Vegas Bret Style

Bret made it home safe and sound at around 11pm last night. We all had some good laughs while we went through his pictures, so I thought I'd share. They started off as the pretty and scenic kind...

(He scored big time for Ryan with the souvenirs at Excalibur. More on that later.)

Then the fun began. He partied with Hugh Hefner.

Had a little peep show with Brangelina.
Was interviewed by Al.

Got hitched to George Clooney.

Gave some much needed pointers to Tiger Woods.

The four greatest minds of the United States.

Home now from his big exciting trip, he scored big time with Ryan in the souvenir department. Looks to me like he had himself in mind while they were shopping. LoL.

My little warrior.

Vegas

So, now that my husband is coming home tonight, I can freely tell y'all that he's been in Vegas for the past few days without fearing that someone reading this might try to break in and attack me in my sleep. Because I'm a little nutty like that.

He and our neighbor/friend, Scott caught a flight out there Wednesday morning and left Teri and myself home to be single parents for three days. I have to admit that I never realize just how much Bret helps out with the kids and things like dishes and homework, until he's not here and I'm on my way to the loony bin from trying to do it all.

Last night I had to take Ashley over to her Grandpa's house for help with her math homework because my own daughter passed me up in math two years ago. They say "use it or lose it" - and I'm here to tell you it's true.

This morning I woke up for the second morning in a row by almost falling out of our king size bed. Both mornings Ryan has climbed into bed with me at 4am. Does he sleep on his dad's side? Of course not. He sleeps on my side and wedges in next to me to keep warm. We end up using a quarter of the bed with the whole rest of it wide open. If it hadn't been 4am, I might have been coherent enough to realize that I could just climb over him and sleep on the other side of the bed, but at 4am I'm not running on all cylinders.

I now have the rest of the afternoon to myself since Chloe's mom got out of work early today, so I'm off to do some decluttering of my own.

Friday Fill-Ins - April 11

1. I love springtime in good ol' Peoria!

2. Cereal, pancakes and french toast and McDonalds breakfasts are foods I love to eat for breakfast.

3. It seems I'm always searching for the remote control.

4. Reading a good book or watching TV is a great way to end the day.

5. I think I may have gotten through this week afterall!

6. Chocolate is what I've been craving lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Ashley's volleyball tournament and Bret coming home from Vegas, tomorrow my plans include taking both kids to birthday parties (one is at the zoo so pray for good weather!) and Sunday, I want to do nothing!

Thursday Thirteen - April 10

Thirteen Things That Have Kept Me From Blogging This Week:

1. My gym injury. Stupid calf. I still don't have a full range of motion yet.

2. Someone went to Vegas and it wasn't me!


3. Softball practice.


4. Volleyball practice.


5. Parent/Teacher Conferences.


6. Jump Start Gymnastics - no, not for me - that would be a riot.

7. Yummy Limon Electric Limonade at Buffalo Wild Wings.


8. Storms. Flash Flood Watch. Enough already.

9. My DVR. I love you, Big Brother and Survivor!


10. Hmm, not the mountain laundry.


11. Signing up for this and this.


12. Finally getting around to Scrapbooking our vacation to Disney World from last June.


13. Planning and researching our summer family vacation. I'm thinking East Coast. I still have yet to see my first ocean!

Trim Up Tuesday - Week Three

So... I may be the only person ever to take the elevator down at the gym - after only getting through the warm up. Hmm.

Yesterday I was all psyched about doing Body Attack at the gym. I was a little sore from running with Ryan and his bike the day before, but I stretched for a good ten minutes while I waited for the class to begin. I got through to the end of the warm up track, when with no warning I felt my calf muscle SNAP. I was able to recover quickly and not go falling to the ground, but I knew a muscle snapping wasn't a good thing, so I hobbled out of the class quickly, grabbed Chloe out of the daycare and was on the phone with my doctor's office before leaving the parking lot.

