Merry Christmas....and remember,

the true reason in all the rush and worry of the holidays, why we celebrate this joyous day......



I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!!!!!

We've been Elved

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I've been tagged....

By my cutie patootie pal Renee. I have to list seven random facts about me. So here goes...

1.One of my worst pet peeves is being late!! Can't stand it!!

2.When I put on my mascara, I almost always sneeze. Not sure why, I think it may have something to do with opening my eyes wide. Whatever the reason, it is most inconvient when balck mascara is combined with the violence of a sneeze, sheesh.

3.I LOVE anything chocolate. ANYTHING!!

4.I can bend over with my feet together, and legs completely straight, and put my hands flat on the floor. Not as easy as it sounds. Try it, but make sure your flexibilty is in well check.

5.I HATE doing dishes but LOVE to vaccuum.

6.My favorite color is green. I tend to think this has something to do with the color of $.

and #7.I can't grow a plant or keep it alive to save my life, unless.....it's a violet. I don't know why, but I have exceptionally beautiful violets ( currently six of them) that bloom on a regular basis and are huge! Everyone says they are a very hard flower to grow, but they must like me.

So know I must tag someone else. So, I think I will choose.....

Lucy

Can't wait to read her answers. She is incredibly talented!!

On the job front...an update...I finished orientation today, woohoo!! Start working on Saturday. I am so excited!! I will keep you up to date, but O am feeling really good about this job!!

*WARNING* Proud mommy post...

That's right you've been forwarned that there will be lots of gushing and making over my handsome little man. But, dang if he's not the cutest thing all dressed up and in a tie!! He had his Fall program at school Friday, and he really wanted to wear a tie this year. They are required to wear a white shirt, black pants, black shoes, but the tie was per Ross' request. And all I could think of was the cute pics that this would entitle me to. So I just wanted to share some of these. He is a handsome little guy. Watch out mommmies with daughters~this one is gonna be a handful.
This is probably one of my favorites, as if I could have just one....as if...

he's trying to be serious here, but you'll see this is going to change....

you can see with this big smile, he's relaxing...and that means....

yep, here come some true boy poses....wouldn't be Ross if there weren't some silly ones.

and another one....

we'll end it with this cute cheesy smile. I have more, but I won't make you oohhh and awww any more than needed in one day. But he is pretty darn handsome, huh????

I'm going back to work.....

And I am SOOOOOOOO excited!!!!! Just a quick post to let all my well wishers know that today was my interview. They hired me on the spot!! WOOHOO!!!! They normally do not hire on the spot and right now, with things as slow as they are, they haven't been hiring. But they liked what they heard and seen in the interview, did my drug test and hired me!!! EEEEKK!! I am so excited.....did I mention that already, LOL. God never let's me down. I am ready to go back to work for so many reasons. I'll keep you updated. Thanks to all of you that have been praying!!!

Christmas Workshop...

Starts Saturday at Bad Girls!!!! WooHoo!! Free classes, and fun fun fun!!!!! Hope you'll play along!! I'm sure that Mrs. Wendy is gonna make it ever SO special.

I got the best news today....

I am going back to work!!! Woohoo!!!! I have been waiting for a call back after putting in my application and they just called me this morning!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!
My interview is on Thursday!!! I am SO ready to get back into building my retirement and getting back out in the work force. I will be doing what I was doing before I quit work to stay home and raise Ross, only with a better company! I LOVED my job at Winn Dixie, but the company slowly went down hill and has some restructuring issues and such, so I am moving on to bigger and BETTER!!! I enjoy working in customer service and working with people. I am nervous and excited all at the same time!!

I am a hunting widow again this weekend, which I am NOT complaining about, LOL. I enjoy the short time to myself. I can get so much more accomplished when my boys are gone. I always look forward to the minute they come home, but I take my time alone as a blessing! Here is a photo of the deer SL got a couple weeks ago. A ten point!


He will be on our wall. Not sure if I am excited about this, but it was important to him. So we'll have him in about six months from the taxidermist.

I hope you are all having a great weekend! Mine seems to be shaping into an exceptional one!!!!!

Be still my beating heart...

This has got to be the cutest robot around! Ross was Wall-E for Halloween and this was a special day because it's the first time he got to dress up and go trick-or-treating. He was SO excited and So tired by the end of the night, LOL! But he was so stinkin' cute and has the Wall-E voice nailed!!

