Tell All Tuesday - Week 3

I HAD A GREAT WEIGH-IN TODAY! I am so excited to report that my hard work is really paying off! Today at WW, I had a loss of 4.6 lbs! That leaves me with 16 more to go to reach my 20 lb goal before vacation! That actually feels more attainable!

First Sleep-over!

Well, this was a first for the Dickey family. We had a child over to sleep in our house and he is not a family member.... AND.... It went GREAT! Kirstyn was so excited to be the official "babysitter" for the youngest Diaz boy...Carter. Carter is 7 months older than James and is just. as. busy. (see "James Norley...NO SIR!"). I just have to say that I am in the best playgroup in the world! Michelle was able to go on this business trip with her husband Day because our playgroup Mommies rallied and took on her boys that we all love very much! Jenn took on Conner (although after reading her post...she may not volunteer again for a while!) and Cooper spent the night at Tracy's. Anyway, all that to say that we had a great day yesterday, a great night last night, and we actually made it to church ON TIME this morning with our two kids and one extra! Here are some pictures from our time with Mr. Carter.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and Kirstyn has been asking to go to the zoo so we put on our brave parent hats and ventured off to the zoo with all three kids. Oh and our neighbor Kristin called me when we were on our way over there to see what we were doing and when I told her we were off to the zoo she decided to go ahead and bring Hannah to meet us there. Kirstyn was very excited to get to see her friend Hannah! Carter was too funny. Every time he spotted an animal he would point and scream. He was always checking to see if James was seeing what he was seeing!

All of the kids had a great time playing in the Children's play barn. Kirstyn and Hannah took off to go down the big slide over and over while the boys made tracks to push buttons! See, the buttons on these animals when pushed make very loud animal sounds which made them laugh. It was too cute and I was shocked how long they stayed in this one area and played!

Here is a picture of Carter experiencing a view he has not seen before. He was so funny. He had a death grip on David's hair but when I asked him if he wanted down, he would tell me NO. Oh and in a very exciting moment for us all, the white tiger was out for us to see. This picture of Kirstyn is of her taking a picture. She wanted to take her camera to the zoo so that she could take pictures of the animals to put on our blog for her friends that didn't get to go to the zoo to see! What a thoughtful little girl! We might work on a post later after we download her camera and see what she got!

Thursday Thirteen - 9th Edition

13 Reasons Why James thinks his name is "James Norley - NO SIR!"

I decided to post this 'theme' for my T13 because my little baby is officially 11 months old today! I have really had a blast getting to know this busy little boy...I just can't believe that it is already time for me to plan his First Birthday Party!

1. Everything goes in his mouth!
2. He loves the taste of dirt...(see #1).
3. Cat food is an okay snack...(again, back to #1)
4. Vanilla candles smell so good they are worth a taste...(#1 again!)
5. Drawers are fun to empty!
6. The dishwasher being opened makes him squeal with delight thinking of how fast he can throw the clean dishes to the floor! (I may have found his soul mate in the bloggy world!)
7. He is practicing his acrobatic skills while climbing things and then launching himself back to the floor!
8. When he is finished eating he likes to THROW his food off of his tray!
9. A good solid 'head butt' is his way to say I love you!
10. Mommy's laptop...need I say more. (He has company for this one too...Little G does the same thing!)
11. In honor of earth day he learned to flush the potty while I was putting on my makeup...FLUSH - Clapping for himself - FLUSH - Clapping for himself - FLUSH! ugh. There goes all those days of turning off the water while I brush my teeth!
12. He is our official trash inspector. He loves to empty the trash can into the kitchen floor one item at a time. Maybe he is checking for missed recyclables! (Maybe I have taught him to love our earth that God made us....)
13. And finally, he works very hard to get behind the entertainment center to turn off the surge protector that no one else can reach! (again, conserving power???)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

New Found Skills?

