Summer Fun

Here's a few of the boys enjoying the summer sun and heat...........

We missed Daddy!

Tim got back from New York on Saturday morning and met the boys and I at Walmart. The boys saw him and practically mauled him in the aisle! All three ran and wrapped themselves around him. Then Uncle Joe gave them money to play the video games and we were off to Granny's house for a birthday party for TJ and Tucker. It was so nice to see everyone. The kids were so worn out that TJ AND Tucker fell asleep on Daddy's lap. They've all been so happy to have him around again even if it is for a short while.

Mmmmmmmm, pie!

Wanna know what this is all about? Go HERE and see!!

The Big Reveal

Remember WAY BACK WHEN? When I told you that I was working on the laundry room and making it bright and pretty? FINALLY I am close enough to done to show you! I still have to paint the cabinet over the washer and dryer, but that's it and I'm done. I'd maybe like some pictures to hang on the wall. Maybe some black and white flowers or some REALLY BRIGHT flowers or something. I'm not sure, but since we probably won't be here forever, I may not even worry about that. So, go check out the before pictures. I'll wait.











Seriously, did you go look at the nasty that used to be my laundry room. GO! I. Will. Wait!

















OK! Here it is!!

See the nice folding counter and the hanging bar? LOVELY!
Big wash tub sink (It's not hooked up yet, but at least it's there!)
Nice little sink. I hung the towel bar back up that was down there and bought some new pretty towels. I may embellish them with some ribbon or lace, but they're fine for now.
I hung the thing on the door for the broom and it's so handy! The kids broke the dust pan I had, but I'll get a new one eventually. The really nice shelves Timmy built for me come in so handy!!
Here's my pretty clock I got at a yard sale. It was still in the box!

Finally TJ's birthday photos!

It's all good when you've got CAKE! (Pineapple angel food with cool whip frosting and fish sprinkles)
Everyone liked the cake!
So as long as they were sugared up, they attacked Brandon's Pappa.

Enjoy!

WFMW: Spark People

Here I am again. This week, I'm going to share with you the "secret" to my weight loss success..... Spark People! Now, I'm not one to go to meetings or weigh in in front of other people. I'm not one to not eat something because it's not on the authorized foods list....I want to eat what I want to eat, when I want to and not worry about having to have enough points to eat it. I can't. I'm a BUSY BUSY mom of FOUR boys, I just plain don't have the time to worry about that. I need something easy. I made a conscious decision to lose weight around the end of April or beginning of May. I checked out massive amounts of books from the library and figured that if I was going to be successful, I needed to have a starting point. So, before I did ANYTHING else, I wrote down EXACTLY every single little (or not so little) thing that went into my mouth....for a week. WOW WAS THAT SCARY! I calculated the calories and it wasn't pretty. So, I made the decision that I was only going to cut back on my portions because I don't want to be deprived and I have 5 boys (4 little ones and hubby) to cook for and I wasn't making me a special meal. I knew that if I only ate my 3 squares with the smaller portions, I was going to be starving and that wasn't a good thing. So, I heard about eating 6 small meals (3 mini meals and 3 snacks) everyday and IT WORKED! So, by now I'm tired of trying to calculate calories, fiber and protein in everything that I'm eating. I logged into Spark People and there is a nutrition tracker where you can enter the food that you are eating and it calculates it for you! It shows you the range of calories, fat, fiber and protein that you should try to hit for your weight. Cool, right?! There are so many other features that you really must check out. There's oodles of good for you recipes and articles to read, videos to watch, workouts to do, quizzes to take. They will give you menus if you want, they'll plan your workouts, it's so awesome. It's like your own personal trainer without the trip to the gym or forking out the cash. So, try it....It Works For Me!

Check out Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer for other fabulous WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY ideas!

Go ME!