His treat bag was actually a small cooler and if you have seen the movie it makes sense. That is what Wall-E carries. We even put the B-N-L logo on it (AC Thickers and my QK cookie cutters for the circle). It was a great day and even though he got a little spooked we all slept well.

Hello Beautiful...

How yummy is this!!! I am so drooling!! I love these color combos and the music notes....can't wait to get my hands on some of these pretties!! Go check them out here Their website is beautiful and you should really go look around and take in all the eye candy :)!!! Have fun!!

Yummy Chatterbox Goodness

So this is what I found when I opened my Google Reader yesterday...Is that not some of the yummiest scrappin' goodies you have EVER seen. Chatterbox is doing this HUGE kit for Sam's and I am so gonna have one even if I have to stalk my Sam's club for the next month. And if I am lucky enough to win one, I am gonna buy another one and give it to my mommy. Or better yet, I'll buy a whole bunch and give them to all my scrappin' pals for Christmas presents. That way I'd be helping out my favorite company at the same time. Sounds like a plan to me.

Go and see all the yumminess at Melody's blog and if you really love me, leave my name in the comments and maybe, just maybe I will one. And if I win one, and you are a scrappin buddy, you're gonna get one for Christmas. Yes that is bribery....bwahahahahha!!!

Guess who came to our house...

The tooth fairy, of course! Ross lost his top front tooth and he is THE cutest thing EVER!! And I'll think you'll agree that the freckles add to his charm. Sigh. But after seeing these photos, I realize even more how much of his "little" boy features are being replaced by his handsome Young man features. Where does the time go? I remember hearing grown ups always saying how time flies, and now I see it for myself. I remember him hiccuping in my tummy like yesterday. Sheesh. Maybe the next tooth he loses, I'll leave a note for the tooth fairy to give to Father Time and ask him to please slow it down, just a tad. Good grief!!

Well, I didn't make it to round 5 at Bad Girls TD. But I am SO proud that I made it through 4 rounds in my first attempt! And I had so much fun and learned A LOT. So look out, girls. I'll be back next year.

Finished Accessorizing...finally

Class #4 for BG Top Designer was masterfully taught by Miss Bethany and it was all about accessorizing. I love this photo of my niece and I wanted to show how beautiful she is in this photo with lots of pretties, without taking away from her beauty. I think that by following the instructors guidelines, I did the photo justice. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The Pink Paislee PP worked out perfect and then I just started picking my embellies by my color scheme. I also used the circles to unify the LO and not lose the movement around the page.
Hope I make it to the next round! I'm a bit nervous about this week. It's getting crazy in the class now that we are getting near the end. Come see the amazing gallery at Bad Girls and get inspired!!!

One of my VERY favorite photos ever..

And now of my favorite LO's EVER!! I did this page for Class #3 for Bad Girls Top Designer! It was fabulously taught by Miss Sri and she gave us the best instructions for a "less is more" approach for a great way to express SO much with SO little. I am SO happy with the way this page turned out!!! I have never scrapped this photo even though I love it so much because I wanted the LO to be perfect. And after reading Sri's guidelines, I immediately knew I wanted to use this picture and had a visual concept in mind right away. I just love the end result. It portrays exactly how I feel about my honey when I look at this picture!!

You should really hop on over and check out the gallery and pour over the amazing work there!! There is some amazing pages for this assignment and I pray that I did the teacher proud!! Cross your fingers for me and hope I make it to round 4!!!

Another Class Complete

Class #2 for Bad Girls Top Designer was Mixing Patterns. Our lesson was taught by the talented Miss Emilie Ahern. She explained the basics of mixing several different patterens so perfect! This class was a true challenge for me. I'm not really sure why, but it was. I finally settled on colors and found some pp that flowed for me. This was another fantastic class. I'm already chompin' at the bit, wishing I could start the next one!!

Assignment One~Complete

Class one over at Bad Girls for Top Designer was assigned by THE very talented Miss Cari Fennel. I love this class~LOVED it!!! The assignment was layering perspectives and it was so much fun. This is my LO. I adore these photos of Ross. He was so amazed by the little snails in our backyard. I treasure this sense of wonder in small children and was fortunate enough to capture this moment. Cari gave us great instruction and set us off to our homework. I absolutly LOVEd this assignment and couldn't be happier with my work.
If you missed signing up for design school, atleast come over to Bad Girls where you can join in to get some great instruction from the uber talented Design Team. School is in session, WOOHOO!!