Well, I have to say that I have been a very busy girl. See in my last life (the one that is fuzzy because it is the one I had before kids) I was a Software Engineer and actually worked on elements of the cockpit of the V22 Osprey and until last week I had not done anything to do with code since going on bed rest when I was pregnant with Kirstyn, but for some reason I got it in my head that I was going to learn HTML and redesign my blog. I did (well, I learned how to hack HTML). I'm still not sure I like my new design, but my husband says it fits my personality so I will probably keep it at least for now. Next, I got it in my head that it would be fun to work with a 'client' on a blog redesign just to see how that would work out. Well, take a look at my blogging buddy Kami's new blog and let me know what you think! I had a blast working on her blog and working with her and am feeling extra brave and thinking it might be fun to make a little fun money and do a few more blog redesigns. Anyone interested??? I may decide to start a full blown work at home business... but for now I will just start building my portfolio and making a little money to buy myself some smaller clothes as I continue on my weight loss adventure!

Tell All Tuesday - Week 2

Okay, well I have to tell you this story about Kirstyn so that you will understand how I feel today! Yesterday afternoon we were all playing outside when I told her that I needed to take James inside for a minute to change his diaper. She had been drawing with her chalk on our wooden fence off and on all afternoon. Well, when I came back outside she was sitting in her fort pouting and this picture was on the fence (as you can see there is a 'J' on the left beside the cute face with the spiked up hair and then an unfinished picture that is pink with pretty eye lashes...that is the way Kirstyn usually draws her self portraits...apparently I went inside with James about the time she was getting started on herself so she got mad and put a big X through brother and quit). When I asked her what was wrong, she told me "I prayed for a baby sister...but I got James....hum". I think it was a short lived wave of jealousy as she was remembering how we used to play outside by ourselves. She is normally a fabulous big sister, very loving to James and very willing to help me out with him. He is a very good natured and happy baby and she really doesn't realize how easy she has it with him.... All it took was to remind her that she is daddy's only princess and she snapped out of it.

Now what will it take for me to snap out of it? Today when I went to Weight Watchers I felt like throwing the same fit. I wanted to take my book and put a big X right through my weigh in results! This week I logged every tiny morsel that went into my mouth and I had 18 flex points left over for the week. I also got in tons of activity...just look at my posts this week. We picked strawberries, worked in the yard and planted a garden, went to Pump It Up and climbed massive slides and on and on. We were a very active family this week...something I really want to continue rather than spending too much time in front of the TV. I also stuck to my commitment to only have 2 diet sodas per day! So, why is it that when I weighed in this morning I was brought to tears because I GAINED 2 pounds! Well that now puts me 20.6 lbs away from my 20 lb weight loss goal! Ugh. I am, however, very proud of the choices I have made since that weigh-in. First, I stayed for the meeting even though I didn't want to. Second, I drove right past Sonic and didn't stop to get a 44oz DDP or worse an Ice Cream. Third, when we got home, James was sound asleep in his car seat...I could have come inside and baked a cake or some brownies and sat down on my butt to blog and watch TV while he slept, but instead I got out the shrub trimmer and trimmed all of the shrubs along our walkway. Then I swept the walkway and bagged the clippings. Then, I mixed up some weed spray and used the hand sprayer to do my entire yard! Yes, I worked my tail off outside for a solid two hours! Fourth, when we came in the house I drank a ton of water and fixed a healthy lunch for myself and James and I am still not baking anything! Next week better be better...
*** I could really use some 'comment love' right now! ***

Pretty Flowers

I am using this cute picture of James to show off my pretty flowers in the background! The hail storm we had last week only destroyed a few of my irises.... I am thankful too, because this week they are really starting to bloom like crazy! One thing I am proud of is that the irises in my backyard were transplanted from my grandmother's house and they were originally her mother's and my grandpa's mother's. We also have some 'brown' ones that haven't bloomed yet that I transplanted from David's great aunt's house and they were originally her mother's. Pretty cool that I have flowers that are descended from our great grandmothers!

Pump It Up

Yesterday we went to a friends' birthday party at Pump It Up. James squealed with excitement when he saw the colorful slides. I was sure that he would only want to do it once...boy was I wrong. David and I took turns climbing these monster slides with him so that he could slide over and over! What a workout!!! Kirstyn was Miss Independent and took off with the big kids and played hard. (The party was for Mackenzee that was turning 7...all of her other guests were her friends from school...Kirstyn is only 4 and was the same size as the other kids and she held her own!) This is a video of James' first slide!

Kirstyn ran for two solid hours and giggled and squealed and screamed and had a blast!

Gardening is FUN!

