{Lately...}

So have you had enough of looking at our Spring Break?  Don't feel bad so have I.  Just when I think that I am getting back into the swing of things, something comes and slaps me upside the head (like two loved ones dying in the same week) and blogging gets put on the back burner again.  So I'll try and catch you up to date.  I guess I should stop promising regular posts, because it is making me into a liar.  

What have I been doing you ask...?  For the last four months or so I have been on a journey to lose weight (hey maybe that can be my excuse for not blogging regularly).  I decided after feeling crappy about myself and physically feeling not really great that it was time to lose the baby weight that I was packing around like a trophy.  I always came close to losing all the baby weight in between each of the kids, like within 10 pounds.  Well after Wyatt that ten pounds turned into twenty and then into thirty.  Three years after having my last child I was thirty pounds from where I was when I started having kids.  I was miserable. I had started things and just never had the determination for whatever reason to stick with it.  So this last December I had a coming to Jesus meeting with myself, and the consensus between me, myself and I was that the weight had to go.  So the day after Christmas I started P90x.  It was hard physically, but the hardest part was the mental arguments I had with myself each day.  I think change and growth is mostly a mental game.  I slowly started to lose weight.  Like excruciatingly slow.  A pound each week(now and then maybe more), maybe a 1/4 inch or so here or there.  I had the best cheerleader though.  Ryan would measure and chart my progress, and offer words of encouragement as each pound came off.  I lost 20lbs in 13 weeks.  I actually could see a waist and needless to say my pants fit way better, as in they didn't fit at all-in a good way!! :)  Some of the things I learned while I was huffing along with Tony Horton, was that I could do hard things (which I had forgotten in respect to myself), and if you put good things into your body, you get good things out.  Just to name a few.  

One of the things that I found I loved was making my own Greek yogurt because I could control what I put in it and flavor it however I wanted to.  Another thing that I have learned to love is fresh Kefir.  My family, as in my Mom and a few of my siblings have been doing Kefir for years now.  I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at first and when they would offer me something made from Kefir (like a fruit smoothie) I would politely taste it but I wasn't loving it.  I don't know what changed but I ordered my own Kefir grains and I started making my own Kefir and magically I love it.  I make Kefir smoothies each morning and I use the kefir in place of buttermilk in all the recipes that call for it.  I LOVE it!!  So there you have it, what I have been doing lately...(That update turned out to be longer than I anticipated and I hope no one thinks I am bragging, just sharing what I have been up to as of late).

 Ayden participated in the District Pinewood Derby a few weeks ago.  Ryan happened to be out of town so I had all the kiddos and there were well over 50 cars to race.  It was well organized thankfully, and Ayden did really well.  He came in fourth overall for his den.  Not a bad way to go out on his last Pinewood Derby.  He turns 11 in less than a month and then he is on to 11year old scouts.  Just today he proclaimed that he is growing up.  Now he said it not like he was trying to convince me of the fact but as if he just realized it himself.  Sadly I had to agree with him.  Stop the clock, please!!

 I wanted to do something to show our neighbors how much we appreciated them welcoming us into the area so warmly.  So I started a batch of Friendship bread and we shared with our neighbors.  Well when Ayden took a batch to one of his friends and classmate from around the corner he came back with this little car for Wyatt.  I guess they wanted to share something with us as well.  Wyatt LOVES it.  He plays in it on the deck out back and is pretty content.  Today Meysa took him out to the sidewalk and gave him a good run.  He was in heaven!!  I don't think he will be happy ever again just playing on the deck.  He and Meysa raced up and down the sidewalk like they were in some kind of derby.  After coming back to start line he declared that he needed a trophy.  I guess for being so darn cute.  I mean he is so fashion forward with his dragon helmet and his rain boots.  So I gave him a high five!!  There ya go buddy, there is your trophy!!  Lauryn (who turns 6 in two days-holy cow) was speed racing on her bike.  She is very close to having the training wheel fairy coming to take the training wheels off her bike.  The hard part is if he comes and she hasn't decided that she is ready I am honestly not convinced that we will be able to sway her.  She is one stubborn little girl and once she has made up her mind it is set in concrete.  Ayden busted out his rip stick and took it for a spin and had to show us just how much he is "growing up".  Heaven help me!!  

 We live in an urban area, I think that has been abundantly proven.  Well with what we are growing out on our back deck, it is just one more piece of evidence.  We really wanted to have a garden this year, especially our kids, and so we thought we would give pots a chance this year.  Our back deck gets a good amount of sun each day and so the pots line the deck, basking in the sun.  They have actually gone crazy since we planted them over a month ago.  The kids are really excited, in fact Meysa went out today and found a few tomatoes that are growing and some strawberries that are starting.  We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and bell peppers.  So for now we haven't killed them, we will see how well they produce.

So there you have it an update, don't know when the next one will be.  Actually I take that back.  Lauryn has a birthday coming up.  I'll post after that!!