Action Packed Weekend

We had a very action packed weekend...mainly on Saturday. Friday started it off (Jim's B-day). We all went to Nat & Jim's softball practice till about 8ish. Then went out for supper at the catfish place. Brayden enjoyed it the most cause it was his 1st experience with chicken strips. It was a hit :)

Saturday Jim and Nat left the house @ 8am to make it for Opening Ceremonies @ 8:30am. Then they worked the concession stand from 10-11am. Matt got visitors during this time from the boys next door and he played with them till it was time for us to leave for Nat's game @ 11:30am. I was proud of myself for not rushing out the door as always. I had everything packed, everyone loaded, doors locked, and alarms set by 11:05am! It was a record for me :)

Nat's first game was a good warm up and they won, so they played again @ 1:30. Matt played non stop at the playground and resurfaced only to get money for some snacks and to get $$ for the bounce house. They were about 1/2 way in to the 2nd game and Jim keeps saying something to me, but I can't make it out since he's on 1st base. He finally says "the alarms going off at the house..." It took a minute to register. But once he said the cops are on their way out...it sunk in! I was in "OH Hell NO!" This was NOT happening again! Jim and I both called the surrounding neighbors and asked them to look for any cars/trucks/people. It took me 9 mins (typically a 15-17 min drive) to get home. I beat the cops there, but the neighbors were waiting and said the back door was open. Nothing was gone or disturbed. I guess the alarm worked...I guess. Or, as the investigator told us back in April..they trip the alarm to see response time. Well my response time was good, but the cops got their call at 2:15 and they got there at 4:05pm!!! But that was due to the fact that my alarm company cancelled the call..instead of just canceling the alarm. Anyway...he was able to lift a print, but who knows who it was. It could of been one of ours. None of us were actually freaked out this time. So...we'll see if this leads to anything.

The night got better as we headed to Lewisville for Jim's official b-day night out. We took him to ride go-carts @ Put-put. Beth, Mason, Carrie, and Olivia showed up and they all got to do 1 race together before everyone turned into popsicles. Nat and Matt got several races on the junior track and a few races as Jim's passenger. Everyone had a good time...it was easy to tell when they all had huge smiles on their faces :) Then we headed to Baan Thai for supper. It was really good. We ordered several different appetizer and entrees. Everything was really good and I think everyone enjoyed what they got. Jim said that "Medium hot" was just about too much! But he loves that hot stuff. We headed home around 10pm and everyone was zonked out by 11:10pm I think.

Sunday Jim was the only one to leave the house since he had to take his coach's test. That evening we had all but 3 of our current/future neighbors over for pizza and visiting. It was nice to get to visit and get to know everyone. Everyone got along really well from what I could tell. By the end of this summer we will have grown from 2 houses to 5 houses. It's still the boonies, just a mini neighborhood in boonies. Works for me :)

Happy 35th Birthday Jim!

Happy 35th Birthday to my husband of 13 years!!!

He was able to shake the stomach bug in just enough time to have some sugar free angle food cake last night! He got some great cards from the kids, a smack on the head from Brayden, a new shirt and spending money for some new jeans from Mom and Dad, and an air compressor from all of us. And he said to me last night that he gave himself a gift this year that he'd promised to himself for many years....a skinnier him! And by jiggy...he's just that. He weighed in at a whimpy ole 230 the other morning. That's a 37 lb. weight loss!! He's doing just amazing and I am so proud of him.

We all love you and I love you very much and Happy Birthday! Thanks for being you :)

I lost my age!

Woo Hoo! I officially lost my age this morning. Meaning....I've officially lost 32 lbs. What really got me is when I lost what Brayden weighs. Cause that little toot is HEAVY and it blows me away that I was carrying around that much extra weight! And ta boot...I still have the weight of Brayden to loose!! Crazy!

This was BY far one of the best ideas that Jim has come up with. But definitely second to the idea of "hey, lets get married..." :) His idea has not only positively impacted our house...but several of our family and friends houses. Weight Watchers has been a God send. And I'd been told by my doctor and several others that it's one of the best ways to lose the weight...but I guess my mindset wasn't there. Man it is now! I just moved into a 13 and I never thought I'd be so happy to be in a 13!! That's 3 sizes I've dropped now and I'm ready for more. 7's are my goal...and those 1991 Lawmans jeans that I bought my Freshman year of College are still in my closet just waiting for me to SQUEEZE back into them. I won't wear them out in public, I just want to be able to button them up and then back up in the attic they go :)

Weekend Stuff

We had a very nice laid back weekend, and it was great! On Friday Jim and I got our hair cut (much needed on my end :)) Then Jim and Nat headed to their 2nd softball practice. They are both very happy that it's FINALLY softball season!

