Tetherball Anyone?

For Christmas this year one of our presents was a tether ball poll. Which Bryan promptly installed right in the middle of our back yard. So far Barlow and I are the champions. I say this because we are both undefeated (of course we have not played against each other yet) Barlow has only played Bryan and I have only played my kids, but I thoroughly beat all of them! It has been a lot of fun to play and to watch Barlow and Bryan play, and I didn't think it was fair that Andrea and I should be the only ones to enjoy watching, so I thought I would share! Hope you enjoy as much as we do!

You might think that they are wearing the gloves because it is still kind of cold and it hurts to hit the cold ball, but they actually really like they way the gloves look and it makes them feel like real tether ball players!

The Car Experience

So, where to start. We have been the proud owners of a Kia Sephia for nearly 9 years now, but we knew the ride had to end and last Friday it did. When Bryan got dropped off at the Walmart parking lot (which is where his carpool meets) the clutch in the car was not working at all. Now this was not a major fix, but we figured it probably totaled the car (it was only worth a couple hundred dollars) We had planned to save up this year and buy a new car, but had not been able to start saving yet and we were reluctant to finance another car so Bryan decided to try out his handyman skills and fix the car himself. So after buying the part he needed we spent his next day off at Walmart's parking lot trying to fix the car. Here is what Bryan did:

Here is what the kids did (Trevor was at school already): After a couple of hours and 3 trips back to the house (once because we left the car keys at home, once to take Kaylee to school, and once again because Bryan locked the keys in the car and we had to go get the other set) Bryan realized that without proper air tools he could not even access the part that needed replaced so we called around to see how much it would be to tow the car then have it fixed. We found someone that would fix it for $30 and our friend was going to help us tow it there.

In the middle of the tow, this happened:

If you can't tell the tow rope is tied together. That is because it broke in the middle of the trip. We did not pull the car with that rope the rest of the way though because our friend was able to force the car into gear and drove it the rest of the way. We were feeling great about fixing the car until the mechanic called and told us that the part Bryan had ordered was not the right part and that the actual part we needed would be $100. Well that did it. We told him not to worry about fixing it, we would sell it to the junk yard for $200 and go buy a new car. So that is what we did today and here it is:

By the way if it looks familiar there are a couple of reasons 1) it is another Kia....yes that means we have now bought 3 Kias what can we say they are a great car and you can't beat the price and 2)it is the exact same Make Model and Year that Barlow and Andrea just bought! (but a different color)

Slight Success......Maybe

Well, thank you to everyone who thought I could lose as much weight as last time.....that being said I must say you were wrong. I did not even come close. I got up this morning and weighed myself and the scale said that I had gained 0.2 pounds, I tried again and it said I had lost 1.8 pounds, then again at 1.8 pounds, then it said I weighed the exact same as last week, then the exact same again, then it weighed me at losing 1.2 pounds, to be sure I weighed myself another 6-7 times and it came out at a loss of 1.2 pounds so that is what we are going with. I think today I am going to buy a new scale. I think now I will keep it to monthly updates, thanks for all your support!

Success!!

Well today was my weigh in day and I am happy to report that the voting was mostly incorrect. I was able to lose 4.6 pounds this week!! I was so thrilled. It was really hard and I was sore for the first 5 days, but I am not sore any more and it is getting easier to resist the fatty foods. The things that have saved me were: Splenda (like sugar free Italian sodas with no cream), Yogart and Fruit smoothies, and turkey sausage. These things calmed my cravings a bit. I found it really helpful just leave the house because I am to darn cheap to buy something while I am out. I also tried to follow the same rules that applied to my kids, like when I would say no no only one candy after lunch. Normally, I would give them one, then after they left the room I would have a few more. I dont know why we have such a double standard, but no more. Probably the biggest thing for me was to just stop eating when I was full. I know that sounds like a ...duh...statement, but I really like food, so if there was a dish that I really liked I would be tempted to have seconds, even if I was full, so I simply didn't do that this week. Thanks for your support it made all the difference in the world to know that after a week I had to let everyone know how I did! I will let you know next week how it goes also.

Ok, Ok, enough people have asked that I guess I should add this to my post. I am going to lose weight the good old way. I am going to work out every day for about an hour (I am already REALLY sore) and watch what I eat. I am not cutting out all carbs, I am watching my portion sizes and trying to make healthy choices. For example instead of regular butter we use a low calorie butter. Instead of seconds on the spaghetti, a salad. Instead of 5-6 candies a day only one. See what I mean. So there you go.

Weight Loss?

Ok, I have put this off long enough, I am finally going to try to lose some weight. I know, I know....."you just had a baby" But that does not work for me, I dont fit ANY of my clothes and summer/swimsuits are coming, so I have to do something. I thought it would help motivate me if I had a support group, so here goes. My goal is to lose at least 35 lbs, if I can loose 40 lbs then I will be at the wieght I was when Bryan and I got married. I will keep everyone updated once a week. I have decided to only weigh myself once a week so that I do not get obsessive, you know kind of like a biggest looser style. Anyway, if you want to join in and compete a little feel free, but for now I think all I need to do is post a picture of myself now (the before picture) then again next week. My weigh in day will be Wednesday mornings. So here is a picture of me at Trevor's birthday party (I know that was a few months ago, but I still look exactly the same....aka blah! but with shorter hair) please vote on the side and BE HONEST! It really will help motivate me!

Cousins!

We are so glad that Kim and Ken were able to come visit us. It was great to get the three cousins together. They were so cute. None of them look to much alike, but incase you can't tell: Abe is on the left, then Ashton, then Jace.