Friday, September 28, 2012

Fit Friday

My scale was all over the place this week. I know, I know... I shouldn't be weighing every day (blah blah blah) but the thing is I probably ALWAYS will, so oh well. Anyway, like I said, it was all over. Mostly in the "UPward" end of all over.

However, when I stepped on it this morning it read a few different things. So I did what any normal (notice I didn't say "rational") woman would do - I changed the batteries (and you're darn right, I would have put the old ones back in had the number not been in my favor - ha!).

With the new batteries I got the same reading 3 times in a row (that's what I always "need" before declaring an official weight because obviously we need to keep it at Olympic standards around here) and it said I was down 1.2 pounds. I was actually shocked because all week I was just hoping it would be what it was last week (it was up about 2 pounds for most of the week).

BUT I did work out this week (went for a run on Saturday, a run on Monday, did Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 on Tuesday, 45 minutes of a cardio video on Wednesday and was busy walking all.day.long yesterday). I didn't go over my calorie goal for each day at all. So, in the end it worked out (see what I did there?).


My favorite look these days: Post-workout.


How did your guy's week go? Any new goals for this week?

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Total lost: 36.8
Still to lose: 18.2


Saturday, September 22, 2012

I almost forgot!

The littlest little around here turns 4 months today.

FISCHER MICHAEL (oh, how I love him!!!)

I wasn't sure if you'd heard...it's a pretty big deal.

This is the life.

Sort of.

I love living on a farm most of the time, but at 7am on Saturday morning...notsomuch.

However, seeing how enthusiastic my kids are and how willing they are to put in the time and effort to take care of the animals we have (dogs, cats, bunnies, chickens, pigs, and cows) makes me feel both incredibly proud and a little lazy. (Ha!)

I (finally!) remembered to bring my camera with me to the barn this morning to capture a couple shots of the kids doing what they do best (being awesome). They are such hard workers and never complain I could learn a thing or two from them, really.

Here you go:

Just so you get a visual on how BIG the calf bottles are! Crazy, huh!?

This is this morning at about 7am (so forgive the farm I-just-woke-up look, mmkay?). :) Left to right - Fischer, Jack, Carter, and Natalie... pretty much pieces of my heart all lined up outside my body.

Natalie and the calf she named "Jeremiah." (...can't make this stuff up.)

Carter and "Jason." (I know.)

Fischer didn't exactly stay awake through the whole process. Can't say that I blame him.

Unshowered and sporting yesterday's make-up. Jealous?

Ohmyheart, I love this little boy!


Hope you guys have a fantastic weekend!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Fit Friday

Obviously, since I tooted my own horn yesterday, I would step on the scale this morning to see the smallest loss since starting this gig two months ago, but whatevs.

Down a half pound this week (but since I'm still on a high from the jeans experience I'm not even a little bit disappointed about it and no, I did not eat a whole cake in celebration). 

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Total lost: 35.5
Still to lose: 19.5



Thursday, September 20, 2012

Alert the press!


I just tried on all (ALL!) my pre-pregnancy jeans and I kid you not, I can button every.single.pair! Like, I could actually wear them in public without a horrible Costco-sized muffin top spilling out (how's that for a visual?).

This is record breaking news, you guys. Fischer isn't even (quite) 4 months old (and to be honest, I gained 42 pounds during the pregnancy)! It took me a year to lose the weight with Natalie, with Carter I never really did, and with Jack it took about 7 months...

I. AM. STOKED.

{Disclaimer: I still have a long way to go to get to goal, but I'm officially the same size/weight that I was this time last year so that's reason enough for me to celebrate without eating a whole cake.}

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

It's a miracle, I'm being domestic!

Since I've been home from my trip I've gone all crazy with the home life. This week I feel like a total country chick home-maker rock star.

I've made dinner every night (like real dinner, not just eggs and toast like usual) using tons of food from the garden (and meat from animals that my manly husband killed). Yup, that's blog worthy for this girl. I know, it's pathetic, really.

Oh, and we've been canning! This is new for me. Definitely out of my comfort zone which is more facebook and coffee, if I'm honest. On top of that, I have also been doing a home school curriculum with Jack for pre-k and he loves it most of the time.

So you know, I should definitely get a sticker or something for all that.

Honestly though, all this new stuff has been fun surprisingly! I feel productive all.day.long. and have zero problem falling asleep at night much to Jeff's dismay.

It's going to start getting even more busy though because we've got soccer practice the rest of the week and games start next week which will fill up our evenings quickly. Also, AWANA starts tomorrow night at our church (which is a half hour away from home) so we'll be busy with that as well. All good-busy stuff, but busy nonetheless. (On the positive side, having all this stuff to do should help me be too active to want to eat everything in sight like I have been craving, no?)


Jack and I made banana bread. (I heard it was really good.) ;)

We canned apples, green beans, beets, and blackberry jam. Now I'm exhausted.

Elderberries for making wine. Because obviously.



One of the boys enjoys home school time more than the other. (Any guesses on which is which? Ha!)


Anyway, there's a few pictures from the last couple of days. Hope you're all having a fantastic week! (The weather is FINALLY turning fall-like here, so at least there's that, right?)





Saturday, September 15, 2012

I'm baaaaaack!

I had the BEST time on my trip! I don't mean to brag, but seriously, it was AMAZING.

