Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I am grateful for music.  My dad was always singing while we were growing up.  He helped foster my love for Paul Simon.  And the Blues Brothers!  My mom showed me how lovely classical music can be.  I used to fall asleep listening to Mozart every night in high school.  Plus we loved us some musicals around the house.  To top it all off I married a musically inclined man!  Nicholas always has music on.  Always!  He has introduced me to countless bands and genres.

  I love how a song can capture exactly how you feel.  Or help change how you feel.  Have you ever had music speak to your soul?  Yeah me too.  My ears delight at some music.  I will hear a song and wish it could go on for ever and ever.  I am guilty of listening to an album until everyone around me hates it.  I also love that some music almost forces you off your feet.  There are times where I can't help but bust a groove.  Nicholas and I have had many a side of the road dance parties in our day!    

I am not a discriminator of music.  I enjoy most of it!  These are just a couple songs that stood out right at this moment.  What kind of music do you like?  

We are in kindergarten!

Today was Nicco's first day of Kindergarten!  It went off without a hitch.  No tears were seen.  By me or the boy.  I felt a little guilty about that actually.  Most of the moms were crying.  Not me.  I was dry eyed.  All I felt for him was excitement.  Is that bad?  I think that it helped that they lined them up and took them in without an opportunity to think about it.  Rip it off quick like a bandaid!    

 My boy at his school in line.  He looks so big with his back pack on! 

Hugs before school!  I was afraid Lola would have a rough morning.  I was right.  She missed him big time!  Plus I realized that Nicco and Lola spent a lot of time playing with each other.  They pretty much only needed me to regulate and distribute snacks.  I am going to have some plans for entertaining her.

 Happy little family!  

Sad Lola!  This is the moment when she realized that he wasn't coming home with us.

I will say that I am feeling a little nostalgic already for the days when we could come and go as we please.  I have to come to grips with the fact that our lives are now run by school schedules.  And it will be for a long long time!  I am a grown woman with a child in school.  WTF?!  I feel a little old.   

Weight Loss week #4

This week was a great one with the weight loss!  I lost three pounds.  I am officially up to 12 pounds lost.  W00T!  Can I get an amen?!  I hope they never find me again.

  I mentioned last week that I am giving up sugar for a month.  It apparently worked wonders for me this week.  Let's hope the momentum keeps going!  You know the best part?  I didn't count a single calorie.  I did, however, have to give up one of my major vices.  I admit I had a scoop of ice cream at a neighborhood ice cream social.  I am a social sugar eater.  But other than that I controlled myself.  I am proud.  On to the weekly pictures.  I know that I have a lot of weight to lose but I was hoping against hope to notice a little more of a change after 12 pounds.  Maybe I should do a slider thing with monthly pictures?  Maybe then I can get a better look at my progress.  

    

I look pregnant here.  Boo!

One thing I noticed giving up the sugar is that within the first three days my taste buds exploded!  Everything I ate had a very enhanced flavor.  I noticed particularly a spiciness to my Pepsi Max (don't judge!) that I had never noticed before.  It is a little sad to think I have been missing out on the true vibrant flavors of my food!  

I honestly don't think I could maintain this strict restriction in my diet but I do believe I can get it under control.  That is all I am hoping for.  I need to remember that sweets are not supposed to be an every single day type of thing.  They are supposed to be a treat. 

   

Link A Day

photo taken by the hubs

My poor children have been without a night light in their room for a while.  I am wanting to find just the right one- as I am sick of buying things just out of necessity.  I am a crazy person I guess but I have made it my mission to only buy things that we absolutely LOVE- regardless of price!  Life is too short to just sort of like the things we own.  I rather have less and love it all than have a lot and just like it.  With that in mind I think we should make these glow stick lanterns to tide us over! 

We could use the lanterns in these cardboard houses!  Our kids would love to make these.  And the lantern wouldn't start them on fire.  Weird how my mind works!  Like the kids would ever have anything that would start a fire.

40 ways to feel more alive?  Sometimes these things are so cheesy but this is one is going to get printed and pasted on my wall.  Good advice!

Do you follow Aesthetic Outburst?  You should!  She just published a book with 21 crafty projects that looks super rad!

Want to learn how to fuse plastic bags?  Check this post out.  The possibilities are endless.  You could make gift tags or more re-usable bags.  Upcyle that shiz!

The air is starting to be crisp here in the mornings!  It has me thinking of fall and knitting.  I think I might try making this Bandana Cowl.  What?!  Freaking cute!

And while we are on the subject of fall how about these little Cinnamon Bones for Halloween morning?  And no it is not too early to be thinking about Halloween.  Or Christmas!

