~WHEELER FARM~

The kids have been itching to get out and 'do something fun' lately. So on Nate's day off, we took them down to The Wheeler Historic Farm in Murray. They loved seeing all the farm animals and the river and we loved that it was FREE! Our friends, the Gerritsens came with us. Here are some pics of our little adventure....

Jayne loved being carried around by Daddy

We found a HUGE old Elm tree and the kids had a ball climbing on it.




Here's Lilly 'Cheesin' it up on the saddle

Jonah, Lilly, and Brooklyn loved looking at the ducks and geese. They got very wary, however, whenever we had to pass by the ones who were just wandering on the grass. Those things can sure honk loudly.

Lilly wanted to pet the cow

Jonah wanted to know what this building was. Once we explained the concept of the outhouse, all he could say was "deeee-sgusting!"

Nate took this shot. Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil. He thought it was pretty funny.

The kids loved throwing rocks in the river. They could have stayed there and done it all day.

Our New Family Vehicle!

First of all, the story that leads up to the new family vehicle.... a couple of months ago we were anonymously given a 1990 Subaru Legacy station wagon. It had been donated to our ward and through much prayer, our bishop said that he felt that we needed it and it would be a great blessing to us. We weren't sure how, seeing as it was beat up and old and we already had two vehicles, but we accepted. Our other two vehicles are 1997's and have lately been having troubles. We'd been wanting to get something newer that would fit the family and meet our needs for a very long time, but we couldn't see a way to get something we could afford without getting rid of both the Blazer and the Cadillac, thus leaving us with only one car. Having the Subaru made it possible for us to trade in both the Cadillac and the Blazer towards something else. We found a 2006 Jeep Commander and fell in love(well, Nate fell in love-I originally wanted something else that didn't work out, but I like the Jeep too). Nate's always liked them, so when we found one that would fit our budget, it was a no brainer. This picture isn't ours, it's one I got off the internet. But it's the same color and everything. It has a 3rd row seat that you can fold down if you need to, a sunroof in the front and moon roofs over the back. Jonah likes to sit in the 3rd row by himself.

It's in great condition and lots of fun to drive. I was hoping to get something with a bit better gas mileage, but I guess you can't have everything. Anyway, we're so very grateful for this blessing. I guess the bishop knew what he was talking about after all. It's been a long time since we had a reliable vehicle and we're planning to make it last quite a few years for us.

Losing the Weight: Week 2

Two weeks down, and 2 more pounds gone! Hooray!
Exercise for Week 2: I did Jillian Micheals for 5 days, moving up to level 2 of her workout for
the last 3 days
Nutrition: I did pretty well, I did splurge on Wendy's, but I just had a kid's meal and didn't eat my fries. I'm still staying away from soda, with the exception of the small diet coke I had with the kid's meal. Some of my new favorite snacks are carrot sticks and Gala apples. I'm drinking LOTS of water(at least 80 oz/day, which is tons for me) and I'm really trying to watch my portions and snacks.

My plan for this week is just more of the same. My neighbor invited me to try a water aerobics class with her twice a week, so we'll be starting that this week as well.

It was fun, but I'm so glad it's over!

The ward activity, I mean. Nate is the activities committee chairman. We had a "No Talent Show" last night. It was a lot of fun. I don't have any pictures because I was wrangling my kids and helping Nate the whole time, but we did get the whole thing on video. The idea was to do a talent show filled with things that aren't really considered your traditional talents. We had lots of participation. We had juggling, telling jokes, jump rope, piano, singing, skits, and even jello inhalation. Yes, he 'inhaled' the jello. We also had displays of visual arts. We had crafts, scrapbooking, costume making, photography, painting, and model ships and hand made wooden pens. The night was a great success!
I'm just glad that it's over because I'm an honorary member of the activities committee(being married to the chairman) and I stress about this stuff more than Nate does. We spent nearly all day yesterday setting up the gym and getting the supplies for decorations and making sure we had enough goodies. I was wiped out by the end of the night. But, like I said, it was a lot of fun and it went really well. Thanks to everyone who came!

Losing the Weight: Week 1

Alright, I'm being true to my word and I'm going to do weekly updates on my weight loss adventures. I just finished up week 1 of our group's weight loss challenge. I feel like I did pretty well. For my workouts I did 6 days of Jillian Micheal's 30 day Shred DVD, I walked Jonah to school a couple of days, and walked around the zoo last week as well. I feel like I did pretty good with my nutrition. I've given up my diet soda(even if only for these 6 weeks) and I'm drinking lots more water and trying to cut out most snacks(I'm such a 'muncher'). I'm happy to report that I lost 2 pounds this last week. It may not seem like a whole lot, but I'm super satisfied with it. I think the biggest difference after last week is how I feel. I've got a lot more energy and I feel happier and healthier already. Stay tuned for next week's update!

Fun at the Zoo!~

Last Thursday, we made our first trip to the zoo this year! Nate finally had a day off when the weather was good. We all had a great time! Jonah loved the crocodiles and Lilly had lots of fun with a red fox. He was running back and forth in his exhibit and she would chase him and say, "Get back here!" Here are some fun pics of the day...

When we rode the train, Jonah decided that he wanted to ride in a seat all by himself. He's getting so independent!

The kids rode the carousel for the first time. Lilly picked a gorilla and Jonah picked a rhinocerous. I thought Lilly would be scared, but as soon as the ride started, she just giggled and laughed the entire time! Nate was taking pictures and the kids had fun trying to yell "Hi Dad!" every time we passed him.

