5/31/09

I have a love/hate relationship with my food scale. I love it because I have realized that being aware of portions really does affect my weight loss. I hate it because 1 oz of cheese isn't nearly enough. Grrrr.

I really was rocking Weight Watchers and was down 24 lbs, then I got lazy about counting my points and measuring and some of it started sneaking back. So today is day 6 of completely back on. My weigh-in day isn't until tomorrow, but as of today I have lost 2 lbs this week. I still have so far to go, I know it won't be easy, but it will be sweet when I get there!

On a funny note, Jeff is anal about writing down everything he eats. He keeps a food journal in a little 3x5 notebook. His notebook ran out and so when we were at Target this weekend he was grabbing a new one. I suggested we look in the dollar spot to see what they have ... well they had High School Musical holographic notebooks on clearance for 25 cents! What a trooper that he bought 2.

5/30/09

{This boy has style} It was officially get a new pool for the backyard day. The kids had lots of fun playing outside.

5/29/09

It's funny how things come full circle. I used to have a corner of a room for an office at our house, but then it turned into a scrapbook room. Then we moved the scrapbook room into a big room. And now, I had to squeeze a small corner out for an office again. Which is funny, because I can count on one hand how many times I have scrapbooked this year.

But I spent a lot of hours trying to organize and rearrange things in here. I think it will work well (which is good since summer school starts Monday)! I probably have a good hour of cleaning left to do though ... which hopefully will happen soon.

5/28/09

Just a little view of our back patio.

5/27/09

Mylie and I played jacks tonight ... I can't even think of the last time I played jacks. I think I'll teach her hopscotch this summer.

5/26/09

She looks so grown up to me with her new hair do! I sure love this girl.

5/25/09

Happy Memorial Day! I have always enjoyed this holiday and as a young girl spent every Memorial Day at the cemetery with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Rulu, Mom and Dad, Ben and then later Courtney and Bailey. Sometimes aunts or cousins would join us. Grandma and Aunt Rulu (my great aunt) would clean all the headstones, prune around the graves, and Grandpa and Uncle Wayne would unload huge buckets of flowers out of the trunks of their Cadillacs. I would help place the flowers on the graves of my great-Grandparents and great aunts and uncles. I learned a lot about my family history on these blistery, windy days. I definitely have a lot of Memorial Day memories.

Life is different now, we live over 5 hours away from that cemetery. Our Memorial Day included going out to lunch, going to the nursery, stopping at the flag park so I could get a picture, planting bushes in the backyard, going to the park and then having a BBQ at home. I was touched though when Jeff sat down and explained to Mylie about Memorial Day and told her how 3 of her great-Grandpas fought in WWII. Of course a lot of that was over her 4 year old head, but since I'm typically the more sentimental one about things like this, I found it so sweet that Jeff would explain it to her.

5/24/09

My roses started blooming this weekend. I love the purple ones.

5/23/09

It was a beautiful day today and we decided to eat dinner in the backyard. Blake thought that was pretty cool.

5/22/09

Backyard campout tonight. It has been a lot of years (seven) since we have used our tent!

5/21/09

Only a little over a week until summer semester starts! Lots to do still, I'll be teaching 4 days a week. It will be busy, but I am getting excited!

5/20/09

From Friday ... I took the kids to Scotty's. Carmel milkshake for me, ice cream cones for them.

5/19/09

We stopped by Grandpa's on our way out of town today. Mylie wanted to show off her new hair cut. Blake had free rein of the yard and was in heaven. It is so big even he is contained there. Love this yard and all the memories that go along with it!

5/18/09

Today needs two pictures ... before:
and after:

Nearly a foot of hair going to locks of love. She looks so stinking adorable I can hardly stand it.

5/17/09

Blake thinks he is a pretty big boy sitting up at the counter at Grandma's. He makes himself right at home, foot up on the counter, just chillin'.

5/16/09

Today was Courtney's baby shower. Here she is with Mom and all my cute aunts. It was a fun afternoon and she got a lot of nice things. I am super excited to be an aunt again and snuggle a newborn.

5/15/09

Today the kids and I decided to take a trip to the Parker cemetary and visit my Grandma's grave. We stopped to pick up Grandpa (the kid's great-Grandpa) and he and Mylie picked some tulips from his yard. The cemetary is about 40 minutes from his house and when we arrived they walked to Grandma's grave and Mylie lovingly placed the flowers on the headstone.

We spent 20 minutes or so walking around the cemetary (a lot of my extended family is buried there). As we were getting ready to leave Mylie ran back to Grandma's grave, I was slower, with Blake in tow. Mylie was sitting next to the flowers, rearranging them once again. She looked up at me with a tear stained face and said, "Momma, I miss Grandma." My eyes welled up with tears too and I reassured her that I missed her too. Mylie is so sweet and tender hearted. She is only 4 1/2 years old now and was barely 2 when Grandma died. But she is wise beyond her years. She hugged me and asked, "Mom, will Grandma come back from Heaven and be resurrected?" I assured her that she would see her again someday and then her sweet little voice said, "Then why is it taking so long?" It was nearly impossible to stop the tears after that.

5/14/09

It's funny how I've been gone from here three times as long as I lived here ... yet it still feels like home.

5/13/09

Day 1 at Grandma's house ... a sleepover with Max. Life is good.

5/12/09

I really love my lilac bushes. When I walk in or out of my front door the smell just permeates my senses. The make me happy, they remind me of Grandmothers. I wish they bloomed year round.

5/11/09

My purse ... yes, it is big and there is a lot in it. And it is pink, very pink. I don't think I will ever be a small purse kind of person. I love having room for everything. My wallet, bank bag for work, random coupons, my netbook, makeup bag, my point and shoot camera, my mp3 player, granola bars, a flashlight (yes, there seriously is a mini maglite in my bag), my palm pilot. Plus there is still room to throw in a diaper and wipes or a book I am reading. People may mock me (or ask if it is a carry-on), but I like it and that is all that matters!

5/10/09

My Mother's Day present from Jeff and the kiddos. It is a handheld video camera, I'm so excited about it. I plan on using it a lot for classes, for example, recording guest speakers and then uploading the videos into online courses. I'm sure I'll have some fun with it as well.

5/9/09

The last day of spring soccer!

5/8/09

Is it bad that I have been looking forward to this all afternoon? An ice cold diet coke and a sugar induced coma from Costco cake. Weight Watchers be damned!

What a little man, in the recliner, with the remote. He keeps pointing it at the TV waiting for something to happen. His goofy little giggly face makes me laugh.

5/6/09

This is what I found when I came downstairs this morning.
The problem ... Blake still sleeps in a crib.
MYLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5/5/09

"Hi Momma. Yup, lunch was yummy."

5/4/09

I *really* love my lilacs!

5/3/09

{Maybe I do want a macro lens!} I love this tree in our front yard. It is only bright pink for a few weeks, but it makes me smile every time I see it.

5/2/09

Jeff and I took the kids to Build a Bear today and welcomed Monka the Monkey and Bubba the Bear into our family.

5/1/09

Lazy Friday. The kids and I took Daddy to lunch. I had a couple things I had to do for work, the kids were my assistants.

I'm totally giving myself permission to not stress out about missing a few days of pictures.

4/30/09

Totally on my A-game teaching tonight. Reconfirmed that this is what I want to do.
A late-night big gulp run with Ashlee, who is in town for a few days. Fun to catch up.

4/29/09

A last minute call from the college to see if I could fill in for the remainder of the semester for one course. Absolutely. A *late* night prepping a lecture on the death penalty.

4/28/09

A long day at work today! But the highlight was lunch with Angie. Yum, chips and salsa.