Luckily it's just a calf strain, but now I'm out of the gym for one to two weeks and have to keep it on ice. I may have to admit that I was possibly over doing it at the gym. When I started back up, I went full force right back into these classes that aren't very forgiving on unused muscles and joints. Maybe a week or two off will make all those muscles and joints stop screaming at me, but I'm afraid the time away will make it difficult to get back into it again.

Without further ado, here's what a weekend of nachos, mojitos and getting your period will do to your Trim Up Tuesday numbers - and I even stayed active all weekend:

Weight

• I am back to my starting weight. (It mocks me. Just a few days ago I was down a total of 2.5 pounds.)
• I am 1 pound heavier than last week.

Exercise

• I worked out 3 time(s) this week.
• I did 2 hours and 10 minutes of cardio this week.
• I did 1 hour of strength training this week.

Goals

• I did meet my last goal.
• My Last Goal Was: To eat healthier and snack less. (For the most part this is true - up until Saturday night.)
• My new goal is: To heal and get back to the gym.

We'll Get There Yet

Today ended up being just as beautiful outside as yesterday so we determined it to be Learn How To Ride A Bike Day for Ryan. Bret went out and removed the training wheels from Ryan's old bike - a bike that has very obviously been outgrown since last summer. Covered in full protective gear, Ryan was ready to go.

Yes, the bike is a bit small but we figured he would feel more secure being closer to the ground.

Here we are still getting use to the feel of no training wheels. First step? Walk with the bike. "Look at me mom! I'm good at this!"

Finally realizing that his old bike is WAY too small, I ran down the street to borrow Quentin's old bike. Perfect fit until we can get him a new one. I now decide enough of this walking back and forth in front of the house stuff. It's time for some real practice.

I walked him down a few houses to the cul-de-sac and spent the next hour running with him, holding onto just one handle bar with my hand on his back. He'd do great for about 5 seconds on his own and then would wobble and freak out. Other than exhausting myself by doing this over and over, I have no idea how else to teach him. If I let him go and let him fall, he'll never get back on, so I've promised him that I won't let him fall. We are now wondering if there might be some kind of link between his lack of balance and his hearing loss because he really does not seem to grasp the whole balance thing. Something to look into, I guess.

My next thought is to get him balancing on the scooter that he won't touch either, in hopes of that helping him out in the balance department. It may take all spring and summer, but it's my mission to get him riding that bike.

Weekly Winners

Game Time

Tonight was Ashley's first Volleyball Tournament and her team won both matches.

Waiting for the serve.

Going for it.

Ashley's cheering section.

How To Excite Your Dryer Repair Man

Leave your undies behind the washer. Because, of course this time it's NOT a sock that got loose from the rest of the load that went in!

At least he had enough good sense not to say anything, because you know he saw them.

Excuse me while I go crawl under a rock and DIE!

Friday Fill-Ins - April 4

1. Tonight I saw the sun set.
2. Body Step at the gym makes me wanna dance! I'm on my way there now.
3. Splitting a few appetizers between friends is pure heaven if drinks are included, too.
4. My best friend from high school is someone I'd like to get to know better. It's been so long that it makes me sad!
5. The smell of rain reminds me so much of springtime!
6. I cleaned my house yesterday and that made it all better. Anyone that dares to enter will be sprayed down with Lysol first.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my daugher's Volleyball Tournament since Ryan is feeling better, tomorrow my plans include hoping for beautiful weather and good health and Sunday, I want to get out and do something with the kids!

Thursday Thirteen - April 3

Thirteen Clues That Tell You Mom Is On A Diet...

1. When you open the pantry door, it looks like YOU are now on a diet, too. What? You didn't know that if mom is on a diet, then so is the rest of the family? Shame on you.

2. You take the bag of "baked" chips down from the pantry and they are already sorted into single servings in ziplock sandwich bags.

3. The cow has been fired. Your beef supplier is now a turkey. Gobble Gobble.

4. The pig has been fired, too. Your bacon supplier is also the turkey, now.

5. She is watching Dr. Phil while munching on a bowl of green beans instead of chips.

6. The grocery bill just got more expensive. Why does it cost more to eat healthier?

7. You know what "points" are. Everything edible now has a number written on it. Unfortunatly, the highest score is not the winner in this case.

