An Assignment for Your Kids

Yesterday, christieO asked us to have our kids write a "shopping list". Basically we were supposed to ask our kids to write a list of things we might bring home from a typical grocery trip. I thought it sounded like a great experiment and so I "assigned" it to That Other Kid as we were driving to his science class.I asked him to list 10 things I might bring home from the grocery store. His spelling, although not terrible for a early 2nd grade 8 year old boy, should not be held against him! This wasn't a spelling lesson!

The following is his list (unedited) and is a pretty accurate list of what would be brought home. Sadly what this list told me is that I buy less veggies than I should and a whole lot more soda and chips than I should!

Milk bananan Appel chips sodu eggs baken clif.

Bred chicken.

The "clif" that he is talking about are Kidz Clif bars - organic and good for him! He loves them and eats one nearly every day for his breakfast!
I found it interesting that he wrote down both eggs and milk although he is allergic to both he still knows they are staples in our families grocery list!
I also see that I need to teach him about the use of commas!

So, your assignment? Have your kids write a list of foods you would bring home and evaluate it. If you do this please let me know what they write down! I'm curious, and nosey!

After The SuperBowl Confessions

It's Tuesday and over at the Sisterhood we do True Confessions to cleanse our souls of all the crappy stuff from the past week.

Wow do I have a list for you! Here goes....

I started a "no coke" challenge with one of my 3 Day walker friends. She drank Dr. Pepper and I drank coke. We both want to stop...I did great until last Friday, since then I have been TERRIBLE having a coke every day! Until today when I realized how stupid I have been! If I want to stop doing something I just need to STOP!! It really should be that simple...It's called WILLPOWER!! So once again no cokes for me - let's hope I can get it to stick this time!

I went to the grocery store on Sunday (I know, stupid!) when I was hungry! (double stupid!) I bought a bunch of "snacky" things and a bunch of good foods. I bought the ingredients to make the zucchini chocolate muffins and haven't made them yet. I also bought the ingredients (and made) Lisa's salsa! It was a hit in our household! In order to eat salsa you have to eat chips, right?! I ate chips with rotel and salsa during the superbowl....and drank a coke! I also bought and made (and ate) little smokies but I bought the beef ones and only ate 4 with crescent rolls! Yummy!

I started doing the #FabAb workout with Nancy and Bari! It's nice to have accountability with others to do this workout! It's HARD but I need to work my abs big time and this is definitely doing that!



You can join us if you want....I guarantee you won't be sorry! We are all gonna have great looking abs at the end of February!

I have gone over my calorie count on My Fitness Pal for the past few days. It's frustrating but I know I need to work through it and get it figured out. I need to start working harder at keeping my food under control! It will help a lot to stay away from the cokes! Here's to a new start!

Did you read my post Saturday? If not, you really need to. I need to report back that since Saturday I have started focusing more on the exercise and less on the "diet". Today at lunch I decided I wanted a salad! That Other Kid saw me fixing a salad and said, "why are you eating a salad? You said you weren't on a diet anymore!" I told him, "I just want a salad...it's a good choice for lunch!" He seemed to like that idea. I thought it was a great way to change the focus from diet to healthy living/eating. Yay!

Little Eyes and Ears Are Watching....

And here we go again...I thought I hit publish last night but hit save instead!

I started this post last week and never got it completed...life just got in the way but tonight I feel it is necessary to finish it. I hope you read it and hear what I am trying to say deep down.

Last Sunday afternoon That Other Kid learned to ride his bike! It was a glorious day for both of us! I have been working with him for about 2 years, and until Friday afternoon he really had no desire to learn. Friday afternoon we went to the skate park where he saw skateboarders skating all over the place. He has wanted to skate board since he was 3!! BUT my rule has been that if he wants to skateboard he has to learn to ride a 2 wheel bike PROFICIENTLY! So we came home from the skate park and he instantly wanted to ride his bike! BUT he got easily frustrated and mad and kept falling! Rinse, repeat for 45 minutes! Finally I called it a day and made him come in. Then Sunday he went out and after 10 minutes he was riding! It was pretty awesome! After 1 hr of riding he was doing great!

I'm really proud of him and now it's time for me to buy a bike so we can go biking together! I love biking and can hardly wait to ride with him! Great memories are to be had!

So I started looking for a bike on Craigslist and asking around to see if anyone has a bike. That other kid has been listening as I talk to people about my search for a bike. On Wednesday he said something to me that really made me think. (before I continue know that the hubby and I have always taught our kids to speak honestly and openly to us, to tell us what they think!) He said, "maybe you need to get skinnier before you can ride a bike."

continued tonight....

I didn't really think too much of his comment till later that evening. I started reflecting on what I am teaching my 8 year old about being healthy and fit. I started thinking about the impressions I am giving him when I say "I can/can't do this because I am overweight". When I am "skinnier" I will be able to do "xxxx" with you. I started thinking about how he doesn't know what it is like to have a mom who is at a healthy weight. Yes, overall I am in pretty good condition. I can (and did) walk 60 miles. I can lift and carry 80 lbs of water into our apartment from our car. I can (and have been) exercise daily for at least 30 minutes a day. I can run VERY short distances (although I don't really do it often). BUT...am I really healthy? No, I'm not. I'm still at the "obese" category on the BMI charts. I still need to lose at least 40 pounds. I still need to learn how to feed my body properly ON A DAILY BASIS, not just when it is convenient or I feel like it. I still need to learn how to prepare healthy, nutritionally balanced meals for our family. I have a long way to go...but as I keep telling myself it is all a process. One day at a time, right?

