Mommy of Many®

I can’t remember a time when I simply put up a link to another person’s blog as my post, but this one is TOTALLY worth sharing! I think you’ll agree.

Stark. Raving. Mad. Mommy.-Top 10 reasons basic training prepared me for motherhood

Doing the Dance of the Children and Wondering if I Should have Enlisted~

The last few days have been packed with good stuff!

Last night I was planning to meet up with some friends for a little bday celebration at my FAVORITE local restaurante-Costa Brava, but I hadn’t really taken note of who was going to be where, when and discovered that I didn’t have anyone home with the 2 youngest. So…I canceled my plans, but managed to squeeze in an hour with my sister before I was on duty again. There’s always a little time for a little sangria…right?!

And as luck would have it, Chuao Chocolatier, my favorite, local chocolatier was celebrating ITS birthday by giving away scoops of its yummy gelato! So, today, I loaded the 4 youngest kiddos up and we headed over to help in the celebrating.

Two great days!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Enjoying San Diego~

I had a pound of ground beef and 1/2 a bag of spinach that needed to be used. Here’s what I did-

Heat oven to 350

1 lb ground beef
1/2 bag spinach
1/2 a medium onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
2 cans chopped tomatoes (drained)
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (amount to your taste)
Shredded parmesan (amount to your taste)

2 Tbls honey

Italian spices (to taste)

1 pkg pasta (I used veggie rotini)

Boil pasta according to pkg directions. Set aside
Put a little olive oil in pan and cook onion and garlic till tender
Add ground beef or turkey and cook until done
Add spinach. Cook until tender
Add both cans of tomatoes. Heat through.
Season with italian spices and honey

Put the pasta into an 9×13 baking dish

Add the meat and spinach mixture

Mix the parmesan cheese through

Top with cheddar

Bake for 25 minutes

Yum!

Enjoy~

2 weeks ago my second session of Kraze Boot Camps ended. In that time, my 3 high school age girls started back to school and my morning schedule no longer allowed for me to make it to the classes. The days have been filled with running back and forth to the school, entertaining the 4 younger kiddos, (who are still on summer break) getting all the school shopping done for those 4 and trying to get this house in order in preparation for me to start back to work on Tuesday. This means I’ve worked out exactly twice in those 2 weeks. Ugh! Have I ever felt the difference! My energy is down and my fuse is short.

Being able to see the drastic difference in how I feel has made me commit to getting to the gym, each day when I get off work and before I have to pick all the kiddos up from school. I’m honestly shocked at the difference those daily work outs were making in my attitude and my energy. But tomorrow I don’t have to go to the gym and put any sort of work out together for myself because Boot Camp is not taking the day off and no school means I can get myself over to the 6 am class and start the day and week off right!

I’m ridiculously excited!

Let’s see how taking 2 weeks off actually feels once I’m there. Yikes!

Here’s to starting Monday off right!

“No candles? But don’t those cost, like, 2 bucks?” Yeah, well so does a loaf of bread. Guess where my last $2 went.

Ah, the budget. Forever in the forefront of my mind. Always being reworked, borrowed from, stretched and sometimes broken.

Back to school and Christmas are the hardest times on the ol’ budget and I’m neck-deep in back to school prep right now. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still very real things that need to be celebrated and done, like birthdays. 2 days ago, we had just such an event. When the budget for the 15th was written, I requested an extra $100 for the upcoming bday. My request was fulfilled. However, I had NOT accounted for some uniform items that the girls starting their Frosh year needed. So, the bday $ went to buy 2 new, white, button-down shirts and 2 pair of black flats for Dress Day Uniform requirements. *Think, think, think* What was I gonna do about the bday? I kept being asked for a Birthday Party. My blanket answer was, “well, that’ll be a tough one, but let’s talk about it”.  And talk we did. He asked if he could, “please, please, please have friends down to the beach for a beach day”. Hmmm…the beach is free. I can do that! But what to do about the food and favors? *think, think, think*. Well, we’ll forget “favors” altogether. If they really need something to take home, they can roam the beach for shells, right? Which by-the-way, 10 & 11 yr old boys really don’t care about. Now food-*think, think, think*. Well, I earned $27 from a book I sold on Amazon.com. So, $20 for a cake at Costco and $7 for a 40-pack of CapriSun juice pouches. I’m GOLDEN! I knew I had a huge bag of carrots, and plenty of celery and peppers to cut up and ranch dressing in the fridge (had to attempt to add something healthy to the mix) and there was plenty of PB&J and bread. Another mom donated bags of popcorn and pudding cups.

