Time with Santa

I decided to go ahead and take James and Kirstyn by to see our favorite Santa. I love this Santa because they let you take pictures with your own camera in exchange for a donation to A Wish With Wings (a local children's charity). While we waited on the one child ahead of us to finish talking with Santa, James and Kirstyn enjoyed checking out their train display. Kirstyn was very excited about talking with Santa. She told me that she wanted to make sure that he knew that she had been good because she didn't want to be crossed off of his list. She also wanted to make sure that he knew that she would really love to have the Barbie laptop that she saw at Sam's and a new wiener dog Webkinz. I am loving this time of year combined with her age. Now, if she isn't listening, all I have to say is, "don't forget that Santa is watching..." and she immediately becomes my little angel again!

After Santa and Kirstyn had talked for several minutes, I decided to put James up there with her to try to get a cute picture. ummmm... no such luck. James was pointing and saying 'Anta'... 'look! anta'. However he apparently just wanted to look at Santa, not sit on his lap. What really cracks me up is that James having his major fit didn't even cause Kirstyn to stop smiling!

Well, like I said.... this Santa is the BEST Santa! This Santa always has a little gift to give the children that come to see him that his elves have made. This year they were fabulous little wooden cars. Check it out. The elf gave it to James and he was so focused on his new little car that he didn't even really realize that I had put him back in Santa's lap. They were playing with the car together while the elf, Kirstyn, Mrs. Clause, and I all yell James' name to get him to look up. I had just enough time to snap this one picture before James realized that he was once again in Santa's lap!

If we have another free afternoon we might try again...

Happy Wordful Wednesday!

Tell All Tuesday - Week 35

I am so excited to report that I am down 1.6 today! Two more weeks to go to reach my 20 lbs in 20 weeks goal and I have officially lost 19.4 in the last 18 weeks, so if I behave myself this week I should reach my goal with a week to spare!

I am off to a good start because WW launched their new Momentum Plan today and learning the new plan should help me to stay really focused. I love it because it is really the best of both worlds when it comes to the old Flex and Core plans all in one! I also like that it makes me use my 35 weekly points before I use any of my activity points. That will keep me from trying to "justify" eating something even when I am not that hungry just because I worked out extra hard. Do you ever do that? Anyway, it can't hurt to be excited about learning something new and hopefully will be just the kick in the butt I need to get me through Christmas and *gasp* my 30th Birthday!

Okay, now I have another question for you my faithful reader. Tell me, do you drink hot tea? See, I am a good southerner and I drink all of my tea iced but it is cooling off today (yesterday it got up to 70F but is supposed to be down below freezing by tonight) and I decided it would be a better choice to try some hot green tea rather than drinking a cup of diet hot chocolate. So, I'm thinking of adding some teas to my Santa list...does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Our Star

Kirstyn's dance team participated in Arlington's Parade of Lights on Saturday night. Kirstyn was very excited to get to be in a parade! And since it was a Parade of Lights she got to hold her very own flashing lights while riding on the float!

When we got there she was very excited to be in the parade but a little sad that she wasn't going to get to watch the parade. Not to worry, James watched everything very close!

We did get to walk around and see all of the floats while we looked for her float so she thought that was pretty neat. There were horses, dogs in Santa hats, High School bands, and even Captain the Texas Rangers mascot.


We were waiting for her to come by toward the end of the parade route and by the time she came by us, it had been about an hour since the start of the parade. She seemed very excited to finally be seeing us. The girls were all singing along with the music and playing with their lights on the float. The older girls were marching behind the float with a light in each hand performing a routine. (I tried to take a picture of it because it looked really cool but it didn't turn out). They all did a great job! And well, we now have a celebrity in our house that was in a REAL parade!

Oh and a few weeks ago, Kirstyn danced on a REAL stage at Holiday Magic!


I am so proud of how brave she has been getting on a stage in front of lots and lots of people and then being in a parade after dark. She is really growing up and I am very proud of her! We really do have our very own little star at our house!

Warm and Toasty

Look what is happening at my house today!





Yes, that is right, we are having a brand new heating and ac unit installed by Max from IAQ Experts! Kirstyn has been documenting the process by taking pictures for me. She took this one of Max out by his truck in our driveway. This was a good way to keep her busy and out of their way. See, when she is busy she doesn't ask 432 questions!