The boys have vacation bible school this week. While the hours it runs suck (6-8:30PM, M-F) it is a good chance for me to utilize what is essentially free babysitting. The boys wanted to ride bikes there, so we did. It's .64 miles. I dropped them off and rode another 3.6 miles. Waited at home for an hour and a half, talked to Timmy, and rode back to get them. Total today was 5.52 miles. That's the longest I've ridden my bike in a VERY VERY long time....probably since middle school. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow. I have this weird clicky thing in my knee, so I'm gonna have to question the doctor on that when I see him Friday. It's in one specific spot and it kinda hurts, but only bothers me on the bike, not walking. Hmm.....anyway........It was nice to have a little bit of time on my own, even if I still had the babies, it was the closest I get to alone time. I'm looking forward to doing it again tomorrow!!

Personal DNA

Considerate Leader

You are a Leader


Your solid grounding in the practicalities of life, along with your self-assuredness and your willingness to appreciate new things make you a LEADER.


You're in touch with what is going on around you and adept at remaining down-to-earth and logical.


Although you're detail-oriented, this doesn't mean that you lose the big picture.


You tend to find beauty in form and efficiency, as opposed to finding it in broad-based, abstract concepts.


Never one to pass on an adventure, you're consistently seeking and finding new things, even in your immediate surroundings.


Because of this eagerness to pursue new experiences, you've learned a lot; your attention to detail means that you gain a great deal from your adventures.


The intellectual curiosity that drives you leads you to seek out causes of and reasons behind things.


Your confidence gives you the potential to take your general awareness and channel it into leadership.


You're not set on one way of doing things, and you often have the skills and persistence to find innovative ways of facing challenges.


You are well-attuned to your talents, and can deal with most problems that you face.


You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.


You tend to do things on the spur of the moment, not sticking to a set schedule.


You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people's notions of style.

If you want to be different:
There's more to life than the practical - take some time to daydream and explore the aesthetic sides of things.


You are Considerate


You trust others, care about them, and are slow to judge them, making you CONSIDERATE.


You value your close relationships very much, and are more likely to spend time in small, tightly-knit groups of friends than in large crowds.


You enjoy exploring the world through observation, quietly watching others.


Relating to others so well, and understanding their emotions, leads you to trust people in general, even though you're somewhat shy and reserved at times.


Your belief that people are generally well-intentioned contributes to your sympathy regarding their problems.


Although you may not vocalize it often, you have an awareness of how society affects individuals, and you understand complex causes of people's behavior.


You like to look at all sides of a situation before making a judgment, particularly when that situation involves important things in other people's lives.


Your close friends know you as a good listener.

If you want to be different:
Because other people would benefit immensely from your understanding and insight, you should try to be more outgoing in social situations, even when they make you uncomfortable. Others will want to hear what you have to say!

25 down

Today I got on the scale for this Ragamuffin thing....again. Two weeks ago, we were staying at my parents house so I got to use their digital scale. I got great news while we were there. Last week, I was back home and on my dial scale that SUCKETH and was in the house when we moved in. I have never in my 28 years bought a scale until this past week. I was sick and tired of having to make a guess of my weight. I found some money in a pair of shorts that I forgot I had, so found money is fun money, right?! It was for me. Anyway, that day I took it to walmart and bought my first digital scale. It sends electromagnetic pulses through your body to measure body fat and also hydration. Pretty nice scale for the $25 I spent. Anyway, I'm down to 178 which is only 1 pound lost since two weeks ago, BUT my hubby left then and I haven't exercised since, so it really isn't bad. I've been using Spark People more and logging my food intake....I can actually have what I think is a bad day eating and stay under calories which is really nice. I know it's not great to eat some of the things I've been eating, but I miss him and I find comfort in chocolate. I'm a sucker for brownies. Then the kids found out that I ate them all without sharing and I caught a whole load of crap for it, so I guess I won't be doing that again soon. lol! Anyway, back to the 178....it is only 1 pound down, but it's a big milestone: I have lost 25 pounds since MAY. I'm 3 pounds from my goal and I'm sure that I'm going to change my goal....another 10-20 pounds off would be good, but I'm not making any decisions til I actually hit the one that I've already made.

So, for this week I plan to:
*Use the gazelle 2 days for at least 20 minutes.
*Ride bike with the boys at least 2 days for 2 miles each day....my older boys are 5 and 7, I think they can handle 2 miles....we'll see.
*Keep water intake at 64 oz like I've been able to do this last week. Cross your fingers...this might be the hardest goal of the week!

