"She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household..."

...Proverbs 31:15. After spending several days planning my grocery shopping trip, I left at 9:30 and shopped for two hours tonight at Safeway. We are truly blessed by the amazing free food we are getting lately - and I wanted to share my overflowing table with you. (Click on the picture to magnify)

Anyone want to guess how much I paid for these groceries? You know I shop with coupons and love it - but the argument people usually have is that for the things that they buy - there are no coupons. Such as organic produce - heck, ANY produce is hard to find coupons for. And what about things like milk? Bottled water?

The secret, my friends, is "overage". This is when you combine coupons with store specials & promotions to create a negative balance at the end of your transaction. Since most cashiers will not give you money back if your coupons create overage, you simply make up the difference by adding in things such as produce, dairy, etc. The cashier is none the wiser and don't worry, they get fully reimbursed for any overage that is created. Here's a likely scenario:

"Buy $10 worth of salad dressing, get $3 off instantly."

This is the store promotion. So I buy 10 salad dressings for $10 (for example) and I also have 10 $1 off coupons, making them completely free. Hmmm...so what happens to the extra $3 that gets "taken off instantly"? I simply add in a couple of gallons of milk, $4 worth, and my remaining balance is $1.00. How cool is that?

So .... tonight, I was doing something similar. It's a promotion where if you buy $30 worth, you get $10 off. I used many, many coupons in a wide assortment - and came out with quite a haul! Probably my best ever, actually. What I absolutely love about couponing is the HUGE diversity of items we get to try on a regular basis.

For instance, I would never buy Sun Chips normally - they're $3.79 and with as many children as we have, we'd go through an entire bag in one meal. We do love them, though, and I was excited to see they were a part of this particular promotional sale - now I have a good stash for school/work lunches that'll hopefully last us a while if I ration it out.

Here's what I got tonight - $204.38 of groceries:
4 gallons of nonfat milk
4 bags of Sun Chips
36 bottles of water
1 box of Kashi breakfast bars
32 mini Hershey's dark chocolate bars
4 bottles of VitaminWater 10 (DH loves these!)
24 Mozzerella cheesesticks
4lb of strawberries
2lb of organic baby carrots
4 Ben & Jerry's ice cream pints
2 Starbucks ice cream pints
1 32oz. Nancy's live culture yogurt
6 Kraft Ranch dressing
1 6-count package English muffins
2 big bottles of Pace salsa
2 smaller bottles of Pace Picante Sauce
4 boxes Kleenex
4 boxes 10-count Capri Sun drinks
4 boxes 20-count Electrasol dishwasher detergent

Wanna' know what I paid? Shhhh........


....$6.69 was my GRAND TOTAL!

No wonder I thought of the Proverbs 31 woman tonight, providing for my household in the night! I am thrilled that we now have strawberries & baby carrots for lunch, ice cream for DH, Kleenex to bring out when noses need wiped, dishwasher detergent to last for months, chocolate to save for those chocolate chip cookie days, milk for our breakfast, Ranch dressing for our favorite casserole!

I try to get as creative as I can with our food, to make it stretch as far as possible - and even sell some of it. For instance, the Electrasol I have alot of coupons for and have already sold 4 of them on Craigslist for $7.00. Those four boxes alone will pay for my ENTIRE load of groceries tonight, once I sell them.

This verse was interesting for me to read tonight, "31:16 She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard." It seems pretty straightforward, that she took something she perceived to be of value, purchased it, then used the profits to create even more value. I'm thankful for the mind God has given me to be able to wrap my brain around these types of deals - I just have to be careful that it really and truly is "for the good of my household" and does not tear down. It is not beneficial to my family when I am glued to the computer and/or my calculator for hours on end. Moderation in all things!

Week 29: Day 5 ~ Grocery Blessings!

My brain is always working to figure out ways to feed my family for the very least out of pocket expense as possible. It has become somewhat of a hobby for me - what I do in my "down time" for fun. I'm thankful for that blessing of a love for saving money and working out the deals - because otherwise it would be such a drag, and something I'd have to do anyway!

Yesterday started a new promotion at my local Albertson's - buy 10 items and you get 2 free movie tickets. While I would LOVE to do this deal for the sole purpose of snagging some free movie tickets for DH & I to go on a "free" date, that's not the best way to use them to save money.

I'm always on the lookout for coupons in the grocery store. Many times there will be tearpads, sticky coupons, and stacks of them on certain products. A while back I found a nice big tearpad of this coupon:

"Free eggs ($2 max value) when you buy any 2 Kellogg's cereal".

