Catching up - some quick images from The Day He Turned 7

The cake - first layer of frosting, under the fondant

The banner was up all week

I decided to be brave and do this thing that I have been wanting to do for some time now. Maxine's reaction when I asked what color I should try was REDNOBLACK! And my middle child had pretty much the same reaction. My oldest, and my husband, thought that green or blue would be fun. (really?)

so here it is:

it's taken me almost the whole week (I did it last Saturday) to not get a shock when I look in the mirror. The color doesn't stick super well to my hair, so it will require some upkeep, but it's really fun!

Window shopping at ETSY

I've been wanting a hanging fruit basket for awhile now. This one is more than I'd want to spend but I LOVE how it is something practical made into art. I mean, really? Gorgeous. HERE

Have you ever seen a cuter plush toy? I declare, I have not. And, it's called "Yeti of the Night", even a cute name!- HERE.

I know they are not practical for a mother of small children (torn earlobe, anyone?) but I'm loving these super long feather earrings - HERE.

and then he was SEVEN.

Last Sunday was the middlest child's birthday, and he wanted everything to be lego themed. This is the cake - not the best photo, it's from my phone, I'll have other's up later along with the awesomeness that is Diagon Alley. This here concoction was my first time using fondant.

1. fondant wasn't as hard to dye as I feared it would be

2. fondant wasn't as easy to use as I thought it would be

3. ding dongs are the perfect shape for making the lego connectors on sheet cake

We told the kid that he could go to the Lego store and pick anything he wanted for his birthday present. I figured he'd go for a Ninjago castle, or the Burrow. He went for Diagon Alley. I tried to talk him out of it. He thought and thought. In the end, it was, "Mom, this one just looks like the MOST. FUN."

I couldn't argue with that.

So far we have gotten Gringotts bank and Borkin and Burkes put together. Next is Ollivanders! I'm really feeling the pull to read the series again - - so good!

Yesterday my family was headed out to the zoo in the morning and I stopped to slap on some lipstick and mascara before I ran out the door. My oldest son stopped to talk to me:

Him: Why are you doing that? It's not like you have a date or something.

Me: I do it to avoid looking like a hag, dear. You don't want people to walk by and think, "That poor boy, his mother is such a HAG" now do you?

Him: Well, putting on too much lipstick can have that same effect, you know.

I Turned around and grabbed his face and planted one big shiny pink one on his cheek. Teach him to share his opinions...

Be of Good Cheer

I've found myself spiraling into negative thoughts a bit lately - not emotional, depressive-type thoughts; just "this is annoying, this is stupid, people suck, why can't everyone just do what I want them to do" negative thoughts. I was reminded of THIS TALK by Elder Holland that always leaves me breathless after reading it. His words ring so true and inspire me to pay more attention to my words and my attitude, and how they affect the people around me.

I'm thinking I should read it every day for the next however-long-it-takes-to-really-sink-in.

Also hey! According to my own scale I'm 4 lbs down since last Saturday! It's CRAZY how much less I eat when I am 1.) Paying attention to whether or not I'm really hungry 2.) writing down my points and thinking about the food I'm putting in my body and 3.) eating 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day.

Cheerfulness! Kind words! Readysetgo!

This space is turning into a forum for my weight loss (or lack thereof) tracking and that's really not at all what I meant this blog to be but since it is my current main focus - there you go.

I knew I wasn't going to show any shed pounds this week since I ate out twice and made brownies once - but I wasn't exactly expecting to show a +1.6 pounds this morning at weigh in. ALAS! Once again, reinforcement on "exercise is very good for you, but if you want to drop the pounds you HAVE to change the way you eat." Okay, okay! I get it!

So I pulled out my Points Plus tracker and started listing for today what I ate, and calculated the points, etc. I know that if I pay attention to what is written down I will eat less, esp. since I am not so much as a hungry eater as a bored eater.

Keeping busy and active and eating less stuff and more fruits and veggies is the goal for this week. Maybe all that time spent being busy and not eating will lead to some actual craftyness, which is what this blog was supposed to be about when I started it years ago... ha! probably I can count on my hands how many posts are actually about craftyness....

Just means I'm well rounded, right? ( looking down at the spare tire around my middle, I think I can say that I am, quite literally.)

So I went ahead and joined Weight Watchers, at the prompting of a friend who is also doing the program and likes the point tracking and the weekly accountability it offers for her motivation. That was a week ago, and the scale there said 153.8.

Today it said....... 153.2

I have to admit, while I know 1-2 pounds a week is healthy and normal, I was hoping for 2-3 pounds. I did increase my exercise by a TON, after all! Okay, maybe just a LOT.

I ran Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. For about 30 mins each time with walking in between so as not to jack my knee up right off the bat. I did yoga twice, and my weight training workout once. All in all, about 3.5 hours, Plus I walked a few miles this week too, between going to parks and walking around town.

I changed my eating habits but not a ton. I did great Sat-Tues, and then Aunt Flo came to visit with a vengeance and I disintegrated into a hormonal chocolate and muffin consuming automaton.

