Boys will be Boys

So today we took Little Miss to see Disney On Ice: Princess Classics. It was a pretty big adventure for us and Rowan was excited for days! Once we got settled into our seats I had us cuddle in close together so we could snap a fun family pic.

What I did not know was that my boobs were all hanging out like, for everyone to see.

My hubs noticed however..... he failed to mention it though.

Queue funny family picture.





The show was great.. at least I thought so... Rowan was terrified... who knew that Ursula, Genie, and The Beast could be such horrifying things. One woman saw her with her thumb jammed in her mouth (she is NOT a thumb sucker) with tears streaming down her cheeks... and said "Aww poor thing, how old is she? Two??" and I had to answer..."nope.... almost 4, she's just a chicken."

ugh.

Oh after looking in the view finder of my camera, socking my husband in the arm, and having a redo.. we did get the cute family pic eventually. (its still a little chesty though)

Dollar Tree Store Valentine Craft project

We're getting together next week with our fellow homeschooling friend for a little Valentine's Day party with her three children.

We can't wait! We've agreed to swap valentines so today Rowan and I had fun making them. I got this foam and the foam heart stickers at the dollar store.... so this was a nice inexpensive craft. We also laced the hearts with yarn I had on hand, which was great fun and practice for Miss Rowan. :)

Oh by the way

Today is my anniversary! Happy 5 years to my hubs. :) Feels like just yesterday we ran off to Vegas... I still love him more than ever... My boo bear :)

Blog away the weight!

It's no big secret on this blog that I've been on a major weight loss and exercise kick, so imagine my excitement when I found the Blog The Weight Away competition over at 4BabyAndMom!

Even more exciting, I was picked to join the black team which is being thrown into the competition which has already started, as a FUN twist! woo hoo!

Lets start off by saying that I've already lost 41 pounds! I started this whole process back in July when I began running using the Couch to 5k program which I absolutely adored and highly recommend! As the summer progressed I ran in a few 5k races and then started training for a 10k race in November. Unfortunately I injured my foot a few weeks prior to the race but I did get to the point where I was running 6 miles a day for a few weeks and it felt amazing!

I should preface this intro by saying that when I met my hubs I was a svelte 135 pounds, I ran 6 miles a day like it was nothing. So getting back to a point where I could run that far again was a huge accomplishment for me. HUGE!!

I started gaining weight right around the time I married the hubs. I had endometriosis so in order to protect my fertility the doc suggested I use birth control until I wanted to conceive but skip the sugar pills... basically I was hormoned up for 2 years... and boy oh boy did it wreak havoc on my body. Add to that, a new desk job where I sat all day complete with a corporate career too demanding to allow time for the gym and then a baby girl, and bam! I ballooned up! And when I say ballooned I mean up to.. egads, am I gonna say it? Yup.... Up to 252 pounds!

I wish I could say this was an all time high for me.. but its not. In 2000, I weighed in at 270 pounds! and I started a diet then and began exercising (and later running) losing a total of 135 pounds... (shortly after that I met the hubs).

ps do the math, if you do, you'll notice I lost myself in weight 270-135=135

I think that's the most frustrating part for me. I lost all that damn weight and then gained it all back! Urgh!!! Oh the work it took, and it went right down the tubes!

But here I am, back on the wagon so to speak. And I've learned a lot along the way. For starters, I eat way less when I exercise. I'm sure it has something to do with all those wonderful endorphins your body releases during workouts... and it replaces all those wonderful endorphins you get out of a brownie or a cupcake.

Second, I LOVE LOVE LOVE to run.. addicted almost... unfortunately I'm not running now. I am an outdoor runner and running in Northern NH in January just isn't feasible. I do however own a fabulous elliptical machine. I use it 4-5 days a week on the high resistance programs for an hour. I burn 1000 calories doing so which is pretty darn good. My overall goal with running however, is to start again this spring with training and run a half marathon by this fall, and by next fall to run a full marathon... I like lofty goals. :)

Third, its hella harder to lose weight when your in your 30's, the rumors are true! I lost those 135 lbs in my 20's in 10 months. 10 MONTHS! This time around its been just about 6 and I've only lost 40. I have not however been dieting. I eat what I want, including cookies or whatever, and I've still lost that weight. So my new game plan includes calorie counting.. I hate to do it but I do think the weight will come off faster... and eventually once my stomach shrinks, I won't want to eat my foot off (kidding, sorta).

