My Meal Plan

Recently quite a few people have been asking me for my meal plan so I thought I would post a blog to avoid typing and re-typing it (which I have already done a number of times). I have followed quite a few meal plans in the past and they have all been effective but this one is one I have been able to stick with for over three months now and I even find myself looking forward to eating my food everyday!! I am the kind of person who has no issues eating the same food everyday, over and over. Especially if I know it is going to work, and so far in three months I am down 18 pounds. Now don't get me wrong I am not one to turn down a shave ice, gelato and CHIPS and SALSA (they are my vice) every now and then. Infact today I had a gelato with the kids... I do feel bad about it right now though so I have written up an at home workout to do tonight once the kids have gone to bed.

Remember this is just what worked for me, it may not work for you but it will give you an idea. I have also been gluten free (fully) for the past 7 months. I was getting severe stomach pains, i went through many tests all inconclusive but after I completely cut out gluten my stomach pain disappeared. I don't eat many 'gluten free' pre-made food because I mostly eat fruit/veggies and protein but when I do indulge I always make sure items are gluten free.

September 22, 2013. For all of September I had been working out like never before but not eating right,(proof that working out with an unhealthy diet will not aid in weight loss) this is the day I decided to start eating healthier foods.

December 30, 2013. Three months later. My pregnancies resulted in permanently split abs and excess skin, which, my doctor says are both fixable after I am finished having children :)

Anyways here we go, my meal plan

Breakfast (around 8:00). Green Smoothie

1 cup of Kale 

1/4 fresh parsley

1/2 an apple

1/2 banana

I mix it with water. The parsley kind of makes this an acquired taste but I love it now. I find the runnier the better so you don't get large chunks of Kale. Every Saturday(after a visit to the farmers market) I make a weeks worth of smoothies and freeze them in ziplocks bags so they are all ready to go for me in the morning.

Each morning after the gym (Around 10:30-11) I have a protein shake

1/2 cup almond milk (30 calories)

3 frozen strawberries

3 frozen pieces of pineapple

Scoop of protein

1/2 banana

ice

I crave my protein shakes....

Around 11:30-12:00 I have fruit an cottage cheese

usually 1 cup or 1.5 cups of Pineapple 

1/2-3/4 cups of cottage cheese

Between 12:30 and 2 (I am a snacker and always like to be eating so I space it all out)

1 Apple

Celery sticks or carrots

Afternoon snack (around 3)

1 greek yogurt cup

 My dinners (always around 5) ALWAYS consist of spaghetti squash. When Kelly is away I make it in a lasagne pan then divide it into three sections, meaning I am good for three dinners (yay for not cooking every night). A few examples.... I make a spaghetti squash tex mex with black beans, ground turkey, spaghetti squash and every veggie you can think of (kale, spinach, cabbage, zucchini, celery etc). Half a spaghetti squash is only 66 calories so when mixed with veggies the servings are fairly large. Another idea is spaghetti squash spaghetti bake. This has veggies, chicken, marinara sauce and spaghetti squash. Another idea is Spaghetti Squash quiche. The Spaghetti squash is the crust, fill with tons of veggies then pour egg whites overtop and bake.These three recipes are all three meals (days) in one!! Tomorrow I might try to make a spaghetti squash pizza crust, I will see how that goes. Another easy recipes is just baked spaghetti squash stiry fry with tons of veggies or veggies and chicken.

 Three dinners in one!

Tonights dinner

Every night while I am 'unwinding' from my day I have a cup of green tea. I Also try to drink at least 8 cups of water a day.

I make a pitcher of this each night, it is a 'recipe' from online which claims to aid in weight loss. I'm not too sure I believe it its weight loss magic (lol) but it is very refreshing! Sometimes drinking plain water is tough, this at least has a refreshing taste. I try to drink a pitcher of this a day plus the regular water I drink at the gym.

One helpful tip that has helped me, Once we return from the gym everyday I pack up our cooler bag with lunch for the kids plus each of my 'meals' so I have them with me all day. This helps me resist temptation of eating out because I have my food with me. 

Anyways there is it, my meal plan. It has worked for me and I am a firm believer that eating right (consistently) and working out (rigorously) is the key to weight loss.