One thing I did notice with some surprise was how FULL I was the days I ate well. When I add more healthy fiber and protein to my diet, I feel considerably more satisfied than when I am stuffing my face with things that get used up real quick. So with that, and my meager .6 lbs down, I suppose week one was not a total loss.

Also, on my measurements, I lost an inch at the hip - which could mean that I will lose my bum weight before my belly weight; or it could mean I was wearing thicker pants that day. :)

Fashion Crisis!

I am currently obsessing over clothes and fashion and style - not style in general but style as in, my own personal. Likely the dominant reason for this is that I can not fit into most of my clothes right now but at the same time I do not want to go shopping for a size that I hope/am determined to be out of in the next couple of weeks.

Observe:

These next 3 photos are from the Garnet Hill online catalog. I discovered GH when we moved to Burbank and the lady who lived here before us did not forward her mail.

I love these items! Pretty! Feminine! Simple! Neutral! You notice that they are all gray/black? Yes, well, I have this love, in the blackest corner of my heart. For things like this:

Things sassy, and ruffley and dark and vintage looking.

This black bustle-skirt? I long for it! Yes I know it isn't practical or even in the realm of stay-at-home-mormon-mom but it calls to me!

However, I also have this other and very opposite urge in fashion:

The bohemian, peasant-y, colorful things that hale back to when my mom was in her 20's. (lucky dog, mom)

Speaking of Mom, if she's told me once, she's told me a thousand times that I should not be wearing black because it makes me look dead. My response is just to wear more makeup.

Anyway, back to my crisis. See, I used to have this Gunne Sax skirt, made from a pattern (by my mom, natch, when she was young) that I would wear on hippie day during tourney week - and I would wear it with a yellow vintage greenpeace t-shirt and that was possibly my favorite outfit that I ever wore those 4 years of fake-soap-opera-life we like to call High School. I wore it just once or twice.

Mostly I wore jeans and girly tops or a mens shirt. In college I wore the mens shirt with slacks more often - like this:

Here are a couple of...compromises? Both kinda goth-y and kinda bohemian? What do you think?

Nordstrom Free People Dress. This one I couldn't copy the image on. Go ahead, click over. I'll wait. Isn't that cute?

image.image.image.image.image.image.image.

And then there is the whole obsession with Anthropology which is definitely colorful and bohemian rather than dark and vintage.

You see? After all this - hours of looking online and talking it out - I'm still not closer to figuring out what the heck to do with my wardrobe. I don't WANT to do both - that is impractical and expensive. And I DO wand to have a "look" that defines my style.

Argh!

Motivation.

The Great Plan of Greatness

Okay. Here goes.

For some time now I have wanted to shed 10 or 15 pounds to get down to a more, svelt-ier me. And since we moved to Burbank in August, there has been a 10-15 pound change in my physique.

It was just in the wrong direction.

So now that 10 pounds has turned into almost 30 pounds and in my last post I announced my intention of running a 1/2M to try to fight the effects of my eating and laziness.

My eating: yeah it's a problem. Today for instance, I had a banana and cereal, 2 cups of hot cocoa, almost an entire container of toffee from Trader Joes, and a large bowl of mint chip ice cream. And then Round Table.

and, okay, today is not perhaps the best example of how I eat but frankly it's not far off and There are certainly days where it's even worse. The thing is, if I looked appropriate compared to how I eat, I would look a darn sight worse than I do. And this is where I get into the nitty gritty:

I weigh in currently at 151 lbs. I am 5' 6" tall.

My measurements are:

38 (nursing! woo!)

34

42

For reference, in high school in my very-slender-with-no-muscle-tone days I was 118 lbs and my measurements were 32, 25, 35.

I'm putting this all out there so I can make myself accountable and hopefully somewhat motivated here. While I don't look disgusting, and mostly just like a mom of 3 kids, according to a recent health magazine I read I am firmly in the "overweight" category, and pushing "obese".

Yep. That's what they said. *shrug* Either way, it means I need to be more fit. My own personal goals:

EDIT: According to the Weight Watcher's weight guide, I am at the very upper end of "healthy" weight for my height. Who to believe??

firm up those things that should not wiggle

destroy that extra cushy roll that shows up over my waistband whenever I sit down

get my waist measurement out of the 30's (okay honestly? I'd LOVE to hit 25 again...)

Here is the Plan - the 1/2M training has running done 3 or 4 times a week, cross training 1 or 2 days, and one rest day, and one stretch day. My cross training is going to be a combination of walking, yoga, and strength training. It's a pretty hefty regimen, but it's going to be necessary. Most of the links I see has "beginner" as someone who runs 20-25 miles per week. Starting as of now, I could run probably 15 miles a week if I pushed it.

sigh.

So please! Wish me luck and root me on, and send me nasty messages if I mention chocolate or ice cream!

(Bill Watterson is a genius. Is there anyone alive on the face of the earth who does not love his work?)

SO.

