You Capture Week Ten

Joy. That was this week's challenge. Of course I put off the challenge once again! Mainly because it was hard to come up with something to represent joy. My children bring me joy, so I figured I would snap shots of them. However, I wanted the the joy to be evident on their faces. So what brings them joy? Here they are doing two of their favorite things combined: playing with Daddy and jumping on the trampoline.

This picture just looks awesome. Tater is doing her "split-jump". Unfortunately you cannot see the joy on her face because her crazy hair is in the way!

I took this picture a couple of days ago. It helps me to remember to stop and enJOY the beauty around me.
Hop over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see some great captures!

Just Had to Share

I thought that this was so funny that I just had to share it with you all! Since we have experienced a heat wave the past few days Hubby has been complaining that he couldn't find any type of sandal. He thought for sure that they were buried somewhere in the basement where he would not be able to find them until summer was over. I knew that I remembered seeing them since we moved and I also knew that I should probably look for them for him. However, I never did and when we were out shopping last night he bought two new pairs.

Imagine my surprise when I was putting away laundry today and looked down and saw this:
Upon further inspection this is what I found. Not one, but two pairs of sandals! Hahaha.

In his defense there was a towel that somehow missed the laundry basket laying over the shoes that were blocking them. Other than that I did not move a thing! Hilarious. Love ya Babe!

Catching Up

I realized that I have not really posted much about the kiddos lately so I thought I better give some updates on them. I really need to do an Easter post, but that will have to come later! For now here is a picture of us all dressed up.
Tater is doing great. Not much "changing" going on with her. She continues to get smarter by the day and I am constantly bombarded with questions throughout the day. Most of which I have no idea how to answer! I usually stumble along to the best of my ability, which is usually followed by a long list of whys! She keeps me on my toes, that is for sure. She is quite the fashion diva...only the fashion makes sense to only her. I have long ago decided not to fight her on what she wears. She gets to decided what to wear even if it evokes quite a few stares when we are out and about. This past weekend when it was 80+ degrees outside, she thought for sure that she needed to wear her hat and gloves.

Zander is also growing and changing so much everyday. One of my favorite things that he does right now is to tell me secrets. He comes up and makes the whispering noise and at the end whispers secret. It is so cute. He just loves to play outside and is all boy, let me tell you.

Unfortunately he is cutting his two year molars right now and it has really changed his disposition. I couldn't remember Hannah being so fussy, so I looked through my archives to see if I had written anything. Sure enough I had. Turns out she was fussy, I just must have blocked out that part! I am also a little concerned with how he turns his right foot in when he walks. When we originally asked the pediatrician about it she said they usually don't do anything about it until the child is 3 or 4. However, it has gotten much worse since then so I think we will be bringing it up at our next visit.

Weigh in Wednesday

It is time to weigh in over at the Sisterhood. I was just plain busy last week and missed it so here I am and it is confession time. Somehow I managed to fall off the wagon. Meaning that I haven't done any type of "exercise" the past two weeks. Thankfully I did manage to eat semi-healthy, I mean strawberry pie for breakfast is acceptable right? It is after all a fruit. Suffice to say that I am back to my starting weight. Shocking isn't it? So, now I am hoping to get back on the wagon and start exercising regularly.

I did buy this really awesome water bottle in order to help keep track of my water intake.


Isn't it awesome? I am also starting a "diet." (Side note: it is most definitely a diet and not a lifestyle change since I am using slimfast.) I am using slimfast because I have had success with it in the past and I am hoping to jump start my weight loss. Once I get get it going then I am going to switch over to just eating healthy.
I am a little freaked out beause this is week 5 and I am still at square one. I was hoping to be further along by now...

Operation Make the Backyard Beautiful

I realized yesterday that I forgot to show a before picture. So, here is what our steps looked like before:

They were just cheap rickety steps that the builders put up. Here is the (almost) finished product:
The guys did a great job! It looks so much better now. I was just a little taken aback by how small it is. Other than that I love it. Now we just need to buy some plants and patio furniture and it will be complete.

