Dear brownies, you suck.

Just sayin'.  But it's okay now, they're gone.  And they were also made with applesauce instead of vegetable oil...still good, but...weird.  Apple brownies.  I have used applesauce and Diet Coke to replace the vegetable oil in cakes before so we tried it with brownies.  Yep.  Just weird.  I also used them for inspiration on the past few days of the Shred.  When I am doing my oblique twists I imagine I am kneeing/pushing the brownies away.  The things a girl will do to push through the last few moves, lol.

Anyway today was Level 2, Day 7.  Gotta say, I'm looking forward to Level 3.  It has GOT to be the one that I remember was a little "easier".

Today was just tough overall.  I slept like crap last night.  A whopping 3 hours!  I figured that I'd get another precious hour after Tay went off to school...yeah right.  Life is what happens when you're making other plans, right?  Cole was up a full *2* hours before he usually is.  That would be fine except....he woke Lexi up as well. :::sigh:::  Both of them ran around like crazy hyped up puppies before Cole screeched to a stop and said, "We should still be sleeping!".  Pardon my french, but no sh*t Sherlock.  I briefly considered skipping my workout today, but figured it may be the jolt of energy I needed.  Well, it got me through lunch, lol.

Level 2, here I come.

Today was Level 1, Day 10.  Today was also the day I discovered that DH bought my *favorite* Easter candy: Cadbury chocolate mini eggs.  Damn.  I'm not sure if he was being sweet (he says he likes them too) or if it is sabotage, lol.  I won't lie, I had some.  A few really.  Um, handfuls.  But I'm done now and even made DH take the bag with him to watch his show on the computer downstairs.  "Finish the bag" is what I told him. 

Anyway, Level 1, Day 10.  Still breaking a sweat.  If I remember correctly, I believe Level 2 is easier.  Or maybe I just like those moves better. Who knows.  Either way, I have done this before and I will finish it again.  20 more days.  That's nothing:) 

In other areas of life, my house is a disaster.  Lexi's room is finished, except for a few touchups.  Painting textured walls s.u.c.k.s.  It looks good, then the paint dries and "stretches" so you see little patches of specks of white (or whatever color you painted over).  Ugh.  Pain in my a**.  I'm still waiting for my sconces and jewelry armoire to arrive, hopefully tomorrow.  I'm just ready to be done redoing rooms.

Still kickin'.

I was going to update on day 3, but I after the kids went to bed I popped in a movie and folded my laundry (really the only way I can get through it...such a boring task!).  By the time I remembered, I had powered down the laptop already. 

Today was day 5 and while I'm still looking for my ambition, I am holding to my 30 day commitment.  I *will* finish this 30 days and in a row.  No skipping.  Anyway, so far so good.  The only thing I really hate at the beginning of working out is that the results don't happen overnight.  So it's hard to stay motivated when you don't see change right.now.

But, I'm still doing it.  I do the 30 Day Shred, some ab work some from cards I tore out of a magazine (roughly 5-6 minutes worth), and then I hop on the stationary bike for 20 minutes.  Every 5 minutes I up the intensity a quarter turn on the dial for 60 seconds.  They are small enough workouts where I'm not standing in the same spot forever.  Plus when I'm on the bike I can listen to my Ipod or watch some tv, it all depends on the time of day I work out.  I try and do it when one of my shows is on, then I feel like I'm multi-tasking, I get my workout in and entertain myself at the same time:)

Commitment.

Today was Day 1.

Day 1.  Level 1.

Back in July I needed a swift kick in the (workout) ass so I enlisted the help of Jillian Michaels and her 30 Day Shred.  I did it.  All 30 days with one "hiccup".  We went camping with DH's family from Thursday to Sunday so I had to skip Friday and Saturday (I walked around the campground and swam instead).  I did complete it though, just not entirely in a consecutive 30 day stretch:)  While I didn't lose a lot (1-2 pounds) that wasn't my goal.  My goal was to firm some areas and tone up.  Oh, and it was a springboard into working out again.  30 days is nothing without a challenge.  The 30DS is tough, and I welcomed the challenge.

Anyway, on my 3rd cookie (M&M....mmm....) today, I wondered whether I was going to go for the 4th or do something else about it.  The 30 Day Shred is 20 minutes.  You can't even excuse that away.  I have 20 minutes to plant my fields in Farmville but I can't fit in a workout?  BS.

