Haircuts for the Kiddies

Mostly, I got tired of hearing, "They need a haircut." I was really trying to make them look like little Chaps models, with long, tousled boy locks. Okay, so I realize that means I would have had to actually do their hair everyday, or atleast control the bed head and hat hair they were getting.
So Saturday I felt pretty wonderful, less back pain and reletively accomplished. I set up haircut shop in the living room. Threw our biggest beach towel down, grabbed the clippers, scissors, combs and all, and turned on some Phineas and Ferb to captivate them, and Ta Da! You can see their ears and eyes again.

I'm pleased.

Editted: I wanted to add that these Toy Story sweatshirts were $3 each on Black Friday. Tickles me excited every time I think about it.

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In other news, I'm doing well on Weight Watcher's. Last night I forced myself to use some of the flex points on something. I had a piece of fudge from Christmas & a cup of cocoa. I should add, the fudge has been frozen since the day after Christmas, along with all of the cookies and such I made. Very pleased with how well everything freezes, this is the first year I've tried that. Working great for random treats for the boys.

The craziest thing? The fudge sat in front of me for about an hour before I could eat it. I was so full from dinner (several 5-cheese ravioli with a few ounces of 90% lean beef in a 5-cheese red pasta sauce, stewed with chopped green peppers and mushrooms). I want to use all the flex points these first few weeks so I don't stunt my metabolism b/c I'm still extremely inactive with my back pain. Also, I'm trying to eat the flex points the first 5 days of the week, so I don't skew my weigh in off the weight of food alone. I know all of this sounds nuts, but it works for me. :)

So far, so good.

My Luck.

It's a good thing these devils are so cute.

I had a parenting experience the other day that is beyond anything I have experienced before. As you know, I have a pretty good back injury right now, and laundry is not on my list of easy things to do. I can't bend without significant pain, and lifting heavy laundry baskets is out of the question. I thought I'd give the hubs a break and do some small loads, loads I could actually carry down the steps.

I went to corral the clothing into seperate piles, carefully limiting my bending. I noticed a stray pair of kiddie underpants beside the basket, and while scooping them up I found a whole turd. A whole chunk of poo inside the underpants.

Fabulous.

A bit of backstory to make my house seem like less of the scuzzbucket palace you're all imagining now: The day before I found the turd in the underpants Hunter had a pretty messy experience wiping in the bathroom. He went past me with no pants or underwear on, sneaking upstairs. I stopped him in his tracks, and he quietly explained he did not make to the toilet. Okay, fair enough. He adds, with a big smile and gesture, "And I got poo on my hands!"

Oh jeez!

"Stop right there, Hunter! Hands in the air!" Pause. He shyly moves his hands to his facial region. "No!!!!! Don't put your hands in your mouth!!!"

Remembering the back-pain agony of the pee-cleaning bath I had given just 24 hours before this, I add, "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, Hunter needs your help!"

Dad swoops in like the super-hero man he is, and cleans up Hunter, stearnly reminds little H needs to get to the bathroom quicker, and stops to show me the poop Hunter got all over his jeans as he takes them to the laundry room to try and salvage.

There was a pair of underpants with pee on them in the jeans, so dad never thought twice about it. The mystery remains, how did Hunter soil two pairs of underwear so quickly? And why would he throw a whole turd in the laundry basket?

Moments ago Hunter was recording his own voice into the LeapFrog refridgerator toy saying, "I have a woo-woo!"

This is what I taught him the women's anatomy is called. At our house, men have "weiners," (thanks Theo), and women have "woo-woo's." I figure that's better than all the other things you could call it. As a kid I was taught my vagina was a "tushie," and later was confused beyond all expectations when I lerned the rest of the world referred to the "tushie" as your ass.

I won't repeat the rest of the things dad's telling him to say into the repeating recorder toy.

Currently, he is ripping up a coloring picture of Jesus, and stuffing the pieces down the heater. The symbolism is accurate.
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Also, the cats are peaved today, as their nesting spot as come down. Goodbye Christmas tree!!

Here are some shots of School Bus, the cat, sleepin' and playin' in the tree.

Update on the Schmoopy cat. her tail seems to have reached record proportions. Here, I swear it is bigger than her body. Like a giant feather duster. So much love for this fuzzball!!!!

Happy weekend to you all!

Week One

I made it through a whole week on the WW plan. Seems like it's been years since I made it throuh a solid week tracking points, writing it all down, and staying focused. I actually enjoyed it. I feel a little ball of strength growing in my chest. Maybe it's pride?

2.4 lbs lost the first 7 days.

