homeschooling, eating right & a brighter view!

the sun came out for a little visit today!  long enough that i am tricked into thinking i can take on the world again!  look out world here i come!  so here is just a little sampling of what i've been pondering...

1.  homeschooling? 

two of my children, the boys, are struggling to stay afloat in school.  this year was absolutely set up for success if we could attain it because we got recommendations and have the best teachers around.  in addition, they are both getting extra help now. 
with all this in mind, and the time we spend in the evenings they are still not excelling or even achieving what is required at grade level... this really has me thinking, i could probably do better for them myself.  if we focused each day on what they really need and they had most of my attention wouldn't that be better for them than getting 1/24th of one teacher?  there is much to consider in this idea.  i will post more as i figure it out!

2.  eating right

this last weekend i started to feel ready. 

ready for what? 

to start really watching what i eat and making sure the content and the portions are just right.  i could stand to lose some "i have had four babies weight." (and the excuse!)  especially in the middle! 

the plan? 

to eat less than 1500 calories a day (as close to 1050 as i can get) and really balance it with variety.  it's funny because i have already done a couple days and i realize that there are still plenty of foods i can enjoy with this in mind, the trick for me is to pay attention!

here is a sample of what i ate yesterday:

2 americanos with Coffee Mate Lite creamer (liquid)
Beef taco with cheese and lettuce (2)
Raw tomatoes
 1/2 Grilled cheese sandwich

Deli ham (regular)

Peas and carrots fresh
1% milk (low fat 1/2 cup
Granola bar

Wheat cracker (8)

Orange (raw)

Tea (unsweetened)

this equaled a little over a thousand calories, but today i used even more natural fresh ingredients because i was home and able to cook more (yesterday was my volunteer day and also two basketball games so it was eat fast time)

also, mypyramid.gov has a menu planner with calories to help you figure out what each food is, that is a helpful trick to know if i'm on track or not! 

3.  a brighter view!

literally! 
i hired a professional window cleaner who came on monday to wash all the winter and fall grime away!  our windows haven't been cleaned on the outside for several years!!!  they were so hard to look through i was going crazy! 
what a winter pick me up!  i know most people wait until spring but i couldn't wait another day!  i gotta say i highly recommend this to wash the winter blah's away!

well that's about it! i hope this little glimpse into my thoughts could maybe have inspired someone else too! 

blessings,

olivia