So today was Day 1. 

Holy funk.

This nasty depressing weather has GOT to go.  I need green grass and warm temps.  I need the sun to rise earlier in the morning so when I get up to get Tay going for school I can stay up and work out, read, chill, etc.  Anything that is just mine until the other two hellions rise for the day, lol.  For now as soon as she's on the bus, I'm back in bed. ::sigh::  I enjoy my sleep, it's the quietest time of the day.  No one asking for juice or yelling that someone touched/poked/looked at them. 

I worked out yesterday but I so didn't want to.   I'm in a vacation funk.  Everyone seems to be hopping on planes and heading to warmer locations for downtime.  I want some of that:(  We're taking the kids to Florida in late March but let's face it: that is NOT a vacation.  Driving our ancient motorhome 1500 miles only to wear ourselves out visiting Disney World, Sea World, Univeral Studios, etc. before we drive back home.  Fun? Sure.  Relaxing?  Oh hell no.  My mother-in-law and both of DH's sisters flew to Cozumel yesterday.  Granted these trips were part of gifts to us in place of physical gifts to open on the last 2 Christmases and birthdays.  DH's brother and his wife went to the Dominican Republic last week.  Now his mom and sisters are on their trip.  It was my understanding that we could do whatever we wanted for our trips and DH and his mom decided we'd do Florida.  Um...thanks?  I love my kids, but my word I need a break from them.  We take them camping during the summer.  We don't get out a whole lot on our own either.

In the last 5 years, DH and I haven't had a vacation that was just us with no household/parental/work responsibilities.  No picking up hauling/snow plowing equipment for our business.  No driving all day to stop at 10pm only to get up at 6am and start again.  I want a few days of just relaxing.  Sure, we can still have some activities in there, but on our own.  No wondering if the kids can do it too.  Meals where it's just us and no kids (at our table.  I'm cool with kids on vacation, just as long as I don't have to watch/discipline/clean them up;).  Just a few days.  A little recharging.  I need that.   

Anyway...about that working out.  I did my workout, but I didn't like it.  I was bummed everyone is going to warmer climates and I wanted to sulk.  I figured that a workout might do me some good.  Eh.  At least I did it.  I didn't today.  Today I got my hair trimmed and that made the day a little better.  Perhaps tomorrow will have a different attitude where I won't scowl at my stationary bike!

Downtime.

That word can have many different meanings. 

• Last night's game.  It is a sad day to be a Vikings fan.  Bad calls, horrible decisions, and complete disbelief over the team that rocked it all year only to biff it so bad in the end.  Even if they had won, they would not have deserved it.  With that being said, I cannot fully express my disappointment over the lack of...well....fairness.  I know the refs are suppose to do their best to be their own brand of Switzerland, but no control over the ball + seeing it on the ground does not equal a complete catch in anyone's book.  When that type of call works in your team's favor, you can't help but feel a little guilt under your thrill, knowing that something wasn't right there.  When that type of call doesn't work in your team's favor, you can't help but feel helpless knowing that you were cheated and the chances of the other team confessing their error are zero. And for all the hype over Favre and his "skills", he threw the ball when a run (and the resulting field goal) would have worked and he forced overtime.  It was a sloppy game.
• I need to get back on the work out wagon.  Along with taking care of our home, children and all that goes with it, some days I feel like a hamster running on a wheel.  Too bad the scale isn't showing that;)  Every day it's a different excuse: it's too chilly downstairs, my workout area is a mess, I don't have time (that one is the biggest piece of BS of all).  It's just a couple of pounds, but I am approaching a number that I haven't seen in 6 months. A number that I wanted to be done with.  A number that I refuse to see on the scale again.
• With holidays and birthdays finally done, I need some downtime. To get things organized, finish some long ago started projects, and to not plan anything big for a while. 
  

Change.

I can deal with it most times.  A new cell phone.  A new way of organizing.  Even working on a laptop vs. a desktop.  Except that printing thing...more on that later.

Today we exchanged one family "member" for another:

We recently had the opportunity to upgrade to a dining set that seated more than 4, however when you have the highchair in there it gets a little crowded.  The highchair has officially been packed away and has been replaced with a booster seat.  While I am loving the new room, it's a little sad knowing that we are packing away just one more sign of a baby being here.

