Wonderful and Wonder-Filled

Ten years ago, I married my best friend and soul mate. We celebrated our day with fabulous family and friends. It was the perfect way to begin our wonderful and wonder-filled journey together.

Day trips and viruses

We have been having a good summer vacation. The rain finally made room
for some sun, and we had great weather the week Lino was on vacation.
He was off the week after 4th of July, and the parade was a great way
to start it off.

We went to the zoo on the 5th. They were having a butterfly exhibit
and Lino got some amazing pictures. They also added an anteater to the
zoo. I have never seen one before..... What a bizarre looking animal.

We had fun at the library, we signed the girls up for a reading
program/contest. They pledged to read and report on 5 books by August
7th. Maggie and Cassie also got their very own library cards. They
were super excited about that.

Tuesday was a gray and rainy day, so we spent it at home.

Wednesday we went to the Providence Childrens Museum. It was our first
time going, and the kids (and us) had a blast! We will definitely be
going back. There was a water room with these gigantic (room sized)
tubs for the kids to do water experiments with. There was a music/art
room that had a huge light bright board, at least three feet tall. I
want one, LOL. There was a costruction zone, a blocks zone anatomy
zone and cultural history area. Lots of fun..

Thursday we went up to Storyland with our neighbors. It is in Glen,
NH. It is a theme park geared towards kids, very mild rides. Lino has
a roller coaster buddy now. Maggie loved the rides ( especially the
roller coaster and flume ) that let's me off the hook for roller
coasters. Cassie preferred the less fast rides. Both girls were
extremely excited to have their picture taken with Cinderella. We
asked Nate if he wanted his picture taken with the princess. He said
'No,princesses are for girls.' so instead we had him stand by some
suits of armor. We are already planning to go back next year, and we
will spend a night or two to really make the drive worth it.

Friday we visited my dad. I wound up napping there, so I don't really
know all that went on. :) we did go to a townie breakfast place that
morning and had the biggest breakfasts ever. We had to take the kids
and my leftovers home. Apparently the cook who was on that day likes
to feed people. Lino, Maggie and Nate had pancakes that were the size
of salad plates, Cassie's French toast was at least 2 - 2 1/2 inches
thick. My 3 egg omellette weighed at least a pound. Best $40 we have
spent in a while.

We finished the week at the Newport Kite Festival. Lino and I have
driven by it years ago, but this was our first time there. Simply
amazing. It was so near to see all the different kites, and they had
people come from all over to do tricks and shows. We even brought our
kites, and after flying them foe a bit, anchored them in the ground
and watched it all whole we picniced and enjoyed the day.

So, where are the pictures from all of this fun you ask? We did
remember the camera. I was able to get some of them uploaded to
Facebook. Sadly our computer got slammed with a really bizarre virus
and we are currently hunting for the best price to either fix it or
get our pictures and some other files off of it ( Best Buy wants $200
to remove the virus. The bargain hunter in me is in search of a better
deal)

Thank goodness I can still get online with my iPod. The only bummer is
that I can only read, not post on BabyCenter. :(

Wow, this turned out lengthy. Hi to any of my Babycenter workout
friends who read this ( do any of them read this?) ::waving::

Engaged!!

Eleven years ago today ,Lino and I were in Disney World (Again. It is our favorite place to go). We went for a bike ride through some resorts and stopped for a rest in the rose garden at Magnolia Terrace, Dixie Landings. It was there that he asked me to marry him. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

For those that don't know the story, that is where Maggie's name comes from. It was when we went back to Disney World for our honeymoon, we stayed at Magnolia Terrace. We had found out my mom was so sick and I had said that if we ever had a girl, I wanted to use my mom's name as a middle name. So then, because of our love of Disney World, we started talking about 'Disney' names. Minnie was out (my cat's name). Dixie was just a bit too southern for us. That left Magnolia. It worked. Magnolia Ann, Maggie for short. As it turned out, we had 2 girls so we have our Magnolia and we picked Cassandra Jeanne as the other name. Cassandra after the lillies at the hotel and Jeanne after me.