Meet our new babies..

WallE and Eva (Ross named them). Our baby gerbils. When Ross' gerbil died we took two young gerbils from the pre-school teacher over the summer. They were SUPPOSED to be two GIRLS, but ahem, they obviously are NOT! They had four babies a month and a half later and only two survived. The small one is a little boy, WallE and the larger one is the girl, Eva. They are SO stinkin' cute! We have decided to keep them. One with the momma and one with the daddy. They are so loving and social, that I felt bad thinking we had to break them up. So now they will both have a baby to live with. And hopefully the method we used to sex them early is foolproof.... sigh. But they are cute!!!

Week In Review

We had a great week this week. Ross' first week back to school was a good one. We all really like his teacher this year. He made a 102% on his first spelling test, WOOHOO! He is finding out quick that second grade is ALL about work and more work. Lots more studying and tests. Starting this coming week, he will be carpooling with his kindergarten teacher. It was a huge blessing that she offered us this chance. We will not only save some money in gas, but it will give Ross some more incentive to be more independent (he needs this badly) and will be fantastic when I go back to work. HUGE blessing.

Let's see, Tropical Storm Fay was a dud(thankfully) as it came ashore. We hardly got a drop of rain UNTIL the following FIVE days! Sheesh. Never seen a storm linger so long. We had no flooding (again, thankfully) and just a bit breezy.
I actually got to scrap a bit and am itching to get back out to my desk and create. I think I am going to start working on playing around with cardmaking a bit. Just to challenge myself some. Get outside of my comfort zone and push the mojo. I need to start playing with my Bad Girls August kit as well. I have a picture from vacation that I want to get scrapped with some of the yummy stuff in my kit. Perfect colors.

Hope you all have a great week. I plan to try and update more now that life is getting back in the groove. NEED that groove!!

It feels so good...

to actually "create". It's been to long since I have been able to sit at my desk and COMPLETE a layout. But I did today and it felt so good! I love this picture of Ross. The look is SO him. And the little one of his silly self. That's my boy.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from vacation. We had so much fun and I'm so very glad that we took the time away for ourselves. It was WELL worth it. I have plans for layouts for most of these!! I love the jellyfish and the tiger photos!
Thank you to my pal Renee for giving me a cute little award for my blog! She is so sweet. If you haven't went and checked her blog out, please do. She is very talented and you will get a good laugh for sure!

Catching my breath...

finally. Things are calming down. Seems that maybe we are getting around to a bit more stability and a little less chaos. So, where to begin. Well, back at the first week of July, my DH's nephew-the same one that I took care of as a baby when I first met my husband-who is now 16, had some serious reconstructive surgery to correct an injury from when he was younger. We were asked to work at the family marina while he was in the ICU for 7 days and while my SIL was home taking care of him. So we were very busy at the marina for two weeks and as soon as she could get back to work, I received a horrible phone call from my SIL. Her oldest son, 32, had hung himself and committed suicide. SO SO sad. It sent us all just in a spin that has taken a while to get straight from.
The same week, as they tried to get arrangements made and things sorted out with his death (we were working back at the marina just to help any way we could so that their family could be together), our nephew who had the surgery had some serious complications and set backs from his original surgery. He was rushed back to Tampa and is doing okay now, but is now going to have to have some more surgery. They feel that the stress and shock of his brother's death played a big role in the complications.
So, we have just been helping where we are needed. There has been some family bickering amongst a few of my in-laws which I'm sure has a lot to do with the stress. Just a shame that everyone can't come together at such a hard time.
We decided to cancel our vacation to the Keys. So many factors played into that decision, but I feel it was the right one. We did take Ross to Sea World and Busch Gardens this past week. We felt that it was unfair to him that we were unable to spend as much time as we would have liked with him over the summer. It has been hard on everyone. But we had a fantastic time and it was worth the five days away from home and stress. We are all refreshed and ready for school to start and Sylvester will be back to work next week.
I am so not good with chaos. I love my routine and stability. But I will soon have more time to myself and back where I need to be. I plan to start work after Ross gets settled into school. I am so looking forward to going back to work. Love working with the public. I'll fill ya in more on that later. This post is plenty long enough.
I'll post some photos of our vacation on my next post. I plan to be able to start posting regulary now that I can breathe some. Then again, life takes things where it wants and I'm hoping it's not back down the road of chaos!!