I am loving the laptop.  The portability.  Windows 7 (suck it Vista!).  The nice keyboard.  Now, if only I could print.  After much trial and error, our no-longer-with-us printer was not going to do the job.  We need wireless.  Sooooo....we passed our printer onto my mom since she needed a new one that was compatible with Win7.  We'll look at purchasing a new all-in-one that can cater to my laptop as well.  I don't know about anyone else, but I hate setting up new electronics.  Especially computer stuff.  Now I have to learn a new printer and how to get it and my laptop to get along.  Oh, and throw in our desktop as well.  I'm sure it will go just fine, but it's a headache until everything is running the way it should be!

 

Stuart Bean has been great at keeping up with the naughty kids.  Like me.  It has been over a week since I worked out.  And honestly, I really don't care.  Don't get me wrong, I miss working out and I'm kicking myself that I'm not, but I just can't find the ambition to.  When we went through the bout of no heat, I was pretty sure I was NOT going to dress down to work out only to freeze my tail off.  Hell no.  Then we ran into busy times and here we are.  The scale isn't going up too much, but I have to quit the snacking or there's going to be trouble!

The decision.

Every night DH and I go to bed before or around midnight.  It's just the way we roll.  He gets home later in the evenings, plays with the kids, we put them to bed and then we can have adult-conversation-without-an-interruption-time:)  However, I *need* 7 hours of sleep.  8 is almost too much and 6 isn't enough.  The problem is, I often fail to actually acknowledge that.  I will get up in the morning at 6:50am, make sure Tay is on her way to getting out the door for school and then I will go.back.to.bed.  It's *rare* that I'm actually sleeping by 12am, so I'm usually still tired and I sleep for another hour pushing me past that 8 hour time limit.  Sometimes I'm just lazy and want my cozy bed for another hour.  :::sigh::: 

Once upon a time, I would get up at 7:15am, get Tay off to school, dress in my workout clothes and head downstairs to the family room where I would proceed to kick my own a** for a hour.  Then she changed schools with 6th grade and her bus started arriving to pick her up more than a half an hour earlier.  Oy. 

This morning I awoke at 6:50am and proceeded to sit in the recliner while trying to decide how tired I was.  I *knew* I wasn't that tired.  I could get dressed and workout.  So I did.  A whole workout without having to move a child out of the way (so cute when Lexi tries to "workout" as well, but she does it right.next.to.me, lol).  One big thing already checked off of my to-do list by the time the little ones rolled out of bed. 

It was nice. I should do that more often.

Crazy busy!

All summer long our weekends have been occupied with something or another, but August somehow gets the brunt of it all. Fitting in stuff we somehow couldn't find room for in the earlier months. The zoo. The amusement park. The large aquarium I know Cole will love.

Tomorrow is the last day before all hell breaks loose for a week. Thursday is appointments: Tay for her ears and me for my hair (whoo-hoo!!). Then I need to shop for Tay's birthday as she turns 13 on Monday *sob*. I'm not ready to have a teenager! Friday afternoon we leave to travel to Iowa for my brother's wedding on Saturday. DH and Cole need to be there early to try on their tuxes. I'm super excited that I got my dress on clearance and I LOVE it. I've been working out like mad and I know it will look good. I'm bummed I'm not included in the wedding party and this wedding has been a lot of drama, but I'm happy knowing I'll look good and have a great time with my cousin. We never get to hang together so we're excited :)

We'll come home on Sunday and DH will leave for a trip to Kansas to pick up a tank or two. The next day is Tay's birthday and she opted for a sleepover. Send good thoughts, I'll need them! Tuesday we will *finally* hit the amusement park. My mom is watching the little ones so we can go and have a good time without worrying about changing diapers or finding a restroom *right now*.

Later this month we have a weekend for the zoo and that aquarium (one on Saturday and the other on Monday). I say it every year, but next year I'll mean it : I'm planning this stuff earlier! :)

Tomorrow, last day of the Shred! I haven't seen a big loss, but I'm okay with that. I was looking to tone and I have so I'm happy with that. I think I just need to come to terms with the fact that this just might be the weight my body is happy with and it's healthy, so I can live with it.

August. Wth?