But...the clincher came tonight right before he went to bed. My 8 year old, 4'2", 62 pound, karate blue belt came into the living room and said, "mom, will you put me on a diet? I'm getting too big!!" That nearly killed me inside! I thought I was going to start crying right then and there. My child who doesn't have an ounce of fat on his body wanted me to put him on a diet! I told him that, "he was supposed to get bigger! He's a growing boy! He's not fat! He's healthy and fit!"

The saddest part of this is that he learned about diets from me! I am constantly "dieting". I am constantly telling him I can't have this or that because it isn't something that is "good" for me. I am teaching him by example that there are 'good' foods and 'bad' foods. Yes, I realize that there are "good and bad for us" foods but my point is nothing should be seen as something that is totally off limits! That is how I got in this place in the first place. (Well that and not taking care of myself for 20 years!)

Now I need to do damage control. From this point forward I will eat foods that are nutritionally sound. I will choose wisely. I will start setting a good example for my son. I want our family to be healthy. I want us to be fit. I want to raise a child who doesn't look at food as a "good or bad" thing. I want him to look at food from the view of "fuel" for his body. Eat when hungry, and only till not hungry. I don't want him to go through life thinking he is fat or unhealthy just because he isn't built like most of his friends who are lean and tall. I want him to live life to his fullest potential, exactly as God created him.

Raising children can be a very daunting task. Raising them to have a healthy self-image is even more daunting. Raising children to grow up healthy and fit, knowing what that means for each individual is apparently even more daunting!

I want what's best for my son and I want what's best for me! It's time to start proving that to both of us!

ShrinkYoSelf 2012 - Week 5

Wow! February already? I know most everyone is having the same reaction...this year is moving right along and we've already finished 1/12th of the year! Anywho, it's Wednesday and that means it is time for weigh in with the Sisterhood. It is also the beginning of February and I had decided I would do my measurements at the beginning of every month this year to "watch" the progress I am making. Keeps me looking at the big picture...how is my body changing?

During the month of January I lost 8 1/4" around various part of my body! I'm happy with that! 2 of those inches were around my waist, 3 of those inches were around my hips!

I started this challenge on January 1st weighing in at 205.0.

Today I weighed 200.0.

That means I have lost 5 pounds in 1 month...not what I wanted but hey it is a loss and a pretty decent one so I'm ok with it.

My goal for this challenge was to exercise EVERY DAY in the month of January using the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Dvd and an additional ab workout! I am thrilled to report that I accomplished that goal! Not only that but yesterday I did ALL 3 LEVELS of the 30 Day Shred at once! Back to back levels! It was HARD! I was a hot, sweaty mess BUT oh what a fantastic feeling!

For February I have decided to use the Biggest Loser XBox Kinect game that My Marine bought me for Christmas. Honestly I had only played with it for about 10 minutes before this morning so I spent some time setting it up and figuring out what I wanted to do. I am going to workout with this game 4 days a week and do something else on the other days that I'm going to exercise. My goal for February is to exercise a minimum of 6 days a week. I feel like I might want to take an occasional morning off so I'm allowing that "day off" once a week. Have any of you used the Biggest Loser game? I'm not sure how I like it...I don't like having my "body" show up on the screen the whole time. I don't like how if I'm not in the "exact" right location it doesn't register my exercise. I know it's new to me and there is a learning curve and everything so I'm not quitting! Besides maybe if I see myself on the tv 4 times a week I will be more attentive to what I'm putting into my mouth!!

Ok..so in short: I lost 5 pounds in the month of January instead of 10 like I wanted.

I haven't followed the low glycemic index plan very well and that explains the reason behind the smaller loss.

I have stopped drinking cokes again and I'm staying accountable with a local friend so that helps me stay on track with that.

So onto February goals:

Workout a minimum of 6 days a week for at least 30 minutes a session.
Work harder at staying on the low glycemic index plan.
Stay away from drinking cokes.
Continue losing weight and inches.
Start doing some sort of "workout" with That Other Kid.

Hello From 2013!!

ChristieO wants us to write a letter to ourself about the things that happen in 2012 from the point of view of it being 2013. Confused? Yeah, me too! But what a great exercise in goal setting! I did it last year and didn't have great success, but this year will be different! Read and enjoy the year that I'm about to embark on.

Good morning!

It's been a year since I talked you into taking a chance with yourself and convinced you that you are indeed worth living a healthy lifestyle! I'm so glad you listened and took the bull by the horns and stopped half-assing your workouts and your diet! I know you are too because you are so much happier now than you were at the beginning of 2012! This was a great year full of learning how to live without constantly thinking of the "what-ifs". You now concentrate on the "nows" and that makes life so much less stressful! Speaking of stress, yes there is still plenty of it but you have really learned how to keep yourself from freaking out about every little thing that doesn't go according to plan. See that Charlie Brown cartoon up there? You saw that cartoon and applied it to your life! What a great way to live 2012 (and beyond)!

The hubby had a great year...full of meeting some pretty significant goals. It was a wonderful thing to watch the transformation!

