Bad Week

So after a good week of workouts, however painful it was, I had my weigh-in on Tues. and gained a pound! Now I'm not really mad, bummed or anything like that.  Maybe a little disappointed, but after the workouts I did last week I figured I would have lost something.  Even with it being my birthday weekend and superbowl, I don't think I 'treated myself' so much to keep from loosing the weight and actually gaining!   So now I have to try harder! Work out harder and really watch my eating! UGH, this is the part I hate!  I don't want to have to change anything, just do it by cutting back. Not going to happen I guess! So now to plan out meals so that I am eating better without taking away from everyone elses meals!
So to add to the fact that I gained a pound, my work outs have been cut back some.  Alot of the exercises I have to do modified right now.  This is because on Tues. morning on our icy porch I slipped and went down on my bum! All the way down to the last step hitting them all!  Not good on the taibone, hips or back! Two of which I already have problems with! UGH!!  How irritating!  I am not only limited on my exercises but also sitting and laying down are problems!  I use my ice pack and take advil regularly!
So I've managed to get two work outs in this week, modified.  I'm trying to be careful with what I'm eating. However I just don't have a good feeling that my next weigh-in will be good!  Which means I will have to write down everything I eat and really count everything!
I don't like having to do that but I guess it will help me be accountable for everything!

First Week

Well today is the last day of my first week of training! After three days of hard workouts, first one was upper body, second day was lower body (legs), third day, today, was abs with some work to the legs, I have to say I am extremely sore and in some pain!! My whole body hurts and I have a really hard time doing alot with my legs!
I now have four days until my next training to get rested up.  But I still need to keep working.  So we will walk, ride the bike, and go to the school as we can. 
I will admit though that it is going to be a long starting process!  I knew I was out of shape, but didn't realize how bad I really was!!  It's really sad if I think about it!
This kind of working out is also and adjustment for my body.  Tonight after we got home when we sat down for dinner I couldn't eat it all.  I ate my salad, but couldn't finish the small portion of lasagna I had. I felt like I was going to be sick.  I guess in a way thats a good thing, then I won't eat as much, but I don't like the feeling it's giving me. To me its kinda weird. Another adjustment I'll have to make!
It's supposed to get easier as I go, we shall see I say!  Hopefully it doesn't take to long for the workouts to not hurt as bad.
So, I have done the ice pack, now I need to take some ibruprofen and then lay on my heating pad. 
Tomorrow morning will come early for our 5:00am walk with the dogs!
After a busy friday I hope to enjoy a somewhat quiet, somewhat relaxing birthday weekend!

Anew

So I'm back! Hello! It's been awhile, a long while. I kinda lost touch with my blog, but now that I am on the road to a healthier, better me I decided to start it back up again, to keep track of how I'm doing and to just have it to use as a journal as needed. So here is the start of anew, me on my path to being healthier!
Today I started a workout program with a trainer. I will be doing my workouts three days a week, about one hour each day for a 10 week period. The three workouts she has me doing are each different. One is for my upper body, one for my lower, etc.
I'm excited about taking this venture and making the necessary changes to get back the healthier me! I am a little sore today now. Hopefully I won't be worse in the morning, it will make work hard to do!
I have not decided if I will upload pictures of myself from the beginning and through the changes. I will however post my measurements and weekly weigh-ins.
These are my starting numbers:
Weight 214.8
Bust 41
Abs 36
Upper 36.5
Middle 42
Lower 43
Waist 36
Hips 47.5
Thigh 27.5
Calf 16.5
Arm 13.5
My weigh-ins are once a week and I will do a measurement recheck at the end of 10 weeks.
So this is where I am at now. At the end it will be a better me!

Happy St Patty's Day!

Today is St Patrick's Day and everyone knows that
you're supposed to wear green. We told Elizabeth about this last night and she
decided she wanted to wear something green. So we went looking to find something
green in her drawers. We didn't have much to pick from. This was pretty much it!
Then she brought out a hair pony and hair clips to match! I just had to take a
picture! She looked to cute!

Swim Lessons

Elizabeth is getting swim lessons again. She seems to be picking up more this time 'round.
They are actually teaching her stuff though too.
They have to remind her how to point her toes. They are also teach to
blow bubbles.
Blowing bubbles helps teach her to breath out. (she hasn't got a hang of that yet!)
This week they were also teaching how to move your arms in a stroke. You can kinda see her elbow coming out
of the water.
Again getting her to kick with her feet pointed, they say Ballerina feet.
Reminding her to blow bubbles! lol

She has fun at the classes. The kids that are instructing are doing a good job making it fun for the little ones to learn!