I feel so blessed to be able to share my life with my best friend and soul mate. I knew the very first day that I met Lino (nearly 20 years ago) that he was my 'meant to be'. I immediately felt comfortable and safe with him, as though I had known him my whole life.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!!! We finally have a beautiful day after a month of rain. Our family shirts came out cute and the parade was lots of fun. Parade pics will come later.

Nate and Lino had boy faces; Maggie, Cassie and I had girls. (Insert Birdcage references here, lol. 'I have a girl....' ) Tough to tell from the pictures, but the 'U' in USA is in red.

Is it Summer yet?

Well, June was a complete wash. The end of May got a bit busy, then I had a particularly craptacular week to finish May. We then started June off with a weird and pretty evil virus that lasted about 2 weeks. Maggie and Cassie were hit the hardest, they each had high fevers for nearly two weeks, and with 11 days of school to go, had their first absences of the year. And this past Monday, I woke up with pinkeye. Ugh. Knock wood, the kids and Lino don't have it and I hope they don't get it, either.


Luckily, they were well enough to attend school for the last 3 days, and one of those days was a little class performance. Lino wasn't able to get the day off so we went and got a little flip video camera, and as soon as I figure out how to get the video from the camera to the computer and blog, I will post it. Cassie was very, very nervous about the performance, she cried before going to school and when Nate and I got there the teacher told us she was having a tough time and didn't want to do her part (holding a prop) She did stand up with the resst of the class, though she turned around so she didn't see the audience for most of it. (Lino thinks it is because I was taping, but I don't know) Maggie and the other kids did a great job, it is neat to see how they have all grown since the first day of school.


So, school is out and we are just waiting for the sun to be out for more than one day at a time. It has rained for most of the past month or so, which is really starting to get old. I suppose that one nice thing about rain is that occasionaly you get to see a rainbow. Well, there was one evening Lino called us all outside, there was a full arc rainbow that we could see from the house. There was also a half of a rainbow above that and very faintly there was a third one right underneath the full one. The colors were so bright on the full one, it was really amazing. Unfortunately, the pictures I got didn't do it justice.



The left side of the full one was so vivid. Shame I don't have mad photography skills.



A bit of fun we did manage to eek out during June. My friend Lori runs a book club for her daughters and their friends. The book club has an adorable mascot named Penelope. Well, Penelope wanted to go on vacation so Lori has been sending her around to her computer friends. She came to visit us so we could show her RI and MA. Unfortunately the evil sickness hit us the day after Penelope's arrival, so we couldn't do nearly as much as I wanted to. I did drag the kids out to the Hasbro toy company headquarters in Pawtucket, RI.


A few years back there was an art project that involved designing giant Mr. Potato Head statues and they appeared all over the state. Naturally the company headquarters would have the original potato. I believe that the other statues were eventually sold on ebay for charity.


Del's Lemonade is a fun yummy summertime treat. It started in RI and has branched out to other states. Frozen lemonade---mmmm. Penelope was getting thirsty.

Hopefully if Penelope comes to visit us again we will be healthy and able to take her to more places.

That is it for now. I hope I don't let it go so long in between posts....

Wow. Must Not Bake It All.

Wow. I found this site on a friend's blog. Yum pretty much sums it up. And if I ever visit Georgia, I need to go to the Cake Art store that she featured. Heaven.

Enjoy: www.bakerella.blogspot.com

Life Lessons in Kindergarten

There is a program at the girls' school to try and encourage and reinforce positive behavior. When a teacher or staff member observes kids exhibiting good behavior, they can give the kids a yellow jaguar. Yellow jaguars are saved for prizes. The girls' teacher keeps a box of little prizes for the kids to pick from ( think pencils, pens, party favor type stuff)

Maggie and Cassie are always super excited when they bring home a prize. I am glad that they are being well behaved in school.

About 2 weeks ago they came home and said that if they got enough jaguars they would be able to go to the Science Magic Show. They needed at least 30 and every day when they came home they would give me the total that they had.

Now, I have some issues with this. The girls are only in school for 2 1/2 hours a day. Less than half the time of the older kids. No notice came home explaining any of the details of the show or how the kids get to attend.

All we did know, was that Maggie was in tears last night as she was telling us she wouldn't be able to go. (Now, I know she is my child, but she gets these yellow jaguars nearly everday and has even gotten certificates for outstanding behavior). So, to have her in tears and Cassie disappointed, I emailed the teacher last night. The show is tomorrow.

