Sunday, March 29, 2015

Hutchinson Park Tour 2015!

So this is a TOTAL activity idea, blog topic and future Shutterfly book steal from my Hutch bestie... I hearby give her all the credit on this one!  (Plus ALL her awesome ideas and ALL her awesome mom skills I have learned from her over the years!)  Thank you Sarah!  I think they have completed the tour twice but there is where I stole the park list from!  The City of Hutch site has a PDF if you want to try on your own!  Though it does look a little outdated and doesn't have addresses... I just may need to have them get on updating that!  


Parks with Playgrounds:
  1. Shady Ridge   
  2. Women's Club  (Piano Park!)
  3. Rotary
  4. Oddfellows   (Purple Dino Park)
  5. Roberts
  6. Masonic/West River 
  7. Riverside Jaycee 
  8. Kiwanis   (Rocket Hill) 
  9. Fireman's
  10. Kimberly
  11. North Woods
  12. Lions Park East
  13. Tartan Park-  (Pirate Park)
  14. North/Community Playground (Park Elementary)--  Our "Home" Park
  15. South   (Frisbee Golf Park)
  16. VFW
  17. Elks
  18. Lions Park West
  19. Rolling Meadows-   (Slideless Park)
  20. Driftriders
  21. West Elementary
  22. Junior Community Women
  23. St. A's
WOMEN'S CLUB: We went here yesterday, March 28th, to get us all fresh air.  Declan was excited to go to a "new" park and has made me excited for this mission!  I used to go here a lot with the girls I nannyed for when I first moved to Hutch.  Brought back some fun memories!  Croix played fetch for almost the whole hour and has been sleeping ever since! Declan went down his first slide head first... and not on purpose.  The look on his face was priceless and he was a little nervous getting in it the next couple times but was careful!   

   

NORTH/COMMUNITY PARK ELEMENTARY PARK: We go to this park at least once a week as it is a block walk from our house.  And it is big and awesome!   Seeing Declan grow and climb and do so much on his own from one week to the next has brought tears to my ears more than once here!  Andy brought Declan and Noah here one warm March Friday evening and them running to hug me was the highlight of my day.  Highlight of their time was the puppy and their first spring wagon ride!





ROTARY PARK: The Albrecht's met us here on our first near 60 degree day on MARCH 11th!  Declan was obsessed with the bridge and then later they made lots of "food" with wood chips at the restaurant window and threw some up as fireworks too!


   

ROCKET HILL: We got a little sledding in here but Dec wanted to spend more time at the park in February!



At SOUTH PARK or ELKS I didn't get pics but they are two other favorites I will later to make them officially count.   At South Park, we were with my first Andie and her husband Jesse.  But managing stroller, a toddler who didn't want to be in stroller and Croix while they frisbee golfed, I just enjoyed the park and company!  It was a wonderful evening with our friends and sometimes just keeping memories in our minds is as good! At ELKS on a pretty cold day, I had Croix and Declan alone too so phone stayed in the car... next time!   



Maroon 5 & Pool Day Getaway




It was a great Monday night getting to spend it with my two crushes... Andy and Adam Levine!  Andy had bought me tickets for Christmas and the day was finally here!  The concert was perfect... He was very solid live and every song I wanted to see they did! 

We debated just getting a sitter in Hutch but knew we are both too old now to stay awake to drive back that late...  so we decided to take vacation days Tuesday and have Declan at a hotel with Auntie Britta!


The original community center waterpark we were going to go to ended up not having open swim in the kid area on Tuesday's so we just stayed and played in the hotel pool.  Declan loved the hot (warm) tub and just waking around chasing us on the benches.  He only crossed the blue line once for one little fall in!  




We then spent some time at the Midtown Global Market near Auntie Britta's house and Declan loved looking at all the neat stores, playing in the toy area and drinking my Kombucha!  He is getting good at the idea of taking turns...when he wants :) ... my turn... mommy's turn... my turn... 

Here is a short video of "his turn" (like his 5th turn and the expression only got better everytime probably due to our laughter)  drinking sour blackberry lemon Kombucha .. "I Like It!"





Wednesday, March 18, 2015

My Little Gymnast!

Declan loves his new United Way Dolly Partner book- Jake the Gymnast!  He loves to do all the things Jake does in the book... Hop like a frog and bounce on the balls and go downstairs to his ball pit! Takes 20 mn to read this book : )


He loves stretching on his mat!



His balance beam!

Monday, March 9, 2015

100 days of "Real Food" ...mini-pledge style


When my friend told me she was going to try some real food mini-pledges at the start of the new year, it sounded like something doable.  Just a week to think about something in the "eating better for life" department.  I have become more conscientious about food since having Declan... and more so when feeding a kid...and now already fearing getting into shape again after baby #2.  So I actually liked the thought of doing this while pregnant to build awareness and habits  and not worry about "dieting"... which in general I won't be worried about dieting after baby #2 either eating this way most of the time.    

 All the information and the mini-pledges below are from Lisa Leake's website and (crazy... in my opinion) journey of 100 day of real food website!   They did all the below mini-pledges all at once for 100 days (and continue to be very near 100% following real food rules all the time)   I know and don't feel I need or will every be that "extreme" but am thankful for this journey so far.  Below is what we did if you want to give it a try! 


For some definitions click here: Real Food, or just seeing the mini-challenges you'll get the gists.

Some "grades" & thoughts on how I did each week are below each mini-challenge!

14 Weeks of “Real Food” Mini-Pledges:

A:  I did this one well.. but it was harder than I thought and started me making sure I prepped everything for easy to grab bags/containers and planned what I would have.  This one I have pretty much continued each week and it really does help you feel fuller.  And it is easy for me because I like veggies and fruit.

