My 1st Goal Met!

Around Christmas time, Old Navy put their jeans on sale for $12.00 each....I ordered myself 2 pairs, I know I know, what was I thinking? Ordering jeans online.

Well, they came and guess what? No, see, you thought that both pair didn't fit me, but 1 pair did fit me...the other pair, well, didn't.

So, my first goal in my weightloss was to fit in the other pair...I did NOT take them back. I loved the way the buckle shut...Anyway, guess what???????????

THEY FIT THEY FIT THEY FIT!!! Not only do they fit, they fit GOOD!

Wanna see my fat ass? LOOK...

Where has the time gone?

My time has gone to being a husbandless mom for just about 2 weeks ... ugh doesn't even describe it! Saturday Frank will be home for a week, and let me tell you, he is IN CHARGE for that full week! I certainly hope that I get sent to my room and that the kids at least shower 1 time in that week! ;)

Let's see...I've accomplished and have learned a few things that has only made me more of a mom, yes, you can be more of a mom...
1. All fingers have remained attached to the hands! Big step here!
2. Teeth pulling isn't really that bad! I pulled a tooth for the first time this past Sunday and I didn't even gag! Go me!
3. Movies with 3 kids isn't really that bad ... popcorn can keep a 3 year old entertained for about 10 minutes at a time...But what really worked, was the 'movable' seats...you know, bouncy bouncy!
4. When you lose all sanity, go to Facebook or a 'mommy board' ... you might be able to find some sane people there! If no sane people exist, at least you can feel better by reading about their insane days.
5. Strep throat hurts! I know this, as I had it a lot growing up. So, don't wait if your 7 year old tells you his throat hurts and he has a fever...take him in!
6. Houses stay cleaner w/out another adult in them. You average about 2 loads of laundry less a week! Less is good!
7. If you can only use 1 coupon per person, per day, you can let your 7, 9 and 3 year old go through the line too!
8. Cats are great companions ... even when they smell up the house.
9. One MUST shovel the snow BEFORE the freezing rain hits. If not, you continue to slid down your porch steps & slide in the driveway each morning. This is a tough task with a 3 year old hanging onto you (for fear of falling) and if you are late for the bus.
10. Mom's never get to shower or use the bathroom by themselves when dad isn't around to hold them hostage.

I'll let you ponder on these 10 for a bit.

Upcoming post: How useful a 9 year old is...

"When I grow up...

I'm going to be big."

Brought to you by: Juliana

Happy Birthday to mmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeee....

This has to be the best birthday ever! I took the day off, got to spend it with my loving husband, and got to spend a lot of money :) ... WOOT! *snicker*

So, a bit of history, LOL ... February 14, 2008, our 10 year anniversary, Frank and I promised each other tattoo's ... well, just about a year later, we finally get them!

In high school, Frank used to draw a rose on his love notes to me. 15 years later he draws it up for me and I get it as a tattoo...The 3 dew drops represent each of the kids...

Located on my wrist...


Then, since Frank wasn't done yet, I got another one. LOL I told Frank that this was my birthday present, cause the other one was for our Anniversary LAST year ...This one hurt sooooo much more than the one on my wrist.

Located on my shin (the side):

My wittle bitty kitty witty ...

Then, the Frankster...his is not finished yet...it is the Star of Life with the angel St. Michael on top. He needs to add NREMTP (National Registry EMT Paramedic) to it and coloring...he is adding my 'garnet' color (my birthstone) somewhere and something for the kids...They asked him to come back cause 2 hours was long enough ...

The reddish tint color is Frank's skin bruising, this will turn to gray shading...



So, there we are. Tell me what you think...

Wordless Wednesday...

Can this be right?

I've lost 15.52 lbs. in 19 days?!? Well, if it is, it has to be coming off from inside, cause my pants don't fit any looser than they did when I lost 7 lbs!

I was tagged...are you next?

1.Go to your documents

2. Go to your 6th file.

3.Go to your 6th picture.

4. Blog about it.

5. Tag 6 friends to do the same.

So, here is my picture:


Well...interesting choice...I haven't told this story on here, so this is good...anyway, this is Hayden (Full Name: Nikki Hayden after the motorcycle racer ~ what is that correct term, Frank?) getting his first bath w/in hours of bringing him home. In December, 2007, I lost a cat we had for just about 10 years, he died in his sleep...(poor Cookie, I still miss him!) after numerous attempts at finding a kitten, Christmas time is not a good time to find a kitten!, we decided to go to a farm and ask if they had any.

We couldn't find that farm, LOL, but when we turned down the road we thought the farm was on, we saw about 20 (or more) tailless cats and they were running after our car!