Now, let me tell you about how we met Max. God decided to show me that his timing is perfect and when we decide to patiently seek his wisdom and direction he provides the answer! We had not yet signed with anyone to replace the unit because we just didn't have peace about the decision yet. Now I know why. Let me tell you all about how God orchestrated it all out for us AND gave us a total peace about the money we were spending!

Yesterday, our regular pest control guy, Johnny, from Savior Termite and Pest Control was scheduled to come out around 3:00 to do his normal service and to check to see if our little furry friends in the garage attic had been required to move out. We have known Johnny for several years now and he has been an awesome Christian friend for David. We actually met Johnny because both of our businesses were supporting our favorite Christian radio station Power 89.7 FM.

Anyway, usually before Johnny comes out, the kids and I leave so that we aren't in his way (if you have social toddlers, you know what I mean). We trust Johnny and he just calls David and gets our garage code if we aren't home. So I knew he was coming out and I was planning to leave in time but as we were about to walk out of the house, Johnny and his wife Jax rang the door bell. They had decided to stop by before going to get lunch. When they walked in the house they realized how cold the house was. Johnny started giving me a hard time about saving money by freezing so I told him that we were in the process of getting quotes to get a new American Standard unit installed. Johnny immediately said, I have a friend of mine that does heating and ac work, let me see if he sells American Standard.

Johnny called Max's office, his wife Katie answered (gotta love anyone that has their wife as their office help...ahem, right honey, right!). Anyway, Max called right back and I talked to him for a few minutes on Johnny's cell phone. I then emailed him the other quotes and he was able to save us even more money AND was able to install within 24 hours! Oh and now we have an awesome Christian friend in the heating and ac business.

I am most excited that we didn't have to go with "one of the big guys" in the business in order to get a better price. Since we are also a small business we prefer to do business with other people that are fairly new in business and willing to work hard while still being ethical in all they do. Plus we have been working very hard to build ourselves a "referral network" of other small businesses. Oh and another God thing that has come out of all of this is that it looks like in the next couple of weeks, we will be Max's new insurance agents! Speaking of insurance agents, my husband is one of the best and if you live in Texas you should give him a call!

Oh and if you read all of that and you clicked on any of those links you can consider yourself my bloggy BFF! And maybe now you will be able to tell that I am out of my stressed out mood and back to happy posting!

Stress be gone...

About a month ago we had a company come out to do our annual heater service and well, we got some very bad news about our heater. It seems our heat exchanger had/has a crack thus meaning that the pilot light had to be turned off and the entire unit has to be replaced.

I don't know about you but we find it very overwhelming and hard to spend the kind of money that it takes to replace our heating and ac unit. We got our third bid today for the job and will be signing with a company very soon. I just wish that "times" were better. It seems that when the economy gets bad that people stop paying their insurance right after they stop going out to eat. Thus making our income drop...not good when we need between 7 and 8K to keep our kids from turning into popsicles!

It is starting to get cold in Texas tonight so please send warm thoughts our way while we break out the fleece...oh and I have been looking for an excuse to bake something. We might have to have muffins for breakfast in the morning so we can huddle around the warm oven while they cook! I guess if all else fails, the kids and I will just spend more time at the gym (probably a good idea with the baking I want will NEED to do!!!)

Tell All Tuesday - Week 34

Okay, so considering it was Thanksgiving and it is the time of month that I usually have a little gain, I am proud to report that I was only up 0.2 today at my weigh in at WW.

We had a great holiday with lots of family, food, and fun. I promise I will get back to regular blogging and show off some of my Thanksgiving pictures. I just have to feel just a little more "caught up" if you know what I mean. I am also proud to report that Santa has finished his shopping and so have I! Now if I could just get Elf #432 to do the wrapping I could be done. Well, I still have to decide what to do about a Christmas card but that won't be too overwhelming if I can just get a decent picture to use (pray for a miracle on that one).

