Calm Down

Do your kids ever do something and you look at them and can see you doing the same thing? For example, Hadley who is now 4 got mad at his sister for walking in front of him while he was watching a movie and he immediately exploded. She was in front of him for maybe 2 seconds and was on her way but he got totally out of control over it. I realized that that was me. I explode over the littlest things and my kids are turning into some of my worst attributes. I hope I somewhat control myself a little better than he did but the fact remains that I need to calm down to have calmer children. I have come to this realization by watching friends kids who have calm parents the children are much calmer and know how to deal with things in an appropriate way for the most part, after all kids will be kids.

To make up for my bad behavior for Family Home Evening this week there is a great little article in the Friend this month that talks about how when mom and dad ask for something to be done then we do it. And how when our tummys are hungry we listen and do it, when the prophet asks us to do something than we do it. So we had Dad ask the kids to do something, his was kiss mom on the cheek and mom asked then to play a game and then we ate desert because our tummys were asking us to do that :). And we talked about how the prophet has asked us to be better families and listen and do things without being asked.

Our goal since Monday night has been for the kids to do what they are asked to with no whining or complaining and for Mom and Dad to not raise their voices and to help more when we ask the kids to something that might seem to overwhelming for them. Like when Hadley and Madelyn's room was a disaster instead of me telling them to clean their room which would make them upset and overwhelmed and would usually make me mad because they were not doing what I had asked them to do I asked them to each pick up one thing, like the train set or the cars and then I came into help when it was all done.

For me this has been a big challenge I hope you are all better and calmer than I am. I have noticed though the last day and a half we have had a lot more peace in our home.
Oh yes, I almost forgot, our reward is a movie night on Friday night. We are going to take the kids to pick out a movie and get candy, ice cream and popcorn and a special drink and stay up late (9 pm) and have some fun family time for hopefully doing a good job. We plan to continue this until we have it down, so far I don't see an end in sight but hey we are a work in progress.

Feel free to post any ideas or what you do in your family to calm down and just be a little better of a parent.

Mmmm...I love spary butter

Can I just say how much I love spray butter. It's great you can put it on bread, cream of wheat, veggies, etc. and not feel guilty but it sure tastes yummy. For lunch I just a two big bowl fulls of steamed veggies (Walmart frozen kind with the squash, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower). Two bowl fulls because the first one was so yummy and you guessed it I loaded it with spray butter. It was great!

FYI... don't ever replace pumpkin for shortening and butter in a cookie recipe as my husband says I made pumpkin rubber :).

Guilt Free Chocolate Muffins

Guilt Free Chocolate Muffins

Prep: 10 minutes; Cook: 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup oat flour (blend oats in blender until powdered if you do not have oat flour)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place 8 paper liners in muffin tin; coat with cooking spray.

2. Combine applesauce and next 4 ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the next 6 ingredients. Add oat mixture to applesauce mixture; stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for 20–22 minutes, rotating the pan a half-turn after 10 minutes. Muffins are done when tops are firm to the touch.

4. Cool slightly. Top with powdered sugar, if desired.

Yield Makes 8 muffins (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 124.5 3 grams of fiber

If you leave out the chocolate chips they are 89.5 calories each. J

· Yummy idea… (make without the chocolate chips) eat warm with a half cup low fat vanilla ice cream. It will be a yummy treat for 180 calories.

My Motto

My Motto

I will strive to eat the right portions

I will exercise 3-6 times every week

I will write down what I eat

I will not become discouraged

I will reach my goal

I will pray and read the scriptures for the strength that I need!!!

A friend of mine once said something very profound, "I ask for God's help in everything why not when I am trying to lose weight". He cares about us, our body's were made be Him in His image He knows that are human bodies are weak but with help all things are possible. This does still mean however that we need to do our part, prayer and guidance are part of it but we do need to be healthier.

I don't know about you but I truly had no idea what a portion was until I saw a dietitian. I didn't know that cheese and cottage cheese were a protein and that fruits have a lot of carbs. I thought the food pyramid was still made of the 5 food groups. I quickly learned I was wrong and have found a resource that can be printed out (My Plate Planner) at www.mibcn.com/pdf/plate_planner.pdf. This is excellent when teaching what a portion is and I use the Glycemic index to know what foods are the healthiest to eat and how many portions I should have a day. I now eat on a 9 inch plate and so does the rest of my family. We also strive to eat 3 servings of fruit a day and 3 servings of vegetable. This was my first step in becoming healthier.

For exercise this is what has worked for me since I can not afford a gym and if I could I don’t know when I could go. As soon as I wake up I put on the 3 or 5 Mile Walk Away the Pounds by Leslie Sansone (Use to do the 1 and 2 mile but I worked up to the 3 mile, I like these video because they also use weights). I have a little DVD player I put on top of the TV so I can exercise while the kids watch a movie. They have eventually learned that it is my time. I do this every morning Monday through Saturday. My daughter two year old daughter has perfected the word 'exercise' with perfect clarity. My husband thinks it's funny to hear her say it she will say, "Mommy you going to exercise?' or 'I exercise" as she jump up and down.

At least she doesn't say she's fat. That is one thing I have noticed parents doing, they complain they are fat when in actuality they are not and even if they are it should not be said in front of children. Children can begin to get a warped idea of what fat is which leads to much serious issues later on. Sorry, for my little tangent it is from my where I did my Social Work Practicum at a Rape and Domestic Violence Crisis Center on a college campus and in the same office with those who worked with college students with eating disorders and many started from such cases.

On to the next one, write everything you eat down, it is probably the hardest thing to do but when I do it helps me realize how many calories I am eating and where I can cut back. It truly does help.

The last thing I want to put on this is post…Is don't get discouraged!!! I know it is hard. I am one of those I want is now can of people. I say I want to lose weight I try for a week nothing happens so I give up but then I found some inspirational blogs and stories and realized that it takes time and I can do it. I have set no time limit to my goal just that I want to be 135lbs and to get there by being healthy this way I am not discouraged when a month goes by and I only lose one pound, all I say is that I am one pound closer to my goal. This way I know I will reach my goal.

I will be posting a recipe section as soon as I figure out how, so please check back soon.