Scott's Birthday

Happy Birthday Scott!!!

The celebrations started off with a double birthday dinner for Scott and Joe. Scott's Aunt Judi and Uncle Mike were visiting down from Colorado so we took the chance to go out to eat with the family. Scott's cousin Laura and her children, Joe and Katherine were able to come too.

This one is so precious of Kat and Courtney.

Aunt Judi and Laura

Sky and Joe

On Scott's birthday, I thought it would be fun to have him watch his favorite movie. Even if it's "Dumb and Dumber". Since the girls were at school, we were able to watch it with no only phone interruptions. :) Later that night, Scott's parents treated us all to the Dodger game.

Boo to the Dodgers for getting rid of Panda Express!

Scott got to see his 2nd ever live GRAND SLAM!! He was so excited.

It was so fun. Even if Skyler hated the loud noises and was asking to go home almost the whole game. They actually both cried one time when the crowd erupted in cheers. It made me think of when she was really little and couldn't even be in the crowd for very long due to the noise. She would cry forever. Finally we just stopped taking her for a while. I guess she hasn't really gotten over it. Scott got a new Dodger Jersey from his favorite girls. :)

Baby Item Exchange

The Baby Item Exchange was a HUGE success!! We made the most we have ever made from it and still have the rest to sell at our yard sale. Loot at all of this loot!

As you can probably tell, I am organized. Every section had a label. And it would drive me nuts if it weren't this organized.

It was a lot of fun with my MOPS friends. I'm so glad that part is over. Now, on to the yard sale.

Six Word Saturday

Softball pizza parties bring back memories.

10 on Tuesday

1. Once again, the baby item exchange stuff in my house is driving me nuts. And of course, there are people who are still giving me stuff for the exchange. ahhh...The exchange is on Thursday. I just know people will be coming over all day. We really appreciate any donation. But it takes time to sort it all. At some point I'm just going to tell people that it's going to have to wait for the yard sale. Because I don't want to be sorting all day today and tomorrow only to have to do set up tomorrow night.

2. Set up for the exchange is tomorrow night. I have lots of stuff at several houses so that carting it all to church is possible. And even with that, my house is stuffed full. Thankfully it's sorted, so I know what's for the yard sale and what's for the exchange.

3. The actual exchange is Thursday morning at MOPS. Once it all gets in place, it's pretty fun watching people shop for stuff. Then the joy of trying to get everyone to put stuff back in bags according to the label on the bag. If only they would do it. I hope.

4. I keep trying to sneak toys out of the girls rooms. I got a bunch out today. Skyler seemed almost oblivious to what I was doing.

5. I've been thinking about friendships and how they change over the years. Sometimes for the better and sometimes not. When you get closer to a friend and start hanging out more, or intentionally going places together and making time to spend together. That's wonderful. It's the friendships that drift away to almost nothingness that make me a little sad. I know it's a fact of relationships that we aren't all going to be each other's best friend. Just sad when a good friend drifts away. Stops calling, calling back, emailing, caring if you are at a birthday party or not. Or not ever inviting you anymore. Oh well, I guess. I don't always invite the same people to our parties. And it's nothing against those we don't invite. It's just a matter of numbers sometimes. Too many people invited can be a bad thing if they all show up. I guess I long for the time in our lives when those friendships meant a lot to both parties.

6. The Biggest Loser challenge starts back up on the 23rd at my house. I'm excited to be using our scale this time too. So I always know where I'm at. We have 14 people signed up so far!!! Lots of room for more! And I'm so excited that my cousin decided to start the same challenge in her area (Huntington Beach).

7. I started Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD a couple days ago. It's fun. I love getting new exercise things. So much fun to have variety in my workouts so I don't get bored. I started with Level 1 on the first day and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Then the next day I did Level 2. Now that was a workout! I was breathing hard, couldn't quite do all of the moves with Natalie (who does it full out and hard), and was dripping in sweat. Loved it!! That's the kind of workout I want to do. And I can feel it in my muscles more last night and today too. Especially my butt. :) Not in a super sore way. Just in a, I feel my muscles, kind of way.

8. I want to run again soon. I really pushed myself the last time. I would like to see how fast I can do a mile again. I know my second mile last time was faster than the first. But I don't know by how much.

9. This week (Friday) is Scott's birthday!!!! We are celebrating by going to a Dodger game that night.

10. Saturday is a game for Courtney and a pizza party after!

Weekend Review

Our weekends usually start with Friday since Scott is off on Fridays. So, I will start there. Friday morning was started with a fun trip to Disney's California Adventure. Courtney wanted to ride the big roller coaster (California Screamin') again, so we went over there. Daddy and Courtney did that ride while Skyler and I did a few rides ourselves. We went on the Jellyfish ride and the Zephyr. Then we waited for them to walk over to Mulholland Madness. I decided to try Skyler out with the height measurement just to see if she was tall enough for it. She was so we waited for them to come over so we could do that ride. I personally, can not stand that ride. I went on it one time and hated it. No one else had ever ridden it, so we all went on it. The girls loved it, of course. Then we walked on over to the Grizzly River Run to make sure it was the same height requirement as Mulholland Madness and it was. She was tall enough, but the wait was too long. The fast pass was way too late. So we went to lunch and then headed out. I had to be at an eye apt by 2.

