The Hippie Mommy With Kaleidoscope Eyes

Low Cal Mint Chocolate Almond Milk Ice Cream

2011-09-06T01:35:00.000-04:00

Low calorie and low carb icecream??
Yes Please!!

I love me some chocolate mint ice cream!

What you need:

1 C Almond Milk (Unsweetened)
1/2 C Salt
3 Splenda Packets
Vanilla Extract (I use a few drops)
Peppermint Extract (A drop or two)
2Tbsp Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup
Ice
Big Ziplock Bag
Small Ziplock Bag

In your small bag, mix your "milk", splenda, extracts and syrup.

Fill your large bag about 3/4 of the way with ice.
Cover with salt.

Insert your small bag of "mix" into the bigger bag and shake like crazy for about 5 minutes.

You may need oven mitts.
This gets cold. Like really, really cold.

How does it stack up?
Calories: 55
Protein: 2g
Fat: 4g
Carbs: 7g
Fibre: 2g

Brandon's Plantar Fascia Release Surgery

2011-09-03T23:33:00.000-04:00

A year ago, Brandon jumped off the back of a flat bed tractor trailer to avoid crushing his feet.
I think now, he might have been better off with that.
He's been out of work since January, in constant pain.
It's been diagnosed as plantar fasciitis fibromatosis.

Two weeks ago, he had a plantar fascia release surgery.

He goes back Tuesday to have the cast removed.

Lizard Lick, NC

2011-08-02T11:41:00.000-04:00

On our way to Myrtle Beach this year, we stopped by Lizard Lick, NC.
We originally found out about this little place in North Carolina from a show on truTV called "All Worked Up". One of the segments followed Lizard Lick Towing and Recovery.
They are based in Lizard Lick, outside of Raleigh.
They've went on to get their own show.
It's fun to watch.

I was bummed when we got there on Saturday to find the place closed.
I had tweeted them and they said they would be open. I guess they forgot it was the weekend of the 4th. I wish they would have had the gift shop open. I had a shopping list from a bunch of people here in Mount Airy. We did get to take some pictures.

I also thought it would have been neat if they gas station across the road, thinking they would have some merchandise. They had some shirts, but not the pretty ones I wanted. The clerk looked a lot like my neighbor. Weird.

All in all, it was a fun little stop.

Meet Marsha, the Imaginary Friend.

2011-07-19T23:29:00.001-04:00

Since we got home from the beach (oh yeah, we had a beach trip, more on that another time) Freedom has been living it up with her new friend "Marsha".
My inlaws first thought she was trying to say "Melissa"; who happens to be my older sister. Freedom would get mad and insist that she was talking about Marsha!

What have we learned about Marsha to date:

Freedom met her at the beach
She rode home in the car with Freedom and her "brother, mommy and dada"
She sleeps in Freedom's bed
She lives at the beach

This morning, my mother in law was telling me that Freedom, erm I mean Marsha had to have a place set at the table.

I assume imaginary friends are normal.

Brye had one for a little while. DW on Arthur had one too!

Show & Tell : Green

2011-07-18T18:06:00.001-04:00

Show

Tell

Tie-dyed prefold diaper with wool shorties, hand washed and drying on the clothes line.

This is my first time linking up with Paper Heart Camera for Show & Tell.

The inspiration was "Green".

Enjoy!

When He Grows Up . . .

2011-06-21T13:01:00.000-04:00

Sickness.
Joy.

We have been going back and forth with Freedom to the doctor since June 8th.
The cutest thing, is Brye's concern. He talks Freedom through what the doctors are doing, helps her out and tries to calm her down.

This last trip, he decided that he was going to be the doctor.
He had to sit on the stool. He figured out that "King Julian" (what Freedom named her lemur -- I think it's a lemur) had a horrible ear infection. He scribbled out a prescription and said he would need a shot if it didn't get better.

Brye has been asking a lot of medical and health questions lately. I guess this is normal. I hope that he stays interested in this though. When I was younger, I wanted to be a doctor.

Excuse the quality of the picture, my blackberry is so ancient. It only receives phone calls half the time.

Cucumbers!

2011-04-22T10:35:00.001-04:00

We're planting a square foot garden.
So far it consists of cucumbers.
In my seed sprouter, I have peppers and radishes germinating.

Call me dorky, but I thought it was so neat to peek in on the cucumbers a couple of days after they had been planted and find little plants. Even cooler was to see the little plants that still had the seeds hanging on the leaves.