Thankful Thursdays with Mustache Mama

Heidi from over at Mustache Mama is doing a Thankful Thursday link up.  YAY!  I am going to start linking up today and then never ever stop.  I need a weekly (daily) reminder to think of the things that I am grateful for.  I am pretty self absorbed.  End statement.  I think it will be good for me to sit and contemplate what I am thankful for in my life. 

I am going to get one of my obvious ones done this first week.  I am so grateful for this guy:

He is the mac to my cheese.  The pickle to my peanut butter.  Some of you may be thinking that I should have chosen a better picture of my Nicholas but really that is his personality.  He is a little off and perfectly in tune with me.  We met many moons ago and from then on he has been a part of my heart.  He was one of those kids in high school who really knew who he was.  That didn't sit well with most of the a-holes at our school.  I loved it though!  To this day he is the same way.  We had a lot of life experiencing and growing to go through before we were ready to actually give us a try.  I am glad we finally did!  He amazes me everyday with his love and compassion.  He is completely selfless.  Pretty much my exact opposite in those respects!  Don't get me wrong- he is no saint but he tries everyday to be better.  Plus he is funny.  How can you go wrong? 

Weight Loss week 2&3 combined

OH weight loss... I love and hate the process of losing weight.  I got so excited over some weight loss that I gained weight.  5 pounds to be exact!  BOO!  I am a little angry with myself right now.  This is a pretty typical thing for me to do.  I think that I lost some weight easy peasy so I can let my guard down.  But unfortunately that is not the case right now.  I need to be pretty vigilant.  Not that I want my whole life to revolve around losing weight.  On the other hand my life needs to revolve around it!  I know there are a lot of people that think you can be seriously overweight and be healthy but I have yet to have a doctor or read a study that says that.  To each their own but I do know for sure that this body I have created is not a healthy one.  All the signs point to serious issues down the road.  I have no stamina and my lungs hurt when I exert myself.  I get tired after a few minutes of playing with the kids.  A flight of stairs winds me.  That is a clear indication that I am not healthy and need to change.  

So with that in mind I am doings something illogical!  I am going to stop counting my calories for the next month.  My girlfriend and I are doing a no-sugar challenge.  No sugar for a month!  I am a sugar fiend.  This next month should be interesting.  I really want to do this though.  However, I feel that if I am jonesing for sugar and counting calories I will go nuts.  So no calorie counts until September 19th.    

 Front view!

Side view!

back view(?)!

OH and I should add that I did lose some of that weight.  I am currently only .4 pounds over what I had originally lost.  SO my total weight loss is 8.4 pounds.  I am a big winey baby I guess!  Seeing the number go up on the scale sent me into a frenzy and I picked myself out of my cookie haze and recommitted!  

Weight Loss... A Haiku

I have been MIA for quite a while!  We watched our friends house and dog for them while they were out of town for 8 days.  We left our computer at home because it is a desk top and it would have been a pain to drag down and all that jazz.  Note to self:  Buy a laptop next time!  Or in a perfect world have one in addition to a desk top!  It was nice to be mostly disconnected.  I still did instagram but that is pretty much it.  Unplugging is a really healthy thing to do.  At least for me.  It made me more in the moment.  I played more with the kids.  I cooked every night.  It was great!  I am off to enjoy the rest of the night with the kiddos but I will be back tomorrow with a weight loss update.  I will leave you with a haiku about my weight situation to tantalize you.  Really you could read this and not come back tomorrow! ;)

Weight loss haiku

I gained back some weight

Got lost in a cookie haze

It was pretty great  

Weight loss week 1

First post after my first post!  So I maintained my weight this week.  No loss, no gain.  It is frustrating because I feel like I really tried this last week to keep my food in check.  I need to readjust and look at my food intake and make sure that I am being careful about calculating my calories.  With that in mind- I also need to look at the positive and remember that at least I didn't gain.  I do feel like I have lost inches or millimeters as it were.  That feels good!  Even if it is a slight difference- it all adds up and counts!  

My goal for this next week besides eating all my calories is to up my water intake.  I am not so good at that.  I love water but I hate drinking it.  I better get over that.  This is after-all a journey to being healthier not necessarily skinnier.  I also need to do my measurements so that I can have more than one way to track my progress.  The scale can be unforgiving at times!  

Pictures of my progress:  

I did this one nice and sensual for you ;)

Sunday Songs

I loved the White Stripes the first time I heard Jack White's voice.

Link A Day

Summer is almost over!  We have less than a month left before school starts for the boy.  That thought has been nagging me at the back of my mind.  We have had the lamest summer ever and now that means something because it is our first official summer vacation.  Crunch time!  This week the kids and I went and watched the last tee-ball game of our best little friend.  Nicco was thinking he wanted to play tee-ball but I think that soccer was the official final decision.  Lola wanted to play soccer the second it was suggested.  I can't wait for them to play!  With the soccer program we are doing the two of them will go on different nights and be on different teams.  Which is so fantastic!  This way they can both play but be their own people.  They have been becoming a two-headed monster.  Which is not a bad thing per-say but it will be fun for them to have some separation.  Lola and I are on our way out the door to her first girlfriend birthday party for her friend Halli.  No boys allowed!  All princess themed out.  Yet another step to them becoming Nicco and Lola and not Nola.  Nola?  Hmmmm- yeah I am going with it.  While I am out enjoy these links!    