Operation Make the Backyard Beautiful

Operation Make the Backyard Beautiful is in full swing. The first "phase" is complete...move all of that dirt and mulch around the house. I even convinced a good friend to come help move the dirt. (Thanks Alan!)
Here is a picture of all that dirt spread around the back, because I know you are just dying to see it!

Phase two, consists of enticing Tony's brother down for the weekend with the promise of going to shoot at the range with all of Tony's toys. Then convincing him that since he is coming down anyway why not help with the patio? Phase two, complete!
Phase three is underway. We were hoping to get pre-made cement steps for the back door. However, we could not find anyone around here that sold them. So, the boys are making them out of block. The steps are almost complete, they ran out of blocks last night and had to make a run to the store this morning. It was pretty hilarious listening to them "strategize" yesterday. It took them longer to decide how to do the steps then it actually took to lay them.

You Capture Week Nine

This weeks challenge was Letters. Let me just start off by saying:
What? I'm not sucking up...no, not at all. I mean I just stuck the spoon into the soup and that is what appeared. No, REALLY! OK, so maybe I am...just a little.

These pictures I had a hard time putting in a collage. I am not that familiar with photoshop yet and I couldn't figure out how to make it a bit bigger. Anyway, with the help of some friends and cousins we made our own letters.

The kids really had a really fun time making their own letters. I had a great time laughing at them. I love it how my nephew wouldn't stay in a straight line, no matter how many times moved him. Also, we may have bribed a couple of the kids with a treat to keep doing the letters!

Every time I was in the car I saw so many cool signs and letters that I wanted to take pictures of, except I kept forgetting my camera. So, the moral of the story is that I need to start taking my camera with me everywhere.

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out some great captures.

You Capture Week Eight

This weeks challenge over at I Should Be Folding Laundry was Rustic. Again, I had a hard time with this challenge. Perhaps I am not that creative, or maybe I just procrastinate too much. Hmm, food for thought. Anyway, rustic...what in the world is rustic in my new suburbia? There is a nice barn down the street, but again I am looking for something a little more original. How about these suckers:
My backyard is filled with dandelions. That is pretty "country" isn't it? Maybe clover could be considered rustic? (Enlarge to see the morning dew on it.)

A rocking chair is definitely rustic...right? Well Beth said there is no wrong answer so I guess these are rustic enough for me!

My goal for next week is to actually work on the challenge throughout the week so that I am not scrambling around at the last minute trying to find something. Great idea self.

I'm Laughing On the Inside

Operation make the backyard beautiful is underway, sort of. See this pile of dirt?
We also have a pile of mulch AND some stone coming. Although I am not sure where the stone is going to go. Hubby planned this without my input. The funny part about it is that all of this is in the driveway in the front yard. All of it (except some of the mulch) is going into the backyard. Hubby had a grand plan of them driving through the empty lot behind our house and dropping it off in the backyard. Unfortunately for him it has been raining nonstop the past few days. Which means that the mulch company could not drive through the empty lot in fear of getting stuck. So, now my dear sweet hubby, has to move all of this by wheelbarrow. Poor guy.

Seriously though, we are going to be doing a lot of work the next couple of days on our backyard. When it stops raining I will take some before pictures. We will be getting rid of the rickety step and replacing them with some concrete ones, laying a patio and building a flower garden. As well as getting rid of all of the dandelions that have taken up residence in the yard. Eventually we will be putting up a fence. That is after the HOA approves the aforementioned fence.

Thankfully the front yard doesn't need much work. We are just going to put in some sort of edging around the current flowerbed. Then plant some flowers and throw some mulch on the flowerbed and ta-da.

We'll see how much we can get accomplished this weekend. I will be sure to take lots and lots of pictures. After all I am the landscape designer, supervisor and photographer...