I also found these sticky coupons at a different store, different time:

"$1 off 1 Kellogg's cereal"

AND each week I buy multiple Sunday newspapers just for the coupons - so after a bit of searching, I came up with these coupons from a past newspaper:

"$1.50 off 1 Kellogg's cereal"

The movie tickets deal included Kellogg's cereal! So yesterday, armed with my coupons and my helpers (helping me with my patience and sanity, that is!), we trooped in to Albertson's to make just TWO purchases. I had enough coupons to do the movie deal twice and come with out four free movie tickets.

I bought:
20 boxes of cereal @ $2.50 = $50
10 half dozen egg cartons @ $1.49 = $14.90
4 bags of bananas @ $1 = $4.00
Total = $68.90

Worth it, do you think, for 4 free movie tickets? Not in this Mama's book! So I handed over all my coupons:

- $14.90 FREE eggs
- $15.00 for 10 of the $1.50 coupons
- $10.00 for 10 of the $1.00 coupons

My total was then bumped down to $29.00 which I paid, and was handed 4 free movie tickets (coupon printed out).

As soon as I got home, I took a picture of the movie tickets and put them up on Ebay. I had done some investigating before I left, and knew that I could sell them pretty easily judging by others' ended auctions. Sure enough - within 24 hours they had sold, payment was deposited into my account, and I emailed the winner the codes to redeem the tickets. Here's the ended auction.

It does cost money to sell on Ebay and accept online payments immediately, so for my selling price of $27.99 I was able to keep $23.17 of it. Grand total paid for 20 boxes of cereal, 4 bags of bananas, and 5 dozen eggs? $5.83! If I had just decided to do the movie tickets promotion and not get the bananas, I would have been able to get all of it for just $1.83. Pretty good for a morning's work, eh? I had fun figuring it all out, and the kids were SO excited to get their favorite cereal again! Not to mention that now we have lots of bananas and eggs - yummy banana bread & quiche!

PS in case you're wondering, NO, the children did not behave!! Oh my word, I couldn't believe how naughty they were. We used the big fat shopping cart "Car" and they were immediately fighting over who would sit where. DS 1 kept reaching into the cart from his front seat and grabbing the groceries, even managing to break some of the eggs and spill my coupons everwhere. Somewhere along the line he threw the ad down onto the floor & lost it, which I needed in order to make sure I was getting the right cereal.

DD2 kept climbing out of her seat in the "car" and demanding to sit on the front, which is safe for her brother who is 6, but not for her. Wow, it was quite the task to get in & out of there quickly - with two separate transactions, no less. After all that, I was in such a tizzy trying to keep them all straight while handing the coupons to the lady (she scrutinized EACH one because it was quite absurd that I was getting it all for so cheap!) that I forgot my ENTIRE binder of coupons at the checkout! Yikes! Thankfully the nice checker brought it out to me. Not recommended for the faint of heart OR for doing repeatedly, lol!

Week 29: Day 2 ~ It is my pleasure to....

I've been thinking about those words today. "It is my pleasure to...." and then, fill in the blank. My day started out SO wonderful - there's just something about sunshine, a clean house (thanks to a whirlwind cleanup by DH & I before bed....draining and ANNOYING to do at 9pm but worth it, LOL!), and a brand new week stretching out before me. I love that!

Layers upon layers of things start happening and unraveling as the day goes on - compounding upon each other to turn into the happenings of "my day" so to speak. I know that it is how I take them that matters, how I react that is the ONLY key to happiness, not what is happening TO me.

So this afternoon the kids were dying from being so hot so we put on the sprinkler. Which introduces a whole new set of interesting happenings - including "where's my swimsuit" (I don't know - oh gosh, that's right, I haven't gotten one for you yet!), "I'm COLD, can I have a towel?" (which turns into 5 kids x 1 towel each which is almost an entire load of laundry!), and then of course the 2 year old trying to run out into the front yard every other second. Many wet feet pattering about into the cream colored kitchen floor which = dirty prints everywhere.

Then they're all hungry, and want cereal - and DS1 is crying because oops, someone left the back door open and he fell out onto the concrete. Nice goose-egg on his head, so I get a bottle for him. DD9 comes running into the house, "Mommmmmm! Come look what they're doing outside!" Hmmm, not a good sign. They're filling up one of the new flowerbeds DH just dug with water, turning it into a mudhole. Okay, that's it - no more water...!

Now they're all peacefully watching a new movie (thanks to Redbox for 2 free movies every Monday!) and I just wanted to write this down before I forget it:

It is my pleasure to serve my children!!!! I want to shout it from the rooftops, that it is TRUE for me! That has come to me time & again today when I was tempted to feel sorry for myself because my tummy is feeling quite heavy these days and I STILL have 11 weeks left. Tempted to think that this grueling life I have chosen is so HARD and yet - yet yet yet - there is JOY in this life, if I can just see what a life I have chosen! What a life filled to the brim with laughter and happiness and the chance to gladly give up my demands and wants in order to make it good for those in my home.