And we had ourselves a party!

Now, the agreement was that if I did give him a party, that would be his present. Since I got off so inexpensively I told him I’d take him to ToysRUs to spend a gift card he received and if he needs a little help with whatever item he chooses, I’ll pitch in…but not until after payday.

I’m proud of our $27 party!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Staying on this Tightrope of a Budget~

Yesterday marked the beginning of Arianna and Maddi’s High School careers and the first day of Mariah’s Senior year. I liked listening to them get ready and offer each other make-up, hair and uniform tips.

Everyone was dressed and loaded into the van to get them to school. It meant starting the day earlier than what the little kids have gotten used to over their summer break, but it’s good to get the schedule broken into. We have 2 more weeks of summer vacation for the 4 youngest kiddos and before I go back to work. So once we were back from the school, we got to decide what to do with our day.

We chose the beach!

So, onto Day 2 of the school routine. It’s 5:30 am, the lunches are packed, 2 of the 3 morning showers have been taken, the coffee is being enjoyed, bagels are waiting to be handed to the lil kiddos when they get into the van, and it’s time for M.O.M. to get put together for this day.

I think the lil kiddos and I will check out what’s happening at Balboa Park today. Do all you locals know about Free Tuesday’s at Balboa Park? Each Tuesday a different grouping of museums offers free admission. Maybe we’ll see you there.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Keep up with the Rhythm~

Here it is, the last day of Kraze Boot Camps class for M.O.M. This is the last day of the session, then it’s a week off and when the new camp starts up, I’ll be knee-deep in back to school schedules. This means no more 6 am classes for me.

I feel mixed emotions! I’m SO excited and proud that I did it! I DID it! I stopped making excuses and left some old, bad habits behind. I gained so much from these 8 weeks of classes. Seriously, I’m totally surprised! I gained confidence, better eating knowledge, lost weight/inches and showed my kiddos that it’s important to take care of our bodies. But I’m also feeling scared that I’ll lose my motivation! It’s now up to me to keep going. I have to go find a time that’s going to fit into my back to school/work schedule and commit myself to a daily workout that’s challenging and keep myself at it. I knew that going to Kraze Boot Camps was a good fit for me because of the daily motivation of a group. I feel like a baby bird that’s being pushed from the nest. I have to decide to fly!

I want to say thank you to Aaron Escobedo, for putting together such a great program with awesome people! Your dedication to your people is great and we all feel it! You let us know that we are part of something that you care about and not just a nameless body showing up to your classes. You keep the classes moving quickly and you mix it up EVERY day! I was NEVER bored with the routine, was ALWAYS challenged and learned to let go of not knowing what was coming. In the end I have to say that it was better to not know because I couldn’t dread, I could just move to the next thing. Thanks to your insistence that we could all do it, I have gained more stamina and a greater confidence for what my body can do. I no longer feel like the number of children I’ve given birth to has anything at all to do with where my fitness ability should or can be. Thank you!

So, to sum it up, in 8 weeks I’ve lost about 8 lbs, 2 1/2 inches from my chest/back, 3 inches from my waist and 3 inches from my hips. Not bad! I can run…well it really doesn’t matter how far I can run, the fact is that I can ACTUALLY run. This in and of itself is a feat! I can tackle a great number of stairs, remembered that I know how to jump rope, can do lunges and squats in a great variety of ways, found out that there are still muscles in my abs and core and no longer have to tie a sweatshirt around my waist if doing jumping jacks (this took a little knowledge of when and how much to drink and a quick trip to the bathroom before each morning’s workout ). Yea!

I may not be able join the next session, but YOU CAN! New locations are being opened up and you can take advantage of some great discounts. Message Aaron, let him know you want to get out there to give a class a try and tell him I sent you! All you have to lose is your fear, bad habits and extra weight!

A big thank you to everyone who followed along through this journey and encouraged me in so many ways! Don’t leave! I’m gonna need your encouragement through my next journey!

