a few updates

1. I have lost 20 pounds but now seem to have plateaued and can't get the number to go down. I am not giving up yet.When I started this journey my goal was to lose 25 by Thanksgiving. That gave 4 months to do that. Thanksgiving is still a ways off and I only have that 5 pounds left to reach that goal. The 2nd part of the challenge to myself was to start back up in January and try to get to another goal weight by summer.

2. Spirit was tested in school to see his reading level. We already knew he was above the district average in math and reading but they wanted to see exactly where his reading level is - 9th grade reading level! I am so proud of him. Both he and Lefty read books all weekend {it was a dreary, rainy weekend... perfect for snuggling under a blanket and reading}.

3. This Friday, October 15th, is National Pregnancy, Infant Loss Remembrance Day and Mr. Man and I are on a volunteer team to coordinate a candle light service. This is the first one hosted here in our hometown (there are several all over the world) so we aren't sure how it will turn out! If you know some one or have experienced a miscarriage or stillborn or infant loss please light a candle for one hour at 7:00 pm on October 15. They say if everyone does this there will be a constant wave of light around the world in honor of the babies taken from us too soon.

4. Lady Bug and I have battled every day for over a week about her wardrobe. I am ALL ABOUT letting kids pick out the clothes for themselves, whether they match or look good or not. BUT I draw the line when it is 47 degrees outside and she wants to wear shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops. So she cries, I yell and eventually I win! Today, was a much more peaceful day. We discussed the clothes last night. I told her to lay out her outfit and I would come take a look. She had a pair of shorts laying there but just as I was walking in she told me "I think it will be too cold for shorts so I decided to get some pants." She chose some capris, but that is fine with me. We woke up to wind and rain and extremely chilly. She left wearing the capris, a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over top and socks and tennis shoes. Then she added a coat and gloves before we walked out the door. Phew. No tears from either one of us today! Victory!!

Odds - n - ends

I have mentioned before that I am trying to lose weight - I am happy to announce I am 9 pounds away from my original goal which means I have lost 15 pounds so far! I am SO excited!

I say "original goal" because I really thought this goal would take me a lot longer to reach and so after I hit my original goal I plan to evaluate how I am feeling and see if I want to lose more. Based on the Body Mass Index for me I could "technically" lose another 10-15 pounds beyond my "original goal weight". So we'll see how far I take this. I can't wait to get to my original goal first though! That will be a glorious day!

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Last night as I was making dinner the kids were all outside playing. Lady Bug came running in crying. I asked what had happened and she said that the boys were teaching her bad things. "Like what?" I asked and her response . . . . . . . . .

"They want me to say please!"

{Shutter at the horror of it all!}

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Spirit is having a little bit of a struggle in school this year. The work is harder, the expectations are more intense and he has greater responsibilities in class and keeping track of assignments (I am told this is to prep for middle school in 2 years). He will make it ok, but it is a bigger adjustment than we expected.

My weighloss journey

I have tried SO many things to lose weight, but the truth of the matter is that I LOVE good food. And by "good food" I mean all the bad stuff - cheese, french fries, potato chips, soda, etc. I have always told myself I would NEVER go up in my pants size and when that day came I would have to figure something out.

Well folks, that day came. At the beginning of summer I pulled out all last year's summer stuff and ... well, ummmm... nothing was fitting the same. About 5 of my skirts wouldn't go up over my hips. WHAT? That dumb dryer must have shrunk these things. Ok, ok, I knew that couldn't happen. So that meant I needed to figure something else out because I would NOT be going up in my pants/skirt size. Not going to happen.

I started doing "Portion Control". I used a salad size plate and took my smaller portions of food and when it was gone I did not allow myself seconds. I also cut back on pop and sugary foods. This was the hardest for me I think. I love having a pop with my lunch. I didn't cut it out all together or I feared I would binge on it or something later. So I just tried to have more water and once in a while have a soda. I up'd my intake of whole grains and cut back on the pastas and breads (I LOVE both of those and that was extremely hard on me.)

I will not tell you my beginning weight because that isn't a number I want to share on the world wide web, but I will tell  you that so far I have lost 12 pounds in 4 weeks. I lost it slowly, but lost it nonetheless. It was hard not to get discouraged when I felt as though I was starving myself with the small portions and yet nothing was going away. {For the record I was in no way starving, but I sure did miss my cheese and pasta and bread - to the point of dreaming of cheese pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches!) But I stuck it out (thanks to supportive friends and family) and eventually it started dripping off little by little. In the 4 weeks I have been doing this I have also been exercising. I walk 3 miles every day or I do the walk three times per week and then do a video at home two times per week.

I am still sticking to the portion control and all that until I reach my goal weight.

I will keep you posted.