a day in my life

Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-07T08:52:00.002-06:00

So I hear there's a football game on tonight......or for my family more like there's some new commercials on tonight :) we tend to wait 30 minutes or so after the game starts to watch, then we skip thru the game and watch the commercials!!

Last night we had a family dinner with my mom's side of the family. It took a tragedy to get this family back together again, RIP uncle Tom I miss you. This is right up your alley and I know that you'd be right in the middle of it all feeding us your amazing food and making us all laugh. Good food, good laughs and most of all good family!

Bring it on!

2009-12-20T07:07:00.002-06:00

I'm ready for Christmas, and have been for a while! well a week or so anyway. I'm not sure I've ever been this ready this early. It'll be nice to enjoy the week the boys have off before Christmas. I think the time will be hard for them....Matty especially. Mitchell askes every day if they can open a gift.....I'm holding on strong! He says I let them open a gift on Christmas Eve last year.....not sure I remember that but we'll see how clean their rooms are :)

We're going to the boy scout summer camp staff Christmas party this afternoon.

I hope all is well with you and yours.

broken record

2009-12-16T11:31:00.002-06:00

These days I feel like each day is a repeat of the one before it....but that's A-OK with me. I like it....I know what to expect :)

Today is no different.....so far today I've gone to the gym, did a little work, laundry, wrapped up more Christmas gifts, got the box ready to ship to B's family, did a month's worth of menus.....and made the shopping list to go with it :D GO ME!!

I'm going to stop at Hobby Lobby on my way to get the shopping done....I need.....yes NEED another storage container......it's an addiciton really...but it being addicted to storage containers really a bad thing??

hoping to end my outside adventures on time to pick the boys up from school (and Mitchell from the bus) and head to Steak n Shake for a yummy (and half off) peppermint chocolate chip shake....and yes I do know how cold it is outside.....they're that good!!

XL

2009-10-27T21:11:00.001-05:00

That's right......XL, not XXXXL, not XXXL not even XXL just plain ol XL.

That's the size of the shirt I wore today....just one lonely X.

Never Forget

2009-09-11T08:06:00.001-05:00

I miss my rings

2009-08-11T19:49:00.003-05:00

It's been a few months now since I haven't been able to wear my wedding rings and I miss them. I wore them as long as I could, the day they flew off my finger while folding laundry was the day I put them up. Since I still have 45lbs to go until my goal I thought I'd hold off on having them sized but man this last leg is taking so long.....I'm thinking that maybe this winter if I haven't made some good progress toward my goal weight I'd go ahead and have them sized. I can always size them down again if needed. My mom gave me a pretty ring to wear in the meantime but it's not the same. My rings sitting in my jewlry box is my picture of the day today.

what a CrAzY busy summer....

2009-08-09T17:45:00.002-05:00

this has been. It's been full of summer camps, weekend trips and work. We haven't been together as a family since mid June. Now just as school it getting ready to start back up things seem to be slowing down for us. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Mitchell started going to the gym with me and seems to be toning up nicely, he has some pants that are literally falling off him! Matty's summer has been full of play dates! In fact he's gone right now. He's wanting to have a small get together with some friends before it's time to go back to school. We're trying to decide what we can do that'll be fun and not cost a lot.

I've been working hard all summer, well up until the last few weeks. I'm packing up DVD's for www.tracyandersonmethod.com and answering customer service emails for www.tracyandersonconnect.com and LOVING it :) I get to work from home and earn a little extra $$....that's always good :)

I've slipped a little on myPOTD project, so I'm kinda bummed about that but find it really hard to take a picture of something interesting each day. But since I bought the pages and album I'll keep plugging away as best I can. But I'm not going to stress about it.

Yesterday I went on a little road trip....Amanda and I went to Indianapolis to do the free make & take's at Archivers. We did some shopping then headed to lunch at Olive Garden, more shopping at a Super Joanns then hit Trader Joe's. I had never been to a Trader Joe's and ended up spending more $ there then at Archivers! I was suprised. I had been to a SJ's before but it was a very quick in and out so it was nice to wonder......OH and I found some art bin cases that I love in lime green!!! score me!!

Today I haven't done much but rest and enjoy the family.

This is what Sunday's are are all about

reward!

2009-06-08T20:27:00.002-05:00

Mitchell had his retainer stolen out of his backpack on Friday. On a whim I went to the 3 classrooms in his hall and offered a $20 reward for anyone who found it. Low and behold this afternoon 3 kids came to claim the reward, retainer in hand!! WOO HOO!!! I still can't believe it! Yeah I know one of them probably took it, but hey it's better then paying for a new one! Mitchell has had a hard time this weekend, he blames himself for it getting stolen, no matter how many times we've told him it's not his fault, he still can't understand why someone would go thru his stuff. He sure has had some hard lessons to learn this year.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T09:23:00.000-05:00

Thank you!

Chicago - Field Museum day 2

2009-05-13T11:41:00.000-05:00

Here Matty is trying to move a block the same size and weight that were used to built the pyramids.......he said he got it to budge just a little :)

Saturday was back to the Field Museum! we were starting our day off with the Real Pirates exhibit. This is a traveling exhibit about the Slave Ship turned Pirate ship Whydah Galley. SOOO cool!! I highley recommend seeing it if it comes to your area. No pictures were allowed but you can get more information here just so happened that evening the special was on tv so we got to learn even more about the Pirates. The boys loved the Egypt exhibit so we went thru that and the Earth Evolution again. Very cool place!!

Chicago - Field Museum day 1

2009-05-13T08:03:00.001-05:00

On Friday we spent the day at the Field Museum. Brian was speaking at a conference there so the boys and I had a great day exploring. We had never been before. Sue was uber cool!! We saved the two special exhibits, The Real Pirates and Underground adventure for Saturday. So we went thru Earths Evolution....that was the COOLEST!!! We learned so much!