My Marine is doing better than you imagined as a Combat Photographer and is getting to see some pretty awesome sites! He emails and sends you pictures all the time. This helps you feel more connected and helps you not miss him so much. Yes, you still miss having that day to day connection with him but it is getting easier! He's been a Marine now for a little more than a year and it feels wonderful being able to tell people that your son is a Marine! You raised a good person!

That Other Kid is growing up and excelling in school. Not that that is a big surprise to you. He's always been a smart kid but it's good to know that as a homeschooling mom you are doing the right thing with him! He still knows how to push your buttons and make you want to throw him out to the windowdoor world but you know in your heart of hearts that you are his best teacher! He has learned that school comes first, then building all his wonderful lego creations can come next! You have learned how to keep him focused on his school stuff and it helps you as well!

How have you accomplished this wonderful feat? You both exercise every morning before starting school! Yes, you decided that if it was good enough for you to exercise in the morning then it was good enough for That Other Kid too! You get up and do your morning exercise routine then you both do some kind of exercise together! It's a great way to spend some quality time together doing something fun as well as good for you! Some mornings you play a Wii or XBox game, some mornings you go walking, biking, or playing catch with the football! And your favorite? Is using the punching bag you bought him for his birthday in 2011! It's a great cardio workout for both of you! And what's more...he loves spending this time with you! After this great workout you sit down and get some good book-learning done! You are both focused and ready to take on the day!

AND you have lost a ton (well not literally) of weight this year because of your constant exercise! It feels so good to finally be at a healthy weight and be able to do so much more because you have gotten the weight off! I'm so proud of you! You have learned how to balance eating right and exercise into your day to day life as well as tackling that ugly stress beast!

You also raised the money necessary to walk your 2nd Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure! This definitely was one of the high points of the year. Finding a cure for breast cancer and helping bring awareness to others has become such a passion for you and you did a great job bringing it front and center this year! Not only did you walk but unlike last year you didn't gain a bunch of unnecessary weight while doing it! You were smart with your calorie intake and made it a wonderful experience without gaining weight!

At the beginning of the year you started reading and following the book 52 Small Changes with all your sisters over at the 'hood and I am happy to report that you made it through all 52 weeks and yes, you are happier because of it! You have made great changes to your life this year that you will carry through with you the rest of your life! Another wonderful thing you accomplished this year!

Another highlight from this past year is that you finally got a handle on your organization skills! You made organizing a priority for your household and family and it shows in every area of your life! What a great feeling!

It's been a great 2012 and I can't wait to see what 2013 brings your way!

Hugs to us!

Your 2013 self

Birthday Time!

Today was That Other Kid's 8th birthday! I can hardly believe it has been 8 years since he came into this world! He has been a rambunctious, active boy since the very beginning and today was no different.

He woke up about 6am saying "I had a nightmare, I need to sleep with you!" so he climbed into bed, wiggled , squirmed and finally went back to sleep till about 8:15. At that time he determined it was time to get up and OPEN PRESENTS! We made him wait till about 10:30 which apparently was cruel! Lol

But it was all worth the wait apparently because he was VERY excited to get several "cool" gifts that he had wanted for a long time.

Traditionally we go to the birthday person's restaurant of choice, so he chose to go to Red Robin! He loves the fries and the arcade games there!

He aged very quickly!

His favorite game; a car racing game!

We came home and played a VERY short game of Star Wars monopoly! He won, which made the birthday even more special!

He had a great birthday!

Happy birthday to my baby! So glad you are That Other Kid!

30 Days of Thankfulness

I missed yesterday's Thankful post because by the time I got around to writing my post I was too tired to sit down and do it! So today you get a two-fer!

Yesterday That Other Kid and I ventured out to the mall to visit with Santa, hang out with a good friend and do a bit of shopping! This is something we do EVERY year! It kind of kicks off our Christmas season! Although That Other Kid doesn't believe in Santa he still likes to "talk to Santa", listen to the story he tells and spend time enjoying all the holiday festivities.

Yesterday, after Santa was done talking to That Other Kid and he was about to see his next little ones Santa asked if he knew why we celebrate Christmas. I'm not sure if Santa asks every child this or not but I loved That Other Kid's response - "We celebrate Christmas because it's Jesus' birthday!" That warmed my heart and made me thankful for the privilege of being his mom! Indeed Jesus is the reason for the Season!

And although this picture makes him look like a little alien and some sort of demon child (which sometimes is true!) I love him like nothing else!

Today I am thankful that it is the last day of November!

That may seem strange to most of you, but I am so happy to see December come up on my calendar! December means that I get a mini-vacation because of the generosity of friends! December means "My Marine" comes home from boot camp! December means I get to meet Adah! December means Christmas time and 20 days with "My Marine". December means That Other Kid turns 8! December means 1 year since my friend, Glenna discovered her breast cancer....and now she is 100% cancer free!

December is going to be a great month!

I am also thankful that during the month of November I found plenty of things to be thankful for! Yes, I truly am blessed with family, friends and plenty of other blessings! I'm so glad I took this month to reflect on so many of them!

Happy December! Only 15 days till I see my first born! What a day that will be!