So there is my intro... every week on Wednesday I'll be here to give you my weigh in during which I'll disclose my weight and measurements (no matter how painful) and then I'll hop on over to my teammates pages to give them encouragement and congrats!

Here's to happy weight loss success!

Today's Stats:
Weight: 211.8 lbs
Measurements: 43/39/47
Total Lost from Start: 41 lbs
Total Lost during competition: Just starting!


On to the pictures!

Here is today at 40lbs lost.

And this is last night... I had this bridesmaid dress in my closet and it fit again so I couldnt' resist trying it on :)



This summer before I started


The Goal!

Sledding!

Barney had to do some online training today for work so I packed little Miss up in the truck, drove 3/4 of a mile down the road and we went sledding! There is a new church that was built a year go that is still partially under construction, and it just so happens to have an awesome hill in its field.

We had such so much fun! And since i'm an exercise-aholic climbing that hill over and over was easier for me than it was for the three year old! It felt nice to be able to keep up with her for a change.

After Daddy finished his work we snagged him and headed back over... it was a fabulously fun family afternoon!

A man and his moose

A few years ago my dad found a young female moose in the woods.. he thought she had lost her mama most likely to a hunter so she was pretty vulnerable and alone.

So my dad, befriended her. He spent over a year in the woods with her, and over time she got to the point where she would allow him to pet her, and they even laid down in the snow together on occasion.. playing with apples they'd role back and forth.

Eventually she grew up... and she took off in the woods, most likely to mate. He still has hours of video of her though, and it truly is amazing.

Snow painting

The other day was fairly warm out so we got suited up and headed on outside to do a little snow painting. This activity once again was picked up somewhere out there in the blogosphere.

Simply fill a water bottle with water and some food coloring.. find a nice snow bank and paint away!

ISpy Math Jar

I've seen quite a few ISpy jars online for preschoolers to play with and the idea came to me to make a math jar for Rowan. She's very into numbers right now and has them pretty well memorized from 1-10...

So here's what I did... I filled an empty spaghetti sauce jar with rice and added 6 dice to the jar.... I had her swirl it around until some dice popped out from the sea of rice. (be it one or two or three die) She counted how many dots she saw... and then picked out a number from a pile of flash cards I had lain out for her.

It was a big hit!

Wordless Wednesday

Neked

Does anyone else out there get horrified at the idea of standing naked in front of their husband?

Last night I was in the bathroom with the door shut. I was washing my face, changing into my jamma's, brushing my teeth, you know that sort of thing.

My hubs knocked on the door..."you going pee?" he asks. I snatched my pajamas off the hook and said "No I'm changing". I figured this would tell him to go away.

But no.. he just busted on through the door!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"I'M NAKED!!" I yelled in exasperation as I shielded my body with my pajama top.

He gave me a look of offense...."We're husband and wife!"

I just stood there, cowering against the wall embarrassed and covered up like I'd just been intruded upon by a complete stranger... he squirted some lotions on his hands, and started walking away....."I plan on getting you naked later anyways"

Damn it.

OMG... delicious!

This recipe was posted on Bakerella today... and I HAD to try it! I can't really tell you with words how delicious they are. And it worked out perfectly since we're talking about seasons in homeschool this week... and how summery are smores!!

I did change things a bit... for one I used a store bought cake mix instead of making things from scratch. I also toasted all the marshmallows over my gas stove and stuck a small square of graham cracker into the top of each one :)

Snippets from our week homeschooling

Rowan is really starting to grasp alot of the topics we work on in school and it excites me to no end! Her ability to write is really blossoming and she's also learned all the numbers from 1-10. Letters are a bit more challenging.. I mean lets be honest, there are so many of them! But I know exposing her to the idea of letters and the fact that they all make sounds is laying a good foundation for her learning.

Here are a few snippets of our last week.
Moons and stars cookie cutter painting

No Time For Flash Cards Letter of the Week M

Letter M worksheet... I'm so proud of her!


"M"ailbox!

Playing with homemade puffy paints to make a "M"oon also seen on No Time for Flash Cards

M&M candy experiment, this was a huge hit! Mostly because she got to eat the rest of the M&M's haha

An afternoon in a Princess Castle

Sorry I don't write much anymore. Life right now is in a very quiet place. We have our little routine of school in the morning, cleaning and playing in the afternoon, working out, making supper for Daddy when he gets home, and then spending the nights hanging out together before the very early bed time of 7pm. (Not me, I stay up and read).

Our afternoons playing are spent in Rowan's pink princess room. She could quite possibly be the most spoiled 3 1/2 year old ever alive...






















Pink enough for you?