Little boy with MANY talents

J is 3.5 and he just seems to excel at everything he does (except potty training-but we are getting there!!). You name it and he does it, and does it well: baseball, golf, soccer, basketball, etc, etc.

Well this weekend we visited my uncle and aunt for their grandson's birthday party. My cousin has played guitar forever and he had bought one for his son-J just loved it. He held the thing like he had played before-it was the cutest thing!! He strummed on it very well and he really enjoyed it. He asked so many questions about the guitar-which I am sure goes with his age-but he was so inquisitive!! My husband and I have borrowed my brother's guitar with hopes of learning to play-but never thought about J playing. So I guess we know what we will get him for his birthday-if we wait that long. He might learn to play before we do.

Baby girl's 1st time eating ice cream

While mommy is away...

...the kids will sleep!! Mommy left today to run some errands and left the kids home with Daddy. Daddy took some pictures for me...baby girl fell asleep while Daddy was feeding her. J fell asleep while playing Wii, he has the steering wheel in his hand! Bless his heart.

photoshop fun

One click in Photoshop created this photo! I think it's cute!!

Day of Fun?! For Who??

Well we went to a local festival for kids today. Yes it rained this morning so I considered it'd be a bit muddy. I also knew the forecast called for more rain during the day but I prepared for it, or so I thought. We arrived, paid our $30 to get into the gate (YIKES), greeted a few children's characters, sat on a few tractors, then J got in line to ride the raggedy carousel. Then came the rain. By the time the ride was over the rain and just about stopped. His next choice for rides was a fun house, which I thought he'd be able to do on his own-wrong. The carny wanted me to go with him-which normally I wouldn't mind but I could tell from where I was standing the thing was absolutely filthy. But I went anyway. We got through the thing and came to the slide at the end-it was covered in mud. So J went down first, slid down to the end, then slipped off-right into the mud. Ick! After that we peeked into a few shows, some kids acting out animals, and then a clown/magic act. Then we skipped out.

We decided it'd be much more fun to pick up a few games at Blockbuster and head home to play the Wii! So glad my sister got a Wii for Christmas!! I don't think she'll be getting it back anytime soon! My husband picked out the games: a Diego game for J-which he absolutely loves!! Some Tom Clancy game for himself-which is full of violence-exactly what he enjoys!! And some kind of soccer game for me. I hope between the two of them I get a chance to try it out-lol!

NILMDTS

One of my goals is to be a member of this fantastic group of photographers that volunteer their time and service to provide lasting memories and keepsakes for grieving families. From the moment I heard about NILMDTS I wanted to join, but I don't feel my photographic abilities are where they need to be to capture these rare and precious moments. During these moments you cannot have equipment failure or operator failure-everything has to be perfect, because these moments you can never get back.

I wish I would have been more informed after my miscarriage. I think I would like to have a photo of our baby girl. I found out months afterwards that we most likely could have gotten our baby girl's footprints-I wish someone at the hospital would have asked me if I wanted her footprints. That is one reason I wanted to start the memory boxes. I want to make sure other parents are more informed than I was.

Wii

Well my sister got a Nintendo Wii for Christmas this past year and since she is a young single business woman, she takes may fun and exciting weekend trips and doesn't have much time to play. So this weekend, when she getting ready for yet another fun filled weekend, I asked her to pack up her Wii and let me have it for the weekend. After 24 hours with the thing in my house, she will most likely have to fight my husband and my 3 year old son to get the thing back (I'd fight for it too but I'm too sweet for that-lol). Anyway, last night me and DH played and just fell in love with it. Something we can do together, at home after the kids go to bed. Besides the usual him at the computer and me at my scrap table and/or in front of the tv. It was fun and we got a great mini workout-until we realize we could play just as well sitting on the couch.

So today my son and I played-he had been bugging me to play since my sister put the thing in my truck-not that he knew what it was, he just knew it was a game. Like father like son, he is really into games, whether it be a video game or a computer game. But I digress, anyway, we played for about 2.5 hours before lunch-and he did exceptionally well for a 3 year old. I've also been using the game as a discipline tool-yes every new toy he gets has come in handy for discipline. "If you don't stop whining you cannot play your new game tonight!" works wonders!!!

