Happy Halloween

We had a pretty low key Halloween. Perfect in my opinion.

 

A Ninja, the Hulk and a sweet baby (whose mom was too lazy to go pick up her costume from a friend so she just wore her jammies)

Love these kids so much.

Body Makeover- week 4 update

Week 4, how did that happen? 

That means almost a month has gone by, I wouldn't say that I am where I wanted to be but I'm still happy with where I am. I love to look on Pintrest and find these cheesy pics with inspirational quotes- they help me- don't judge!

 I am not gonna lie, this month was not as grand as I set out for it to be. We had birthday party prep craziness, and sickness to contend with. Both legit real life events but really there is always gonna be something to keep you from running out the door. Life gets in the way- if you let it- which I did ALOT this month.

Let's recap shall we. 

Starting weight on 10/2/2012- 161.2

Weight @ 4 weeks 10/30/2012- 155.8

Total weight loss- 5.4 pounds

So my month wasn't one for the record books but it was still a loss which makes it a success in my book. 

Monday I set out to accomplish something that I have wanted to do for a couple of months now. The city put in sidewalks on the street outside of my neighborhood. I drive the street everyday and think it would make for a nice walk/run. I have clocked from a main intersection to my house countless times with the intent of running it. I finally did it yesterday. It was right under 4 miles and it was hard and I DID it! It took me about an hour, so about a 14 1/2 minute mile, and since I run/walk I am pretty pleased with that. More than my time though I was please with how consistent my time was and that I actually finished it.

 And this morning I am in pain and my body is sore but I don't mind because I earned it. Really I was sore last night already. 

This was my company on my workout yesterday.

 It's my shadow. I had to stop and snap a pic because it was SO motivating to be able to look at my shadow and see why I was running. Because I WILL get rid of that baby jelly pouch.

I choose soreness!

Ribbon Pinspiration

 

Here is my Pinspiration for the week. My effort to make Pintrest more than JUST a time suck.

I have an abundance of ribbon spilling over in all areas of my house. And I already had a large jar that I used to hold my ribbon scraps. So for this project I only had to buy the Popsicle sticks and pins.

Ever since I found out Miss Monroe was a girl, I just can't pass up a super cute spool. The lid didn't fit on this overflowing box anymore.

Some of my spools were new and full

and it made for a FAT roll.

Some were half empty

It was pretty simple. You just wrap it around until the roll is done and then stick a pin in it to hold it.

I did this in a couple of hours while the kiddos were playing.

It IS time consuming, but it's mindless. You can do it while catching up on shows or sitting with the kids while they play.

 

Here is my finished jar, and I still have room left in there.

Which means now I can buy more ribbon ;)

What has Pintrest done for you lately?

Pumpkin Patch



The weather here finally turned to fall this weekend, and it was amazing. After church yesterday we visited the pumpkin patch.

 

 The boys were being super silly .

 A group pic with Mallie, of Lindsey's Whimsy's, her sweet family came with us.

 

They had some GIANT pumpkins there, Keddie could not get over how big they were.

 



Monroe was so busy watching her brothers run around and play she couldn't look at the camera.

Sweet Mallie had a hard time. She is so sweet and rarely cried except for when we were trying to get a picture.



Getting a pic with all three of them looking is next to impossible.

I LOVE this pic of Miss Monroe and her Daddy.

Boys playing

- Monroe is looking at us like why is Mallie screaming- so cute

Future Besties

And we managed to get a pretty good family pic (thanks Lindsey).

Fun day

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I am sincere in saying that I have a love/ hate relationship with the holidays. 

I LOVE the true spirit of  Thanksgiving and Christmas but like so many others I am guilty of getting caught up in the commercialism of it all and that's when I get stressed and start hating it. 

Christmas is exactly TWO months from today. Yep you read that right- 2 months!!!

For me as a mom with several kids that means I need to get on the ball so I can spread out the impact all that Christmas Cheer is gonna have on my bank account.

In theory I love the baking and decorating and list making and gingerbread house making party, and traveling and ALL the other must do's but to be honest it's ALOT of work to make the holidays memorable for my little ones. 

But MY favorite part of the holidays is adopting another family and helping them with Christmas. We have adopted a family for several years now through various organizations and I usually shop for them by myself and wrap and deliver. However this year I am super stoked because I feel like the boys are old enough to help me and understand what and why were doing. 