As I was holding baby Jack who was crying, and DD2 was demanding that I get her some water RIGHT NOW - you know how it is when everyone seems to demand something of you at once - it just came to me that I am so happy to serve them. Happy to comfort the crying baby boy, happy to get DD2 a drink (but teaching her to say please, Mommy!) and happy to start cleaning up this messy house and scrub the kitchen floor on hands & knees - again. But don't misunderstand what I'm saying - I don't necessarily FEEL happy and full of joy all the time. I certainly didn't many times today.

That, however, is the mystery that so many don't understand! That regardless of how I feel, I can be full of joy and thankfulness in my heart 100% of the time if I choose to. It is my choice, not my feeling. My heart is full of thankfulness for this life of a Mommy to seven children ages 10 & under I have chosen, and I feel so rich - because I'm able to truly see it as a pleasure and privilege instead of a hard life!

Week 28: Day 7 ~ Garage Sale Day!

Today my DH was nice enough to let me go garage sale shopping! I woke up at 7:15 and stepped on the scale - 150! I couldn't believe it BECAUSE yesterday right before dinner I was all of a sudden STARVING hungry. So I inhaled a bowl of 3-bean soup and 2 slices of the italian bread I'd made, the lunch that DH forgot to bring yesterday. Then I had 2 more slices of the bread for dinner, and at my sister's birthday party last night, 1/2 of a donut, a bit of ice-cream, and lots of chocolate. Hmmm.....

So I was so surprised to see that the scale had dropped another pound this morning. It must be the exercise combined with eating mostly raw? So anyway, that was a nice start to my morning. I was busy busy getting ready to go garage saleing - got the kids all their breakfast, changed DD2 and settled them in for a movie. DD9 has been trying to earn money to buy a Wii game she wants really bad, so I let her "babysit" them while DH got to sleep in.

I had SOOOOO much fun!! It was such a gloriously BEAUTIFUL day out, and there were garage sale signs everywhere. Probably the first weekend it's been this nice, and also garage sale season at the same time. I ended up spending all of the $40 I brought with me, but I feel like I was a good steward with that money and really made it stretch. I found quite a few "needs" for our family, mostly shoes & clothing for the children as well as a bunch of special things to put in my "special box" reserved for birthdays and/or rewards.

Some of my PRIZE finds were:

FOR ME
Really cute purse (mine is ripped) - $3
Long black suede Airwalk boots - $.50
Set of 6 diamond hair pretties - FREE
Cozy wool clogs - $.50
Set of 2 black iron wall candleholders - $2

Those were fun to buy - I don't buy myself things very often but when they're that cheap, it gives me the thrill of bargain shopping which I love, and also meets needs that we have as a family at the same time. The main thing I am so pleased that I found, was an air conditioner for $10! We've needed one badly for our 3rd bedroom - all last summer the girls were so hot in there, while the boys' room & our room was really cool. I've never found one for that cheap before, though - so DH was happy about that too.

I also am always on the lookout for transformers for my DS6 - he is SO infatuated with them, and will line them up and play with them for hours.

He'll watch every movie he can get his hands on, no matter if it's new or from the 80's. He also spends a really long time on Amazon adding them to his "wishlist", as well as browsing Google's pictures of other people's collections. Also YouTube, he loves to watch other people's movies as they transform their transformers. It's really fun to have something for him to do, as well as know what to get him for birthdays and special times.

But the problem is, they are at least $8.99 in the store brand new, and trust me, he works hard and saves up his money to buy just ONE at a time. So when I'm out garage saleing, I am always on the lookout. Today - I scored! I found 7 of them + a movie and a book, and paid $5.50 for all of them! I was so excited and it was hard for me not to rush home and show them all to him. I did give him one and the movie, and he spent a long time playing with his collection. I think he has about 15 of them now! The rest I'll save for either his birthday or Christmas, or maybe a special time when he's sick and in need of some TLC.

After I got home I was able to do my weight lifting workout in about 15 min. (back exercises today) and then went for a 45 minute power walk with 3 short jogging spurts as I felt comfortable doing them. Once home, the babies were still napping so I laid in the sun for about 1/2 an hour - it always feels so therapeautic to do that! Afterwards, the house needed attention quite desperately, so I worked on that for the rest of the day.

