I've MOVED!!!

After a year of blogging...I've decided I need a little more direction and organization (imagine that) ... with the help of some friends I've created a new bloggy space. Without fail, I'm having technical issues redirecting the feed ... so bear with us. Click on over to SUPER JENN and you can read all of my most recent posts there!!! Bookmark and check back daily...lots of new fun things to read... as well as ALL of the oldies but goodies...I've taken them all with me!

Thanks so much for reading!!!

Fitness Friday/Maternity Mommies Husband of the Year

We've talked over and over again at Wii Mommies about how support is an imparitive part of your fitness and weight loss success. If you don't have that, you are in for an uphill struggle the entire way. This is the reason that Sarah, Julie and I created the Wii Mommies...to help support you... and to get support for ourselves.

It goes a little bit further than that, however. Its really important to have support at home, as well. Often our spouses, our children...don't understand and make it more difficult for us to accomplish our goals. This is the way it is at my house. While my husband loves and supports me...he doesn't have the same drive that I do for weight loss...and can/will only follow a plan if I lay it out in pieces for him. This is really frustrating for me.

Struggling as I have been the last few months to keep my pregnancy weight gain to a minimum...I don't feel successful, I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything...and I'm VERY anxious about meeting so many of you in just THREE weeks at BlogHer. What will you think? This very round Wii Mommy...

So today, on his day off...my husband and I packed up the kids bright and early...and we took them to his brother's house. His brother and my pregnant sister in law took on our two kids along with their own toddler so that we could go shopping, uniterrupted.

Then my husband proceeded to spend over 2 hours in Motherhood Maternity with me... pulling out every single thing he could find that "might" work...and many that he just hoped would appease me... listening to my snide comments...stepping back when I hormonally snapped at him because only *I* can make those jokes...and holding my hand when I was on the verge of tears.

And do you know...that through all of this he maintained composure...showing a strength of character and strong will that I didn't know existed. I put this man through the RINGER...as I am NOT in the proper state of mind to be shopping.

Then to follow it up....he took me to a tanning salon that does spray on tanning...(he has been on my case about being pasty...see more about THAT on Tuesday)...and sat in the car for half an hour while I got it all figured out. And he only referred to me as "Ross" once. He just couldn't resist.

My point in telling you all of this...is to remind you again of how important it is to continue to support each other. Eric being with me today didn't make me any thinner, didn't make me any more comfortable in my current body...but it did make me feel like I could get through it... like there was a light at the end of this pregnancy...and that, my friends, makes all the difference in the world.

Need some support of your own? Want to read some stellar inspirational stories of fitness and weight loss? Visit the Wii Mommies and read other Fitness Friday posts...then hop on over and join our forum...you just never know what you will find there.

Lawrence Walking School Bus: Volunteer Help Needed

In accordance with my new outlook on blogging..I've set aside Thursdays to accept posts from groups and organizations in my community that want a little more exposure...another venue to spread the word about their cause or events.

if you are in the Lawrence/Topeka area and would like to submit an article please feel free to Email Me.

This week, my new friend I found on Twitter, Amerika Grewell is writing about the need for organization of a Lawrence Walking School Bus.

In late May the Lawrence school board eliminated bus routes for most students living less than 2.5 miles from their schools. Previously students within a 2.5 mile radius of their school were eligible to "pay to ride" their school bus.

Parents have been encouraged by the school district to pursue alternate modes of transportation to their schools, including walking school buses, bicycle trains, and car pools. At this time there are no formal walking school bus or bicycle train routes in Lawrence, but grass roots attempts are underway to create them.

At its heart, a walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. That may sound simple, and that is part of the appeal. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school or as structured as a planned route with meeting points, a timetable and a schedule of trained volunteers.

A variation on the walking school bus is a bicycle train where a group of children and adult leaders ride together to school.

I am looking for parents and community volunteers who are interested in helping to get a Lawrence walking school bus in motion.

***Upcoming opportunities to get involved include***
- Answering questions at the Lawrence Walking School Bus info table at the Red Dog World Record Workout on Wednesday, July 8 either before or after the workout

- Volunteer Coordinator Training, July 7, KCMO, carpool available

- "Driver" training, July 8, Kansas City, MO, carpool available

Anyone attending either training will receive free tickets to the Walk To School Night at the August 9 T-Bones game.

Bridging the Gap will also be holding a community meeting in Lawrence in mid July. Bridging the Gap will also provide a free day long volunteer training at a later date when at least five people are committed to the training.