This year has definitely been challenging for us financially (not that our kids would ever know that) but that makes it all the more important that we share the blessings that we DO have. There are always those that are less fortunate that we can help. 

I am so excited to be able to share this with my boys this year and as a bonus it will definitely help with my Gratitude Project. 

I am in the process of lining up the family that will bless us by allowing us to help them with Christmas. I encourage all of you to find a way you can make a difference for someone this season, I'm hoping my family will snowball into a something bigger. Keep you posted. 

Tis the season

body Makeover- week 3 update

This week sucked.
Last week weigh in-157.8
this week weigh in- 158.2

So I gained almost 1/2 pound back which considering how much I worked out (not at all) and all the crap I ate (hello, we had a birthday this week and celebrated a lot) is pretty good.

I never thought of myself as a stress eater but realized this week that I totally am. I had a lot going on and the bottom line is that I didn't make it a priority and I justified eating crap because I was stressed out and overwhelmed.

But  the pics I saw of myself from my son's birthday party served as great motivation because I did NOT like what I saw.

I told myself last night that I would restart today and then I woke up feeling like crap- it's always gonna be something!




But this is a new week and I will get back on track with my eating and with working out.
I can either stop talking about doing it and start doing it or still be talking about it six months from now.

HONESTY MOMENT:
UGH- even as I am typing this I am dreading working out after work and am having  inner dialogue that is talking me out of it and justifying it.
-I'm sick
-need to cook dinner
-huge piles of laundry on the couch that won't get put away themselves
-It's a school night and I need to help with homework
-the hubs is slammed at work this week
-PTO meeting tonight
-trunk show @ A Tad Monroe
-the list of excuses is never ending

let's hope that I can silence my inner self that is content with sitting on the couch and channel my inner athlete that HAS to be in there somewhere, right?

Just suck it up, so you won't have to Suck it in!

Post Party

We had a great birthday party over the weekend.

I can't believe he's 7!!!

 sneak peek at the decorations.

more party recap to come later, but this mama has got a cold and it is kickin my butt today-

Party Planning

We had a birthday at our house this week and that means a party is close by.

The birthday boy wants a Lego Ninjago party so that is what he will get- I aim to please.

 

For those that don't know- basically ninja legos.

 

There is a cartoon and games and lego sets of course.

 

I have been spending way too much time on pintrest trying to get ideas and inspirations.

I am excited to share all the fun with you next week.

 

Hope you have a fab weekend!

An Attitude of Gratitude

 

 

I am really struggling today with an overwhelming feeling of wanting my children to be grateful for what they have and what is given to them.

 

They sometimes will "act like brats" as I like to call it and show a less than beaming side of themselves when someone gives them a gift. Yes it embarasses me, but more than that I do not want my children to grow up taking advantage of the blessings they have in their life- and they have an abundance.

 

Maybe not all parents consider birthday presents to be a blessing but I do.

 

Because we are blessed to have people in our life that care enough about them to gift them something,

 because often times they receive things they need which is one less thing I have to buy as a parent (which eases the financial burden)

because I truly hope that as they get older my children will learn the joy it can bring to another when they GIVE a thoughtful present.

 

So I have been thinking alot about ways the I as their mom can help them to foster gratefulness and an attitude of gratitude.

 

What is going to get the message across to a 7 and 4 year old?

What will their little brains understand?

 

I am adding this to my list of things to do because I feel strongly of it's importance.

I am on the search for activities that I can do with/ for my kids to help them develop an attitude of gratitude.

 

A Gratitude Project if you will.

I will be scouring the internet and quizing people for thought and ideas.

Stay tuned.

 

The big 7!

I can't believe my big boy is 7!

Man I love that kid

 

He is smart, kind, caring, funny, a great snuggle buddy, helper, fantastic brother, and I am so proud of the person he is becoming.

 

It makes me so happy to see how much Langston idolizes Keddie. I hope they are great friends for life.

 

Monroe & I went and had lunch with him.

 

My brother and his family came over for dinner and brought him this amazing Lego set. It took FOREVER to put it together and he loves it.

Week 2 Update

I am not gonna lie and tell you that it has been rainbows and unicorns over here cause it aint been.

This past week sucked as far as working out goes.

The number on the scale last week was 159.2 and this week I am at 157.8.
So almost 1 and a 1/2 pounds, which is surprising considering that I did the 30 day shred video once and went running once.
That's just the kind of week it was.