SO much...

going on with us right now. I haven't posted in a while. As a matter of fact, it was right at the same time my life went completely CRAZY. I don't have time to go into full details, but my next post will. I promise. I have been working at the family business just helping out in a time of need. There has been surgery, death, family fights,and so on and so on. I am ok and my immediate family is fine. We are all just trying to hold each other together helping where we can, trying to get through this .
I'll post with all the details soon. Just wanted all my bloggin' pals to know I'm still alive and kickin'!!!

To long....

since my lat post I know! Two weeks! Sheesh. Things have just been CRAZY busy. I got sick for a bit and then my nephew went in for some serious surgery and DH and I were asked to keep the family marina while his sister was tending to him. Just craziness. But I have been scrapping here and there.

I did this page for the Bad Girls birthday scraplift challenge. I had SO much fun doing this page. I have had so many people love this picture of me, I think I'm going to use it for my avatar. And hey, I think I actually look a bit skinnier, so yeah, I'm all over that,bwahahahaha!!

Speaking of which, my weight loss is kinda at a standstill right now. I haven't been able to work in my exercise anyhwhere in the midst of all my hectic crazy days, so I can't wait to get back on track. I am such a creature of habit.

I went and seen Menopause~the musical with my mom, and pals Lynn and Ann on Sunday, and had the BEST time!! We laughed for a solid hour and a half. I recommend it to anyone!! Made for a great girls day out too. I think we are gonna make it a priority to make this a regular thing to get together. We have SO much fun together. I love that we can just be ourselves and not have to feel like you're having to be fake or act like someone you're not. KWIM? Just having a great time together and loving the company.

Well, I need to go put up my VERY swollen feet. Working 10 to 12 hours in the heat is taking a toll on me. I am one tired chickie at the end of the day. Hope all is well with my blogging pals.

SIGH....

So, I knew I needed to update with a post, but I have not much news or excitement to share. Not even any photos. I'm hoping that my creative/energetic spirit kicks in. Like real soon would be good.
I missed my weigh in last night~sigh~but I know that I am probably the same as last week. If there was a loss it was ounces. I know I haven't gained, but my losses are SLOWING way down~sigh~and I need them to get kicked in gear and maybe the rest will follow. Waiting in sheer anxiety to hear about a design team call that I have tried for~sigh~and I really FEEL like creating, but I go to my desk and then look at stuff and walk away~sigh~.
So, here's hoping tomorrow is a much more productive day. It will be starting with my 7am walk, so maybe~just maybe~it will start off GOOD!!!!
Thanks for reading my uneventful post and I promise the next will be MUCH better!!!!!

I've been taggged...

By my my bloggin' pal Renee. Go check out her blog here Renee . WARNING: make sure you have no liquid in your mouth when reading her blog as it will probably hit your computer!!! LOL! She is so funny! And inspirational to top off her great personality. I love to see her posts pop up on my Google reader~look forward to it actually. So here goes, thank you, Renee, for taking my tagged virginty~yep this is my first one.

1.Ten years ago.
I worked as a directs receiving manager at Winn Dixie. (loved this job~gave it up to stay home with my son~best decision I ever made)

2.Five things on today’s “to do list”
Go get a new battery for my van. Do the dishes. Do laundry. Make two cards. Work with my Bad Girls kit.

3.Snacks I enjoy
Sugar -free jello pudding,WW yogurt, chips and salsa, All-Bran crackers w/Laughing Cow cheese, most fruit

4.Things I would do if I was a millionaire
Sheesh, this could be a lonnnnng answer, but I would invest a big part of it to make sure we could live off the interest and never have to work again. I would buy a new house w/ a scrapbook wing. I would make sure my mom had everything she ever wanted for all the stuff she gave up to raise me and my siblings. Make sure my son would be set for life-although it would be a trust as I believe he should know the value of working for things. I'll stop here.