I am a big fan of resolutions. Making resolutions is like making lists to me, and boy do I love making lists! Checking those things off my to-do list! Wooo! I've never been particularly good at accomplishing my resolutions, but that is probably because I have never broken my resolutions down to daily or weekly to-do lists to keep me motivated and keep me going.

Enter 2011. This is the year! (yes, I say that every year).

I have wanted to do a really good budget for a long time. I've done it! I've made a budget! It's all ready for being adhered to.

I have wanted to lose these 25 pounds that crept up on me. (giant sized candy bar by giant sized candy bar. You'd think I was trying to die of a heart attack). Well, I've got 2 friends committed to train for a 1/2 marathon in June! Woo! I'm sure I can do it - I just have to train really carefully and not jack up my knee again.

We're starting with the Couch-to-5K program for the first 8 weeks; and then a "beginners" training program that is 12 weeks long for the 1/2 marathon. Starting Monday! I'm excited!

Happy New Years to you all - may 2011 be the best year you have had so far!

Sigh; Christmas is over and now the New Year is almost upon us. I'm sure I'll make resolutions, like I do every year. And like every year, this will be the year I actually accomplish them. Mm-hmm. For sure.

The boys all got bikes this year - we were appropriately ashamed that our 10 year old did not know how to ride a bike. Apartment living had ruined his youth. I was all prepared for a morning of gritted teeth and frustration as I helped him figure it out. On top of that we got him a BMX bike, which rides differently (read: more awkwardly). I knew I was in for it. As we headed outside I repeated a mantra to myself of calm and patience.

And then he hiked himself up onto the seat, kicked off, and rode the bike.

Without any help.

I was a little bit ashamed of myself, and my lack of faith in a kid who can ride a scooter and a two-wheeled skateboard without any problems. While he went in to change from slippers to sneakers, I hopped on the bike and tried it out.

And I almost fell over. More than once.

These pictures are taken from my phone, sorry for the blur:

It's all one house.

They've been decorating since 1987.

I'll tell you one thing about Burbank; they do Christmas lights like I have never seen!

It kind of makes up for the lack of snow. Christmas Cheer!

We got our Christmas Cheer on.

Advent calendar made by my Nana:

Stockings made by her, too.

Yummy smells in the house and on the door.

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas festivities are fully underway in our household this season and our kids are having a blast. They helped us plan our 12 Days of Christmas venture for this year (for those of you who don't know, a knock-and-run daily gift that goes from the 13th to the 24th, usually treats and small gifts) while making gingerbread houses last night.

Connor discovered his ability to make icicles by accident.

Fletcher's icing was thicker, and not icicle-tastic but he was happy to have the gummy characters in front. Mmmm, appetizing!

Our decorations are up and there are already a few gifts under the tree. We've been reading scriptures from the New Testament every night to try and keep the focus where it should be.

I do wish the weather would be, if not snowy, at least SEASONAL! Looking to be 85 degrees today! Autumn is going out with a flourish, I guess.

So, we got a new bed....

HAHAHA! No, not that one! It's crazy, no? (found here) For several months Craig has been waking up kindof sore and achy and in the midst of reconciling himself to the idea of buying a new mattress (ours was 12 years old...) he ended up sleeping at a Marriott hotel in San Diego and declared that no other mattress would do for him!

However I could not reconcile myself to paying $1300 PLUS shipping from across the country to get a Marriott mattress. Happily, Costco carries a line that is similar (as far as I could tell - I'm sure Marriott would disagree) and it was on sale for nearly a third of the price (shipping included!)

My short story is getting long, and it's not even very interesting...

I ended up giving him his Christmas present early because he needs a good night's sleep, that man! Threw in some super-high thread count sheets, a down comforter and pillow, and Craig was all set for the best night's sleep ever last night.

Enter youngest son. Enter mild fever. Enter not sleeping in his own bed, and tossing and turning all night sniffling and coughing.

Yeah. You get the picture. Poor boys!

Late posting much? Yeah, that's me. Hi. How have you been?

Thanksgiving was wonderful! Our dear friends came down from Seattle for a week and we had two other families over and there was way WAY too much food (and yet, insufficient pie leftovers...)

The menfolk did almost all of the cooking this year, as it turns out. Nan and I were not complaining!

Now that Craig has a tophat, he feels he must wear it upon occasion. It gives the moment that little extra something.

The big kids. Con and Elle have been friends since the dawn of time. Everyone jokes that they will get married some day. And my dapper little blonde man. He is suddenly growing so big!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great family gathering on the 20th, and a wonderful gathering with friends here on the holiday. The Harveys are here visiting from Seattle until Tuesday! More pictures and posts to come soon!

I took Fletch and Van to Travel Town museum on Thursday to celebrate Isaac's 3rd birthday. We hadn't been since Fletcher was about Van's age, so he really didn't remember it.

You can tell he's not very happy:

From the parking lot, Van saw all the big trains lined up and started pointing and saying, "Train, train, train, train!" and then once we started heading toward the entrance it was, "RUN! RUN! RUN!" He was so excited! They had two trains that could be climbed on and explored, and then we took the little mini-train ride around the park.
Good times had by all.