Wednesday, June 29, 2005

One more night at the cabin.

Well, we went up to the cabin on Monday for one night. We were able to paint 2 sides of the garage and place the pavers around the firepit. Of course after much complaining from the kids about how they NEVER get to go to Slippery Rock, we obliged and took the swimming at the rock. This time Duner went down with Zeb. He loved it. We even lost one of his hot wheels cars at the base of it. Unfortunetly that was Reece's FAVORITE one! (even though duner just found it when he was digging out for the pavers.) Minor trama there.

The boys are trying to buy time. Our only pet Mittens has issues. She can't walk decent. It has been gradually getting worse. If she walks to slow her butt falls to the right. If she is scared she can hardly run at all. She just keeps falling down. Last time I brought her in they said she is going blind and has a 'neurological' problem of some sort. More testing is required to find out exactly what it might be. I am not the type of person to pay outragious amounts of money to find out in the end we need to have her put to sleep. Luckily she doesn't ever go outside. I like her but I feel that she doesn't have a quality of life she should. It is bad enough that we keep her indoors, but lately I think she is having a hard time going up and down the stairs. Now she is pooping a lot anywhere but the litter box. They now have the job of picking it up if they want her to stay. Secretly I am hoping that she will die on her own. Reece was very upset about us mentioning that maybe we would put her to sleep. The Humane way. I am not about to withhold anyfood from her or water. She has it bad enough.

Sunday, June 26, 2005


Opps! We forgot that it is SUMMER and we have the central air on! Posted by Hello

Boy I feel like I ran the triathalon!

I woke up this am at the crack of dawn 4am to go out to High Cliff State Park to be a 'body Marker'. Very fun Job. Who wouldnt like the chance to touch some very buff and good looking people. Much better then my CNA work in the hospital. These people accually take care of themselves. I didn't realize just what I was doing to my quad muscles till I started to walk away. UGH! I felt like I was walking in slow motion, my upper half said 'Come on lets go', and my lower half said 'When do we get to sit down'. Wow. I know they needed the workout but I didn't realize just HOW MUCH!

As if that wasn't enough punishment, I then decide I need to go for a bike ride. I have an 18 mile ride coming up in July that I have to get ready for. So I went for a nice ride out to the local airpot. Which as it turns out is 8.2 miles. So I threw Zeb in the baby seat on the back and took off. I was on my return about one mile in when I could feel a head resting on by butt. Yep, Zeb fell asleep. Everytime I would try to go faster his head would drop, pulling me to that side. I can only hope that part of my struggle is due to the fact that Zebs' extra weight is making it worse. It can only help.

Food
It has been a bad week for food. I have been running the kids here and there, we had a party on Monday, I had a meeting on Thursday. It has just been crazy. I wont' be weighing in on Tuesday, since I will be up at the cabin painting. Well, I have to go get Reece from Soccer practice.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

A Busy Week

I know I have been slacking on the blog, I have been busy ok?

Tuesday after the kids went swimming all day Reece had a soccer game. Poor kid. It was a warm day. He was pretty much out of energy when he was done swimming, but he still had to play a soccer game in the warm weather. He was like a champ. He took a nice slap to the chin like a pro. He sat there stunned for 2 seconds then he shook it off. It was a HARD hit. Everyone at the side line I was at moaned when he got it. But luckily there was no long term affects.

Brock and Reece are in heaven. Wednesday night we took them to Mil's Fleet Farm to buy some fishing lures. They loved it. They learned a bunch of stuff from Dad. Brock is more interested in anything other then fishing but he does it because Dad likes fishing I think. Zeb had to get a new fishing pole too, of Course! He got a new Batman pole.

Thursday they went to Grandma and Grandpa's house while we go to work and they got to use there new fishing stuff. When I got there Reece couldn't wait to tell us how Grandpa gave them his fishing gear and 2 poles! The boys are so exited and can't wait to tell their cousins how many fishing lures they have now. They really really liked that! **Great Christmas Ideas!!** Fishing Tackle**

On friday they went fishing again with the grandparents and they got to go to Mead pool again. They are getting more tan and more blonde everyday. I should have taken before and after summer pictures. I wanted to get a 'family picture' but I better wait til fall. The rest of us will look neon compared to the boys.