Whew, I'm so tired! Right now the kids are watching a new movie I picked up for 25 cents today, and it's...ahem, 22 min. past their bedtime. I'm just taking a short break to write on here so I can gather up my last bits of energy to put them to bed. DS1 kept pushing the on/off button on the movie screen so he was wisked off to bed about 10 minutes ago. DH is gone fundraising for the afternoon/evening and DD9 is spending the night at Grandma's house. So just 4 more left to put to bed. I think I'm going to retire early tonight - I had a "splurge" of 5 cheesesticks about 2 hours ago and my tummy is still SO upset! I was thinking about making some curry vegetable soup tonight, but right now nothing sounds good. =(

Week 28: Day 6 ~ Weigh-in

Happy to report that EVEN THOUGH I've had a couple of rough days (OMG this italian cheese bread is sooooo good...don't ask me how I know, lol!) I'm still going strong on raw and working out! On my 12th day now. =) Here are the weight stats for this week:

Pre-pregnancy starting weight: 127
Weeks 8-15: 130/140
Weeks 16-20: 144/150
Weeks 21-25: 152/153
Week 26: 153
Week 27: 152
Week 28: 151

Last week I wrote about finding watermelon at Safeway but it was $.79/lb! Since the prices are often at $.29 regularly throughout the summer with the occasional $.19/lb thrown in sometimes, that is just a HUGE amount to pay. So I decided yesterday to just pop in to Norman's Farmer's Market to stock up on avocados again, and as I was leaving, saw a HUGE bin of watermelons! I quickened my pace to round the corner and low & behold.....$.49/lb! I just couldn't resist that so I caved and bought 2 of them for $12. Not too bad - especially since I've waited sooooo long! So yesterday & today we've been feasting on watermelons...I've had to restrict the children from eating much because they'll just inhale it, and for now at THOSE prices I'm considering it to be "Mommy's raw food" which means - off limits. Soon enough they'll have plenty, but for now, it's ALL MINE! (And DH's too cuz he's my other half, right? Hee hee)

Last night I was so bummed that I had eaten so much italian bread & chocolate. I just got this craving and decided who cares. But I refuse to give in to that whole attitude - it's just ONE day in the course of how many? After dinner I took DD 9 and DS 8 to go spend some of their money, the craft store & Toys R Us. I was so tired and dead on my feet but I really really wanted to keep up with my exercising...I hadn't done any that day so far AND had eaten crappy food. So I decided that I would powerwalk 40 minutes instead of the normal 20 and I did it at 9:30pm!

It was actually really really peaceful and I LOVED it - there is nobody out that time, in the dark, but there are lots of street lights and I feel safe for the most part, wearing my reflective vest and sticking to the main, well-lit neighborhood streets. I was also able to fit in 5-1 min. "jogs" in that space of 40 minutes, modified for pregnancy so I wasn't running hard or anything, just kind of barely jogging. Today, though, my back feels a bit tweaked so I'm not sure what's up with that. Hmmmm.

Yesterday I was able to lay in the sun!! It felt sooooo good and I just dozed while the 4 & 6 year old played with squirt bottles, etc around me. The younger two take a really good 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon every single day, for which I am SO grateful!! And definitely enjoying because I know I only have about 11 weeks left of regularity in our schedule.

So....one thing that really bugs me is a one-sided tan. I know, dumb, and there are plenty of other things to be annoyed at, lol, but whenever I'm pregnant in the summer it always makes me feel so fresh and alive to have a tan vs. pure blinding white skin. So I decided to do some research and guess what? It's actually OKAY to lay on your stomach when you're pregnant! I never would have thought that to be true, but after reading numerous articles the "experts" say that as long as YOU are comfortable (and most people aren't comfy in that position, so it's up to each individual person)then the baby will be fine. It seems there is more concern about lying on your back while pregnant, since that can impact the flow of blood to the baby.

Yesterday I tried it and at 28 weeks, was able to lay on my stomach in our lounge chair for about 25 minutes just fine. I did make note of the fact that the chair has these stretchy loopy things that make up the "mesh" part of the chair, so that when I'm sitting in it and get up, there is a big indent where I was sitting. So it's not the same as lying on the hard floor - there is definitely some "give" which I think makes it more comfortable. My tummy carves out it's own little bump in the chair. I LOVE the sun and am totally a summer girl - I am so thrilled that it's almost here!!!

I've been working hard on my coupon deals to earn money to make our yard look beautiful this summer. I'm especially excited because most summers, we take a 3-week long vacation to go to our church for summer camp. I am always in a quandry as to what to do with my flowers, especially the hanging baskets. They aren't that cheap, costing $20 or so each - and we stay in a dorm so it's not exactly easy to bring them. I did try one year, and they died by the end of our time there. =( So this year, even though I won't be able to go due to the baby being born, I can take comfort in the fact that my flowers will LIVE this summer, LOL! Plus, DH has fixed the yard sprinklers which make a huge difference....I can never quite be faithful to water the flowers by hand and they always die. =(

This morning I earned my first $$ for our yard! Basically for this deal I'm able to buy 5 packages of Huggies refill wipes for $3.00 each during the sale + coupons, total of $15. Then I turn around and sell them for $5 each, which gives me a $10 profit each time I buy sets of five (which is what the special sale requires). This is a good price for most people because they retail at $8.99 and you can very rarely get them lower than that. A lady just came by to purchase 8 of them, so I have $40 in hand right now.