Okay, so I have a lot of fond memories of gardening on the farm every spring and fall so I attempt every spring to have this same 'fun' with my family. Today we spent the day in the yard working on preparing our soil and planting our garden. We planted okra, tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, cilantro, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, and green beans. Kirstyn had fun playing with the earth worms we found and she enjoyed putting the first 3 seeds in the ground and covering them up and then she was done. Yep, so much for family fun.... David had the same pained look on his face that said "are we done yet" every time he looked at me...but no...we were having FUN! (Just to be clear...David never said anything negative, he just kept working and pretending to have fun being a little country with me right here in the big city!) I am happy knowing that Kirstyn will start getting excited when the plants start to sprout and she will very happily harvest and eat our beautiful organic foods. She is already excited about the blackberry bushes that are growing like crazy and she is constantly eating raw asparagus out of our asparagus bed. Oh and Kirstyn's favorite part of planting the garden is the watering part. We turned on the sprinkler and she stripped and had a blast playing in the water. James wanted very little to do with the cold water but had a blast watching his sister run around squeeling and splashing! I just hope that we are making fond memories that are at the same time teaching my children a work ethic.....

Still Remodeling!

The remodeling continues...
Now I have my very own signature!

Under Construction!

Pardon the messiness of my blog. I am working on the html code and as I get a change that I like I am saving changes. I know how to code in C but have never used html so please be patient as I am attempting to learn something new while keeping baby James from destroying the house! :-)

Thursday Thirteen - 8th Edition

(fyi - my TT header is made from a picture I took of our 'bounty'!)

Since we spent yesterday afternoon at the Strawberry Patch picking (and eating) strawberries, I thought I should learn a little more about my favorite fruit!

13 Random Facts about Strawberries!

1. The average Strawberry has about 200 seeds!
2. Strawberries were once avoided by pregnant women because it was believed that their child would be born with a strawberry birth mark.
3. A serving of strawberries contains 20% of the daily needed folic acid for pregnant women.
4. Eight medium-sized strawberries contain 140% of the U.S. RDA for Vitamin C. In addition, strawberries are good sources of folic acid, potassium and fiber. Strawberries are also fat-free and low in calories.
5. The US is the leading producer of the world's strawberries, producing about 20%. California produces 75% of the strawberries in the US.
6. Strawberry Point, Iowa is home to the world's largest strawberry that sits atop city hall!
7. Strawberry juice combined with honey will reduce inflammation or sunburn. Rub the mixture thoroughly into the skin before rinsing off with warm water and lemon juice.
8. As part of the 5-a-day program suggested by the American Cancer Institute, strawberries can also play a part in helping you to reduce the risk of cancer or heart disease.
9. The English and French also found strawberries used the beautiful heart-shaped berries to landscape their gardens. In fourteenth-century France, Charles V ordered twelve hundred strawberry plants to be grown in the Royal Gardens of the Louvre.
10. The strawberry is not classified by botanists as a true berry. True berries, such as blueberries and cranberries have seeds inside. The strawberry, however has its dry, yellow "seeds" on the outside (each of which is actually considered a separate fruit).
11. It wasn’t until the late 13th century that strawberries were first cultivated. Here in the United States, early settlers found Native Americans growing strawberries as early as 1643.
12. At least as far back as the Romans, fresh strawberries were reputed to have therapeutic powers for everything from loose teeth to gastritis. Apparently they were even used as toothpaste!
13. Plant City, Florida, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, holds the Guinness record for the world's largest strawberry shortcake. The 827 square-foot, 6,000 pound cake was made on Feb. 19, 1999 in McCall Park.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I want to win a Cupcake Courier

Okay, the ladies over at Mommies United have challenged me again. They want us to write a poem using the word CUPCAKES in order to be entered to win this really great Cupcake Courier. Well, I did, but once you read it you will understand why I got a degree in Computer Science so that I could take the minimum number of Arts classes needed to graduate!!!

Cupcakes! So yummy...
Uh Oh, my next Weight Watcher goal is at risk,
Points too many,
Count these points in my tracker?
Ate all 36 Cupcakes that I could have carried away...
Keep me in the drawing, this can't happen again!
Extra activity points I now need because I
Should have made muffins!

now for some pictures of Kirstyn making low fat and egg free blueberry muffins this morning...

and James doing his own "cooking"!


now I'm off to clean up the mess!!!