Today I go to Lunch with my friend Julie. She is pregnant (due in November) and she just found out she is having a boy. I will be bringing the boys with to lunch with her. Yikes, it might be overload for her, but there is no turning back now! She will be a great mom. She is a bit of a perfectionist. Everything is does it perfect. I don't know how she does it all the time. When we were in junior high, I had to wait for 10 minutes while she got her hair just perfect. She is a cutie in that way, but she does ALWAYS have perfect hair.
I must run some errands before I meet with her today.
Later!

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Yippee!!!

Today was a GREAT day! Busy but good. I got the paint from the cabin so I know how much and what color to pick up so we can finish painting the out side of the cabin. I dropped the boys at the pool for 5 hours today they had a blast. Duner went to the Brewer/Cub game in Milwaukee tonight.
But the BEST PART was my weigh in this am. I went back to tuesdays for Fat class. It is just so much easier for me. They have a class that it is ok to bring your kids. Well I just weighed in on Saturday, so I figured since I had to go in on Tuesday that I would only be down maybe .8 again. But NO! I was down 1.8 and I got my 5 lb book mark! Now, everytime I go down 5 more lbs I get a star and put it on my bookmark. It is really a neat way to keep track of what is gone. I like the motivation it gives me.
Well I have to work in the am, so I must go...
Bye!
Tuesday points 29 : ]

Monday, June 20, 2005

Lots today

What a busy day. I moved Zeb back out of the boys room. He is now in his own room. It's such a shame to have a bedroom and not use, except to store things. Then we bought sandals for Brock and sunscreen for the boys and dumped them at Mead Pool, the local dunk tank. They have these coupons that you can buy. You purchase 10 swims in advance and you can get 2 for free. The best part is they keep them on hand at the pool, so you don't loose them. Yeah! After the swim I treated the boys to DQ. They all had dilly bars. Brock likes Chocolate, Reece likes Banana and we got Zeb strawberry. He doesn't have a prefrence yet anyway.

Later, we went to a summer party out at Dr Schimke's place. She has a great place for a large gathering. We had a very good time. The boys loved it. There were about 5 other boys there and 3-4 girls there. Dr Al is so goofy. He was going on about how his daughter is a lesbian. But she isn't really, he later admitted. She just a boyfriend that he doesn't care for. He only has one girl but she is the one who likes to push Daddy's buttons. I remember when she pierced her tongue or eyebrow, just because Dr Al didn't want her to. I am so glad I have boys.

Food I don't even want to count. I know I am over. I LOVE taco salad~ they had some wonderful versions there. I won't be going in to details about that today, my bed is calling my name.
Good night!

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Sorry Readers, but today was pretty dull. Went to the grocery store, did laundry, dishes, bathroom cleaning.... nothing really exciting to write about as far as the kids go. Although Brock woke up zeb from his nap, by accidentally sitting on him and then it was downhill from there today. Other then that dull.
But...
Yes! Happiness! I was still down one pound, even with the crap from earlier in the week! Yeah! It may be one pound only, but I am gonna take what I can get! I went to the grocery store right after the weigh in today and picked up some Egg Beaters (artifical eggs w/cheese and chives) and finely sliced ham and english muffins and made some egg and ham sandwhichs for breakfast. Yum.
I don't know how I am going to do in when I have to go down in points. Yikes, I will be switching to the core program probably. Basically you can eat 'NON PROCESSED' foods, like baked chicken, fruit, veggies, and wheat based pasta and breads. If I want Mc D's on core then I just put that in the total for the 'extra' weekly points. I hear a lot of people say that they are not hungry at all on the 'core' program. I am not going to do it just yet. I am just starting to adjust to the smaller portion sizes.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Today I took the kids for a walk, or should I say, I walked they rode their bikes. Except for Zeb, he rode in the wagon, at least when he wasn't pulling the wagon himself. We walked down to Lutz Park, or should I say Goose Poop Park. There are at least 6 familys of Geese that call that park home. About the only part of the park free of dumplings was the playground. I can see why.
I pushed Zeb on the swing while Brock and Reece ran from one plaything to the next. They have this pole that spins, and it is hard to hold on with. The kids made it look easy!
It was so cute toward the end of the walk he didn't want to ride anymore but he was in no hurry to get home. I had him dressed in bib overalls and he just strolled along behind me with his hands in his pockets. He just looked all around! So adorable. He didn't seem to be the least bit worried that I was a good 10 feet ahead of him. Mr. Independant.