Somedays I feel so overwhelmed that I can’t move past the mountainous list of To-Do’s. Now that sports have started and the 3 girls are gearing up for school, there’s a constant flow to my inbox and I simply can’t keep up with the little kiddos, who are still enjoying summer vacation and the bigger kiddos whose heads are in school mode and keep handing me papers to sign and lists of needs/wants/must-haves. I end up feeling like I’m in a dark tunnel with nothing to look at or think about except the next “must do” task. AND I’m trying to do it all on a teeny-tiny-super tight budget. ~breathe~

To keep sane and somewhat on-budget today, I loaded up the 4 lil kiddos when I had to take Arianna to her tennis practice at the school, which is 15 miles away. I decided that to save gas, we would stay by the school and explore the parks available to us there. So I packed snacks and off we went. We had a little more than 2 hours to kill and ended up visiting 2 parks. One without a bathroom and one with (note to all city park planners-BUILD BATHROOMS in ALL parks!).

I also used my free drink that I’d earned at Chauo Chocolatier, that just happens to be in that area. I don’t know about you, but I try to keep *free* coupons and earned items on hand for when the budget has been emptied out. This way I always have little perks to look forward to, even when I’m out of cash. Do you guys do that too? Come on, we all belong to groups and clubs that keep us earning free items. Do you save them up for the lean times?

So there I was, sipping my spicy, mayan mocha, in a beautiful park, watching my kids run around, play games and enjoy the summer day and I realized I needed to count the good things that were going on instead of mope around about my overwhelming schedule, looming to-do list and dwindling budget. Come on! I live in a fabulous place, my kids are in great schools, I had a free drink in my hand and the gorgeous park was open to my kiddos. ~sigh~ All good! I closed my eyes, said a silent, “thank you” and soaked up a little sun.

Yep, I’m back at home, where the ever-present work is waiting, but it’s ok. I can’t change the demands of this life, but I CAN try to change the focus.

Boy do I ever do a lot of self-talk. Gets me through though. Share your tips and tricks for remembering to count your blessings and face the sun.

Doing the Dance of the Children~

Today’s lesson-
Sometimes life gets in the way of your best intentions and well-laid plans.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make this morning’s 6am Kraze Boot Camps class, so I had let Aaron know I’d be trying out the evening class. By 1pm, everything had changed. Mariah got called into work and Arianna needed a ride home from tryouts. So, M.O.M. had to put my plans on hold and make sure that everyone got to and from where they needed.

But the lesson in it is to not get discouraged and to start right back into it again tomorrow. Starting this program meant breaking old habits and starting new/healthier ones and in the past, if I got out of a routine, it was always hard for me to jump back into it. I’d feel like I might as well expect for things to come up and just not plan time for myself. So, in keeping with my better/healthier attitude, I need to wake up tomorrow morning and jump right back in.

Tomorrow, I do believe it’s abs/core & cardio. Gettin’ ready!

It’s the last week of this session and the thing I was most looking forward to today was FINALLY trying out my post workout shake! I went to the Kraze Boot Camps/GNC Happy Hour event on Friday and finally found out exactly what I needed AND got a great discount on it! If you missed out on this great event, there’s another Happy Hour tomorrow evening.

Today was a total body work out, complete with running zig zags up and down the Convention Center back stairs, jumping rope (hey Dawn-I counted my jumps, but I really didn’t get very far before having to start over again. I can’t jump like I could when I was 8!), an obstacle course, lunges, push-ups, burpies, inch worms (Yea for me, I can actually do these now!) and several other exercises that I either don’t remember or have blocked out

I’m actually really excited for this week to be over because I want to be remeasured. Yep! I WANT to be remeasured! Can’t wait! But even with my enthusiasm to see what my results are, I had a tough time getting out the door this morn. I sure had a million excuses for why I couldn’t possibly go. I bickered with myself over each excuse and found a solution for each “reason”. I hope I don’t have to fight with myself tomorrow!

Whoo hoo! Session 2 is almost done. I’m feeling proud!

Remember last week, when I asked about anyone who had a child with a friend that blames your child for the bad behavior that the other child is actually responsible for? Well THIS week I ask you to share your experiences of YOUR child allowing their friend to take the blame for the bad behavior that your child is actually responsible for. And how was it handled when you found out?