I'll turn around and use that $$ to buy 13 more and sell those for $65. Then use the $65 to buy 21, selling those for $108, etc. Each time I'll reinvest the money and eventually have enough to buy what we need for the yard. It's a bit tricky because it requires time to purchase them, but I can easily do 5-6 transactions of 5 wipes each if I have an hour or so...and I'm able to go after the children are in bed and DH is home. Fun!

Week 28: Day 3 ~ Flowers, Exercise Update, & Ramblings...

I'm super happy to report that I am now on my 9th day of working out/exercising each and every day! Two days I wasn't able to lift weights, but I did go powerwalking for 20 minutes on those days (total of 4 days powerwalking last week) - and the other days I doubled up on weights. Like I missed a day this weekend so today I'm still playing catchup. But I'm just one day behind my routine which is actually doing awesome! I've never been able to go more than 3 days of consecutive days working out during this pregnancy.

I worked out my calves, biceps, and shoulders today - and tomorrow will do my hamstrings & triceps. Then I should be all caught up. It feels AWESOME to be on my 2nd week and working out these muscles for the 2nd time. The first time is always the hardest because they groan and complain...and get revenge by making me super sore. By the second round, though, the muscles are stronger and they begin building block by block so to speak, into nicely formed muscles. It's so fascinating to me how it all works! I probably would've been a personal trainer in "another life". LOL.

Eating-wise not SO perfect, but good enough! I'd say I've been 100% raw about 6 of the past 9 days. I didn't do that great this past weekend, it's extremely hard for me to have chocolate (Easter) in the house and not eat it all! Like as in, just BINGE. Also, we had a BIG potluck at my Mom's on Easter and everything was super good. I did stick to vegetarian, though.

I'm still really inspired by my new goal of the next 12 weeks to basically UNDO everything I've done poorly so far this pregnancy. I really believe I can do it, too - that I can be fit and feel GOOD this summer, as well as ready to give birth with gusto. Ha ha - J/K, I have no idea what giving birth with "gusto" would be like, but it sounded cool to say it. LOL.

I had my midwife appointment today and she told me (I hadn't seen this particular one in 2 months; my 2 midwives take every other month with me) that I was sparkling and had that pregnancy glow! That was good to hear - inspiring! She always takes time to ask me how I am doing and I told her that springtime is just such a breath of fresh air. Literally!

But really, flowers and beauty in nature really lift my spirits - and I am really hoping to plant some in the front yard this summer. IF I can keep the children from picking them...but I'll just decide beforehand that my treasure is not in my flowers - it is in them! So not to get all uptight about it, that is my goal. I'll be sure to take some pictures.

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE hanging baskets...in years past I have had at least four of them in the front of our house, on the porch and hanging from the corners. Our house is white and looks pretty with flowers and green grass. The only thing is money...but I'm hoping to do a few little side sales with things I get for free/almost free using coupons and earn enough to get our front yard looking beautiful. Then the challenge is lugging this belly around and trying to nourish the flowers, lol! Yeah...we'll see how this goes. This is the kind of basket I LOVE...maybe I'll get one for Mother's Day. =)

I also decided not to take 28 week pictures after all. I want to be able to compare with my previous pregnancy's pictures, which were taken at week 34. So that gives me 6 more weeks to work on getting fit, and also getting tan. The whole pasty white thing isn't really that appealing in pictures, ROFL! I know for sure that I do NOT fit into the same pants that I am wearing in that picture, but the shirt fits fine. This picture is posted on the sidebar, but just for reference here it is again. Ouch! Kind of a tall order to live up to that "after" picture!

Week 27: Day 5 ~ Watermelon sightings & the first REAL test...

Today the kids & I went to Safeway after I picked Isaac up from school, and I was OVERJOYED to see a big, new box of LARGE seedless watermelon in the produce department!! I have been waiting for the first watermelon to arrive for soooooo long, it was really exciting to see them there! Only bummer is that they were marked at $.79/lb which means EACH one is approx. $11.00! That is excruciatingly high and not OK in this bargain shopper's book. True, I do get 10% off almost all purchases at Safeway, but I am only willing to pay a max of $7 for my big watermelon, and hopefully much lower as the season progresses. Very fun to see them there, though!