And my eating was junk, I even caved on Sunday and had a Dr. Pepper. It has been over a month since I had one but man did I NEED it. And it was good. Monday I was trying to talk myself into having another one- luckily we didn't have anymore.

Monroe started having stomach virus on Friday morning ( I will spare you the disgusting details- you're welcome), and this morning (Tuesday), she is still going strong. Poor baby and poor mama. We are both exhausted and to our breaking point.
Lucky for me the hubs was planning on having a paperwork day at home today so I got to escape to work (yes you read that right).

I'm headed towards getting some work done and enjoying not having to change my clothes several times a day. Hope you're having a great one!

Outfit Pinspiration

I LOVE Pintrest...who doesn't? But I want for it to be more than just a timesuck.

In my new hope to be regular feature, i will bring some "Pins" to life.

Here is an outfit that I pinned some time ago.

 

 I loved the green and navy combo but didnt think I could/would pull off green pants.

 LOVE

I found some green pants at Old Navy for super cheap( like $20 cheap) and went back and forth on what to pair then with. Here is the outfit as I wore it...

 I also realized that I do not own a full length mirror, I will have to remedy that soon.

 

 green skinny pants- Old navy

blue/ white floral shirt- Audies boutique, old

cream cardigan- express, last season

brown wedges- old

 

here's to making Pintest more than a timesuck!

Body Issue Backstory- Part two

You can read part one of my body backstory here.

We welcomed Langston in August of 2008

 

This picture is fall of 2008. I hate this picture- to me it just shows how little effort I was putting into my appearance.I still own those jeans- can't fit them- but I have them.

My weight story isn't one of extreme pounds gained or lost. But I'm short and ten pounds either way makes an impact.

I remember a conversation I had with my brother Doug that has stuck with me. He is fit, extrmemely fit and stupid in shape (like decide two days before a triathalon that he's gonna do it and have no problem- ridiclious).  I think Langston was a year and a half old and he said casually something about me gaining weight (not in a mean way, in an I'm concerned about you way). My response was that I just had a baby, he said Denise, he's a year and half old.

But in my mind I had JUST had a baby.

Langston joining our family was a really tough adjustment. We weren't ready and it tested us. I wouldn't change anything and I love Langston but it was hard. There were days that I didn't think my marriage would survive it- alot of days actually.

We just survived and we lived in survival mode for a long time.

Somehow in there I managed to start working out and was a regular at 5:30 A.M. gym classes for quite a while.

April 2009

 

I slimmed down and in August of 2009, my bff and I took a trip to Florida together.

That trip defines the time that I have felt the most confident in my adult body. I wore a bikini on the beach and wasn't too preoccupied with sucking in my stomach or sitting a certain way on the beach so I looked ok. It was a good feeling.

 

2010 brought alot of changes to my life. In March I quit a job that I had been at for over 5 years with no real plan of what to do next. The job was very stressful and I felt it was time for me to move on.

And then in July, my little brother Aaron commited suicide and rocked me to my core (that is also a whole other post in itself.)

 

It was probably the hardest event in my life that I have experienced to date. I was physically ill for weeks and I couldn't eat. The stress of dealing with all that is involved in a tragedy like that was debilitating on my body. I began to lose weight rapidly.

I was eating merely enough to keep my body going, anymore than that and I would throw it up. It sucked.

I remember specifically on Halloween of that year seeing my bff's roomie that I hadn't seen in months and she said to me "Girl you look amazing, you have lost a ton of weight". and I had.

I was the smallest I have EVER been.

But the problem with stress weight loss is that eventually life balances back out and the negative eating and exercise habits that became a norm during the time of stress stick around. Then your left with a recipe for weight gain and you guessed it, I gained weight back.

August 2011

 

October 2011- don't get me wrong, I love this pic of our family, but my face is super round.

 

 

May 2012- one week before I had Monroe

June 4,2012

 

And life goes on and here I am in October of 2012. I have to come to grips that yes I just had a baby but no i didn't JUST have a baby. She's 4 months old, I can work out. My body is not my sweet baby's fault.
I feel like for the first time I am actually putting in the effort that it takes to make lasting change rather than just wishing and wanting and bitching and moaning.

I started on October 2, 2012 a Tuesday at 161.2.
7 days later on 10.9.12 I weighed 159.2.
that's two solid pounds.

I'm not gonna lie and say I dont wish it was more but slow and steady is just fine too...