I encourage you to contact your school's principal and PTO president for more information about your school's participation in this. You are also welcome to email me at amerikag@gmail.com. You can follow our progress towards a walking bus at http://www.twitter.com/amerikag

Useful websites:
http://www.walkingschoolbus.org/
http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/guide/walking_school_bus/index.cfm
http://www.pednet.org/programs/
http://www.kchealthykids.org/Initiative-Walking-School-Bus/Index.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/resources.htm#guide

Wordless Wednesday: 3 Years Ago

We were married 4 years ago last Wednesday...our Wedding was 3 years ago last Wednesday...and last Friday I finally got around to getting our Wedding Photos...so its kind of exciting to look at them...please excuse the..um..several... that I'm sharing.

Wii Eat Healthy Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal

One of the new features I am going to give a run is a piece called "Wii Eat Healthy"...as a Wii Mommy I of course want to get fit and be healthy...with a pregnancy that is a pain in my uterus...the exercise portion of my life is slowing down, drastically. I've decided to turn lemons into lemonade and focus my energy on eating more healthfully....and, of course, frugally!

I'm going to use this opportunity to share with you some healthy recipes, some great ways to save money on healthy food, and how to bring more healthy into your kitchen. Over the next four months I will rotate Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks each week...hopefully passing on some great ideas!

This week I'm going to share a breakfast dish I discovered about a month ago on The Thrifty Mama. This recipe for baked oatmeal can be found originally at $5 Dinners. It is quick, healthy, and inexpensive...and everyone in my family loves it!


This recipe is so flexible, you can add whatever fruit you want and it will be fantastic. We used blueberries this time and served it with vanilla yogurt.


My husband topped his off with some crushed strawberries that I was preparing to make jam with and thought that was pretty tasty.

The original recipe can be found at $5 Dinners it is super simple, just oats, eggs, sugar, applesauce and fruit..a little baking soda and some salt.... The Thrifty Mama suggests that you can substitute yogurt for applesauce in the recipe...I've tried it both ways and we liked it better when we baked it with applesauce. We've also cut the recipe in half and found that is a better meal size for our family of four. We just baked it in an 8 x 8 glass pan.

I entered this recipe into the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder...half of a recipe with a full cup of blueberries and 1% milk and got 3 points per serving for six servings in an 8 x8 pan. Add to this whatever topping you choose to use...it still makes for a very healthy, filling, low points breakfast!

The most expensive part of this meal for us what the blueberries which cost about $2.50 for a bag of frozen... you could use whatever fruit you have on hand...apples, strawberries, raisins... if it is in season it will be even LESS expensive.

This is a big hit in our family...I hope it is in yours!

Random Tuesday Thoughts: Television Personalities

For quite some time now I've been struggling with my feelings about a certain handyman in our life....Handy Manny, to be exact.

My kids love this show...they watch it almost daily (yeah, that's right...daily). It is a good show, well written, teaches values, blah blah blah.

All I can think of when I watch this show...is that those tools are really creepy...and wouldn't it be funny if they were distinct splits in this crazy man's personality? Like..maybe this weirdo guy walks all around SheetRock Hills pretending to fix stuff...and everyone is really nice to him and talks to his "Tools" ... its really him breaking stuff instead of his clumsy tools and everyone is just afraid to set him off.

I'm really kind of obsessed with this notion. I can't watch the show without thinking of the alternate universe possibility.

I also spend some time watching soap operas that I DVR... and I'm extremely irritated as of late with the "moms" on the show who go stroller walking together...and as they walk off down the street in their fancy clothes they have these high heels on... as if.

My husband says I get way to wrapped up in television..he says "THIS is what you think of when you watch this?" Yeah, it really is.

It occurs to me that with the impending arrival of our third baby...there is another stark reality... I'm pretty sure this time no one is coming. Like...I was thinking today how when I was pregnant with Lilli and Brendan was 18mo crying my eyes out because I was overwhelmed (really? with one kid?)...and my mom coming up to help me out for the day. I'm very aware that this time around there is no one coming to my rescue. My sister is pregnant with her first...and my SIL is pregnant with their second...I'm having to admit to myself that third is nothin' but old hat. *sigh*

Amazingly enough, I have no peni update this week. He has managed to "keep it in his pants" so to speak...now dad...that's another story....I'll keep it to myself.

For some truly fabulous Random Tuesday Thoughts...head on over and visit SuperKeely at The UnMom. She is cool.

Notebook Experiments: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bowl Sundae

Amy at MomAdvice puts together a notebook entry every Wednesday with fabulous ideas for activities, crafts and recipes you can do with your family...great ideas that she has rounded up around the blogosphere. She invites anyone who wants to try one of the projects out to blog it and link up on Thursday when she posts her own experiment.

