halloween & tasty tuesday/hot mama update!

hello all!

i hope everyone had a great weekend and had fun 
trick or treating...

i know we did!

we went trick or treating in my parent's neighborhood this year and had a blast!

we walked a long way, but the kids loved it.

and their costumes were a hit!

quinn & lincoln
a.k.a. cookie monster & elmo

everyone kept asking if they were twins...

even more shocked to find they were 15 months apart and had a 6 month old sister...sigh...just don't ask if you can't handle the truth, people!

i'm just now realizing i didn't get any pics of cora fayne's whole outfit, my mom was taking pictures too and i must have been relying on that too much! oops!

but...

i do have pictures of cora fayne in her halloween shirt

(the hubs agrees that this is absolutely true!)

and

in her "bean" (for beaner) halloween costume sporting her bud porter's yoda hat! ha!

(i like to call this picture "Yoda Bean")

it was just too adorable to pass up the photo opp :)

all in all it was a fun evening though...

lincoln was totally into it.

he walked from house to house and would say,

"can i have some trick or treats, please?"

we kept trying to tell him that he only had to say,

"trick or treat",

but he just kept repeating the same thing over and over again...

and as he received his candy he then would proceed to tell them..."ok i'm going to go and get some more trick or treats." haha!

love that kid.

quinny was a little unsure.

he liked getting the candy and seeing new people.

but he walked slow and about every 20 feet would stop and try to start eating candy right there on the sidewalk.

he's not really a "big picture" kinda guy, that quinn. ;)

and cora was just taking it all in.

we had her bundled in her stroller with a blanket and she liked watching the people and seeing all the lights.

so i deem this halloween a great success!

---

tasty tuesday's & hot mama

double whammy.

it's been a while since i posted a recipe so i thought i'd share not only a new "recipe" (it's really just a delicious sandwich),

but also give an update on my hot mama status.

last i checked in i was going to attempt the 30 day shred.

well...that was a bust.

i got through a week of it, and then just lost all my motivation.

i think i just didn't enjoy the workouts much.

and i didn't have all the right equipment to begin with, so plain and simple i just gave up.

however, i am feeling much more motivated these days and feel like i am on a much better track.

i am no longer doing slow carb for right now, because i found that i had fallen into some pretty bad habits.

one of these bad habits was if i found myself in a bind at dinner time or out and about, i would immediately just break the rules.

and if i broke the rules i somehow felt like i was confined to only starting over on a monday and would proceed to eat like crap until that next monday came.

so i'm sure you catch my drift, but if i found myself eating chick fil a on a tuesday,

i would eat HORRIBLY the whole week until next monday.

not good.

so i'm switching things up (yet, again) and have been counting calories.

the plain, old fashioned way of losing weight. :)

my friend, brandi, gave me a tip on a great tool i've been using and would love to share with y'all.

it's called myfitnesspal.com

PLUS they have a free app for smartphones!

you can set your calorie limits, challenge weight, and all sorts of things and then simply record what you eat all day via the web or your phone.

add in any exercise as well and it will recalculate your numbers for you.

on the app it has a function where you can scan a bar code of any food and it will automatically bring that food up for you to put into your daily journal.

it also has a HUGE database of foods, so if you find yourself in one of those aforementioned "binds", you can search anything...a restaurant, brand, type of food, and most times it will have all the nutritional facts there for you. 

pretty awesome stuff.

plus you can add people as friend's if you'd like and see what they post throughout the day and how they do on their weigh -ins. you also have the ability to send and receive messages and comments so you don't feel like you're doing this whole weight-loss thing alone. it gives you a great support system! 

so if you're looking to lose weight (the old fashioned way!) 

i highly recommend this website/app!

and just so you know i am definitely NOT getting paid to talk about this website, it really is that awesome!

i also want to side note that i am starting to inch myself more towards clean eating as well.

while 100 calorie fudge shoppe cookies are delicious and low in calories, they are still a processed food that just isn't good for your body. so i am slowly switching my pantry over to fresh, whole, healthy, clean foods.

little steps make it budget friendly. :)

so....all that to introduce this week's tasty tuesday recipe!

graham and i have been calling these delicious sandwiches,

"that good sandwich".

original i know.

but seriously y'all. this was SUPER tasty.

and filling.

and not expensive or hard to make.

and above all...it was fresh.

it just tastes like good ingredients should.

and makes you feel refueled.

not just full.

awesome.

so until i can think of a better name for these...