Food today was my usual, peanut butter toast for breakfast. For Lunch, I had Taco Bell. I went I this really cool web site with WW points for all kinds of resturants. I had the 'value menu' spicy chicken taco and the cheesy fiesta potatoes. According to the web site 'dotties weight loss zone' I had 4 point for the taco and 6.5 for the potatoes total 12.5, when you add my drink, I just don't like Diet soda when it comes to taco bell. I then went to a nearby resturant with the kids for Supper. It was called Larry's. I got their soup and salad combo. They have great soups. I ordered chicken dumpling. I also had a great Raspberry Vinegrette dressing. I love vinegar. I never knew how great it can be! I thought you only cleaned coffee pots and colored easter eggs, but I read a book once call the 101 uses for Vinegar. Who knew what Excellent health benefits it also has. Look it up sometime! I am not going to total up my points today I know i am close, but I went for a nice long walk today so I am hoping that will fix any problems.
Well tomorrow, I go to weigh in. Yippeee! Wish me luck!

Thursday, June 16, 2005

As far as the kids go, I have been torturing them by telling them they can not live on my computer. So far the kids have been great at making sure their beds are made and clothes picked up before playing on the computer. I think I will start adding dishwasher duty to their pre-computer time chores. : ]

today was a disappointment for food. I typically like to over estimate on the actual points I use. I ended up over. I had cheese on my sub from subway. That adds 1.5 points, I had extra 2 points for some M&M's that I had for dessert today and I had an apple and peanut butter which I really didn't need for breakfast. I made some poor decisions. I will fix it. A positive additude is the only way to be. Next week I will be able to have 'activity points' which allow you to subtract points from your total. Yeee Haaaa!
Thursday points 30 : {

Wednesday, June 15, 2005


We had a helper today with a cement project that we were working on. Can you guess who? Posted by Hello

Our little angel left his mark for everyone to see... Posted by Hello

Today on the kid front...

Today on the kid front we fixed a lingering crack in the front porch step. As you can see by the pictures Zeb just loves to be around us and help us out. He loves to put his hand on anything you are doing and say "Help?". As if to say 'do you need help mommie?'. How can you turn him down he is so cute! I know I am a little bias. Oh well. I will be walking with something in my arms and after he says 'Help?' he then says 'Run?'. What motivation to jog. Hey I will take the exercise anyway I can!
Today, after clean the wheel barrow and shovel, I managed to hose down the kids with the hose. They love playing that game. Of course I don't aim for Zeb, the sheer force of water would probably slam the kid down.

As for the food front, I think today went well. It is so hard to count points on 'Drug rep days' at work. Every wednesday and every other friday, we have a different drug rep that brings us lunch from various eatery's in the valley. Today was Applebees. There were Oriental chicken wraps, some kind of spicy southwest chicken wrap and a Southwest Chicken salad. Oh yeah, also some of those deep fried onion chunks. Yikes! I LOVE onion rings! I could have taken the entire appetizer and be perfectly happy. I tried I did to be good! I had a 2 in chunk of each wrap and a cup of the salad, with about one tablespoon each dressing. Ok ok, I HAD to have a little of each dressing, they were for different things. One for the Oriental wrap, one for the other wrap and some salsa and ,just a lit bit, of sour cream.
As an optomist I declare today a success with the apple and peanut butter that I had for supper. And only a bit here or there of the Mac-n-chez I made for the family. I know watch out Wolfgang! Wooohooo!
I must go and enjoy my water and my family....