It was a site to see, I've never had cats attack my car or had seen so many tailless cats at a time! Frank stopped the van and talked me into knocking on the door and asking them if we can have one of their kittens (there were so many!) ... Frank said "Make sure it's that fluffy one with a tail! I don't want a cat w/out a tail!"

So, I go a knocking...LOL...as I'm walking to the door, all the tailless cats, and the kitten w/a tail, are following me, rubbing against my legs, tripping me, anything to get some lovving...the fluffy kitten is purring soooooooo loud that he was shaking the ground (ok not really, but you get what I mean), so I knock and a very elderly man comes to the door with another 20+ tailless cats...(and the smell, OMG, the smell!)

I explained to him what had happened to my cat and explained to him about no kittens to be found and explained to him how we couldn't find the farm...I asked him if we could buy a kitten off of him.

He looked at me, and then at the cats, and then said "You can have that there kitten w/the tail. He made himself at home here and I only collect the cats w/out tails."

So, that is how we got Hayden ... w/a tail ...




Now...I tag, Kristi, Aunt Cheri, Shelle, Kyla & Gail!

Day 15! --- WOW That went fast!

I'm at 9 lbs of weight loss! Yeah me!!

Portion control, less snacking and the Wii Fit is working!

I want to loose another 10 lbs by next Friday...I'll be happy with 5!

Thanks for all the encouragement!

Wordless Wednesday

Day 10 ...

Well, as the days go on, the dieting gets easier. Finding the time to use the Wii Fit gets tougher, though. Day 3 was my hardest day!

I've gotten my portion size under control, although, it is hard to walk away when I'm full. I'm so used to eating everything in sight ... and eating off the kids plates.

At 6 days I recalculated my weight on the Wii ... I lost 4 lbs. Not much, but it's something. I can tell a diff in buttoning my pants, and my baby stomach wiggles once again. HA!

Still going..............

Free Garnier Shampoo / Conditioner / Styling Products at Walgreens!

Today I bring you one of my shopping 'deals' ... I rarely shop at Walgreens, unless something like this comes up ;) ... You need to buy today's paper (actually buy several ;) )

In today's paper there is a $1.00 off any Garnier Fructuis Shampoo or Conditioner and a $1.00 off any Garnier Styling product.

(if you clip coupons, these coupons have been in numerous Sunday papers for several months now, so you should have them already!)

Walgreens has Garnier products on sale for $2.99...

In Walgreens they have an Easy Saver booklet (coupon booklet~located near the ads) and in it is a $2.00 off any Garnier coupon...it says limit 1, but you can get as many as you want and the $2.00's will come off each product.

Then use te $1 off manufacturer coupon and you get FREE!

Day 4 ... am I done yet?

Day 4 is much better than Day 3! Not sure if this is because of being at work or not. We do have a BUNCH of goodies in the office, candy, cookies, etc...that sucks majorly, but I keep telling myself it's from last week, so it's old and nasty. LOL

Breakfast: My fiber / grain poptart
Coffee ... coffee and coffee ... very VERY little creamer.

Lunch: Grilled Chicken Breast topped with crab meat and swiss cheese. 5 chips.
3 glasses of Iced Tea - unsweetened of course!

Dinner: Will be, Salad topped with Grilled Chicken.

The hardest part is walking away from a plate that all wasn't eaten. At lunch, I could have devoured it all, but instead, walked away.

Starving children, I'm sorry. :(

My beautiful family...

The cousins...


The entire family...

Day 3 ... ready to quit!

I feel so hungry, but I know I'm not...I've eaten like I'm supposed to, portion size, etc...It's got to be in my head! Bah Humbug.

Smoking 3 cigs. so far, will be 4 before the day is over I'm sure. Not a good day on the smoking.

Frank SCORED a Wii Fit today ... so add in 9 mins of exercise :)

Day 2: this sucks!

Phew. Tough work when lots of food is around, dinner was hard, was at mom's house!!!

Ok, Day 2:

Breakfast:
Slice of raisin/cinnamon good for you bread w/out butter ...

Snack:
Same as above

Lunch:
Chicken w/onions and green peppers cooked in olive oil.

Snack:
2 pieces of cheese and 3 of those big brown nuts (can't remember the name); a few carrots, celery

Dinner:
1/2 Salad w/Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing; beef BBQ w/out the roll...Lots of celery and carrots and a few more pieces of cheese. A handful of chips, UTZ are my fav and they were right there :(

Not too bad today, but not as good as yesterday. My food intake is definitely less than normal, this is good.

