Black out!

I was complaining a few weeks ago on Facebook that my kids were waking up at 6 AM and I was just so tired all the time. Some friends suggested that I put a dark sheet or blanket up in their windows to help them sleep longer. I finally got some dark blue fleece, cut it out, stuck some push pins at the edges of the windows, made some holes to hook on the pins and walaa, my kids are sleeping later!!!

The first night I didn't see much of a difference but slowly the waking has become 7, 7:30 and finally this morning Justin and I didn't wake up until 7:45, hooray! (However, much to Justin's dismay, he got into work later than he wanted because he slept in to late!) Tim has been sleeping in until 8 or even later. This is just fabulous! I suggest it to all of my friends who wish to sleep in a little in the summer....YAHOO!!!

I tried to do some before and after pictures so you could see the difference at 9:30 AM, but the flash would not go off on the light picture. Hmmm, I'll see if they turn out!

Before:



After:

Friday Weigh In

Well, I ate pretty good this week and exercised Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and I gained weight. I am at 145.5 this morning and a little bummed by it. Part of this could be due to the fact that I am on a new birth control that can cause weight gain (NuvaRing). If I get back up to 150, goodbye to this method! Plus my mid section has just seemed a little harder to manage this week and I have experienced some nausea which makes me want to eat more to control it, grrrrr. How was your week?

**This is what I just pulled up from the NuvaRing website**

The common side effects reported by NuvaRing^® users are:

• Headache
• Weight gain
• Nausea

Eaten Alive!

Last night we were invited by Justin's sister Meg and her family to go to Antelope Island for a picnic dinner. We got everything ready and just grilled the hot dogs at our house so that we could just eat when we got there. From the moment we arrived, we started getting eaten alive by biting gnats. I had even called earlier that day to make sure we wouldn't be bothered by bugs and they said the biting gnats had moved on, yeah right! We hurried over to our picnic table on the beach and luckily the wind was blowing enough to keep them mostly away while we ate. Then we sprayed ourselves with bug spray and headed down to the beach.

Since the lake is so low, we had to walk probably a half mile to get to the water. Once there, my kids just went right in the water and had a blast playing in the very shallow water. We stayed down by the water for a half hour or so and then headed back to the car with very wet and sandy kids.

We headed for home eating yummy cookies and mini donuts for dessert and when we got home we all bathed and showered and had many bug bites to show for our adventure! To top it off, I slept terribly with itchy skin all night, what a bummer! I was surprised I didn't hear my kids complaining in the night! I hope your FHE went a little more smoothly! Thanks for invite though Megan!

Not so Happy Father's Day.....

On Father's Day things started out well. We all woke up early and gave Justin his presents (shirts, tools and flip flops which he liked). We didn't go to church because of a swine flu threat for those who were at scout camp and since Justin was there for a few days, we were asked to not come to church. Apparently the brother of one of the boys at scout camp got diagnosed with swine flu and some boys started feeling sick at camp so that's how it all started. I heard that there were very few people at church and all activities have been canceled this week! Since we didn't have church, we went over to Liesl's and helped get her new kids computer up and going and had lunch.

Now for the not so fun part.....

When we got home both kids went to bed so we decided it was a good time to move up the couches from downstairs since we had a buyer coming to get them in a few hours. We had a terrible time getting the large couch up the staris and we ended up tearing up the wall a bit and part of the door frame. During the process when Justin told me to push and I did, apparently I did it the wrong way and he yelled at me. Needless to say, once the couches were upstairs he was in a very foul mood and disappeared downstairs while I made rolls. (Let me clarify that Justin didn't mind the couches and didn't necessarily want to sell them but I did not like them and wanted some newer couches that I could enjoy in our basement once it is finished which should hopefully be done this week and next! This added to his frustration!)

The rolls ended up being fairly disastrous and at this point I was trying to hold the tears back. I finally got the rolls decent and we sold our couches and then we had to go to two family dinners. I asked Justin if he was okay and he said he just felt crappy and was sure it was because he yelled at me. I told him we would try to have fun at the dinners and we ended up having an okay time with our families but by the end, he was very ready to go home. We got home, got the kids to bed and just went to bed ourselves because we were both worn out!

He did tell me when we were going to bed that he does have a great family and we were both sorry that his Father's Day wasn't a better one. Hopefully this week gets better!

Justin with Allison



Justin and Tim hiking



Justin on Tim's 1st birthday

Friday Weigh In

This week was much better for me! I started eating less and exercising more and the results paid off. I weighed in at 144 which is the same as my low another week but then I went up so this is better. Now to just keep this momentum going!

I must admit that last night was not so great but luckily it didn't count too much. I ate a big dinner and then Justin wanted the kids out of his hair to finish his paper so I took them to McDonalds and got a Sundae and Tim wanted chocolate milk. Tim didn't want any ice cream but Allie helped me eat it. On hindsight, I wish I would've gotten fries because Tim and Allie would have eaten most of them and I would have only had a few! Then I put Allie to bed and took Tim to the mall. He asked for a cookie at Mrs. Fields so I said sure thinking I would just have a bite of his but then when they got his cookie they asked me what free cookie I wanted which of course I couldn't resist! I guess after 8 PM they start offering a buy one get one free deal to get rid of as many cookies as possible. Not only did I eat my cookie but part of Tim's that went discarded, aahhhhh!