5.Places I have lived
Illinois ~ MANY places in Arkansas ~ Florida

So that's it. Not to painful. Now I have to tag four others, so let's see. I tag..
Iris
Dena
Wendy
Ruth
Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 4 people and posts their names with links to their blog, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers.
Thanks, again Renee!!

YUM.....

My new treat to myself...and it is ssssssssooooooooo yummy!!!! Just add a splash of diet 7UP and you get zero points and a good relaxing buzz! It's pour and serve, no mixing required. It is a VERY good thing......

Like the energizer bunny...

I keep going and going and....well you know. I lost another 1.2lbs this week~woohoo!!!! I'm at an even 44 now!! Some days it really seems like this journey is dragging. I've found that some days I feel SO fat and find myself getting discouraged easily. This is the first time I've had this happen since I started WW. I've had down days, but I have really found that I am having to encourage myself more. Not sure why this is. I feel better, I'm going down clothes sizes steadily, yet I just feel like I'm not doing all I can. This has mainly been an issue for the last couple of weeks. Not really sure what triggered it, I just know that it has affected my mind set some. I don't feel discouraged in the sense that I want to give up, but more so that I'm not doing my best. Truth be known, I'm probably not. I am still walking atleast 3~4 times a week, but have dropped off from exercising as much while at home mainly because Ross is out of school. I tell myself that this is not a valid excuse, but it's just that this is the way it rolls on a daily basis. Sheesh. Oh well. Just a hurdle I must get over. This is a constant war and new battles seem to imerge from no where. Part of my problem, I think, is that I have SO much more to lose!! I need to stop thinking about that and just moving forward. My pal Lynn made a very good point at our meeting last night. I'm a lot closer to my goal than I was, even if it is still a ways off. Thanks, Lynn. That helped me more than you know. I'm so glad I have some real friends supporting me. I know that I could NOT do this without them!!!!

Stellar Speller

So yesterday was a great mail day. You know the kind when you get something really good out of the mailbox instead of junk mail and bills. I got Ross' end of the year report card and his SAT rsults. So I'm gonna just start bragging now and try not to beat around the bush. My son ROCKED his SAT's!!!! Now, I don't know what is actually on the SAT for a first grader, but it does show his grade equivilant and his national percentile ranks and he is off the charts!!

He scored a perfect score in 8 different catergories and the ENTIRE reading/spelling section he scored as high as he could. Yep, he got EVERY single one correct!! He also scored perfect in science and part of math, but his overall math was his weak piont. Anyhoo, he is atleast a 3rd grade level in everything, averaging at 4th grade and he is reading and spelling on a 5.8 grade level!!!!!!!! That's like sixth grade people!!! I'm just so proud of him. SO PROUD!!

Hope you didn't mind me gloating but I believe his horn deserves to be tooted!!!! Oh, and I got so excited about telling you about his SAT scores, I forgot to say, he ended up with a 95% overall grade for the school year on his report card as well!! Look out second grade........

Angel

This is my mom in 1951 in Chicago. She is either holding my gram or great-gram's hand. I LOVE this photo. She was sooooooooo pretty. When I went through my Chatterbox papers, this pallete jumped out. I am so pleased with the end result. My mom liked it, but added after the fact that she doesn't like purple. But it REALLY looks good with all the other colors with the b&w pic.
Don't you agree????

So weigh in was good. Lost another 1.4 this week. Should hit the 45lb mark next week!! I am seeing my goal now. Doesn't seem so far away. Just seems slow getting there at times.

I want to congratulate my pal, Lynn, for reaching a big milestone w/WW. She hit her 10% goal!!!!!!! Woohoo, chickie!! YOU rock that scale you big loser, bwahahahahaa! Love ya!!

The simple things

I know I need to slow down and enjoy them. Remember when you were a kid and loved doing the little stuff. Like climb a tree or just look at all the small stuff around you. I do. I remember not being able to wait to get outside and play. I want to get back there to that place and stop worrying about the stuff that really isn't going to change if I worry about it or not. I feel so energized and productive and hope that nothing will come along and knock it all for a loop. See, there I go worrying again. Really need to stop that and enjoy what matters most.

Not so Happy Father's day...