Hawaii Life: Meltdown Central

Today has been one of those days when you look at all those cute skinny little twinks wandering around with no care in the world and you actually ENVY them! It has been one of those days when people look at your kids and say 'Awww what a cutie' and you look at them and say 'Do you want them?' or 'Please don't let their cuteness fool you' OR 'Yah it is a darn good thing that they are cute'. It has been one of those days that I could down a whole bottle of wine in a matter of seconds but I think a drunk mother at home with her two kids is frowned upon by the authorities.

I really don't know what has gotten into my children today. Usually they have their moments by today their 'moments' started last night and lasted literally all day today. So much so that I really questioned why I am a stay-at-home mom. There is no job in the world harder than this.

It all started last night, we had just finished our scrapbook for the night, the TV was off and were just about to head in to read some books. For some reason Wyatt got it in his head that he wanted to watch the movie 'cars'. I told him it was bedtime and he lost his crap. Like seriously instantly fell on the floor into a fit of blood curtailing screams. He refused to calm down for any of my attempts. So I went and read to Ethan, I had to read loudly so Ethan could actually hear the words over the screams. Wyatt screamed for probably an hour without letting up. He was a huge ball of sweat, in the end I can't even tell you what made him snap out of it but all of a sudden he showed up at the bedroom door and asked for a story. The kids fooled around in their room for half an hour and finally fell asleep in a heap on the floor. I wasn't about to move them.

Ethan woke up first at 6:30. Ethan sat quietly and watched a show. I heard the trample of Wyatt's feet coming and knew I would have to actually roll out of bed shortly. Sure enough Wyatt insisted that it was now time to watch 'cars'. Ethan of course was in the middle of the show and didn't want to watch the movie. Commence 6:30 in the morning, in a condo meltdown. Ethan finally just said ok to the movie, thank goodness as I was having a very difficult time trying to get Wyatt to be quiet. He sat and watched cars for a matter of 5 minutes then insisted that he have some goldfish. I told him I would make him breakfast and that goldfish were not the best for breakfast. Wyatt shouted in my face "NO WE WANT FISH" (He always drags Ethan into the mix). Again it is 6:30 in the morning and the rest of the building is likely still sleeping so I gave him 4 goldfish in a bowl. Next issue, Wanted a different bowl. We searched around until we found a freaking bowl that would satisfy him. I put four fish in a bowl for Ethan. Then Ethan had a meltdown because he wanted a bowl like Wyatt's (Of course there was only one bowl like that). OH man.... I made them Mickey mouse pancakes and we managed to make it out of the condo without being shot at by all our neighbours.

They each picked out a toy to bring to the gym, while I was working out I could hear some Wyatt shrieks coming from the daycare room but I pretended I didn't hear them. I saw the Dad of one of the other kids peek in there several times. I soon learned he was peeking in because Wyatt was having a meltdown when he dropped his little girl off. Meagan (Daycare lady) said the guy couldn't understand what Wyatt's problem was haha. Meagan told him it was a boy thing, all you lucky people with golden quiet, play-by-themselves girls. Megan said the kids were absolutely wild today. Of course that always upsets me because I don't want people to dread my kids coming into the daycare. We packed up and were heading out the door. For some reason Wyatt didn't want to leave. He started screaming in the gym. I managed to drag him outside where he proceeded to scream for 20 minutes all while I was trying to convince him to get in the car. I kept calm but inside I wanted to just get in the car and drive away. People walked by, some people giggled, some stared. Finally when I turned on the car and sat in the drivers seat he decided that he'd better get in. On the way home he was talking about rainbows and the beach. Different kid. Two personalities in a snap.

Made it home and after the morning I was way to nervous to even attempt to go out in public for fear of a meltdown from either of them. I set them up with their crayons and turned on a show. They were happy with this for about half an hour then they decided to make a fort with all the cushions. This drives me crazy but I thought I would allow it because it was keeping them busy. Well of course they got in a fight so the fort very quickly was taken apart (in a fit of rage I might add, pillows flying everywhere---me) and I made the decision that TV privileges were gone for the rest of the day. Ethan hit me in the head with a stick so I put him in his room. I told him when he could be quiet for one minute he could come join us again. Well 30 minutes of crying (When if he was just quiet for one quick minute, could have been alot less). Anyways he calmed down and finally came out and apologized.