Chicago-MSI

2009-05-13T07:56:00.000-05:00

I had planned to post pictures and blog all about our trip each night while we were still there....well you know what they say about the best laid plans. My card reader didn't work....and not thinking I didn't get another one until we got home. This trip couldn't have come at a better time. The boys have had a rough school year (which makes mama have a rough school year) and things were pretty bad the week we left. The Harry Potter exhibition had just opened at the Museum of Science and Industry and if you love HP (like me), and you're bummed the story is over (like me) and you can't wait until July 15th (like me) and you keep re-reading all the books (like me) you won't want to miss this! They have all kinds of original props from the movies and the setup makes you feel like you've entered Hogwarts and you WON'T want to leave! The boys just love MSI and having the traveling exhibits is such a bonus!

NSD

2009-05-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

I went to a NSD crop over the weekend at Creek Bank Creations it was a GREAT time! they had some amazing prizes...but I didn't win....well not a prize anyway but since I got 48 pages done that makes me a huge winner!! here are some of the pages I got done. I worked on a lot of older pictures of the boys it was nice to remember these trips and events.

MS walk

2009-05-04T14:52:00.000-05:00

the boys and I participated in the local MS walk. Our PTA raised $930 to present to Helen.....GO PTA!!! it was a gorgeous day and the boys had a lot of fun! here is my POTD for yesterday

Impromptu photo shoot

2009-05-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

On Friday as the boys and I were walking out the door going to school I grabbed the camera.....on our backporch I got these...or I should say the boys got them......each taking the others photos. I think they turned out pretty darn good! I hope they always remember how much I love them.

NSV

2009-05-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

That's Non Scale Victory for those of you who don't know....I just found out myself when my friend Amanda refered to it .....I had to ask what it meant :)

For a while now people have been commenting on how lose and baggy my clothes are. I just didn't really think they were THAT baggy and sure didn"t want to go out and spend money on new clothes but since I was going to a 2 day NSD (National Scrapbook Day) whew lots of acronyms in this post!! anyway out buying new pants......I went to the local goodwill store and had a hard time finding something in the size I thought maybe I could squeeze into but there weren't any...so going down a size and another and ANOTHER until I found a pair of capri pants, thinking well trying them on will at least give me an idea of how close (or far away) I am to that size still a long way off in my mind......I wish I had a picture of my face when they slid right on!! I had even picked up a pair of button shorts....feeling pretty good I decided to try them on too and OMG!! I got them bottoned!! WOW what a moment I had in that dressing room!! So I bought both pairs! So I'll leave you with the picture of my new capri's on top of my old pants.....this was a happy day!!

MS Walk

2009-04-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

On Sunday May 3, I'm joining in to walk for MS. I have two very dear friends that have MS and I'll do my part to help......will you help out too?

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/ILDWalkEvents?team_id=149962&pg=team&fr_id=10955

Project 365

2009-04-26T19:13:00.000-05:00

Some of my project 365 photos.

<----Matty is always leaving his guys "hanging" around. I love finding them all over the house....most of the time :)

Here is the bird, sitting, protecting her nest

<---- I wasn't sure the tulips would bloom this year, we had snow after they sprouted. But so far 2 have bloomed.

birds!!

2009-04-26T07:36:00.000-05:00

On Friday my friend Amanda came over to scrapbook/card make with me. Brian was out of town and I love having her over. Flash back to a week or so ago, one of the boys mentioned a bird nesting around the front of the house and they took the nest down. I didn't really pay much attention to the details. So it's around 10pm and Amanda is leaving, I walk her out and as soon as she is on the front porch a bird is flapping and squawking, hovering right around her head! It was crazy!! So she ducks back into the house and we get the door closed before it can get in the house.......but not before we scared the *crap* outta the bird :( It flies away and Amanda can get safely to her car.......then Mitchell says this is the bird that he was telling me about earlier. I went out and took a couple pictures of the nest. On Saturday we got up early to go to the free movie and there she was sitting in her nest. I don't know much about birds but I'm pretty sure there are eggs in there as she doesn't go far from it and goes right back when the coast is clear. Amanda came back after the movie to craft some more but was very careful to come and go from the back door! Brian got home in the late afternoon and we told him about the great bird adventure.....he said he's taken the nest down twice! Getting back to our craftiness Amanda says oh B just walked by the window with a broom......so I fly up the stairs to rescue the mama!! I dont' want the nest knocked down if there are eggs in there. I tried to look out the upstairs window but couldn't see into the nest. So we left it alone for now.

beautiful days

2009-04-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

It's been gorgeous here the last few days....80's sunny...a little windy but who cares when it's this warm :) Brian has been in Indy for the last few days so it was nice to get him home again. He also took us out to dinner...no cooking is always good :) I've been so crafty the last few days. I was lucky to have a good friend over to keep me motivated. Things are going very well here. Matty just finished up a week of swimming for P.E. at school, that didn't go so well for him but the good news is that it's OVER! Brian is going to take the boys swimming tomorrow so that'll make up for the bad swimming. Both boys are having such a rough year, they've already started the count down to the end. I'm really looking forward to summer break.....I see lots of yard work and swimming in our future!!

April showers.....

2009-04-15T12:44:00.000-05:00

........bring May flowers.......or so they say. The sun is finally shining! lets hope it sticks around for a while. I weighed into day and am down another pound......slow and steady, that's me! I'm busy packing today for the spring retreat! this time in addition to scrapbooking I'm going to move my pictures over to an external hard drive. Wish me luck that I can get it done, it's long overdue!! I have almost 15,000 pictures slowing down my surfing! I'm still plugging away with my project 365, I'm just too lazy to post the picture each day. I'm hoping to get caught up with my printing and do come journaling in my album. I dont' want to get too far behind with it. It's been fun and stressful, I'm not sure I'll do this again.

I'm so proud!!

