Tuesday, October 12, 2010

things & stuff (cause i couldn't come up with a better title)



my dad drove down from canada and visited us for 5 days before driving back home yesterday morning. he's never come down on his own before (its always been him and my mom), so he got to experience the love and devotion of my 2 boys in concentrated form. samuel was his shadow the entire time...anytime grandad would sit down, samuel would stand there in front of him with his hands clasped to his chest, just waiting to be invited onto grandad's lap. (and of course he was always invited onto grandad's lap, irresistable as he is). tristan was keen on helping grandad with stuff, like fixing the door to our shed and patching up the hole in the wheel of my double stroller. tristan even brought out his pretend tool kit to help out and i have a feeling he was more of a hindrance than a help, but of course grandad never let him know it.

the day my dad left also happened to be the day that thanksgiving is celebrated in canada. i had grand plans of cooking a turkey breast and making mashed potatoes and all that stuff, but the day was pretty hot and i didn't feel like turning the oven on, so i half heartedly took some ground turkey out of the freezer instead, not even knowing what i was going to make with it. when josh got home from work, he announced that he was going to fix the whole "what to make for canadian thanksgiving dinner" problem by picking up some carne asada burritos which really did the trick. in fact, i'm thinking that perhaps we should start a tradition.



i am extremely pleased that the mums i planted back in summer are actually going to bloom again and in FALL nonetheless!! the little buds were just starting to show bits of yellow this morning when i took the picture (pardon the dandelion weed in the foreground; normally those sorts of things don't dare to grow near my flowers, but we've had a bit of rain and things just got out of control). after 6 years of living here, i've finally come to the correct conclusion that it really doesn't matter when you plant things around here. forget planting bulbs in fall....they'll just pop up a month or two later. instead, plant them in february so that they'll be up in april like they're supposed to do. and seeding flowers in spring is not really necessary. i've been allowing some of my blooms to go to seed instead of dead-heading them all and once the seeds are ready, i just plant them right away and, voila! brand new flowers at any month of the year. when i take care of them right, my flower gardens last year after year instead of dying every winter like they do back home. of course, they're never as lush as my mom's rain-blessed flowers, but that's okay.

tristan had his 3 year old physical yesterday (only 9 months late) and not only is he still in the 100th percentile for both his height and weight, but his eyes tested as 20/20 and his hearing is apparently perfect. which i'm a little relieved about since he has been asking "what?" A LOT lately and i was beginning to get a little worried that he wasn't hearing us well. apparently its his listening skills, not his hearing that needs to be improved upon. his latest thing is building forts and hideouts out of blankets, cushions, or even in the hall closet. he's also had the strangest obsession with pants, often bursting into tears if i tell him he has to wear shorts today since it is so warm out. his first question for me every morning is, "mom, can i wear pants and a pants-shirt today?" (pants-shirt is what he calls a long-sleeved shirt) and i know that he will crumble into despair if i say "no." its really quite exasperating.

samuel is our little explorer. his independence knows no bounds....he would wander off and get himself completely lost and not care one bit about it if we let him. our backyard is fenced, so we allow him to go in and out as he chooses and this makes him completely and utterly happy. one of us still has to keep an eye on him, though since he will often come in chewing away on a mouthful of dirt. he is one tough cookie, scraping his knees from falls and not shedding a single tear, or getting bullied by his older brother and just calmly walking away. he is getting all 4 of his eye teeth in at the same time, so nights have been wretched again, but after these 4 he's done with his teeth until its time for the 2 year old molars. he is also, as of a week ago, completely weaned now. he had held onto that just before bedtime feed for a long time and when it became apparent that he was no longer terribly interested, i just let it go and he didn't even seem to notice. i only breastfed tristan until he was 12 months old, so 16 months in my books was a long time! as much as i enjoyed it, there is something nice about having my entire body back to myself again.

