Diet.........

Okay, so that "D" word is always so dreaded.... But I'm tired of not being where I want to be with my weight and fitness. I am using a web site that a friend from work shared with me www.myfitnesspal.com. It is really helping me to watch what I eat and track my exercising. yes I said exercise....I went running for the first time in a LONG time yesterday, then I proceeded to clean my entire house(deep cleaning). Why I don't know, but I did.

So far I have lost 1lb and it has only been a little over a week. My brother-in-law is letting my Hubby and I have his dial weights so I will have that to help with exercise. Not only do I want to lose weight, but I want to tone up as well.

I will NOT say this is going to be easy, but I am going try with everything I have to NOT give up! I will try to give updates as I go about this process. All encouraging thoughts and comments are VERY welcome! Well until next time.....

Shopping!!!

Yes I am a woman and I may get more excited about shopping than others, but I was so VERY excited to go shopping for me yesterday! The kiddos, hubby, & I went to Charleston on a whim yesterday and had a lot of fun. We went to the mall(which is a place we have not been to in quite a while.....proof in the fact of all the old stores gone & new ones there.) and milled our way through the crowds of people.

Natalie and I took some time away from the boys and went shopping on our own for a little bit. She had so much fun picking out clothes that she liked, and she did a really good job. Of course she is a diva and it all had to look exactly right or she didn't want it. HAHAHAHA!! She was sweet though and picked out a shirt for her brother, and he liked it very much. Then when we came home she had to show her Daddy all her loot.

After meeting back up with the boys we headed to Publix and then home. It was a very nice impromptu day with my family!!!

SICK......SICK....SICK!!!!

I am FINALLY starting to feel like a human being again. This past week I thought I was going to die, but thanks to my wonderful husband I am on the mend. Nicolas & Natalie are both battling sinus stuff.....but that is because of the weather. Hopefully we are all going to continue to get over this crud and keep it gone!

We went to a birthday party for a family member yesterday to get us out of the house for a little bit. It was a great time and I think the kids were grateful for the time to play with all the other kids. Once we got home the kiddos decided that they wanted to watch on of the new DVD sets they got for Christmas. They picked Duck Tales.....yes you read that right Duck tales! They LOVE it and that is okay with me because it used to be one of my favorites. Nicolas likes it so much that he has not even touched his Nintendo DS today and has asked for more Duck Tales.

Starting to blog again!!!

WOW!!! I can not believe how long it has been since I have written a blog post. It makes me a little sad that I have neglected my blog this long. That is why I have decided to post something on here at LEAST twice week if not more. The only person who reads my blog that I know of is my Husband, but I will continue to write for all of those of you that do read. My posts will now be about every part of my every day life and the crazy thing that probably will happen. HAHA!! So to those of you that do read what I write.... Have fun and feel free to leave your comments to let me know what you think!! --Until next time--

Its been way to long!!

Okay so it has been a VERY long time since my last post, but I have a VERY good reason.

WE GOT A HOUSE!!!!

For several months we have been working on all of the final details, but it finally happened! YAY!!! We moved in this past saturday and we are still fighting all the boxes and figuring out where everything is going to go. My Mom is throwing our housewarming party this saturday, and I at least want to get everything done on the inside of the house. I don't care how many boxes that are all over our garage(which there are not that many) people will just have to understand that it has only been a week.

Well now that I got that off my chest....hahahaha! Well gotta go and get back to unpacking. Have a wonderful day, and I will try and not make it to long before the next post.

Frapp Recipe!!!

Okay I have a Mr. Coffee frapp maker, but I don't see why using a regular blender wouldn't work. This recipe is for anyone who would like to use it, but especially for Amy!

- Brew coffee of your choice (1/2 cup liquid)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups ice
- 5 to 6 whole oreo cookies
- 2 generous squeezes of chocolate syrup


Combine all ingredients into blender and blend until desired consistency. After you pour into glasses top with whip cream and chocolate sprinkles.