Wednesday total 24 : ]

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

KIDS
We had another great time up at the cabin. This time we brought up Reece's friend Jacob. We had to leave extra early on Sunday since Duner wanted to leave right after he got out of work. We left without Jacob and his parents brought him up later. The boys could hardly wait to go to slippery rock and show Jacob. Jacob's mom had been there when she was growing up but hadn't been there since Jacob was born so she knew what we were talking about. The boys showed no hesitation in jumping in the water to slide down the rock. We had some swim shorts slip down a little bit, due to the current. Other kids came and left during the time the kids spent there. They had no lack of imagination when it came to this area. The next time we go we are bring lunchmeat and other snacks and drinks to make more of a day out of it.
Food
Well I have no more extra points left for the week already. Not a good sign considering it is only Tuesday. Sunday we stopped at Burger King since we left too early to make a breakfast. I had the sourdough combo for 16 points. It wasn't worth it. It would have be 15 if I had gotten the croisantwhich but I didn't realize til now. Later that day we went to the Seymour races and that was supper. I had forgotten about Burger King that morning, so I figured I could do the fries with cheese sauce, burger, popcorn, and a slushy. By the days end I figured I had 44 points spent that day alone. YIKES! Then I went on to figure out my total for Monday, We didn't go anywhere, but we woke late that day (yes even Zeb slept in that day) so we had a late breakfast, After swimming more at the rock, we came back to have a late lunch at 3pm. After we got home I made a quick sand which then had some mag citrate for a medical exam I had today for my kidneys/bladder. I didn't count my points for the mag citrate,but the total for the end of the day was 37. Between those two days I spent every last extra point. I so far today had two peaches. (They were too good to have just one)
I have found the secret to eating less points, from now on my lunch will consist of vegetarian food only. (this will be good for a laugh)
Saturday total 26

Sunday total 44
Monday total 37
Tuesday total 24 Yeah! one day down 3 to go...

Saturday, June 11, 2005

Kids Update
Yesterday the boys went with Aunt Sara to Mead Pool, it is a local pool that has all the newest options as far as fun in the sun. I completely forgot sunscreen for them and they developed a nice lobster like appearence. Opps. Brock could use some color.

We will be heading to a flag day parade today that one of Reece's friends will be in. We will be meeting up with Aunt Sara and go to the parade with her before she heads up back to Verona. The boys just love it when she comes to Appleton.

Tomorrow we will leave bright and early for the Cabin up north. We will have Jacob with us. He is Reece's friend. He is such a nice kid. We don't mind having him around one bit!
We are going to take him to slippery Rock. His mom said she loved it there when she was a kid. Who knew it was such a well known spot. It is not like there is any signs to point it out. to direct you to it. It is just a path way. They boys will probably make a day of it.


FOOD Update

Yeah! 3 lbs down at this weeks Weigh in at Fat Class. In order to better keep track of my points I might start posting them. I am supposed to have 24 in a day, with any option of 35 extra to use for the week total. (I really like that option) so from now on my blog is going to consist of food eaten daily too. If I have more people to hold me accountable, how can I go wrong. Besides I don't need any extra weight for the triathalon next year.

It is a quarter-mile swim, 15 mile bike (I think) and a 3 mile run (or in my case jog). I figure if I can jog the entire 3 miles at least, that in itself will be a HUGE accomplishment! I wasn't even able to jog/run the one mile that they timed everyone each year of school. I ususally did one mile in 15 minutes. That was when I was in 8th grade. I am very close to it, but considering how young I was back then it is sad. I would like to do one mile in 8 to 10 minutes.

So from now on, at least till I can reach my goal (which I haven't set yet) I will boringly discuss the food that I fight daily. It is just way too easy to clean off my kids plates rather then throw the food away. My husband Duner wants to get a lab puppy. Maybe that will help with the plate cleaning issue. At least it won't be thrown out directly. : }

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Yesterday we decided to go spend one night up at the cabin. What a great decision that was. Duner took us to Chute Pond to go fishing and then to a little know rock called 'Slippery Rock'. It is what it says. It is a big rock with water running down it and at the bottom, it is damned it up with smaller bolders. It has one big slide and two others, but the other two hurt your butt, as I am told by Reece. He went down first and bounced so hard Duner felt his pain. We have found a new fun spot. It is about quarter mile walk to get there but it is definitely worth it. Zeb did a great job, just watching and giggling at his brothers. The boys ALL had a BLAST!

