Playing Catch up, Part 2 Soccer, Halloween, Baptism and Christmas!

Soccer Season:

 Brian coached both teams. 

He and the girls had fun, I watched and enjoyed watching each Saturday. 

What  a great time they had!

 Madi's team was called Blue Wave

Nori's team was called Blue Dolphins

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October FUN 

 Madi looks thrilled! This is not her favorite part of Halloween.

My favorite part is carving the pumpkins, 

though it has come to be a lot of work to do one for each member of our family. We still do it! _______________

My kids picked their costumes this Halloween. 

Of all the choices she had, Nori chose to be a KNIGHT. So like her! 

Madi was a beautiful witch, and Owen, Superman.

Owen came home after trick or treating and ran straight to the hall closet with his bag of candy. 

Here I caught him shoveling it in as fast as he could. How could I stop him?

November: Best Part EVER!!!

 My little Madelin Lori Palmer was Baptized on November 5th 2011.

Much like the day she was blessed there was a snow storm, making those who traveled up to be a part of this event leery of any FUTURE big events in Madi's life. Her aunt Amber made us promise she'd get married in June. Chances are great there will be snow then.

Great things take sacrifice you know.

It was a wonderful day!

I am so Proud of My Sweet Husband for being worthy to Baptize her!

Thanks to all those in her life who are helping me teach her to be the beautiful daughter of God that she is!

December! Yes December!

 Best Gift Ever, Owen Got a Sleeping Bag and a Flashlight!

 This is the up side to winter in my book, Funny hats!

I love Christmas!

Playing Catch up!! Part 1

Okay- now that it is 2012 I thought I'd get finally get caught up.
I may take this into several posts. I don't think I have the time to do it all in one post.
So watch them as they come. I will start with oldest event and end at the end of the post with most recent.
Hang in there.

I will be doing a quick over view of the main events. From May to now.
Sounds long I know-- but I will make it quick!

 In May My Grandpa Dwayne Gentry passed away.
I visited him the day he passed, he passed only moments after I left his side.
I was grateful to have had the opportunity to say good bye.
I am so thankful that he was able to see his "Sweet Red Head" again.
I am sure that reunion was wonderful!

I, of course will do anything to win the MOTHER OF THE YEAR award.
So the girls had their Tonsils out on May 30th! A very needed surgery, HOWEVER the day before Nori's birthday and the day after school was out.
2 reasons my nominee for Mother of the year was valid in every sense. It was a grueling and hard 2 weeks for the girls, and hard on me, However as they slept, I painted Owen's room. A project I had been putting off for a long time.
NO MORE PURPLE WALLS!! His room looks so nice now!
And Owen got a brand new bed. HE became an official BIG BOY! He has a beautiful captain's bed.
A wonderful bed for years to come.

Owen Also Turned 3, he is getting so big.
For this year he got costumes, BOY COSTUMES.
Here he is dressed as a Police man...Thanks Allie!
He also got a superman cape and some pirate clothes and a few fun hats. He loves to dress up. However, given his newest costumes, he still tries on the girls' dress ups. I guess that is what happens after you have 2 girls then a boy!

I have included this picture of Owen and one of his many activities. He is soooooo busy. I am just SO glad he still naps. Otherwise I am not sure he would survive until he was 4 years old.

In July, it was indeed a busy month, the girls were recovered. Madi attended the city parks program and had a great time there. Where she got to be in the children's parade. She was in heaven.
 Nori attended  pre-school through the summer and had a field trip every day. She had so much fun! It was nice to have them home though when things ended. It was a quick summer.

I went to Girl's camp this year and hiked up through the Timpanogus cave.Here is only one of many pictures I have of the CAVE! It was incredible!
We were at a camp site called Dell Mutual, we had a zip line, canoes, and a confidence course. We had a great time and even came back relaxed!

While all of this was happening, Brian was busy working, missing out on all the fun. Poor Guy!
Brian's mom watched the kids while I was at girl's camp. THANK YOU!

Of course we went to the Nature Center, It was free. 

We had a great time.

The girls got to capture frogs from the pond. They had a great time.

They even touched a snack. NORI seemed to have liked the snake a little too much for my comfort.

She loves that kind of stuff! I mean, just look at her face completely at ease, holding the frog, Madi looks a little nervous.

 Camping with the Family in August. The kids did great! Brian went up a day early with the girls while I stayed home with Owen, he is just a handful and 2 full days with no gate and a river just sounded like a bad idea. The Girls had a great time. I hope that we can go the whole time this next time as a family. Owen should be able to handle it next year.