Tonight there is a big huge she-bang at the kids' school where they have reading literacy night. Basically athletes from the local highschool (teams) come in to read to the kids, as well as policemen and firefighters. They're have a helicopter, free hotdogs, etc etc. That is quite exciting sounding, right? It IS, but not with six little ones and a big swelling tummy getting in the way. Not to mention a not-quite-yet-walker who wants to crawl everywhere and get DOWN.

Granted, DH would be going with us but in the past it has been just me. I wanted to make it good for the kids so we went. But afterwards my goodness, they were so grouchy! Grumbling about how it wasn't very fun, how they wanted to do this or that and we didn't get to, etc. Oh, and it's also kind of a crowded school so there are a million people everywhere which doesn't help when you have a stroller to commandeer in FRONT of the big swelling tummy. LOL!

The school has been hyping it up for the past few days, handing out fliers every time I pick them up and there are lots of balloons and banners out there today. They're reminding the kids and making them WANT to go, which is kind of annoying for those who can't go. We have alot of fun things going on often with our church (we're headed there to spend the weekend tomorrow) so I don't feel that it's as important to go to all the school activities.

So I'm going to try something. Instead of going out tonight I'm going to throw an impromptu Easter egg coloring party. Hopefully this will make up for the lack of our going to the fun school night. A friend of ours has made it a tradition with the kiddos to color eggs with them each Easter, which is so special & nice of her! She's coming over for dinner and bringing the already boiled eggs + egg coloring stuff. We're going to have chicken spaghetti w/salad and homemade french bread which is one of their favorite meals - the past 2 nights we've had meals that they just HATE and 2 of them ended up going to bed early because they refused to eat it. So having a dinner they love makes it really fun for them, lol.

I'm going to keep it super simple and put up streamers and 3 balloons with curling ribbon hanging from the main light in the dining room. That'll give it sort of a festive atmosphere and yet not tons of decorating like I sometimes am apt to do. For dessert, we're going to have M&M Oat Bars! When I was going through my cookbook this morning to see what to make for dinner, I wanted to make a special dessert and these just popped out at me. So we went to Safeway specifically to get the special ingredients that we don't usually have on hand - caramels, chocolate chips, and EASTER colored M&M's. They'll look so pretty! It was a big of a splurge and cost me about $5. I hesitated to spend that much just on extra ingredients but awwwww they just looked so purdy! I know the kids will LOVE helping me make them and eating them too.

So when I wrote in the title "the first REAL test" then this is what I was talking about. Apparently I'm totally INCAPABLE of being disciplined when it comes to staying away from home baked goodies. But today is my 4th day of being 100% raw! I really want to stay with it so I can see the results in the 12-week period that I have left in this pregnancy.

I've also faithfully doing my workout and going powerwalking too. I am oh-my-goodness sore! I move like an old arthritic woman and actually, these past few days have been rather trying and very tiring. Every step is heavy and effort is required to just pick up one thing ... let alone keeping the house picked up throughout the day! But I know it's always hardest the first week, so next week I'm going to really start enjoying the feeling of working out those same muscles yet again, and feeling stronger and hopefully less sore. Plus, I dropped a pound! Here's my weekly weigh-in:

Pre-pregnancy starting weight: 127
Week 8: 130
Week 9: 130
Week 10: 132
Week 11: 135
Week 12: 136
Week 13: 137
Week 14: 138
Week 15: 140
Week 16: 144 (4-day vacation where I ate SAD the entire time, & gained 4lbs!)
Week 17: 143
Week 18: 145
Week 19: 146
Week 20: 150 (yeah...wayyyy too much chocolate - I hit a Starbucks sale =(
Week 21: 152
Week 26: 153
Week 27: 152

Week 27: Day 2 ~ 12 weeks to go!

I'm SUPER excited & motivated to get into shape! It's totally the weather - it's reminding me of the past TWO summers (one when 2nd-3rd trimester pregnant) where I ate 90% raw vegan, exercised, and felt so awesome! The sunny weather reminds me of how it was natural for me to eat raw vegan, and I'm excited to get back into that, as well as all the other habits I had carved into my life that have now gone to the wayside.

I realized today that I have 12 weeks left exactly! When I first realized that I needed to do something about my weight and I wasn't going to stay the skinny minny that I'd always been growing up (do you ever look back to the premarriage days and think what on EARTH was I thinking that I didn't look good? Goodness!), I found out about and DIVED into Body For Life. This is a 12-week body transformation workout/diet that requires some pretty hardcore working out + extreme cardio workouts that OMG, kick. your. butt. But I loved it and thrived on it, felt SO good even though it was rather brutal. 50 minute workouts! The diet is basically your normal healthy carbs/protein/veggies sort of thing. It worked well for me. This was back when I had James, my 2nd baby. So I had two babies and I somehow managed to lift weights in my garage every day and go running or do the exercise bike for the cardo.