...for many of us in our family. This is the first Father's Day without my gramp and my mom's dad. He was a father to me and my siblings because ours refused to be one. He was the strength and backbome for many of us and he is SO missed. We love you Gramp and it's not the same down here, but I'm sure heaven is a singin', happier place with you there.

We are celebrating the day with my hubby and Ross. Celebrating what we are thankful for and we are so grateful that he is such a good daddy. He really is. Ross is his whole world.

Hope you enjoy the day with your father-no matter who may play that role. And for those of us remembering ours, be thankful we had them and for the diffrence they made in our lives.

My Everything

This would be him. My everything that I had been looking for all my life. So many times in different parts of my life, I had felt a void and tried filling it with things that I thought made me happy. Until I had him, I never knew what those voids were. He most definitly completes me. I am so thankful, so blessed.

I think my mojo is bbbbbbbaaaaaacccccccckkkkkkk!!! Woohoo!!

Found a bit of my mojo..

I have been in a slump lately and while

walking with my friend, Ann, on Sunday, she mentioned her birthday was today. And I wanted to give her something special. So, I remembered she had emailed me some pictures of her beautiful new grand-daughter, Victoria. I decided I would make her a quick little brag book with the pictures. I hope I did such a beautiful baby justice and the book is pretty enough to show her. She is the cutest little girl. I'm happy with the book for doing it quickly. I'm pretty sure Ann liked it,hahahaha. She was a bit surprised and delighted. I'm gonna turn her into a srapbooker yet.

iPOD Junkies....

That is so not the term that you would expect to hear in any description of my husband. Now, it's not that he isn't cool or anything like that, but let's just say that those of you who know him, also know that hearing that he even has an iPOD much less is addicted to the stupid thing is wacked. For those of you that don't know him, he is about as country boy as they come and would rather the world still have dirt roads and horse and buggies. Seriously. EVERY single time I mention the word iPOD and my DH having one, the person says, "Sylvester has an iPOD". Every time!

But he wanted an iPOD and I bought him one and now I am sentenced to atleast an hour a night to importing his favorite cd's into the thing. He HAD to have the 80GB so it could hold more. 20,000 songs more!! He will NEVER put that many songs on the thing. But he has the room if he ever wants to. Whatever.

For the past couple of nights, Ross has been getting his fix of the addiction as well. It's actually quite cute to see the two of them. Each one has an earphone and Ross loves to listen to the old Ray Stevens comedy songs. (I warned you my husband was a redneck). But anyhoo, Ross loves the one song 'It's Me Again, Margaret'. HE just thinks it is the funniest thing. And they both sit there and laugh at the same parts of the song. It really is hysterical!! Just for these moments, the iPOD was worth EVERY penny.

Well, I didn't make it to weigh in this week due to bad storms that hit right at meeting time, but I can tell you I stayed the same as last week, but it's that time of the month so I can't expect to much. KWIM? And coming off a 4.2lb loss last week, I can't be dissapointed either. Next week will be better. The bloat will be gone.

Hope you have a great week. Enjoy the summer. We sure are.

Lazy days...

...of summer have begun. Although I still get up early to walk. Starting at 7am these days to try and beat the heat. We had a family day today that was nice being together. Really nice. It's till up in the air what we're doing tomorrow. Maybe a bit of shopping~for DH~which means boring tool shopping}insert eyeroll.

We're still debating what we're going to do for our family vaca. We have a cabin reserved for August in the Keys to go lobstering, but we are seriously considering getting our money back because of the price of gas. We just figure we could make some really nice memories for the $ we'd be filling up the boat and truck with. I am still voting for the Keys. I've been looking forward to it. But, reality bites. Gas is ridiculous. We're not making any hasty decisions. We have plenty of time to decide. I'm crossing my fingers for the Keys.

I think I'm going to stay up and scrap tonight. I feel a bit of my mojo. I have a LO started I need to finish and move on. My blogging pal Renee has a fun challenge goin' on and I think I may join in. Go check it out here http://reneelamb.wordpress.com/.

Hope you have a happy weekend. Make it a scrappy one!

No stopping me now

So today was weigh in at WW and guess what? Yep. I lost 4.2 lbs. this week and blew right on by 40, yes that's FORTY!!!!!!!!!!! I am at 41.4 lbs. lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woo flippin' hoo!!!!!!!!!!!! I just know it's gonna be another great week!! My new challenge is to be at 55 lost by the end of June. I can do it.
I CAN DO IT!!!!! There's no stopping me. That drive and will power has kicked in and I feel it going into over drive! I CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perfect end...