The kids always love playing with the "ball waterfall". Lilly was particularly hard to pull away from it this time.

Jayne was unimpressed, but enjoyed her ride in the stroller.

Lilly zonked out not five minutes after getting back in the Blazer. We were all pretty tired. Overall, we had so much fun and can't wait to go back!

Losing the Weight

This is me trying to be accountable for my weight loss. As most of you know, I'm in my 3rd round of losing the baby weight. I've done it twice before, once after each baby, losing about 50 pounds each time. This time, the weight's been coming off, just nice and slow. Since Jayne was born, I've lost 28 pounds and I have 15 to go until I'm at my "pre-Jayne" weight. After that, I plan on losing a bit more. A friend in the ward is starting a weight loss challenge and I signed up. It's for 6 weeks and we all put $10 in the pot to go to the winner. So, I'm going to post my progress on the blog as a way to make myself accountable. I won't tell you how much I weigh, but I will post weekly progress. Here is my "before" picture, taken last weekend. I never let anyone take full body shots of me, but I figured I've gotta get real in order to make the change and get the rest of this weight off.

I've been doing well so far this week. I usually do a Denise Austin DVD that I love, but my sweet Jonah bounced too hard on my exercise ball and put two holes in it. So, I'm finally using the Jillian Micheals 30 day shred DVD that I bought two months ago. I'm on my third day and feelin' pretty good about it. It's only 20 minutes long, which sometimes doesn't feel like long enough to lose weight, but we'll see. I'm also going to try to get to the gym as often as possible and visit my dear friend, the elliptical machine.

So, please feel free to post some tips or things that have worked for you in the comment section and stay tuned for a smaller, healthier, happier Ashley!

Happy Birthday Lilly!

Today is Lilly's 3rd Birthday! I can't believe how fast she's grown!

Some of Lilly's favorite things right now are....

~Cinderella

~Chocolate

~Digging in the dirt

~Pretending to be a puppy

~Fruit snacks

~Giving "blow" kisses where she gives you a raspberry on the cheek

~Running around in just her undies

~Pajamas

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you!

Our Busy Monday

Did we ever have a day yesterday! It started with Nate's doctor appointment. After 7 years of watching him be sick almost all the time, I made him see an allergy specialist. They did what they call a scratch test on his back. The make tiny pinpricks in his back and put different allergens on them, pollens, dusts, animal dander, etc. There had to be a good 25 or 30 of them. Usually it takes about 20 minutes for a reaction to develop and then it's usually not a huge one. Poor Nate reacted in seconds! Every single mark turned bright red and most of them got really swollen really fast! So, now it's official....Nate is allergic to EVERYTHING!!! Not that this comes as a surprise to anyone who knows him. The poor guy is always sick from something. So, on Thursday we start allergy shots. He gets them twice a week for a while, then once a week, once a month, etc. Thank goodness our insurance covers the shots 100%. Here's hopin' they make a difference.
Then in the afternoon, Jonah and Lilly had dentist appointments. Lilly for a cleaning and Jonah to get his top two teeth removed. It was Lilly's first time. She liked sitting in the chair and wearing the sunglasses. She even laid back and opened her mouth really wide. However, as soon as the dentist got near her to look at her teeth, she started to freak out. I sat on the chair with her and we got her calm long enough for him to see that her teeth are good and she has no cavities. Jonah was a different story....
They started with nitrus oxide, the dentist called it 'magic air'. Jonah was great at breathing it in through his nose. He even did well during the shots to numb his gums. Then the dentist had to dig, yes DIG to get that tooth that was stuck up in his gums. Apparently Jonah wasn't numbed up enough and the poor kid started to scream. So we got some more shots into him and then he was okay. I sure was glad Nate was there with me to help him be brave. I could barely even watch. I have a hard time when one of my babies is in pain. I think I was more traumatized than Jonah.
Anyway, the dentist got both the teeth out. Jonah is a bit sore and swollen, but he's doing great today. So, that's the story of our Monday. Glad it's over.

Movie Review "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"

Nate has been waiting for this movie to come out for quite a while, so we thought we'd go on opening night.

The purpose of this movie is to educate all of us 'non-comic book readers' on Wolverine's past. It did a great job of it! I don't want to ruin any plot, so I'll just say that this guy has had it rough! I enjoyed the movie, not as much as Nate, of course. It does have lots of fighting and violence, which is to be expected if you've seen the trailers.

The thing that ruined the movie for me (and this has been a pet peeve of mine for as long as I've been going to movies) was all the parents who decided to bring their very young kids to see it. We're talking three and four year olds! We just went to our local theatre and there were at least 12 kids in that theatre who were well under the age of 10. Poor Nate had to listen to me and my soapbox about inappropriate media for kids and how parents should do their research before taking kids to movies. There are great websites that can tell you exactly why a movie received it's rating. www.IMDB.com has a parent section that will give you details on the content of ANY movie. I always check it before Nate and I go see a movie. So, wise up people! Exposing your young kids to the violence, language, sex and other things that are in PG-13 and R movies causes trauma and damage to their young minds! All I could think while we were watching this movie was how sad I was for these kids. Whatever happened to responsible parenting?

Anyway, to sum it up....good movie for adults, NOT FOR CHILDREN!!! And I'm done.