i'm climbing aboard the weight loss train once again after a 5 month plateau. this time i refuse to diet. instead i'm slowly educating myself and changing the way that i eat one food at a time. i'm going about it slowly because i want to be able to enjoy the way i eat and make it a lifestyle change instead of a quick-fix. i've tried lots of new recipes and i'm constantly tweaking my old stand-by recipes to make them healthier and more filling at the same time. i've just discovered the miracle of roasted vegetables (i've always just steamed them) and i think my mouth must've dropped open when my husband willingly took a bite of roasted asparagus with garlic, chewed it and said, "that's pretty good stuff!" quinoa was always something that scared me a little, but i love it now and i've also been incorporating different kinds of beans into lots of our meals. (black beans smashed with a bit of olive oil and garlic make a great filler for bison burgers and actually makes the meal cheaper because the meat goes further). the slow changes mean that the numbers on the scale are also going down ever so slowly, but they are pounds that i know are gone for good as i rid my life of processed junk bit by bit and replace it with the foods God intended for us to eat.

and now, (mostly because i want some great ideas, but also because lots of comments make me happy) my question for you is: what is one healthy trick you'd like to share? whether its a food replaced with something healthier, or a brand new food that you've grown to love, please leave a comment and let me know.

....can you believe that spellcheck didn't recognize "quinoa" as a word?

8 comments:

Taxi Driver said...

Happy C-Thanks Giving. Mom made a cornucopia of delights--we ate, we slept.

Mark L.

Bonnie said...

Do you have the "Eat Shrink and Be Merry" cookbook? I love it, lots of great, lower fat recipes.
Limiting my portions is the biggest thing for me. You definitely have to indulge once in awhile though!

Kari said...

Heidi, Coranelle and Samuel need to get together. Coranelle is a dare devil and always on the move and I would love it if they could wear each other out- rather than wearing us out!

As far as food tips- here are a few. First, try to really learn to listen to your body. When are you hungry (not bored or sad, but really hungry)?. When are you satisfied... not stuffed, but satisfied? Learning to read your body will be crucial in maintaining a healthy body weight.

As far as foods- try using less salt and more spices. Cilantro and basil are my favorites and it sounds like you could grow them in your yard all year long. Check your foods for high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils and avoid them when you can. Eat three smaller meals and two snacks a day so that you keep your metabolism up and don't binge. I like crackers and cheese, apples and peanut butter and trail mix for snacks.

Lastly, drink a lot of water. Drink water with every meal and between.

And, have fun cooking with your family and finding new recipes. When you want "junk" food- make it. You enjoy pizza, fries, burgers, etc. SO much more when you put the time into making them just the way you like it.

Hugs and... You're beautiful! Miss you!

Neha said...

Green tea works wonders! Try having at least 3 cups every day. And I always carry fruits for snacking....nothing more filling than an apple or a bowl of papaya!

Jennifer said...

Thinking of it as nutrition instead of 'diet' is a good way to go about it.
Keep reading up on it. You are doing fine. It's a journey and you are well on your way to being in a stronger place without junk. At some point you will realize to yourself hey...I have eaten chips in years.
xox

M.R. Tumnus said...

Heidi, I love your new background - very pretty. As for any lifestyle changes having to do with food, one fairly simple one comes to mind - no snacking on high calorie or fat type food after dinner. Your body is not going to use it for energy since evening is a less active time. Then gradually get into the habit of almost no snacking in the evening at all. Love you, miss you. Dad got home safely around 5 on Wed. XO

Anika Lacerte | The Handcrafted Story said...

Sometimes I use apple sauce instead of vegetable oil in recipes. I like your new blog background too!

kelly ens said...

I eat my meals on a small plate 95% of the time to try and limit my portions. I also like snacks such as apples and peanut butter (i'm on natural peanut butter now), crackers and cheese (apples and cheese even!), and I'm a dark chocolate fan, so one square after dinner does me just great :)
Oh, I've been LOVING a black bean and rice salad. black beans, chick peas, peppers, corn, rice, parsley and a dressing that has cilantro, cumin and lemon juice with olive oil - SOOO tasty, filling and full of great food!
remember - it takes time to learn new habits, so be patient with yourself. i'm STILL learning and i've been consciously trying for a year already!