Tell All Tuesday - Week 33

I am so excited to report that I will be going into Thanksgiving with an extra dose of motivation! Today I weighed in DOWN another 1.2 pounds! That meant a couple of milestones for me, first it put me exactly at my 5th grade weight!!! The other milestone was 60.4 lbs lost since going back to WW after having James! My ticker over there to the right is based on my pre-pregnancy weight before I had either of the kids so that number is getting pretty exciting for me too! I can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving and see some relatives that haven't seen me in at least 6 months...some haven't seen me since last Christmas! I am so excited and hoping that they will notice all of the weight that I have lost.

I have a plan for Thanksgiving. First, I plan to get in some workouts. Second, I plan to make myself enjoy all of the family more than putting my focus on the food. We are planning for 27 people for our Thanksgiving dinner, but that number could easily grow if any of the teenagers or college students bring boy/girl friends with them this year or if more family decides to show up. I am excited to see everyone and I'm sure it will be a challenge to keep up with James in that crowd so that should keep me from 'grazing' around the buffet table. Third, I plan to wear my new size 10 dress pants to remind myself that there isn't any "growing" room in them... no stretching clothes this year! Oh and my mom is making some very WW friendly dishes for me. Everything from roasted veggies to my favorite WW pumpkin pie with fat free whipped cream! Can you tell how excited I am!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! If I don't post much this week it will be because I am busy being THANKFUL for this time I have with family that we don't get to see very often!

Roller Skating Pony Party!

Kirstyn was so excited to be having a roller skating my little pony party! One time while in Target checking out the "pink" toy isle, Kirstyn spotted a tiny pony that was wearing roller skates and suddenly we were settled on a theme for Kirstyn's skating party.

A great time was had by everyone and even James wanted in on the skating action. He kept pointing to Pappy skates and trying to take his shoes off so David got the smallest pair of skates that they had and put them on him. He was really proud to look like everyone else but he only liked "skating" on the carpet. He is too funny!

So, in keeping witht he theme I made her a cookie cake with a Roller Skating Pinkie Pie on it. She loved her cake and was very excited to add the pony that we had found at Target to the cake. Oh and notice the pony is also wearing a tutu. Kirstyn's tutu was her birthday present from her Aunt Neida and it has been difficult to get her to take it off since she got it!

I have more pictures to share from "Birthday Week" that I hope to get to later this week. I really still can't believe that I now have a 5 year old! Wow.

Tell All Tuesday - Week 32

Well, no major excitement on the weight loss front. Today I was up 0.2 pounds. I am totally okay with that because I am taking antibiotics and decongestants and my stomach is finally starting to feel better. I stayed on plan this past week so I am not upset about the tiny gain, I have learned that these little ups are just a part of the going down process.

I haven't been posting because I usually get all of my computer time at night after the kids are in bed and this past week I have been going to bed instead of sitting up reading blogs and writing in mine. Hopefully when I finish this round of medicines I will have some of my energy back. Stay tuned. I have tons of Kirstyn's birthday party pictures to share. And thanks for all of the good wishes this past week....I promise I will be making the rounds, my reader is full of blog reading to catch up on!

Tell All Tuesday - Week 31

I lost for the fifth week in a row! Down 1.8 today!!! That puts me at 17 down in the past 14 weeks. 20 in 20 here I come! Today is Kirstyn's 5th Birthday but this post is about me...I will probably write another one about her later today. I realized that 5 years ago today I was more than 100 lbs heavier than I am today (of course I did have a 9lb 4oz baby girl inside of me). I can't decide if I am more embarrassed that I ever got that fat or more proud that I can even say that.

Now I have a prayer request. I am not feeling very well today. My stomach is bothering me and I don't know if I just have a virus or if it is my Crohn's Disease acting up. Please pray that either way, I will get to feeling better fast. Thanks!!!

Basic Math

Conversation between Kirstyn and I today...

Me: Do you know what tomorrow is?

K: Um, YES (eyes wide and lit up)... It's my Happy Birthday!

Me: How old are you going to be?

K: Five and a half!

Me: No, just 5.

K: Four and a half plus one is Five and a half!

Me: Tomorrow you turn Five, then on Brother's Birthday in May, you turn Five and a Half.

K: OHHHH, does that mean James will be One and a Half tomorrow on my Happy Birthday?

Me: Yes! So how old are you going to be tomorrow?