My drinks are either water or iced green tea or iced tea (unsweetened) ... I love my tea and love it unsweetened so that is a good thing.

Tomorrow Frank is trying for a Wii Fit at Target ... I so need this!

(Forgot...1 1/2 cigs today)

I'm thinking ...

if I write this on my blog I will continue to follow through. This is tough for me. Weight loss that is. I love food. Put it in front of me and I will devour it all and then some....

So, here is my Day 1 of the "CG Weightloss Competition"

Breakfast-
1 Whole Grain and Fiber Poptart
(I know it's not the best choice, but I love my poptarts, and love these, so it's better than the normal cinnamon sugar ones...as I'm typing this I'm drooling for one of the 'real' cinnamon sugar poptarts...omg must stop self)

Lunch -
Salad Wrap - wrapped in 'green' tortilla shell...in it grilled chicken, romaine, shredded cheese and some bacon...
I had maybe 5 fries ... but that is a big step for me, I usually eat ALL the fries.
The best thing at lunch, I ATE 1/2 THE WRAP! GO ME!! LOL

Snack - 1 big piece of turkey

Dinner -
1/2 Salad - romaine lettuce, zucchini slices, feta cheese and balsamic Vinaigrette (low fat); Grilled chicken breast with tomato slices and some kind of sauce that wasn't thick, so felt it was a good choice; steamed brocolli; 2 bites, yes, 2 bites! of mashed potatoes....

Tomorrow 8:00am Frank is at Target to get me a Wii Fit...this is what I'm using my Christmas money from my mom for. I do believe I will use this.

OMG I forgot, the best news...I smoked a total of 2 1/2 cigs today!

Lord Help Me. I need to do this (weight thing) sssssssssssssooooooooooo bad.

Till tomorrow...

I need to remember next year to rent a...

dumpster.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HANUKKAH!




VIEW MANY MORE PICTURES HERE

The playlist...

(<~~~ Over there)...has brought back so many songs from my past. Mix them with my songs I love now...plus the songs I will come to love in the future and you have got one big






















Mess!

I'm having a ton of fun with this!

Name that tune...

Juliana is listening to my Ipod ... She came up to me and said "Mommy I listen to the booger song"

Any guesses?

Introducing...Kaitlyn Ella

Born to a dear friend of mine on 12/18/08 by emergency c-section, 7 weeks early...
8:38am ~ 4lbs 15oz & 18 inches

Mommy and baby are both doing remarkably well!



WELCOME TO THE WORLD KAITLYN ELLA! I hope you keep doing so well that you can come home by Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday ~~ Uncle Kevin as Santa ~ Juliana as herself

(Excuse the poor quality of the pictures)

Wordless Wednesday ~ A Welcome ... Holiday Style...

Welcome to the world, Tyler!!

Baby Tyler...born 12/4 to our dear friends Chad & Laura and big brother Jayden....


(this picture was taken by a friend)

Happy Holidays!

Welcome to the world, Baby Jasmin!

My niece (Grandchild #15 for my in-laws), Baby Jasmin...born 12/1 to Maria & Efren, and big siblings Theresa, Efren, & Anai ... Congratulations on the beautiful baby girl!

The almost purrfect day...

The purrfect ending.






Not.




Done by the not so purrrrrfect ...

cat.

Wordless Wednesday ... Holiday style

What happens when you and your Uncle share the same birthday?

You celebrate together ...

BooBoo you are...

7! I can't believe my little BooBoo is 7! Happy Birthday, Kristopher!!

Vote for my favorite money saving website!! They are in 2 category's, so vote 2 x's!

Select the category - How-To (Second vote select Social Shopping)
Select a Company - A Full Cup
Enter your email address...be sure to confirm the email!!!

If you want to save lots of money, join this awesome site! Be sure to put that YouMe&3 sent ya!
Many thanks!!

Wordless Wednesday

Day FIVE five FiVe ... YO FIVE No Jive

of being dry! Thanks to my brother-in-law's girlfriend, Juliana has been wearing undies for 5 days and has been dry! YEAH! Could this be it? I hope so!!


(this video is especially for Aunt Kristi and Uncle Matt)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Fall Fun Friends

Don't run with scissors...

or let your 9 year old hand them to your 3 year old...

Why am I always the parent home when blood attacks? Poor Juliana ...



Waiting for the doctor...


After the mean ole' doctor ... after the big bad nurse ...


AND...

36 hours later, mommy can finally get a BIG smile from her!


My wrap job beats the nurses wrap job!

How cool is this?

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_10922259

Family to receive visit from 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' to be divulged today

By MARCUS RAUHUT Staff writer

The local family receiving a new home on the ABC-TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will be introduced today.