I am finally getting new glasses! I have needed them for a while, but haven't been able to get new ones because I usually need new contacts. Those are way more important to me. The vision in the glasses was really bad, plus, they were so scratched up that it was harder to see. When I do have to wear them, it was hard to see.

That night we went out to Chilli's for dinner with my parents. Ooh their chips and salsa is so good. And I tried a salad I hadn't ever had before too. We then went over to my parent's house to watch a movie with them and the girls ended up spending the night. I had to come early in the morning to bring Courtney some ear drops because she was complaining of ear pain. Poor thing.

Saturday morning Courtney had a softball game. I just love seeing her all suited up in catcher's gear.

The rest of the weekend was filled with sorting all of the stuff for the baby item exchange. I had taken over a car load to Candice's house only to be met with Dawn's car load waiting for me to sort all of that. :) It's wonderful we have so many donations. I just want to get it all out of my house!!!!!! Thankfully some of it will be gone on Thursday. Then not too much longer to wait until the yard sale on May 1st. It's been hurting my back a little by night time sitting and sorting and moving it all around and all of that. It will all be worth it in the end. I just can't wait for it to be over. lol

During Courtney's softball game, she started complaining of her ear hurting again. She didn't play the last half inning because it was hurting so bad. Then at home she started getting a fever. Scott took her to urgent care where we found out she had an ear infection and a throat infection. The doctor couldn't believe she wasn't complaining about her throat. She is now on medication for both.

Thankfully Sunday she didn't have any more ear pain and no more fever either. She's been on the antibiotics and ear drops and is doing much better.

I stayed home with Courtney during church so Scott and Skyler could go. Courtney was feeling great and wanted to take a walk. It then turned into a bike ride for her and I ran alongside of her. Well, I walked and jogged. I had to stop so many times, but it was fun doing that with her. We stayed on what little sidewalk there is near our house the whole time. Just going back and forth. Then we did the 30 Day Shred DVD for the first time. She did some of it with me. It was fun. I'm hearing it on right now ready to go, so off to do day 2.

Running Motivation

I thought I would put up some old pics of myself so I have a realistic idea of my goal instead of some random model. lol All of these pics are from high school.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am not in competition with others. I should not be trying to run just as fast as my friends. I should be shooting to run faster than my own personal best. It's ok if I can't run as fast.

I also need to remind myself that a lot of the people I am constantly comparing myself to are either near or at their goal weight. I am at least 60 pounds heavier than a few of them so there is really no way I should compare myself. I am doing the best I can do for myself at the weight I am currently at. And as I go down the scale I also expect my running to get better and faster. I actually feel like I'm doing pretty good considering how overweight I still am.

I can't wait to get this extra weight off so that I can breathe better when running and not have so much in the way either. My breathing is my main hindrance of my running. It's usually the reason why I feel like I need to stop occasionally to walk. Probably also because I have asthma. That doesn't help. I can regulate my asthmatic breathing better when I'm walking. However, I still always have the goal to not stop the whole time I'm doing a 5K, or whatever it is I'm running. I have done it several times (running the whole thing without walking). But other times I run, there is just no way it's going to happen.

Sometimes I'm trying to run a further distance (and usually try to pace myself). Often I'm trying to run faster than my best. But sometimes I feel like I just don't care and am just trying to get through it and finish it. This after all is just for weight loss. I don't have any grand ideas to be the best runner or run marathons or anything. I'm really just doing it for myself. And I'm ok with that.

I also need to remind myself how far I have come. When I first started running I could barely run at most 2 minutes straight without stopping to walk. And I didn't start trying to run for a while after losing weight. I can not even fathom having that 60 extra pounds on me and try to run. Let alone, run as fast as I have been. I really have come a long way. I just have to not let myself get bogged down by what I can't quite do yet. And give myself credit for what I can do.

10 on Tuesday

1. I really need to stop eating the Easter candy.

2. I sent out a mass email and a few posts on facebook to start up the new weight loss challenge that I'm going to be running this time. I have 7 officially in already!! And a bunch more who requested more more info. It starts April 23 if anyone is interested. You need to be local to weigh in on the same scale.

3. I'm excited to start it again. I need that motivation to keep eating right and exercising more. I have not been eating well since the last challenge ended. Time to go back to my dieting ways.