So we will be in the market for one real soon. And yes, at my sister's request I will take some photos of J playing the Wii and post them here soon!

Adobe Photoshop CS3

BEFORE

AFTER
Love it!! I took a course on Photoshop last year but I just cannot afford the full program right now. So today I found a 30 day trial version. Maybe in the next month I can fool around with it enough to make some decent photos, book some shoots, and maybe make enough money to buy the full version!! I can dream can't I?! Anyway, I haven't had much of a chance to play around with it yet, but did try a few things out today. Not sure exactly what I did but I like the results so far.

Pillow Case Dress

Well I finally made a pillow case dress. My mom left one here this weekend and I pulled it out today while the kids were napping and whipped one together. Of course I didn't have any cute ribbon to put into it but I made do with what I had. And yes it is a bit too big for my 8 month old baby girl but I can see potential!! I am very excited. I am not a sewer by any means and the hem lines and such are not straight nor are they pretty but I think it came together nicely for my first attempt. Here are some photos...

summer fun

We went outside again today to play-but we weren't out long and mommy was tired. Where did spring go?? I told J we would have to start getting out in the mornings because it was just too hot for Mommy in the afternoons to get out and run around.

We threw the frisbe and played some baseball and that was about all J could handle too. He was ready to go inside for a break. Here are a few shots I snapped while outside today...




STRIKE ONE

STRIKE TWO

GOOD HIT!

Weight Loss

Arg!! I am so stuck with my weight loss right now it is driving me crazy. I did so well yesterday and then had bunco last night and just blew it! So I am back at it today. Trying to lower my carb intake but not depriving myself of carbs. I am really considering joining a gym-but really need one that doesn't require a contract and one that provides daycare. I think it'd be great for me and the kids. I get some alone time to do something great for myself and the kids will get to play.

Family Hike

We took the kids on a hike today. I carried baby girl in a carrier-which worked out very well. She seemed to enjoy the ride on my back. Of course J loved the hike. Like Keith said "every step is an adventure" for a three year old. After the short hike we then grilled hot dogs and marshmallows. J had a great time helping daddy make the fire and then cooking the hot dogs.

We all had a great time and will surely have to do this more often!!!

Weigh In Day

Well I am down another pound-but still have two more to lose to be where I was a month ago-before I gained 7 pounds back-YIKES! I so need to get on the ball here before our vacation. The other day I took the kids for a walk into town-about 1.2 miles there and back. It was a good walk and took about 45 minutes. At one point J asked me "Mommy why you not pushing hard?". I had to explain to him it was very difficult for mommy to push the double stroller up the hill so it slowed us down a bit. I'm talking about an incline that is almost straight up-it is ridiculously difficult to push the stroller up. Anyway if I can keep that up daily or even every other day that would be great exercise.

Also I really want to get back to running. I use to love running-although I was never really fast I just enjoyed the quiet time. I don't have a running partner but I'll have to make due. Maybe after a few weeks my DH will join in-but at this time he is not showing any interest.

Sadly Tales from the Scales is closing it's "bloggy doors" on April 17th. I have found great motivation and inspiration from this website and am sad to see it go. I wish everyone that visited good luck in their weight loss journey

Since Tales from the Scales is closing I will start a "Friends of Tales from the Scales" blog roll. I may or may not have added some of these folks under favorite links but not sure. So hopefully we will be able to continue to motivate and inspire each other on our weight loss journey!

Speedtest-how fast are you?

98 words

Speed test

417 points, so you achieved position 18778 of 1663470 on the ranking list


You type 518 characters per minute
You have 98 correct words and
you have 0 wrong words

Climbing on the tree

A big storm came through this weekend which was strong enough to pull our oak tree out the ground. Luckily it fell toward the street and not our house. Hours after the storm there were kids outside playing on the tree and daring each other to jump off the top of it-which is about 15 feet from the ground-YIKES. Luckily the kid decided not to jump-thank goodness. So after seeing the big kids climbing on the tree, of course J wanted to get out there and climb on it. So yesterday we did. Yes me too!! We climbed up on top and walked from one end to the other. I think baby sister was jealous because she was sitting in the stroller fussing as us. J had fun and I'm sure he'll have plenty of more chances to climb on it because I don't know how long it will be before we get the thing cut down. It is gigantic!