K: Five and a Half!

I didn't even respond this time because Mimi was on the phone asking to talk to Kirstyn. Then, Kirstyn had the same conversation with Mimi. Mimi is always looking for a good excuse to go to Big Lots, so my guess is that James will be getting a Half Birthday present tomorrow when Kirstyn gets her presents! I am totally okay with that because I used to get presents on my sister's birthday in April (I still do most years!) because my sister got presents on my Birthday (never mind that my Birthday is Christmas Day).

Okay, so if you ask Kirstyn tomorrow how old she is, my fingers are crossed that she will answer 5. Guess we will see.

P.S. My posts may be a little sporadic this week since we are in Birthday Mode around here! Kirstyn and I are about to make Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins for her Birthday Breakfast tomorrow so that we can put some candles in one in the morning (or 5 and a half of them!)

More Prizes!

Guess what!?!?! I found another way to win more prizes! Yeah. And these prizes are sponsored by Mom-Preneurs. So, join me over at Tip Junkie for the 12 Days of Junkie and even though you may lower my chances of winning, at least someone I like might win!

Christmas is WHEN?

7 weeks from today! The countdown is on. So, I plan on trying to win a few little prizes over at 5 Minutes for Mom. You know what excites me the most! They promised that there won't just be toys up for grabs but some gifts for the mommies too! Maybe I will win myself a Birthday present!

My Sick Princess

Kirstyn is running a high fever again today. She has been running a high fever since Sunday. I thought it had broke on Tuesday and she was acting like herself. Then Wed morning she woke up feeling fine so I let her go to dance. All was good until 3am this morning when she woke up running a 103.2! (I'm praying we didn't infect our dance friends...I really thought she was all better!) agh. We took her to the doctor on Monday and she said she thought it was viral and her strep culture came back negative but they are now concerned since she is still running a fever. Guess we will probably be going back to the doctor this afternoon or tomorrow. Please pray she gets better fast and that the rest of us don't get it! Kirstyn's 5th birthday is next Tuesday and we have a packed schedule next week!

A little baseball...

Since James was born, going to the Ranger games has gone from being a family outing to being a date night for Kirstyn and Daddy. It makes me happy that Kirstyn loves the Rangers as much as her Daddy does. She also really enjoys going to the games and cheering for HER team! A month or so ago, David took the afternoon off and we took both kids to the last game of the season. James did a really great job staying in our seats and clapping for the Rangers. Here are a couple of pictures from our afternoon together.




Oh, speaking of baseball... David took Kirstyn to the Ranger game when the Rangers were playing the Red Sox. When Kirstyn came home she was nearly in tears talking about how there were lots and lots of people there that were cheering for the wrong team. She just couldn't imagine why or how these people were cheering for a team other than HER Rangers. She was just sure that Michael Young's feelings were hurt because there were so many people that were not cheering for him. She is so genuine. She really does commit 100% to her friends and she considers each and every one of the Ranger's players her friends because she knows their names and she cheers for them. So... next season, if you are at the Ranger ballpark... PLEASE join Kirstyn and cheer on the Rangers!

Go here for more Wordful Wednesday.

Tell All Tuesday - Week 30

First off, I am so excited to report that I lost 0.8 today. No, it is not a big number but it is a loss and it is my 4th in a row! I don't know that I have ever lost weight 4 consecutive weeks! That also puts me at 15.2 in 13 weeks. I will make my 20 in 20 goal!

Wow, I can't believe I have been posting about my weight loss and well, some gains for 30 weeks now. I just went back and looked to see how much weight I have lost since I decided to make myself vulnerable to the blog accountability and as it turns out, I have lost 27.4 lbs since April 15th. So, thanks for the encouragement and accountability! Keep the comment love coming!

Time

I have been spending a lot of time the past few days thinking about Jessica and the impact that she made on my life. Her love for Jesus and her family and friends should challenge each of us to be better people.

When we first joined the Edge Sunday School class at our church, I remember Jessica and Jake always making a point to speak to David and I and ask how we were doing. Jessica was one of the few people that would wait for an answer to that "how are you" question and then she cared how I answered it. Then, weeks later, she would follow up on what I had said. She had a genuine interest in those around her.

