely enjoy a treat or two over the weekend, but it does make it hard for me to not want to join him.

So, am I going to admit defeat and go back to being fat and happy for the rest of my life? No, this may take longer than I had hoped but I will get there. I've found a lot of tools to help me along the way. My buddy Angie recently introduced me to 2 websites that can help me keep up with my calories. www.fatsecret.com and www.myfitnesspal.com. Both of these have databases with the calories for almost all the foods you eat and even menus from restaurants so you can keep up with your daily count each day by entering it in on your home computer or even on your phone. I can even scan the barcodes on the packages of food as I am preparing my snack or meal and all the nutritional information is entered in automatically.

To keep up with my workouts I have found www.logyourrun.com and www.nikeplus.com very helpful. Nike + is programmed on my Ipod so all the information is entered as soon as I plug it in to charge each day without me doing anything. I like the Log your run site because I can enter in my elliptical workouts as well as my strength training daily. I'm also a huge fan of the Jillian Michael's books and workouts. She gives you this formula to help you figure out how many calories you should eat each day if you hope to lose weight. 655+(4.35 X the weight you want to be) + (4.7 X your height in inches) - (4.7 x your age). So for me 655 + (4.35 * 120) + (4.7 * 63) - (4.7 * 33) = 1318 daily. This of course is also based on the fact that you will be active and not just laying on the couch dreaming of the foods you wish you were eating.

I'll keep plugging along and let you know if I find anymore tools and tips. I hope I will have better results for you when I hit my next goal date in July. Good luck to those in the same boat. I know it's not easy.

MBA as I do......not as I say

A while back I was asked if I would be interested in blogging about the day to day experiences in the life of a family with an MBA student for Duke. I was flattered that they would ask me, a stay-at-home mom that wishes Facebook had spell check on it. After some consideration I decided I shouldn't add another task to my life. I feel stretched a little thin with our current situation and I didn't think it was fair to my kids to add something that would take even more time away from them. I also was worried about what my blog might include. Looking back on some of my posts here I realize I don't exactly paint the prettiest picture for an MBA family. Although this time in our lives is probably the hardest we have ever had (and ever hope to have) it's not all bad. I don't want to scare anyone that is possibly considering pursuing a similar degree.

When Brandon and I agreed that he should go back to school I figured it would be a lot of work. Some late nights, weekends away, and a lot of time on my own. I had no idea to what extent that would be until now. My plan for him to just slide by so that he can just get this degree and nothing more was not on his radar. At first I thought my husband was way more of an over-achiever than I ever realized. He has done exceptional well in all his classes. But as I listen to what he learned over the weekend or what his case study is about each week it became clear that he really does love this stuff. It's not about doing better than the guy sitting next to him (although that's nice), he's learning to do something he is extremely passionate about and make it a career. Isn't that what it is all about?!

People ask me all the time, "Don't you wish you would have done this years ago before you got married or had kids?" Really it took us this long to realize what really interests us. If Brandon would have gone for his masters before now it probably would have been in engineering and he would have just continued to dislike his job. If we would have started before kids, sure, it may have been easier, but I don't I think I would have admired all that Brandon was putting into this. I don't think he would have appreciated my efforts in helping him succeed. Before his first day of school I knew there would be a day somewhere along the line of this program where one or both of us snapped. We would reach a point where one of us hit our limit and would completely take it out on the other. It hasn't happened yet, and now I don't think it ever will. Every night we stand in awe of what the other did to get us through the day and there is no reason to complain. We both know how hard the other works and the sacrifices we are making now are so little compared to the future we are preparing for ourselves and our girls.

So go out and do it. Find what you want to do and don't let anything stop you. It's not going to be easy, what good things in life really are? Like they told us at my Duke weekend, you've got to keep reminding yourself this is a short-term sacrifice for a long-term goal.

February is not my diet's friend

I appreciate all the support everyone has given me with my weight loss goals this year. Believe me, it keeps me motivated to know that I have so many people behind me and I certainly don't want to let you down. Since the beginning of the year I have lost 8 pounds, and I am proud of that. Even better I have been able to add mileage to my runs and increase the intensity of my strength training. Last Friday Brandon was home so I was able to go out by myself and take a nice run without the stroller. I set my Ipod for 5 miles. I've only run 5 miles once before, but it was with Brandon and I wasn't about to give up after a few miles and hear him talk about it for the rest of my life. This time the only person to motivate me was myself (and the little lady that told me what mile I was on while I was listening to my music). I honestly don't think I would have gone the entire distance if I hadn't planned it on my tracker from the beginning. but when it was all over I was so happy that I did. I ran it better than I ever could have imagined and feel very confidant that I can reach the 10K race goal this year. Hopefully I can get out there for longer runs more.