I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping for more. I always will be. I know, from my own and other's past successes, that it is typical to lose a lot the first 2 weeks, so I hope for a big and exciting number next week. Still, I am so pleased with losing 2.4 lbs, and leaving the 300's forever. Forever folks.

I plan on having Theo take some pictures of me each week. I really hope that helps. I was browsing some weight loss blogs, and it seems the pictures create an added in
spiration. Much like the scale, the camera doesn't lie.

This week's goals:
Keeping the focused feeling.
Doing all my physical therapy excercises 2 times a day.
Making all the food requirements, including more veggies, and high calcium foods.
Staying satisfied.

Stay-tuned.

Knit Therapy

I'm not gonna lie. Cutting calories is hard work when you're used to eating everything you dare imagine. Even harder when you can't do anything. As in, walk. Or shop. Or generally take care of your home and children. My back problem, whatever you want to call it, is limiting me to a whole lot of sitting.

FYI: The official term for my primary back pain is "SI disfunction." The spot where my spine meets my tailbone and pelvis/hips is out of whack. There may also be a slipped disk. Also, the other muscles keep spasming. I have to do physical therapy excersices/stretches/strengthening 2-3 times a day until I feel better. Each visit adds a few more activities. Last week, they added walking 5 minutes at a time (which HURTS), and this week, they added a hip strengthening activity where I tie my knees together with a lime green stretchy band and do kegals). My insurance approved 36 visits, and my PT people want 2 visits a week. We're looking at a few months of this, with no set promises on healing.

Anyway, I despise sitting. I'm a multi-tasker at heart. A do-er. I've refined my "doing" skills to maximize my situation. Because: I'm also not a quitter.

I've been knitting my ass off. Hopefully, literally. I intend to begin an Etsy shop. I create an account yesterday, and plan on becoming a seller within a few weeks. I'm building an inventory. I love yarn, and I love making things, but I do not need 30 hats and scarves. Want, yes, but need. No.
I'm in love with this purple multi-dotted fleece yarn. In fact, I'm scheming ways to acquire more of it. It needs a pom-pom. I'm thinking of a solid turqoise.

I need to get out the tripod this week and take some more color-rich, stable shots.
This pattern below was inspired by a picture of blue pail filled with suds, surrounded by a pair of chartruese rubber gloves, and two beady bracelets in fushcia and red.

This one came from an idea in my mind.

Here the process of developing this wacky colorful hat.

The yarn.

The hat:

The finished product, topped with a solid poof, after consultng two crafty friends.

I've been spending the boys' nap time in front of this shelf. I light my candle, bring up my big glass of water, and sit here with my pillows and knit.

I cranked out these hats for the boys, inspired by The Children's Place winter clothing line.

So far, knitting is keeping my mind off chocolate. I'm successfully starting day 5 of the WW diet, and feeling satisfied and positive. More knits to come, as well.

What can we change around here?

Oh, yeah. It's time to resolve to make some changes folks!

Unfortunately, a lot of the things I intend to do will be directly related to how well my back continues to heal. If my back heals, I have some very physical goals in mind, including many home related projects, specfically:
-ripping out several layers of my dining room floor and hopefully revealing the original floorboards which I will sand and stain/seal accordingly
-repainting the sideboard in my dining room
-painting the boy's bedroom, our living room, dining room
-painting and organizing our bathroom closets (paint is already waiting!)
-learning to rototill my own garden
-begin walking regularly once I'm healed

As a family, we need to put our money into our home, specifically:
-focusing our tax return on our home, including a new roof, new shower/bath, installing/having isntalled the already purchased new bathroom walls, sink, faucet, and flooring, and getting new kitchen counters and kitchen sink
-new garage door and garage door opener (they don't even open right now!)
-fix side door in the garage (also doesn't open)
-new screen doors on front and back doors (both very broken)
-remove/repaint the old black metal railings on the front porch, tend to rotting wood in the area, and crumbling cement on the front steps
-replace the furnace filter

We also need to focus on our vehicles, including:
-new tires on the Equinox
-that part that Theo needs for his vehicle (don't remember what it's called)

As a family:
-complete classes to become members of the church we've been attending
-eat even more balanced diets and more homegrown goodies
-attend church atleast 50% of the time

For me personally:
-shut up and lose 108 lbs by my 32nd birthday
-omit swearing (one from previous years also)
-spend less, use more (dividing plants, growing more from seeds, using recycled craft supplies)
-clean out my closet
-clean out the basement
-print pictures every 2 weeks, not once a year! **this is a big one!!!!**
-conquer the Japanese Beetles on my roses, which will require daily effort

Gosh all of the resolutions sounds so hard and work-related. Here are some fun personal goals:
-learn to knit with needles
-learn to knit socks
-revisit my old CD collection
-mail birthday cards on time
-learn to can food this summer (anyone who can help me in person, please come and help me!)
-get caught up on scrapbooking
-sell more of my craft projects, dare I say, create an etsy shop????
-learn to send a text message and acquire an up to date phone with a camera and all!