Jack update

Thought I'd share some recent pictures of Jack, the puppy. He's doing good. He's a Puppy, all the way!!!
Wants to chew on everything, won't potty where we want him too, has way to much energy for the rest of us!!

He loves playing with Millie. She enjoys it sometimes too.
Sometimes she really gets into it! But it's not often that she gets him down! lol
This is how they usually play. Jack is all-over Millie. If she is
standing he does circles around her chewing on any skin he can get!
Here is a good comparison picture. Look below at him in his bed when we got him.
This is how he sleeps in it now, when he sleeps in it. Usually he's chewing on it.
We started letting him outside, but just on the back deck. He loves it out there!!
He loves it when Elizabeth is out there running with him too!
Now whenever I open the door no matter what for he tries, and sometimes succeds, to slip out!!

He is getting bigger! He looks cute with his paws! But we can't wait for this puppy stage to be over!!

More Puppy!!

Here are some more pictures of the new puppy and how's he adjusted.

We bought this little bed for the cats when we go them and they wanted nothing to do with it!
So we decided to see if the pup liked it. Well what do you think? lol He took to it really easily and quick!
We got this toy for Jack, not sure if it was actually to big or not. Well as you can see, he is having no problems
with it. He looks sooo cute carrying this thing around! He loves his toy!

The first night was a long one! Jack whined all night. The only way Donnie got him quiet andgave us a few hours sleep was
letting him sleep with us up at our headboard!
Last night we decided something else had to be done!
This is how we fixed it. The pillow and blanket area is where we put Millie and we put one of the kids' stuff dogs
in the bed with Jack. Millie wasn't crazy about being locked up in the kitchen all night, but she did good, and Jack did awesome! I heard him whine a few times but they were shorter and didn't go on forever! I checked on them a few time during the night and they were both out cold each time!

Well he's adjusting well! (and one of the cats is showing interest in him, in a good way)

Whats new here!

Well it's been awhile since I've posted anything here. Figured this would be a good time to start again!!


We have added a new member to our family today.
I have to start though by saying, for as long as I've know Donnie he has always told me he has always wanted
a Husky! Saying that one day we will get one (when we could afford to buy one)!!
Well, the day has come! He is in heaven!! Right now you could say he is the happiest person around!!
A classmate of Elizabeths has purebred huskys that had pups and because we know them we were able to get one
(FOR FREE!). He picked the runt of the litter, a boy. He is different then the rest as he is grey (instead of black) and
white and he has a black stripe down his back. He is super cute!! Oh ya, and his name is JACK! lol


Milly has no problem with him. She actually likes him and was playing with him. The cats are indifferent!
Baby (the grey, Elizabeth's cat), is very curious about what this fur ball is. Although she didn't care for him biting/chewing on her tail!!
Kitters (the tan, Jacquie's cat) however does not like this thing of fur! He will not stay in the same room as the pup. (what a big baby he is!) lol

Jack misses his siblings but likes his new daddy!

I've been tagged!!

I have been tagged by Pat:

* Link to your tagger and post the rules
* Share 7 facts about yourself - random/weird
* Tag 7 people; link to them.
* Leave comments on their blogs, so they know they've been tagged.

7 Facts about me:
1. My favorite color is Red.
2. I want a Corgi!
3. I want to move!!
4. I love going to the Beach!
5. I use exclamation marks way to much! LOL
6. I love Coffee.
7. I love food! LOL

I'm tagging....
Jaime , Anna , Melissa , Lisa B.

Our Luxury Room!

When we got paid we got a little extra, so we decided to treat ourselves. We've been wanting to update our bedding and when we saw an ad for this we decided we wanted it!

So Monday we spent our day cleaning our room, removing and rearranging furniture, and setting up our new Luxuriously Grown-Up Room!!

The bedding was one of those bed in a bag type deals, plus a few extras like the valance, a throw & all the pillows plus an extra set of sheets! So all we had to buy was the drapery. We love the look and feel of the room now! Plus removing some furniture really opened it up! Now all we have to do is paint (get rid of that green color and the wallpaper) and the room will be perfect! And as you can see, the cats love it too!!

Soccer-time!

YAY!! It's soccer season again! This year we signed Elizabeth up to play.

Then Jacquie signed on as Coach for Elizabeth's team. I am the Assist. Coach and after reading the paperwork I'm also the Team Manager all on top of being a players Mom! lol

Anyway, we had a bunch of practices and the we hoped the girls were picking up what they needed to for the games. We finally got our schedule and our first game was Saturday.

Our team's color is green and we are the Wildcats.

The girls did awesome!! They got out there and everything clicked! It was so fun watching them play!! Yes, our girls got several goals too! I think some of them were actually counting how many. lol We were very proud of all the girls!

