My Aunt Cathy!

Today, June 19th, is my Aunt Cathy's birthday. In honor of this most important day I would like to share with you a few of my favorite memories/things about my Aunt Cathy.....

• Sitting on the front porch with her and watching a thunder storm


• Her AMAZING vocabulary!


• How she always encourages me to do my best and to realize my potential


• Going to the symphonies


• She taught me the 'real' way to clean


• Her house is always spotless


• She has perfect penmanship


• Her dedication to teaching


• Having sleepovers at her house on the old sleeper sofa and listening to her read us stories like 'Where the Wild Things Are'


• She makes the yummiest caramels at Christmas time


• Whenever you eat at her house, you always get dessert and it's always delicious!


• She has a very positive attitude


• She taught me a lot about responsibility


• I remember the time that the car caught fire on our way home from school (it was just a little fire)


• I loved having her as my English teacher for 2 of the 3 years of high school


• My Aunt Cathy is one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

I love you Aunt Cathy! I hope you have a fabulous birthday!

Goodbye Pull-ups! Hello Panties!

On Sunday morning, while Lilly was getting dressed, she asked me, "Mom, can I wear panties today and not a pullup?" My mind immediately started racing through all the worst possible scenarios such as her peeing all over the bench at church or all over her carseat. Then I stopped and realized that she hadn't even peed in her pullups for over a week and she hadn't dirtied them for at least five days. I really hadn't even noticed! So, Lilly started wearing her big girl panties on Sunday and is now officially potty trained! Hooray for Lilly! I'm sure we might have little hiccups over the next few months. Every kid does. But I'm so proud of my little girl! She pretty much took the reins and did this on her own. Way to go kiddo!

P.S. I lost one more pound this past week.

Losing the Weight~ Week 4

I'm down 1 more pound this week. I know slow and steady is the best way to get it off and keep it off, so I'm not complaining. I probably could have lost more if I didn't indulge in skittles and french fries last week. =)
In case anyone is wondering, here's what's working for me:

LOTS of water! -- I have a 64oz mug that I fill with ice water first thing in the morning. I try to drink the whole thing by lunch and then refill it and down the rest by dinner. I always drink at least 64oz a day if I don't get more than that.

EXERCISE! --For me, the weight has never come off without working out. Some of my favorite ways to work out include the elliptical machine, walking, weights, and right now I'm doing Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred DVD. It's a really tough workout, but I can definitely feel and see the results. I feel a lot stronger and I like that it's only about 30 minutes long. I make sure I workout at least 4 days a week, usually 5 or 6.

No Snacks! --I do cheat sometimes. If I just have to have a snack, I opt for 94% fat free popcorn, an apple, carrots, or a fat free yogurt.

STOP eating after Dinner!--Nate and I watch a movie together every night after the kids are in bed. I discovered that I usually snack all through the movie, and it's not usually very healthy stuff. So, I've been trying not to eat anything after dinner. If I just can't make it without something in my mouth(I'm such a muncher!) I again opt for one of the healthy snacks above, or 1/2 cup of Light or Fat Free ice cream. I LOVE Dreyers Slow Churned ice cream! It's so yummy, you wouldn't even know that it's Light.

Keep Healthy Food in the House! -- Since I'm a stay at home mom, I'm in my kitchen A LOT! It's so easy to just throw food in my mouth. So, I don't keep tempting foods in my house. I hardly ever buy chocolate because it's my worst. If I'm going to have a candy bar or some other chocolatey treat, I buy just one. I'm not an advocate of the whole "Never eat anything with sugar or fat or calories or carbs!" kind of diet. I believe all things in moderation is the best way to go. However, if I buy a big bag of snickers as opposed to just one snicker's bar, I know that bag is going to be gone within the week and I will be the one who ate it. Nate says I should just have more willpower, but that hasn't worked for me.

Anyway....there's my ramblings for the day. Thanks to everyone who is so supportive of me as I work on getting back to Pre-Jayne!

Sittin' up & On the Move!

Jayne is sitting up on her own and is SOOOOO close to crawling! She pulls herself along the ground using mostly her arms and sometimes pushing with her legs. She'll get up on all fours and rock herself back and forth like she's getting ready to go, but she hasn't officially crawled yet. I can tell it's going to happen any day now. I guess it's time to get out the baby gates again.

Here's a picture of her sitting up(please excuse her hair, I hadn't tamed it yet) She had been scooting around on the floor and when I checked on her, she'd gotten all wrapped up in Lilly's toy snake that Grandma Barnum made. As you can tell from the picture, she was having a grand ol' time!Jonah was so cute with his bear the other day. He's had this big black stuffed bear for a long time. It's his favorite stuffed animal and it's name is 'Blackie'. Well, the other day, Jonah got Blackie all dressed up in his cowboy outfit, boots and all. When he showed me, I said, "Wow! Blackie is a cowboy!" Jonah was quick to correct me as he very seriously informed me that Blackie was not a cow-BOY, but a cow-BEAR. All that day Blackie sat outside the bedroom door guarding against bad guys. If you wanted to come in, you had to ask Blackie's permission. It was so cute!