I used to do this quite regularly... I enjoyed it so much and found it was a great way to inspire me with new ideas of activities to do with Brendan ... I'm not sure why I drifted. With my new plan for blogging in place, I have scheduled this activity for me...and my family. A weekly Notebook Experiment. I hope you enjoy it...I hope you check out MomAdvice and see how absolutely wonderful her site is....and maybe you will join the Notebook Experiments, too!

This week I chose to try out The Chocolate Chip Cookie Bowl Sundae from Michael Ruhlman's blog. His son James inspired him to make these awesome ice cream bowls...and my son thanks him, profusely. This idea was posted in the June 24th edition of Amy's Notebook.

The idea is simple enough...make cookie dough....mold into cups and bake. I do have fairly decent skills in the kitchen...but I had a little more trouble with this than I anticipated...in fact I don't think we are quite done experimenting.

Michael Ruhlman gives an adapted cookie recipe that makes for a slightly lighter, crispier cookie...which should hold up well for the bowls. I say "should".

We followed the recipe...

We thoroughly enjoyed the cookie dough...

I think the problem came when I loaded up the bowls...

The directions call for two different sizes of bowls..one slightly bigger than the other. We didn't have this...all of our little bowls are the same size...so we forged ahead that way. We made one at a time so that we could learn from our mistakes without wasting all of the dough. Here is a Twitpic of Michael and James' original crafting of the bowl.

Round 1: We put the cookie dough in the cup and squished the other down on top of it. The dough barely moved up the sides of the bowl...so I decided we needed more dough. Took the top bowl up...added more dough and re-squished. Stuck it in the oven, re-read the directions and noticed it said "Until dough begins to creep up the side of the bowl...rising will take care of the rest"...oops. As you can guess....between pulling the bowl out after the first squish...and adding too much dough...this bowl was a flop. (In shape only, hubby devoured it.)

Round 2: Added only 1/3 c. dough as prescribed. Very carefully centered the top bowl and squished it down...then placed it in the oven. This one also failed. It was still way too thin on one side and when I removed the top bowl most of the top part of the cookie bowl came with it on one side. Again, that didn't prevent it from being eaten. :)

Round 3: Looked for something else to do the initial squish...wanted to thin out the bottom of the cookie bowl a little more and give us more dough to work with on the sides. Used a drinking glass to pre-squish...the centered the top bowl and gave it a good push. This version seemed to be doing much better...but at the end of the first cooking round was again much larger on one side.

I'm told my husband that I think perhaps our oven is slanted.

Round 4: Proceeded as in Round 3, but half way through first baking time turned the bowl 90 degrees in case my oven is, indeed, slanted. This worked a little better.

That is all I've gotten done so far. We had a fair amount of trouble getting the cookie bowls out of the glass bowls...but I attribute that to the top sides being so thin. In the comments on Michael's original post I saw suggestions to bake the cookie then mold it over a muffin tin when you pull it out of the oven. I may give this version a spin next.

So why am I blogging my failed experiment? Because I believe that when the smile is this big....

You haven't failed.

I'm going to keep trying at these. I see this as an awesome make ahead dessert for playdates or birthday parties. You can make up the bowls and fill them with ice cream...stick the whole thing in the freezer and pull it out when you are ready for them... you could serve them as is...with chocolate syrup...or make it into a sundae bar (be sure you are sending kids directly home afterwards if you plan to do this! LOL!)

Ice Cream Just Right for Wii Mommies

Right now Target has some sweet deals on Ice Cream...Edy's Slow Churned, to be exact. This is the perfect summer treat for this Wii Mommy ... so I thought I'd share it with you! How can ice cream be good for someone like myself struggling with their weight? Easily!

First of all...if you deprive yourself of the things that you love while you are trying to get fit or loose weight, you will be fighting a losing battle. The best thing you can do for yourself is to allow yourself the occasional treat... and practice portion control.

The Edy's ice cream come in individual sized cartons. You can enjoy a cool summer treat without over indulging. What could be better??

How about the fact that these little gems are nearly FREE? At my Target, single serving containers of Edy's Ice Cream are priced at $1.19 each. Target has a printable coupon available for $1/1 Edy's Ice Cream that does not specify a size...making these $0.19 each!

Enjoy!

Take a Look at What Coupons Can Do

My friend Tricia at Gardner's Have the Best Dirt set out on a mission this week...to only purchase items that were $0.99 or less after coupons....and she JUST about did it!! Last week she stocked up really well (saving TONS of money, I might add) and was able to do her deal shopping this week!

Tricia (@trica on Twitter) jumped on the coupon wagon only a few short weeks ago and she is already doing a GREAT JOB! It just takes a little concentration to make it work for you, too!

Check out Tricia's post on what deals she got and what coupons she used...then make it work for you!