Then, came baby #3. Once again being pregnant gave me "license" to eat everything & anything I wanted, as well as being super sick the first 3 months so I stopped working out & dieting. Period. Gained 50lbs AGAIN - and went back to BFL to get it off after about 3 months PP. It worked, but oh wow was it ever hard that 2nd time! VERY hard. I had 3 children ages 4 & under, and I wasn't losing it as "naturally" as before. But I stuck to it and worked really hard. Darn, I had a picture to show you but now I can't find it anywhere. =(

Anyway, I won't bore you with more details but suffice to say that that the 12 week "challenge" idea/method has always stuck with me. I loved the results I got in 12 weeks when I did the BFL workout - and the things I learned about lifting weights have been invaluable for me as I've incorporated them into my life with 4,5,6, and now almost 7 children. Never have I been able to be as hardcore strict as then, but the foundation was laid and I still love the feeling I get after working out and of course what happens transformation-wise to my 'ol bod when I work at it consistently.

So now that I have 12 weeks left until D-day, I have a goal to reach towards! I'm going to work hard towards that goal. I am going to eat as 100% raw as I possibly can, do my BFL 17 min. revised-to-fit-with-6-children workout every day, 20 min. walk when it fits (3-4x per week), skin brush, get some sun/fresh air when it's nice out, and consume 1 entire bunch of greens per day. I do SO well with goals so I really am excited about this. I know I start & stop over & over & over on this blog, but that is my life, lol. And what is life without hope, anyway? Hope that today is a NEW day and no matter what, I can start over today, here, right now. So far today I have eaten 100% raw (it's 4pm), laid in the sun for 20 min, and worked out biceps/calves for my workout. If DH gets home while it's still light I hope to go for a 20 min. power-walk. Still need to take care of the skin brushing & green smoothie and/or salad.

Another motivator is that our summer conference starts in just 11 weeks, which includes LOTS of pool time and of course all the cute summer clothes. Clothes that, ahem, just don't look quite as good when I'm 50lbs heavier. LOL! So I'm excited to slow wayyyy down on the weight gain, get definition from weight lifting, and just be overall HEALTHY when this baby arrives. I've never religiously worked out when pregnant so I'm excited to see what will happen and how this will affect my last few weeks, delivery, and recovery.

I'm also really motivated to start planning for and psyching myself up for my post-pregnancy workout. I was a bit frustrated after Jack with how slowwwwwly I lost my weight. (It was just 10-15lbs, though, so duh, no wonder!) But I wonder what it'd be like if I incorporated exercise into my PP, instead of *just* eating raw vegan? A huge plus is the fact that with THIS baby, I'm smack in the middle of summer during PP. With the last baby I was in December. Dreary and cold outside with no motivation to go for a walk OR work out in the freezing garage. Plus, LOTS of watermelon this summer which helps with weight loss alot!

Wow, google "summer pregnancy workout" images and it's super inspiring to see all these pregnant and post-partum mamas working out and looking healthy! Here's a fun one:


Here's to new beginnings!! And, PS, new pictures coming soon of this pregnancy at 28 weeks!

Homemade Croutons & Reverse Housekeeping Method

Today I decided to do something different. Instead of making up a list of everything I wanted to get done today, I decided to write down everything I DO get done. Seeing that list of things I HAVE accomplished at the end of the day should be really nice, instead of the usual half-crossed-off list which of course, I'm bummed that I DIDN'T get it all done.

So far I've gotten alot done! Looking back, I'm surprised at everything I did - even though it wasn't "planned". Here's what I accomplished:

Bathed baby (no choice; major blowout!)
Made kids' lunches for school
Swept kitchen, entry, both bathrooms
Cleaned up main living areas
Unloaded dishwasher
Washed 1 load of laundry

On the subject of homemade croutons, tonight we're having chicken chef salad. It'll include salad, shredded chicken, hardboiled eggs, green & red peppers, onions, cheddar cheese, walnuts, kidney beans, and croutons. What I usually do is make up a HUGE salad for DH - layered and all pretty looking; I love making his meals look fit for a king, whatever little touches I can! It's totally fun for me and I know he appreciates it too. I just love cooking dinners for my family! I've been SUPER inspired by "The Family Meal Table" ~ but that's a post for another day. =)

For the children, I will make extras of their favorite toppings, which currently are pretty limited to cheese, lettuce, croutons, and shredded chicken. And they'll be in separate piles on their plates so they have the option to combine or not. Pretty basic "salad", but it works for us! We're also having leftover homemade cornbread w/butter & honey or the strawberry jam I made last week, so that'll even things out a bit.

