Cute teacher giftie i made

Emma started kindergarten and I wanted her to be able to give something small to her teacher. We know her teacher likes insects, so I thought maybe some sort of word play on bees.

I searched on pinterest and found some baby shower thank you cards with Burt's Bees lip balm stuck on them. That inspired me to make this.....

I created the card in Word, printed on card stock, then used puffy double sided tape to attach the lip balm. Had Emma sign it, and viola!

Nutella Brownies-Is it really good?

I have been seeing this little movie/picture from various sources giving the recipe for Nutella Brownies, mostly on my feed on Facebook and on Pinterest.  Intriguing and sounds yummy.  Do they really turn out like they show in the pictures and more importantly, do they taste good?

First and foremost--- These brownies are a treat and Nutella is not healthy.  Don't eat the whole batch in one sitting like my husband did.  Well, okay, three quarters of the batch.  I don't have the calorie count for these.  Just say 'A LOT' or run it through a recipe calculator. 

Recipe:

1 and 1/4 cups of Nutella
1/2 Cup of flour
2 eggs

That's it!  Everyone has these things in their kitchens.  Brownies here we come!

Now, the pictures of the finished brownies showed this wonderful plate of thick brownies.  Given that I'm trying to lose weight, I didn't want a bunch of brownies tempting me, but I wanted to try this.  So I halved the recipe.

 

Mixed it up.....

 

 

 

Here's where it gets a little iffy...

In the movie they show them putting the batter into a cake pan.  So logically I thought that either a square pan or a teeny one and a half quart pan would be fine.  I had trouble getting the batter to cover the little one and a half qt pan, but I went with it.  'These are gonna be some really thin brownies,' I thought.  The ones on the video were so thick though!  Still went with it.

 

I baked it for 15 minutes at 350 degrees in my pan sprayed with Pam, and it came out yummy looking, although they did look thin.

 

 

 

 

Final Verdict:

 

These brownies are delish!  On the original example movie, to have them turn out so thick, they HAD to have doubled the batch or used a smaller cake pan, which it didn't look like it to me.  So either use the recipe above with the smaller pan, or double it with a bigger.  That's my only gripe.  Otherwise, the taste and method is on point.  Much better than boxed brownies. Much easier than making traditional from scratch.

 

Thumbs up!!!!

New Beginnings

Monday marks a bunch of new beginnings for us.  Ethan will enter the world of high school as a freshman, Emma will enter the world of Kindergarten, and I will enter the world of a quiet house during the day.  I meet this with mixed feelings.  On the one hand, I'm seeing these two tremendous individuals open new chapters in their lives, on the other, I have to let go just a bit more. 

I like that Ethan is in the band.  They have been working together for the half time marching shows for a month now.  He has a group of people that he has bonded with to some degree, a clique, if you will.  With him having Asperger's, it worries me to no end sometimes - him being in high school and being socially awkward.  I want to go and grab him and shield him from all the mean kids, the teachers who really don't 'get him', and the uncomfortable social situations he will inevitably face.  That isn't realistic nor is it healthy for him, but I just cant help it-I'm his mom!  :)  He would be just as happy playing Xbox-not so excited about school starting.

Emma is counting down until school starts.  She is more than excited.  She is going to have the same teacher that Ethan had for his first grade class.  So we know her and I really like her-so that's great!  Emma will have no problems I'm sure.  She is eager to learn new things and make new friends!

I'm not going to be so involved with the school. I was on the PTA board for years and I was in committees even more years, then I volunteered in the classrooms-I was at the school more than I was at home during Ethan's educational career.  Which, depending on how you look at things, may be good--but I never made time for me.  This go round I am.  Lots more exercise is in store! What do I need?  What do I want to do?  I haven't honestly put myself ahead of everyone before.  That way didn't work as far as my weight and general well being was concerned.

It makes me feel a little guilty that I'm not going to be around the school as much for Emma.  There's always got to be some guilt somewhere, huh?

Rock a Thon

Last night we saw Ethan play in band at the start of Rock a thon.  What's Rock a thon you ask?  Its a fundraiser for the band and the kids go to the school at night and literally rock in rocking chairs until the morning.  There is dinner and various activities sprinkled in, like laser tag, bounce houses, basketball, movies, and what not.  12 hours of fun!

The band has been working for about 3 weeks together.  I may be biased, but I think they will be amazing.  We have had so much rain this past week, and the poor things got rained off the football field into the gym, but they did well considering.