Thankfulness Day 27

Today I am thankful for the generosity of That Other Kid! See these toys? These are things he is donating to a family of 5 children whose mother has died. They have nothing but the clothes on their back due to some terrible living arrangements. They are now living with their aunt and things are improving daily! This week will be even better due to the generosity of lots of people in the area!

He told me that it's terrible to not have toys to play with or books to read! I agree....we truly are blessed!

Thankful Day 22

Today I am thankful for places to take That Other Kid where he can burn excessive amounts of energy! We went to a place today called JumpStreet and he ran around, and bounced around for 2 hours! He even got to ride a "bull"!

What a great metroplex we live in!

For some reason I can't get this video to post on here so go watch it HERE!

Thankfulness - Day 17

I sent out a plea last night for plane tickets to go see "My Marine". I am pleased to tell y'all that I have the best friends EVER!! I now have a plan for our trip to San Diego! That Other Kid and I get to go see "My Marine" at the biggest event of his life! I also get to have a bit of fun and go see Adah and the San Diego Zoo! It's gonna be a great December!!

I am soooo thankful to God for blessing me in this way! I was so disappointed that I was possibly going to have to miss this graduation. Now plans are in the making!! Whooohooo!

I am sooooooo thankful for my friends who have helped me! Thanks sooooo much for blessing me!!

I love each and every one of you!!

Walkin the Hood 5k!

First off I just want to say a huge Thank You to Christy and Melissa (and all the other 'hood peeps) for organizing such a fun event that That Other Kid and I could participate in on a busy weekend for me! It was difficult to squeeze it in. Between a 10 mile Komen training walk, grocery shopping, a 3 Day event and laundry it was a challenge but it was fun and a great way for me and the kiddo to spend time together!

Y'all said you wanted pictures so here you go! In no particular order (cuz I'm being lazy!) and I just finished walking 19.5 miles!

We started out about 11 am since I had to do my training walk and run to the grocery store and make sure we were all fed before heading out. My hubby and That Other Kid were teasing me saying this was just a "walk in the park" since it was such a short distance and it literally was, cuz we went to the park to do our 5K!!

Of course the skeleton Bondi Band made him even more excited! Why do boys like skeletons so much?

>

We started our walk at the park, then took us by the pond where we saw ducks, wild plums, acorns and lots of rocks! (see why it took us over an hr to walk the 5k?) and he was "so tired too"!

Our official time (per MapMyRun) was 1:12:16 to walk the 3.1 miles! What a great feeling of accomplishment for him! And it was a great way to spend an hour doing something with him outdoors!

Shrinkvivor - Week 4

It's Wednesdays and over at Shrinking Jeans we do a weigh in on Wednesdays. Can we just skip Wednesday this week? No, well then this is what it is....

Can I just say I pissed I am to see this number on the scale this morning! Really there are no excuses except the normal ones. I ate like crap, ate way more than I should have and didn't put in enough exercise minutes. Adding up my time last night I realized that I got NO exercise minutes in 3 of the 7 days. Totally unacceptable for me! I KNOW that for me to lose weight I MUST be consistent and put in an hour of exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY with an occasional day of "rest". Apparently this week I thought I deserved 3 days of rest. Thus, the gain AGAIN on the scale!

I could say I had a sinus infection so it's understandable to expect a gain on the scale since the antibiotics ALWAYS cause a gain in me but in all honesty I just put in the effort to lose weight. Apparently I don't want to look good when we go to San Diego in December. Apparently I expect "My Marine" to get his act together but I can continue sitting around being an fat slob obese mom.

This week is once again exercise minutes which will work out for me. We have the Virtual 5K this weekend that That Other Kid and I are doing, on top of the training for the Komen 3 Day. This is our last long mileage weekend then we have a weekend of tapering before the event. This past week I only had 546 minutes which for me is really light. I know I should be proud of this but I'm not happy about it because I expect A LOT MORE of myself than that!

This week's mini-challenge is water! This one I have in the bag. I drink a lot of water a day - at least 100 ounces (yes, I spend alot of time in the bathroom!). Last week's mini-challenge was to eat "my greens". I have to admit I did good 3 of the days but the rest of the week? NOT SO MUCH! Eating veggies are sooo hard for me but I have been improving and that is the goal, right?

Ok...so my plan for the week - TRACK my food! This works for me, WHEN I DO IT! It's just a matter of doing it. I also need to focus on the low glycemic index plan. I lost weight on this....I just need to FOLLOW IT!! I also need to move my body more intensely and more often!

So...here's to another week...I'm hoping that ALL of the Pink Tribe remains intact this week but if not we will stick together even from exile island. We are united all seeking the same goal...healthier, more fit women!

Time to Confess...

Tuesday is confession day at the Sisterhood. Sometimes I feel like confessing and sometimes I don't. Today I feel the need to get some things off my chest and butt, stomach and hips.

We are about to embark on our next challenge over at the Sisterhood (Shrinkvivor)and I am definitely ready to get the numbers on the scale to go down.I have been stagnating (or some people who are nice say maintaining) this weight for the past year and honestly I am sooooo tired of it I could spit! IT'S TIME to change!!

Last night during SisterChat (were you there? if not you missed a great time!) I was chatting with all the lovelies telling them they better really work hard cuz I am ready to become a HAWT Marine Mama when I go to SanDiego in December! That means I am going to really work hard and get this weight off! 12 weeks is gonna go fast...and I want the weight to get off fast too! BUTTTTT I REFUSE to starve myself and deprive myself of healthy eating habits! So what does that mean? I eat right, exercise right and lose the weight with the help of my friends!