It's taking a bit longer for my peppers to germinate.

Wordless Wednesday!

2011-03-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

Hello Spring!

2011-03-20T22:31:00.000-04:00

I haven't been blogging much -- Spring is here!
We have been spending so much time outside. The kids are really enjoying the weather.

Freedom got a gardening set and spends most of her time pretending to plant flowers and onions.
Brye's new toy is a scooter. He has taken a sudden interest in playing tag and chase. Which is fine by me because its a good way to add in some cardio.

My hat Mommy!

Brye's Squid

Playing Hopscotch.

Freedom's "planted" flowers

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T19:28:00.000-04:00

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
-An Old Irish Blessing

Wordless Wednesday!

2011-03-16T21:41:00.000-04:00

Friday Fill-Ins

2011-03-11T10:30:00.002-05:00

1. Oh gross! I thought it was supposed to be beer.

2. Shooting a WWII rifle, well THAT's off my bucket list!

3. No, I don't like redbull.

4. I love you all my heart and soul.

5. And then ... and then ... and then.

6. I can't forget the birth of my children.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to drinking for St. Paddy's and Brandon's birthday, tomorrow my plans include going into work for a bit then running and Sunday, I want to sleep, but I have to work!

Thursday Top 10: Flowers

2011-03-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

10. Antique Roses
9. Lillies
8. Morning Glory
7. Forget Me Nots
6. Black Eyed Susans
5. Sunflowers
4.Orchids
3. Clover
2. Peonies
1. Daisies

Photo (c) mck photography

Blackberry Applications?

2011-03-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

I have a blackberry -- and I want the cool apps too!
I know, I know, iPhones are the coolest thing under the sun.
Androids are awesome and new.

But what about those of us with Blackberries?
Think we might want to get in all the cool-ness?

I used to have a Windows Mobile phone. I stopped using it and went back to my Blackberry due to lack of applications. The camera on my HTC Touch Pro II was awesome and the GPS was great too.

I saw something on facebook about gasbuddy.com and mobile apps. Sure, I knew there would be one for iPhones, and androids -- but Windows Mobile?
Really?

There is myfitnesspal.com which still doesn't have a Blackberry application. They have rolled out all kinds of updates for the Android -- like scanning bar codes to track your foods.

For all my whining, I do have to mention a pretty cool one that I found.
It's a Couch to 5K application called Couch to 5k Free. It had advertisements, and is pretty basic. I do like that you can set it to vibrate on the intervals and it counts down. You can set up a playlist to play while you run.

Dear TV: You Suck!

2011-03-07T22:28:00.000-05:00

I have noticed that most of the good shows only seem to last a couple of seasons.

Case in point?

Why?

Is it that you might have to actually follow the story line?
Dark humor? Not enough "Kicks in the Nuts?"

Did you catch the reference to Idocracy there?

Granted, Patrick Swayze did die -- but they could have done something with the story. How many movie sequels do they make without the same characters?

Maybe I'm just getting old. I still remember when you could easily find music videos on MTV!

Car Seat Confusion!

2011-02-06T00:23:00.000-05:00

We bought a new vehicle!
It's a 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara.
It's pretty.

We have had it for two days and I have yet to drive it -- and it's supposed to be mine. We got a deal due to it having a manual transaction. I have no idea how to drive it yet. I am told it's easy. I lack coordination and have a very short attention span.

I have spent the last couple of hours online trying to figure out if I can use the LATCH system.

Being a used vehicle, we don't have the owners manual. Searching online has turned up nothing. Not even a youtube video or anything on our vehicle.

I have the cheap Cosco convertible car seat from Walmart for Freedom. Well, it's not that exact print. It is three years old after all. We did have a Britax Husky car seat left over from Brye. In the process of moving, I lost the piece that snaps over the chest. I have also lost all the manuals that came with the car seats.

I grasp the LATCH concept, and have a pretty good idea where to find it. My biggest confusion right now is do you use the LATCH part where it connects in the seat AND the top tether system? I can't find any pictures for our vehicle online. I've seen a few examples online, but I am still unclear if I need to use both.

Body After Baby : Shreddin' It

2011-01-12T22:41:00.000-05:00

We've been doing The Shred as part of the Body After Baby Challenge.

I've not been feeling the whole working out thing.

While I was at Walmart, I found Shred It with Weights.

Cool right, cause I have two kettlebells and all.