Tell All Tuesday - Week 1

Okay, this has been a good week. I logged every single thing I ate and stuck with my points. I even had some flex points left over for the week! I also did two of the three days you are supposed to do in the couch to 5k program. I didn't get in my third this weekend but did spend some time working in my flower beds on Saturday. I think I did fabulous considering that since last Tuesday I have been on antibiotics and steroids for a major sinus infection, little James is on antibiotic ear drops for another ear infection and has had fever for 5 of the 7 days this week, my parents were here this weekend, and David had his vasectomy on Friday. I have had a very busy and stressful week but I am very proud of how I have handled it! I also did very well with my 2 Diet Soda per day limit. It is kind of funny that I fully planned to cheat on Sunday at church and have a third but EVERY vending machine in BOTH (yes I checked) buildings was sold out! God knew the commitment that I had made and offered me up some help!

I weighed in this morning at Weight Watchers and lost 1.4 lbs this week (18.6 more before July for my first mini goal!). It is not the big loss that I was hoping for, but it will work. Maybe next week I will have a bigger loss. I think I just am very jealous of the girls on biggest looser dropping 12 lbs in ONE week! Maybe next week (he he he....). Actually, I am going to be happy as long as I keep going in the right direction...DOWN!




Okay, how did you do this week?

Thursday Thirteen - 7th Edition

In the spirit of loosing 20 lbs over the next 12 weeks, I thought I would post some weight loss pointers that I have found. (note: I didn't say that these are all things that I am currently doing, but will probably be putting into practice!)

1. Believe you can do it! Find a mantra that will help you and post it somewhere! I am going to write mine on my bathroom mirror with a white erase marker. Mine is Philippians 4:12-13 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.


2. Find an ideal calorie budget for your body! I am using the Weight Watchers points system because they have taken the time to do the research for me and I know it works. Eating too little can do horrible things to your metabolism.


3. Make healthy substitutions! Switch to fat free dairy products, whole grain bread instead of white bread, brown rice or couscous instead of white rice, lean meats...you get the idea.


4. Build a support system! Yeah for me, I have started that on this blog. Come back for my first Tell ALL Tuesday if you want some accountability and encouragement.


5. Expect and Push Through Plateaus! Okay, I've done some reading on this the last few days and if the scale is stuck for more than about 3 weeks then it is time to cut the calories and/or step up the exercise.


6. Write down everything you eat! If you are like me, this might just make you stop and think before you put that 'questionable' food item in your mouth. My WW leader even keeps a line for BLT's (bites, licks, and tastes).


7. Ask, Is it worth it? My WW leader said something this week that hit me pretty hard. She said that if you don't want to throw away that package of cookies that you paid for that keeps tempting you, then you might as well throw away your $10 WW weekly fee! Ouch, never really looked at it that way! Also, is it worth an hour on the treadmill or a half pound up on the scale if I eat that piece of cake?


8. Move! Do some form of exercise every day! I am going to work at finding activities that will include exercise without it being so much 'work'. For example, I love taking my kids to the zoo (even though it is a beating sometimes)....I get lots of exercise pushing the stroller and going up and down the hills. I am going to make an effort to walk them to the park more often too rather than just turning them into the back yard. Oh and I am going to learn to roller blade! (more on that later...)


9. Strength train! Muscle burns more calories than fat! One pound of fat = 3,500 calories.


10. Face emotional eating head on! Do you have a plan for that moment when crisis strikes, when you are stressed, when you are soooo tired? We have to have a plan that includes several activities that will give us the boost we are looking for without having to put food in our mouths! Go outside and garden, take a hot bath, go get your nails done, go on a walk, what will you do the next time you have the urge to emotional eat?


11. Keep fitness equipment within reach! I read on some one's blog that she bought several fitness balls for her family to sit on if they were watching TV or playing games. She had bought herself one but could never find it when she wanted to use it because the kids were always playing with it! What a great idea!!! Keep hand weights near your spot on the couch...start picking them up while you are just sitting there!


12. Volumize your diet with high water veggies and fruit! Eat grapes instead of raisins, and so on. There is much research that shows that we eat about the same amount of weight of food every day so if you are drinking your calories or eating more calories dense foods, that will spell trouble for the weight loss efforts!