On the topic of croutons, though, I was just lamenting to myself that they never have coupons for croutons, and thus I always end up paying "just" the sale price which is usually $1.25 or so. Which is really annoying, seeing as I am able to get quite a bit of our food for free or almost free lately. It takes a bit of flexibility to be able to make meals with whatever happens to be so cheap/free, but I love the challenge and it's fun to know that our dinner cost us $.40 a plate, or whatever. But our family could go through an entire bag in one meal, if I let them!

I currently am out of flour, of which there is a good sale on Sunday at Safeway, so I have to wait until then. And of course I'm getting the "itch" to make something yummy for dinner - but most things require flour. (I do have almond flour but I am reserving that for my raw food concoctions!) Add the fact that my children LOVE croutons and we only have a little bit left, I decided to do some investigationg online.

Turns out there are TONS of easy recipes that are raved about - reported to be so delicious and better than store bought that many are vowing to never buy from the store again! How handy is that for this bargain-loving mama?

I found this Garlic Croutons recipe, and am going to make it tonight. We'll see how it goes over with the family - but I am betting they're going to love it since they ALL love garlic bread. (Well, who doesn't??! LOL!)

Then of course I was like um....since I'm eating raw, how can I taste them? That's the only downside of being strictly 100% raw, is that I can't taste any of the food I make. Bummer, huh. But my children love to taste and it's super fun to see them say "YUMMY, MOM!!" when I have them taste whatever it is. (Not all the time, sometimes it's - "YUCK!" but they still have to eat it for dinner!).

So I did a little more research and found some RAW Rosemary Croutons I'm going to make! These take a little more time since they have to "cook" in the dehydrator but I'm excited to make them anyway. Better yet - I have all the ingredients (except leeks but apparently it's OK to omit them). I'll let you know how they turn out!

Week 26: Day 4 ~ Money thoughts

I haven't been feeling very chatty lately, sorry! I'm sure I'll make up for it somewhere down the line. I just wanted to jot down some money thoughts that came to me today. We had a family emergency about 6 months ago and the resulting financial drain is still occuring. Today I got our most recent bill and it is still climbing because we're still using the services of this particular company.

As I looked at that unopened bill, I steeled myself for the shock of the number I was going to see, and when I opened it, it sure was not pretty. In fact, it was way more than I had thought it might be.

But as I could feel the heaviness and despair trying to creep in - I was overwhelmed with such a feeling of triumphant FAITH! It was like I could feel the extra grace being dumped over me at that exact moment. The thought that came to me was - He LOVES to put to shame the wise! He really does, the "wise" that say oh yes, that is going to take you a very very long time to pay off. I don't think you're going to be able to do it very well with so many children.

The thing is, the REALITY is, He owns all the money in the world. If he wanted to, He could easily and quite quickly erase this entire "problem" and make it go away. I don't know what we're going to do with all the bills that seem to be accumulating right now for our family (new vehicle, new baby, dentist, family emergency) but I do know that God knows.

He sees us! He sees us, struggling to get out of debt with every penny that we can possibly muster, yet at the same time willing to give out of what we have. He sees us tempted to be in despair yet NOT GIVING IN to those thoughts! And this is the verse that was read on Sunday at church when they asked everyone to consider giving an extra $100 a month to help the church get out of debt:

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10

I am just so excited to TRY Him and watch Him prove that He can and will pour out the blessings on us - so much more than we could even think, that we won't have room to receive it! I am gripped of this and will be strong on the wall so that the enemy doesn't come to steal and destry this faith that I have.

I also thought about this family emergency that has and is still causing us to spiral back into the hole of debt - and I thought: I wouldn't trade that experience for ANYTHING. It was difficult and emotional and hard to go through but I know for a fact that I am a different, stronger person because of it. God works in mysterious ways and I am thankful beyond words for this particular trial.

A real quick sidenote: At 26 weeks, I weigh 153. Wow, looking back to my post of 5 weeks ago I've only gained 1lb - hurray! I'm holding steady around that 152-153 mark which is great - eating as raw as I can! Yesterday & today were both 100% raw so I feel really good about that. I've been buying alot of strawberries; they're starting to come into season in the stores around here with great prices! Still can't wait for watermelons, though. =)

Pre-pregnancy starting weight: 127
Week 8: 130
Week 9: 130
Week 10: 132
Week 11: 135
Week 12: 136
Week 13: 137
Week 14: 138
Week 15: 140
Week 16: 144 (4-day vacation where I ate SAD the entire time, & gained 4lbs!)
Week 17: 143
Week 18: 145
Week 19: 146
Week 20: 150 (yeah...wayyyy too much chocolate - I hit a Starbucks sale =(
Week 21: 152
Week 26: 153