Weigh in Wednesday

Week 3:
I was totally prepared to write another Easter is kicking my butt post, because really I have no self control when it comes to chocolate and cookies. However, for some reason...maybe the shredding, maybe the fact that I have now started running on top of the shredding, I have lost one pound. I know, I know. One pound really isn't that big of deal, but it is to me. The past two weeks I have been holding steady and to finally see the sale move down is a great feeling. Hopefully this next week there will be even more movement since I won't have any big meals getting in the way. I will however still have lots and lots of chocolate. I just need to show a little self control. Really, what is the point of working so hard if I am just going to cancel it out by eating lots and lots of chocolate? I would rather see the fruits of my labor so to speak.

Almost Caught Up

If you are on facebook at all you have no doubt heard me complain about the amount of laundry I have. We are a family of four, with two small children, how can we possibly have so much laundry? Here is some proof about how much laundry we go through. Mind you some of this is leftover from last week that I was too lazy busy to fold!
Amazing isn't it? Guess what? This isn't even all of it! There is still a load in the washer and one in the dryer! Sigh, it never ends does it?

I thought I would give you the view from all sides, just for a little perspective.

Can you believe I just devoted an entire post to how much laundry I have? Just keepin' it real folks, just keepin' it real.

You Capture Week Seven

This week's challenge was fun. I wasn't sure what I was going to take a picture of...what is fun? I had thoughts of taking a picture of my kiddos doing something silly, but then kind of forgot about it. We had Easter with my husband's family this past weekend and my adorable nephew had a blue sucker. I just thought he was too cute with his blue face and curly hair and really, what is more fun than hunting eggs and going on a sugar overload?

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out some great captures!

Easter is really kicking my butt....

Today is Weigh in Wednesday for the Shrink into Summer Challenge.
Well what can I say? No weight loss:( I maintained the same weight as last week though so that is a plus since I have probably eaten my weight in chocolate since Saturday. We had Easter dinner with Bologna's family this past weekend and I did fairly well with not stuffing myself. However, that darn chocolate is killing me. I have been trying to stay away from it, but when it is in the house it just calls my name all day long! To top it off we have another Easter this weekend where my kids will be getting much more chocolate.
We have started the 30 Day Shred and it is much harder than I anticipated. I had started the video before but I was doing it every other day. We are doing it everyday for 30 days, 10 days on each level. Today is only day three, so I am sure it will get easier as the days progress right? As it is I can barely make it up the stairs.
My goal for this next week is to be better about what I eat. What is the point of killing myself (thank you Jillian) if I am not monitoring what I eat? So, going to start today writing down everything that I eat.

You Capture, Week 6

This weeks challenge was Spring! The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of spring is painted toes and flip-flops! That and rain, rain, rain...and lots of mud!
My daughter saw me taking pictures of my toes and wanted hers to be included!

Of course spring also brings the trees to life! I am curious to see what the trees around our house will look like as spring progresses.

I am also curious to see the colors that will pop out of my flower garden. Again, since this is our first spring in the house, I have no idea what is here so it is exciting to see these pop out of the ground!

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out some awesome pictures!

Shrink Into Summer!

Did you notice my button on the sidebar? I have taken the plunge, time to get serious about my weight loss (and lose my muffin top). I need something to keep me on task so I decided to join the Sisterhood. It is a group of people all trying to lose the extra weight. I don't think there is a better way to do it!

Throughout the weeks there are mini challenges. This weeks challenge was hula hoop on the wii fit. Not just any hula, but the 10 minute hula! Whoever has the highest score wins! Side note: Have you tried it? Seriously, try it!! It is a great workout. They are getting ready to start a 30 Day Shred challenge as well. Consider joining the Sisterhood if you are trying to lose a little (or a lot) of weight.

Now, onto my progress. I have lost 0 lbs. Of course I just joined this weekend, so I didn't expect to see any loss. Especially since my Mom was here this weekend and I ate a lot of food! However, I have started my 5k training and now I am accountable for my weight so....hopefully next week there will be a difference in my numbers.