Well the teacher emailed back and told me she was going to ask the guidance counselor to see if an exception could be made for the kindy kids and not charge them as many jaguars.

Well, Maggie was overjoyed when she came home and said that she is going to me able to go. Whn I asked Cassie, she sadly shook her head no, she only had 13. I guess they lowered the number to 20.

I feel really badly for Cassie and the other kids who do their best everyday but didn't get noticed to get jaguars (There doesn't seem to be any consistent standard for passing out the jaguars)

I know that life isn't fair, however I am a grown up. These kindy kids are 5 & 6 years old. Right at the age where they need to have the good behavior praised. Cassie has never had a behavior report ( which is when the behavior is really bad, and there are some kids in the class who are always in trouble )

If Cassie hasn't been behaving then I want to know, and not 5 weeks before school ends. So since I haven't heard that she has been misbehaving I really think that she (and the other kids who don't have bad reports) should be allowed to attend. She had 13 jaguars and the show was announced 2 weeks ago. Cut the kids some slack.

I hate seeing Cassie try her best and end up disappointed.

Tuesday Training

We had quite a day today. In our attempts to get Nate to go on the potty, I wound up keeping him diaperless for nearly the whole day. Nate added 3 more smiley faces to his potty chart! All were for pees, though we were really hoping for a poop. And the first one was just lucky. He was really excited each time, and tried his best. Tomorrow we will try again - I think that pantsless is the way to go though.

I am still doing my Shreds. Lino tried it with me yesterday-he thinks he should have started with a level 1, LOL. The past few days, my eating has been horrible. I think it may be PMS, but goodness...it has been hard to keep it in chuck.

Still have sewing to do, but that is a given. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope that all of my mom friends have a great day. I am spending the day with Lino and the kids. The sun is out, so we may head to the zoo, and then the garden center to check out some stones that would make a cute patio.

I am so very blessed to have 3 beautiful children. They are my heart. It is such a joy watching them grow from babies into the little people that they are becoming. They are smart, funny, kind, good kids, and I adore them.

I am also blessed to have a wonderful husband. Without him I would not be a mother, and I can't even imagine that! Thank you for being my best friend and for all of the support you give me on this amazing journey of parenthood.

As always, I miss my mom. I can only hope that I am as good a mom to my kids as she was to me.

Have a great day!

Friday Fun, Sun and Seedlings!

After what seems like forever of days that have been gray and rainy and dreary, we finally have a gorgeous sunny day. The kids woke up happy and we weren't rushed going to the bus stop. Yay.

I was finally able to get outside to transplant our seedlings. I have no desire to garden, but thought it would be fun for the kids to try and grow our own flowers. Morning glories for Cassie, Convulvus for Maggie, Cynoglossum for Nate and Junior Sunflowers for me. I have been saving empty Playdoh cans, thinking that they would be useful for something, and we started our seeds in them (I drilled the drainage holes myself!)

Last week we got 12 bigger pots to put them in. We will need to get some more though, we had a lot of seeds sprout! We also bought a bigger bag of smelly dirt (I mentioned I don't like to garden? lol) And this is what the girls and I did today.

One of the first scoops of dirt that I took, this is what I found:

Now, I don't know a whole lot about growing plants, but I am pretty sure that old nails don't provide any nutritional benefit to plants!

The girls brought home some adorable mothers day things, a poem with their handprint (I need to try and scan that) and a flower in a tiny pot:

Nate went with Lino to get some tires put on Lino's car. They have been gone almost 2 hours. I hope they get back soon.

I had a great workout today. I never thought I would say that about exercising. I still don't love exercise in general, but todays was awesome. I am able to more of the advanced versions of the exercises, and when I was done today I was drenched. I weighed and measured before hand, I am down to only 7 lbs away from my goal, and lost some more inches from my waist/belly area, arms and chest. Lino thinks I am becoming a smidge obsessed about tracking my food (with a downloaded program), but I told him I am not. I am just trying to get a feel for what smaller calorie intake is supposed to be, I am still eating, so it isn't like when I was in high school and would go days without eating. (My mom had thought that I was anorexic in high school. I don't think so, but I was probably borderline)

Anyhow. Time to get off the computer and go back out to enjoy more of this sunshine!