2009-04-11T18:11:00.000-05:00

Today the boys did the youth run as part of the 1st Illinois Marathon here in town. We've been walking and running to train them for today. They had a really good time and got a nice medal. It's also my project 365 potd :)

my first goal

2009-04-10T16:10:00.000-05:00

as excited as I was it's taken me a day to get this posted! I did weigh in on Wed but was bummed, I thought I'd hit this goal and come up a pound short :( but not letting that stop me I weighed again on Thursday and did it!!! I am officially 100 lbs down from my heaviest weight!! GO ME!! :) I've still got a long way to go but I know I'll get there!!! It feels good being on the other side of this hill!!

Photo update

2009-04-02T16:31:00.000-05:00

Since I can't really see a difference from month to month it helps me to post a "before" picture......I was using one from May 2008 which was really an after-I-already-lost a good amount....but I just recently came across this picture....YIKES!!

I need to figure out how to put the pictures side by side.

Not much else has been going on with us lately. The boys had spring break last week and we just hung out around the house not doing much of anything. We went to see a couple movies, nothing too exciting. It was hard to get back into the swing of school. Mitchell started texting, he has texted my niece and mom a few times but now he's doing it with friends from school.....I know, not a big deal LOL but he sure is growing up fast. He's in boy scouts now and is getting even more independent.

check this out...

2009-04-02T12:47:00.001-05:00

My friend Sasha always gets really great deals......so she started a blog about it. She's giving away a great prize right now so go check it out!! http://www.sharingthedeals.com/2009/03/my-first-giveaway_25.html

and I'll be posting my 1st day of the month photo later today :)

slow and steady

2009-03-25T08:25:00.000-05:00

that's how I describe my weight loss. I was excited to weigh in today I'm down another 4lbs! I'm weighing in at 229....down 93lbs!!! I'll save you the math.....I started this journey at a whopping 322lbs!! probably a little more but that's the official highest weight.

weigh

2009-03-18T22:01:00.000-05:00

Another great weigh in! 3 more pounds down!!

We've had a crazy busy week here. I really wanted to post some pictures of the great times we had last week......I'll put it on my to-do list for the weekend.

Weigh in Wednesday!

2009-03-04T10:06:00.000-06:00

down another 3lbs.....for a total loss of 74lbs!!! I'm still not really seeing it myself but now people are commenting it, so that's good :) Not too shabby for not being at the gym much last week. I think this week I'll go easy on the cardio and hopefully by next week my butt will be able to handle the machines again.

and I'm a little late in posting my picture on the first so here it is now. along with a previous picture...

This is from May 2008

and March 1 2009

Weigh in Wednesday!

2009-02-25T18:04:00.000-06:00

I'm down 9 lbs!! woo hoo!!! I did break my coccyx on Sat so my gym time this week is drastically cut! I had to call all over town to find a butt cushion :) I now have my doughnut cushion and it's working well!

Win a custom chipboard book

2009-02-16T20:58:00.000-06:00

Creek Bank Creations is giving away a custom cut chipboard album.......check it out here http://creekbankcreations.blogspot.com/

I've bought 2 before and they're a great quality, sturdy chipboard!

We're having such a productive day......

2009-02-15T14:36:00.000-06:00

but not by choice :) lets go back a few days. The main drain from the house got clogged or blocked and it backed up into the lower level :( yuck! but since my man is an uber handy man and paid attention the last time this happened and we had to call a plumber, he went right out and got the tools he needed and fixed the problem....or so we thought.....anyway a few hours and lots of adventure I won't go into as of this morning it's all fixed. So I've spend most of today cleaning the laundry room. It looks so good, well as good as a laundry, furnace & hot water heater room can look :) and I've started chipping away at Mt. Laundry.

Right now Brian and the boys are at a cub scout pack swim at the indoor aquatic center. Kinda sad it'll be one of the last events Mitchell does as a cub scout. I'm having such a hard time believing he's old enough to move on to boy scouts, even when I have to look up to look him in the eye!!

Weigh in Wednesday!

2009-02-11T12:08:00.000-06:00

slow and steady! that's my new motto! another 4lbs shed. GO ME!!

I hit another milestone!

2009-02-08T09:50:00.000-06:00

Today I went 4.6 miles on the elliptical with 800 calories burned!!! I also lost another 1.5 lbs

Red letter day....or should I say Red....

2009-02-07T11:45:00.000-06:00

scale day!! as of today I have officially lost 60 lbs!!

Time for a photo

2009-02-02T18:48:00.000-06:00

I've only lost about 1.5 pounds since the first of December so this photo isn't much different from the last one.....but here it is anyway.

On Saturday I spent the day at Camp Drake with Mitchell. He is a second year Webelo and got to participate in the Klondike Derby. I always thought of myself as an inside girl.....turns out that if you take away the heat and the bugs I don't mind being outside at all :) here are a couple pictures of the derby. Oh and Mitchells Webelo patrol won the final sled race!!

Project 365

2009-01-23T19:55:00.000-06:00

I decided to take part in Project 365 this year.....basically I'm taking a picture each day for the year. So far it's going pretty good. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites so far.

Happy Birthday Matty

2009-01-20T23:07:00.001-06:00

Matty turned 9 today. I'm pretty sure he had a great day :) He only asked for one thing, well really one thing with 2 parts. And he asked for this way back in September.......he wanted to stay home from school on his birthday, he AND Mitchell :) what a sweetie, how could I resist. Since Sept anytime he's refered to his birthday he always reminds me that he'll be home. Once we looked at the calendar we found that it was also a 4 day weekend......bonus!! then due to the extreme cold weather we had last week they were out on Wed too......so hello 6 day weekend!! Anyway back to our day. Brian took the day off to spend with us, Matty had it all planned out. We'd watch the inauguration (Ok I added this one!) then off to lunch at Jimmy John's (a local sandwhich shop), a little shopping at target, a movie - Paul Blart Mall Cop (very funny!) then dinner at El Toro (his favorite place! Mexican).

Gingerbread house

2008-12-23T20:47:00.001-06:00

I got the boys a gingerbread house kit and had a great time watching them put it together. They really enjoyed the icing :)

slippery day

2008-12-23T20:45:00.001-06:00

this is the view from our dinning room.

stay warm!!