Taking away TV privileges is a great punishment for the kids,(as I think most of our troubles are stemmed from the TV) they were really upset about it which was somewhat satisfying for me but I swear it was like punishment for me as well because now they are running around like wild fools, took all the puzzles pieces and made a huge mound (about 7 puzzles combined). I was too nervous to go out but finally deiced to stick them in the car and go for a drive. We drove to the drug store. The kids and I had a huge talk about appropriate behaviour in the store. They promised to stay with me and listen carefully. Well that lasted all of three minutes. Next thing you know they were tearing around the store laughing and giggling leaving me to look like a completely useless parent who had no control of their children. Plunked the kids back in the car. No one was falling asleep, they seemed to be just playing off each other and the energy was building. We came home and made some Christmas cards which they seemed to enjoy.

Usually the kids watch a show right before bed but because I took away the TV for the day tonight we could not do that. We did our scrap book, had baths, brushed our teeth. I looked at the clock, it was 5:47. i made the decision that I didn't care what time it was they were going to bed. We read four extra long stories, I kissed them tonight and have retreated to my room. I am listening to Songza 'UNWIND' which is classical music. Surprisingly very calming but I can hear the kids fooling around in the bedroom and every so often one of them comes out and complains about the other one, I send them back. All I can think about now is that I have to make them both their advent calendars because tomorrow is the end of the month. Argg.... the things a mother does for her children after a day like this.

So hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. My plan is to take them up Haleakala and go for a hike. Tired them out (which really isn't possibly). I wonder if I treadmill would work....

Hawaii Life: Happy Thanksgiving... Again

Today we are lucky enough to get to celebrate Thanksgiving again. I have so many things to be thankful for that I could write pages and pages. Of course there are the usual things I am thankful like my family, my health and the amazing life I live. But day-to-day I notice some smaller things that I am very grateful for.

I am so thankful that I have two boys that are so happy (well for the most part). My boys are each others best friends and that couldn't make me happier. They play so well together and when we are so far away from our family and friends this couldn't mean more. When they are separated for even an hour both of them are constantly asking where the other one is. Considering the amount of time they are together (heck they even sleep together) I am so grateful that they get along so well.

I am thankful for the wonderful lady (Meagan) at the daycare at the gym. She is so kind and caring with my kids. She treats them as she would her own. She does cute little crafts with the kids, the other day they both came home with handprint turkeys. (This is more than I can say I did for our second Thanksgiving)

I am thankful for deodorant. Those who do not wear should try (uhem...man on treadmill next to me at the gym). I mean seriously I could hardly breath...

Familiar faces- Yesterday we met up with Kim, Ian and their little one Camille. We don't get to see each other much in Canada but it was so nice to see a familiar face! This morning we met up with Gord and Allison, long time family friends! The kids were SO excited to see them. Ethan keeps asking when we will see them again.

I am grateful for the farmers market, fresh, delicious produce!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Chex. This is a tough one, not sure if I am thankful or not. They are SO good but being that they are so good means I tend to eat more of them than I should. Even still I think I am thankful as I just bought three boxes for $8. I just couldn't resist the supersale!

I am thankful for the Hallmark Channel. Now growing up the rule was always December 1st for any Christmas movies/decor/anything Christmasy. I can't even tell you how wonderful it is to sit down at night once the kids are FINALLY in bed, with a green tea and watch a sappy, romantic super-Christmasy movie. So relaxing.

Zuzka Light- Online Fitness programs. These workouts are awesome and I include her daily workout into my routine everyday! Absolutely love them, they have re-inspired me to get 'super-ft' and I am feeling awesome! SO very thankful for her!

Huggies wet Wipes, Thank you for being so durable. Saved the day many times (Including today at the park) when Wyatt SH*&s his pants......


Anyways some of these might seem silly but they are definitely things I am very thankful for.

We aren't making a turkey, instead a spaghetti squash quiche...we haven't even done anything to celebrate, we drove into the city to go buy some new books for the kids but seriously the entire city is shut down. Since when is Value Village closed on a holiday... Not in Canada, that is when the die hards go. Anyways it was closed and we had driven all that way so I took the kids to the IOA state park. It was beautiful, very easy to walk and the kids loved it! Plus it was free. Doesn't get much better than that.

Hawaii Life: Life is Good

 Wyatt trying to stop the waves

 Would only stop for one photo

 About to be taken out by wave, he loves it

Beach wrestling

We had a late night last night, Kelly's flight leaves at 11:40 at night so we try to stay home as late as possible to maximize out time. We dropped him off around 8:45 and got home around 9:15. The kids fell asleep instantly and even slept in this morning! So I can't complain!