13. Find someone else to encourage and help in their weight loss journey! I am not an encourager but I am learning. I have learned from doing Bible studies, that in the 'teacher' role I always learn more and am challenged more and well, kept more accountable.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thanks for asking!

How was my day you ask? Well, today I stuck to my plans!!! YEAH! I only had 2 diet drinks and the rest of the day I had coffee, decaf tea, and water. I stayed within my points and I even planned some more meals for this week and did some advance cooking! I also completed day one of the Couch to 5K training schedule. I do have to say that I may have to repeat week one or I might not live through week two! (I don't understand how someone can LOVE to run! I hope that I can say that one day...but for now, I will just MAKE myself!)

I am so shocked excited that so many of you are interested in taking my challenge to loose some unwanted weight. I half expected my last post to have no comments or only a comment from Amanda! You made my day! I need the accountability of knowing that you are going to ask me about my goals. Now, do we have a plan to help you? YES! I propose a new meme... Tell ALL Tuesday! You will have to write a post to tell us if you lost or gained weight, if you exercised, if you met other healthy goals that you have for yourself. What do you think? Are you still with me now that I have "upped the ante"?

Plateau?!?!

Okay, I think the last few weeks I seem to have reached a plateau. My body is apparently at an unhealthy but happy weight. I am lighter than I was in high school (by 2 sizes!) and I am back to pre-baby James weight and my starting weight for my journey to loose 100 lbs was my pre-baby Kirstyn weight so I know I have done something right, but I want to continue this journey in the downward direction.... So, I looked up the definition of plateau:
Plateau - to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline, esp. to stop increasing or progressing; remain at a stable level of achievement; level off
Well, I am going to make some changes to try to get out of this rut! I monitor my eating pretty close, but I have some other areas that have to be addressed if I really want to get healthy! My friend Tracy suggested that I stop drinking diet drinks (we were on the phone as I was shopping in Costco and sucking down my 44 oz-er I bought on the way in the door when she made this suggestion...and I got a refill after that)! So, I am going to start by cutting WAY back to just two 12oz servings per day (maybe I will phase them out all together in the next few months, I am just not ready yet...this cutting back is going to be really hard at first but to be fair to myself, I also drink over 100 oz of clear un-doctored water per day!). The other change I am going to make is I am going to start this Couch to 5K Program that my new blogging buddy (and new motivator with my WW) Amanda is using (she has lost 75 lbs and looks amazing!)! Okay, now for my short term weight goal: I want to loose 20 more pounds before my vacation in July. That gives me 12.5 weeks to loose it. I think this is an attainable goal, I just have to get really serious! I NEED encouragement and support (and challenge buddies), so if you want to loose 10% of your body weight over the next 3 months with me, then let me know so we can encourage each other... will anyone join me in this challenge (we can do it...the women on Biggest Looser tonight just lost over 7% of their body weight in ONE week!)?

Big Give Party!

We had a Big Give Party last night were we took some time to make some pretty hand done cards for our friend Jessica. We had a great time sharing stories and getting to know each other better. I am excited that we had such a good turn out! I should have known that so many would come because everyone that even meets Jessica loves her! Actually, 3 of the ladies that came over last night have never even met her but have prayed for her! Stop by Jess' blog if you have some time and say a prayer for her!

A Real Date!

Well, last night David got a babysitter (Thanks Tawney!) and took me on a date....to a real restaurant....one with real napkins (not paper ones embossed with a logo) and real table cloths! We went to Joe T. Garcia's, our favorite place to go when it is pretty outside. We love to sit out in the garden by the fountains and enjoy the ambiance! We had a really great time and even laughed very hard! We laughed until we cried because a bird in this beautiful garden flew over us and pooped into my drink! Yuck....but it was really funny. I wish I would have snapped a shot of the drink before the waiter rushed it away to get me a new one or maybe a picture of all of the pretty birds...hummmm. I do have a new digital camera that is tiny enough to fit in my purse so we took it out and snapped some pictures of ourselves.

What a keeper!

Oh and I liked this picture of myself that David took. Should I change out my header picture and profile picture. Leave me a comment with your "vote".

PE is Fun Starring Kirstyn

Today at Kirstyn's pre-school they did a program to music called PE is Fun! It was really dim in that room so the pictures did not turn out great. I am going to try to work some photoshop magic in a little while.