Saturday we all took turns working in the yard. Jim got 2 more trees planted after another MAJOR struggle with the rocks. It's so great to have trees. And many of them are blooming or leaving out. The kids got a pretty good sweat going while playing outside and asked if they could go into the 61 degree water pool! I told them that they'd turn into ice pops. This wasn't what they wanted to hear...but I did tell them they could dip their feet in the pool. That got my point across real quick when they saw how cold it was. Brayden LOVES going outside. We waddles and stumbles everywhere...and quite quickly I must say. He gets very po-ed when it's time to come in. That afternoon/evening we got all cleaned up and headed over to Carrie, Guy & Olivia's house for supper and visiting. We got to see Martha too. We had a great visit and the babies are so cute together...well, until Brayden terrorized Olivia in the bathtub by drenching her with all his splashing and his LOUD squeals of delight. This was a bit much for a very sleepy Olivia...poor little baby. But they did play a very funny game of swapping guggas (pacifiers). It was a nice visit.

Sunday we headed to Glen Rose to take the kids to camp with my parents and their cousins at Dinosaur Valley State Park. Matt was beside himself and kept asking...how much longer till we're there? We made his wait even longer when we stopped to get gas and then saw a lady giving away some CUTE puppies. Well today being Mom and Dad's A-day and they've been dogless for some time...I thought "maybe" this might be a good present. So Nat and I picked out a boy and Jim got him some food, bed, collar, etc. He traveled really well and seems very sweet (I'll see mom and Dad tomorrow and we'll see if we gave them a gift or a chore). As we entered the park the kids were recalling all the places they'd gone last year when they stayed there. We weren't there too long before the kids all took off on a biking adventure. We all asked Matt NOT to shed blood this trip :)

Jim, Brayden, and I headed home about 5ish so that we could have time to settle in and be read for the beginning of the Sopranos! It's been a LONG wait and we were both ready for it to start! A perfect end to a great weekend!

From the mouth of Matt...

Here's some recent Matthew comments:

*He hops out of the truck after being pick up from school and starts whizzing right then and there. I say "Matthew!!!" (which that was to be interpreted as...go inside and use the bathroom) Matthew's reply "Mom, it's ok...were in the country now..."

*He hops into my lap and pats me on the stomach and says "it's agood thing your not having another baby in that big ole belly. Cause you've got a lot less blubber now..." And anyone who know Matt, this was a compliment...not a derogatory statement :) Now in the future, Jim And I might need to help him refine his compliments towards women. But for now, we know what his intents are.

*He sees a boy coming out of Nat's school wearing a pink shirt and just out of the blus says "...it's ok, he's a reall man!" I'm reading my book and look up and say "huh? Why'd you say that?" He replys "..ugh Mom, REAL men wear pink!"

There have been so many that I forget...but those are some that stick in my mind. Enjoy :)

Lucky Penny

Sad to say Nat's day got worse before getting better. As she walked out of school to get in the truck yesterday, she looked like Beetle Bailey (newpaper cartoon) after he'd been magled by Sarge. I asked her if she was still upset about the sentances. She cam back with "...not really, but Mom..this was a BAD day.." She was being very strong and was trying to hold back the tears as she filled me in on the rest of her day. She was in Math class and was the 1st to turn her paper in. At the end of class the teacher tells Nat to turn in her paper and Nat tells her that she was the 1st to turn it in and the teacher argues and says that Tyler was the 1st to turn it in. Nat said that she and the teacher looked for her paper nad couldn't find it. Nat flipped! Then to make matters worse, she went to her locker and got knocked over by a boy pushing another girl. When she went to stand up that boys locker was still open and the sharp point of the locker cut up her back in 2 places. She did tell me that the teacher who assigned the sentances came to her in Eagle Period (study hall) and asked her how many sentances she'd written and Nat told her 98, and she told Nat that, that was enough.