Nothing new, nothing exciting just a beauty life in a beauty place! Yesterday I had a bit of a clumsy day. I was out for a run in the morning, on the way home, after I had been running for well over an hour, I tripped on the side walk (you know when one piece of sidewalk sticks up a little bit higher than the other). Yes well I usually daydream when I run so I was off in lala land. I was on the main road in Kihei (which is a busy road) thankfully it was only 7:30 in the monrnig. Anyways I felt myself fall, it was like it was in slow motion, I managed to get my foot down and save myself, but then it was almost as if someone pushed me and I did a huge starfish faceplant onto the pavement. Scratched up the palms of my hands and my waterbottle. A nice old man helped me up. Only a little bit embarassed.

The clumsiness continued at the gym when I straightup walked RIGHT into a lady in a wide open space. Again clearly I was in lala land. After the gym I was making a smoothie and was cleaning the blender with my hands.. Stupid idea as most blenders have razor sharp blades inside. Well I jammed my finger in and cut it. Hurt! I made it a point to be a little more aware of my surroundings for the rest of the day.

I admit that I kind of dread the days that I am on my own because the kids don't get along often and they are long long days. Today the kids slept in until 7:30, happily got dressed and ate all their breakfast. I was very happy. After the gym Ethan requested we go to the 'Secret' beach which is a beach past Wailea. So we packed up and headed out. The kids kind of took a turn for the worst. I just sat down to relax, dumped all the toys out for the kids and they immediately start to wrestle. Ethan's new 'THING' is to push Wyatt's head into the sand or under the water. Highly dangerous. So I played referee for awhile. Ethan also trys to get out of actually doing the 'work' to play. 'MOM make me a castle", "Mom make me a monster jam track". Because clearly making a mound of sand is near impossible. So I quickly made a castle and a road (not my best work but wanted them to just play). They seemed satisfied and finally continured to play for an hour or so. Then of course a trip to the beach wouldn't be complete without Wyatt pooping. Mound in butt returned before we were able to make it anywhere appropriate to poop. Captain MOM dug a nice hole and discarded the mound.  Probably the grossest thing ever. I thought the spot I chose was appropriate, it was between rocks and in a place where the waves could eventually wash it away. I mean what would you have done?

I later saw people walk darn close to the mound.

The kids were ready to leave the beach at 2:30, kind of early so I wasn't sure what we were going to do, but nothing a shave Ice couldn't fix. We stopped and the kids were overjoyed!!

My spaghetti squash is cooking, kids are playing very happily. We are making Christmas wreaths tonight. That is all! My internet is spotty, seems to crash every 5 minutes, driving me nuts, since I can't make calls here I can't call to fix it. Affects my facetime and texts. Grrr to seclusion...

Hawaii Life: Sun, Sand and Poop.

Well it was another beautiful day here on Maui! Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remind me that this is not a dream! We have been in Maui for over a month, Kelly thought I would be sick of it by now but quite the opposite, I never want to leave. I still have a huge list of places to go and things I want to see.

Today was a fantastic day, mixed with a few ups and downs along the way. We go to the gym every morning around 8:30, so we did the same today. The kids have a great time in the childcare centre and there were a few other kids there today so that was nice for them! After our workout we headed home very excited to walk to the farmers market. We decided to bring the stroller to help carry our veggies/fruits and just incase the kids got tired. Well the kids got 'tired' about a block down the street so very thankful we brought the stroller. We LOADED up at the farmers market. I bought all of my fruits and veggies for the week. It is cheaper, fresher and local so why not! The farmers market is every Wednesday and Saturday so I think that might now be included in our routine. On our walk home I looked down at the BOBs tire and it was flat as a pancake. Lucky for us there was a bike store about a block away. The had the tire fixed and us up and running in a matter of five minutes (for a small fee of course).

We had a delicious fresh lunch then headed off to the beach. We found a beach we had never been too just across the street from our place. It was absolutely amazing and were pretty much the only ones there for the entire time! The kids were having a ball, Kelly and I were tanning. Wyatt came and stood beside me and said 'I have to poop'. We jumped up, but while we were jumping up a softball size mound had grown out of Wyatt's butt in his swimsuit. yup he had already gone. Wyatt was not disturbed at all by the poop in his butt. WELL what to do, too far to walk to the condo (or we really just didn't want to leave). So there was a small cave at the top of the beach... we dug a hole (Well Kelly dug a hole) and that is where the mound now rests. Wyatt came back to the water for a good clean and we were back in action for another hour.