Later, after she had been diagnosed with cancer, when I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, Jessica cooked my family dinner. I remember that she brought us beef and broccoli and an Oreo cookie pudding dessert. She had gone to much effort to make sure that she made us a homemade dessert that was egg free so that Kirstyn could eat it. I remember feeling very special and very grateful that she cared like that for my family even though we didn't know each other well.

Then, Jessica and I served in MOPS together. While we were both serving on the Steering Team, Jessica was my small group leader. We were able to get to know each other much better during play dates at Chick-fil-a, mom's nights out over dinner, and, one time, we scheduled a pedicure night and Jessica and I were the only ones that made it. We had a great time talking and laughing, mostly sharing stories about our girls. I also remember her encouraging me to start exercising. I had started a morning boot camp program with some other women from our Sunday school class and Jessica shared with me how she was getting up almost every morning at 5:30 to go to the gym to get in her workout. Her determination was impressive.

Tomorrow I will be wearing my Journey with Jessica t-shirt to MOPS and I know for sure that because of the impact that Jessica has had on me, I will be a better wife, mother, and friend.

And the winner is...

Tara from Tara's View of the World! Congrats! I can't wait to work on your silhouette!

I used Random.org and here is the proof
Here are your random numbers:
29
Timestamp: 2008-11-02 03:50:34 UTC

Thursday Thirteen - 17th Edition

My 13 Favorite Halloween Candies and their Points!

M&Ms Snack Size Bag Peanut - 2 points
M&Ms Snack Size Regular - 2 points
Butterfinger Bar, Fun Size - 2 points
Snickers Bar, Fun Size - 2 points
Candy Corn, 1 oz - 2 points
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Snack Size - 2 points
3 Musketeers, Fun Size - 2 points
Charm's Blow Pop - 1 point
Caramello, Snack Size Bar - 2 points
Hershey's Miniatures, 5 pieces - 4 points
Sweet Tarts, 2 mini packs - 1 point

Notice the theme --> I love chocolate! I don't like sticky candy like Skittles and Starburst. I love candy that contains nuts, especially almonds, but the ones with almonds usually don't come in the snack size version for trick or treaters.

I do not plan to pass out candy. I just want to be prepared for what my kids might bring back into my house. Knowing the points values will slow me down!

Speaking of candy, we took the kids to Fright Fest at Six Flags this weekend where they had a blast trick or treating from the characters!

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

Hey, have you entered my giveaway???

Our Scarecrows!

I just had to show you my front yard scarecrows that I got this year! Aren't they cute!!!

One afternoon when we came home the little boy one had fallen over and Kirstyn screamed, "oh no.... James is on his face!" Too funny. When I bought them I knew they resembled my kids but I didn't realize that Kirstyn had noticed it! I wanted to take a picture of James with his but he would have nothing to do with standing still!

I am so excited that fall seems to be here. At least I can wear my new jeans and not sweat as soon as I walk out of the house! What is your favorite part of fall?

Now go visit some more Wordful Wednesday blogs.

I have a giveaway going on!

Bloggy Giveaway!

I have been playing in photoshop and I have learned how to make digital silhouettes. What do you think?

I think it will look really great framed in a solid black frame and hung on my wall!

Would you like to win a custom silhouette image for yourself? Leave a comment on this post and I will use Random.org on Nov 1st to choose a winner. If you are chosen, I will notify you by email. Please make sure I have a way to contact you! Also, you will then have to email me some pictures to use to make your silhouettes. I will work with you until you are happy with the creation. I will then email you our finished high resolution image. You can then print as many as you would like for yourself and family or friends! Since I will be "shipping" the finished product via email, my giveaway is open to everyone!

Okay, ready, set, COMMENT! And if this is your first visit to my blog, please take a moment and look around. I post about everything that makes up my version of Normal. I am currently working very hard to lose 100 lbs while I am raising my 17 month old son and almost 5 year old daughter and supporting my husband as he builds our insurance agency from the ground up. Please stay a while and get to know me or come back next week after you are finished entering all of the great giveaways over at the bloggy carnival that is going on this week.

***If you don't win, but would still like one of these for yourself, feel free to email me (charge will be $20 via paypal)...I could use some Christmas money!***