Kite Flying

We bought the boy's kites for Valentine's Day and were able to fly them for the first time this afternoon. The kites were only a dollar a piece at Walmart and very easy to assemble. Although Troy did have a little problem with his...hmmm...and I don't have a degree in Aerospace Engineering! LOL! Anyway, we had a blast and the wind was working with us. The boys were able to run and get there kites up in the air with no real problems. They did not understand that they had to stay away from each other though. So we had to untangle kite strings a time or two! It was a memorable day though and I am sure we will take our kites out flying again!

Trying To Sneak In The Veggies

I made a trip to Barnes and Noble this past week where I purchased the book Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Basically you steam vegetables and then puree them. Her recipes call for different vegetables and most are needed in 1/2 cup increments so she suggests you store them like that. She also has recipes where you can add pureed fruit.
I want my children to learn to love vegetables. I am trying to eat more of them but a lot of the time the veggies just sit on my kid's plates. I try not to make a big deal out of it but I do tell them that if they want dessert than they need to eat "three bites" or more just depending on how nice I feel. I am trying to make sure that they are exposed to them and that they see Mom and Dad eat them too. However since they are not always eating them the idea of sneaking them into things that I know they will eat was very appealing. At the end of her book she suggets you trying to sneak in veggies into your own recipes. So that is exactly what I am going to do.
Yesterday I spent all morning making different purees. I made spinach, butternut squash, carrot and cauliflower purees. I was really glad that her book explained the best ways to cook and puree each vegetable. This was my first experience with making purees and it was fairly easy. So for supper last night I made our meal from two recipes in her book. I made a turkey meatloaf which had small pieces of celery chopped up in it and carrot puree. I made mashed potatoes to go with that and it called for cauliflower puree. For dessert I made her brownies and they call for spinach and carrot purees. Everything was delicious except the brownies. They were just okay. I will tweak them next time. Joshua, my 4 year old ate everything! Caleb who is 3 years old "tasted" it all but declined to finish it. He did not get to try a brownie.
I found The Sneak Chef website and looked at the method on there also. It is basically the same concept but she blends some different veggies and has some veggie/fruit combinations also. I may try some of that too. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get my kids to eat their veggies please share!

Weightloss Update

Melissa Henderson
Age: 29
Weight: 179 lbs.
Weightloss: 2 lbs.
Size: 16/18
Height: 5'7"
Emotion: PROUD

Weightloss Goal: 40 lbs.

Well, it's been 2 weeks since the start of my "diet". I weighed myself today and I way 179! Now I know 2 pounds is not much but I am proud of it! I want it to come off steadily and if it takes 40 weeks to do it than I am fine with that.
Last week I went to the gym on 4 days. I felt really good after each work out. I have been sore what with using these muscles I haven't used in so long. It really helps that I have good friends to work out with. It makes it feel like fun! So thanks M.L. and A.F. for helping me to get my butt into shape!

Free Stuff!!

I participate in several affiliate/reward programs and I just got two rewards in the mail this week! One of them is a $10 Starbucks gift card that I got from Pampers.com. Pampers gives you codes inside all their products and each code is worth so many points depending on what product it is. You enter in the codes on their site and get your points. They have different prizes worth different amounts. In the past I have cashed in my points for a movie ticket and Starbucks gift cards. This time I picked another Starbucks gift card because I happen to be going there once a week for Bible Study. If you go through as many diapers as I do then this program is definitely worth signing up for.

My other prize is a $5 gift card from Chevron. I read about this Chevron Techron Trivia Game on someone's blog. I just had to go to the site and play the game. I played it a couple of days in a row. I didn't know I had won so this was a great surprise! So don't knock the things you see on the internet...sometimes they really do pay you! I mean that is 3 gallons of gas! Woohoo! I think they were giving away up to $500...too bad I didn't win that!

I also belong to a site called Mypoints.com and I have already received $30.00 worth of gift cards through them. That is since September of 2008! I almost have enough points to get $25 more. I have picked Starbucks, Olive Garden and Barnes and Noble in the past. I think this time I am going to get one for Fridays. If you want to get an invite for this affiliate site please leave a comment with your email address and I will send you an invite. I get points if you sign up using the invite email! Basically if you do any shopping online or print out coupons from online sites then this would be a great site for you!

I just wanted to share some of the things I do to get a little back.