A fellow and his girlfriend showed up and were fishing, didn't want to tell them that their fish may be contaminated with poop.... lol. Anyways the man who was fishing caught a fish and let Ethan reel it in. He was really excited about it. It was a trumpeter fish, one you cannot eat. Well the fact that Ethan caught a fish and Wyatt didn't spurred a huge major catastrophe meltdown from Wyatt. So we packed it up. Wyatt screamed the entire way home, dragged himself along the road. Tough life this little young man has.

I have no idea what to do with Wyatt and his poop. We can't even go to the pool no for fear he will poop in the pool. Tempted to put him back into diapers but he pees on the potty and when he is back in his diaper he just pees in it so we would be going backwards. So frustrating. I guess we will just give it some time.

Super excited for tomorrow we are off on an adventure and to explore more of Maui!

Hawaii Life: Free Shipping

I am offering a child (or two) depending on the hour/day. I will pay for shipping to anywhere in the world! Alexis in Aussie, Aunty Sue in England or even Dad in Nepal. The child will be a surprise again depending on hour/day. Definitely a boy between the ages 3 and 4, cannot guarantee behaviour and both will break out in meltdowns over what is seemingly nothing.

Oh what a day it has been, there are glimmers of fabulous then it quickly turns and those glimmers fade, then they shine brightly again the lightening strikes and the glimmers burn. My two beautiful children have been nothing short of a nightmare today. When was one is gold the other is poo.

We woke up late this morning (7:15) after a night of no sleep. The kids have been so great at going to sleep together they usually sit and play for awhile, read some books, wrestle a little then fall asleep, the past two nights have been hell. Last night the two boys wrestle, screamed, hurt each other, talked ridiculously loudly for over an hour. I was loosing my mind. (Being in a condo just ups my stress level because we have people all around us who can probably hear everything). Finally after an hour I took wyatt and put him in my bed. Now normally I would never sleep with Wyatt because he is like a rollie pollie kicker but it was Ethan who was misbehaving so I put Wyatt in the big bed with me. Ethan cried for awhile about that then eventually fell asleep. Wyatt too fell asleep, but then started snoring loudly, then kicked me all night. Finally I had to wake up him and move him over so he cried, 3 am cry. Again in the condo, so hard to get Wyatt to stop crying once he starts. Anyways I managed and I am positive my neighbours hate us.

This morning we went to the gym, after my workout the lady in the daycare told me Wyatt was not pleasant to deal with. I chalk that up to lack of sleep but I was still a little angered. I took them to the park to try to run off some energy. Then we headed home for lunch and to make some cookies.

After lunch we decided to head to the beach, Ethan had a MENTAL breakdown when I told him to turn off the TV because we were leaving. So us leaving was a 20 minutes struggle dealing with Ethan. I asked him to sit down and when he calmed down and was quiet for 1 minute we could leave. Easy right? Well he did my most hated thing, pointed his finger at me (like a gun) and said 'I'm going to shoot you'. I tell you there is NOTHING I hate more than that and he knows it, so in his room he went. When he had calmed down (several minutes later) we headed to the beach.

Ahhhhh the beach, my golden glimmer of calmness, the kids love the beach. We had tons of fun playing with trucks, digging holes, splashing in the waves. We brought lunch and stayed for three hours. It is really too bad our house is not situated RIGHT on the beach, we would never have to leave. but alas it was time to leave, I told them if they could behave at the beach we would stop for a shave ice on the way home, and they did they were wonderful at the beach so shave ice it was.

On the way up to the car Ethan sprinted right up, Wyatt 'ran out of energy' and insisted on me carrying him. I was packed down with a cooler, chair and the big bag of toys/clothes. Since I am absolutely sick carrying him honestly because he is just being lazy and knows I will usually say yes to get it done quicker. I said no.... commence mental breakdown. Ethan was already at the car so I just left Wyatt. Put everything in the car, Wyatt was still seated in a hump on the grass waiting for me to come and get him. (We are causing somewhat of a scene I might add)  I think when he saw me put the stuff in the car he realized that his free ride was over he jumped up and sniffled over to get in the car. Once he was strapped in, just like that he was a happy camper again. WTF

When we get home I go to making dinner, dinner was all ready and Wyatt sat in the middle. Ethan's next mental breakdown began. He wanted to sit by me. Same breakdown as before, told him to calm down and come back after one minute. He 'SHOT' me again, I may go batty, in his room he went, I swear there is nothing that gets my heart rate going like that 'shooting' business. After his chill out time in his room he came back happy as a clam and ate dinner.