No details about the family have been announced so far, other than it resides in the Pennsylvania-Maryland border area.

Saturday kicks off a one-week blitz to demolish the family's house and build a new one. Hundreds of construction workers, contractors and volunteers will be working around the clock to have the new house finished by Nov. 14.

The family is expected to meet with the builder today and begin moving out personal belongings.

The house is scheduled to be demolished Saturday with excavation work beginning Monday. The family is scheduled to return to their new house Nov. 14.

The show will air in January.

Dan Ryan Builders of Frederick, Md., will be responsible for procuring materials and recruiting thousands of volunteers and subcontractors who will work 24 hours a day for a week to build the home.

Other companies, such as Papa John's and Applebee's, are donating their time and serving food and drinks to the throng of workers and volunteers throughout the project. Applebee's in Waynesboro is planning a pancake breakfast Sunday and other fundraisers, with proceeds benefiting the family.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on ABC. Each week the show spotlights a family coping with an unusual situation in need of a helping hand.

This is the show's sixth season. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"

has won back-to-back Emmy Awards as best reality program (non-competitive).

For more information on the local project, visit http://www.drbextreme.com.

We've been told they will be 'staying' out our Sheraton (by Ruby Tuesdays) ... I just want a sighting, that's all!

We have got to come together...

and support our new President! These hate mails and hate messages are insane! The more we try to object to Obama's presidency, the more we are going to fall apart as a nation. We need to realize that not only did the American's vote, but so has God. This is the way it was to happen. Things happen for reasons ...

GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSES AND SUCK IT UP.

Deal with it.

It's done. It's over. You can't change it.

We witnessed a historical event...I'm proud to have been alive to see this!

If you want to bash Obama (OR McCain for that matter), please do NOT do so to me. Take my name off your mass emails. I will NOT be a part of it.

The light came on...

and I was scared. Every time the light comes on I get sick to my stomach. Why me? I put it off last night and thought to myself that I would deal with it in the morning. I instantly forgot about the light.

The morning came and I still didn't remember the light. I gather up the kids and throw (I mean place) them in the van. I feel happy go-lucky ... ok, not really, I just got done yelling at Jake for taking too long and I'm sure I yelled at the cat for just being there. Anyway, we get in the van, I turn it on and I remember. I instantly get sick in my stomach, I get scared again.

That damn light...there it is. Glowing as a reminder I need gas. Ugh.

I drive the boys to the bus stop and J to my MIL's ... I've put it off as long as I could. I turn into the gas station and look at the prices and I'm thinking wow, that went down from last week...

I'm watching the numbers and they stop at $36 ... wait, that's not right, maybe I have a faulty nozzle? I click it and a bit of gas spews out ...

it IS full and my total is only $37.77!

$20 less than weeks ago...I can deal with this!

Special visitors...

arrived in New York City yesterday at approximately 10:30am ... They visited a few sites, conquered the Subway (well, sorta), bar hopped (to 1 bar), watched a vehicle get broken into (NO joke), received a few blisters, ate in a HOT diner (one where we thought we were the ones being cooked) that they wouldn't recommend, AND had hangovers at 3pm.

Ok, so that doesn't sound like a blast, BUT if you add to it the people that went, and that we haggled for the real fake Louis Vuitton's, the real fake Doulchi & Gabbana, not to mention the real fake Coach, that shouts FUN and BOOYAH and WOOT and well, just plain YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

They/We ~~~ > myself, my mom, Louise and Andrea all ventured to NYC for a day of bar hopping and shopping.

After dropping off my mother-in-law at the Cathedral we proceeded to attempt the Subway. Interesting. Let's just say that yes, it saved us walking, but for the time it took us to figure out what we were doing, we could have been to the area we wanted to be. (Maybe WE couldn't have, but you get me.)

(Did you know that if you pay $7.50 into the ticket machine and the sale fails, it still keeps your money? Yep. Did you know that if you ask for your money back at the window the attendant tells you to call the number, they tell you how to get your money back, then send in blah blah blah blah ... she knew that by heart)

After walking in circles looking for Chinatown, but not aware we were going in circles, we finally decided to sit and eat and get a cold beerat a wonderful tavern on a side street. I'd tell ya where, but I really have no clue. We happened to go at a time when one of those little beer whore's were there, so we got a free pitcher of Miller Lite, some ML beads and ML earrings...free is good.