Saving on Groceries.....HELP!

Okay, I know the title is a little melodramatic, but that's how I feel sometimes. I see posts on peoples' blogs(you know who you are) about how they buy tons of stuff for $2 at the grocery store using sales and coupons and for some reason I just can't figure it out! I do clip some coupons here and there and I was proud of myself for getting free BBQ sauce and ranch dressing for $.09 last week at Smith's, but from what I see out there, there's so much more I could be saving.
I did find this nifty website called www.grocerysmarts.com They have lists of the sale items at every grocery store in the area, plus they cross reference it with coupons from the paper or that you can print online. I haven't actually used it for a trip to the store yet, but I'm excited to. If you want to check it out you go to the web page and enter this code g84ckv. This will give you all the stores for Utah. I'm not sure how you'd get the right code for other states.
Anyway, so I am trying to figure out this whole coupon thing. If you're "in" on the secret, please let me know! I've been reading up on some of it, but I have questions. Like, I don't understand the whole "doubling" thing. Is that when you use one coupon, but buy two of the item, thus "doubling" the coupon by using it twice, or can you actually use the coupon for double the value on just one item? I get so confused.
Also, I would love any comments on how you save money at the grocery store or in any other way for your family. Here are some of my favorites.....

Kid-to-Kid Stores~~ They buy used kid's clothes, toys, baby gear, even unopened diapers and formula. If you opt for store credit instead of cash you get 20% more. It's great to be able to get more clothes for your old clothes.

Ebates.com~~If I ever need to buy anything online, I go through Ebates. You get a certain percentage of your purchase as "cash" in your Ebates account. They've got a zillion stores available and will even tell you what coupons or specials are going on at each website. The only downside is that you don't actually get the money until you've got at least $20 in your account. Right now I think I've got about $17 just waiting for me to add in $3 more. But, if you're already going to be buying something online, why not?

Carl's JR. ~~FREE kid's meal with adult meal on Wednesdays. We actually just figured this one out. Nate went there to get us some dinner last Wednesday. I always just get a kid's meal because it's a smaller portion and it's cheaper and when he ordered, mine was FREE! Apparently they do this every wednesday. I think some other fast food places may have the same kind of thing. If you know of any, please pass it on!

~Just today I saved $6 by washing the Jeep myself instead of taking through the carwash like I usually do. I'm not ashamed to say that I was pretty proud of myself. =)

Anyway....leave a note and let us know what YOU do to save money!

Is Summer Over Yet?

That is the question that has been posed to me several times in the last week by my 5 year old, Jonah. The poor kid hates summer vacation because he loves school. He's only been out of school for 2 weeks and he's already asking, on a daily basis, when school starts again. I do my best to keep him busy. We've already been to the zoo, wheeler farm, the park(several times), and even gotten out the little swimming pool and played in the water.

I'm also wondering how much I like summer anymore. Since he's been out of school, I feel like it's 10 times harder to get anything done. I didn't realize how much I relied on those three hours everyday when I only had two kids to drag around on errands or keep happy while I did housework. Now, the simplest thing is a huge inconvenience.

For example, a "quick" trip to the grocery store......First we have to make sure that EVERYONE is dressed, has used the bathroom(or had a diaper change), and gets their shoes on. This is particularly difficult with Lilly because she does not like to have her shoes on or to put on any clothes other than pajamas. After that, we all have to get buckled into the car. This one isn't so bad, it's just time consuming. Once we get to the store, the actual shopping consists of a lot of "stay by Mom", "No, not today", "It's too much money" and the inevitable "I'm hungry/thirsty/tired or I have to go to the bathroom". By the time we get what we needed, get everyone loaded back in the car, get home, and put the groceries away, I'm exhausted! I've tried going by myself in the evenings after Nate gets home, but for some reason, he always suggests that we all go together. Not that I don't LOVE my family, they are fabulous! But, when I go shopping by myself, I spend less time and money, and I feel just a little bit more sane after I get back. For some reason, Nate just doesn't get that. Anyway....Long of the short is that Jonah's not the only one who's counting down to when school is back in.

Losing the Weight: Week 3

Alright, here's my weekly update. I had a very stressfull week and I am definitely an emotional eater, so needless to say, I had a hard time. I got in 4 Jillian Micheals workouts and two evening sessions of water aerobics (thanks Roni!). The eating is what got me.
Anyway....I did lose 1 pound, so I guess that's something to be grateful for. SO, I'm just picking myself up and getting back on the wagon. My goal is 2 pounds for this week.