8. You know that when there aren't very many of those "points" left, you should stay clear of her.

9. You're afraid that you may be addicted to spray butter.

10. She is mentally calculating how many minutes of power walking she'll have to do while you're at Volleyball practice to be able to eat that Happy Meal.

11. You've learned how to manipulate the read out on the scale. Ok, not really - we're still working on that.

12. She actually uses the gym membership she pays for each month.

13. It starts rubbing off on you. You find yourself taking the dog for walks, too.

Winter's Last Attack

Ryan walked in the door afterschool today with a 103.4 fever. He's got some Ibuprofen in him now, so he seems a lot better for now. Regardless, he'll have to stay home from school tomorrow which means I need to wipe tomorrow's busy day clean. That means no gym for me. No dentist for Ryan. No tumbling for Chloe. No Tiger Scouts for Ryan. And if he's still sick on Friday? One of us will have to miss Ashley's first Volleyball Tournament.

Maybe we can reschedule this bout of illness until next winter, because I certainly don't have time for it to run it's course through our whole entire family now. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the corner doing shots of Emergen C and spraying anyone who dares to come near me with Lysol.

Trim Up Tuesday - Week Two

Here we are at week two and I haven't given up yet. In fact, I'm more motivated now than ever. My mom and I took our before pictures when I was at her house this weekend. I'd like to believe that the camera adds on what you don't see when you look in the mirror, but you can't argue with something that's sitting right in front of your face.

Since quitting smoking, I've now put on 20 pounds and it's time to lose that plus more. I've done it before (right after Ryan was born) and I can do it again! As of now I want to lose 80 pounds. (Don't see it? Look again at my midsection and thighs. OMG, I can't believe I'm being this honest.)

Before:

(because putting your hands on your hips makes you look a lot thinner - lol)

I'll be printing this picture off and hanging it on my pantry door. And just in case that still isn't enough to keep me from opening the damn door, I may hang a picture of my backside inside the door, right on the snack shelf. (Thanks for the idea, Grandma!)

Now that brings us to today's reality check... Please hold while Lynda goes and strips of anything that may add any extra unwanted not really there ounce and then weighs herself... Ok, I'm back (and yes, I'm wearing clothes) here we go...drum roll please...

Trim Up Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Weight

• I lost 1 pound this week! (I wasn't expecting to lose any, so yay for me!)
• I am 79 pounds away from my ideal weight.

Exercise

• I did 2 hours and 15 minutes of cardio this week.

Goals

• I did not meet my last goal.
• My Last Goal Was: To eat healthier and snack less. (I blew it by going to Chicago for the weekend.)
• My new goal is: Let's try this again. To eat healthier and snack less.

So there you have it. One pound gone, even on top of all that bread I ate last night. You cannot put bread in front of me and expect it to stay there! Especially if it's from Avanti's.

Want to join the fun at Trim Up Tuesdays?

The Decorating Saga Continues

Remember those darn wires and the end table?

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When I came home from Chicago with the kids yesterday, I learned that Bret had gone out and bought an audio pier with a cabinet to put the cable box and DVD Recorder on. We had been looking into getting one, but couldn't decide on which one we wanted. Well, he tried to surprise me by getting one while I was gone.

I'm not sure what I think of it. It's a bit darker, redder and taller than I would have picked out myself. On one hand, I'm glad it's done, but on the other hand I'm not sure if I like how it looks. It's probably too late to take it back now that it's all put together anyway. I'm going to have to stare at it some more. Feel free to join me.

Spring Break Is OVER

One out the door, one more to go! Yippee!

Weekly Winners - March 30

Hosted by Sarcastic Mom aka Lotus

Today is our last day up here in Chicago. We'll be heading back home after lunch since the kids have school tomorrow. (That will be me you see dancing in the street as the bus drives away.)

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Sleeping in until 9:30am was a beautiful luxury this morning. Once we were up, it was time to find something to do, though.

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The kids and I at my mom's.

Ashley and Ryan playing with my mom's dog.