4. I changed the name of the challenge to the Biggest Loser Challenge. So many people were calling it that anyway. Plus, it makes it easier to see in my word docs which are the new forms and the old ones from the last challenge. :)

5. This is "Spring Break" this week. EASTER VACATION more like. Anyway...I'm enjoying it. Mainly because I don't have to set up an alarm and be up at a certain time to get the kids off to school. Granted, I still have to get up at 6 something because the girls will come in and wake me up. Especially if Courtney gets up with Scott. That is way too early (like 5 something).

6. Some aspects about running on a treadmill are easier and somethings about running on the street are better. I want to put all of my favs into one. :)

7. I love the wind on the face feeling that you get when you are outside. When I'm on a treadmill sometime I feel like I need a fan. Like I'm overheating from not having any wind. I also like that I can speed up a little bit immediately and not be hindered by how quickly or slowly the treadmill can move up or down. And also slowing down can be fast and I can slow down for shorter periods of time that way. But on a treadmill I have to keep pushing the button to make it go faster.

8. I do however like that I'm not going anywhere on a treadmill and I can stop at any point and just finish later or whatever if something comes up. I also can have my phone accessible and not have to carry it with me. Also I like that I have a towel handy. I also like that I'm not running in the sun and don't have to run with sunglasses on. My eyes are very sensitive to the sun.

9. I'm so behind on printing pictures. I need to get on that.

10. I need to stop sabotaging myself. No more excuses. Back to the hard work!

All Things Easter Take Two

Here are the pictures from the Easter gathering at my mother and father-in-law's house. We usually have it at our house but we were hoping someone else could do it this year. This is because we have the donations all over our house still. I will be so happy to get rid of those! They so graciously offered and we were still able to have both sides of the family there for the celebration.

Scott was playing with the Macro Mode.

Courtney and her Great Grandma....90 years exactly apart from each other

Courtney and Skyler kept bypassing several eggs on the way to whatever one they saw. It was funny. I was like, "You're passing up all of those eggs." They didn't care. And it got all put in the same stash anyway. lol

This is some of the family who was watching the hunt.

Skyler found one of the big eggs!

The girls with all of their loot!

Sky was excited about the sparkly eggs (that had her favorite candies in them).

Of course, the best thing about Easter is talking to the kids about Jesus and the true meaning of Easter. I was so glad that they were both able to explain why we celebrate and what is just for fun.

We were sitting in the den sorting eggs when all of a sudden the earth starts moving. We were having an earthquake. It was a swaying (like a boat rocking) and rolling motion back and forth. It was a long one too. It just kept going and going. Thankfully it was not that bad here. The earthquake ended up being a 7.2!!!!!!! It was centered in Mexicali, Mexico (which is in Baja California). It is near the Mexican/US border. We were feeling the rolling motions because we were so far away. We immediately thought of our friends who live in San Diego. They are much much closer to the epicenter of such a huge earthquake. Thankfully they are all ok. The earthquake here made a lot of people feel nauseous (like they were sea sick) from motion sickness. I don't think I've ever had that sensation from an earthquake before. I didn't even get up from the floor. One thing that was kind of cool is that my mother-in-law was skyping with my sister and brother-in-law in Colorado WHEN the earthquake started. I could hear her in the other room telling them, "Oh, we're having an earthquake." The earthquake we had last (like a month ago) was actually much harder than this one. We were so close to the epicenter of the other one, even though it was a much less strong earthquake. What a crazy Easter earthquake we had indeed. All of the above pictures were before the earthquake.

All Things Easter

Get ready folks, this is going to be a long one. Lots of pictures. We had a wonderful Easter this weekend. Skyler had a "Resurrection Party" at school on Thursday. Courtney had a car parade with drive in movie. We went to church on Saturday this year for Easter and out to dinner after. On Easter we went to the in laws to celebrate. I accidentally put the photos in the wrong order. Oh well. I'm not doing it over. lol

Courtney and Skyler are excited about getting Animaniacs!! They discovered this at their cousin's house in Colorado. It brings back so many memories of watching it so much when we were younger.

Skyler's stash

Courtney's stash

They found them all. Then Skyler re-hid some. Before we realized she was doing it she had already hid some. She couldn't remember where they all were. I'm just waiting for that one last one to start smelling.

Our family at church on Saturday for service. What a powerful service it was. So powerful it was hard to sing.

My parents also ended up going to that service.

My grandparents and aunt went to the same service too.

The Hoopers came to the same service too and we all went out afterward to Islands after. Soooo much food!!

All of the cousins

This was the "drive in movie" after the car parade. They sat in their cars watching a movie. Had we known this we might have made hers a tiny bit bigger. That didn't look too comfy to sit in.

Her licensee plate

Courtney was so excited to take her hard work to school.

Skyler got to be Mary in their play.

Skyler playing a little

Her Easter basket cupcake

Courtney's award from school. Outstanding Citizen Award!!

And now that I'm at the end of the pictures I just realized that I never uploaded any from the Easter party. :) Duh! So, another blog will follow.

Six Word Saturday

I'm about to do a run.