This one is my favorite! The cookies and syrup can be substituted for any of your favorite combinations of treats. If you try it please let me know how it worked out for you!

So today's my BIRTHDAY!

Yep that's right today is the day! I am now 25 and hopefully my insurance will be going down.

Yesterday my wondeful hubby and kiddos took me shopping and I got some really GREAT deals! Then we met with my parents at Yokoso in Charleston to eat some really good food. I was VERY greatful because my Dad was kind enough to purchase all of our meals. So now I have leftovers for lunch and that suits me just fine.

I then had to go buy a new blow dryer after we left from eating. When I went to get ready yesterday morning my old dryer went "kaplooe!" It got really hot and you could hear something rattling around inside. So I threw that one away and bought a new one!

As of right now my birthday has been wonderful! Natalie woke me up (after she didn't sleep very well) by saying, "mama mama up!" after getting up I have been sang happy birthday several different times, and had several messages of my facebook. My Mom is making me breakfast as we speak and I do believe that it's pancakes! As for right now I don't know what the rest of the day holds, but whatever it is I will make it fun.

I do know we will be watching the super bowl........ WHO DAT? Yes we are pulling for the SAINTS since our team did not make it this year.

Lazy Weekend

This weekend started out with Brad, me, and the kiddos going to the Children's Museum in Charleston on Saturday. With everybody talking about how great it was, and even after reading the website information we thought we would have a blast. -!WRONG!- The place was VERY cramped and there were kids running around pushing other kids/adults over with no care at all. (and NO the parents of these children did NOT do anything about it) Nicolas and Natalie had some fun with what was around them, but not as much fun as they have had with other things we've done. So we politely made our rounds and left.

We went and bought Nicolas a new pair of shoes because once again in record time he has grown out of his other ones. He is now in a size 2 youth shoe and he will be only 6 this year. Not to mention I do believe that miss Natalie is going to have to be going shoe shopping soon as well. With her we will have to be getting tennis shoes and dress shoes so I guess I better get ready to fork out the money. HAHAHA!

Sunday(today) has been a very lazy day avoiding the weather. We have been playing with the kids and I am going to try and start cleaning in a little bit. I have already put the bed clothes from our bed in the wash/dryer and they are just about done. Nothing like the feel on freshly washed sheets to snuggle into. I have several other loads of laundry to do, clean the bathroom, finish cleaning up mine and the hubby's room, and pick up toys around the house(try to organize them a little bit better.) Well looking at that list I guess I need to get off here and start cleaning.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and what's left of the weekend! I will let you all know how my cleaning list turns out later.

BYE BYE Thomas - NEW things here we Come!

Oh today is a wonderful day! Brad and I were able to talk to Nicolas and finally reason with him about his Thomas the Train toys. Nicolas has had many things that he has been interested in, but for 2 years he has been stuck on Thomas the Train. I swear we should have taken stock in it because we have bought EVERYTHING the company has made.(You think I'm kidding?)

In the last year he has picked up on K'nex, dinosaurs, and anything to do with space. Don't get me wrong he still likes Thomas, but he is starting to realize he likes these other things more. More and more we will find him with a book on space or dinosaurs reading away, or building with K'nex. YAY!

So in light of all this, we got Nicolas to agree that we would not "get rid" of his trains just simply put them up in storage along with his train table. For the first time...... HE AGREED!!!! We made the deal that he could keep out his track to build with, and for every two trains he put up he could keep one out.(He wound up with a nice little container full enough to play with.) He also agreed that we would no longer buy Thomas things as long as he could continue with the new things that he does like.(This made us all VERY happy.)

After all was gone through, and I cleaned the rest of his room, he now has PLENTY of room to play and move around. He was so excited and happy with change that it actually surprised us because we though he would cry when we were done. This is just more proof that he is a big boy and growing up very fast. SAD :(

Scrapbooking!!!