I can't believe it. August is *wait, I'm checking the calendar on my computer* 6 days away. Yikes. Where is the summer going? Busy weekends have made the months fly by. While I love having things to do, it makes the time go by so much quicker.

Well, at least I haven't been sitting on my butt, lol. We have hit the Relay for Life this year...my first time ever! I have purchased luminaries in the past, but this year the kids and I went out to visit my sister's employers Relay team. What a great experience. I think it was very eye-opening for Taylor to see all those luminaries lining the track and all those that walked the entire time we were there. Cancer has touched us through friends and family but she was too young to understand when those times happened. Our family had 9 luminaries lit that night: 3 "In Memory" and 6 "In Honor". One of my favorite pics from the night:




It was a great night....the weather was a little cool for it and we didn't stay all night, but I'd love to go again!!

Speaking of great weather, this weekend weather was awesome. Not hot July weather we're use to, but perfect for being active outside or relaxing on the deck at night. We leaving for DH's family's annual camping trip this Thursday so I hope we get lucky with the weather again!

I talked about not sitting on my butt earlier, and boy, if that isn't the truth! I started Jillian Michael's "30 Day Shred" and w.o.w. The workouts are only 20 minutes long, but she whomps on you for those 20 minutes! You do Level 1 for 10 days, Level 2 for 10 days and Level 3 for 10 days. As of today (Sunday) I'm on Level 2, Day 5. I'm just looking to tone up and lose some baggage upfront, but the 20 minutes is enough to make me feel good and hopefully I'll keep on working out when the 30 days is done.

When the world is passing you by...

You just have to wonder, what the hell am I waiting for?

Today on Facebook I received a group invitation from my sister. An invitation to a group she created to help promote a new "business" of hers. It's photography, scrapbooking, video editing, etc. That is the second or third person lately who is just off and running with a new project. I feel very left behind, lol. I guess I feel that way because we own 2 businesses and all I do for them is paperwork. Sure, someone has to do it, but it's not very exciting or anything. Nobody sees my "talents" of balancing books. Whoo-hoo. Even a friend started a scrapbooking business where she made enough money to buy a Kindle DX. Now I'm jealous because we *should * be able to afford one as well (I'm running out of room for my collection of books), but things are kind of icky right now. Anyway....

This September we have a truck show we go to every year...there are hundreds of trucks (semi), some big and new, some small and shiny. Of course, ours get the special treatment to look it's best as well. In the past, I have seen "boards" next to a truck, showing the progression from a not-so-fancy state to pretty darn nice looking! I thought that would be a great thing for ours...it looks NOTHING like it did when we first got it. I mentioned it to DH and he was all, "Eh." Oh well, maybe I'll do it for ourselves and he'll like it enough to take it with.

I think I just feel a little low because despite all the hard work being done, we have very little fun to go with it. DH works a lot, and the trucks are running.... it's just that the time it's taking some of these construction companies to pay us is insane. We are owed a lot of money and it's depressing to wait for it when our bills aren't exactly taking a hiatus or anything. :::sigh:::

In other news, I briefly abandoned my pity party for an a** whoopin' today. After reading some posts on a SAHM board where they were talking about "shredding", I was intrigued. Long story short, I received my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred yesterday and started it today. Wow. Each level is 20 minutes and there are 3 levels. You do each level for 10 days and then move to the next one. I checked out the reviews and most of them were very positive, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. What have I got to lose? Oh yeah, the baggage upfront...forgot about that;)

The sun will come out...

and then go back behind the clouds. Yuck. Oh well, we had SUPER weather this weekend. The kind of weather where if you could hug it, you would. After days of rain (well needed) it was so nice to sit outside for graduation parties this weekend. Loved it! While it's not raining right now, we're suppose to get a good storm tonight and our yard needs the water something awful.

A solution may have been found as to what my issue is with being so damn tired all the time. At least, that is what I am hoping for. DH mentioned vitamins and how he feels "off" when he isn't taking them. I do have vitamins, I just rarely take them. Just basic over-the-counter womens vitamins that I'm suppose to take with food. For some reason I find that to be an inconvenience. For the last few days I have been taking special care to prepare breakfast, take my vitamin and then eat. It has only been a few days but I'm not struggling today, which is so nice. Such an awesome change of pace and I'm really hoping that swallowing a giant pill each day will be worth it in the long run!