Girls Day out

2008-12-20T16:10:00.001-06:00

I got to spend a couple hours with my neice today. I wanted to make this a special treat for her, she didn't really know what we were doing just that she got to spend some time with me alone with no one else. When I picked her up I asked her want she wanted to do, she said she thought maybe we were going grocery shopping. I asked her if that would be OK with her, she said yes. I said well what if we do something else like go buy her a book, her smile said it all. Then when we walked into the nail salon I thought the smile was going to jump right off her face!! I wish I had my camera ready for that one!! here are a couple picsture of our day.

Weigh in Wednesday!

2008-12-10T19:51:00.000-06:00

I almost forgot. Along with a picture on the first of each month, on Wed I'm posting my losses........so here goes.....another

3lbs down!!! WOO HOO!!!

Mitchells Leaf Project

2008-12-10T18:55:00.000-06:00

Mitchell had a big project to work on for the last several weeks. I gave him a few lessons in crafting and this is what he came up with. He was pretty proud of it and wanted to be the first to turn it in. So he took it in yesterday. It's not due until Friday.

Decorating

2008-12-09T10:48:00.000-06:00

First picture

2008-12-01T14:09:00.000-06:00

I think I'm going to post a picture on the first of each month so I can see my progess. I also thought that going "public" with my weight loss journey would help keep myself on track and add a little more accountibility. Not sure if it'll work but it sure can't hurt. And who knows maybe along the way I'll inspire someone. So as of today my total weight loss is 57lbs....this is from my heaviest recorded weight. With 32lbs lost in the last 8 weeks.

Here's a photo that was taken on 5/26/08

and this is me today.....can you see a difference yet

SNOW!!!

2008-11-30T14:42:00.000-06:00

Look what greeted us this morning...

The boys had a great time playing and making a couple snowmen!

stuff

2008-11-28T10:10:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I hope all you black friday shoppers got all the deals you were hoping for!

I've decided to run in a marathon!!! OK so I'm not going to do the entire marathon. I thought about half....then I decided on the 5K portion...hey it's a start!! you can get info at www.illinoismarathon.com maybe someone will join me?!?!?

YEA ME!!!

2008-11-25T14:43:00.000-06:00

I had a dr's appointment today.....I have lost 32lbs in the last 8 weeks and 55lbs total!! This has been a great day!!

our first Illini game

2008-11-23T17:54:00.000-06:00

I don't think we've ever even watched one on T.V. so all you basketball fans will appreciate this story.....

we get there find out seat, the boys want a snack....so they decided a snack before the game and one at half time....OK with me. we go get them ice cream.....the snack stand is making fresh cones!!! it smelled SO good!!! game starts......having a great time!! we're trying to figure out how many periods are in a game.. who know?? not us....Ok a friend from Mitchell's class is sitting nearby and says it's 4 - she says she should know her brother plays in middle school.......still with me?? so Mitchell has to go to the bathroom so it's 3 minutes or so until the end of the 2nd period so I say lets go now and get your snack before the half time crowd......go pee....get snack....sit down.....just in time for the buzzer.....I'm all confused the teams are doing the good game hand slap.....what!?!? announcer says......Thanks for coming out!! OMG we start laughing!!! we just got snacks for the ride home!!! the boys had such a great time!! I even hate to admit I enjoyed the game too

Happy Birthday to me

2008-11-18T18:12:00.001-06:00

2008-11-15T16:08:00.000-06:00

well I fell off the wagon today! no not that wagon, I did get up early and was at the gym by 8am :) but I had a weak moment this afternoon and needed something sweet bad!! so I had a small bag of m&m's from the boys halloween bucket! one of the tiny ones with maybe 10 m&m's in it so not a hard fall....

now for something fun. Here's a lo I did at a crop a couple weeks ago......total scraplift off my friend Daiva

Take the quiz....

2008-11-14T18:37:00.000-06:00

lets see if I can get this to work

forgot about yesterday!

2008-11-14T11:44:00.000-06:00

Oops! I forgot to blog yesterday.......I can't even remember what it was going to be about.....LOL oh well.

Today lets talk SURVIVOR!!! do you watch? do you love it? if you don't watch......why not??? Post a reply with your favorite player this round and I'll have a drawing for some blog candy! gotta post today to be in the drawing. Oh and a bouns if you know who my ALL TIME favorite SUVIVOR is :)

I went back to the gym today. My knee didn't hurt at all while I was on the elliptical so that was a bonus. It was a little uncomfortable after but nothing like it has been. Hopefully that means I'm on the mend and will be back to normal soon.

I'm waiting impatiently for Twilight to come out in theaters next friday! my mom and I are plannign dinner and a movie to so see it. I can't wait!

Things I'm thinking about today

2008-11-12T13:32:00.001-06:00

I hurt my knee over the weekend.....so I couldn't go to the gym today. I'm laid up on the couch resting it and watching massive amounts of tv. I read a message board post this morning and it got me thinking about something......clothes.....I've always been partial to white shirts, I have a closet full of them, but what I've never had is a fitted shirt! so I know have 2 things for when I hit my goal weight......first is I'm not going to cut my hair (no matter how crazy it's driving me!) and I'm going to order this shirt! I might even order every color they have!!

Thank you

2008-11-11T14:02:00.000-06:00

I DID IT!!!

2008-11-10T09:57:00.000-06:00

I made my weight goal!!! another 7lbs down!! Join me in a

~*~*~*HAPPY DANCE!~*~*~*

bad morning......very bad morning.

2008-11-07T17:25:00.001-06:00

don't go for a walk in the country alone......

maybe more later.

2008-11-06T08:15:00.000-06:00

another 2lbs gone!! I am SO gonna make my goal on Monday!!

I'm all packed and ready to head out to a weekend scrapbook retreat. Just waiting on Chris to get here, then we'll go pick up Leah.....man I hope all our stuff fits in the van!

