Check-In

I hope everyone out there is doing well. Life is so busy around here. Last week we had my mother-in-law's birthday Monday, Abby's 6th birthday Wednesday, and let's not forget Thanksgiving on Thursday. For some reason, the hubby decided that we would host Thanksgiving without asking me. His male brain didn't even think about the fact that there is a 3 month old baby in the house. It turned out to be a great day. I made Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Relatives brought ham, sweet potato casserole, baked beans, and rolls. It was quite a spread and very yummy. Abby and her cousin put on a little concert on the karaoke machine she got for her birthday from her grandmother. Her dad and I gave her an American Girl doll that looks like her. She was so excited to get that doll.

I haven't been able to give as much time to the blog that I'd like to, but I'm having to prioritize. I do have some plans for the blog, but I need to focus my attention on a couple of other things in the short term.

Wordless Wednesday

Busy Life

Life has been so crazy lately. I started back to work last week. It was harder than I thought it would be. I guess it didn't help that I ended up getting sick with bronchitis. Actually, I'm still sick with it. It's no fun. Everything feels very hectic. The weight loss and exercise has not been happening and the house is a mess. I work nights, so hubby has the baby at night and has been struggling with getting her to sleep at night. That's always been a struggle, but I guess I just got used to it. She just has a hard time settling down and wakes several times in the first couple of hours before staying down for the night. I feel horrible when he calls me at work and is stressed. I feel so guilty for not being there.

I know it will get better, but right now it's a struggle. I can't stand it when my house is a mess. I think that's one of the first things I need to tackle. I don't like being anxious in my own house. It just puts me in a bad mood. I need to come up with some kind of system so that I can keep up with everything. That includes this blog. I have many things I'd like to do with it, but it ends up on the back burner. I need a system...that's what I need.

Review: SlimShots

I was given the opportunity by FuelMyBlog to review SlimShots. This product is a liquid appetite suppressant. I was excited to try it and was hopeful that I would find it useful in my weight loss.

According to the information I received, Slimshots is all natural and the active ingredient (Fabuless) is oat and palm oil. The product contains no caffeine or other stimulants, and contains no sugar.

I received a box of slimshots. Each dose looks like a coffee creamer. I appreciate that there is no measuring. The product comes in both chocolate and vanilla. I received the chocolate. You can put it in your coffee or juice, or drink it straight. I chose to just down it. It wasn't the worst thing I have ever tasted, but it wasn't pleasant either. It tasted kind of chalky to me, but it's a taste I could live with if I was getting results.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any appetite suppression from the product. I got no bad effects either. I guess you could say it was like taking a placebo. I read several reviews around the web, and there are lots of folks out there who were happy with the results of taking the SlimShots. Our bodies are different, and so my advice would be to try for yourself. You never know, it just might work for you.

Thanks to FuelMyBlog for the opportunity to review SlimShots.

Review: Jumpstart's Escape from Adventure Island

Last summer my daughter got the opportunity to try out Jumpstart's online 3D Virtual World. Well, she loved it so much that she still plays it several times a week. I love that she is learning so much while enjoying the game. On November 17th Jumpstart is releasing a new Wii game, Escape From Adventure Island. I knew Abby would love to check out this new game so was excited when Jumpstart sent me the new game to review.

The first thing I noticed was the graphics. It's similar to the online world and so very familiar to Abby. The Jumpstart world is very colorful. It was also easy for her to jump right in and begin playing. She tells me her favorite part was making her character and playing the underwater games. She's also quite proud of what she calls her house in the game. The game is very kid-friendly. It's easy to navigate for young children, which I love because she's not constantly asking for help. The game incorporates some of the same games she's played on-line as well as some new games. All of the games help her with the same skills she's learning in kindergarten, such as reading and math.





Would you like to win a copy of this game for the young child in your life? Jumpstart is hosting a contest and is giving away 50 copies of the game. Three grand prize winners will also win other great prizes, included a Nintendo Wii Console! All you need to do is leave a comment here at the Jumpstart blog about a family imagination adventure. You need to do this before November 16th. There is also a way to get a second entry by tweeting the giveaway.

Dawn Hall's Fast and Frugal Cookbook Review

I love to eat. That would explain why I'm working on losing weight right now. One of the problems I have is that I get bored eating the same foods, and I'm not very creative. I love to look through cookbooks, but lots of them are not realistic for my family. The ingredients are exotic or pricey, and the method of preparing is too complicated. I received Dawn Hall's Fast and Frugal Cookbook from Thomas Nelson to review, and the timing couldn't be better. The first thing I love about this cookbook is that the recipes are simple. There aren't a ton of ingredients. Actually, I had most of the items already in my pantry. Also, most of the recipes are low calorie and easy for me to incorporate into my daily menu. The book is divided into sections that include beverages, soups, and main meals. All of the recipes include nutritional information and a shopping list. I can easily figure out the weight watchers points for each recipe. I've made a few of the recipes and haven't been disappointed.

I've always loved the combination of ham and pineapple. I'm also a big fan of the sweet potato. I decided to try the Hawaiian Sweet Potato Soup. I thought it was quite tasty and is a perfect recipe for fall and is only 172 calories per serving.


The book include a recipe for a crepe and then adds additional recipes for different variations of preparing them. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Crepes were a HUGE hit with my daughter. It was quite delicious. The best part is that what you see on this plate only has 97 calories. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the filling. I'm thinking that adding bananas would be good also.



I'm pleased with this cookbook, and I'm sure it will be one I turn to regularly. With the holidays approaching, this cookbook would make a great gift.

Weight loss progress

Last week totally got away from me. I was so busy every day. I did go to my weigh-in last week and only lost .2 pounds. I'm not sure why, except maybe it was because it was about to be "that time of the month". Today at my weigh-in I was down 1.6 pounds. So, after 3 weeks I've lost 3 pounds. I guess I can't complain about that. This past week was tough, but I managed to make it through. My big challenge right now is to get in the exercise. I've only managed 2 days a week for the past 2 weeks. I vow to make this week better. I'm sure that would boost the weight loss also.