Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! The family was all here today...I couldn't be more thankful. We had a beautiful time today. I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving as well.

She had the baby!!

My cousin Christy and her husband Matt had their baby boy yesterday. I 'borrowed' this picture from Matt's myspace. The baby's name is Owen Xavier he was born yesterday at 8:03 am he was 19 1/2 inches long and 5lbs 10 oz. Baby and mom are doing great!

Mom's Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated mom's birthday. We all had a great time as usual when we get together. Mom picked out her own candles this year so there was a lovely four candles instead of the number candles me and Pooh usually put on the cake. Happy belated birthday mom as always you mean the world to me. Love you!!

Quick Update

I have lots to share, but it will take several posts to hit on all the topics that is going on in our little world here. So make sure over the next several days to check the blog out, and don't forget to scroll down I may have several posts that will get posted in one day. So without further delay here are the topics that have been going on in our world.

• Maddie had her first scrimmage last night, and they won.
• We celebrated mom's birthday last weekend, and all of us going through our good nutrition journey declined birthday cake. (Of course the kids didn't mind one bit, because they helped themselves to our pieces.)
• Report cards came in some good, some could have been better.
• Dad came in for a quick visit.
• We survived the dreaded flu season at our house, and yes I'm positively confirming that the flu season will not be back at our house this year.
• The kids have had so many questions with all the news reports of the economy and I've done my best to explain them the best I can. My kids are older now and understand more than I'd like them to some days. (I could make several posts about our conversations lately, because for some reason every answer I give spins into another question they have.)
• And last tid bit as we all know Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and I'm counting my blessings daily on all I have to be thankful for.

Glasses

This is an older picture, but it will work for this post. Last week Madeline broke her glasses in basketball. They did have a warranty on them, but nonetheless we just got them back today. And to make matters that much better she had to get either a new pair of goggles or contacts for basketball. Her prescription had changed dramatically in one year. So what does any good parent do....coughs up more money for contacts. Surprisingly the contacts were only $35 more than the goggles. So as I'm squaring one child away.......let me back up a bit Brandon lost his brand new glasses less than 30 days from me getting him a new pair (warranties don't cover lost), and we've been on the look out for them for a month now. As I square Maddie away the school calls me to tell me Brandon's glasses broke. I thought you've got to be kidding me. Nothing happened to them they just broke (worn out broke). Now of course Brandon needs another pair. We have great eye insurance on the kids, but they have both exhausted their limits. Now since my money tree out back hasn't had a good harvest for as long as I can remember he will have to wait a couple weeks for me to get him another pair again. So what is the lesson I've learned here...simple....patience.

Little Pooh Bear

Since Pooh isn't posting any before or after (as of now) pictures up of herself I thought I'd go right ahead and do it for her. The first picture is of Pooh at Christmas last year, and the next picture is of Pooh this weekend. She is truly 'my coach' right now, and if you'd asked me 3 months ago if I'd ever let her coach me I would have told you no no no no. She's more than my sister, or my coach...she's my friend. It's not often I get emotional about her, because quite frankly we usely spend most of our time laughing about everything. So I will take a moment and say, "Good job Pooh, I'm proud of you."

Let's Talk

As most of you already know Wendy has started her own business. The best way for me to even try to describe the product that she is selling is by saying nutrition supplement. But even that is such an understatement. I started using the product because of my migraines in a hope that it might help get me off some of the medication I was already on. Of course I would love to lose some weight in the meantime. At the point I'm at in my life I needed to get some of the weight off to help with some of my health issues. Now I was not willing to jump right on board even when my sister started telling me about it. That's just who I am. I called my doctors to check and see if I could even take it with all the medication I'm already on, and yes I can. It's just all the nutrition that body hasn't been getting. Even with my doctors giving me the okay I still researched every last nutrient (just to make sure). And to make me more sceptic about it there was no caffeine no sugars. I just couldn't wrap my brain around how my body was going to function without these two key components. Well I thought okay I'm going to give it a try. Day 1 and I didn't miss either one of those things. I no longer woke up feeling ran over. I am on Day 16 and haven't had to reach for my high level migraine pills, my blood pressure is back in the normal range, I no longer feel guilt for not taking all the cholesterol supplements the doctor wanted me to take, because now I'm getting them all, I've dropped a few lbs., and I've dropped more inches than I have in over a decade. I have energy again to make it through the day without craving a nap, and believe it or not I've started exercising a little. Wendy kept telling me it was a 'wellness journey'. I didn't understand what she meant until now. You learn a lot about yourself one day at a time. And did I mention I haven't touched those trick or treat candies (the two huge bowels sitting on my kitchen table). So anyway the top picture is me a couple months ago (Sept. I believe), and the next picture is me this morning. And the only make up I have on in either picture is eyeliner no foundation no cover up no nothing.

Halloween

I would have love to have posted some halloween pictures for you, but due to family members still not sending them to me I do not have any. So this post will have some old photos. Anyhow, moving on to trick or treating night. My kids are really too old for trick or treating, but they still enjoy the festivities. Madeline stayed with Grami and Levi and worked on some homework. Brandon was excited, because he also knew this was his last trick or treat year. Brandon dressed up as a caveman, and was ready to go with Aunt Poohie. Aunt Poohie highly encouraged me to go walking with them this year. So off we went to trick or treat. We (Pooh) decided to walk from mom's house to downtown Norwalk, and hit the streets in between. Okay sounds like a plan. There was only about 3 houses between mom's and downtown that we hit. Now if you've ever been to Norwalk you know that it's a pretty safe and low key kind of town. However, as we began to walk we noticed that we were on a street that had no street lights. Pooh being always prepared brought out the pumpkin flashlights for us to carry. Great!!! Well that's we when started to notice all the graffiti on the abandoned building, the broken glass all over the sidewalks, and lets not forget the used pregnancy test also laying on the sidewalk. At this point Wendy and myself decide to pick up the pace and get to downtown as quick as possible. The kids had a delightful time trick or treating and even Lola got to come along. Now after it's all said and done we know we must travel down the dark almost too quiet street, so again we picked up the pace, except this time Pooh was carrying Sienna, and Bonnie & Clyde had decided to complain the entire way home. I was never so glad to see Mom's house in all my life. At this point I must confess I too complained about how tired my legs were. My mistake on so many levels, because what did Maddie say...."Mom I run two hours straight six days a week for basketball, and you tell me it's good for me." I stopped complaining and told her how proud I was of her.