Day 1: Level 1, 15 lb Kettlebell. Ouch. 15 Minutes.
Day 2: Rest. Birthday Party.
Day 3: Played Just Dance for about an hour.
Day 4: Did some Kettlebell swings and some squats. Nothing Formal.
Day 5: Level 1, 10 lb Kettlebell. 20-ish minutes.

I need to get my butt in gear here.

I have decided that I am not worried about losing any more weight or body fat. Pretty sure that is all good for now. This morning, I weighed in at 143.4 and my body fat was 21%. I need to move on to being able to maintain this weight and build muscle -- and let my body catch up to me.

I was shooting for an "athletic body" and think I am crossing the boundaries into the "anorexic" body type. I don't think I should be any skinnier, without adding more muscle.

I was an every morning "weigher"
I am trying to skip days now.

I will still count my calories though, to make sure I am eating enough.

Now to figure out how to put on muscle, with out bodyfat or getting fat in the process.

Body After Baby

2011-01-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

This time, we're going in a slightly different direction.
Over at MamaNotes.com, Samantha has introduced 30 Day Challenges.

Starting January 7th (Brye's Birthday) the first challenge is Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.
I have a love/hate relationship with that woman.

This will prove to be a fun experiment.
I did 6 weeks of KettleWorx and loved comparing the before and after photos.
I am interested in seeing how 30 Days of The Shred will turn out.

As far as progress since we started back in December:
7 pounds gone

I plan to take measurements this Friday morning and compare that at the end of the 30 days.

Sounds like fun, right?

Karma? You kinda Suck.

2011-01-03T22:37:00.000-05:00

At work today, a car caught fire right in front of the store.

Imagine the noxious and toxic fumes coming from the car. Just the smoke from the burning rubber contains lead, zinc among other hazardous substances.

And because I love a good story....

As my replacement was coming in, she made comment about a car smoking outside. It wasn't overheating. It smelled bad and it was thick. It kept getting darker and worse. I decided to call 9-1-1 and saw fire on the ground under the car. Of course I thought the car was going to blow up. Thinking about it now, I think they did an episode of Mythbusters where the car didn't blow up just because it was on fire. Either way, when a car is on on fire less than 6 feet from your glass store front; I think you earn the right to panic.

Long typical car fire story short, they got it put out.
Our store didn't sustain any smoke damage.

I was checked out by the firemen because of nausea and sudden severe headache thanks to inhaling the fumes.

It's had me thinking all evening:

You try to live as clean and as healthy as you can, and what happens?

A car catches on fire right in front of you.

And you breathe in all that crap.

What a kick in the crotch karma. Thanks. You rock.

Body After Baby: Week Four

2010-12-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

I almost feel bad saying this.

I lost weight over xmas.
Yep. I've lost two-ish pounds.
This morning I almost had a heart attack when I saw 146.6. I weighed myself twice.
The body fat according to the scale was 24.5% I don't think that's to shabby. My legs are still chunky, and I did start out somewhere in the neighborhood of 45%. I happen to like this site, it says my body fat is 20.32% -- and that's with measurements at the end of the day and over my jeans.

I planned on starting P90X on the first.
I ordered my weights with my xmas bonus, but thanks to the winter storm on the East Coast, they've been delayed. I could always start off with resistance bands I suppose.

I've also been kicking around the idea of becoming a certified nutritionist.

Want to see how everyone else is doing? Offer them some words of encouragement?
Head over to MamaNotes.com to catch up with everyone.

Hope everyone has a good New Years!

Body After Baby ... and Christmas

2010-12-25T11:20:00.000-05:00

I feel a huge fail going on here!
Especially considering I am just now writing this on Christmas Day -- maybe that will hold me accountable --

To combat the Christmas feast, I was going to eat really good leading up to today.
Wednesday: Mother in Law made hamburgers. Pro: Used 7 Grain Deli Flats as a bun. Con: 73% fat meat.
Thursday : Late grocery and last minute present shopping = Pizza. I was so hungry I ate too much.
Friday : Sugar cookies. Darn Santa. Why can't he like veggies and protein bars?

The plan for today?
Load up on turkey!!
Then start back tomorrow on KettleWorx.

I have been working crazy hours and have not had the energy to work out the way I should.
It kind of worries me with wanting to start P90X. How in the world will I find the energy to work out for an hour when the 15 minutes is killing me?!?

I got a Christmas "bonus" from my boss. A $50 gift card to Wal-Mart.
I am torn.

Do I buy the dumbells or find a heart rate monitor?