That Good Sandwich

what you need:

1 sandwich thin 

(i used the Arnold's brand, whole wheat, 100 cals)

fresh spinach

baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

carrot chips

(the presliced carrots that are thin and long)

low-fat block of part skim mozarella cheese

hummus

(i chose the gluten free Sabra roasted red pepper because it was low on cals and big on flavor)

what you do:

1) so basically you use your hummus as your condiment.

no mayo. no mustard.

2 tablespoons generously covers both pieces of bread.

2) pile on the spinach. as much as you'd like! i usually use about a cup.

3) next i use 2-3 sliced mushrooms

4) 2-3 carrot chips

5) then i cut a couple of pieces of cheese, usually around an ounce worth, and layer it on top.

6) put it altogether and enjoy!

it's so. freaking. good.

trust me! you do NOT need a bunch of meat and mayonaise to make a sandwich good! this will fill you up and be tasty i promise!

the best part is...this sandwich is only 221 calories.

total. 

that's pretty awesome in case you didn't know!

i'm sure in the future i'll switch it up a little, maybe add or swap out for different ingredients.

but for now i will bask in the deliciousness of 

this good sandwich. :)

hope y'all have a good week and

happy november!

xoxo, 

heather

lately... {an update for madeline}

well this has been one, crazy month so far.

to say the least.

just a quick run down of some things we've done so far and have yet to do:

- four family member's birthday's/party's

- a birth of a cousin

- a trip to the lake

- a family friend's wedding

- we've moved from an apartment to a house

- halloween

- doctor's visits

....and the list goes on and on...

i'm pretty sure i'm forgetting a bunch of stuff, too, but i seem to be blocking things out these days.

so i posted every day in september and here it is the 25th of october and you have yet to hear from me.

well, my dear sister-in-law totally called me out on it, so here is an update.

you can thank madeline.

---

six months old!

the baby girl one is six months old today...

geeze does the time fly!

i still feel like i just had her, and here it's already been half of a year.

i took this picture today after getting her dressed in her "big girl outfit":

jeggings and a cute tee ;)

and here she is in her jump hang...

i've been calling her cockatoo cora as of late.

for obvious reasons.

her hair, when not pulled up in a bow, resembles that of a cockatoo.

that is all.

---

celiac, or no celiac. 

that...is the question.

so i took quinn in for his two year old well visit at the doctor this month and the doctor and i discussed getting blood work done for the celiac panel.

i asked him if there were any stipulations to the test 

and he said,  "no".

when prior to seeing the doctor i specifically told the nurse that he hasn't been eating gluten.

he hasn't had any gluten, 

except for accidentally, for ten months.

so it's my surprise when i get a phone call saying this,

"hi mrs. lutz, we got quinn's lab tests back and it says he's negative for celiac! however, i do see some interesting notes here in the comments section. it says there wasn't an adequate amount of gluten in the bloodstream, so test results may vary. huh."

literally. that's what she said.

this nurse has been a thorn in my side for quite some time and i have actually saved this voicemail on my phone so that if anyone questions me in the future, i can show them just how slow she can be sometimes...

anyway. clearly i'm not testing him again right now because,

a) as you can tell from the picture, she had to stick him not once, but TWO times, because she couldn't get any blood in the first arm. stupid, lady.

and b) how much is an "adequate amount of gluten"...?

i don't want to make my child sick just to prove what i already know. the only reason i did this test was because i thought for some reason (my doctor didn't imply he needed to be eating gluten) this test was different from previous tests i had read about.

sigh....

quinn was a trooper though. he barely cried at all, and asked only for a kiss when he was done. 

we sang him the abc's and that seemed to 

make everything all better. :)

---

"i want to pick it."

so apparently, my 3 year old is growing up.

he insists on dressing himself these days.

which is actually ok,

 because most of the time he enjoys matching. 

and looking generally awesome.

here's a picture of him all ready to go spend the weekend at mema and papa's house.

we packed his thomas 'pack pack'.