Blogging from my iPod

Well,if this works that will be fun! My dad got me an iTouch for my birthday. I was so surprised. He had asked for some ideas, so I gave him a list with about 8 different things in different price ranges. I was shocked when I opened it. Especially since he had told me he didn't like what was on my list so he picked . I love it! It is so much fun, and I have an app that I am using to track my workouts and food with.

I am doing a second round of the 30 Day Shred. I am on level 2, I love this level, I feel really worked at the end. And, other people are noticing. At the PTO meeting last night, 2 of the women asked if I was still working out, they said my jeans looked really loose (my size 8s!!!!). Yay!

The board vote went the way we had hoped, I am going to be the new VP. I am looking forward to being even more involved. I just hope that the mom I beat doesn't stop participating out of anger/spite. Although, it is her own fault; had she not tried to overthrow 2 of the other board members, they they never would have asked me to run. (and I wouldn't have run on my own-not this year anyway).

Wacky Wednesday

My morning routine was all out of whack today. Cassie was mad about the color of her shirt and really stalled getting ready. Get back from the bus stop and Nate wanted to try and go potty. Yay, I am really glad he wanted to try. However, after nearly an hour of sitting and a full glass of water later, no results. That's okay, buddy, you can try again later. And, yes, about 10 minutes after he was back in a diaper, he peed.

Nate has a music class on Wednesday mornings, and because he was trying the potty, I didn't have time to do my workout before hand. I had to wait until after we got the girls off the bus. So, I feel off kilter today.


There is a big PTO meeting tonight. Voting for next year's board members will be held. There is a lot of drama involving the current VP trying to oust the existing baord so that she doesn't have to answer to anyone about spending the funds. I have been nominated for VP to try and prevent the ousting of a great board. Our PTO does some great things for the kids, it will be a shame if this mutiny happens.

The sun has been out for a bit today. I am hoping to finally get the seedlings transplanted. I will try to remember to take pics of that exciting project :) !

PS~~ Yay for Maine for passing a same sex marriage bill today. And, New Hampshire might pass one too. That leaves RI as the only state in New England to not have adjusted its laws to allow love to be equal. (I just wrote the Senate President to ask why nothing has passed yet. We'll see if she responds)

P is for Potty

We had some minor success today. Nate peed in the potty for the very first time! He has been more than slighlty resistant to trying to go in the little potty. We wound up buying a padded seat that fits on top of the regular potty for him to sit on.

I missed an opportunity yesterday for him to poop on the potty, but today was determined to get something.

So, 30 minutes or so in the bathroom, singing silly songs, a cup of apple juice and the iPod playing games, and Yay! He peed. He was so, so excited to draw a smiley face on his potty chart. Then, we called Lino at work so Papa could say Great Job. For us, his first potty chart has 8 boxes on it. A pee gets one happy face, poop gets 2. Once he fills that chart, we will get him a small prize and do a chart with more boxes.

I have mentioned before, how I am not opposed to bribing my children in certain instances. This first potty occasion was one of them. When we were trying to talk Nate into even trying, we told him for his very first time we would take him (right away) to get an ice cream. Well, the other day one of the girls mentioned Chuck E Cheese, so....you guessed it-despite my efforts to talk him back into Friendly's, we wound up at Chuckies. The kids had fun though. The girls were super cute, when they got home Nate told them his news and they both gave him huge hugs and were just as excited for him as I was.

I know it is just a first step. About 20 minutes after he went, he pooped in his diaper while I was doing my workout. It is progress, though and I will take it.

My big plans for sewing today, didn't happen. (due to our unexpected field trip) I need to make a prototype book bag for a school program (due tomorrow night, so I will have to get that done) , I have the girls outfits, Nate's shirt and my skirt to finish. Those are all on the to do now list. Then, there is the list of things I would like to do: more things for Etsy (tote bags, crayon bags, crayon rolls, baby things, etc...endless actually), some stuffed bears to donate to a shelter that takes in victims of sexual/domestic abuse, and some other things that I have seen in my sewing magazines....a never ending list of want to do's.

Update

Fortunately, Maggie is feeling much better. I still had her take the anti-inflammatory medicine, just to be sure that she keeps improving.