@JeninRL was telling me last night I couldn't win Shrinkvivor cuz she was gonna win...Now usually I'm like ok great, but I was in a "dude I don't think so I'm gonna win this sucker" mood so we were egging each other on! It was actually entertaining, but then she threw of the gauntlet! To take pictures of ourself in a bikini/swimsuit and then post it on the 'hood! She went over and set up a group for it. I decided what the heck! I might be old but if I'm going to challenge her to lose weight while she challenges me to lose weight I may as well be proud enough of my successes to post a picture of myself in a swimsuit! She said bikini -- I haven't been in a bikini since she was 2 though so not sure I'm gonna go that far BUT I can do a swimsuit!! AND look GOOD in it!! THAT is the clincher!! That's gonna require some serious weight loss on my part! So....the challenge begins tomorrow!! There will be a beginning picture but that will not be seen YET! And of fcourse the ending picture!

Ok...onto other confessions!

That Other Kid is driving me crazy! He seems to be craving my attention every second of EVERY day! We have done very little school lately and I'm frustrated with that. We have to do school but every time we sit down to do it he starts whining and complaining that he misses his brother or he wants to "spend time with me"!! He doesn't want to do anything that requires actual LEARNING! I have to admit that I'm at a loss as to what to do. Honestly I am pretty distracted and don't want to do school either....BUT that doesn't change the fact that it needs to be done!

My Marine left on September 19 for bootcamp and I still haven't heard from him! I'm getting to the point where I can function without crying and wondering what he is doing and how he is doing but there are things that will set me off! This weekend while walking my 17 mile walk someone had yellow ribbons tied on their trees in the front yard! I started crying and one of my friends started praying for me! Only 12 more weeks till I get to see him!! I've been told that I should get a letter from him sometime this week! I hope so!

I walked 30 miles over the weekend! Honestly it was HARD but it was not impossible. What made it harder??....messing up my knee on Saturday and having to walk all 17 miles Sunday (in the heat)with a bum knee!
What made it easier??....getting the FroggTogg in the mail on Saturday and using it on Sunday and walking with a friend! (We shared the FroggTogg!!) Thanks Christie!

I am down to 6 weeks before the Komen 3 Day for the Cure Walk and I still have about $1500 to raise! Please help me raise money for breast cancer research! It could be you, your mom, your sister or best friend that you help!! You can donate here to support me!

And while we are talking fundraising I have a question for you. If you were given a chance to raise a significant amount of money at an event that you didn't really support would you participate or would you say forget it? Just curious cuz that's where I am at with an event this weekend. I am going to participate in it because I can raise a lot of money but I'm having a problem with being at the event!

Ok...I'm off to play soccer with That Other Kid! If you have confessions to make feel free to join in the confession discussion at the Sisterhood or let me know what is up with you!!

Thinking Out Loud

Bare with me as I think out loud for a few minutes, will you. My thoughts have been pretty scattered lately, so this may not make a bit of sense. It may not make sense cuz I'm writing it from my phone too, but that's besides the point, right?

My Marine leaves on a plane for a bit of a vacation on Sunday which kind of freaks me out! You do realize that Sunday is 9/11, right? He will come home Thursday night late then I will take him to the recruiters office on that Sunday afternoon. He leaves for bootcamp Monday morning early and will be gone for the next 13 weeks. It's gonna be a long fall for this momma! But according to the calendar he will come home in time for That Other Kids birthday and Christmas so we have that to look forward to.

I bought new shoes this past weekend for my Komen 3 Day training walks and gave them a bit if a test today by walking with a friend! We had a nice walk and the shoes felt pretty good. The real test will come this weekend when I have to walk a total of 25 miles over the two days!

Y'all know that I homeschool, right? Well I do, in case you didn't! We are moving along with school doing a combination of 1st and 2nd grade although it has been sporadic and slow moving but we just finished going through the entire Hooked on Phonics program. He finished the last chapter book of the program this afternoon and declared "I never want to read another chapter book!" I thought it was kind of amusing because just a couple of says ago he was reading a chapter book in his own! So far he is loving Story of the World history and of course math! We are also listening to some of the Maestro Classics and he seems to be enjoying them which is nice since I really like them! He just finished going through all the lower case cursive letters and is ready to start connecting them to make words. After he does this for a while we will move on to capital letters. He is such a perfectionist that he gets frustrated if his letter doesn't look just like the book's letter so I have to work on making sure he isn't constantly erasing!

I want to leave you with a thought that christieo mentioned in a post yesterday that really hit home with me. She was talking about how there is nothing wrong with being average. It is actually AWESOME! It made me really think because lately I haven't felt all that special but after reading her post I started feeling like I was really pretty special. I am doing something that many people find unfeasible....I am preparing to walk 20 miles for 3 days in a row all in an effort to bring breast cancer to an end! That is just something this "average" mom is doing this fall but in reality it is AWESOME!

You are awesome too!

Confessions Time

It's been a while since I've done a confessions post for the Sisterhood and it hasn't been because I've had such a stellar summer. It's been because I figure no one really wants to hear me whine about not doing what I need to be to lose weight. I'm ready to get my arse back into gear and lose this weight but I definitely need some of my friends to keep me from making stupid choices!