The waitress explained which way we needed to go to get to Chinatown, but we got lost several more times. The nice cops and nice New Yorkers finally got us there ... and there we were, haggling! We didn't just stop and haggle on the streets, but we were escorted into back closets, down stairs to basements, and into side doors. Ah, the life. (I think mom was rather shaken when one place locked us in. LOL)

After making our way down Canal St. and through Little Italy we found the Subway once again...by the time we got to our meeting destination we had about 1 1/2 hours left and decided to get something to eat. Our choice for dinner was less than to be desired, but we dealt with it. We were so drained and so tired that we just wanted to sit and wanted a nice cold drink, which were hard to come by since we were being cooked for dinner. Who in their right mind has their customers sit underneath stage lights, in a basement, with the heat on? At least put enough ice in the ice water so it doesn't melt in 10 seconds.

All in all ~~~~ It was a wonderful trip with wonderful friends!

The time flew by and I will gladly do it again! Despite our change of plans (bar hopping LOL) and my sore, blistered feet, I am anxiously awaiting the next time I get to go!

Oh, I forgot, one more thing...next time I'm taking a compass!

A beautiful site...

the Empire State Building at night.

Halloween Part 2...

Here are the goblins from the 2008 Sanity Seeking Halloween...

We've got Jake starring as ... Dr. Kill Joy (Pap, the bed pan was a BIG HIT! People loved it!)



Then we have Kris starring as ... A Clone Trooper (mmmuwwwhahahahahahaha)



And last, but not least, Juliana as ... Grumpy, I mean, Tender Heart Bear
Juliana was scared to death of the 'scary' costume's ... poor baby. Even the ones her size she was scared of...






HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween!

To tide you over until I get pics of my scary crew, we will start with the "Dancing Queen" ... May I present to you...my niece, Eliana, 1st prize costume winner!




"You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen..."

Halloween Wordless Wednesday

The Pumpkin Princess (Juliana 6 weeks old - In no way was she harmed)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Halloween Style

Jake 3 and Kris just about 1.

Can this be it?

FINALLY after 3 years, could this be the year we have been waiting for?

Could this be the year that Jakob finally is a 'good' student? Could this be the year that Jakob finally has a teacher that connects with him? Could this be the year that his father and I don't have to meet w/the principal and a team of specialists?

Please say it is true ~ this interim report that I am reading.

Reading B
English B
Spelling B
Social Studies B
Math B
Science B
Homework B

B's ... do you see that? ALL B's ... INCLUDING reading?!?!

But wait, I saved the best for last:

Behavior




OMG







Wait for it
























SATISFACTORY! An S! NOT A NEEDS IMPROVEMENT!
(comment by teacher: sometimes talkative, silly)




I can handle silly!










OMG I think I want to cry!

Wordless Wednesday ~ In honor of Halloween ~ My adorable niece

Darth Vader wins again...

and BooBoo shall remain his name even longer...

Kris was riding his scooter with a Darth Vader mask on. He ended up doing a face plant. He now has 2 deep scratches on his nose, kinda like he was wearing glasses. Frank cleaned him up while I was trying hard not to laugh.

I wonder what the cars thought driving by? "Dude, there's Darth on a scooter."

Poor BooBoo.

Here's a picture from yesterday, you can see the 1 scratch ...

Wordless Wednesday...

Such a loser...

that would be me.

I just read through the Walgreens ad and they have Aquafina Alive and Sobe Life Water on sale for 2 / $2 ... use their Easy Saver coupon (in the October Easy Saver books by their ads in the store) and it makes it 2/$1 -- 50 cents each is a great deal in itself,

BUT

combine it with a coupon for $1 off of 2 and it makes it FREE! Limit is 2 bottles per transaction.

I couldn't stand it...I had to go...Walgreens is 30 seconds up the road. So, at 7:59pm, 1 minute until Juliana's bedtime, I grabbed her, and the boys, and we went. J was wearing the one piece pj's w/the feet, the boys were still dressed, and myself, I had no bra on, and my pj pants on...so I put on a pair of jeans and flip flops and a jacket and off we went...LOL

BUT I got 6 bottles for 36cents!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH ME!!

This is a big deal for me, since the boys (frank included) drink me out of the house!!

We are babysitting...

and all he is doing is whining for me to hold him. I have to sit on the couch just so he can be up here with me. HIs parents aren't due back until tomorrow around 5pm-ish.

Hayden (cat) is a mess, he is so upset. He won't eat, let alone come downstairs.Petey (cat) is fine, but he's been through so much change this one doesn't phase him...

All he is doing is whine .. I feel so bad I don't know what to do to calm him down!! He won't eat and doesen't even want one of his wonderful snacks.

My dog nephew, Capone. I can't believe Frank said yes, but he did...

Poor baby misses his mom/'dad so much. I don't know what to do for him! I hope he sleeps tonight!