Lots of Things to update about

Wow!  I have been so busy and while there have been plenty of things to write about, I just flat out haven't had the time!  Since this day has been designated a "catch-up and clean-up" day, I'm allotting some time to sit down and do this.  So for the sake of time, I'm gonna just jump right on in.

First, I have been in the process of organizing the kitchen.  I put dollar store baskets in the fridge and freezer to make sense of the complete chaos that was going on in there and it has been a blessing!  I found a different size basket when I went to the store to outfit my freezer and I am going to get more of that kind and switch them out.  I will try and do a post of pics to show all the stuff I've been doing, just in case it sparks piggy back ideas for anyone needing them. ;)  I also rearranged our pantry and it is much more user friendly!  The cabinets are slowly being uncluttered as well and its a beautiful thing.

Second, about three plus months ago, something clicked in me and I decided I was tired of being tired and physically weak.  Before kids, I was very self motivated about exercising, but since my pregnancies were so dramatic, that wasn't an option for me.  So for the last decade plus a bit, I've been in a complete different set of circumstances with my body.  With no pregnancies or breastfeeding on the horizon, it was just time for me to get my rear in gear.  Because I deal with plenty of joint issues throughout my body, I know better than to just go full speed ahead right away.  I finally cleaned out the garage enough around the area where the elliptical was serving as a catchall and started using it 6 days a week starting out at 5 minutes and working my way up to 25/30 mins each day over the course of about 4 weeks.  After each session, I started doing a pilates stretching routine which has been tremendously helpful keeping my muscles from getting too big, too fast and causing problems with my joints.  Its also good for joint decompression.  Win-win!

My initial goal in starting to build up my strength was not focusing on losing any weight.  As a matter of fact, I didn't change anything about how I was eating for about 2 months.  I just wanted to build muscle mass and strengthen my joints so that I would have better endurance and be more agile.  In doing that, though, I started losing inches.  I knew that would be a by-product of what I was doing, but I also didn't want to lose weight or inches too quickly.  I want the saggy-baggy, extra skin hanging around from pregnancies past to go back down, too and I've got to give my body time to accomplish that. ;)  So far, so good on that front.

Around a month ago, I felt like I needed to give my body a boost and wanted to start a clean eating and high protein regimen.  Plenty of the recipes I use are considered Paleo or Primal.  While I don't believe in the whole cave man philosophy, I do find the data about how the body digests or the trouble it has with digesting certain foods and the absorption of vitamins and minerals and balancing blood sugar levels so there are no highs and lows resulting in crashes, very compelling.  So far, without having done something along the lines of a Whole 30 stint, I have become aware that my body doesn't do well with regular potatoes in pretty much any form and wheat.  I was not happy about the wheat because I loves me some fiber and I have an unhealthy love obsession with bread. :/  I found that coconut flour is super duper high in fiber and doesn't have the gluten and blood sugar issues that wheat seems to have, so I honestly haven't really felt a loss.  As a result of eating this way, I have tons more energy and I feel so much better! An added bonus has been loss of poundage and more inches.  Again, win-win.  Yay!

Another fun side thing has been the accumulation of new work out gear.  It is very nice to have clothing that is made to sweat in and actually fits me!  I also recently got new running shoes since my last pair was nearly a decade old and part of the sole finally just fell off and a watch that has a timer and a heart rate monitor as well as some other nice features.  I am soooo amazed at how much lighter the new shoes are compared to my old ones!  Same brand + different technology = huge difference! They are for the purpose of training to run a 5k.  In all the years past when I was running, I never, EVER wanted to run any sort of race.  Traditionally, I have abhorred running.  I did it because I had to.  I much prefer fitness classes, machines and dancing.  I don't get the runner's high, I have a knee that is problematic with high impact activity and its just never been fun for me.  Recently, a friend proposed the idea of training for a 5k together and it was more of a let's-see-if-we-can-do-this sort of a thing.  I pondered it and was intrigued with the idea of whether I could do it or not.  It was yet another way I could tweak something.  (I have found as I get older that I have a knack for tweaking things - it can be in totally unrelated areas of interest, too. ;)  So, after I felt that I had built up sufficient strength in my legs and back, I started jogging.  I've been doing that for the past few weeks focusing mainly on my breathing and posture.  I got an 8-week training schedule from a site about running a 5k and have put myself on that schedule.  I hope to map out a good route soon so that I can start focusing more on distance as well as time.  I would like a pedometer at some point, but for now I'm good.  I'll just drive it and then run it. ;)  It looks like June or July will be 5k time and there are several to choose from in this area, so I'm actually looking forward to it.

Since this is already long, I'm gonna have to continue on in another post for tomorrow.