'lightnin' qeen cup',

and with puppy in hand he was ready to go.

no joke he picked that outfit himself...

you can't see it, but he's got on dark jeans and chucks...whatev.

---

happy birthday to, me!

my parent's took lincoln for the weekend,

while graham's parents took quinn.

(thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!)

so graham, cora and i had a nice relaxing weekend with some close friends up at my parent's lake house for my birthday.

it was awesome.

just to sit there and do nothing, was the best gift ever.

i don't think i've done that for quite some time.

cora is a super easy baby, she mostly just sleeps, eats, and smiles at you, so taking her still felt like a vacation. :)

on saturday, just the girls took a short day trip to the next town over for some eating and shopping.

she got a little tired on the way home, but nothing too bad.

and that night...we dined! we had poor man's lasagna,

real italian wine,

salad, bread, and of course...birthday cake.

but not just any birthday cake, no no no!

we had the most delicious birthday cake any person has

ever consumed.

seriously, i can't even explain how fantastic it was!

courtesy of my friend torie of course.

(candles courtesy, madeline!

two mentions in one post?! inconceivable!!)

and then, not only did she give us yummy cake...

she woke up the next morning at 5:30 a.m. 

to start making us cinnamon rolls...!!!

(friend of the year award, anyone?!)

i think she must have flown to heaven and back because that's exactly what they were...heavenly.

i came home relaxed, and ready to 

conquer the disaster that is my house right now.

we've moved again, to a 3 bedroom house in the 

north druid hills area of atlanta, and so far we love it!

much bigger than our old place with the added bonus of a back yard. which is highly recommended for two toddler boys and an 85 pound dog. 

i hope to upload more pictures of the house as i get to decorating it.

right now my house is what i like to call, jumbly up.

it speaks for itself.

so that's all i got right now.

there's some stuff i didn't touch on, but i think those are the basic tidbits. 

i look forward to posting some halloween pictures, too!

even though i went the easy route again this year and just bought costumes instead of making them...i think they're going to be a hit! i'm excited! :)

take care, y'all.

oh! p.s. this is the newest lutz addition...

the youngest cousin yet...

William Ransom Lutz

a.k.a. will, bill, billy, billy rubin

he had a slight case of jaundice (hence the funny nicknames), but is doing much better now!

so. freaking. cute!

welcome to the lutz clan!

we hope you survive!

;)

whoa! p.p.s i just realized that i started this blog 

one year ago!

happy anniversary to me! 

thanks for reading, y'all! :)

sepTUNESber, day thirty

welp, it's our last day folks.

it's been real.

not that you really did anything except for show up and read my crazy rants about random things in my life, but hey.

it was a blast anyway...

day thirty

"Your Favorite Song This Time Last Year"

so is it sad i couldn't really remember this time last year when i first sat down to think about it?

can you say mommy brains...

uhh...anyway, the more i thought about it the more i realized this time last year was very different around our house...

i was still in my first trimester of pregnancy.

feeling blah and only running around after two kids.

i was still living in dacula.(!)

that's crazy to me! it seems like forever ago...

i wasn't 25 yet.

which i don't know about you, but 25 has definitely felt older to me. 

at least older to say.

you get a different reaction from people when you say i have

 2 kids and i'm pregnant and 24,

 as opposed to 2 kids and pregnant or 3 kids and 25.

dunno what it is, but people are just more accepting of 25 it seems...hmmm...

my best friend brandi still lived in georgia!

man, i still kick myself for not spending every minute of every weekday with her! but of course they didn't know they were moving so it would've been weird and stalkerish to make demands like that.

even still...i probably should have.

p.s. montgomery's...whenever you're ready to live where i am, i am ready and waiting...just fyi...in case you were looking for some notice or something...this is it. here's your sign...any day now...ok, fine. 

excuse me while i go silently weep in the corner. 

anywho!

where were we? ah, yes.

this time last year i loved this song.

which shouldn't really surprise you by this point. 

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

so this concludes my 30 day song challenge...

i hope you all enjoyed it and possibly 

found some new music to love!

just because i can't resist, here are a few songs that didn't get featured, but i like them and want to share them anyway.