For lunch we went to the one and only place there is to go to in Chicago - White Castles, of course. It's probably a good thing we don't have them in Peoria - I don't think my stomach could handle it.

Someone made us stop at Subway first.

The one and only.

After lunch, we went Miniature Golfing. Ryan was adamant that he didn't want to go and that he didn't like to play golf, but he ended up having the most fun out of any of us.

A Ryan sized house.

A castle for a Princess.

Poor Homer. We found him this way, face down in the water. He must have forgotten to pay his tab.

He can get away with pretty much anything when he's looking this cute.

She shouldn't be allowed to grow up so quickly.

Who said you can't go home? (The street I grew up on.)

Once we were done golfing, it was off to dinner at my Aunt's house. We haven't been home since Christmas and it was so great to visit. You don't realize just how much you miss people until you're sitting around the table having a good time with them.

*My Aunt spent quite a bit of time getting the table nice and pretty for desert and then she dropped the pie as she went to put it in a sturdier dish. Ha!

We brought gifts with us since we had missed my brother's birthday a week or so ago and my mom's birthday is next month.

Luke, my Aunt's Golden Retriever, may just be the sweetest dog ever.

We're off to breakfast now...

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

After a quick lunch at White Castles this afternoon, we played a round of miniature golf over at Hollywood Park. We pretty much had to drag Ryan out of the house assuring him that he would indeed have fun. Ironically, he had more fun than the rest of us.


This conversation just took place upon returning to my mom's house:

Ryan: Uncle Dave! We're back! I'm awesome at golf!

My Mom: Dave! I had the lowest score.

Dave: You must have cheated.

My Mom: Nope, but I did keep score.

Ha. I don't think she even realized the way that sounded!

Damn Smokers

Three and a half hours later, we're finally here in Chicago at my mom's house. Three and a half hours. Ugh.

The drive here started out fairly normal until 45 minutes or so in when Ashley started feeling car sick. We pulled over to a gas station about twenty miles past Bloomington, IL and got some crackers for Ash and other yummy's for myself and Ryan.

Back on I55 again, I'm talking to my mom on my cell phone and twenty minutes have passed when I see a sign welcoming us to Bloomington, IL. What the...?! Didn't we just come from that direction? Crap! I went the wrong freaking way - and it took me twenty minutes to figure it out.

I get us back on track and am still fuming over my own stupidity. Ashley is still feeling really sick and Ryan is telling me that he has to go potty - after we've already stopped at a gas station. I sigh, put my turn signal on and pull over to the shoulder. I press the button on my fancy overhead console that magically opens the sliding door on the shoulder side of the road. Ryan gets up and stands in the doorway, does his thing and I close the door - all without having to get out of my minivan. Awesome! You've gotta love having little boys!

We're finally back in route and other than the standard every 10 minute, "Are we there yet?" that comes from Ryan, things seem to be going fine. We merge onto I80, excited to almost be there, when the idiot in the lane next to mine, throws his still smoldering cigarette butt out his window and it hits my windshield dead center!

If it hadn't been for all of the above events that lead us to being exactly where we were in that exact time and place, we wouldn't have been accosted by a smoldering cigarette butt. Weird. I am so glad to be a nonsmoker now! 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days y'all!

So now Ryan and my brother are plastered in front of the TV playing the Lego Star Wars game on PlayStation 3. Little does my 6'7" manly brother know that my daughter is dead serious about him doing her Dance Dance Revolution game with her. She even brought him his very own mat!

Friday Fill-Ins - March 28

1. Some relationships are meant to last forever.

2.Hilary Duff is the last concert I saw; it was the best night of my daughter's life. Okay, I enjoyed it, too.

3. Spring should be a week ago. Come on already!

4. Oh no! I forgot to do laundry all week!

5. I've recently started doing cardio classes at the gym again.

6. The excitement that comes from a child when they are experiencing something they love never fails to make me smile.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to driving up to Chicago to see my family, tomorrow my plans include a yummy breakfast out at The Diner, only the best breakfast place in all of Chicago (all diets are off) and Sunday, I want to be magically transported home so I don't have to be in the car for another 3 hours!