A Visit, Strep and Some Surprises

My mom came in for a quick visit over the weekend.  Braden had remarked about having a headache and then later a sore throat.  I was thinking it might just be drainage because we were all dealing with that a bit.  Mom came in on Friday evening and by then Braden was talking funny because his throat hurt and he was asking for more vitamin C and salt to make it feel better.  He didn't have a fever, but I had a feeling it was strep.  This is the fourth time he has had it in the last year and a half.  He still occasionally sucks his thumb and I think this time it set in for him that it is how he keeps getting it. :/  So, I ended up taking him to the urgent care clinic (hooray for those!) Saturday morning and I had let him know that if it was strep, that we would be going with the shot and not the 10 days of  liquid antibiotic. Well, it was strep.  The shot was a thing of drama and there was excessive limping afterward, but he really did do a good job.  That particular one does hurt.  Poor kiddo, he got the same susceptibility to getting strep repeatedly as I did when I was younger.  I got it every year without fail and usually more often.  If someone had it within a 10-mile radius, I would get it. :/  Hopefully, the thumb sucking will not be so appealing now and he won't get it at all anymore!  This is the second time it has coincided with a visit from my mom...at least it didn't take long to take care of it and she's not susceptible to it!

While Mom was here we had a great visit.  We just hung out and chatted and enjoyed each other's company.  Most of the time, she offers to keep the kids so that Sam and I can go on a date, but I didn't even consider that she would this time because the visit was so short.  BUT, she did offer and we got to go see the new Star Trek movie in the theater on Saturday....  The last movie we saw in the theater was Captain America.  Yeah, it had been a while.  :)  Anyway, we really enjoyed ourselves!  We went through the drive thru and picked up some starbucks first and then went.  Another little aside:  Sam gently kicked me out of the house the on Friday morning so I could just get out for a while and get some stuff done and I got some starbucks then, too and then Sunday, a couple of friends and I had a little impromptu girls evening out and we ended up at starbucks again.  Haha!  That's the most "coffee" aka frappachino yumminess I've had ever!  By the way, the mochachino cookie crumble or crunch or whatever its called is seriously addictive.  Just remember I warned you!

Anyway, all in all, best Memorial Day weekend EVER!

Ailey and Brea's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for the girls yesterday and had such a nice time.  I, of course, went a little nutty with all the preparations and I still have to learn about how to find a balance there, but I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather had slightly nutty prep time and very calm party time as opposed to the opposite. :)  Our fabulous home group family came as well as some of our fantastic homeschool co-op friends and it was a relaxing time of fellowship.  AAaaaah.  The girls got some fun gifts and the boys wanted to get their hands on their stuff as well.  So, all is normal. ;)  The only sad thing is that Brea started having a fever not too long after the party ended and is still fighting something off. :(  It should break soon and then lil' miss will be up to playing with her toys. :)

I, along with a few others took some pics to commemorate the occasion:

 Had to put some fruit skewers in there to offset all the icing.

Rainbow jello!  Yummy!

 Thank you, Kristen H. for letting me borrow your cupcake cake pan!

Made one cupcake cake for each of my girlies.

 MMMMmmmm....more sugar for the take home bags!

 I was going to do the different color koolaid in the bottles of water, but after thinking about how much sugar was already involved, I decided to leave well enough alone. ;p

R. on the hunt...

 We had an egg hunt.  They were filled with playdoh.  Playdoh and dirt and grass don't mix well.  Guess I better rethink that strategy. :)

 A. and K. helping round up the eggs.

I tried to light the candles, but the wind was uncooperative, so we just had to pretend.  We did sing happy birthday, though!

 L. and A. helping to assist in egg collection...

 Really wants a piece....

 Colors!

Money shot.

Miss Ali and her youngest (for now) O.

Miss Rosie.

Jim in smile mode!  I had to get on to him about letting me take his pic to get this shot. :)

Face full of cake.  Its what its all about.

Love these folks!

I think I caught Patrick in the middle of a yawn...but I could be mistaken.

Lovely ladies, Kristen and Lucy with little L.

This was taken after I handed my camera off, so I can't say who took some of these, but I can say Sean, Laury and Ali were all involved....

Rachel, Jason and David and some of their crews.  Between our three families, we have 11 children. :)

Really can't say what was going on here...

Little L.  Sweetness!

Cupcake.  A picture.

Hey sweet P.!

The Ler.

I think Zekey would live in a tree if he could.

R. in solemn mode.

Braden in normal camera ham mode.

T2.  He waited patiently for his cupcake.

This is true Braden.

New hair doodads!

Um, yeah.

Ohhh, weee.  Love that baby.

Um, yeah....again.

Didn't really want that on her head.

Hi, I'm a princess.

Baby doll collaboration.

She is so cute with stuffed animals.

This is a bow holder and Ailey wanted to wear it.  I would let her except for the lack of coverage and all. ;p

Happy Birthday Girls!

Baby Shower Fever!