Here goes --

My husband's step mom had to have a double mastectomy yesterday! All I can say to that is that CANCER SUCKS!! I am so glad that I am participating in the Komen 3 Day this year! With all the people that cancer is affecting (including those that are close to me) it just means all that much more to me!

I was sitting at my computer last night soaking my feet in epsom salt (trying to heal all the stupid blisters) eating a WHOLE ENTIRE BAG OF Kettle Chips! I told myself the bag was small and I had eaten healthy all day so it was ok but come on...a whole bag of chips when I've got bowls of fruit just sitting here waiting to be eaten?? I bought these chips on Sunday for my husband cuz he LOVES Kettle Chips. He didn't even know I had bought them! They are gone now! and my stomach is not happy about all that oil I put in my body!

Why would I do that to myself? you might ask! Cuz I'm ticked at my feet!! I can't seem to figure out why out of a group of 20 women training for the Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure I am the only one coming away EVERY weekend with blisters covering my feet so badly I can't walk till Wednesday without pain! And yes, I have good shoes, and dri wicking socks. I've tried Moleskin, New Skin, blister bandaids, all the stuff everyone suggests! I was on the message boards for the walks and heard about a product to put on your feet called HikeGoo by this company to prevent blisters. Have you heard of it?? I ordered it and I'm praying it is the miracle cure I need! It was pricey but if it works it will be worth it!

I'm also getting a wee bit ok A LOT anxious as September gets closer to making it on the calendar. My Marine (formerly known as That Kid) is leaving for Marine boot camp in September. I know it will be good for him but my mom heart is having a hard time with it! Especially since he bought That Other Kid a couple of air soft guns "to remember him"! A little disarming for a city girl mom, ya know??!!

We started back to doing a full schedule of school and I am adding several new subjects into his schedule. In addition to that I am trying to not just "do workbooks" which is hard on my flesh! It means I have to put more effort into preparing for school which takes away from my limited "me time". Although That Other Kid just told me that "history is his favorite now" instead of math like it has always been! History is one of the new subjects we are doing not "workbook style" so that is a good thing, right?!

Ok...I've got to get back to work/um....school so I hope you all have a good day and if you have confessions to make please spill them! I don't want to feel all alone!


If you have a few bucks to spare to help me in my fundraising efforts for my Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure I would greatly appreciate it! I am walking November 4th, 5th and 6th....20 miles each day for a total of 60 miles! Please help me as I have to raise $2300 and so far I am up to $300! I still have a long way to go and this is such an important cause to support! As I have said before CANCER SUCKS -- my best friend and now my mother in law have had to deal with it JUST THIS Year! That's 2 more people that are adding to the statistic of 1 person every 69 seconds!! This must end! PLEASE HELP by donating here! Thanks bunches!!

This Week's Pictures

This was a really long week. That Other Kid was sick most of the week running a fever of up to 104.6 and vomiting. Hospitalization for dehydration was tossed around by the doctors and I was a wreck wondering why my baby was so sick. He was put on amoxicillin on Wednesday and by Thursday his fever was gone and he was feeling better! Pictures this week reflect the sickies of the week and other random stuff!

I got nothin' for Monday, the 6th! I had gotten about 2 hours of sleep and That Kid was violently ill! I just couldn't conjure up the ability to take a picture of anything!


This picture was taken on the Tuesday, the 7th. He had been sick with high fever and vomiting for more than 48 hours, but he could still smile for the camera!


This is from Wednesday, the 8th! After waking up with a fever of 104.6 Wednesday morning and going in to see the dr AGAIN, he was given 2 doses of medicine. Finally the fever broke...Happy dance!!



He was feeling better but not 100% on Thursday and he was complaining of being cold, but the blanket was a whole 10 ft away and the pillow case was right there, so he curled up in that instead! I thought it was pretty humorous and apparently so did a lot of my friends...I got several comments from facebook from this post! Becca even decided to give it a try and curled up in her own pillow case!


This one is from Friday night, the 10th. Since one of the reasons I decided to do this "daily picture taking thing" was so I could get some pictures of That Kid before he goes off to boot camp I decided to snap a picture of him doing what he does best...sitting at the computer!!


Saturday, the 11th was kind of a lazy day since That Kid was finally back to mostly normal and it was too hot to do anything outside...apparently the kitten thought it was a great time to curl up on my lap and take a snooze, too!


This picture of That Other Kid and I was taken tonight as we were snuggling up before bedtime!! He's such a goofy boy and I love his smile!

Hope you had a great week...and I hope to take more exciting pictures this week as I continue my picture taking journey!

Confessions of a Tired Momma

I had a pretty good week as far as staying on track with the food and exercise UNTIL Sunday night and Monday!

That Other Kid went to sleep surprisingly easy Sunday night (which should have been my first clue that he didn't feel well!) and I went out to relax for a few minutes and then I was about to exercise when everything went down hill! That Other Kid woke up vomiting and burning with fever about 10 p.m. It continued all through the night. Meaning momma didn't get much sleep...cuz it's hard to sleep when your child is vomiting every hour and burning with fever and doesn't want to leave your side, ya know??! I probably got an hour or 2 of sleep Sunday night. I took him to the dr Monday morning and he has a stomach bug that apparently is going around here...let me tell ya it sucks to have your child vomiting and dry heaving water cuz he doesn't have anything in his stomach!! I'm so ready for him to be over this!