So I am so excited that I got scrapbook today! I will go ahead and admit that I am NOT as talented as most scrapbooking people out there, but I love to do it. For me it is relaxing, fun, and sentimental. I am able to have a place to keep all the important pictures of my life together in a creative/special way.

I started with one of my hubby and me when we started dating up until the two last pages which are dedicated to the birth of our two children. Once Nicolas was born I started his book, and boy has it grown. I also started the first part of Natalie's when she was born. Due to the fact that I have now TWO children (5 & 1), a full time job, and spending time with my hubby, I have not been able to do a whole lot with Natalie's or Nicolas' books. I hate this fact and it has been eating away at me for a while. I don't want to miss out on this part of my life, or let pictures that could/should be captured in these books float off into space never to be seen again. I hope that either when my children graduate from high school or get married(WAY IN THE FUTURE) that I can give them their books and that they will enjoy them with friends and family.

As I was getting ready for my scrapping day, I realized that I needed pictures printed out. With the help of my mother(who put pictures from her computer to CD's) I went to Walgreens Friday on my lunch break. As I sat there and went through a great deal of pictures, I managed to rack up a total of $40 in pictures to be printed. Yes I know that is quite pricey, but I needed them to do my magic. I was able to get my WONDERFUL hubby to agree to keep an eye on the kiddos for me and I spent about 2hrs today doing something that I forgot how much I loved.

My only problem now is that I need more, yes more, pictures and a few other items to help me along on this endeavor. I have also thought about going back into my original scrapbook and putting in more recent things that the hubby and I have done together since the kiddos were born.

Well now that I am done ranting about my hobby I will say goodnight seeing as how both Nicolas & Natalie are sound asleep.

Okay NEW BLOG!!!

Okay, so yes I know that I have not blogged in quite a while! (OKAY, OKAY.....In FOREVER) I have been very busy with EVERYTHING in my life. Plus I went through a period where I didn't know what to talk about, and wondered in anyone was even reading what I wrote. Well today ends that train of thought......

I have totally redone the look of my blog to where I am COMPLETELY happy with it! My hubby did help me with a few technical aspects of it, but I chose the colors, fonts, pictures, etc.. I will now make an effort to at least once a week post a blog on what is going on in my life and the world around me. Hopefully I will post more than once a week, but for right now that is my promise.

As an added note - if you are reading please feel free to comment and let me know that you are out there reading.

It's been a while...

Okay, okay, okay......So I know that it has bee a while since I have posted a blog. So I will try my best to update you about what has been going on.

Last time I talked about Nicolas going to spend a "Big Boy" week with Brad's parents..... Well he didn't want to come back with us because he was having too much fun, but because we missed him so much and because Brad's parents had to work that next week he did come back. Then on the way home he asked, "Can we be home now...I just want to be home!" And of course Natalie was so grateful to have her bubba back! She gave him a HUGE hug and kiss!

I have been STRESSING about us getting a house! We are trying to get one but the listing agent for the seller is NOT doing her job. If we do not have a ratified contract from the lender(which is the listing agents job) by August 31st then we will have to start all over with looking for a house. UGGHHH!!!

Nicolas' Birthday party is coming up and hopefully we will have everything ready for it. He asked this year for a pirate party, so we said yes because we thought it would be fun! I can't believe that he will be five! He is growing way to fast!

Okay now that I have posted an update.....and now that I have ranted a little bit about one of my frustrations I will step back and leave you to read and leave any comments that you feel you want to. Hope everyone is well and stays safe!

So here is a little update....

So Nicolas has been gone to the upstate( with Brad's parents) since Sunday afternoon.....I MISS HIM! Actually Brad and I miss him - About a month ago Nicolas asked when he could go to his Grammy & Papas by himself. So after much planing and discussing we came up with this week being good for everyone. I was supposed to take him to meet Brad's parents in Columbia, but change of plans when they came here this past weekend and took him home with them when they left. From Sunday afternoon until Tuesday morning we enjoyed how it was a little more quite. As the day wore on and then day turned to night, we realized that we missed him a lot and it was not the same without him. I think Natalie has enjoyed her time with just Brad and I.....and I KNOW that Nicolas has enjoyed his time with Grammy & Papa( because we had to call him to talk to him). So Saturday Brad, Natalie, and I will leave in the morning to go and pick him up and come back on Sunday as a complete family.