I hope (need) to do some sewing tomorrow. I have so many projects that need to get done. I am hoping that the kids play with each other better tomorrow than they did today.

I will try to take pics of my projects. And, if it isn't raining, I need to transplant the seedlings.

Sunday

We didn't have too much planned for today, just some minor errands. I am currently waiting to see if the Motrin helps Maggie's neck. Apparently she was trying to do a handstand and Nate bumped her and when she got up she hurt her neck. (that was the best info I could get from her)

She is able to move all her parts, though she said it hurts to look all the way up to the ceiling and all the way left. If the Motrin doesn't make things better in an hour we will be heading to the Urgent Care place.

***

A cute kidism from last week. We were running errands on Lino's day off and had stopped at McD's for lunch. As we were leaving and backing out of the parking space, a girl backed out too, and the cars bumped. Lino was clear before he went, so we figure she didn't see us. (and not her first time, too, as evidenced by the other dents on her back bumper).

Anyhow, Lino called the police to file an accident report for the insurance companies. As we were waiting, Maggie says "I hope we don't get arrested" I laughed, and said "No, honey, we won't get arrested" She says. "Oh. Well I hope we aren't on TV"

Apparently we have had COPS on too many times.

Easter pictures.

From Easter. I made the girls dresses. Unfortunately, it was freezing that day. They wouldn't hear of wearing something else, so we used the sweaters from their Father-Daughter dance dresses. Nate had his sleeves rolled up, just like Papa did.

Happy May

Wow, April went by really quickly! Easter, Lino's birthday, school vacation and then my birthday, too. We have been busy.

I have also been keeping up with my workouts. I have done a workout every day. Some have been tougher than others, and I had a slight setback with my eating habits that was caused by Easter candy (I am completely unable to eat only 1 jellybean) But, I am back on track and seeing continued good results.

We went to Old Navy last week so I could try on some jeans. The last time I bought jeans was back in August/September and had to buy size 14's. Ugh. I was so mortified by that. Really was. Anyhow, I took some size 10's into the fitting room, and just to see how close I was, a pair of 8's.

I was thrilled that the 8's fit!!! I know it may be due to vanity sizing and the fact that no 2 pairs of jeans fit the same way, but Idon'tevencare!!!! I went back and scoured the shelves for every pair of 8's they had to try on! I found a few more that fit and picked the best pair. I only bought the one, because I am hoping that in a month I can get into some 6's!!!

I have even been able to fit into some shirts that I haven't been able to wear since before the girls were born! It is amazing what this has done for my self esteem. And, since I can fit into my own shirts now, Lino can have his back!

I still have a bunch of sewing to do, and pictures to post. The kids and I planted some seeds, and we are super excited that most of what we planted is growing! (I have absolutely no desire to garden, so this is a big deal for us! )

But for now, I need to catch up on chores. Yesterday was my birthday, so I didn't do everything that needed to be done. And, if I can keep busy, I may not eat too much leftover birthday cake :)

Progress

Wow, April is going by quickly. It has been a good month so far (with the exception of all of us being sick over Spring Break)

I am so happy and excited, today is Day 30 of the 30 Day Shred for me. I stuck with it and have lost 12 lbs and 5 inches so far. I started Shred at 156, so I am at 144! I haven't been on that part of the scale since before I got pregnant with Nate! I still don't love to exercise, and need to learn to eat better, but I am very pleased with the results so far. Lino says he can notice a difference. My rings and watch are looser, my clothes are baggier. I have 3 pairs of jeans that I bought in September, they literally fall off of me now! (Seriously, when I walk, it is step, step, step, pull up my jeans!) And, another pair that are from before Nate was born, they are loose too! I can't wait to go try on some jeans to see what size I am in.

I am still in the middle of sewing all of that fabric. I thought I was being super organized; I cut everything first, figuring I could then just sew everything when I got a chance. Well, I am using a pattern that is new to me. I measured the girls, cut out their size. I finished one dress and tried it on Cassie, too short. Ugh. There was no way to save it as a dress, so I will just turn it into a top/shorts outfit. But, I had to go back to the fabric store to get more of that fabric. I am determined to make a dress out of it so I will just use a pattern that I already know and love. I also have to refigure another dress that I have already cut out, and don't have enough scraps....I know how I want to do it, but the store was out of the fabric, so now I have to come up with a new plan.

