Report Card Day!

I feel sorry for the poor kids who aren't doing as well- good way to ruin Halloween. But my boy is doing so great! I knew he would be fine, but his report card literally can't get any better. He got S+'s in nearly everything, and his testing puts him at the level he needs to be at in the spring. His teacher's comment was that Joey has been a hard worker. Good job, man.

Today's Workout

Turbo Jam Cardio Party, 44 minutes, 532 calories

Awesome workout. I am officially a fan of Turbo Jam.

Total for week, 211 minutes, 2300 calories

Today's Workout

Turbo Jam Burn + 20 minute (same as yesterday), 37 minutes, 385 calories

Total for week, 167 minutes, 1768 calories

I like Turbo Jam, but it requires me to be a little more coordinated than I'm used to.

Today's Workout

Turbo Jam Burn + 20 minute, 45 minutes, 450 calories

Total for week, 130 minutes, 1383 calories

Halloween is in 3 days, people!
Ben is still undecided on what he is going to be, but leaning towards Fireman Mickey. Joey is going to be the Hulk.
We don't have Trick or Treat Candy yet, but we did finally get our pumpkins carved today.
I take baby steps when it comes to getting organized and planning ahead.
Oh, and we finally made it to the Apple Orchard this weekend. Yum yum but naughty naughty. I do make the best apple treat with no added naughtiness, though. I'll have to make more of that.

The only other thing going on at our house is that Ben was sick yesterday. He was burning up after school and of course I could not find a single thermometer because we are so rarely sick. Mostly he laid around all night, and after some ibuprofen this morning he was able to go to school and seems to be fine now. Nice that we built up all those immunities by going to daycare for so many years.

Today's Workout

Biggest Loser Cardio Max, 55 minutes, 643 calories

Total for week, 85 minutes, 933 calories

Today's Workout

Turbo Jam Booty and Abs, 30 minutes, 290 calories

After 2 weeks off, I'm starting over again. My new goal is just for my clothes to fit better and my tummy to be flatter. I'm going to try not getting on the scale more than once a week.

Happy Birthday!

To the woman who needs a day for only herself, and yet seems to not be getting it, hope you have a wonderful day. And, please Jacque, take at least a few minutes for yourself.

It Might Not Seem Like Much, but...

Oh Hi! Did you miss me? Well, I been workin real hard in the backyard with my husband and kiddos. The privacy fence is done and I stained the entire thing by myself. Three solid days of manual labor and about six days to recover. Here you can see what it was like before (on the left) and after (on the right) Here's those boys workin hard. They've painted.
They've painted some more.
They've hauled bricks.
And Joey reports that he got to caulk something today. That's my man!

Ok, here is what daddy has been working on. This is the back of the garage, where the loft will be, before we started.
Cut out the rotted panels.

Replace them.
Paint them. And add some windows.
More windows, and prepare the ground below for the birds.
Ta-da! Looks real nice.
I'm starting to get a picture of how this is going to be, and I'll sure keep sharing pictures so you can get it, too.

Today's Workout, plus..

Tae Bo Rockin Abs, 41 minutes, 333 calories
Slowly getting back in after too long of a break (besides fence and loft work)

Sorry no updates lately, I've been a little down and didn't want to drag it on here. I promise to get my pictures sorted and get something up tonight after the kids go to bed.

Today's Workout

2 mile walk/jog with the boys on bikes, 40 minutes, 357 calories

I Learn Something New Every Day

First of all I have to say that I had a great time at scrap night Saturday. I got a lot done and learned new things, like always. I admire the creativity that I get to sit with and observe. I can only hope for a smidgen of that talent. I did learn something new, though. Now I can show of my pages on here. As you can see, I need to work on getting rid of that line down the middle, but this is one of the pages that I made that night. Love the Cricut, love typing my journaling, love simplicity, love my boy.

It's Done, People!

17 gallons of stain + 5000 square feet of privacy fence + 5 trips to the Menards + 3 warm, sunny days = 1 tired and sore Mama (and perhaps a little crabby) with a huge sense of accomplishment.

That's all I have to say about that for right now. Pictures and more details later.

ETA: Sparkpeople says that for how long I was painting, I burned 3840 calories this weekend. Works for me.

Today's Workout

Biggest Loser Cardio Max, 44 minutes, 497 calories


Total for week, 195 minutes, 2042 calories

Today's Workout

Tae bo II Advanced 2, 56 minutes, 580 calories

Total for week, 151 minutes, 1545 calories

I have to say that one of the main reasons I've been able to convince myself to work out still is because of this blog. I will be embarrassed to quit, but I'm getting really frustrated. All this work the last 6 weeks and I have not lost a single pound. I need to see some results real soon or I'm really going to get discouraged and maybe quit and accept the embarrassment.

Artiste in Residence

Joey has been carrying his little notebook around and writing notes to all of us. Most of them are pretty normal: Dear Mom You are a good Mom, but his one to Ben was worth sharing. I never knew he read matt.

Deer Ben.

I

thot

you

Wer

a

good

dror

But

you

are

a

sckriBl

r.

He is really quite astonished that Ben would want to just color something rather than write or make something that is describable.

He also let us know that he likes going to the "Librier" and that he misses his pigeon "Joe-Joe."

Drumroll Please

We had the boys' conferences this afternoon. Ben was first. His teacher went over the stuff he knows first- letters, shapes, colors, etc. He knows all his colors, some shapes, a few letters, and no numbers. I'm not really concerned because he has 2 more years before kindergarten. I really just wanted to know about his behavior. Good news! He is decidedly not the naughty kid, and he got an "always" for keeping his hands to himself. He has his moments where he needs reminders, but nothing unmanagable. That is all I can ask for at this point. I am so happy with his progress.

Joey next. We walked in, sat down, his teacher showed us several papers with stars on them, said he is doing great in reading, great in math, hard worker, great listener, she has no concerns. The only thing I asked about was social and she said even there he is doing well- seems to play with other kids when he has a chance. Also a very happy conference.

Not that I expected differently, but it was a good day at school today. I am so proud of my boys.

Today's Workout

Elliptical, 40 minutes, 325 calories

Total for week, 95 minutes, 965 calories

Who Would Google Me?

I have this thing on my blog so I can keep track of where people come from and how often they visit...Well, one of the features shows what people google to come to my blog. Sometimes it's funny, irrelevent things, but today someone googled my name. That's kinda creepy to me. I know I have this blog out there for the public to see, but I have no idea who would come looking for me. Was it you? Was it an old friend? Doo-doo doo-doo (That's supposed to be creepy music)
I just don't know, and I am totally curious. I don't like secrets. I like to know everything.

Today's Workout

Tae bo II Advanced, 55 minutes, 641 calories

Bet you're getting tired of only seeing workout updates :)
I'll try to put something else up tonight.

Today's Workout

Tae bo Amped Full Throttle, 54 minutes, 619 calories

Total for week, 229 minutes, 2355 calories

Today's Workout

Tae bo Rockin Abs and Rockin Buns, 62 minutes, 518 calories

Total for week, 175 minutes, 1736 calories

Crazy Day

So this morning had to be one of the most stressful days at work ever. And I can't even talk about it. I can only say it involved police and orders of protection. And the kids seemed to sense my vulnerability because they were beyond wild and crazy. That's all. Feel sorry for me. I'll be okay tomorrow. Thanks.

Today's Workout

Tae bo II Advanced 2, 56 minutes, 594 calories

Total for week, 113 minutes, 1218 calories

Not counting the heavy lifting and manual labor out in the yard, but it's almost done! (insert happy squeal)