Thursday Thirteen - March 27

Thirteen Things We've Done Over Spring Break

1. The zoo.

2. Easter

3. Taken a trip to the downtown library.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. I think I may be in trouble here...

9.

10.

11.

12.

13. My kids are not going to be happy when they go back to school and hear about all of the cool things that the other kids have done. If only the weather would cooperate...

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Zoo Trip

Yesterday afternoon the temperature broke 60 degrees so the kids and I headed over to Glen Oak Zoo for the afternoon. It's not a huge zoo, in fact it's pretty darn small and you can pretty much see everything in under an hour. That should change as they are doing some pretty massive upgrading. (I sure hope it's done in time for the regular season so that we didn't buy a family membership for nothing.) I'm now rethinking our decision to not renew our membership for Wild Life Prairie Park. I think we're probably going to end up doing it since the kids always have even more fun there.

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Ryan was really into all the different animals. It was fun to see how excited he got, but nothing prepared us for the pure excitement that came from Chloe. She was all over the place, wanting to see it all.

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At the zoo, they have a small building that houses a few aquarium tanks and some other things for kids to do. One of those things is a puppet show, which was Ryan's favorite part of the afternoon.

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I have a new Top Ten List for David Letterman, though. It's titled Top Ten Ways To Drive Your Babysitter Insane. Number one? Send your child to the zoo with her in squeaky shoes. LoL. Seriously though, they're cute but I may have to burn them.
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I've uploaded pictures from yesterday's trip to the zoo and also from Easter over at Flickr. Click here to see them. The easiest way to view a set over at Flickr is to click on the set and then click on "view as slide show". Enjoy.

One Of Those Days

I was super excited to go to my favorite class at the gym this morning - until I got there and it started. Holy cow! My legs just didn't want to move and I was counting the minutes until the torture was over.

I'm home now, obviously, and am hurting like a .... I'm off to take a quick shower and possibly take the kiddos to the zoo since the temperature has already broken 50 degrees. We'll see, but I need. to. get. out. of. this. house! Maybe I'll have some zoo pics to share later.

For now I'm going to go stand under a hot stream of water until the pain goes away.

Reading

This is a mistake. This is someone else's unfortunate vial of blood that the doctor has analyzed. Look at my child, at the shine of her flyaway curls and the butterfly flight of her smile - this is not the face of someone dying by degrees.

I have only known her for two years. But if you took every memory, every moment, if you stretched them end to end - they'd reach forever.

I think I'll go hug my kids now.

Trim Up Tuesday - Week Two

Well, here I am at week two of this journey and while I'm still at the same weight that I was at last week, I'm not panicking yet because earlier in the week I was down two and a half pounds. I know where I went wrong. It was the Easter ham, yummy corn casserole and that Chocolate Bunny.

I made it to the gym 4 days over the course of the last week and even power walked for 45 minutes on the indoor track while Ashley had Volleyball practice.

My problem is the darn eating. It seems like the more I work out, the hungrier I am. I've even bought a bunch of those 100 calorie snack packs, but like I said - that Chocolate Bunny may be the culprit.

Here are this week's stats:

Weight

• I am the same weight as last week. (Hey, that's better than gaining!)

Exercise

• I did 195 minutes of cardio this week
• I did 45 minutes of brisk activity this week

Goals

• I did meet my last goal
• My Last Goal Was: To make it to the gym at least 3 times.
• My new goal is: To eat healthier and snack less.

Reading

*idea taken from Jamie.

She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the sight of oncoming death, but she could feel the plane tilt first one way, then the other...

With a sense of doom she waited for the overwhelming crush of impact, the last split second of awareness. She hoped dying wouldn't hurt much...

Realization filled her, a realization mixed with both wonder and trepidation. The plane had crashed, but she was alive...

The struggle to survive, as exhausting and harrowing as it had been, had been external. Inside, she'd felt oddly free of stress, because her choices were simple: do what needed to be done, or die. Make a shelter. Stay as warm as possible. Melt snow to drink. That was it . There was nothing more complicated about survival, whereas life was nothing but complications.