Lino is on board with a new family matching photo, though he will just be coordinated with us. He says that to make him a shirt that he will more than likely only wear once is a bit silly. Which, he is right, I would rather spend the money on other fabric, if that is the case!

Our car drama seems to be solved (knock on wood!!!) We wound up getting Lino a new to us used car. We just didn't want to sink a bunch of money into rebuilding the engine on his not knowing how long that would last. He is now driving a 98 Audi A4. It is pretty sweet. Manual transmission, which I need to brush up on. I haven't driven a stick in years.

I wish I could remember some of the funny stuff the kids have done/said. I can't believe I haven't blogged in this long....wow.

Shred, Sewing, and Seriously???

Well, Day 8 of Shred, and it isn't as hard as the first few days. Yesterday we went shopping to get proper sneakers and hand weights. I haven't had real sneakers in years, just basic Keds, and that is like being barefoot to work out. Since I didn't have weights when I started, I was using 2 1 1/2 liter bottles filled with water, and those were about 2 1/2 pounds each. I got 3 pound weights, and that was definitely better.

I am excited that I am noticing a difference on the scale. This morning I was at 150. Yay. That is 16 pounds lost since December. Admittedly, 10 of that happened when Nate stopped nursing and I was sick for a month and didn't really eat. Weight loss is loss, though, so yay. I am shooting for 130-135, and if I can start eating better, it may happen.

***
Sewing: I have the patterns that I need all traced and cut out. I am going to start cutting all the fabric today, and hope to start sewing mid week. I am excited, the fabric is cheery and bright. I will try to remember to take pictures as I go.

***

Seriously??!? A couple of weeks ago, Lino's car died. It had been giving him problems, but the mechanic said it should be fine. He was on his way to work in the morning, and luckily not that far away when it died. He was able to make it home and we managed to get it back to the mechanic. The diagnosis: transmission shot. All of the possible scenarios to fix it are expensive. Replace gskets and hope the head isn't cracked, get a rebuilt trans. or a new one.

We are fortunate that he was able to use his mom's car while his was at the shop. And, his parents bought a new car, so we could use their old one until we figure out what we were going to do.

Lino was on his way home from work on Saturday, when all of the wheels locked up. Luckily, he wasn't on the highway (he said he probably would have been killed) and he was in front of a brake place. They look at it and say, it's done. Cracked head mounts. And because it is as old as it is (a 1990) it really isn't worth fixing.

Seriously?!? 2 cars in 2 weeks? Who put a hex on us? Can it please be lifted? And, the car is 30 miles away, and our AAA membership lapsed (I never got a renewal notice), so that means we can't upgrade our membership to get free towing..... I am going to try calling and plead with them, we have been members for 5 years.

It needs to get better....

More fabric, a fun idea and fear leaving the body...

I went back to the fabric store last night to get more of what I needed so I can start the girls' things. I came across the most adorable little bundle of fat quarters. (A fat quarter is 1/4 yard of fabric, but instead of being cut straight across from the bolt, which would be 9" x the width of the fabric, it is cut in an 18"x22" rectangle. Quilters use them a lot.) Anyhow, I don't know why I had to have this little bundle, I am not a huge fan of cows or anything, and I have never tried quilting, but I just thought it was so adorable. Five fabrics, the one on the left is black with tiny white polka dots, the faded stripe, cow print, pink gingham and the cows. Isn't it cute?? Now I just need to figure out what to do with it. Maybe I will try a quilt, who knows. (I did have a coupon, so I got it for half off, that makes it better.)

I also decided on a color for another skirt for me. (the one on the left) I am going to do another of the floor length tiered skirts (after the other stuff is done). It is a gauzy fabric, with a silver sparkle thread running through it. Hopefully it will turn out fun. As I was adding that fabric to the other new fabric, I realized that it coordinates very nicely with some fabric I just bought for Maggie and Cassie. That is when inspiration hit me! There were other fabrics in the same shades of blue that would be more appropriate for Nate. I am going to get some and do shirts for Nate and Lino, so we can do an updated Von Trapp photo! Won't that be fun? A white shirt for my skirt, and the shirts and khaki shorts for Lino and Nate and the girls' dresses? I am excited, and luckily Lino is willing to humor me. I will definitely post updates to that. (wait until I tell him, unless he reads it here today at work!)