I'm excited and have been looking forward to this for a while. I get to see lots of great friends I've made over the years.

This is a page I did 2 weekends ago at an all day crop. It was also a challenge here

BLOG CANDY!!

2008-11-05T12:34:00.000-06:00

My friend Alecia has some blog candy up for grabs! she has put together an aweome package....go check it out here

WOW!!

2008-11-05T11:35:00.001-06:00

So I had a really rough day yesterday. I just wanted to eat something. I'm not sure what was going on, I wasn't hungry. I just kept telling myself that I was doing so good.....don't blow it now! After driving past countless fast food places giving it everything I had not to pull in I made a deal with myself. I'd weigh in this morning and if I hadn't lost anything from my last weigh in I'd have a hamburger for lunch today........well guess what...........NO HAMBURGER FOR ME!!! I've lost another 2lbs!! I'm so close to my goal (I needed to lose 20lbs by Nov 10) so that leaves me with 6 lbs to go.........I CAN DO THIS!!!

2008-11-04T15:48:00.000-06:00

So today I went out and did the most American thing possible........I VOTED!!! I hope you do too.

2008-11-03T16:19:00.000-06:00

I started my day out as usual today.....I have this goal weight and date looming over my head so I decided to kick up the workout a bit today and spent 60 minutes on the elptical!!! YIKES what was I thinking! it kicked my butt! I had to take a cat nap on the couch this afternoon.

Here's a picture of me taken 8/29/07

and this one taken 8/27/2008

I can't reallly tell but there's about a 25 loss during this year.

oh and btw I weighed in today and lost another 4lbs!!

2008-11-02T07:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday while reading a friends blog I found out it's NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month, you're supposed to write a blog entry every day for the month. So I thought I'd give it a try and see how much random usless stuff I can come up with :)

Today the boys and I are going to see Kung-Fu Panda. This is the last weekend for the free movies offered by one of the local theaters. The show the free movies on Sat and Sun mornings. We went to see it yesterday, Mitchell has this awesome deep from the belly laugh and it came out full on! So I told them we'd go back to day if they got their chores done.....which they did =o)

healthy living

2008-11-01T16:07:00.000-05:00

I'm getting a bit obsessive about this...I'm going to the gym every day and really controlling the portions I make and serve. It's amazing once you start to really see results. I keep finding dents!! you know where it used to be filled in!! I think I'm going to start posting every Monday with my progress then taper off to the first of each month. Just in the last 2 weeks I've gotten my blood sugar under control, I went from mid to high 200's down to under 100.....I've been able to start decreassing come of my medicine!! GO ME!! :) I'm not sure what the final straw was for me but I'm glad it finally broke. There's even talk of me participating in the Turkey Trot!! I'm going to post some pictures tomorrow then will post one on the first of each month.

Halloween

2008-11-01T08:36:00.001-05:00

Here are my scary guys! Mitchell wanted to look in the attic for Brian's old masks.....as soon as he found this he didn't want to look any further....look out Jason here comes Mitchell!!

While Brian and Mitchell were looking at the masks Matty came across this one :( my cute little Mattyana Jones was out the window.....in comes the Devils Apprentice (Matty's made that up!)

They had so much fun trick or treating!! we spent the entire 2 hours out walking the streets, they had the most fun trying to scare people. Mitchell would ask people if they had ever been camp councelors!! after getting the candy of course =o)

Brian and I got up to go to the gym this morning. I went upstairs to leave them a note and this is what I found......both of then in our bed watching Saturday morning cartoons.......life just doesn't get better than this!!

I hope you had a Spooktacular Halloween!!

WINNER!!

2008-10-31T07:53:00.000-05:00

ACK! I'm so sorry I forgot to post the winner(s)!! that's right 2 winners!! let me explain.....

At the 2 day crop I got 26 pages done!! WOO HOO for me =o) but......when I got up Sunday and Brian and the boys left for an all day scout event I started scrapping again and got another 4 pages done.......so I thought I'd also include them!

The 26 guess winner is Jen
the 30 guess winner is Karen!!

If you can send your address to me at LaurieB323@aol.com I'll get your prizes out ASAP!!

Thanks so much for playing!! I think I'll do this again for the retreat next weekend!!

Page Guessing Contest

2008-10-24T06:56:00.000-05:00

After I drop the boys off at school I'm heading to a 2 day crop! I'll be cropping from 9a-11p today and tomorrow. If you can guess how many pages I complete I'll send you a nice little suprise!! The person closest will win and if you guess exactly I'll add a bonus!! I'll be scrapping 12x12 and just a reminder that I do double page lo's. Post a comment with your guess by noon on Sunday =o)

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

Batman + Saturday = Baturday

2008-09-28T15:16:00.000-05:00

That's right! Yesterday was our official Baturday......Lego Batman came out on Tuesday....I know this because the boys have been counting down the days for months now. They are such great kids that we decided to get it for them as an end of summer back to school kind of gift. I've also resisted letting them so see The Dark Knight all summer long. After reading many reviews I thought it might be just a little dark for them. So Brian decided he was going to take them and made an entire day around Batman.....right down to the (bat) WINGS at Buffalo Wild Wings. He can be so creative when he sets his mind to it. I still haven't figured out a way to tie in Batman to Matty's new hair cut.....if you figure it out be sure to let me know. Here are a couple pictures of his new doo! OH and we picked up his new glasses too!!

Peter Parker update

2008-09-28T15:12:00.001-05:00

Well it seems that word got out we're some kind of spider santuary!! Meet Venom...

Venom toxicity - the bite of the St Andrews Cross is of low risk (non-toxic) to humans. They are a non-aggressive group of spiders.
Spider Identification - adult 1/4" to 1/2" in body length - abdomen striped yellow and brown - as illustrated. The St Andrews Cross Spider usually sits, upside down, in the middle of its web forming a cross - as illustrated.
Habitat - this spider is a web-weaver usually found in summer in garden areas around the home. It is considered beneficial as it spins a large web to snare flying insects, such as flies and mosquitoes.