NORI STARTED KINDERGARTEN!!! She was so excited! She has a half day. 

Unfortunately, that is not a long day. Her Preschool was longer then that.

She loves it!!

 And yes Madi started school too. I don't know why I don't have a picture. 

But she is in Second Grade! Wow she has grown!

Below:

These are pictures from the Black Island Farms in Syracuse. This is their harvest Festival!

We love it ,this is the 2nd year we have gone. HMMM. I smell tradition.

I will have to stop here for now. Stay tuned for the rest of the Updates. Yeah I know it is a lot. 

BUT WHEN IT IS DONE IT IS  DONE!!!

OKAY FEELING BETTER!!!

Yesterday I had major stomach pains, bloating and cramps. I have been bloated for nearly 2 weeks. Bloating makes it hard to eat a lot. That is the good thing, the bad thing is it was very uncomfortable. And nothing changed on the scale.
So even as of yesterday I was stalled on my weight, I am happy to report, Upon stepping on the scale I had lost 3 more pounds.....no bloating today!

I am so happy about that. Only 7 pounds away from my goal!
I have a choice here, do I step up my loss by loosing faster so that I can be down to my goal by January 1st OR do I just keep one pound a week and say that the Middle of January will suffice?
I think a pound a week is great!

Honestly, you'd think with the Holidays coming I would be tempted to splurge on my Calories.
I'd love to believe me!
The food (treats) look so good and smell so good but they are not enjoyable anymore.
I can have one bite or maybe two (or a small piece) then I shutter and am done.
I haven't forgotten what it all tastes like, even my favorites do not tempt me like they should.

What I am happy about, is this, come January 1st I will not have to put into my head or on paper a New Year's Resolution. LOOSE 22 pounds. I get to actually do something I want.

I will say this, today I am going to eat and eat! Because I can, then I will be sure to work out tomorrow, and go back to my plan tomorrow. I think I can afford one day!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I am stuck!!

Haven't lost anything for a while. I have been very distracted by other events, some of which I will get you updated on....haven't gained though. I'll take that.
Now, back to focus on my goal. 

Celebration anyone?

I will be posting the events of the last couple of weeks. But as of today for a matter of time I am going to report.
I have lost 12 pounds. This week was a rollercoaster though, I think I have been a bit bloated, I had thought that I was not loosing anymore then were I was, not that I am complaining reallly because 10 pounds still felt like a success. My goal was 22 though. so I am only 10 pounds away.

I stepped the scale today after seeing no change and saw 2 pounds go like that. I must have been retaining water or something. I feel a lot better any way today. I have felt a little sick and tired. I know this is too much information. But I want to report my progress. Accountability has made me want to report my success. Gives me Motivation. That is the key for me! Thanks for tracking with me. I have lost not only the pounds but I have lost 6 inches in my hips and 5 inches in my waist!! I only have one pair of pants that fit, and they are getting too loose. Time to see if I have some put away. I doubt it though, This is the smallest I have been since having kids. We won't talk about before that! I will be posting updates on my family in a bit. This post is just faster!!! So it is easy to keep up on!!

Good luck ladies!!

Wahoo!!! I hit 10 pounds!

Sometimes we start out with a goal and wonder if we can actually or will actually do it!! Well, I am happy to say that I am doing it. I never had a lot to loose but I am closer to my  goal then I thought I would be, I haven't given up.
Having a treadmill at home is the best thing for me. I can run early in the morning and then I have the whole day to do all of the things that need to be done. My energy level is higher throughout the day.
I measured inches today. I have lost in total since I started this (On August 9th) 1 inch in my chest, 4 inches in my hips and 3.5 inches in my waist!! Let's just say I am feeling good about this!!! So excited!!!

Keep on movin', I know I will!

Yes, I am still at it...

I know it has been a little over a week and my progress has been a little slow this last week.
I still lost some weight though. One pound in 10 days.  I had a bit of a cold, and slept very little this last week.
Between kids, sickness and doctors appointments, I really made it to the gym very little.
I did however, find a treadmill (for $30)!!!! Wahoo!! My gym membership contract ends this month, and I just felt overwhelmed going as often as I want to run, It took my whole morning! I need the body pump classes once a week though, so that  I will miss. I do have some passes for just the classes, I think I will be using those on Saturdays though while Brian stays home with the kids.
So this week I have run on my treadmill, and have loved it. I just bought an awesome music track to run with for my Ipod!
http://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Running-Tracks-Songs/dp/B004PAF6M8

Thanks for all of you who are watching and working toward this goal with me...
Keep it up!!