  • Week 2: “Real” beverages – Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day).
A: (and easier due to being pregnant... ):  I mainly only have soda when I drink some rum, and the wine was out so LaCroix was acceptable.  I did stop all coffee creamer and just did whole milk. I know have my coffee black or with a little milk and don't miss it.  I have had a few sodas since this week and sips of Andy's but most of it does taste so sweet I don't like it.  But Dr. Pepper will always be my treat! 
  • Week 3: Meat – All meat consumed this week will be locally raised (within 100-miles of your hometown). Meat consumption will also be limited to 3 – 4 servings this week, and when it is eaten meat will not be presented as the “focal point” of the meal. Instead meat will be treated as a side item or simply used to help flavor a dish.
F: for finding local... I didn't prepare and try hard in advance.  But I do want to check out The Lamb Shoppe in Hutch now that I know about it soon as we are about to do Week 11.

B: For 3-4 meal meals a week... Pretty sure I had meat 6 times  (two were bacon for breakfast... mmmm love bacon...) but it wasn't the focal point and did have a few vegetarian meals.  

B:  We did no fast food this week but I did have chips twice and didn't think about how those were made.  And then the day we started week five I think I had two plates of Andy's homemade potato chips on the Superbowl!
A:  Made delicious spaghetti squash sausage lasagna boats and made quinoa for the first time! 
A:  I had been staying away from these labels for most of the challenges after watching  the movie Fed-Up at the start of this challenge. But I have pretty much drank just whole milk or almond milk since.  Yogurt is the hardest but I have pretty much stuck with plain whole milk yogurt, adding honey and my own fruit. 
B:  Planned and prepared for this week because IT IS HARD to find 100% whole grain things, especially with less than 5 ingredients and no added sugars which is a recommendation.  But I'm not going to totally devote myself to baking my own bread and own tortillas so I find the best possible and don't feel guilty about it!  
D:  THIS WAS BY FAR THE HARDEST WEEK FOR ME... and still is... and that's all I have to say about that.
  • Week 9: No refined sweeteners – No refined or artificial sweeteners including (but not limited to): white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice. Foods and beverages can only be sweetened with a moderate amount of honey or maple syrup.
C: Truly I mostly did ok... except for eating out 3 times (and I'm not ending a social life and avoid eating out, but I knew there'd be sugar in the wing sauce, and in dressing for a salad)  but I still made good choices elsewhere)  and ice cream 2 times and chocolate cake.. but blaming Firecracker on the ice cream and it was my sister's bday...  When I cook and prepare meals and snack I did good and that is what I care about. 
  • Week 10: No refined oils – No refined or hydrogenated oils including (but not limited to): vegetable oil, organic vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, organic canola oil, margarine, and grape seed oil.  
Just starting this week... so far so good... I had a baked potato tonight while Andy made his delicious chips that I didn't even sneak one:)    This is doable for a week, but I like hashbrowns once in awhile and olive oil/coconut oil, just doesn't cut it.  If you aren't eating deep fried foods a lot, a little is ok.  But the next four weeks are the kicker... they are hard... I'll be happy with a C average by the end :) 

B: I did pretty well this week.  Two broken meals... I made our breakfast scrambler one day with a little vegetable oil but definitetly followed the 80/20 real food/some processed ingredient I'll be trying to obtain after these challenges
  • Week 11: Eat local foods – Eat at least 1 locally grown or raised food at each meal. This includes, but is not limited to: fruits, vegetables, eggs, grains, nuts, meats, and sweeteners like honey.
A if if was the summer... F for this actually week since I didn't even try.  I am looking for someone to split a weekly share of a CSA at Loon Organics in Hutch!  This week will happen in the summer :) And I have some local honey so guess I'll just put that on everything :)    I continued to focus on stop eating when I am full, eating slower, taking smaller portions and that habit is getting better!
  • Week 12: No sweeteners – Avoid all added sweeteners including, but not limited to: white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, maple syrup, date sugar, maple sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, fruit juice concentrate, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice.
C: I knew this was the hardest week and is the hardest thing  had 2 days where every meal "cheated" (but I blame that on my "Sugar" man Adam Levine and our mini-vaca) and then 2 completely successful days that were HARD and definitely count as success to me...and I had quite a few successful meals... but ice cream was calling my name this week and I had a scoop three different evenings! (But just a big scoop... not a big bowl! That counts as success too!)   And some things with excessive sugars definitely taste repulsively sweet to me now but ice cream isn't one of them!   I am  not feeling guilty having some treats now knowing I'm doing pretty good the rest of the day/week!
Sure... Easter week.. They say no even dyeing egg shells but I say boo hoo to that and I'm not going that crazy. 

C: I didn't avoid the colors and definitely had some Easter candy and treats but meals I made and lots of other snacks I chose wisely.
B+ (Mon-fri)  C (weekends!)  This is one that seems simple and if you are following this, you are basically following all the previous weeks challenges.  Bread is the hardest and the best 100% whole grain bread I can find still has 8 ingredients, but at this stage of my life I will not be baking my own bread!  Something has to give... and that also is ice cream...
I give in to ice cream!!

Preparing for this week and for the new habits that make grabbing healthier snacks and lunches and meals better:



  From starting with baby-led weaning with Declan to me trying to avoid him have any obsession about sugar, I am very grateful he is a good eater.  That has made this all possible doing it while he is young and he doesn't have habits to break.  Andy has been a great sport in eating and trying any meals I cook too.  And prep with planning menus on weekends for small grocery shopping, and freezer meal making for dinners, have helped make the successful weeks, more successful.  I hope these habits will continue and I think they will as they give me so much sanity and help me to enjoy cooking a lot more when I know what the plan is!