I did sleep last night!! Really deep, so deep in fact that he came and got in bed with me and I didn't know it till he started coughing and vomiting!! Fortunately it was short lived and he went back to his own bed and slept through the night! Today the fever doesn't seem to be as high and he has moved out to the living room couch to lay on! He has confiscated my IPhone to play games on he hasn't vomited since early this morning so maybe just maybe he is getting better!!

Ok...so on to the REALLY BAD part of this confession...see this list of foods and calories?? This is what I ate yesterday!!

Dannon Greek Yogurt, Plain 80 calories
Braeburn Apple 80 calories
Almonds, raw (16 almonds) 80 calories
McDonald's Small French Fries 230 calories
McDonald's Large Coke 310 calories
Coca-Cola Can Of Coke Classic 140 calories
Lay's LAY'S Classic Potato Chips 450 calories
Jif Peanut Butter 190 calories
Mrs.bairds 100% Whole Wheat Bread 120 calories
Lay's LAY'S Classic Potato Chips 150 calories
Taco Cabana Chicken Fajita Nachos 1,200 calories
McDonald's Large Coke 310 calories
Totals: 3,340 calories w/an anstounding 163 g of fat!!

Do you see that total for the day?? That is MORE THAN TWICE what I am supposed to have in one day!! Did you see those fat grams?? That is just a sickening number of fat grams!! Did you notice all those COKES I drank?? and yesterday was the first day in probably a year or more that I haven't had even 64 ounces of water in one day!!

This makes me sick to my stomach....how could I have treated my body so badly? I know....I just didn't care what I ate and I was too tired to really care!

So...I'm moving forward and back to my normal healthy eating today. I'm rested and I'm ready to tackle this stomach flu that That Other Kid has and not treat my self with such disregard!!

Hope ya'll are healthy and enjoying your summer!! Do you have confessions?? If you do feel free to confess here and over at the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans! You'll feel better and you'll get plenty of support to get back on track!

An Amusing Little Story

For the past several weeks during the Tuesday night #tworkout with the Sisters That Other Kid has been wanting to workout with me and watch The Biggest Loser. It has been very exciting to have my 7 year old son want to watch such a inspirational show and tell me how "these people are soooooo fat. You are SKINNY compared to them!" Little does he know that at this point most of these women weigh LESS than I do right now, but it's all in the perception, right?!!

Anywhoooo, back to my story. Last night some friends and I decided we needed a night out so I went out with them and recorded the show to watch later. Tonight I sat down after dinner and started watching the show. He was in his room watching tv and building legos. When it was time for his shower I paused the show and told him to get moving for his shower. He noticed I was watching the show and said "hey I want to watch, too!" That warmed my heart, I can tell you! So after his shower he got dressed in his jammies and sat on my lap to watch the show. At the first commercial break he turned to me and said, "hey aren't we gonna TWEETOUT?" Cracked me up!! I told him, no it was last night and I was gonna workout after he went to bed. He was disappointed that he didn't get to bust a move with mom (or compete against me)!!

So...there ya go!! I'm instilling in him that commercials are for working out...not EATING!! Thanks to all the ladies over at ShrinkingJeans for helping to instill good habits in my kiddo!! Every little bit helps in this journey of raising a healthy, fit kid!!

On a side note, since it is Wednesday and even though I'm not participating in the challenge over at the Sisterhood I did weigh in and was up to 198 this week. I guess all the junk (excessive chocolate) this weekend really messed me up!! I'm back to the "no junk" eating so I should be able to get those pounds off. I have a goal in mind for this week and I'm gonna do what I can to meet it.

Next Friday, March 25th is my 2 year anniversary for my weight loss journey and I want to be able to have good things to say to myself that day!!

Have a good night ya'll!

Awesome Christmas...Details to Follow

Well here it is early Wednesday morning after Christmas and I just got the pictures uploaded onto the computer. We had an awesome whirlwind mini-vacation and got to see family and friends to celebrate Christmas. Normally our Christmas plans are made months in advance but this year things didn't work out that way and they were made on Tuesday night before Christmas!! Things went incredibly smooth for such a quick trip, too! No snags...and lots of fun!! Pictures will be uploaded onto Facebook and the ol' blog tomorrow if I have time.

I have to take That Other Kid in for his 7 year Well Child checkup in the morning...and of course he is not feeling well. I'm guessing its just allergies since we were in Kansas without allergy medicine but I have to say I am glad we were already scheduled for a dr visit!

Things are still kind of in a chaotic state of being since That Kid just came home on the 23rd and just threw his stuff down...he has found an apartment to move into for a few months since he has decided that college is not his thing right now, so things are probably going to remain in a state of limbo over the next couple of weeks.

But I am going to get back into a routine of sorts and the first one being is I am going to get moving again! It has been 10 days since I have run and 1 week since I have done any exercising and I am really feeling it. My mood is blah. I am feeling fat. I am more tired than usual...so it's a good thing a new Shrinking Jeans challenge is starting Wednesday! Something to kick me into high gear and get me moving again! I am supposed to run a 5k with my sisters over at Shrinking Jeans on the 8th, too so I need to get moving so I can complete the C25K program and be ready for my 5K. There isn't one local that I want to run so I am going to create my own!

