What a great Muller Weekend!

Here you go!

Pounds Lost This Week: Gain of 1 Pound

Pounds Lost Since Surgery: 98 Pounds

Pounds Lost Overall: 140 Pounds

Pounds to go until GOAL: 55 Pounds

I know this is a step in the wrong direction. But I will be honest with you. Every week I weigh I take the whole number. I actually didn't gain a whole pound. I gained 0.4. But it's still a gain. I also believe this is water weight. I had a full weekend and it was pretty hot. I was drinking constantly and I feel I probably shocked by body. You might say it's an excuse and I could be completely wrong, but I refuse to let myself get down this week. It was too great of a week. And, I did follow my diet. I didn't eat any bread (even though I wanted to). I didn't eat any of Aunt Mary's cookies (even though I really really really wanted to). We walked everywhere. I was active. I'm doing what I said. Like I said in previous posts. Sometimes, it three steps forward and two steps back, but I'm defintely going in the right direction.

So, last week was a wonderful week. It was filled with family and fun and love and camping. Perfection. First thing, Wednesday, I dropped off my ring at the jewelers. There was an incident last week where I flipped my hair back and my ring went flying across the room. I freaked. I scrambled on the floor looking for the thing. Finally, I found it and decided that it was time. It was size it or lose it. So, I had it sized. I went from a size 9.5 to a 6.5. I lost three sizes on my finger!!! No more losing the bling!

Wednesday night, we prepared for the weekend. I finished some homework and packed and got ready for a great weekend. We were up all night baking. We made several kinds of cookies that were sugar free and grain free. I really enjoyed it. I love to cook and to bake. I keep talking about how food is psychological. You never know how much goes into it until you don't do it anymore. Baking was something I enjoyed doing. I got to enjoy it again. In fact, the recipe of the week is for the NGSF Snickerdoodles. They were our favorites of the week!

Thursday morning, we slept in. We took the day off just to prepare for the weekend since we couldn't pick the girls up until after school. We lounged around and finally got loaded up and headed to do a few errands. The first errand was to mail Skyler & Jules one of the Muller shirts. BTW, I ordered a size large shirt. It was a little big on me. I tried on Skyler's shirt (my 13 year old nephew) and it fit. That my friends is another no scale victor. Anyways, we wanted to send the Sky-Man and Jules a Muller t-shirt. They are such a huge part of our family and they were missed this weekend. We wanted to share a little piece of that with them. I also sent a 95 piece bag of candy to accompany the shirts because that's what I do. I spoil my babies whether they are in McAlester, Edmond (Joseph), Duncan (Kainan) or Maryland, I love to spoil them. We cannot wait to see them.

Finally, we picked up the girls and the camper and headed out to Mullerville! The Annual Murray County Antique Traction Implementation Association Tractor Show! We love this time of year. It's called Mullerville because there is actually a section of the campground dedicated to the Mullers because there are so many of us there. The count was 96 of us at camp at one time. That is soooo awesome. But it's more than just family, great conversation and good food. It's a learnign experience. They teach you about farm life and farm life in the good ol' days. I learned that money is made from cotton. That's why when you wash a reciept it tears apart because it's wood paper, where money doesn't do that because it's made from cotton the purest form. It's so educational that schools are bused out to the grounds and educational booths are set up. Johnathan & Paul taught the Woodshop booth. I am so proud of them. The girls and I went around to the different booths and learned some more. My favorite it the quilting booth. I am obsessed with quilting. Quilts are so beautiful and they are such a large part of our heritage. Quilting was used for everything for death for birth for weddings for birthdays.

Saturday is the big day. There are tractor games. There are vendors. But the big thing is the parade. This is where all the exhibitors line up and parade their antique tractors. There are an array of them, but my favorite are the old Farmalls. There is just something so pretty about that red color and the mason jar. I'm gonna get one one day. They are too pretty. The Mullers are a large part of that parade. Even the announcer said "Brace Yourself. Here come the Mullers." They said there were generations of Mullers in the parade. I'm honored to be a part of this God-fearing loving family. God sure blessed me with not only Johnathan, but all of the Muller family. But I have to say, my Mr. Muller was the most handsome Muller out there on a John Deere ;)

In the afternoon is the kiddie tractor pull. This event is so much fun. It's a tricycle with a little wagon where you add weight for the kids. Both of the girls participated. Fun fact about Miss Ry. She's learned the phrase "That's not fair." You have no idea how many times I heard this. She also grew fond of some of the Mullers. It's so cute the way she says Muller. She says Moler (like your tooth). She even told me Matt Moler (Muller) is her favorite Moler. I told her she didn't even know who Matt Muller ways. She responds "Yes I do. He wears a hat. Matt with a hat and it rhymes." When did she become so smart?!

Saturday night is the tractor rodeo. This is a fun night for the kids. We let Beth enter this year with Johnathan (again we heard 'thats not fair.'" She had a blast. All of the kids did. And even some of the adults *cough* Kent, *cough* Blake. We all just have a great time together. Again, I'm blessed to be a part of this family and blessed that they all love me as much as I love each one of them. After the rodeo, all of the Mullers took a family picture. There are 70 people in the picture. Look at the beautiful bunch.

So, what did I eat? The normal. I had good breakfasts that consisted of eggs and bacon (even though they had biscuits and I was sooo tempted to have a bite) and some good BBQ. There was rarely any food that I couldn't have. It's not always fun but it's healthy and still good. I want to stress, yet again, that I get to eat pretty flavorful food. I don't eat gross stuff. I don't eat bland. It's very flavorful. Flavoful and cheesy. And with a bunch of cooks like those Mullers, it definetly worth the 0.4 pound gain (still contending that it's water rentention).

So, as I got home, I started going through pictures. Johnathan and I really do look different. I'm proud of us. I found this picture from before and this one from this year. My belly was out further than my breasts. It's always so amazing to look at these before an after photos.

 

So, what now? No, I focus on that goal of being down 20 pounds before November 22nd, except now it's 21 pounds. I need to focus on food and the gym. The gym is a challenge because with grad school, I am so tired. I just need to find a routine that works with my schedule and energy level.

Prayer requests for this week include just prayer for me in general. Again, I thank you in advance for your prayers and encouraging words. They mean so much to me. And if you are a Muller, you are in my prayers and thank you so much for such a great weekend.

Grain Free Sugar Free Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 C. Butter Flavored Crisco at Room Temperature
1 1/2 C. Almond Flour
3/4 C. Granular Splenda
1/4 C. Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

Instructions:
1. In a mixing bowl, combine crisco, 3/4 c. almond flour, Splenda, Brown Sugar Blend, Egg, Vanilla, Baking Soda & Cream of Tartar
2. Blend well with a mixer until well combined
3. Beat in the other 3/4 C. of almond flour until throughly mixed
4. Cover and chill for one hour
5. Before the hour is up, preheat oven to 350
6. Combine 2Tbls Splenda, 2Tbls Brown Sugar Blend and 3/4 Tblsp of ground cinnamon.
7. Scoop out teaspoons of dough and roll into balls
8. Roll each ball in the sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet
9. Push balls down to 1/2 inch cookies
10. Bake for 14-16 minutes until starts to brown.

Enjoy!