Helpers

This is how I've spent most of my summer
mowing our lawn...
with helpers.
Needless to say... it's a slow process!
BUT they think it's so fun when I let them help.
Besides someday they won't like it when it's their job to mow the lawn, so might as well as encourage it now.
 

Birthday Boys

Gavin's birthday was low key and fabulous. We had Grandpa and Grandma show up with Uncle Jacob for presents, cake, and ice cream. He got two tractors and a little remote control car.
He (and his little brothers) were in heaven!


For the last month now, both boys have decided they wanted a rocket cake for their birthdays. Gavin's of course had to blue (Xander's will have to be green.), so I made it blue inside and out. What you see was all made from one cake mix. I poured part of it in a small round for the moon, and the rest into a 9x13 lined with parchment paper. Once it was cool, I cut it up, pieced it back together, and iced away.
Look at the bottom three pics closely. Gavin couldn't get the last candle blown out for the life of him. He kept wanting to touch it and put it out. Xander finally got it for him! It was funny.

Happy Birthday to my little boy who is so grown up.

And yesterday was Ben's birthday... and I don't have a single picture to show for it.
Sunday we celebrated Josh (his brother) and Ben's birthdays at his parents' house. I didn't bring the camera, but we had cake with LOTS of candles for the two of them to share. And I even suprised Ben with one of his presents... a Shutterfly book I had made for him.
Yesterday, Ben's parents took the boys for the evening. We ordered Chinese to go and came home and watched Thor on Netflix. It was so nice.
After we picked up the boys, he opened his other present... the second Sherlock Holmes. But we didn't do cake or anything... and again I never got the camera out. Oh well.
Happy Birthday to an amazing hubby I love with all my heart. Glad we could spend a quiet evening together.

Happy 6th Birthday, Gavin!

 

Now we wait for Landon to be up from his nap, and Grandpa and Grandma to come...
then it's party time!

Update: My Journey

So 17 days ago... I began my

I bought 

It combines weight training three days a week with 2 cardio days with ab workouts.

And I am also substituting one meal a day with  

Each day I also report and rate my day on a scale of 1 to 5. I make a new goal to work towards each week. And each day we have a challenge to complete... today was blogging or journaling about our experience thus far. So there you have it. A sum up of what I'm doing.

Now on to important part... that's the what... now for the how... the how it's really going.

Want the stats first?

Just from the start of this challenge I have lost 5 pounds (9 pounds since first making changes.)

In 15 days I lost 1 inch from my waist,

1 inch from my hips,

and 3/4 inch off of each thigh.

There is a difference.

I was getting to the point where I could only wear my clothes that had elastic... not anymore.

Now to the program itself.

I love ChaLEAN Extreme! It kicks my butt, but Chalene is so positive and motivating. I actually look forward to working out (once I make it out of bed ;) )

Shakeology... 

before thoughts... too good to be true and pricey.

Initial thoughts 2 weeks in...

still pricey, but I'm starting to think it's worth it. 

Not gonna lie... hasn't gotten rid of all of my sweet tooth cravings. BUT they are much more manageable.

And it's full of power foods... how can that be bad?

Overall I feel better.

I feel happier.

I feel more confident.

I get up every morning at the same time as Ben to exercise. It's amazing what a little quiet me time each morning does to help start my day off right. 

Things are not perfect. I still have a long way to go, but I am making progress...

good progress...

happy progress!

July the Fourth

The kids are in bed, and Ben has gone to the church to practice on the organ before services tomorrow. SO instead of folding the load of whites in my room, I'm going to blog!

Now in the way of backtrack posts... I'm to the 4th of July. We watched the parade in Rexburg with Grandma and Grandpa. The boys didn't want to be out near the "going ons" until I sat on the road with them. But after a little bit they totally got into the swing off things and ended up with pockets full of candy.

After the parade, we went to Great grandma Barnes' house... it's tradition... for a cookout with homemade root beer to accompany it! 

Once we had our share we headed home for a little quiet time... aaw blessed quiet time! We actually ALL fell asleep. It was beautiful. We then joined Grandma and Grandpa in a hotel near the river. It's something they just started doing last year because it is by the fireworks and they don't have to fight the traffic home afterwards. While we waited for the dark, we had some dinner and the boys were monkeys jumping on the bed... literally! They were in heaven.


As darkness approached we headed outdoors. We brought a few little firework items with us... sparklers and snakes. Landon danced to the music playing around us. Once it was dark enough we settled in (each boy on a lap to feel safe), turned up the radio, and waited for the....


FIREWORKS!!


Melaleuca puts on the show each year, and it is A-MAZ-ING!! It's the biggest show this side of the Mississippi. For the most part the boys did really well. Landon cried some, but eventually fell asleep. We rushed home afterward... good thing we live so close... and headed to bed. It was a fun fourth. 

Getting Bigger

After three years of preschool, we have finally made it to KINDERGARTEN!
And Gavin loved his first day. Now if only they would hurry up with the bus routes... he can hardly stand waiting to be able to ride the bus. (Plus it's easier for me not to have to haul all three to school each morning and lunch time.) His teacher is Mrs. Pincock,
and she's very nice.


He also just lost his third tooth! (At 6AM the other morning!) I was woken up to him saying mom, and when I made it down to him he told me it was loose. So I said let me feel, and he said no it's not there. I asked him where it was and he told me his bed... AND sure enough we found it in his bed. He wanted to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy right then, but I told him he was going to have to wait until the next night.


And not to be out done... Xander wanted his picture taken with his backpack. AND then of course, Landon had to be like the big boys and join the photo shoot too. Here's my silly monkeys.