We had ourselves a baby shower for some very dear friends yesterday, Sean and Christyn.  They are expecting their first baby boy near the end of the month!  So exciting!!  I am so blessed by a wonderful group of ladies in our church and home group.  I basically co-ordinated the plan, donated a few items to the cause and they brought the party with them and then took the party away when it was finished!  Fantastic!  I have to admit that my house was in complete disarray and it took most of last week to get it cleaned up and into party shape.  I need to start praying for a maid...for realz!

Anyway, we had such a great turn out.  The men folk came, too, and Sam started a fire in the fire pit in the backyard for a focal point addition to the party. ;p  They mozied back and forth between the fire and the food and occasionally to speak to their respective spouses.  :)  We had a full house, that's for sure and not enough seating, but that didn't seem to matter.  Lucy took over photography duty and I'm so glad she did because I didn't even think about it!  So, I have visual aids for blogging purposes!  Yay!  Plus, she was totally having way too much fun experimenting with my camera.  Work your artsy-fartsy skillz!  We had fun, managed to get one game in, ate lots of yummy food and the parents-to-be made out like bandits with the gifts!  Mission accomplished!

After everyone left, Sean and Christyn stayed so that I could do the indoor portion of the maternity shoot.  I was having lighting issues and then my fabulous husband had a stroke of genius and brought in our green house lights and he and Sean set up a make shift studio in our dining room.  It worked out really well and now I am going to see if getting different bulbs and making some diffusers for them will make it any better for future use. :)

At some point during the process, the guys decided to take a field trip to do something guy-ish...looking at a derelict truck at a junk yard. ;p After plenty of fidgeting and different poses and pondering and all the jazz that goes with the territory that is my life, we got done with the shoot and they offered to get pizza for dinner.  Fine with us!  Then we hung out til after dark and they went home and we eventually got everyone into bed.  Lots of fun packed into one day!

Anyway, I decided to use an online photo editor and played around with the pics and they turned out pretty well, even though I do say so myself!  I will eventually play around with editing the outdoor shots that I took a week or so ago, too.  I still have lots to learn by doing more shoots and figuring out what works and doesn't and all, but for now I am content with how it all came out.

So, here follows a bazillion pictures!  Enjoy:

Lucy made the diaper cake and did a fabulous job!  Leah A. made the topiaries and most of the hanging pom poms!  She, too, made fabulosity!

 I made the banner....felt is my friend. :)

 Hanging pom poms are my new favorite party decoration!

 Beautiful mom-to-be

 Lucy busted out her mad gift basket skillz and put together two of them from our home group.

 This was the beautiful and super yummy cake that our friend Christina made!

 Christina had to wrestle and wrangle fondant and I believe she now has the same relationship with the stuff that I do...we agree to just be strangers. ;)  I blame Lucy!  She had the idea for the baby bum cake, I then googled for visual aid purposes and then asked Christina if she wanted an, um, interesting challenge. ;p  She agreed and the masterpiece above was born!  She did a fantastic job!

 I, of course, had to make a funky, inspired at midnight mobile for little Liam's room.  Felt and ribbon brought together by hot glue....I'm in total like with these crafting mediums!

 Sam opened the festivities by praying over Sean and Christyn.

 Ummmm, Lucy!  You were s'posed to be praying!  I'm tellin'!

Food yumminess!  We had sandwiches, a veggie tray, a fruit salad, a cheese and cracker tray, cinnamon bread (I could have eaten a whole loaf of that stuff!  Accolades to Kim M's mom!), ducky s'mores, breakfast casserole (tater tots, scrambled egg mixture, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced up lil wieners and biscuits), punch, coffee and hot chocolate.  I'm thinking we can get together to do this food combo anytime!

 Christina also put together this fun baby ornament tree!  I love this idea!  She was so funny.  She said someone had given it to her and she saw this idea and also saw a way to give this tree to a new home. ;p

Laury and McKayla chowing down...

Baby food tasting was one of the games and then we were supposed to play baby charades and just ran out of time.

Caught in the act! 

 This was on the punch counter...the duckies would not cooperate and kept tipping over.  Can't really blame them, they didn't sleep well the night before.  Ailey kept trying to take off with them!

 Man-gathering around the fire.

 Ladies who braved the cold to eat outside.

LOTS of gifts!

Ducky s'mores!  Yum!  Saw the idea on pinterest for heart ones for valentines and just decided to make them duckies instead.

Heather right and Christina left.

 Baby food tasting...

 I think there was much pondering going on....

 Eun and Kristen chillaxin' in the corner.

 Sean even joined in!  

 Ms. Leah A. in the foreground there..

 Time to open prezzies!

 Sweet Nadine!

 No, Sean, it isn't a hat!

 Saw this idea while googling. :)  He like it and wore it proudly.

Mommy corsage. My take on a google inspiration. ;p

Lovely Lucy and Laury.

And now....the indoor maternity shoot.