Anyway...I need to get to bed, but I have to leave you with at least 1 picture from our Christmas celebration. This one definitely depicts the joy on Christmas morning...Hope yours was just as good!

Karate and 5K Weekend....

Catchy title, huh??

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to attend That Other Kid's karate belt test! He was testing for his "red belt" in the Little Dragons program (for 6 and under students) and he was stoked! Friday night he practiced his kata for Form 2 and perfected it just in case he was asked to do it for his test. He had been told he would have to know Form 1 and Form 2 in order to get his new belt, but we weren't sure if he would actually have to do it or not. This is the last belt before advancing to "American Karate" for students 7 and older so it was a BIG DEAL!!


Horse Riding Stance


Beginning Form 2


part of Form 2


Finishing up Form 2

I was sooooo proud of him....he did awesome during the belt test and concentrated to the best of his ability for this test. He had some awesome kicks and powerful punches and one of the moms told me "he did great"! Toward the end of the testing session after the entire group was done the lead instructor called him out of the group and said that "since you are the big bad brown belt you get to show us your kata". He was the only brown belt in the test so he had to do this by himself. The instructor asked him which kata he wanted to do and he replied "form 2". So he was told to go ahead. He turned to face the crowd of parents and started. I couldn't believe how well he did. He kicked above his head on some of his kicks. He did every move just as he was supposed to and shocked even the instructor with his performance! It was a proud mommy moment when other parents came up to me and said he did "awesome"!


First sweat to tough your new belt! And yes, there was sweat, especially after the kata!


Congratulations to the newest Red Belt!


Once he received his RED BELT we left the studio and went to breakfast to celebrate. It was a nice way to celebrate his achievement. After breakfast (whole wheat pancakes w/fruit for me) we went home and I started preparing for my 5K race with That Kid.

My friend that was going to watch That Other Kid at the race injured her foot and was not able to attend so That Other Kid had to stay home since dh had to work. He was really bummed out and told me if he "couldn't go then neither could I". I felt bad for him, but I told him there would be other races that he would be able to attend. Once I got to the race location I'm really glad he didn't go...there were sooooo many people there it was crazy. There were 1355 racers for the 5K and before that there was a 1 mile "fun run" for kids. I have no idea how many there were in that race but it was crazy just how many people were there. The park that the race was in is not really that big and there were masses of people EVERYWHERE!! It took more than 5 minutes to get up to the starting line and I wasn't even at the back of the pack!

That Kid got to the race site about 20 minutes before the starting gun went off so we didn't really have time for much of anything other than getting his shirt and the timing chip on him. We had another race participant take our picture together and I had him take mine but that's all we got. I was kind of bummed that I didn't get one of me crossing the finish line but there will be other races!! (I have to keep saying that to make sure it happens!!)




Anyway...here are some of the details from the race!

Saturday was C25K Wk5D3 -- walk 5 minute for warmup, run 20 minutes, walk 5 minute for cool down, so my goal was to do my training for this race and then walk and "maybe" run some afterwards. We started the race at a sllllllooooooowwwww walk to get up to the starting line and I had already decided I would start running when I crossed the line, so I did. I started my run at 2:27 into my "warmup" and kept running until the podcast said, "cool down" !!! At that point I started walking and took off my long sleep t-shirt!! I was HOT!! It was only 50 degrees and already close to 5p.m. but I had worked up a sweat running for 22 1/2 minutes!! I was about 1 minute away from the 20 minute run session being complete when I looked down at the IPod and saw that I had already RUN 20 full minutes!! I almost started crying I was so shocked and happy! I asked That Kid if he thought I could do this well and he said, "Yeah, I knew you could do it"!! I can't tell you how happy that made me!! Another proud mommy moment!

At that point, after I had shed my t-shirt and did my "cool down" I told That Kid I wanted to finish off the race by running 1 minute/walking 1 minute intervals so he started timing me and encouraging me to keep it up! I was going slow but I was keeping up with the intervals. Toward the end of the race we had to go up a hill and I had to take a walk break on that one, but then I ran extra on another of the intervals. A couple of times as we were running he started running backwards and had me do short sprints to "tag" him in order to start walking again! He made it fun to keep pushing myself harder even though I was tired at that point! One time he was running backwards and I passed a lady and she said, "show off!" and I said, "yeah, it must be rough to be able to show off like that so far into the race"!

Btw, I was passing people all through out the race and I can't tell you how good that felt! Yes, lots of them were walking or with dogs but I was still passing people even some RUNNERS (or woggers)!!

I finished the race with a burst of UPHILL energy (what is it with putting the finish line at the top of a hill???) with an official time of 46:19 and 58th out of 83 in the 45-49 year old females!! That time is 2:09 faster than my first 5K that I did with my brother in October and I can assure you I ran A LOT MORE during this race!

The C25K program is slated to be complete on January 8th and the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans is holding a virtual 5K that day. I'm hoping to find a "real" 5K to run here the metroplex. I've already told That Kid I'm planning to run on January 8th if he wants to run again with me! He didn't say yes or no, but I think he's at least thinking about it!

It was a great Saturday!!