Easter

We were blessed yet again with a wonderful Easter! The boys had fun with their Easter baskets in the morning. Brady made his famous french toast and then we attended St. Anne's Catholic Church for mass. From there, we went to my Grandparent's house for lunch and on to Brady's parent's house for dinner. Somewhere in that chaos, we did get home for Brock to have a 2 hour nap, which did not seem to make a difference for him... he was still in a crabby mood when he woke up ;-)

Wonderful food, wonderful family, wonderful day!! Thanks be to God!!!

WEIGHT WATCHERS LASAGNA

Here is another one of my favorite recipes and of course it is Weight Watchers!! My Mom always cooked WW recipes while I was growing up, so that is what most of my recipes consist of :-) I will only make this lasagna, because it is the best and I know it is not full of extra fat and calories!

1 lb. ground turkey Italian sausage

1 lg. onion, chopped
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can stewed tomatoes

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1 c. water

2 tbsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. basil

2 2/3 c. low-fat cottage cheese

4 oz. Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. oregano

8 oz. lasagna noodles, uncooked

8 oz. Mozzarella cheese

Brown and drain turkey and onion. Mix together stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, parsley flakes and basil. Mix together 2 2/3 cup cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley flakes and oregano.

In 9x13 inch pan sprayed with Pam, layer: 1/2 sauce/meat mixture, 1/2 noodles, all of the cheese, 1/2 noodles, remaining sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour covered, 15 minutes uncovered. Let set before cutting. Each serving: 1 bread, 4 protein, 1 vegetable, 35 optional calories.

KEENS!!

Brady has had a pair of Keen sandals for about two years and loves them! So, when we asked Landon what kind of sandals he wanted this year, he said ones like daddy :-) We went to Dick's Sporting Goods tonight and let him pick out a pair and they look so cute on him. He is very excited!!

After Landon had found his pair, Brady looks at me and tells me to pick out a pair too... I was thinking this is definitely not my style of sandal, but they do look comfortable and I really have no need for too many pairs of dressy sandals when I am home all day. I tried a pair on (of course the purple ones) and LOVED it! I was so surprised how comfortable they are and they actually do look cute. The most important thing is, Brady likes them on me ;-) He really likes the sporty look on girls and I am trying to be better at dressing "sporty chic."

I am really excited to try them out tomorrow :-D

Here is the pair I got.

Clothes... it's a Love-Hate Relationship!

I am so frustrated right now!! I just went through my closet and threw away5 pairs of jeans that are too big for me... that is a good thing, but now I only have one pair that fits :-( I am so happy that I have lost over 25lbs since having Brock, but now my closet is no use to me at all!

I gained 50lbs while pregnant with Landon and was able to shed off about 10lb after... I was overweight for about 2 years and then I got pregnant with Brock and ate sooooo healthy and only gained 25lbs the entire pregnancy... was able to shed that weight pretty quickly. My clothes are ALL too big now and everything that fits from before Landon is so outdated and ugly. Everything from after Landon is huge! I love to go shopping but I hate how things look on me, because even though I am about 10lbs from my pre-kids weight, my body does not look the same and things definitely do not fit the same :-(

I am just in a crappy place right now because I would like to loose another 15-20lbs to get back down to my college weight and this transitional period is killing me! Brady and I went to Macy's a month ago because he wanted me to get a nice pair of jeans and cute shirts... needless to say, we left with nothing but underwear for Landon. I am sure there was plenty of things there that would have worked, but nothing made me "feel" cute like I did before kids. I just have to accept that my body will never be the "same" and no matter how much weight I loose and things will never "fit" the same. I love to shop for clothes, but I don't have that same excitement that I used to have about it :-(

One of my favorite pictures of my sister and I the summer before I got married... my goal weight!! Hey, it gives me motivation ;-)

Church

Yesterday the boys and I went to check out a Catholic church just up the road from our house. Neither Brady or I even knew it was there since it is up on a hill in the old downtown of Hamel. So, we went and LOVED it! The people working the office were so nice and inviting and showed us around. We even got to see the Sunday School room for Landon. The total parishioners is 400 families, which is super small for a Catholic church... I think this might be the church that we haven been looking for!!

This has been quite the journey finding a church that fits us. I was brought up Methodist and was pretty active in the church growing up. Brady is Catholic... so, after we got married and I became pregnant we decided it was best for us to be apart of one church. I decided to become Catholic. I went through the 9 month long class and was re-confirmed as a Catholic. It was a great experience and the church we were going to at the time made it much easier for me because they said to take my Methodist upbringing along with me during my new journey with Christ.

We have been off and on going to church over the past 3 years because we have not found "the" church. I am having a real hard time adjusting the largeness of the Catholic churches... there is just too many people and I just do not like that atmosphere. The Methodist church I was brought up in was big for Methodist standards, it had around 200 families. I want to feel like a member, I want to feel like I can make a difference, I want to know all the people in the church and I don't want to feel like 1 in 5,000.

We will be attending Mass on Easter Sunday there and we will see how it works... though we will need to try a couple Sundays being Easter Sunday is CRAZY!! I can not wait for Landon and Brock to feel apart of a church the way I did when I was little... wish us luck :-)

St. Anne's in Hamel, MN

Little Yellow Man

Tomorrow I am going to go out and buy what I like to call the "Little Yellow Man." He is a plastic little man that stands up holding a red flag... the point of him is to call caution to drivers who are driving down your street that there are kids playing so SLOW DOWN!! We don't live off of a "busy" street per se, but it is the main streeting heading into our development and people drive so fast! I get so mad because Landon is riding his bike, scooter and trike on the sidewalk in front of our house and I get so nervous he will fall or something and get hit by one of these speeding cars.

Landon is now 4 1/2 years old and knows not to go in the street and I trust him now. He so far this Spring, he has not let me down and has been a very responsible outside player. It is the other people that I am worried about. Unfortunately, I am not able to follow him around anymore outside since I have Brock to take care of and I usually keep him up more by the house and driveway and Landon wants to be a big boy and ride his bike without mommy following his every move.

So, the tacky Little Yellow Man is going to have a home at the end of our driveway while we are outside playing. I am not sure what our neighbors will think of it, but I don't care! My kids safety is more important than what people think of the crazy red flag guy. Now, I just hope nobody runs over my LYM!!!