...to a busy week! Whew. I'm tired. Ross' last week of school was a busy one, but a fun one all the same. After the long holiday weekend, he went back and I finished helping Sylvester tie up some loose ends with the boat. On Thursday, Ross' class had a beach party and we had a blast! Ross LOVES the beach and the water! And mix in all his buddies and you have a party!! We had a great time.

On Friday, his classs had a half day and they celebrated the kids who had birthadys over the summer. Add some food in a mix of hyper kids who know they have four hours left of first grade, and you get a....headache. No, seriously, it was fun. So nice to see them all so happy. I of course got some cute pictures. This one is Ross with his buddy Damien and his sweetness Amanda. I love that they have all known each other since pre-school and are growing up together. That they are all growig in Christ and can pray together and learn the good things in life as well as get an outstanding education. For this, I am so blessed and so thankful. I have watched Ross and his friends grow and become close. He has some friends have to move away and has made some new ones along the way, but there are pretty much the same kids that are growing up together and it is awesome to see them be able to have that opportunity in a society where most kids are pushed through a system and hopefully learned the bare mininmum to move on. On top of his relationships he's building with God and his friends, he is receiving top-notch education. Again, I am SO thankful.

After the couple of days of fun, this is how Ross ended up Friday night. Fell asleep right where he sat watching a movie he had been waiting to come on t.v. Sound asleep. Oh, to be able to sleep so sound.

And last night we had our pictures done by a very good friend who had done a shoot for us before Ross was born and let me tell ya, he is amazing. You can check out his work here http://www.readphotography.com/. He is AMAZING! And a true friend. He took some shots that I get heart wrenched just looking at. It was an incredible end to a great week. I even caught a tarpon this week on top of every thing else! The photo shoot was the cherry on top though. It was something I will always remember and will have the memories to treausre on my walls and scrapbooks.

My Tarpon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a great day! I caught an elusive trapon! Perfect day. Beautiful weather. Seas were calm. No sharks in sight. Lots of tarpon~not many hungry ones. Mine wasn't that big~ only about 90lbs. But it was a blast!!! Thank you to my hubby for a great day! Now I just want to catch a bigger one...wahhahahahhaaaa

Been thinking lately...

About lots of things. How blessed I am, my family is. Thinking about where I want to go with my life. Thinking about what I have done with my life since I stopped working full time to raise my son. Just taking a lot of things in and wondering where I will be in the next year. I have enjoyed being home to raise my son, but he'll be seven soon and I feel like I want to get back out and work with people. I really like working with people and with the public. I like to think I am helping in some small way in people's day to day. Sounds kind of silly, but I really like it. And I'm not even really an outgoing person either. But I take pride in any job that I take on and become totally immersed in it.
I've been thinking about people who have been in my life, a lot lately, too. Some have come and some have gone. Sometimes I think I try to hard to be nice to people. I think there are people that just don't want anyone to care about them. I guess because people like that really don't care much about themselves. I've been thinking why are they like this? Why can't people just be nice? Is is such a hard thing? Apparently it is for some. These type of people seem to latch on to anything that comes along and go for the ride until they're through using them and discard them like anything except another human being who has feelings. I just don't get it. It really bugs me and I can't seem to let it go.
And then there are those people that I know God put in my life as a true friend. Someone that you just know wouldn't hate you if you made a mistake or couldn't ever forgive you. The kind that doesn't judge you. A TRUE friend would never hold things over your head or take something you've said and put it into context that suited them. You could have them over at your house without feeling they were better than you and find faults. That realize we are all different. They would take an apology as just that. Not condemn you for being imperfect. I have been blessed with a friend like that and it's been so long to have someone I feel like I can really trust. It's such a good feeling. Sometimes the person you think is your friend isn't and the one who may have been off in the background is who God has put in your life instead.
Well, I've probably rambled enough. People just never seem to amaze me. Wouldn't this world be so much better if people quit making excuses and just did what was right? Now thats something to think about.

NO gain~NOpain..