Door Hanger

I saw one of these in Hobby Lobby and just had to make one myself. I thought it turned out alright. Still could use a bit of bling but I think it'll be alright for now.

Storm damage

here is the tree that fell in our yard. luckily it fellaway from the house but it did block the street. It took the city about 3 hours to cut it off the road.

Weigh-in

Well I am happy to report I am still up 3 lbs but after being up 7 lbs last week I count it as progress. I did very well yesterday with my food choices and stayed at right about 1500 calories. We didn't get out in the yard yesterday due to the weather but I stayed busy all day catching up on laundry and other household duties.

I have a little over 3 months before our beach vacation so I really hope to shed some pounds between now and then. My food logger says I'll reach my goal weight by February 2009-but I sure hope to meet it before then.

Friday Pictures

Weigh In

I wish I could report a loss today, actually I wish I could report I stayed the same. However over the last month I have gained 4 pounds. Yikes! Now that the weather is getting nice I hope to get out more often with the kids. So hopefully that will come off rather quickly and I can move on to meeting my next goal.

We are going on vacation this summer and I want to lose 34 lbs before vacation. It can be done and it WILL be done! So here is to reaching my next goal!!

Photos

HAPPY EASTER

We finally got a chance to dye eggs tonight. Of course "baby sister" didn't do much other than try to "gum" an egg but J had a great time. Think we will have a small Easter this year.

Winning Starts with Beginning

WINNING STARTS WITH BEGINNING
...It's impossible to win the race unless you venture to run.
Your only true failure will be in your failure to start.
It's been said that eighty per cent of success is showing up.
Create a definite plan for carrying out your desires and begin at once.
Put your plan into action, whether you are ready or not.
You must take the first step as soon as possible.
The first step will take some effort, perhaps pain.
But after that, everything that has to be done is real - life movement.
If you can get up the courage to begin,
you have the courage to succeed.
To win, you must begin.................

-Unknown author

Tutu

One of my goals for the year was to create something each week..."Create in 2008". HAHAHA. This is mid March and I've only created two things so far-sad.

Here is the second thing I have made this year I made yesterday for baby girl. Very easy and cute. I have a pink one I am working on too but need more tulle. I got the directions from here

First Practice

J had his first soccer practice last night. He did great and had a lot of fun. He is definitely the talker of the team. He was upset when practice was over he wanted to stay longer. So we stayed after practice and played a bit. I cannot wait for his first game. He is going to be so cute!!

Proud Baby Girl

Today while I was on the computer I heard little girl in the other room laughing it up. She has been crawling all over the place and getting into everything. Every now and then I'll check on her and she'll be behind a chair or under my scrapbook table. So I was anxious to see what she had gotten into. And this is where I found here....



She has been watching her big brother play this Smart Cycle and I guess she thought it was her turn. She was so proud to have crawled up next to it and be able to reach the peddles (the bike was turned on its side for some reason) she was sitting on her knees just laughing and bouncing and so excited!!

New Toy

J's new toy. Mommy loves it just as much as he does. It has become a great bargaining tool to get him to behave!! Next I'll try to use it to get the boy potty trained.

OUTRAGED!

I found this video tonight of a Nanny mishandling 7 month old twins. This infuriates me! How someone could treat a child in this manner is beyond me. My baby girl is 7 months old and if anyone treated her in this manner... let's just say the police had better lock them up for their own safety if anything else.



This is absolutely ridiculous. There is no excuse for treating any child in that manner. I don't think I'd let this Nanny care for my cats.

