Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!

Ever get so busy going through the awesome blogs to be stalked around here and forget to write posts on your own? I do! I have been working tirelessly on getting through this amazing list of bloggers over at Bloggy Moms.  You should go there. Like yesterday. These blogs are seriously great. I've added so many new ones to my blogroll or twitter already, and I'm still not even to 200 yet. Once I get through them all, I may do a fave five (or fifty) post. :-) In the meantime I will keep on browsing!!! You should too!

Monday Weigh In Again

The scale said I was up a pound today from last Monday. Since I did 4 work-outs, only had one soda, drank a lakeful of water (sure seemed like it), and felt like I had no appetite, I was really disturbed by the gain. I won't continue to ramble about my disgust at myself, I will spare you the horror! For the coming week, my plan is to pull another 4 work-outs and drop 3 pounds (the one I gained back, plus 2 more).

This past weekend brought us ah-may-zing weather! I was so glad we had all of our babies here for such a beautiful couple of days. It was 78 degrees on Saturday, and close to that on Sunday...in January! We took a great walk around the neighborhood, Chris played kickball with the kiddos, and I helped Boo do some final projects for her room. The final results are adorable!

 We splatter-painted 8x8 canvases with various shades of the colors used in her room decor. I found some metal alphabet cut-outs to spell out her name on them. We will use these as a centerpiece for her wall.

 She also splatter-painted some longer canvas to flank the sides of her full length mirror. This project was so easy! We were worried about the technique and tools to make it work right, but had no problems...even 7 year old Loo helped!

The lamp was an $8 plain canvas shade on a chrome stand. We added a bit of fluff and some buttons...and got mega cuteness!

Also this weekend, I finished reading the user guide to my Kindle. I downloaded 4 new books, including the sequel to Beautiful Creatures, and I am so totally in love with this machine! It fits perfectly in my hands, reads so easy, and is great for carrying anywhere I need to go. Flippin' awesome! So here is my 'book nook:'

Happy parenting, crafting, and reading!!!



And so the story ends...

or actually it doesn't. Not since the dawn of the Harry Potter series anyway. Nothing against Harry Potter, just all of the series books in general. I began reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl last week with the hope of actually reading a book with a storyline that ENDED! No luck. I get to the 563rd page to find there is a sequel. Dammit.

Now, I have never attempted to write a book, so maybe finishing a story is harder than the average reader might think. However, it is becoming increasingly annoying to never get to the resolution. I have been a novel reader since birth. Okay, not birth, but my Nanny started me reading historical romances and Christian romances when I was 10. Those stories always had a beginning, middle, and an end...all in one book, not three (or six)! As did the amazing Mary Higgins Clark books that enthralled me through my pre-teen years, or the Kathleen Woodiwiss novels from that same time period.

Is the problem that there is truly such difficulty in finishing a story...or that there is more money to be made by continuing it? That is what Chris thinks. He is probably right. He tends to be that way. Right, that is. Anywho, Warner Bros just signed a deal a few months ago to turn this series into movies. So there I have it. Money. It's all about the money...not the story. Who knew?

Monday Weigh In #4

Right about now is typically when I get discouraged and quit. I could definitely see myself doing that this time too...but I know that my lack of progress is my own damn fault. The scale read at 161.2 again this morning. Disappointing to say the least, especially since on Saturday morning I weighed in at 159.1. I was sick all weekend and took in less than 1800 calories over 2 days, but I did not exercise at all. In fact, from 11:00 Saturday night till 5:30 this morning, I was only awake a total of 6 hours. My exercise total for the week was 4 days, which is also discouraging. I put in that extra day, and still did not lose. Even so, I did work-out today and was very careful with my food/liquids, including drinking 4 bottles of water!

Goals for weigh in #5 (week 4):

• 5 workouts
• 3 bottles of water per day
• 2 lbs weight loss

On a more positive and very exciting note, I got a Kindle Saturday! I have yet to take it out of the box though, because when I do, it's all I'm going to want to do for a while...and I still have a real book to read! My plan is to wait until my book is almost finished, and then open it up to charge and possibly start downloading a book or two...any suggestions?

Holiday Hustle and Bustle!

Wow, a lot of time has passed since I was here! We made it through our first Christmas together as a family with no major mishaps...in fact, it was perfect! AND....I must confess...Chris did put up lights on the exterior of the house! I was in shock, and the picture does not do it justice...I came home from work one day and saw...

He had taken half a day off of work to surprise me! What a wonderful man I married!

The holiday season has been full of shopping, wrapping, baking, crafting...fun! All four kids have seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. We took each of them shopping for each other individually and they did such a good job of picking out gifts. We are just blessed, there is no other way to describe it.

My Christmas surprises included a triple-decker crock pot, "Eclipse" DVD, several CDs, new lotion, touch screen sensitive gloves, AND...

 gorgeous diamond earrings...AND...

a perfect Coach bag for my collection (obsession)!  It sparkles!!!

I have finished the books in both of the series' that I was working on...Gone and Hush, Hush, as well as The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I picked up a random book in Target a few weeks ago called Saving Max that I definitely recommend. It was one that I literally could not put down. I was buried in it for about five hours. So, given that I have finished all of the books in my possession, I was glad to receive a new series from my brother for Christmas, "Seasons of Grace," by Beverly Lewis. I have started the first book, and so far, it is ok...not gripping, not compelling me to read it, but ok...