I know we're weird, but we sure have a good time!
I was a little nervous about the 3 1/2 hour plane ride with Fischer (especially after a 2 1/2 hour drive to the airport) but you guys? He totally rocked that whole trip like it was his job. Amaze-balls.

Even if he didn't do as well as he did, how could I ever be mad at a sweet face like this?

Since the whole trip was a surprise we didn't really have anything "big" planned, but that's sort of the way I like it these days. Low key. Relaxed. Lots of coffee and chatting and girl time.

The night after I got in, we had a slumber party for Renee's birthday (it was planned long before I got there, I just happened to be there when it was scheduled and I was so happy to join in!) which was a total blast. Wine? Check! Hot-tub? Check! Taco's for dinner? Check! (See? Perfection!) She's got the most awesome family and friends up there - they're so much fun (and they love Jesus, too, AWESOME!)!


The weather the first few days was gorgeous! It was mostly sunny (after the frost melted off) but was still in the mid-50's so it was crisp fall weather, my favorite kind. I did get a couple of workouts in which was great. While Renee mowed their lawn one evening, I ran on her treadmill for about 40 minutes and on another day we did a 4 mile run outside in the beautiful weather. Ohmygoodness, it was so...perfect!

See? PERFECTION.

 On Renee's actual birthday we went out for coffee and shopped around the town of Palmer where I found some books to bring home to my kids and had a super yummy salad for lunch at a sweet little shop in town there. Another super fun laid back day.

At Kaladi Coffee for some caffeine before heading to Palmer.
Lunch in Palmer.

Fischer did amazing the whole trip. I was so proud of him! He slept well, wasn't cranky (too much) and was a model traveler both there and back. (Thankyou,Lord!)

Sporting Alaska fall gear. Cute? YES, yes he is.
Glad to be back home with my kids and husband (so, so glad!) but had SUCH a great trip. Loved every minute of it.

LOVE THIS GIRL!!! So thankful for our friendship!

OH!!! And, as promised I stepped on the scale this morning (even though I really had to talk myself into it, and if I hadn't promised I would I probably would have waited a week)... I am so glad I did!

Down 2 more pounds!

I was STOKED! Granted, part of it could be that I traveled all day yesterday (we were in "travel mode" from about 8:30am until we got home at 10pm) and I didn't eat that much but I'm still chalking it up as a win. I'm so proud of how I did while I was gone (and I'm thankful that Renee's allergies keep her from eating crap - and thus kept me from eating crap I might have had she done it, too - haha!)  but I'm taking it either way. Yay!

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Total lost: 34 pounds

Friday, September 7, 2012

FRIDAY!

Right now I'm in Alaska (!!) (so is Fischer) and I'm so excited that I can finally say it out loud! It was a surprise trip to come up and see my best friend for her birthday (she honestly had no idea I was coming...again pulled this shindig last year as well) and since I'm here now, she obviously now knows (haha). So, yay!

I'm not going to spend my time here blogging (shocker, right?) so I'll update with pictures and such when I get home (in a little over week) to tell you all about it - but one thing I can say now is that I'm sure we're going to have a blast drinking loads of coffee and not sleeping at all!

See you next week, my peeps!

Oh, and since it's Friday I should let you know that I weighed in yesterday (Thursday) before I left and I lost 2 1/2 pounds last week. So total lost is 32 pounds! (This week might not be as pretty, I'm just sayin'... I'll update you on that next week, too, even if it hurts because it turns out ugly. Pinky swear.)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Jack-Jack


I'm easing in to doing a home school (PreK) program with Jack and let me just say that if we both make it out alive it could be a modern day miracle. (Can you say headstrong? Someone apparently takes after their Mama and it might not be too pretty by the end of the week school year.)

However, he is loving the one on one time (you know, much better than the time-outs at least) and when we sit down and get right to it, I'm amazed at how much this guy knows! Little man's got skillz, yo!

All in all I think it's going to be fun - possibly even for both of us - and maybe, just maybe, at some point even at the same time! 

I sure do love that boy, though. Even if he does say the reason I'm terrible at Memory Match is because I'm so old... Wouldn't trade my days with him for anything.


Jack and his best buddy, Noah.



Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Thanks, buddy!

This morning (after school drop offs and temper tantrums were over) I was changing my shirt (I still had on a sports-bra) when Jack walks in and goes, "Oh wow, Mommy! Your tummy is so much skinnier now!"

My stomach is by NO means (and I do mean NONE, not even by any stretch of the imagination) NO MEANS   "skinny" but he is still in favorite-child-status for the day because he said it.

Some days it's the little things, I swear.

First day of school.

I should be super excited (town trips with only two kids? Yes please.) and happy for my kids (who were literally jumping up and down because they could.not.wait for school to begin) but my heart is always torn on this day (and every school day until Summer starts again). I miss my kids when they're not home and I don't like not  having them with me. Nonetheless, it's a big day for them and they were stoked and I'm glad for that.

Note: I don't worry about them, I just, well, I just don't like being away from them (even if that makes me sound like an over-bearing-freak-type-Mom). I'm their Mom and they are awesome kids and I just feel like I should be the one enjoying them all day! (...but.I'm.still.not.homeschooling.)

Anyway, here's to the great start of a brand new school year!

Carter starting 3rd grade and Natalie starting 4th. 


{ *Not pictured is the four year old laying on the floor crying his eyes out so hard I thought for sure he was going to throw up because he wasn't ready for the big changes going on...* }