Here I am counting down the seconds until bedtime, look at the clock and it is only 5:30. I got a craft out to do with them, craft takes in-full, five minutes. We do our scrapbook (We are keeping a scrapbook of our time in Maui, the boys love it). Finish that up, put on jammies and brush teeth. To avoid the crazy hour long wrestle I put Ethan straight in my bed. Wyatt can't seem to grasp that it is not his turn to sleep with mom. Screaming on the floor for half an hour, the neighbours really don't know what hit them.

Now they are both sleeping peacefully, if only it wasn't such a struggle to put them to bed, and I honestly don't know what else I can do to tire them out, they wake up at the crack of dawn and we are gone all day, no naps.

Now I get to work on my photo book and look at the happy smiling faces of my boys playing happily on the beach. At least I don't go to bed angry :)

Tomorrow we are hopefully going to go to an event where they put all the big trucks (garbage, fire trucks, diggers etc) out and allow children to get in and explore them. I think the kids would LOVE it, but if they sleep in I am not waking them up lol

                                                    Picnic in Paia

                                                         LOVE this beach

Their favourite part of the beach, hosing off in the shower

Hawaii Life: Locked Out

I woke up really excited about the day. It was Wyatt's third birthday and we had a big day planned. Wyatt wanted to go to the aquarium for his birthday. So I thought we would do the aquarium then go for a shave ice after. I got the kids up, fed and dressed, ready to go to the gym. We made it out the door and Wyatt realized he had forgotten his water bottle so I turned to go back inside and couldn't get in. I tried the keys several times but it was not working.

How can this happen you may ask? Well at night I worry, I worry about everything, I worry about the bad guys, I worry about life I worry about everything. Last night I was worried about two things, the bad guys and the Tsunamis (I spent two hours researching evacuation routes and watching videos). Anyways back to the bad guys, We have two doors on our condo, one is the actual door and one is like a heavy metal screen door. The heavy screen door has a deadbolt and a lock on the knob so I locked them both, then I locked the inside door. This morning on the way out I didn't think about it and just shut the screen door without thinking that we may not have a key for it. Turns out that we didn't have a key. I was too frustrated to deal with it at the moment, I figured I would go to the gym and deal with it when we got back. I texted Kelly and asked him what the deal was, he swore up and down that it was the same key. I kind of questioned whether I was a key idiot or something and just couldn't figure the darn thing out.

Anyways after the gym we got back of of course it really didn't work. I found the building manager but he had no spare keys. Meanwhile Kelly had called the realtor and they had the other key. So instead of driving (don't ask me why I chose not to drive) we walked the few blocks to the reality office. Well Wyatt ran out of energy, so I was carrying him and my gym bag, it was SO hot and I was dragging Ethan behind me. By the time we picked the key up and returned I was sweating like crazy. Thankfully though this key worked. PHEW, we had a snack, changed and we were on our way to the aquarium.

I stopped to drop the extra set of keys off at the realtors office. I took the key I needed off, well this wasn't cool for them. I was a little grumpy at the time and possibly quite rude. He said 'Well we need the keys to the apartment incase something like this happens again'. I said well it will happen again if I DON'T HAVE THE KEY for the door. He then suggested that I go get one cut. I was snappy and said 'sorry I have two kids with me and taking them to the hardware store to do and pay for something that you should have done is not something I am interested in doing'. He suggested I just drop the key off tomomrrow and he would do it. Since I just wanted to get out of there I agreed and left.

I ended up taking the kids to the hardware store and getting a key cut, only because this company is slow as molassas and I knew it would never happen, it was quick and easy for me to do it. Finally off to the aquarium. The kids love the aquarium but they speed through it so fast that if I let them we would be done in ten minutes. Today we went around three times and stopped for a picnic lunch. Wyatt had some money sent to him for his brithday so I told him he could pick ANYTHING he wanted from the gift shop. Now if this was me I would go for the biggest most expensive thing. Wyatt comes out with this silly little glo-octopus and Ethan chose a mini-flash light (I have two identical ones in my purse). I didn't argue but suggested they each also pick a magnet to put their beauty drawings on the fridge with. While we were choosing a magnet the boys were going crazy pulling one off then putting it back, we broke two in the process, i slyly put them back on the shelf and shooed the kids to the till quickly.