Now I'm hoping this newfound non-tiredness will help me get back in gear with working out. I miss it, but I don't ya know? I prefer to work out in the morning with no distractions, just me and the Wii Fitness Coach or me and my Ipod with the exercise bike. Either way, it's June. And I recall that back in March I was hell-bent on not getting to June and wondering why I didn't start whooping my butt into shape back in March. :::sigh::: Oh well. Hop back on the bike (literally!) again!

And time is a flyin'.....

I'm over the baby stuff going. Really, I am. Okay, I'm not, but it took over a month to post that. Yikes.

It's turning green outside! Whoo-hoo!! I took advantage of the awesome weather this last week and spent 4 days doing everything and anything outside to get our yard looking nice. Basically, DH's "honey-do" list began my "just-get-it-done" list, lol.

Busy. Busy. Busy.

• We took a road trip in mid-March that included a stop at Bristol Motor Speedway which was AWESOME. Would love to go back!
  
• I have finally been heard. Tay has some issues with school. ADD or ADHD. I had an inkling, but her dad refused to believe anything could be "wrong" with his daughter so I agreed to give it a little time. Conferences last month had us in the counselor's office echoing the very things I wanted to address. She is VERY smart and VERY bright. She just can't harness it all to get the grades she deserves. A meeting this Wednesday will get the ball rolling.
• I love my Fitness Coach. I really do. But it's been too damn nice out to touch it. I'm staying active, I promise! Scale and I came to an agreement: it stays in a certain range and I'll step on it more often. So far so good.
  
• Easter came and went. I dread the same with happen with summer. :::sigh::::
• 4 graduation parties and 5 weddings this year. Yikes.
• I can't wait to go camping. DH actually relaxes and it's so nice to decide on a Thursday "Hey, let's throw some stuff in the motorhome and go." And we do it!
  

Why I'm doing this.

Today I worked out with 'Maya', my trainer on My Fitness Coach for the Wii. Today was workout #9. It was cardio.

Good God.

15 minutes in, huffing and puffing, just waiting (okay, begging!) for that wonderful, wonderful scrolling bar to bring on the "Rest" section. Not sure why, but some workouts give you a 15 second rest period after each set. Cardio and Flexibility aren't those workouts. Upper Body, sure. Lower Body, you bet. Core? But of course! I haven't done the yoga yet, so I'll have to get back to you on that. Cardio and Flexibility can whoop your tail and then say, "Oh, are you going to collapse? Okay, you can stop for 5 seconds.....1..2..5 and back to it!"

About that cardio....in those 15 minutes I had to plenty of time to think as breathing hard was taking on a life of it's own. With each huff came a word.....Why *huff* am *puff* I *huff* doing *puff* this *huff* to *puff* myself?

Because every June I kick it into gear to get swimsuit/shorts ready. Every June I wonder why I didn't start working out in March so that I'm ready for swimsuits/shorts before it's actually time for them. Why do I wait until the last "minute"? By the time I really feel fit it's late August and that swimsuit is going back in the drawer for the off-season. So I buffed myself to be covered in long sleeves and jeans. Yep. That makes sense.

This year I'm doing it the right way. As tired as I am, as lazy as I feel, I *will* workout and I will enjoy it, knowing that come June, I'll be glad I did.

Time outs.

I needed one today. BIG TIME.

Cole is driving me nuts. Just nuts. I'm ready to call Supernanny on just him. I had to call DH to come and take him for the rest of the day so I could think. Spend time with Lexi (Tay had school). Work out. Let my brain rest. After DH took him I refused to look at one thing involving Cole, including his room, which he destroyed during a time out.

Working out went well, my Ipod even worked, yay me! Darn thing has been sprouting lines across the screen. Researching the problem has been giving me the idea that I think it's on the way out:( Today it fired up no problem. Wish I could say my leg did the same! Just got into a good song, "jogging" away on the Wii and sharp pain up the left knee...ugh. That's not even my problem knee (right-old injury). I think I just worked it too hard, so I moved onto something else instead of stopping altogether which I really wanted to do! I think it was the sheer fear of that number on the scale...up about 2 pounds. Yuck. Feeling the need to get outside and move...need nicer weather!!