The boys also did some fishing. Brock is the Luckiest kid in the world this weekend. First at the fishing tournament he got a fish, while Reece did not, then his name gets picked first out of 325 kids and he gets to choose between a bike or a choice of 50 smaller prizes and he you can imagine what he did. No, he did NOT take the bike!!!! I don't know what he was thinking!! He chose a mix of water guns instead.?????? Every kid got their name called so they all got prizes. Reece chose a fishing pole and tackle set. So he has a new love, fishing. He has gone every day since he got the pole. He even left Slippery Rock early to fish with Dad.

Anyway, Brock wasn't only lucky with the water guns(????), he also caught a fish in ONLY 2 casts on Chute Pond! Pour Reece he didn't cry until about 50 minutes later, when he still hadn't caught anything and tried most of the new lures in his box. He even tried some of Duners too! He didn't give up though and managed to catch a little Rock bass, just like Brock. (Probably the same fish) Duner caught a 2-3 lb largemouth bass and a smaller Northern, which was still pretty big to me. I don't think I ever saw that kind of fish before.

Needless to say we ended the great evening with 2 great movies and headed to bed. We were going to have a fire, but ran out of time.

Monday, June 06, 2005


This is the boys at the Lil Angler on Sunday out at High cliff State park. Posted by Hello

Here is Reece at his soccer tournament on Saturday. The team they played is the purple team in the background.  Posted by Hello

Saturday, June 04, 2005

On to the next project

Well, since we have now finished coating our deck, which turned out awesome, we will be hopefully finishing the landscaping. Today I dragged Brock with me to the local Walmart to pick up some flowers. I let him pick out some too. He was so happy. He didn't quite grasp the concept of matching colors, but he tried his best. I learned that he absolutely LOVES marigolds. He wanted just about one bunch of each color. What can you expect from a 10 yr old.
The boys have some friends over right now. Greyson and Christen. Greyson is a clown. He just cracks me up. He has so much character. Just about anything he says is funny in some way or another. Christen is quiet. He can be a bully. I like to keep an eye on him. I feel sorry for him. I think he has had a sad life. He is heavy set and his parents aren't together, which I think is why he can be a bully at times. Greyson's parents are also not together but you wouldn't know it. I like when the 3 or 4 are playing together. Greyson is a very fair kid. Brock is too "whatever you say is ok with me" type. Christen walks all over Brock. He is getting better.
Well tommorrow we are going to a Local state park to participate in a fishing tournament. Zeb, our 2 yr old is very excited about it. Well I gotta go, Zeb just woke up and wants my lap.
Later.
Today I bribed Reece with Mc Donalds in order for him to willingly go to a soccer tournament today. He said "I only play games on Tuesdays! I don't want to play today." Until I said the magic word then he was ok. Motivation is a wonderful thing.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Back to fat class

Well, I went back to fat class again. It went well. I wore the heaviest sweatshirt I could. I would have worn jeans too, but it was too nice out side. I really like the Tuesday class, it is called the Mom and Tot class. There were about 4 other kids Zeb's age there. They made some nifty changes to the program that are for the better, I believe. I have every confidence that I will do it again. I can do this.
This last weekend we went up to the cabin. My in-laws had the old camper torn all apart and only the bottom trailer part was left. There were piles of brush and old burned items from a burning barrel that Duners Grandma had. Duner has an Uncle Jimmy that, it seems, liked to burn werid things and see what happens. We actually found a fired extinguisher. Quite the guy. Anyway, we took it apart and threw it in the low spot on the acre so you can no longer see the brush, we are going to toss all of the other garbage out. It is coming around. It is nice to see living trees instead of brush. Duners Dad also built a deck off the side of the house, which is great for getting the sand off of our feet before we go in the house. Yeah less cleaning.
This weekend Reece is in a 'Nutmeg Soccer Tournament'. We have 2 games on Saturday morning and then the boys are in a fishing tournament at High Cliff. I am hoping Duner will be there to help them out. Otherwise I am going to have to recruit Grandpa.