But they must've scared off all the tasty bugs, as of today we haven't been able to find either one....I'm actually a little bit sad. Just a little bit!!

I've been MIA

2008-09-25T07:54:00.000-05:00

In the begining of September to help out a friend I've been watching her 2 kids on Monday and Tuesday, at her house. It wasn't really working for my family so I told her I can only do in for September......so as if the boys weren't messed up enough, I started helping a friend with her business, packaging up orders. It's been crazy around here with me gone so much. My last day to package is sat and I might be babysitting on Mon & Tues. They're talking with the new person to see if she can start next week. But either way next week I get my life back!! Mitchell's had a hard time these last few days. This has really stopped the feelings I had for needing to get a job outside the house.

More later because I have a Peter Parker update I've been wanting to post!

Never forget

2008-09-12T07:44:00.000-05:00

Peter Parker update

2008-09-06T23:21:00.000-05:00

OK I have to admit that it's been a little bit fascinating watching him, or her actually according to Brian. Tonight I was watching him fix his new web.....wow all those arms and legs going at the same time...makes me wish I had an extra set!! Anyway I took a nap today since I was out stamping until 5am!! and got up by 9 this morning. I made some super cute cards and atc's for the about.com swap. I'll be sure to post them when I finish them up. Anyway back to Peter. So I'm up a little late watching Air Force One....who doesn't love watching Han Solo save the day!! I just wanted to let you know how honkin big this spider is..........every time the motion light goes off he sets it right back on again!! this spider is setting off the motion light!! I tried taking some pictures but they didn't turn out as good as I wanted. I'll try again tomorrow.

who am I and where is the real Laurie!?!?

2008-09-05T11:22:00.000-05:00

So anyone that *knows* me.....know's my fear of spiders (and pretty much anything that has more then 2 legs.....{most} cats and dogs excluded!) so this will come as a HUGE suprise.......let me start from the begining.....Matty is sitting at the dinning room table and I'm on the couch, he's starting to tell me a story about a dream he had. I'm looking at him when my vision starts to focus on something behind him...something BIG.......my eyes got huge!! he whips around to see what I'm looking at.....it's this...

Orb-Weaving Spiders

Venom toxicity - the bite of Orb-Weaving Spiders is of low risk (not toxic) to humans. They are a non-aggressive group of spiders. Seldom bite. Be careful not to walk into their webs at night - the fright of this spider crawling over one's face can be terrifying and may cause a heart attack, particularly to the susceptible over 40 year olds.

Spider Identification - an adult is about 2/3 to more than 1 inch in body length - has a bulbous abdomen - often colorful - dark to light brown pattern. The common Golden Orb-Weaver Spider has a purplish bulbous abdomen with fine hairs.

Habitat - often found in summer in garden areas around the home - they spin a large circular web of 6 feet or more, often between buildings and shrubs, to snare flying insects, such as, flies and mosquitoes.

That's right....this DEADLY spider living outside of our big window. Do you need to go back and re-read the part I highlighted above!?!?

My first reaction was to call 911!! Ok not really but it's HUGE and I thought for sure I needed to call someone!! THEN while the boys and I were standing there not really knowing what to do a fly landed in his web (I say he becaue I named him Peter Parker) and just as fast as it landed in the web Peter ran as fast as his little 8 legs would carry him and started spinning it around!!! It was facinating!! we really couldn't take our eyes off it. I bet we watched him for an hour!! he also got a nother big bug but we couldnt figure out what kind it was. Mitchell thought it was a bee. So Brian got home later that night and we had to reenact the segment where we first saw it. He knew all about Peter and it seems he's been living all over the side of our house!?!? WHAT!!

So Peter is safe for now, until he either gets closer to the back door or OMG actually comes into contact with me.....then he'll be a giant splat!!!

No 20/20's here

2008-09-03T23:53:00.000-05:00

Today the boys and I went for our annual eye exams....each year Matty is so sad that he doesn't get to pick out a pair of frames......until NOW!!! I knew it was only a matter of time since the dr told me about 2 years ago he'd need them soon. We had a lot of fun trying on different pairs. He was a little upset when he found out the logo's and information WOULD'NT be on the lens' when he got his "real" glasses....the tech got a kick out that that!! Here is the little guy with the pair we picked out. I splurged and got him the transition lens' (they get dark in the sunlight)

recent stuff

2008-08-31T13:12:00.000-05:00

I've been on such a roll doing the challenges at Two Spotted Dogs check it out here maybe there's something there to inspire you too!

This first lo is from last summer when Brian's mom and sister came to visit. It was our fist time meeting his newphew Anthony.

Mattyana Jones and the Night at the Museum

2008-08-30T19:53:00.000-05:00

Indian Jones (Scott Croft of Rantoul) tells young Indiana Jones (Matthew Brauer, aka Mattyana of Urbana) some of the adventures that lay in store for him and he toured the Chanute Air Museum, which hosted it's Night at the Museum Saturday. Children were given a list of things to do and places to see in the museum...

Matty also ended up winning the grand prize of the evening! A dvd of the Ben Stiller movie "Night at the Museum" the book the movie was based on along with an assortment of movie candy. He was pretty excited!!

Meet Mattyana

2008-08-28T19:19:00.000-05:00

A few weeks before the new Indy movie came out Matty started playing Indiana Jones, I started calling him Mattyana.....he didn't like it.....until he thought it up himself!! so this is his official Mattyana garb. He wouldn't trade his rope whip in for a more realistic version. He taped up the end of his rope whip with electrical tape!! he's been wanting his picture taken for a LONG time to put in his journal......"The adventures of Mattyana Jones" look for it at a book store near you!!!

First day of school

2008-08-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of school for ALL my boys =o) here are pictures of the boys with their school supplies

Matty

Mitchell

July 4th Celebration part 1

2008-07-05T22:33:00.000-05:00

Here I am in all my glory!! If these pictures don't motivate my butt to get on the healthy lifestyle wagon...I'm not sure anything could!!! no laughing!! ok but just a little!

while you wait......