This past month I have really kept up my calorie counting. It's very rare that I go over my 1300 count for the day. I've managed to plan ahead and eat light on the day that I know we are going out in the evening. I limit myself to one (if any) after-dinner snacks. This month, however, is going to be a rough one to keep this up. This weekend is the Superbowl. Sure, I can say all day long that I'm going to eat healthy while I watch the game (really the commercials). But Brandon has already said that his diet is off for the day, and it's pretty hard to enjoy your grilled chicken salad with lemon juice while the person next to you chows down on cheesy nachos and buffalo wings. I'm hoping to have some self-control, but Sunday will just be beginning.

My birthday is Tuesday. My sweet Dad has offered to take me and my family out to dinner that night to celebrate and Brandon is taking me out on a birthday date night on Friday. They both told me I could pick the place. Tuesday night has yet to be decided, but for my date night I picked An in Cary. I tried to be reasonable and not pick a place that specializes in their mother's famous fried chicken recipe or a 2000 calorie molten chocolate cake. I checked the menu and the options looked great, but I'm just going to be honest, if I'm paying over $100 for a meal for 2 you better believe I'm going to be licking it clean. And is it really your birthday without a cake? I thought about making myself one that would be light yet curb my craving, but making my own birthday cake reminded me of the time that I saw a movie by myself. I just felt like a complete loser. Maybe we'll just buy a single slice from a restaurant so I'm not eating on it for days.

Just when you think the worst is over 7 days later is Valentine's Day, and 3 days after that is Summer's 3rd birthday. We have a nice party planned for family and her friends. You know I decided to make her a personalized Minnie Mouse birthday cake. I'll try my best to resist the urge to test the frosting multiple times and hope to hang out more with the veggie tray than all the other kid-friendly goodies that I have planned.

We do have a few other events on the calendar, but hopefully they won't be as detrimental to my diet. Thank goodness this is leap year. I'm going to need the extra day to help me avoid major disappointment when I step on the scale in March!

A New Year

Happy New Year. I know my last post was in 2011 and it's almost the end of January, but things have been busy. Our family has been settling in nicely to 2012 and have already began the count down to the end of school. So what's new in 2012? Read on..

Brandon has started back to his studying after a very brief hiatus. He is in Term 3 now and still going strong. Last weekend he attended his 13th residency, which leaves us 12 more to go. He still has many more months ahead, but at least he will be home more towards then end of the year than he was and that is something we are all so looking forward to.

I began working for the first time in almost 3 years. I am watching a 3 month old girl 3.5 days per week. Even though Brandon and I had planned for me to watch another since Summer was born I was worried things would be extremely hectic for at least a little while. Honestly, things are way more manageable than I ever could have imagined. The baby is so easy going. She loves to play with our girls, eats and sleeps like a champ and has just completely fit in with our family perfectly from 8-5 each day. I think our girls are enjoying having a little one around again. Caroline loves trying to show her the way of the world, I can't change a single diaper without Summer opening the tags for me (which has only resulted in a few accidents), and although at first Bella would throw herself on the floor waving her legs up in the air every time she saw me feeding the baby in "her" chair, she has submitted to the change and even handed me her bottle today when it was time to eat.

I am about to sign Summer up for another year of preschool. Bella's birthday is a little too late to begin in the fall so she will be at home with me for another year, but I don't mind. We just signed Caroline up for another season of violin and spring soccer. This will be the first year that she will get to play real games. I'm so excited for her and pity the poor little girl that tries to take the ball away. Caroline had her 100th day of school today, so only 80 more school days until I officially have a 2nd grader!

I think my biggest challenge for this year is to finally meet my goal weight. I hate to admit it, but I am still 10 pounds heavier than I was when I got pregnant with Bella, and even then I had 10 pounds more to go until my goal weight. I know what it takes to lose the weight. I log all my food in a spreadsheet to count my calories. I work out 5-6 times a week by alternating cardio with strength training. It works great, but it always seems after a few weeks I lose my motivation to continue on. I think my problem is that I have always let my trying to lose weight be a secret. Like people don't already know I'm overweight and if I mention I'm on a diet they will think differently of me. I think it will be great motivation to share with everyone my plans and hold myself accountable for the changes I want to make. So here we go:

1. Be back at my pre-pregnancy weight by the time Bella hits 18 months (11 pounds in 10 weeks)

2. Hit my goal weight by July (22 pounds total in 23 weeks)

3. Run a 10K - does anyone know of a good one locally?

OK, it's out there. Everyone knows my plans, so who's with me?!