1st. Elizabeth just after kicking the ball. 2nd. Elizabeth gets to throw in after the other team kicked out. 3rd. Running down the field going for a goal. (Elizabeth is #3)

Our next game is Monday.

Busy Summer!

Well school has started and everyone is getting settled into the new schedules. Everyone is in school full time now and I am at home alone. I am still babysitting and I have added a couple more kids so I definately won't be lonely!

We've been busy this summer. Getting the yard and trying to keep it nice. Going on vacation - a nice drive to Texas and back, stopping at the Grand Canyon and Albequerque, then in Denver to see an online friend. We had a wonderful time! We didn't want to leave Texas!!! (the kids wanted to stay as well!)

So since my last post. We've planted flowers in the flower boxes, most are done blooming now! Jacquie has turned 18yo!! Marshall is now 16yo!!

Douglas graduate highschool!!

Ok I have to say, where has the time gone??!! They've all grown up way too fast!

Elizabeth had her Tap dance performance and she did awesome!

We took 2 weeks + and drove to Texas, stopping at the Grand Canyon & in Albequerque to see the sites. We had a wonderful time. The sites along the way were pretty awesome and fun. We enjoyed our time with Jenny's family while we were there! We also visited with Marc and his family and got to see the new baby. What a cutie!

Home again, Donnie is working too much, kids enjoying rest of summer break, fair time. Elizabeth got to perform at the fair with her Tap class.

Now things are back to normal. Kids are back in school. Jacquie is a senior now, Marshall a junior and Elizabeth is in all day Kindergarten! She is so excited and she totally loves it!

Now that things are back to normal, I'll try to do better about staying up to date.

For those that are interested, I also updated my Scrapbook blog (link on sidebar).

Backyard Beautifying!

So here is the cleared rock area with the Hydrangea from the front. It will get some sun, in the

morning and a little in the evening and have shade during the hottest part of the day. It looks

really small there right now, but when it's full size it'll be perfect!

Also if you look at the last picture of this area and then at this one you might see something else we did. Tuesday after we planted the Hydrangea, we decided the stepping stones needed some attention! So dug up every one of them, laid them on the pavement and after leveling the ground a bit, we replaced the stones, using only the best looking ones. We didn't use all that we dug up because we dug some up where there didn't need to be stones anymore. So now we have very visible steps from the stairs of the deck down to the backyard! (and it looks so much better!) Now, what to do with the extras???

Dance picture 2007

I also thought I'd share this sweet picture!!
Elizabeth is in Tap Dance and on photo day I took my camera. When the photographer was posing her and getting his cameral getting I took my own shots.
I just love this picture!! Isn't it the SWEETEST!!
This is the outfit they are wearing for their recital too. They look like little Daisy Dukes!

2007 Prom

Thought I'd take a break from all the yardwork pictures and share a picture of the kids.
Douglas and Jacquie went to the Junior/Senior Prom this year.

This is Douglas and his girlfriend Kayla (left side) and Jacquie and her date & friend Jae.


Don't the girls look gorgeous and those boys are sure handsome!!

Unplanned Beautifing +

To start here is the final birdhouse project. AKA 'The Bird Hotel' Life for Birds. With the directional signs to where we have family. It'll look really nice once we have the new bush browing in front of it.

So this is the unplanned project. Today we decided after looking at one of our new Hydrangeas that it needs to be moved. It's sitting in the direct sun with no shade and the leaves look like they are getting burned. So before it dies we went looking for a new spot to replant it.

Well we found the spot, but it needed cleaned up!! We dug allll those rocks out from pretty much the same place they are in now. This spot looked like [way] back in the day that it had been landscaped similar to what we have done to it today. Thats why we went with this. We'll plant the 'sick' Hydrangea in the middle of the rock circle . Then on the lower area were the dirt is we are going to regrass.

We also decided that above this area under the deck we are going to put up lattice to close off the space.

It looks soooo nice in that spot already!!

Handmade Beauty!

For this update, it's all about the accents!
I had this idea that I wanted to line the front porch with planters full of flowers. I talked to my dad about it. I spent the day with him one day last week and he helped me make these planters.
Yes, with my dads help, I made these! I LOVE them! They turned out awesome! Now I can't wait to get some flowers in them!!
We also Thompson water sealed the porch. It's a little bit darker now then it used to be, but we like how it turned out.

While at my dads Elizabeth wanted to make something too. She was going to make a birdhouse until dad remembered he had one already done. So he gave it to her. She was sooooo excited! I then remembered that we had two at home put away somewhere. So while I was painting my planters, the girls painted the three birdhouses. They are very bright and summery!
Then we thought, the birds needed somewhere to eat too. I called my dad again! Ha ha ha We went over Tuesday and I built the feeder that's on the top of the post. (with dads help of course- he works the big saws, not me!)
We have a couple things still not done that will be added here. After getting everything painted and hung, we are now Open for Business!! Welcome to the" 'Bird Motel' , Where birds come to Live!" (Elizabeth's name and quote! We'll put that up there somewhere.)