Merry Christmas!!
Hope everyone has a great time with their families and if you're dieting, don't feel guilty about enjoying all the goodies today.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T23:26:00.000-05:00

You may need to click on the photo to see it full size.

Body After Baby : Week 3

2010-12-15T22:56:00.000-05:00

Quick run down.
Christmas dinner, crazy hours and not tracking calories. I did work in a veggie or fruit each day.
I also managed to fit in a hot chocolate and frosty with M&M's.

I weighed 149 this morning.
We went shopping this weekend, and I was able to buy a size 9/10 skirt and pants. Brandon also bought me a pair of Dr Martens! Not related to weight loss, but they are awesome.

I have started back on KettleWorx this week.
After much contemplating, I decided to restart with my poor little 10 pound kettle bell. January 1st I plan to start P90X -- once I get Brandon to put up my pull up bar.

I need to

Drink more water, less diet coke
Keep eating more veggies
Stop eating so much meat
Install the pull up bar
Buy some weights
Get more sleep
Try not to go over 150 pounds

I'm still trying to figure out how many cups are in a head of romaine lettuce.

Baby it's C-O-L-D Outside!

2010-12-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

It's cold.
Very cold.
But I am sure you knew that.

We're under a Severe Weather Warning. We may get wind gusts up to 50 mph. It was the same last night.
This morning, I saw where the road sign to our neighbors drive was blown down.

Our very old house was not built for this kind of weather. We made the decision to move in with Brandon's parents for the winter. It's mutually beneficial. Also, a good chance to practice communal living.

I gained a kittie out of the deal!
They have the sweetest cat, who loves to sit on our computer d es k. And walk on the key board.

I think I just head on the news that it may be -5 degrees tonight.

That's Fahrenheit!

brrr

Hope everyone stays warm!

Body After Baby: December 8th - 14th

2010-12-07T22:44:00.001-05:00

A week down, 7 left to go.

How did it go?
Pretty well weight wise. I reached my goal weight of 150 lbs this morning, close to three weeks early. It was probably a fluke, but heck, I'll take it! Since I started trying to lose weight, I have lost 115 pounds.

So a loss of 4.2 pounds in a week.
I blame it on being bloated to do my impending period last week.

Samantha at MamaNotes.com (who is running the Body After Baby Challenge) mentioned using MyFitnessPal.com. That site is awesome. I've been on there a while and have to say it's really a great resource. You may even be lucky enough to have a phone with which you can use their mobile app. I use it to track my calories, exercise and water consumption. I even venture into the forums. If you want to be my friend, check out my profile. I love new friends!

I also like Traineo.com. I have been using it since the first challenge that I participated in. I like the graphs and the more intimate forums on there. I really feel like I've grown to know these people. Very supportive! Check me out there too.

Our challenges for this week?

Write down everything you eat and drink.

Cut out one unhealthy habit.

No problem with the first one. I've been doing it for the last year. I have to say that it the only thing that really helps. I tend to get anal retentive about it. If you want to know how to lose weight, I say track your calories... and be honest about it. If you have a huge bowl of cereal then know how many cups/servings it is!

Now for an unhealthy habit.
I need to eat a vegetable and/or fruit everyday. So can I use "I will stop not eating fuits and veggies"? I have been working crazy hours and once again relying on protein bars and shakes as meals and snacks. My thinking is that if I make it a point to eat at least ONE fruit and ONE vegetable each day for seven days it will become a good habit.
Oh, and I need to remember to take my vitamins. and eat more. It's been killing me to hit 1000 calories a day. One reason I need to make sure I take those multi's.
You would assume working at GNC I could remember.

Still working out my fitness plan.
I've been doing The Biggest Loser Challenge on my Wii. I really want to do KettleWorx again, but am trying to find a cheaper heavier kettlebell. I used the 10 pound one I bought at Walmart. My sister offered to sell me her "1 pood" kettlebell. Apparently a pood is a Russian unit of measurement and is about 36.1 pounds. (I learned that today) I seriously don't think I can jump from 10 to 36 pounds. Some of the exercises were hard enough with a 10 pounder. I can imagine what it would be like holding my 2.5 year old daughter over my head, one handed and made of cast iron.
I did however purchase a pull up bar.
Now I need weights and I will be set to start P90X January first. I really want my husband to do it too.

hmmm ... maybe after 90 days I could handle a pood

I took a picture this weekend.

Please excuse the too big saggy work out pants.

Can anyone recommend a brand that doesn't resemble pajama bottoms?

Since I am feeling picture happy

A huge change from last year!!