Here is the Von Trapp photo. Nate was about 9 months, so the girls were 3 1/2.

As for fear leaving the body, I am on Day 2 of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred video. (That is one of the things she tells you about the burning pain you feel when you are doing the exercises, that it is fear leaving the body...) I am sooo out of shape, however, today's was a smidge easier than Day 1. I am not a huge fan of exercise. I don't have the patience for it. If I do crunches, I want immediate results, and that doesn't happen. I am determined, though, to finally lose the baby weight (although, can it really be called that now that the girls are 6 and Nate is 3?)

I think it would be divine if I could get down to what I was when Lino and I got married (125) but I would be happy with 130-135. I checked today and I am ::gulp:: 156. Yikes. Although, I have lost 10 pounds since Nate stopped nursing, and I really want to do this. I am not happy with being 156, so I will force myself to do this, every day.

So, there it is. It is out there, giving me more inspiration to follow through. I don't want you all to see me fail. I don't think I am brave enough for before pictures, but I did take measurements. I just hope to start seeing results soon.

Fun fabric!

I bought some new fabrics the other day. I didn't have a set plan for them, I just thought they would make cute things. I sat down with my patterns the other night to figure out what I will make....I need to get more of some of it. I can't wait to start sewing it all! I think I am going to do it all in stages: trace and cut all the patterns, cut all the fabric, then sew it all. It is going to be dresses and shirts and shorts for Maggie and Cassie. I am keeping my eyes out for cute shirt fabric for Nate. (He is too big for jon jons now :( .... I love jon jons on little boys! )

Party Pictures

We always have cupcakes on the kids' actual birthday, and I do a bigger cake for their party. I finally got to try out my giant cupcake pan. It is so fun!

I just love how excited the girls get when we sing Happy Birthday. Their eyes just sparkle.

We got Maggie and Cassie scooters. They were very excited! They have had fun practicing zooming up and down the hallway. Maggie only slowed down for one picture.

Cassie happily posed for pictures.

I don't know where this pose came from, but I think we are in for it when the girls are teenagers...

Nate also had fun chasing the girls with his truck.

Cassie wanted a pink princess cake again, and Maggie wanted a dinosaur.

And the aftermath. We decided to color the cake mix this year, green for Maggie and pink for Cassie.

They had fun, which is good. Now we just need the weather to get a bit warmer so we can scooter outside.

Happy Birthday!

Wow, time goes by in a blink! It seems as though just yesterday Maggie and Cassie were born, and today they are 6.

We are so very blessed, they are such good girls. It has been so much fun watching them grow and turn into little people.

Happy Birthday my beautiful girls!

Mostly pictures

Things have been busy. I have been trying to get the house organized from being sick, the kids have all been sick (our first ear infections ever) and just stuff going on. Here are some pictures (I finally emptied the camera!) I need to get my sewing area organized, so that I can create....I haven't sewn since Christmas time :(


From Valentines Day. I copied Delphina's hairstyle. The girls loved it!




This is what happens when Maggie won't play dress up with Cassie. Luckily, Nate didn't mind too much. (Lino just shakes his head)

The tooth fairy has been to our house 4 times in about the last 2 1/2 weeks. Cassie lost one on the bottom, then the top front left tooth a couple of days later. About a week after that, one of Maggie's bottom teeth came out. Then two days later another on the bottom came out too! They are seeming like such big kids now... ::sniff:: Cassie, with her new smile:

Yesterday the kids all wanted some temporary tattoos put on. The girls thought that Nate looked 'like a grown up' with his. Lino had him do some "tough guy" poses.

Yeah, big tough guy.....


Lino had stopped at Whole Foods on his way home from work one night. He got two loaves of incredible bread. One was for sandwiches, the other was a garlic bread (so yummy). He made a sandwich, which he thought was a perfect one....

It was huge!

That is it for now. Gearing up for Maggie's and Cassie's birthday. Still trying to decide if I am brave enough to invite the class over for cake and icecream....Maybe towards the end of the month.