2008-07-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

for the amazing blog entry about our 4th party and pictures..find out what utencil you are =o)

You Are Chopsticks

People see you as exotic, unusual, and even a bit intimidating.

You are a difficult person to figure out.

In truth, you try to live a very simple life.

But most people are too frenzied to recognize the beauty of your simplicity.

What Utensil Are You?

Happy Birthday Brian!!

2008-07-01T14:53:00.001-05:00

Scrappy time

2008-06-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pages I've done. They're pretty simple.

UGh I can't seem to get the slide show to post..I'll keep trying

it's so quiet.....

2008-06-30T11:04:00.001-05:00

The boys, all 3 of them, left for adventure camp yesterday. They won't be home until sometime Wednesday. I'm really torn between enjoying my alone time and being lonely. I've either been the the one to go away or Brian will but we're each with the boys when the other goes away....I've never been left by them all!! it's a weird feeling that I'll need to adjust to since B plans on doing more camping with them.

Mitchell called today.......he lost his last baby tooth. The last one... no more tooth fairy visits... no more begging him to let me get it out...the absolute last baby piece is gone. He's growing up so fast. Where did my baby go?? and when did this youn man move in??

I did get some crafty time in yesterday. On Friday I went to an all day crop. A group of us met at a scrapbook store in Decatur......2 Scrappy Cats......AWESOME store, AWESOME staff!! So last night I finished up the lo's I had started but needed to enlarge some pictures for it. I'll post them later.

Happy Anniversary to me!!!

2008-06-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

As my darling husband reminded me just this morning, today is also about him!! Here we are on our special day.

2 boys + 1 leaf blower = FUN!!!

2008-06-10T16:11:00.003-05:00

So I caught the boys playing when they were supposed to be picking up leaves.....what's a mom to do....just what I did.....run inside a grab a camera!!

What color are you?

2008-06-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

I swear I did NOT cheat!!!

GREEN

You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

what's with the negative people??

2008-05-04T12:42:00.000-05:00

Have you ever met that person that can't seem to say anything nice or happy?? Do you think they know they're that way?? do they understand how hard it is to be around them?? I had these types of people in my life before......and I won't do it again!! It doesn't work to try and be the better person and help them see life as a beautiful gift to live and enjoy, it just ends up bring everyone down. I've seen it happen to myself and others. Nope not gonna do it again!! I feel sorry of those people. Someone told me that maybe they were trying to be funny......WHAT?!?!? how is being rude and mean being funny?? really...funny??.... nope don't see it. If you don't know someone very well, being rude and mean is not the way to make friends...how do you think they'd take it?

NSD

2008-05-03T15:59:00.000-05:00

Happy National Scrapbook Day!! I hope you're having a scraptastic day!!!

Did you ever wonder.....

2008-04-29T18:53:00.000-05:00

...what it would be like if Mother Nature ever had PMS??? well we here in Central Illinios are finding out! How else can you explain an earth quake and hailing ice in April?!?!? here are pictures taken last night.....now keep in mind it was 80 degrees here on Friday!!

Shakey Day

2008-04-19T18:46:00.000-05:00

Apparently we had an earthquake!! it happened around 4:30 am Friday but no of us woke up for it. I'm really suprised, I'm a pretty light sleeper so I must've been tired. We heard all about it on the radio while we were getting ready for school. We've had minor ones every so often, I can remember 2 in my life, once in the 80's then again in 2002. I didn't feel either of them so I wasn't too suprised that I didn't feel this one. UNTIL......10:18 I was sitting right here at the computer when the house started to shake!! I immediatly looked outside thinking it was the wind but the trees weren't really moving! it didn't last long, maybe 10 seconds or so but it was the weirdest thing ever!! I wasn't completly convinced I turned on the TV......nothing.....I had the radio on.....nothing.....so I called Brian and he confirmed that we did have an after shock. I thought it was a little werid that they didn't break into the TV with the announcement I mean we have a werid looking cloud and all we hear are tornado watches.....anyway it made for a freaky few minutes =o)

Mitchell is a Young Author!!

2008-04-12T14:14:00.000-05:00

On Thursday Mitchell was honored at the Urbana District Young Authors Celebration. Linda Gorham was the keynote speaker (she's a professional storyteller) and was fantastic! They had some breakout sessions for the kids, lunch, awards and the UMS students did some dramatic interpretations of some of the stories submitted, Mitchell's wasn't one chosen. Here is a picture of him recieving his certificate from Dr. Williams, the district superintendent. Brian, Matty and I were able to enjoy the day with him.

Not a very good week

2008-04-08T23:17:00.000-05:00

I just found out Sunday that Mitchell has been having some trouble with a teacher at school. It just broke my heart to hear him tell us his version of what's been happening. I couldn't sleep Sunday night and went in to talk to the principal on Monday. Brian and I are meeting with her and the teacher tomorrow. Why in the world someone would want to berate and belittle a child is beyond me.......I can't wait to hear her version of this.

And if that wasn't a bad enough start to my week, a friend died Monday morning. It hard for me to imagine someone feeling that ending your life is your only option. I just keep thinking why didn't you reach out to a friend! She had a teenage daughter, my heard just breaks for her. If you're a praying person please pray for her. And if you ever need a shoulder, know that I'm here for you!! just a phone call, an email or a road trip away!!!

What's going on here?!?!?

2008-03-28T08:46:00.000-05:00

Last night Mitchell tells me he wants to take his showers in the mornings.....so of course Matty does too. They've done them in the morning a few times, but not on a regular basis!! so what am I to think?!?!? is this another sign they're getting older!! or is it they just don't like taking time out of their evening? I think I'll stick with the time thought, and not that my babies (of which half are as tall as I am) are growing up!!

But it did work out really nice this morning. Last night I told them before they did anything they needed to shower, they both got up and were showered before I got up =o) It seemed to get them going too, not too much prodding them this morning! This could be a good thing!!