How are the rest of you doing???

Happy Birthday TJ!

Can you believe he's 2?! Where HAS the time gone?!

I had this beautiful, touching post about him all planned (in my head) and somewhere over the coarse of the day it seeped out before I could write it. I'm looking for the keys to the safe where I keep the discs with the past years pictures, so I'll have a "TJ in review" post sometime after I find the keys. (Any ideas where they might be? Your guess is probably about as good as mine!)

I do have a video of him with his cake tonight, but I'll post that tomorrow. Good night!

TAG! You're it!

My good friend, Christy, has this on her blog and by reading I was TAGGED (as are you now, since you are reading this). Please play along and leave me a comment!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you!


COMMENTS, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE COMMENTS!

Ragamuffin again

Just checking into the Ragamuffin Soul Ragamuffintop challenge.

I majorly increased my water intake this week. I ate fairly well, not great, but since my DH is gone to New York for 3 weeks, I don't cook like I do when he's home. Tonight we had easy but yummy supper of grilled taco chicken breasts with whole wheat penne and a bit of salsa. I should have made a veggie, but mom was too tired. Anyway, last week I was 179 and this week I'm holding. I only got to ride my bike once and yesterday was the first time since the 4th that I took a walk. So, I need to figure out how to work in some exercise with my DH being gone because I can't walk at a brisk pace with 4 boys along. I guess I'll have to work on my gazelle or something. Anyway, there it is. I'm holding steady around 180.

Friends

Since we moved here two years ago, we've made some really great friends! Friday is a shining example. Tim's out of town, so we keep pretty busy. The kids and I were watching a movie in the basement when I hear someone enter our home. Small town, so I wasn't too nervous....so I go upstairs to see who it is and it's our good friend Sharon. She lives just outside of town and recently found out she's pregnant. HOW EXCITING!! So, anyway, she had picked us a cheerios sized box of pinky-nail sized strawberries from her garden. How awesome is that?! It was enough for 1 1/2 batches of freezer jam and a pie. The kids were in heaven!

Sisters

Eight years ago, I gained 4 sisters and an extra mom. Over those years, they've added three neices for me to love. I feel so blessed that they've welcomed me to the family so warmly and wonderfully. They are truly some amazing women and I'm blessed to know them and call them family.

Update on the job search

As many of you know, my hubby graduated this spring and is looking for a job. He had two interviews the last week of June. He called one of them yesterday and they are going to be scheduling a 2nd interview with him. While this isn't EXACTLY the good news we were hoping for, it is good news in the fact that he's still in the running for this job. Please pray he gets it. He hasn't heard from the other one yet, so we aren't expecting good news there....but they could be slow, who knows?!

So, anyway, that's what's up with that situation....it's a holding pattern right now. At least he's back to work. He's out in New York for 3 weeks. This week is near where American Choppers is filmed, so he HAD to check that out. lol! The next two weeks are upstate somewhere near the border to Canada. He didn't tell me exactly where.

Breakin' 180!

So, this Ragamuffintop thing I've been doing the last 6 weeks seems to be helping! Last week I told you that the scale didn't reflect how well I thought I had done. Apparently my good news was waiting to show it's head this week. Here's a little recap:

I started trying to lose some weight just to feel better and be more active. I wanted to weigh 175 and thought that was attainable from my 203 that I was at in March. I'm pretty sure I was still over the 200 mark mid-April. The first week of May I became conscious of what I was eating and how much of it was going in my mouth. I tried to get 6 small meals a day, but with 4 boys that was near impossible. I get 3 squares and maybe 2 snacks a day now and that's going well. I've been able to walk, walk, walk and walk some more and we've been biking around town, too.

So, from May 1st to July 4th I've gone from 203 pounds to 179 pounds. Size 16/18 to a SIZE 12!! I'm needing to tone and work on getting in more cardio, but I'm thrilled at the progress I've made in only 2 months.

Nothing much

Not too much going on here. We're packing to leave on a short trip back home this weekend, so you won't hear anything from us until Monday at the earliest. (90% of my readership will be with us!) I hope you all have a safe and fun Independence Day weekend!