Peace and Quiet

I have a few minutes of peace and quiet. Katelyn and Luke are both sleeping and I am finally getting to share some pictures with you. Here are just a few random photos of what we've been up to. We've been working in the yard a ton (gardening and cutting down trees), going to graduations (yeah, Travis!), playing on Shelby's new playground equipment, and just REALLY enjoying being outside. Enjoy!

It Figures

We went into town today to run errands and thought it would be a good time to get the oil changed in the van. We pulled up to the lube station, Bill went inside and quickly came out.

"What's up?" I questioned.
"They're out of oil!"

You know it's going to be a bad day when the oil station is out of oil.
Better luck next time...I hope!

Are you kidding me?

I happened to catch the first couple of minutes of "The Vi-ew" this morning. Did any of you see it? I hardly ever watch this show. As a matter of fact, it's very rare that we have the T.V. on at this time of the morning. But, what I heard in just those first couple of minutes made my draw drop and I have been bothered by it ever since.

The hosts were talking about the new Tom Ha-nks movie coming out today, "Ang-els and De-mons" the sequel to "The Da-Vinci Co-de". One host asked the other, "Do you believe that there is an after life?" One of the hosts said "yes, absolutely" and then gave some crud that wasn't supported Biblically to back it up.
Then, Barb-ara Wal-ters and Joy whats-her-name said that they did not believe in anything at all. THEN, if that weren't shocking enough, Whoo-pi Gold-berg said, "God never says anything about people going to hell. He just wants us to love everyone."
Oh my. Maybe I'm naive, but I assumed that even though most people are probably not saved, they most likely do believe that there is a God. Where did Whoo-pi get her basis to even say such a quote? Have any of these women read any part of the Bible?

I am still flabbergasted. If this isn't a wake up call, people, I don't know what is. Why am I assuming that most Americans believe there is a God? Maybe the reality is that most people don't believe in anything!

What this proves is that simply believing isn't enough.

I do have things to say...

So, I do have things to blog about. But, I have so much to blog about that it seems overwhelming. It's not that it's anything that exciting, but it has been so busy around here. I'd like to upload some pictures too, but that takes a little extra time that I feel that I don't have. I'm being lazy. So, I'm going to mimic my good friend, Makila's blog, and just give you a few one-to-two-liners that should sum up the past couple of weeks.

The last weekend in April we went to Sioux City. Bill had a conference there and I got to visit some friends. Fun was had by all. I always cherish time with those people.

I started softball practice. I am going to coach the 18 and under girls this year and should have a good team.

Luke got really sick last Thursday night. He had a high fever and a sore throat. Of course, I panicked and thought we would all die from the swine flu. He was fine by Saturday (remind me to blog about my trip to the doctor's on Friday...that's a whole separate post in and of itself).

Katelyn started eating rice cereal. I really don't like starting her so early, but the little rascal won't take a bottle. So, when I have Premier shows, Bill or my mom have no way to feed her. She likes rice cereal and is getting used to the whole spoon concept.

I kept Luke in all weekend in fear that he had the flu. I'm a weirdo.

Bill did a lot of yard work over the weekend: tilled up the garden, took the landscaping pond out, mowed, fertilized and cut part of our walnut tree down.

I hyper-extended my knee because of Jillian's S.hred. I took one day off but will be back to it tomorrow. No guts, no glory.

Because I had a day off, I had ice cream tonight. Now I feel guilty.

I'm off to bed. Part of me wants to stay awake even though it is way past my bed time. I think I want to stay awake because I am really enjoying the peace and quiet.

I Can Think of Way Better Names

So, I decided to see what Jillian M.i.c.h.a.e.l.'s 30-day Shred workout video was all about. There has been so much buzz generated about it lately, and I thought I'd give it a whirl. It is only a 20 minute workout, after all.

So, after the first day of 30,and much anticipated, long days, I will now be calling it several names: 30-day go to bed, 30-day dead, 30-day under-fed, 30 day-dread, 30-day kick in the head, or 30-day I need some meds.

I was also excited to see my G.a.z.e.l.l.e. Edge that I ordered sitting on my doorstep yesterday when I came home. I'm looking forward to using it as well while watching some of my favorite shows at night. If I'm going to get to my goal weight, I better get going.

As Jillian says, "You're not going to lose weight for free." Trust me, Jill, you and I will be best buds for AT LEAST the next 30 days!

Bootcamp, Yard Work and Spanx

I have been doing everything imaginable to lose all of the weight that I have gained while pregnant with Katelyn. I know that losing weight is a practice in patience, but it has really been a long spell and taking longer than anticipated. Maybe it's my secret stash of Peanut Butter M&Ms hidden in the pantry. Anyway, I have really worked hard and the results, stagnant. I'm still using the workbook that I blogged about earlier. I love it and the recipes are actually quite tasty. Bill even devoured the marinara mushrooms I made the other day. Shocker. Fungus gives me a stomach ache though. I think I'll stick to the turkey burgers.

My boot camp workout still kicks my postpartum rear end every time. I do love it and am looking for other workouts to do as well. I'm loving that it's so nice outside. Time for more walks, play time with Luke and maybe a little jog every now and then.

I've also been getting the yard ready for summer. I figure this can help with the calorie burning as well. I've managed to clean out all of the landscaping from the dead brush and leaves. Our yard is huge and I have tons more to do, but stopped short today when an overactive spirea bush poked me in the eye. That killed. And, of course, I did the "head flip" to see if anyone was outside to see me ridiculously poke myself. The poke actually tore my contact and left my eye watering a bit, but overall, I think it will be OK. Of course, I had visions of being visionless, but that's just me...hope for the best but expect the worst! Tonight, Bill and I have a free evening, so we plan to do more yard work. We have a landscaping pond in the back that we need to fill in and a huge garden that needs tilled. I don't mind working in the yard, but it's hard with kiddos and aggressive bushes.

So, after watching calories, exercising and doing all sorts of yard work, you'd think I'd meet my weight loss goals, lickity-split. Not so much. So, I decided to do what any other reasonable woman would do; buy the S.p.a.n.x. They are absolutely fantastic and I have to say, I do feel slimmed down when I wear them. I have heard many rant and rave about them, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. Now that I have one pair of them, I want every pair available so that every part of my body can be spanxtified.

I'm still going to work hard to lose this weight, though. I'm giving myself until February (the month of my annual appointment) to drop 40 pounds. Oh my goodness...now I've said it. I need to lose 40 pounds. Am I crazy?

Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend. Saturday morning, Bill took off early to help his sister move, and my parents came up to spend the day. We packed that day full of Easter activities, starting off with the Easter egg hunt at the school. Luke was VERY excited and his competitive nature came out, as he stood in a "get ready" position waiting for the word, "Go!"


He did well and picked up all sorts of eggs and candy strewn all over the football field.




As it turns out, Luke is an expert egg hunter. He found a prize egg and waited with such anticipation to see what his prize would be. "Do you think it will be a car, Momma?" He waited patiently...


As they pulled the prizes from the bag, all of the parents gave the look that expressed, "What in the HECK ARE YOU THINKING!?!"


Of course! Why WOULDN'T you get the kids a HUGE chocolate Easter Bunny? How appropriate with it being Easter and all. Thank you, Shelby Chamber. Thank you.