Remember from before I said right in the spot that the house is in, there will be planted a flowering shrub/bush of some kind.
So the birds will have the trees for hiding and sitting in when not using the houses and feeding!


We've also spread grass seed all over the ground we took all the rock out of and in the grass to help thicken it up.
The yard is already looking better!

More Beautifing.......

Sunday, we bought another hydrangea and 2 butterfly bushes. Yesterday we went out and planted them. The first photo is the butterfly bushes. The one closest will produce fuschia colored flowers and the other one will be yellow colored. Can't wait to see them bloomed!!

This is where we planted the hydrangea. The one closest is the new one and it's supposed to have the blueish colored flowers. The yellow one in the middle should have pink flowers and the green one farthest away will be a red pink. Lots of color just in that row!

We also did this yesterday. This was a project started by the houses previous owner - my Father-in-law. We took the railroad ties from the front yard and finished this part of his project. (the stacked RR ties on the backside) How's it look Don??

See all the rock on the ground? Thats what we've pulled out of the front yard. This area we are making our 'pit'. We will use some of the large rocks and make a fire ring and have seating around it. In the summer we do our dutch oven cooking, roasting marshmallows and sometimes just sit around the campfire.

This is what we worked on today, Tuesday. The dark colored dirt was covered with rock. It was the last area of rock we had to remove. What a pain! Under the white house is a huge hole. (years ago it was a pond) We decided we are going to plant another hydrangea there. (unless we find something else thats similar that we like better)

We also got an edger from my Dad and we went around and edged the yard at the sidewalk & driveway.

It really looks much better already, even with stuff half done.

Beautification continues.......

This weekend we got some nice weather. We went to the nursery and bought a few of the plants that we wanted to add. We got 2 Hydrangea's and 2 Lavendar's. Ouch! Didn't realize how much that stuff costs! Sunday we got it all planted and watered. Love how it is looking already!

This is the front area we worked on today. We took the rest of the rock and grow-over all out here. We still have the small area to the right of this (but theres a LOT of rock there to do). This
was really a hard job to finish! There were alot of little tree stumps and one bigger. Theres a picture below of all the 'stuff' we've pulled out of here. (minus the round stones)





I just had to share this one! Today I got a little more then just my hands into the job!! We were trying to pull up a tree stump and well it was rooted pretty good!! I ended up sitting on the ground using my feet/legs to push on it to work it loose. Just a little dirty!!!

This is the HUGE pile of the grass and weeds and some rocks that we pulled up with the black clothe stuff (that is laid to prevent weeds and such growing through the rocks). On the top is the tree stump we pulled, well rather dug out.





This is my Butterfly bush. During the winter we had some really bad wind storms that ended up blowing this over and uprooting part of it. Then we went through our winter freezing. We lost at least half of it. This is what is left of it that is still alive. We are hoping staking it and holding it up like this will help it reroot in the upright position.








This is where we planted some new lavendar. We put a plant in each corner. It smells soooo good!!

This is our side of the driveway (where we had the round stones). Here we planted two Hydrangea's. The yellow one is called a Lemon Daddy, because the leaves are yellow. The flowers will be either pink or blue. The other one is called Glowing Embers and it will have reddish pink flowers. After we put these in we still have space to fill so we are going to get another one that will have blue flowers and planted to the right of the yellow one.

I can't wait for them all to bloom!!

Now I gotta go out and water everything real good!!

Beautification continues.......

Well today we got up and were going to do some more work on the

front yard. Got outside and it was raining! But of course!

It was just a small light rain that ended quickly. We went outside

again decided to work on a different area instead.

So we started on the 'rock wall'. Well thats what it was supposed

to be. It was sooooo over grown the rocks, as huge and as many as there were, were completely covered over. It was even overgrown onto the driveway. We had to dig out most of the rocks. It took about 2 1/2 hours to dig it all out and place them all back in neatly. It was actually fun. Not to mention a KILLER workout!!!

Then while we were cleaning up the mess and the excess rocks, we noticed the 'grow over' on this side of the driveway. So we cut it all back and in the space between the driveway and the ground we placed these bricks.

If you look to the right some where those round stones are, we are going to plant some type of tree/shrub. Right now we are thinking Hydrangea's & maybe something else.

This is the full shot of the whole driveway. Unfortunately I didn't

take a before picture, but believe me when I say it looks 100%

better then two days ago!!

Now to keep the growover from happening again!