Yummy Low Calorie Snacks!

I have discovered a few very yummy snacks on my calorie counting diet....thought I would share them....Healthy Choice caramel ice cream sandwiches....1.5g fat and 150 calories, Orville Redenbacher Natural Light Butter Popcorn...1g of fat per cup popped and only 20 calories and Blue Bunny 100 calorie butter pecan ice cream bars...7g fat (a little high) but only 100 calories. Also, Chick-fil-A has a new Chargrilled CHicken and Fruit salad...it is only 220 calories and 8g fat and the Low Fat Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing is only 2g fat and 70 calories. Extra tip, you really do eat less dressing if you put it on the side and dip your salad...:o)
Happy eating!!

Vacation

We were very fortunate to be able to go on a second vacation to Cocoa Beach, Fl last week. We had a great time at Sea World, Universal Studios and of course, the beach! I have a couple of tips for those who may want to venture to these places:

1- Buy the meal deal at Universal. For $19.99 per adult and $9.99 per child you can eat all day long at 4 select restaurants in Universal Studios. For about what you would spend on one meal there, you can eat all day, unlimited.

2- At Sea World and Universal, spend the $8-$10 to buy the refillable drink cups. Refills are $1.70 at SeaWorld and only .69 cents at Universal. You can also buy a refill mug with the meal deal at Universal ($8.99) and the refills at the select restaurants are free (unlimited, all day).

3- Buy the fast pass option at Universal Studios. It costs $36 per person but it cuts your wait time in line to 5-15 minutes instead of 30-60 minutes. We did this and were able to do everything in the park in one day. The boys' favorite was the Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster....I rode it 5 times with them!

4- Stand in line early for the shows at Sea World and sit up front (maybe 3/4 rows up...just level with the tank). You get a great view of the show and there is a 95% chance that you will get soaked! If you sit on the first 2/3 rows you can't see what goes on on top of the water. The shows are AWESOME.

5- Of course, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN. The spray kind works great and is really easy to use. All you have to do is spray the kids down every couple of hours. The stick kind is great for the face!

The pictures are of Joseph being a surfer dude, Zach asleep with his dolphin that we got at Sea World, the boys with Woody Woodpecker in their "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" t-shirts and Zach digging in the sand.

Dieting

I have been trying to loose a few pounds (ok, more than a few, but...) and a friend of mine showed me this web site called the Calorie King (www.calorieking.com). Like most other dieting web sites you put in your info and goals and it gives you a plan, but what I like about this is that it gives you the amount of calories, fat, carbs, etc...in just about anything that you can imagine. For $7 per month you can join and there are lots of tools to help you keep track of what you are eating. So far I have lost 5 pounds (in about 3 1/2 weeks) and that's not being "good" all of the time. It is tedious to keep up with what you are eating all of the time but I have become more aware of just what it is that I am eating. Of course, you have to add exercise, too. I have been walking/running everyday and I can tell a big difference in how I feel....now if I could just see the difference in my clothing size! I am proud to say that I can run about a mile and a half now without feeling like I am going to die now (my treadmill is definitely paying for itself now...it took me a few months after I got it to really get into using it). I'm trying to figure out why I even stopped working out to start with. I rather enjoy it since I have started back (alot of years later).

2 Things You MUST Do This Summer!

One - go see Prince Caspian at the movies! We love The Chronicles of Narnia and couldn't wait for the second movie to come out. We saw it the day it opened and it was worth it.

Second - READ The Shack by William P. Young. This is an awesome "true" fiction book. You will see God, healing, forgiveness and redemption in a whole new light! Read about the book and see reviews at www.theshackbook.com, and find out about the author at http://windrumors.com. You will not be dissappointed....I am going to read it again!

New Friends!

Last year we met some new friends at NASCAR Speedpark. We were there for Joseph's birthday and Tracy, Chad and CJ were just having some family fun. We met when CJ and Zach were riding the monster truck ride. Tracy is so sweet and always calls us when they are coming into town. They live in Knoxville so it's not too far away. Last weekend they came and we went to Dollywood. We had a good time....except poor Chad, he had to hang out with the women and kids because Dan didn't make it home in time! He was a good sport, though. Here are some pics from our day of fun!

The Most Important List to Live By

A friend of mine had this on her blog. This is so worth sharing.....

The most useless thing to do......Worry
The greatest Joy..................Giving
The greatest Loss.................Loss of Self-Respect
The most satisfying work..........Helping others
The ugliest personality trait.....Selfishness
The most endagered species........Dedicated Leaders
The greatest "shot in the arm"....Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome..Fear
The most effective sleeping pill..Peace of mind
The most crippling failure........Excuses
The most powerful force in life...Love
The MOST dangerous pariah.........GOSSIPER
The worlds most powerful computer.The brain
The worst thingto be with out......Hope
The DEADLIEST weapon...............THE TONGE
The two most powerful words......"I can"
The greatest asset.................FAITH
The most worthless emotion..........Self-pity
The most prized possession.........Integrity
The most beautiful attire..........A smile
The most powerful channel of communication....Prayer
The most contagious spirit.........Enthusiasm
The most important thing in life...GOD!!!!!!

So much to blog, so little time.....

So much has been going on lately and I always think, "I need to blog about this" but then I get side tracked....anyway, we had a great Mommy's Day. We spent it with my family. My Mommy graduated from Southern Weslyan University with her bachelor's degree in early childhood education. We are all very proud of her for accomplishing this goal. Hope all of my mommy friends had a GREAT Mother's Day.

Joseph is still busy with baseball. He is turning out to be a pretty good pitcher and is really enjoying it. He also decided to get his hair cut after a couple of years of wearing it long. Before and after pictures to follow.

Zach is completely in the all boy stage of capturing every bug that he can find no matter what kind, size or shape! If we see something we don't want to touch all we have to do is call Zach. He is ready in a moments notice to squash (or otherwise dispose of) any creature that finds itself in our path. The other day he was outside pulling up grass so that he could catch a bug that had escaped him.

Dan and I are both working ALL the time but we both enjoy what we do so it isn't so bad. If anybody wants to come to the Smokies this summer give me a call or email!

Oh, and one more thing.....my favorite song right now is a new one by Point of Grace. It is called "How You Live". This song speaks volumes to me and brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it. If you have time check it out on line, just search Point of Grace or the title of the song. :o)