That's right. I said it correct. NO gain then NO pain in the world of WW's!! BWAHAHHAHAHAAA! I still have officially not had a gain since January!! So, I am at 37.2 lbs. lost!! Yeah baby!!! Not a major loss this week but I still had a loss!! And I had to go back and check, but this was not my worse week either. So therefore I am a happy camper!!!!!!

This week is going to be a BIG loss. I can feel it. Wanna hold me to it? Kay. I'm game. I will have my biggest loss yet this coming week. That means I have to lose 4lbs. which is my biggest loss as of now. I'm gonna do it. I can feel it!!!

Sugar&Spice...

I just LOVE this photo of my mom!!! No, I adore it. She looks so sweet and girly. Then I look at her knees and remember all the stories I've heard about her growing up and I have to smile.

She was so stinkin' cute and had quite a bit of the SPICE thing going on too. That baby buggy she is standing with was one her favorite things. She said they called them prams. Sure mom, baby buggy.

I did this LO with some of the awesome goodies in my Bad Girls kit. LOVE these kits. Yep. SO hooked.

My next challenge will be to use some of these goodies to do a boy page. Yeah. I got a few boy pictures so I better challenge myself to think outside of the box. I do have some more really, really cute pictures my mom gave me that I am thinking I may do a mini album with. Lots of dolls and toys and cuteness that would look oh so amazing with my kit. Sigh. So many ideas. So little time.

On a different note, I hope to get out and catch a tarpon soon. I'm itching to catch one. But I'll wait until the seas are calmer. Not real big on the idea of being out there rocking and rolling with a 100lb+ fish on. I'd rather be a little more sure footed. LOTS of extremely LARGE HUGE sharks out there. Yeah. No. I'll wait for better weather. KWIM?!?

Summertime....

I am so looking forward to summer. Just two more weeks of school. And a little more than a month and S.L. will be done working for the summer too!! I hope we do lots and make lots of memories. I can NOT wait to go to the Keys in August! And hopefully I won't be to awfully scary in a bathing suit. By August, I hope I've lost enough to matter!!

I did this LO for Prima's May skecth. I love the Dude collection. So bright and fun. The sun is created with Prima flowers. My guys love the boat. And all the things summer brings.

Tarpon have started running and I'm also looking forward to catching one this year. Seems like every time I was able to go last year, something came up. Don't have a pesky work schedule this year so hopefully I'll have more chances.

Have to get little man to school. I'll post some more tomorrow. My mojo is flowing so I hope to post more pics! Have a blessed day!

Quickie...

Just a quick post to say that I lost another 2.4 lbs this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, my new obsession is to increase my weight loss to atleast 4lbs. a week. I think I can, I think I can..... I will!! I need this to go faster.

So thankful for the 36.5 lbs i have lost. SO thankful. But with SO much more to lose, I must increase my weekly losses. Hello exercise, you are becoming my new inner voice. I have to do more!!!

Wish me luck! I CAN do this!!! Have a fantastic week! Hope you achieve all your goals for the week.

Happy Mother's Day!

I have had a great day. I got to sleep in until 9:15 and then woke up to Ross running to get his card from the drawer where he's been stashing all the things he's been creating.

His daddy took him to town and said they had to go get some things to work on the boat, and I never caught on, because apparently he never told Ross where they were really going so he wouldn't blow it with his oh so suttle way of saying they aren't up to something. So I believed they were out doing errands but they were out buying a few surprises for mommy.

Ross picked out the prettiest bouquet of flowers and I also got a store bought card from him and daddy both. I personally love his own card the best!!! They also bought dinner and even though Ross wanted fried chicken, daddy was thinking of me and my points and got me rotisserie chicken. They also got me yummy spring rolls. This is one of my new favorite types of sushi and it's all veggie in rice paper. Delicious.

I also went and seen my mom this morning and gave her my card and gifts. She loved them. She cried and cried. These photos are of the little acrylic key chain I made her. It says-never, never, never, forget. It really turned out cute.

There are pictures of my gramp in it. It's the perfect size. 2x3. I used Heidi Grace's Oh So Moody line and the colors turned out perfect. She LOVED it. These are a couple of the pics inside.
I also made her a frame with a pic of her and I that my aunt took while she was here. I hand wrote the quote-A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unecessary. She cried over that too. Love that. Love that she loved them so much.
I hope you had a great day and remember to call your mom if you haven't already!!!