Confessions

Today I did the entire yoga section of my WiiFit. I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking with it and I'm wondering why I thought the last few poses (unlocked, but never used) would be so tough. They weren't. I guess I've always been of the mind that if I'm not jumping like a maniac, I'm not doing much good when it comes to exercise. Yoga always sounded boring, but things feel better. My back has been bugging me lately and I actually felt parts of it stretch and feel some relief. Maybe I'll stick with it...

In my post yesterday, I fibbed a bit. About that Lexi being such an easy baby thing. Don't get me wrong, she is the easiest one we've had but lately, that little girl is out to make a liar out of me. Two nights in a row now, she's gotten up between 3-4am. No idea why. Diaper isn't very wet. Sippy of warm milk doesn't get emptied. She will lounge on my lap with her eyes open just looking around at our living room. She knows she shouldn't be up. After 15-20 minutes, I'll lay her down and she goes back to sleep. The super neat part? It has to be *me* that she sits with. :::sigh::: DH knew that I was exhausted, so he got up with her last night. He did exactly as I do, but when he laid her down, she pitched a fit. Being as the monitor is right next to my head, I couldn't sleep. So I got up with her AGAIN. Same as before: warm sippy, sit in chair, lay her down, right to sleep. That's great and all, but then I'm wide awake even though I'm exhausted:( I'm glad it's not every night, but good grief. I'm on 3 nights of crappy sleep. I also can't nap during the day or I can't sleep at night. Super.

Can't wait until my kids are all teenagers...Saturday morning. 6am. Me banging pots and pans. You get my idea.

Just a couple of things...

1. I suck at blogging. I'm just gonna put that out there since it's the big ol' elephant in the room. I have all these thoughts, pearls of wisdom, etc. and I am just too lazy to blog it. I'm too busy dinking around on Facebook trying to find items on Scavenger Hunt.

2. Raising a boy is HARD. Taylor as a youngster, pretty easy. Lexi, the most easy going baby ever. Cole? The boy will drive me to drink. Picks on his sisters. Picks up EVERY smart a** comment DH makes. Today during lunch, he told me that his "people" said I should "shush". Um, WHAT? Now, when DH says it, it's when I tell him he's misinformed, being a dork, etc. His response (joking around) is always, "My people told me otherwise" or something goofy like that. I follow up with " I am your people."

3. Working out. Ugh. Lately I LOVE sleep. Once I am working out, I'm having a good time, feeling the burn, all pain with hopefully no gain (ha, ha, get it?), yada, yada, yada. While the scale has gone up just a bit (a pound or two), I really need to work out. I just do. My back has been killing me lately and I think it's because my core went to mush. I'm not exactly sitting on my arse all day, but my body really needs a whooping. My hair needs some help. My skin looks horribly old. Can't wait for spring...I need fresh air where I don't need to dress up like an eskimo to enjoy it.

4. I got a new phone and I LOVE it. I research the heck out of everything. I got my parents a new toaster for Christmas as they needed one. When I told them I researched the reviews and could report it makes excellent toast, I think they wondered where they had gone wrong in raising me, lol. Anyway, I have wanted a blackberry for f.o.r.e.v.e.r. All my friends seem to have one. Both of my brothers have one. I felt left out. However, the SmartChoice plan required to own a blackberry was NOT favorable to us with 3 lines, a buttload of texting, and a preteen with friends who call to report how they got home from school that day. So, I got the Motorola Hint. Ugly as sin, but fun. We could keep our family plan and we just tacked on the $6 or so for the internet access for my line. Taylor got my "old" phone, the Samsung Muse. Great phone, I needed a qwerty keyboard though. I'm a texter. Hate talking on the phone. Anyway, she has a camera phone now, I have my fun phone with the good plan, and I'm looking forward to when Facebook mobile will bail my silly self out of a boring situation!

Bursting a bubble

And that would be the bubble of the weatherman. He just sounded WAY too happy about January being the first month since the 1800's that we haven't reached above freezing for a day. There's a chance, a chance that we might hit the 30's on Saturday. I was so excited when I saw that I nearly did a little dance in the middle of lunch!