Weigh In

Well I am excited to say I did lose the 4 pounds I had gained since my vacation, plus two! So I can add another pound to my overall weight loss! That brings my total weight loss since September 3rd to 32 pounds. Not where I wanted to be by now but it is still progress. I still need to work on making changes to my diet. I am having a hard time giving up my morning bowl of cereal. I'm not a morning person and it is so much easier to pour my son and I a bowl of cereal each morning instead of preparing something. Also I need to add exercise to my daily routine. I did get out in the yard and run with my son yesterday and it felt GREAT! I look forward to warmer weather so we can spend more time outside.

Good luck to everyone at Tales from the Scales on their weight loss journey

Tiffany vs Keith

This was a survey on myspace.com. I might get in trouble for this one, but thought it was a cute survey.


1. Who eats more?
Depends on the menu

2. Who said "I love you" first?
He did..I think

3.How long have you been together?:
Married 6 1/2 years 10 years altogether

4. Who sings better?
Me... but only when the radio is really really loud

5. Who's older?:
Keith by 2 years and 9 days

6. Who's smarter?
book smart? Keith, common sense smart? me

7. Who's temper is worse?
Definitely mine

8. Who does the laundry?
me

9. Who does the dishes?
Me

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?:
me

11. Who snores?
keith

12. Who's hair is longer?:
MINE.

13. Who's better with the computer?:
DEFINITELY HIM

14. Do you have pets?:
two cats-but they go with the house whenever we sell it LOL

15. Who pays the bills?
I pay the few bills that are not set up on auto pay

16. Who cooks dinner?
Me mostly-unless it's grilling. but he likes to cook occasionally also

17. Who drives when you are together?
me-he drives like a grandma

18. Who pays when you go out to dinner?:
keith

19. Who is the most stubborn?
OH DEFINITELY Keith

20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong?
Me-keith never admits fault

21. Who's parents do you see more?
It's about equal we probably see his parents more often but for shorter periods of time, and we see my parents for a few days at a time but not as frequent (does that make any sense?)

22. Who named your pet?
me-right after a trip to Phoenix---one is named Sedonna and one Kokapelli

23. Who kissed who first?
He probably leaned in first-but I was sure wanting it!!

24. Who asked who out?:
He asked me out

26. Who's more sensitive?
probably me

27. Who's taller?:
Keith by about 4 inches

29. Who has more siblings?
me-i have a brother and a sister, he has a sister

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship?
Me-of course!!

Now repost as You Vs Your significant other.... It's kinda fun to think about it and reminisce...

Weigh In Day-YIKES!!

Well I weighed in this morning and I am still up 3 pounds! YIKES! With only one more week left in the challenge I had really hoped to be down at least 10 more pounds. Oh well. I just have to readjust my goals.

I have seriously thought about joining a gym for the next month. There is a local gym that you can pay month by month. It will have to come out of my "blow" money but I think I can swing it. Then I can take the kids with me and leave them at the children's center while I workout. I have a Weider machine and a stationary bike but there really isn't a good place to leave either of them out so they will be easy to access but a safe distance away from the kids. So I am not sure what I will do.

Good luck to everyone during this last week of the challenge. I hope I can at least get these three pounds off by next week.

Weigh In Day

I still haven't lost the three pounds I gained during my week of vacation. Actually I haven't changed my eating habits either-so I am glad to not have gained any more weight this past week. I am back at it today, making better choices and trying to get my fruits and veggies in each day. Hopefully I will be able to record a loss next week.

I am banned ...

...from buying anymore scrapbooking stuff!!!

I went to Wal-mart today and had to take a short stroll through the scrapbooking area. I was estatic to find a Colorbok "Complete Scrapbook Kit-Cute and Carefree" (pastel colors) it had a clearance sticker marked $10!! It comes with an album, keepsake box, 16 patterned papers, 8 solid papers, 2-3D embellishments, chipboard alphas, chipboard accents, vellum sentiments, alpha stickers, phrase stickers, accent stickers, alpha punch outs, frame punch outs and accent punch outs!! Over 1,125 pieces!! I also found a "chipboard bucket" made by colorbok with 1,038 pieces of chipboard-this came in a see through paint bucket-so cute!! I was thrilled at my finds. Then I got up to the checkout counter and the scrapbook kit rang up for $4!!! Can you believe it?? I was so excited!!!

