February in review

How did February go...in accordance with my goals you might ask...well, you might not care, but I'm going to tell you anyway because it's MY blog, and I can do what I want to! :o)

I walked on the treadmill 12 days for a total of 31.58 miles. Not quite as far as I had hoped, but I'm still moving, and that's the important part! I finally have started seeing results from my walking and change of eating habits! Yea! I've lost about 8 pounds, but my clothes are fitting different! My pants are all getting way loose, I even went out and purchased a belt this weekend! I have been eating less snacks, and jsut a slim-fast for breakfast. I've been eating smaller lunches, and drinking more water. All of this is helping in my health improvements. I'm proud of myself!

While walking, I have continued my Bible reading. I have now finished Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. I am looking forward to reading Ruth starting tomorrow!

On the home front, I have kept trying to do the menu planning, which really helps during the week. Just knowing that there is a plan in place for dinner helps me not to stress out. I have been trying to fix double of some things and putting the extra in the freezer for a quick meal. For example, I made about 3 pounds of taco meat a few weeks ago and froze them in baggies (1 cup per baggie). Tonight when I got home at 5:30 from a meeting at the preschool I will be working at next year...I just pulled out a baggie and threw it in the microwave. With the other ingredients already ready to go, supper was on the table in less than 10 minutes. I have also made the resolution not to buy anymore sugary cereal. I just feel like a bad mom sugaring up my kids in the morning. Why not just feed them candy and cookies and send them off? The cereal they have been eating can't be much better than that. So...I told them that when this stuff is gone, it's gone. I won't buy anymore. I am buying honey-nut o's (generic Ch**rios) and plain O's, and mixing them together. They still get some sweet, but not nearly as much sugar as they are currently consuming. I'm also trying to make sure that there are always fruits and veggies (carrot and celery sticks...cut up and ready to eat) in the fridge for a healthy snack. I've never been big on serving cookies as a snack, but peanut butter crackers and graham crackers also have a lot of sugar and aren't all that healthy.

On the frugal front, we're doing pretty great. Warren has been very aggressive in paying off some credit card debt, and has paid off one completely in the last two months. OUCH! He has also put a lot in our money market account to cover our taxes and other expenses that are coming up. It has been rather painful, but necessary. We know we can and are surviving on what God has provided. I must admit that I sometimes get frustrated that I can't go get the kids a treat or when I worry about going to the grocery store, but I know that Warren is doing what is best for our family and I try to follow his lead. (Warren, please forgive me when I question your judgement and become cranky.) We have only gone to Wal-Mart once during this month, so that cuts way back on our spending. I do our MAJOR shopping there to stock up on the basics, and then fill in the gaps at our local store when needed. We have only gone out to eat once a week (or none on some weeks). I know I can continue to do better.

Now for March...my goals:

• Continue walking. I want to walk tha majority of days this month, with a mileage total of more than 40. I want to continue to move the scale in the right direction...loosing 10 pounds would be GREAT!
• I want to continue to encourage the children to make better choices in their eating as well...which means I need to be a good role model and offer healthy choices.
• I want to continue to read through my Bible, and talk to my Father.
• I want to make practicing mathc facts with Abbigail a priority. She is a great student, but her math facts are lacking. She is already saying "I hate math." and "I'm just no good at math." which I find very sad. I want to play games with her to help her practice while having fun.
• I want to continue to work on being more frugal...and less cranky when I think Warren is being too aggressive with our debt reduction.
• I want to be more patient with our children. I find myself getting frustrated and yelling a lot more than I want...I want to make an effort this month to be more patient, more loving, and less "monster mom."