They wanted to stop at this boardwalk on the way home, i wasn't really interested but Ethan has been talking about it for a few days, so we stopped and ended up finding a beauty beach to just chill out on. We packed it up when the boys were so covered in sand I could hardly recognize them.

They both had a bath when we got him and I put them in their 'nice' clothes and decided to take them out for dinner. Mostly selfish on my part really, I have been eating clean for two weeks straight, right down to every calorie and I was CRAVING chips and salsa so we just had to go out. The boys were so cute, they each got a fancy little drink, coloured happily and I devoured my chips and salsa. Things only got a little stressful when Wyatt spotted the birds that were wandering along the floor in the restaurant. He decided to start chasing him. He was all over the restaurant, I was sweating again chasing him around. Thankfully he is cute and most people found him humorous.

Finally home, put the kids to 'bed'. I say bed in the loosest sense of the word as they were rolling around and wrestling for a good hour while I mopped the floor and did the dishes. I just finished p90x abs and I am exhausted.

Hawaii Life 11 days in

Wow I haven't written a post in quite sometime. I decided before Hawaii that I would try to start updating this a little more. Kelly had all my previous posts printed into a book last Christmas and it was an amazing keepsake so I guess this is a great way to document our life.

Eleven days in Maui so far and WOW what can I say this place is just as I had remembered it from our previous trips, absolutely amazing, beautiful weather, amazing beaches, I mean I could go on and on. I know one thing is for sure, this is one of the best decisions that we have ever made (That made even more clear this morning when I saw Facebook photos of SNOW in Alberta....NO THANK YOU).

The first few days were a bit of a blur. The flights were not bad, better than to be expected when travelling with toddlers. I foolishly booked our flights in attempts to save money. This attempt to save us money took us on three flights through DENVER, then HONOLULU. SO three flights when the direct flight was 6 hours total. Kids were decent on the first flight, slept the entire time (well Wyatt). We were split up in to two rows and I selfishly chose Ethan and gave Wyatt to Kelly, surprisingly Wyatt was asleep in seconds and Ethan literally didn't stop talking the entire flight. I quickly regretted my decision to chose Ethan when he was shouting "We are going Down' or "We're gonna crash" as we were landing. Thankfully we didn't. We sprinted through the Denver airport to JUST make our connecting flight to Honolulu, Wyatt 'Runs out of energy' (as he calls it) very quickly and has to be carried everywhere. Didn't think the airport would be such a workout. On the next flight I was with BOTH kids while Kelly was seated behind us alone.  One would think that the grouchy lady sitting next to us would offer to switch but she didn't. It wasn't too bad my laptop battery lasted the entire trip so we watched movies the whole flight, although it did anger me slightly when I turned around and saw Kelly sleeping away peacefully. Infact I did wake him up a few time to remind him that I was watching 'Super Why' for the 8th time in front of him.

We arrived on Maui, managed to somehow cram all our stuff into our little rental car and headed off to our condo. The condo is great, very nice, modern, just how I like it. Two bedrooms and only a block from the beach and about two blocks from the park with the playground. We usually go there every night for sunset and a runaround before bedtime. We dropped off our stuff and immediately headed out for dinner, we were all starving and exhausted. Wyatt fell asleep at the dinner table and I don't think I have ever downed a daiquiri and burritos so quickly. We all fell asleep instantly that night.

The next few days were us just getting settled in, grocery shopping, dealing with a few things that needed to be done. We managed to get a few beach visits in between errands. The kids were a little bit crazy for the first few days, if one was being good the other one would be kicking and screaming on the floor. We figured they were just getting used to everything, there is a four hour time difference here (we are behind). Up until today the kids have been very good!

We visited the most amazing pumpkin Patch, up in Kula, it was all along the side of the mountain with a beautiful view of the entire island (And it was free!!). Ethan started his soccer academy last Monday, he played awesome and is very excited to go back tomorrow We did a playdate in the park with some mom's from a Facebook group, they gave me lots of information on event,s playgroups and different programs so hopefully that help us make some friends. Kelly and I can both tell that Ethan is eager to meet some other kids.

