Old MacDonald

Hey all!

Sometimes momma goes a little picture CrAzY!

She thinks I'm cute or something

Or maybe she feels bad when she forgets to snap a shot for a week or two

So she takes a million shots at once

Whatever, mom.

You should have taken my picture last week.

I'm too busy playing with Old MacDonald right now

My cute little toes will strike a pose for you, though

Ha.  Just foolin' ya.  I'll smile for the camera any time you pull it out!

First Week of REAL Food

Be still my heart....I love my little family!

So, I know you have ALL been wondering how our real food diet has been going.   I'm sure you constantly check our blog to see if we've written a post about the results so far, right? (j/k)  Well, here they are.

1) Weight

I gained a pound and then lost a pound and a half.  -.5 lbs for Caron
Joel lost one pound.  -1 lbs for Joel

2) Tummies

Our tummies are happy

3) Taste Buds

Our taste buds are a little bored.  I need to work on finding some new recipes!  We have been eating lots of beans, eggs, brown rice and fruits and vegetables...as well as some meat I accidentally overcooked (that probably did not help our bored taste buds)  I have thoroughly enjoyed the homemade guacamole and pico de gallo that Joel has made, though.  We also had a really good smoothie today.

4) Willpower
I have cheated 2.5 times.  I'd estimate that Joel has eaten non-real food about 6 times (things like ketchup, white bread, soda...etc).  I did say "no" to a chocolate lava cake the other day.  That was hard.

5) Enjoyment
I like this diet because it's healthy and well rounded.  I don't eat a lot of bread and fill up on beans, fruits, veggies and plain yogurt.  It's nice because I don't have to think about counting calories.

There you have it folks...those are the results of week one.  If you haven't voted on the poll on the upper left hand corner...DO IT!  It's completely anonymous and you'll add a little joy to my day.  Take a peek at these pictures before you do.

*Joel wants everyone to know that he has had to attend 2 picnics and 2 banquets.  He does have willpower:)

What Color Are My Eyes?

Are they brown?

Bluish?

How bout green?

Gray?

Hazel?

Mamma wants to know what YOU think.

I have been told that Audrey's eyes are gray, green, brown and blue.  I have no idea what color they are?  My opinion changes every day.  Cast your vote on the upper left hand corner of the blog!

Sittin' Pretty

Look at me sittin' pretty.

Daddy thought he bought a new arm chair for himself

 but SURPRISE...

I'm claiming it as my own.

those silly parents

they didn't think Maddie and I would leave this leather beauty be,

did they??

Real Food Day 1

Dun. Da Da..Dun!! We made it through our first REAL food day.

So, I'm not going to write about EVERY day of our real food challenge, but since Audrey posed so well I thought I'd let ya'll (otherwise known as-Mom, Jessica and EMU) know how it's going.

1.  Joel is cheating. Wha..wha...whaaaaa.  Oh well. He is following along for the most part, except for an occasional Coke Zero and slice of deli ham.

2.  I accidentally put brown sugar in my oatmeal out of habit.  I was able to scrape most of it out. No worries.  Although, if I don't lose any weight this month, I'll blame it on that micro-ounce of sugar. (not that we are doing this diet for weight loss)

3. Our meals were delicious!  Joel changed them around a bit, but I think his ingenuity made them taste even better.

Real Food Month

Hey, ya'll...it's REAL FOOD month at our house.

Tomorrow we start REAL food month.  We are following many of the rules posted on this blog, but not ALL of them.  Unfortunately, our budget will not allow us to eat all organic foods.  So, I decided to list the  guidelines we've decided to follow.

We will not eat:

1)  Food with more than 3 ingredients (unless we mix together a salad...I'm talking about crackers, bread, etc)
2)  Food with any ingredients we can not pronounce.
3)  Refined sugar
4)  Refined flour
5)  Canned food

If anyone serves us food, we will eat whatever they prepare...even if it's cheese from a can and wonder bread!  I'm not doing this to offend anyone.  We just want to see if it makes us feel healthier.

You may wonder what we will be able to eat on this diet?  Many tasty meals, actually. Here is what I will be eating tomorrow:

Breakfast-Oatmeal with a dollop of peanut butter (REAL peanut butter...not JIFFY) and a bit of honey

Lunch-Migas-this is a meal Joel introduced me to.  Basically, it is scrambled eggs with beans, brown rice, tomatoes and onions thrown in.  I guess he learned about it while living in TX?  I was hesitant to try it, but it is YUM, YUM, YUMMY. (also, don't call it "Amigas" around Joel...it will really annoy him!)

Supper-Salad with chicken breasts.

We will snack on plain Greek yogurt sweetened with honey.  We also have a lot of fruits and veggies to munch on.

Cheer us on!  I'm sure I will wake up and want some decaf and creamer in the morning!

All Smiles!!!

Lately, Audrey lights up EVERY time we pull out a camera.  She even smiles at my phone (she must already know there is a camera on that, too!!)  What a funny girl.  I love it.

The other day, Joel deleted the entire blog by accident.  We weren't sure if we would be able to recover it.  I was a little sad and it made me think about WHY I am doing this.  Then my sister-in-law wrote this POST.  Her words really had me pondering for a bit...especially since my updates are a lot less organized and more infrequent then hers.

Surprisingly, Joel was more upset about the lost blog than me.  This is interesting as he is a much better writer than I am, and he refuses to comment on my posts.  Apparently, "commenting is pointless if you live in the same house."  He DOES tell me how much he likes every post, though:) His words of affirmation make the slight effort worth while.  So, I'll keep blogging.