Trip to Miller Park

2008-03-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

The boys and I went to Bloomington yesterday. It was a little chilly and overcast but we had a great time at Miller Park Zoo and playground. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

I've been tagged.......again!!

2008-03-11T11:37:00.001-05:00

I've been tagged ;)

Different one this time so here goes....Ok, here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you – Roni
2. Post the rules on your blog. Check!
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself

I'm not a picky eater but a very picky about what I'll drink!!
I can't get enough peanut butter cups
I HAVE to watch Survivor live even though it means sitting thru commercials
I hate all bugs and snakes
I'm a closet perfectionist
I like doing laundry

4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs ....sorry guys....I didn't start it ;) Becky Sherri Molly Brandi Nicole Brenda

Guitar Hero is on it's way!!!

2008-03-02T11:57:00.000-06:00

This story really starts back around Christmas time. My good friend Brandi was going on and on about how Guitar Hero is and that she purchased one on ebay. When the boys ended up with around $200 in gift cards to Toys-R-Us I tried to get them to purchase it, but they wanted other things and really weren't even interested in looking at it. Flash forward to Thursday, Mitchell was with Brian when he got a fire call, so Mitchell stayed in the station with another guy who was playing...yep GH 3 so Mitchell started playing and playing and playing!! for an hour. Now it's all he wants!! Yep I'm pulling my hair out now. I was reading the message board at Two Spotted Dogs this morning and Stephanie was talking about playing last night. So light bulb moment!! I logged into ebay and found an awesome deal (at least I thought it was so please if you don't think it is just keep it to yourself LOL) getting GH 2 & 3 2-guitars a regular controller and 2 other games!! with less then 2 minutes left! so I snagged it up knowing that the 15 other bidders are going to be upset with me LOL The boys are super excited and know they have to purge some massive amounts of stuff before I'll let them play!! Now for me to list massive amounts of stuff on ebay to make up for this major non-bugeted expense!!! Dave Ramsey would not be happy with me!! I promise to start saving now for the Aerosmith edition that's coming out soon!!

I've been Tagged!!

2008-03-01T00:31:00.000-06:00

10 years ago I was:

still on maternity leave with my first born, Mitchell. Giving him lots and lots of sugar!! scared half out of my mind thinking I was going to break him.

5 things on my to do list for today:
1.) Take Matty to a birthday party
2.) Take Matty to his scout den meeting
3.) finish the lo I started at the crop last night
4.) check all the blogs I read
5.) take a nap!!

4 things I would do if I became a billionaire:
1.) Book a trip to Disney world!!
2.) Pay off our debt
3.) By new cars
4.) invest invest invest!!!!

3 bad habits:
1.) don't watch what I eat
2.) procrastinate
3.) Keep things that I should throw out

5 jobs I have had:
1.) ER tech
2.) Corrections Officer
3.) Nanny
4.) MOM
5.) Corn detassler

6 Things most people don’t know about me:
1.) I have 2 tattoos
2.) I was so shy in HS I didn't join the activities I wanted to
3.) I say I want a dog but I really don't =o(
4.) I don't know what I want to do when I grow up
5.) I am terrified of heights..even just a few feet off the ground
6.) I have watched cheesy reality shows when I'm bored

I'm tagging Daiva , Sherri, and Nicole.If you get tagged copy and paste this to your own blog, and put in your answers, and then tag 3 other people.

The smell is gone!!!

2008-02-27T11:35:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why it went away so fast, but on Tuesday we couldn't smell it upstairs anymore and this morning not even a trace outside. So I'm thinking Mother Nature took pity on me and swept it away!!

I'm going to meet up with friends at a crop on Friday. I'm excited since I'm already packed from the last crop in Springfield.....hummm speaking of I still haven't heard back from them. Guess I'll leave another message today.

What's that smell.....

2008-02-25T12:03:00.000-06:00

so last night I'm reading while Brian is watching Yankee workshop on TV and I smell a weird smell.....so I aske the usual ??'s did you burp or fart he says no....it's a faint but odd smell...after a while he smells it and thinks it's a new plastic smell. weird.. he's ready for bed, I'm like we can't go to bed with a weird smell in the house so I ask him to go downstairs to check it out and I'm going to finish my chapter in bed..he comes back and says it's stronger in my scraproom but he walked outside and can smell it there too so it must be something outside that has drifted in..OK..I finish my chapter and turn out the lights..only the smell is bugging me, so I go downstairs as soon as I get down tthere I KNOW what it is......a SKUNK!!! in the fall our neighbor told us he things a skunk is living under our front steps. They're concrete and there was a small hole dug under them so Brian filled it with rocks and forgot about it....well my scrap room is right up against the front of the house UGH so now who do you call to de-smell your front porch and find this pungent little creature?!?!?

The Golden Compass....

2008-02-24T07:57:00.000-06:00

I saw the movie and decided I HAD to read the book, and then the next book and then the next book!! I'm about half way thru the third in the series, The Amber Spyglass and I can't put it down! What a great story, it's a great adventure. I woke up several time last night thinking about the characters. I'm hoping to get it finished today or tomorrow so I can get back to real life!! This happens every time I find a book (or worse if it's a series!) I love. I remember when I started the Harry Potter series there were only 4 books released and I devoured them. I've passed on my love of reading to Mitchell, who by the way stayed up until 4:50 am on Tues night to finish his book.........not a good idea on a school night! He was suprised when we didn't punish him. We really felt that having to go to school on 2 hours sleep was punishment enough!! Anyway back to The Golden Compass......I highly recommend it!!

SNOW!!

2008-02-23T09:07:00.001-06:00

We got more snow! about 4"or more, so much more then predicted. The boys had a great time playing and shoveling!! They were outside for about an hour afterschool yesterday. I'm hoping to get some pictures of them outside today. I don't have many good snow pictures of them. Our snow comes then goes to fast you have to be quick. We might go sledding, we'll see. Brian has midterms next week so he has a weekend of studying planned.