Doing the Dance of the Children, one day at a time~

Today marked the end of week 3. I’m super excited about the end of this week because it means that tomorrow is the special event at GNC for all Kraze Boot Camp-ers and those who are thinking of becoming Kraze Boot Camp-ers. I’m finally going to get the RIGHT protein powder so that I can start making those post-work out shakes! And the BEST part is that I’ll be getting a great discount on it!

If you want to find out what products to use and how to use them or if you already have a favorite product, come out tomorrow from 10-12, do a little sampling, meet other Boot Campers and let the GNC staff know you’re part of Kraze Boot Camps (even if you’re thinking about trying a class out) to get in on this great deal!

I’m going to repost Aaron‘s invite so that you can have all the correct info!

Time
Tomorrow · 10:00am – 12:00pm
Location GNC in Hillcrest,
658 University Ave SD, CA 92103
San Diego, CA

“I am PROUD to announce that KRAZE Boot Camps has officially partnered up with 7, GNC (General Nutrition Center) stores throughout San Diego!

That being said, we will be having our FIRST, promotional event with the store off of University Ave, THIS Saturday, August 14th, from 10am-12pm, IMMEDIATELY following Beach Boot Camp!!!

Please come and support your BOOTCAMP Program, and stop by for some FREE samples of products, and the opportunity to LEARN about the benefits of proper supplementation! TAKE ADVANTAGE!!!”

So, there you have it! Come on out! Hope to see you there!

Yesterday afternoon we packed up and headed over to the New Children’s Museum. We decided to take advantage of the Target Free Second Sundays.  Every second Sunday is sponsored by Target and admission is free.  What a great place!  7 of the kids came along, ages 4 yrs.-16 yrs. and everyone had a great time.  There was truly something for everyone to enjoy!

Max had fun trying on silly appendages.

Luke-Xavier tried riding the chariots (he had more success going backward than forward!)

Tristan making a clay creation

Mariah and Maddi didn’t hesitate to get into the paint.

After we’d spent awhile exploring the museum, we decided to go across the parking lot to the playground.

Gabi trying out the climber.

Mariah, Maddi and Gabi used team work to have fun on these pieces of equipment.

Even I got into the fun. Mariah and I had fun trying this one out. It’s not often M.O.M. gets to play too!

It was a beautiful San Diego, summer’s day and thanks to Target and their dedication to supporting the arts and to the New Children’s Museum and all the wonderful things they have to do and explore, we had a great afternoon! If you haven’t had the chance to explore the museum yet take a few hours and go have some creative fun! If you’re on the lookout for inexpensive or free family fun, head over there on the Second Sunday of the month!

Doing the Dance of the Children and trying to keep summertime affordable~

Over the last couple of days I’ve had 2 questions on my mind. I’m hoping to hear what your experiences have been (if any) with either or both of these-

1) has a child of yours ever had a friend who repeatedly blamed them for things they didn’t do?

2) Have you ever been at a playground (or in a shared playing experience) and had and unpleasant parent ruin the experience to the point that you felt that it was time to leave?

I can’t wait to hear how you’ve dealt with these things.

Doing the Dance of the Children and always looking for the best Dance steps~

Today was full of writing, but I realized that none of it actually covered the busyness that’s happening within these walls.

All this week we are making sure to have “spread out” dinners, which means that everyone is sitting together and eating together while all the food is “spread out” on the table. The extra effort to get everyone together is because it’s nearing the end of the summer, Kateri is leaving for school in a week and a half and she has a visitor for the next week. This has sparked us to open the door, set the table and have meals for 12-14 people each night. Unfortunately JJ isn’t here to enjoy them with us. He left for France, yesterday morning. He’ll be working for a family for the next 3 weeks and then traveling to Portugal to visit with my sister. There’s a possibility that he’ll be able to visit Italy and/or Germany, as well.

On top of the full dinner table, we are having to prepare for Mariah to get her license, everyone to go back to school and 2 other big changes that I haven’t discussed yet, but that you’ll here about soon.

Gosh I’m tired! There is WAY too much going on and WAY too much to think about!

But for tonight I’m going to sign off, go pick Mariah up from work and get some rest. That alarm rings pretty early each day so that I can try to stay healthy and energetic enough to keep it all happenin’.

Doing the Dance of the Children~