I cannot wait to bust into these!

Easy Dinner

Well tonight was such a quick and easy dinner I thought I'd share it with my Menu Plan Monday bloggers (some of them post pictures of their dinners and include recipes-I've never taken the time to do this myself).



We had garlic roasted chicken with steamed broccoli and red potatoes. It was so very very easy. I bought whole chickens on sale a couple of weeks ago and boiled them and split the chicken up into ziplock freezer bags. So the chicken was already cooked. I defrosted it in the fridge over night and then sprinkled the roasted garlic seasoning into the freezer bag and shook it. Then I placed the chicken into a tinfoil pouch and placed in the oven for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. While the chicken was cooking I sliced red potatoes and broccoli and placed in a Ziplock steam bag. I then sprinkled powdered butter seasoning (intended for popcorn) and basil into the bag. I placed this in the microwave for seven minutes just before the chicken was ready. Everything turned out great...except the broccoli. The broccoli was cooked too long and ended up too soft and it soaked up way too much of the basil seasoning. So next time I'll just put the vegetables in individual steamer bags.

This dinner was super easy and quick and no clean up! You just toss the tin foil and steamer bag when you are done cooking!!

I got this "Tone's" roasted garlic seasoning at Sam's years ago and just LOVE it! It is super easy, especially since I have "texture issues" with sliced peppers and onions (I like the flavor just don't care for the texture).

What a cutie

While going through my piles and piles of kids/baby clothes I came across this outfit that J had when he was a baby. It was sooo cute! So I decided to pull it out for baby girl, even though it is baby blue-it is just so cute! And with it being "baby blue" it can be gender neutral...right? Well she was just too cute! I did put white and pink socks on her-but that didn't stop people from commenting on my "two boys" or "little boy". I know some people really take offense to people confusing the sexes of their children-but not me. J has such beautiful, long hair that people tell me all the time "she" is so beautiful. There are much more "important" things to get bent out of shape about. Anyway, here is a photo of my sweet baby girl in one of her big brother's outfits...

Scrapbooking Goodies

Well I left the kids at home with their daddy this afternoon and went piddling. My first stop was my favorite scrapbook store for some goodies...

I picked up some Prima flowers-just loving flowers these days! Also a "FRIEND" chipboard album by Bo bunny-saw some similar albums online this morning and fell in love-was excited to see them at the store and just had to pick one up to try. Also saw "In Stitch'z" by Bazzill, cute little templates for creating a stitching design-how cute!!! And last a sheet of "flower child" paper by KI memories-more flowers-so lovely!!

..then to my second favorite store, Hobby Lobby for even more goodies...

Picked up some Kaleidoscope die cuts-yes I know these are a bit old and maybe outdated-but I just fell in love with these papers and still have tons of them. Also picked up Bohemia "blossom" die cuts-love love these colors and they will be perfect for the baby girl pages I'm doing!! Found a few packs of sequence on sale-only picked up three packs so I was able to restrain myself there-was hard to do but it had to be done!! Then picked up MORE flowers by Petaloo- in three different colors. Also nabbed some black flowered felt by Queen & Co-have I mentioned I am on a flower kick?! Found metallic sheets-not sure what I'll do with those but I've seen several projects using them so I cannot wait to try my hands with them.

Hopefully I'll get to use some of these items soon. I hope to visit my friend next week-it will be here last week on bedrest-and take some of my new items to show off (and share of course!)

Just goes t show....

...my baby girl can make any old thing look cute! (my parents are LSU fans and my in-laws are state fans-I am going to be in sooo much trouble with them!) And by the way, I would never buy such an outfit. It was in a bag of clothes someone gave to me.




Baby girl standing up at the train table-she is getting so big!!




The kids taking a nap (they were home with daddy today)



My little man playing trains

Tales from the Scales Weigh In

Well after a week of vacation I knew the scale would not be kind this morning. I gained three pounds this past week-YIKES! I am sure I'll get it off this next week but I sure wanted to drop ten more pounds before the end of the challenge which is only three weeks away. This extra three pounds will probably make that goal unreachable, but we will see.