The Blankets

I posted some pixs of the fleece blankets I've made recently. Bub's is the football for his birthday in April, and the neon green for Sierra for her birthday. They keep getting bigger. Sierra's is the biggest I've ever made thus far. They are the so much fun and easy to make. No sewing involved, the kids are ready to make them which will be so much fun over the winter months.

The lost photos

That's right I'm titling this post the lost photos. These are the Christmas photos I didn't want no one to see. I had gained the weight back over the fall and winter. I didn't want to believe it myself so I denied it, and stayed away from the scale. I joined weight watchers in mid January. I have lost 39.4 pounds, and 58 inches. It quite possibly could be the slowest weight loss possible for me, but it's staying off, and I'm losing slowly. I've gained an entire new group of friends, and I'm more active than I've been in years and years. All the health benefits are showing up again as I knew they would. I'll keep you posted.

Bub's New Haircut

As most of you know we are huge Ohio State fans at my house. Brandon couldn't wait till Uncle Matt got up here to work his magic on his hair. He was so excited, he made me drive him around town just to strut his new haircut. His dad was just as happy he emailed his picture to all of his friends. Brandon is now hitting me up to get a new Ohio State jersey to go with his haircut....of course he is.

The 5K

This is my group who walked the 5K with me. A great group of ladies. I can't tell you how happy this whole 5K made me. I had a good pace and a flowing stride going. The next walk is the 3 day breast cancer walk in Sept. or Oct. I'm not that far ahead on scheduling yet. I'll get back to you on that.

Getting ready for 5K

Yes, you heard that right I'm getting ready to walk my first 5K. I am very excited about it! If someone would have told me a year ago I would walk a mile I would have said no way, but here I am walking a 5K. There is a group of us walking on June 5, we are all pretty excited. We are actually kinda training I guess you could say. We walk everyday except Sundays. At first it was just walking a little more each day now we are starting to pick up the pace. I'm very proud of myself!!

This is a picture of a veggie pizza recipe I got from Pooh. It's not loaded with cheese like the picture looks it's really cauliflower shredded up.

Spring

Spring is finally approaching!! Spring is one of those seasons that by the time I figure out it's really here, it's gone. I have been really heavily cleaning lately, opening the windows on really nice days, etc. It amazes me how much stuff can really accumulate over such a short period as winter. Spring is the one time a year that I get rid of a lot of stuff, and really get outside to clean up the damage of winter to our yard. This winter has taught me so much though about myself and the world outside of myself. I have joined a book club which I LOVE, learned a lot more about quilt stitching and actually following patterns, became an active member of weight watchers (for the first time in my life I really love the meetings) and the group of women that are there look forward to seeing me each week, and have picked up a ton of healthy recipes that have become new meals for my family. I'm glad to see winter go this year, but I will always treasure what I learned this winter.

Slacking

I know I know I have been slacking on the blog for a couple months now. My deepest apologies. Basketball season has ended for the kids. Brandon had a rough season, and Madeline's season made history for the varsity. The grandbaby is growing bigger and bigger everyday, and is a real blessing added to our lives.

The Little Things

I refuse to get stuck in the yuck of life!! I like enjoying the little things. I appreciate the fact that my son still loves to build snowmen, and my husband doesn't complain at going out in the cold temps to help our son build that snowman. I still laugh and smile about my teenage daughter enjoying an old tire swing. Life is good, sometimes we just need to open our eyes and smile at the little things.

No Smiles

These photos are rare. Sienna Pearl is the most smiley happy child I know. She always shines in front of a camera. The other day I was going through trying to organize some of my photos, and stumbled across these. I couldn't resist to post them. The scary thing is I remember exactly why she was upset in each of them. The first photo was at Sierra's princess pageant, and when I took the photo she quickly let me know it was sissy's special day not hers. The next photo was at safety town and for some reason she didn't want her picture taken that day, and when I had already taken a zillion she had had enough. The last one was Easter and it was cold. She still looks beautiful in all of them.

Christmas 2009

This year was extra special because Gabe was a little older, and it was super fun having him around for Christmas. Heather, Casey, and Gabe came over Christmas Eve to celebrate with us. It was a wonderful time all the way around I couldn't have been more pleased. On Christmas day we still woke fairly early to open gifts with the kids. They are much older now, but they still get very excited. We focused more this year on all the things they needed more so than wanted. The kids are growing faster than you can believe, so there was a need for more clothes and shoes that fit, basketball gear that they needed replaced asap for their current season, school materials that had already been put through the mill since the start of the school year, etc. Brian's brother, daughter, son-in-law, and grand kids came over for awhile which is always so nice to see them. We then got ready to go to my sisters for Christmas dinner. I was to bring a dish, and I didn't have my fried onions for the green bean casserole so Wendy came up with a different kind of idea which was to slightly bake crushed croutons and use those. It didn't turn out to bad. Dinner was excellent as always, and the family being together was a welcome treasure.

Family Photo

Mom has been asking for years and years now for a family picture. There has been so many things that come up that we just can't coordinate everyone being together for a family photo. Well this year I guess she'd had enough so she got one the best way she could and had all of us get together on Christmas for a photo. This is the best we could do.