It has been a while....

Hello to everyone out there! I know that it has been a while since I have blogged about anything, but I have been busy with normal things. Since the last time though..... there are some updates.

1) The process on the house we are looking at buying seems to still be going well. It has finally made it to the next step in short sale procedures. Hopefully we will be hearing some kind of an update later this week.

2) Natalie had the measles and it scared us to death....But now everyone is over the sickness that was going around, and Natalie does not have the Neasles (as Nicolas called them) anymore.

3) Brad and I were able to have a date night last night and it was WONDERFUL!!! We went to Langdons in Mt. Pleasant and not only was the food great, but the company was even better. The dinner was Brad's birthday present from my parents and the date night was gifted by my mother as well. We have not had one of these in a LONG time and it was VERY much needed.

As for the rest of this week it will be work, kids, & family. Once the weekend gets here I do believe we are going to try and go to the beach as a family again and try to see the new Harry Potter movie. Sorry for taking so long to give a recent blog, and I hope that this shows what has been going on since the last update.

Update...

The verdict: Sinus infection and the start of strep throat! So now I have to take horse pills, but if it makes me feel better then so be it.

I am sick and do not feel good!

Okay, so usually I do not complain to bad when I am sick because I am a mom and I have to roll with the punches. Well after almost two weeks of not feeling well at all and trying to use over the counter meds (which did not work) I am going to the doctor today. When I get off of work for my half a day I will be going straight to the doctors office. Yes I am finally giving in and going to the doctor which I assume will give me pills that I hate taking, but at this point I feel so horrible that I will take whatever medicine they give me. I will update later about the verdict.

BEACH!!

So last weekend Brad, Nicolas, Natalie, & I went to the beach. Brad and I have both been before, but never together......and obviously the kids have never been. So for the first time the four of us packed up and headed out to the ocean.

The main thing that Nicolas wanted to do was to build a sand castle......
So first he had to dig up some dirt to fill up the buckets & then he had to pack it in real good and tight.
Then of course the only thing left to do would be......Flip them over and make a WONDERFUL sand castle. He was so proud of his masterpiece! Nicolas also have a lot of fun with a surprise that Brad & I brought for him....
He was able to fly a Thomas kite, and yes this was his first time flying a kite!

Ms. Natalie ran around and had so much fun doing whatever she could.....even if that meant stealing some of bubba's things...haha!


So as we were getting ready to leave from our full day of first time things I will leave you with this last picture of the day....

NEW BLOG!!!

Thanks to my wonderful husband I know have a new blog template!!! I have been wanting something different, but did not really now how to go about doing it. So while I was browsing some templates today Brad offered to help me out (THANK YOU GOD!) So now my blog looks exactly like I want it to all thanks to my hubby changing things(colors, font, & borders) around and saving them for me. YAY!!!

UPDATE!!

Okay, sorry to all of those who read my previous post which I did not come through on. Once I update you on what has been going on you will understand how the time slips away.

Yes that is right.....VBS is here once again!!!! I (along with two WONDERFUL helpers) am doing the music so that means learning not only the words, but the movements as well. They are not all that complicated this year, but they are still a lot to learn.

Added to all of this we are trying to buy a house and going through all of what comes with that. I will not say any more about that due to the fact I do not want to put bad karma on the progress we have made already.

Last but certainly not least...... I have my almost 5 year old son and 1 year old daughter to keep up with. Believe me they give me a run for my money! I love spending time with them and if I have time, I will over writing a blog on here. So as you see I have been VERY busy, but I will try to keep up better in the future!

This is just a little note to say that NO I have not forgotten to blog. I have been extremely busy and I promise since I have a half day of work tomorrow.....I will update then!