Someone had a birthday around here....
Look at that sweet face. It's the face of a 1 year old little diva princess with an ear infection for her first birthday:( The day before she crap-napped and woke up with a 104 temperature. Poor baby. Being as it was a Friday, DH and I took both Cole (whining about his ear bugging him too) and Lexi in to the doctor. She had the ear infection, he was borderline. :::sigh::: Oh well. Both were given prescriptions for Amoxicillin and recommendations for Motrin to kick the fever. By Saturday morning she had smiles:) Another problem arose later however (more on that in a bit)

Diva Lexi (who needs her morning milk room temperature) had fun at her party. Given her illness, we kept it short: lunch, cake, gifts and naptime (for her!). Then the adults could visit a bit. She was such a trouper, but wanted little to do with that yummy cake. She got some on her hands and wasn't entirely thrilled!

Then there's Cole. Sunday morning we were hanging around and when I saw him reach for a toy, I spotted something that made my heart drop. Spots. On his hand. Dark pink spots. I unzipped his jammies and he was COVERED. Our first thought: chicken pox. I ran to WebMD..most signs pointed to yes. The contagious period to keep him home? 10 days. And that's for one kid. I was crushed. It's been below zero for DAYS. If it's above zero, the windchill has no problem kicking us below that. Cabin fever is ambundant around here. The idea of being forced to stay home? Ugh. To top it off, Lexi would be screwed as she was exposed before she got the vaccine. Fortunately, a few calls determined that it was a rash from the Amoxicillin. *whew* It's not an allergic reaction, some kids get it and it will disappear as quickly as it pops up. I'm happy to say I can't really play connect the dots on him anymore!:)

Last week I worked out. I worked out so much I couldn't work out this week (yet). I got into our Wiifit a lot...mostly running, which I love. Throw on the Ipod and go. I also received the Jillian Michael's workout for the Wii. It's okay. The workout is great, but the sensors don't catch alot of what you do. So if you're content not seeing progress on the screen then it's not much of a problem. I adapted and now my thighs hurt!

Been a while!

First of all, I'm so tired. Part of me thinks it's the weather as today it is super crummy outside. Icy, chilly, and a little bit of snow. Kids are thrilled, me, not so much. On the upside, we're out of laundry detergent and I'm not packing up little kids to run to the store (we're rural) just to do something I'm really not all that crazy about, lol. Anyway, I'm tired and it's really starting to bug me so when I see my doctor in a few weeks, I think we'll have a chat. I have NO ambition to work out. I did that one workout and while it felt great, we got busy after that. Little kids are exhausting!

Cole turned 3 a couple of weeks ago and what a ham. It's not so much the things he will say, it's how he says them. A few of my favorites:

"Oh.....yes" It's just so matter-of-fact.
"That's niiiiice!"
"You're making supper? What a good idea!"

The best is when he spends the day with DH and comes home to tell me all about it. The kid just loves life!

And Lexi learned to army crawl. Oh my. Despite the fear that may strike in some parents, that kid has never been more entertained! She'll scan the room looking for her next object, check to make sure no one is going to catch her, and then she just goes with such gusto it's funny to watch. She had her 9 months appt at the end of October and everything looks great, although she does have eczema. Bummer. Oh well, DH and Cole have it as well, so we know the drill! Anyway, you know the questions the doctor asks about the things you child can/cannot do? He asked about Lexi sitting up on her own and pulling herself up. I had to answer no as I hadn't seen any of either. He didn't seem too concerned but wanted us to keep an eye on her. Well, lo and behold, just like a problem car that only acts up when NO ONE else is around, she did both in the next 2 days, lol. I went in her room after naptime, and there she sat! My mom watched them the next night and she had pulled herself up there as well. Silly baby!

Halloween went well..the kids went as characters from Toy Story 2: Jessie the cowgirl, BuzzLightyear, and Wheezie the penguin. What a crew! :)

Pigs that fly!

So, this morning I actually stayed up after Taylor got on the bus...yay me! Lately DH and I go to bed so late (harvest) that I'll crash again after she's off to school. Today I thought, "Hmmmmm, 2 hours before the little ones get up. What should I do?" Okay, we all know what I should do: work out. I've stayed pretty steady on my weight and I'm happy about that, but I need to work out. Toning, to help my sleeping, time for myself, etc. I found a workout in my Redbook magazine that seemed pretty lowkey. I thought I'd try so I suited up and went to work!

Yeah, I got my a** handed to me in the form of realizing just how out of shape I am! I could barely balance on one leg for some of the moves without tipping over. The good news is, I didn't hate it and I actually broke a little sweat. I just might do it again tomorrow:)