Both Ethan and Wyatt have taken a liking to the pool, they beg to go every minute of every day. Wyatt literaly has no fear, takes off running and does cannonballs off the side of the pool for two hours straight (with a life jacket of course). Ethan is much more timid but is working on it, his cannonballs are off the bottom step of the pool. At the beach Wyatt is in and under the waves in a second but Ethan is right there with him which is really great to see his confidence in the water grow!

Kelly and I have been taking turns running in the mornings and we found a great gym (well a little bit old school) here but they have childcare and the kids really seem to like it. So we have been running and going to the gym every morning. This place couldn't be any better for us.

Not too many hiccups along the way, of course it wouldn't be a 'Leslie Q's World' blog without a poop story so I will tell you the tale of the poop in the pool. We were at the pool the other day doing cannonball after cannonball, i decided to head up to start dinner. about 20 minutes later Kelly arrived with a bowlegged Wyatt. Wyatt had pooped, Wyatt had pooped in the pool. In attempts to keep the poo (wet poo, please picture) we strategically tagged team the taking the swim suit off, major fail the bathroom was covered with wet poo. Once we finally cleaned it up Kelly kind of got to thinking that perhaps if it was that messy in the bathroom then perhaps there was poo on the sidewalk up. He headed out with the lysol wipes. Low and behold there was a small trickle here and there on the path. We decided we would take a break from the pool for a few days after that one.

Anyways that is all that is new in our Hawaii life, oh ya the groceries here are absolutely out-of-this-world expensive.....

A few things that I have noticed, we came from living in a large house, the boys have every toy under the sun, all the clothes in the world and pretty much as much space as they need. We have moved into a small two bedroom condo with one very small basket of toy cars, some sand toys and a puzzle and the kids are happy if not happier here than they are at home. Really gets me thinking about how much the kids actually need, how much we really need to buy for them and spend. Also makes me think that we really don't need such a big house! This place is so easy to clean (thats right I actually clean).  Things to think about for when we get back home....

Day-home Disaster

A couple weeks ago a customer of Little Peanut told me about a day-home in Spruce Grove who does drop in. I thought this would be great as I could just drop the boys off for a couple of hours and go to the gym or take a break on the weeks when Kelly was away. I actually know the lady who runs the day-home so I felt completely comfortable leaving my kids there.

Last week while Ethan was in a morning class at the Rec. Centre I left Wyatt there for a couple hours in the morning. I came prepared and I gave her a huge warning on his major meltdowns and screaming attacks. I even, at the last minute, threw in some marshmallows (as sometimes Marshmallows are the only thing that will pull him out of his meltdowns). She looked at me and kind of laughed saying she has done this for along time and that she knew what she was doing. Everything went great, Wyatt was a perfect little angel.

This morning I had arranged to take both kids to the day home together for a couple hours so I could go to the gym. Everything was going great, dropped the boys off and they both seemed happy. Halfway through my workout I got a text with this photo

Apparently Amanda (Day-home lady) had asked Wyatt to move the horse (that he was smashing against the wall) away from the wall. She said he came up to her and screamed NO in her face, then did it three times again. So she put him in time-out. She said he literally screamed, kicked his feet and rolled around for 20 minutes until he got too tired to cry. I texted back asking if she wanted me to come and pick up my little bundle of joy but she didn't respond...so I kept working out.

When I finally got back to the day home Amanda replayed the story for me, she was absolutely shocked at how he acted and shocked at how he just screamed for so long.... I of course told her that this is really just the every day for him. It is almost somewhat gratifying when he has these fits for other people. Last week Amanda really didn't believe that his fits were any different than any other child's.

Anyways I start packing the boys up , Ethan puts his boots on and starts stamping his feet on the ground. Amanda had apparently already had asked him to stop stamping his feet many times and here he is still stamping. So I asked him to stop as well (a few times). Of course he does not listen to me pretty much ever so finally he keeps stamping until the baby downstairs wakes up. I felt terrible. I start putting Wyatt's jacket on and Ethan says "DAMMIT" then says "DAMMIT" again. I look at him and tell him that is not a kind word, but by that time our little parrot Wyatt starts saying 'Dammit' as well, so both boys are saying it. I look at them both and ask them to stop, then my lovely son Ethan says "Only Mom and Dad can say Dammit right"? OH GOSH, so embarrassed....

I am almost 100% we will not be welcomed back into this day-home ever again....