On the way home that teacher called me back and told me that this was Nat's 1st offense and she'd been lumped together in this punishment with repeat offenders. She said she feel REALLY bad once she saw Nat's reaction. And that she felt even worse cause she's such an excellent student and will do anything you tell her to do. I explained to her that Nat just takes everything to heart and stresses when she felts that she hasn't pleased someone. And the teacher and I discussed that if she does wrong that she needs to be disiplined (sp?), but not exactly like you would the others...or the repeat offenders. I also called the Math teacher and had the same discussion with her. The 1st thing out of her mouth was "I know why you're calling and I told Nat not to worry about it." I stopped her right there and explained to her that Nat worried and stressed about anyway. And that, that was just her nature. so I think we are all on the same page now. I have one more teacher to talk to, but he was out and I really don't have an issue with him, but I'll just fill him in on what I told the other 2.

At supper last night we went to Subway. While in line, Nat finds a heads up penny. She came over to me (I was feeding the baby) and says "Oh Mom, I really needed this penny today"!! So my little broken bird is all healed now and I just hope that when I pick her up today I have my bouncy baby girl back.

What to do.....

I'm at a loss. I don't know how to handle this situation and I need some "unbiased" (sp?) opinions.

As most of you might know, we are slowly weaning Nat off of her Dystonia meds. The doctor feels that it has gone into remission. Which is wonderful news. He said that it may come back, it may stay in remission forever. Anyway... she has been doing wonderfully and has been managing her stress quite well. (In case I hadn't mentioned it before, Dystonia is not caused from stress. Stress can "irritate" the symptoms.) Well, I got a call from the nurse today. Trust me, I was hoping for her to tell me she had a stomach ache or somthing along those lines. But no... Nat supposedly got into trouble this morning and was stressed the "f" out! The nurse told me she was all locked up and what should she do. I said I wanted to talk to her. Nat told me that she was trying to get her stuff together before class and forgot her book in her locker. The teacher punished her (and 4-5 others) with 200 sentances. "I will always bring my materials to class each and every day".

Ok, here's the hard part for me...besides the fact that she's crying while she's telling me this and trying to say that she just forgot cause she was trying to get eveything else together before the bell rang. It's hard cause I know (#1) how she stresses about being late. BUT, on the flip side...was she chatting while doing this? Was there 5th grade drama happening in the hall? She says "no", but what else is she supposed to say. It's also hard (#2) to know the whole story. Nat's gonna tell me her side and the teacher's gonna tell her side... (haven't gotten to talk to the teacher yet). I want to OF COURSE side with Nat, but I also have to be an adult and realize that I don't know all the details.

But the one thing I do know is that Nat will now stress all day about these sentances and will stress the whole time she does these sentances. AND her arm will physically stress from all the writing. UGH! I told her that just cause her arm acts up isn't a reason to get out of trouble. But in my mind I thinking the punishment is a bit much!! I do not want her to get special treatment, but on the other hand...she needs to be addressed with a little different approach. When you have a child who stresses easily and you know that this stress can cause her Dystonia to act up... there's got to be a different way to handle this.

Grrr... I'm just so tore up over this! I don't want to be one of "those Moms" who thinks their child does no wrong. But... Thoughts?

I'll hopefully talk to the teacher today, if not..I'll have to wait till her conference period tomorrow.

25!

Yup, that's right...25! I'm offically 25 lbs lighter than I was at the 1st of January. I've lost more than that, but the other 6 lbs came off not by my efforts. I met my 1st Weight Watchers goal last week...WOO HOO! I got a key chain?!? Any way, I'm still 36 lbs from my goal, but for the 1st time in a LONG time I know I can do it!

Jim's doing awesome also. I think as of last night he's lost 31 lbs!! I'm very proud of him too cause he's not only losing weight, he's changing some very hard to break eating habits.

And hats off to my parents and Kim and Gary. They are all being equally as successful. I know all the women get discuraged cause it does seem a bit slow at times...but it's coming off...slowly but surely. Funny thing is, I was quite discouraged before we left to go to Abilene on Friday cause it appeared that I was only going to lose 1lb ( I hate to say "only"...but...). So this weekend I'd planned to eat "good" and TRY to get another pound off. Well, I got into a pissy mood when I saw how diffiuclt that was gonna be and I threw in the towel...so did Jim :) Dang, that actually worked in our favor. I knew that throwing a little junk in your "engine" can help jumpstart your metabolizm (sp?)...but I was acutally thinking that if I was SUPER good that it'd work just the same...WRONG! The junk in the engine worked. Jim and I both dropped pretty good amounts this week. Won't say I'll make this a routine, but it's nice to know that I can look forward to it everyone in a while :)

Good luck to all of you who are on this weight loss journey! I wish you all the best and can't stress wnought...DON'T GIVE UP!!!