Here's the brass!!!  Personally, I'll always be a woodwind at heart (clarinet player) but Ethan is brass so I now love brass too......

 

 



Merging of the Blogs

So I merged my weight loss blog with this one.  I was going to resurrect this one, as I just didn't have the time to do anything with it, but I didn't want this one and then the other for my random thoughts on the health/weight loss stuff.  Double work I know I'll never get around to!  I hate that this blog was just sitting....

I'm down 130 pounds!  My weight has stalled a bit the past couple of weeks.  I have to kick it into gear and start using my fitbit and track my food to get back on track.  The mom shuttle has begun with band camp, dance class, and gymnastics starting again.  Time limits are a problem and truth be told, I haven't been making all the best food choices, but I haven't gained.  That's a plus, right?  When Emma starts Kindergarten here in a week, I'll be free to run/walk without having to tow her along in some capacity.  Look out!  I'll be the lady with the pug.  :)

My hernia isn't doing so well and my doctor wants me to go in for surgery to fix it.  It is getting worse because I don't have that 130 pounds pushing back keeping it in anymore so it pops out a lot.  Sorry if that's TMI, but it is what it is. It will have to wait until after football season.  My baby will be marching this year.  Unfortunately, the other side of my little city is my high school alma mater. My kids will attend the opposing school.  Who will I root for?  I was actually going to drive them across town to my old school when they started high school, but the current school is 1 mile away.  That would be silly.  Cant say I didn't think about it, however!

I'm sad that Summer is ending.  We have been busy all summer and have done so many fun things!  I'll be able to focus more on myself while the kids are in school and get caught up with the seemingly endless projects I take on. 

 



Prison

Well, as of this morning I have lost 119 pounds!  Yay me!  We are going to the beach today and I'm not fretting about how I'm going to look, or what clothes I'm going to wear, what is going to fit, etc. etc. because things are either too big for me in my closet, or fit just right.  I haven't the largest selection of clothing, but I don't even care!  Haven't a clue what actual size I am right now, it changes weekly it seems and good clothes are expensive!  So I don't want to go and buy a bunch of stuff only to not fit in it in a short time.

That brings me to the subject at hand.  I had spent SO much time worrying about clothes, places, people, situations... on and on when it had to do with my weight.  So much so that it was just better to stay put at home.  It was a prison.  I see pictures of a friend of mine (she had bypass 2 years ago) that went to California last week.  Pictures of her on Venice Beach, wearing her 2 piece swimsuit, doing yoga on the hillside.  She would have NEVER had done that 100 pounds ago.  I know I'm not the only one.

I went with my little family to the circus the other night.  We had the best time.  I kept saying, 'I wouldn't have been here this time last year.'  ...and I wouldn't have.  I would have been able to climb the stairs all the way up the stadium, but I would have been out of breath and sweaty.  Those things didn't happen to me this time around.  The chair would have been really snug to the point of pain. The other night, I was comfy with room to spare.  I would have worried about people looking at me.  I didn't feel like I stood out too much, except for the fact that I'm a 5'10" lady in a sea of 5'5" ladies.  I would have worried about what I was going to wear.  I just threw on some clothes that were clean, I have no issues now with clothes being too tightish (that's my new word), I don't feel like I have to be in a tent of a shirt now.  Gosh, all the time I spent worrying. I'll never have it back

So, we are going on our yearly adventure to the beach today.  I'm not scared to not wear a shirt and shorts OVER my suit.  I'm not wearing a string bikini by any means-ha!-but Im not ashamed anymore.  Sure, I have some more weight to lose.  Sure, my thighs are not the tight Gisele Bündchen thighs that everyone strives for, but I have come a LONG way.  I have been released from a virtual prison.  And you know what?  Everyone in my family is better off for it.  :)

 

My babies :)

 

Pre-Circus selfie!

Empathy

Unfortunately, I have become very cynical about the human spirit.  That being said, I still go out of my way to help those that I see need it. I'm always hoping that in some small way, I'll start that butterfly effect of kindness. Pay it forward.  Don't be judgmental. You never know what someone is going through or what cross they bear in their life.

I have noticed a disturbing thing I'm doing, however.  I'm starting to judge people by what they have in their carts at the grocery store.  Especially the overweight.  What am I going to do?  Talk about the nutritional impact of a Brussels sprout versus the bag of chips they have in their cart?  I really hate that I do this.

I wonder how many people judged ME?