I admit that I would prefer a Diana camera to a Diana lens for our cannon.  However maybe I want both.  I can be fickle like that.

Read this!  OVER.AND.OVER!  We all think we are too busy to have a life but a life is what is worth living for!  Did I confuse anybody else?  

I need to figure out the calories for these fancy rice krispies because I am going to make them and eat them.  Lots of them.

We are making some indian fry bread today for navajo tacos!  And of course we will have some fry bread left over since I like to make an over abundance of fried crap to tempt me and ruin my current weight loss plan.  Anywho.... this honey butter would be fabulous on it!

For all the lovely people out there who love making lists and are planning a party- these free printables from A Pair of Pears are frickin cute!

This looks like the perfect simple summer meal.  I heart shrimp even if they do make me break out in hives until I look like a lizard.

Am I a crazy person for thinking about Christmas already?  I can't help myself I love love love the Christmas season!  I am thinking that this hot cocoa ornament would be a lovely addition to our tree!

Fill In The Blank Friday

1.  I am proud of   the 9 pounds I have lost.  I need to remind myself of those 9 pounds over the next few days because I feel frustrated that I haven't lost any weight this week     .

2.   This weekend I will   be doing a whole lot of nothing. :)  The girl baby has her first birthday party to go to.  I will be taking her to that and meeting my friends new baby- so fun!    .

3.  A secret dream I have is    to own a vintage/handmade shop.  That isn't really a secret but I it is a big big dream  .

4. I can't handle     elevators.  I really hate riding in them .

5. The most annoying thing in the entire world is     when you let someone merge and they can't even be bothered to wave a thank you to you.  Rude!  .

6. The most relaxing thing in the entire world is      hanging out with the family.  Well at least when we are all rested up and happy!  Maybe barbecuing?  OH yeah!  .

7.  I think everyone should   try a pickle and peanut butter sandwich.  Yeah I said it!   I love them so very much!  Don't knock it til you try it   .

linking and image taken from here

Lola is a human name, right?

That is my sweet little Lola.  Lola is a family name and I love it!  I wanted to change my name to Lola when I was younger or add it in as my middle name.  The best thing about it is that it fits her perfectly.   She is a Lola and the Damn Yankees song is pretty accurate.  Whatever Lola wants Lola gets.  I have always been so happy with our choice but recently I have noticed that a lot of people name their pets Lola.  Did I give my daughter a dog name?!  Is this going to scar her?  And I am not exaggerating!  It is a freaking popular pet name.  I can give you two examples off the top of my head.  Leigh-Ann from a 

Freckled Nest has a Lola.  Oddly enough her Lola likes to eat paper and so does my Lola.  Weird.  And also Jessica from Don't Call Me Jessie just introduced her new cat named Lola.  WTF?!  All I can hope is that the pet named Lola trend goes away.  Far away!  I am not sure if that will happen.  I do know one thing for sure- my baby is so much cuter than any animal!  Take that pet owners with pets named Lola..... yeah that was not very good smack talk.

Oh thank heaven.... a haiku

So on Friday the chitluns and I went to 7-11 to get them each a slurpee because I was too cheap to pay for a treat at the zoo.  Yeah I am that mom!  Anywhoo....  I got them each their cup, filled them on up, put the lids on firmly and set out for the register to pay.  Next I hear a sound of disgust come from the little lips of my boy.  I turn around and what do I see?  Freaking slurpee all over the floor and a popped off lid.  I run back and get him a new lid and fill his cup back up.  I then proceed to the register feeling like a jack-a to tell the clerk that I need some help cleaning it up.  After I had begun to tell the clerk about it he stops me mid sentence and says oh I need you to speak up!  I can't hear a word you are saying.  He then mocked the way I was speaking to him.  I was like excuse me?!  I apologized to him- trying to stay civil.  However I changed my mind about helping clean up the mess.  I told him we made a mess and it needs to be cleaned up.  He then asks me oh is it a big mess?  oh yeah?  Hmmm!?  Needless to say I was about to grab two handfuls of his Ace Ventura hair-do and run for the door.  He eventually let me pay and we got out of there.  Before he got his butt kicked up into his throat!  I blame the whole situation on the stupid slurpee cup that was warped.  And the jerk clerk.  Welcome to my life.



OH thank heaven

Freaking slurpee lid
Pops off and makes a big mess
 hey clerk kiss my butt