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

The Civil Wars - Poison & Wine

Gavin DeGraw - Not Over You

Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

i've been lovin' those tunes lately...

alright well hope all is well and will get back to your regularly scheduled blogging in the next month!

ciao, peeps.

sepTUNESber, day twenty-nine

almost done...

where did this month go??

day twenty-nine

"A Song from Your Childhood"

man, this is a hard one, too!!

as per usual, here are a few of my faves with some 

back stories for each just for fun! :)

---

when i was little and my parents were in charge of the radio we listened to 

Fox 97 (anyone else out there?!).

the oldies station.

and i loved it!

so much good music from the 50s, 60s and 70s!

i just always loved this song and thought it was so funny.

The Searchers - Love Potion Number Nine

(originally by The Clovers)

this one frequented our boom box and had many a dance routine made up to it whenever my sister and i visited my cousin ashlei...

they were a lot older than me, so i just took directions and played along and felt cool. :)

The Supremes - Stop! In the Name of Love

---

these girls reigned supreme of recess when i was in 

late elementary school years. 

seriously, what young girl didn't have this song memorized?!

Spice Girls - Tell Me What You Want

---

to say this was my favorite "band" in middle school and high school would somehow be an understatement.

i myself, along with a bajillion other screaming girls, was obsessed with these boys. 

you already know about my love for j.t.,

(which started back when he was on the mickey mouse club!)

but i really did love all of them...

as group...

singing and dancing so, freaking awesomely.

my dad bought me tickets to their no strings attached concert for my 15 birthday. the concert was on my actual birthday, which made it even awesomer. 

and when i asked torie to come with me, knowing she was a 98degrees fan,

 i was nervous, but hopeful. 

she, of course, said yes.

and that my friends is what took our friendship to the next level.

so not only did these boys provide us with 

superb harmonies and mesmerizing choreography.

they gave me my best friend.

deep, i know.

*NSYNC - Bye, Bye, Bye

(why, yes. i do know all the choreography to this song and many others. don't judge.)

i also met the hubs thanks to *NSYNC.

my friend brittany told me i needed to meet this hot guy who knew all the dances like me.

yup. you heard that right.

my husband knows *NSYNC choreography. 

he won front row *NSYNC tickets from a 

95.5 the Beat dance competition.

he was the joey of the group. :)

and being the nice guy he is he gave them away to some of his other friends because he already had 5th row tickets.

such a gentleman...

anyway...can you blame me for falling in love and marrying the only man i knew other than these boys to dance and love *NSYNC as much as i did.

no, you cannot.

one more day y'all.

see you tomorrow!!

sepTUNESber, day twenty-eight

ok, i'm not gonna lie.

i don't really get this one.

day twenty-eight

"A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty"

i mean. guilty about what?

we already did guilty pleasure songs...

so i don't really get it.

maybe i'll just post this and call it a day. 

Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

i guess i should feel guilty for getting that song stuck in your head now. 

you're welcome. 

muahahahahahahaha! 

sepTUNESber, day twenty-seven

man oh man, do i wish i could play an instrument...

it's not like i haven't tried.

i don't know what it is.

i think it may be that i'm left handed when it comes to playing instruments,

 so it's hard learning when it feels backwards.

and i also think that i just hear too many of the instruments at the same time, it's hard to only focus on one.

all i know is...i'm great at listening to music and hearing all it's elements,

i'm just not so great and playing all those elements.

day twenty-seven

"A Song You Wish You Could 

Play on an Instrument"

this was tough because having to choose just one instrument is hard...

so i thought i'd pick a few :)

Mason Williams - Classical Gas

don't let the name fool you...

this acoustic guitar piece is UH-Mazing!

it doesn't help that the hubs can play this on guitar...

every time he does i'm super jealous!

*i wanted to find a video of Mason Williams playing this song because to watch his hands while he's playing it is incredible! but i couldn't find one that was good quality...so...

 just listen to all the clear sounds and riffs...it's fantastic!*

The Beatles - Lady Madonna

i mean...they're amazing. doysters.

but this just sounds so fun to play on the piano!

The Avett Brothers - Paranoia

they have another song i like better for banjoing...?

but i couldn't remember it and this one is great, too. 

i'm about 99.9% sure i'll require my children to play instruments...

it's just so great for them!

what do you think?

do you want to play an instrument?

what about for your kiddos?