Oh well, I am starting a more strict exercise program next week with hopefully good results. It involves slow moderate paced exercise, interval training where you have a few minutes where you really push it and then stretching to bring your heart rate down and so on and then weight training for upper and lower body. Wish me luck! How did you do everyone?

Friday weigh in

This week I weighed in at the same 145.5 and I can tell that I am trying to do better with not wanting to eat as much junk food and sweets. As an example, I got a Papa John's pizza on Tuesday night and have still not brought myself to eat the leftovers...that's good for me! I am still not doing great but I want to do better deep inside.

Is anyone else besides Andrea and Jeremy still doing this weight loss thing with me? If so, speak up because I haven't really heard from anyone in the last few weeks!

Spooky Happenings at 4 AM!

Last night we sent the kids to bed around 7:30 and then settled in at 8 to watch Harry Potter 5 to get ready for the new one coming out in July. At 9:30 we were both falling asleep because of some sleep deprivation the two previous nights so I turned off the movie and got the house ready for bed including locking doors, checking on kids etc. I mostly shut Tim's door and shut Allison's door and went to bed. At 4 AM Allison was crying because her binkie was on the ground so I went to attend to her and noticed her bedroom door was wide open. At first I thought nothing of it thinking that Justin had gotten up with her earlier in the night.

I went back to bed and decided to ask Justin because it is unusual that he hears her and I don't, and he told me he did not get up with her. I told him that her door was wide open and I was a little concerned so we decided to get up and check out the house. We turned on all the lights and saw that all the doors were still locked and didn't see anyone so we decided to just go back to bed. I guess it is possible that I slept walked or woke up with her and don't remember (I was VERY tired last night) but it still creeped me out! Of course Justin fell right back asleep but it took me at least a half hour to turn off my brain and go back to sleep.

I keep wondering how it happened and I guess it's possible that Tim opened it but he never leaves his door mostly closed once he comes out and his door was exactly the same as when I put him to bed so I doubt it was him. The only other thing I can think of was that I woke up for some reason at 10:30 and I suppose I could have gotten out of bed to attend to Allison but I sure don't remember getting up! So strange and spooky!!

Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 6 year anniversary, woo hoo! Because it happens to fall on a rainy and cloudy Sunday, we decided to go out last night to celebrate and then we will celebrate in July by going to San Francisco for almost a week, yay!

Last night we got a sitter and went to TGI Fridays for dinner because I had a 2-for-1 dinner coupon. We both got yummy steak and mashed potatoes and then shared their yummy brownie and ice cream dessert. We had a little time before our movie so we went to Best Buy and I was freezing! I was thinking the theater would probably be cold so we ran over to Old Navy so I could buy a shirt or sweatshirt and they were having a great sale. They were selling shirts for $0.97 each and they were mostly Christmas shirts but anyone who knows me knows I love holiday shirts so I ended up buying 4 shirts total, 2 Christmas and 2 not Christmas. My grand total was $4.20 which made Justin happy since I was first eyeing the zip up hoodies for $15 first and he was thinking the date was getting expensive, lol!

Then we went to the Ogden Megaplex theater and saw Disney's Up in 3D. It was a pretty entertaining show but definitely not one I need to see again anytime soon. I really wanted popcorn during the movie but I was so full that I decided to pass. I love eating popcorn at the theater while watching a movie but I then should have passed on dessert! It was a fun night and it's been a great 6 years.

Here are some pictures throughout the years! (There is no rhyme or rhythm, just random pictures I decided to post!)

Justin and Janelle in L.A. April 2003

Allison's birth, Feb 28, 2008

Family snowmen December, 2007

Pregnant Nellie, April 2006

Nut and Nel in front of Abe Lincoln, Feb 2006

Snow shoeing, Uinta Mountains, January 2003

Zion National Park, May 2007

Christmas Family Photo, Dec 2006

Bryce National Park May 2007

Nut and Nel in L.A., April 2003

Hawaii, December 2004

Medieval Night, February 2003

Janelle with alligator in New Orleans, August 2005

Welcome baby Tim, April 8, 2006

Justin and Janelle in L.A., April 2003

What to do this summer?

So this past week I have been very bored! Most weeks I have several projects or errands to run but this week was pretty uneventful. On a fun note, Tim has started going to some summer camps at my neighbor's house every Tues and Thurs from 9-11 and this gives me some free time to go shopping with Allison who is very easy to take shopping and stick in a shopping cart!

Tim's summer camps are focusing on nursery rhymes and so far they have done the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Little Miss Muffet. He seems to have a good time!

Today I think I'll try and get out and do something and tonight I am going to my in-laws for Sci-Fi Friday if they are having it, woo hoo!

Friday Weigh In

So my scale isn't working great these days....I think I should get a new one. It takes a while for any numbers to appear (which it shouldn't) and yet it doesn't give me a Low battery signal so I'm not sure what to think! Maybe it's time for a new scale but probably my new scale will show I weigh more than I think I do because this one is cheap, lol! So if my weight suddenly goes up, you know why!

I weighed in at 145.5 today today which is up from last week but once again I did not eat great and the exercising was low this week. Really time to do better!