If any of you happen to know where I might find a million dollars, let me know!
Happy 2010!

The journey.

My first day on Weight Watcher's (WW) went very well. I was a little surprised by mid-afternoon to find how badly I wanted to go for the chocolate stash. I have a drawer in the dining room where all of household candy is stored. I typically dip into this drawer several times a day. I went most of my first day without evening thinking about it, but come afternoon I had auto-pilot moment where I passed the drawer, and almost opened it, but then thought, "Hey, I can't have that right now! Silly!" I'm adament about keeping the same temptations around me. I make myself learn moderation instead of deprivation.
The box of chocolates I got for Christmas? Still in the freezer.
The leftover baked goods from Christmas? Frozen as well. The kids have cookies here and there, and so can I.
My candy dish in the scrapbook room. Stocked, and unmoved. That's how I roll.

I wasn't hungry, or bothered to write things down. I was refreshed to see the looks of how much peanut butter I get in the tablespoon! I was relieved to see how satisfied I was with the amount of food I got to eat.

Today I feel just as powerfully about the process as I did yesterday. I'm keeping that focused feeling.

A little Christmas recap.

We had a very blessed Christmas this year, making the trip to both Chicago and Peoria, as well as having a nice Christmas morning at home, too. I'll briefly recap each event below, but they are out of the order as Blogger is not allowing me to move my pictures around as usual.

Santa brought the kids some cool stuff this year!
Hunter's primary request from the Big Guy was this RC car from Toy Story. I didn't want to disappoint Hunter, or have him question Santa's existence, but when we learned the price of this car, we decided this year we needed to budget tightly. I was so relieved to see just 14 days after we bought this $90 car-it went on sale. I marched right in to Toys R Us and was handed $33 back in cash! Thank goodness. Still, a stiff price, but better.

Ben spent Thanksgiving browsing the Black Friday ads, discovering he would like to have the Imaginext T rex mountain. After searching far and wide, I had all but given up finding one in stick. Enter Grandma Anita to the rescue. She found one Walmart in southern California that had some, purchases, and mailed it to us. Ben was beyond excited, and like this present the best of all!

Two excited and tired boys.

Ben also got a Leapster, one of my Black Friday finds. This handheld computer game teaches just about everything. He loves this toy and has spent a lot of time (especially car rides) learning already.

Hunter's other big item was this Jessie doll from Toy Story 2. He was beside himself!!

Chocolate from Santa.

Our 5 cats all helped eat Santa's cookies and milk. Hilarious!

Another one of my Black Friday finds was a big hit on Christmas morning. This is the Buzz Lightyear "Falling with Style" hot wheels set. It comes with a mini-Buzz that snaps onto a hot wheel (just like in the movie), and goes down this slope into a loop-the-loop and launches into a faux "fly."

Schmoppy cat is going after the car... lol.

Before we go to bed on Christmas Eve we follow a Scandinavian tradition of sprinkling some reindeer food out the front and back doors. There is a little poem I read about staying in bed so Santa can come. The boys love it, and follow instructions really well. Not a peep from them!!

Here are a few pictures from the trip to the Chicago area. The boys got some awesome monster truck RC vehicles. They played with them Christmas morning outside before we headed home.

Me, in my self-made, flamboyant Christmas Cheer hat.

The boys got camo bath robes, just like daddy's, from their Auntie and Uncle. They love them!!

We had a nice ice storm for Christmas, too.

The boys helped me make a million cookies. To help with my intense back pain, Theo made all the dough, and many of the other desserts, and I limited myself to rolling, cutting, baking, and decorating the cookies.

We also took the time to make a Gingerbread house. The boys LOVEd this idea. Not the easiest thing to do, as the roof slid around and the candy fell off. They also fought over who got to do what, but in the end, they really enjoyed themselves and were proud of their house.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, too!

That's a whole lotta Jamie.

So, I made it to Weight Watcher's this morning. Up at 5am, to make myself presentable, get directions, and have one cup of coffee. I spent the morning visualizing years past when I went every Friday to attend Weight Watcher's in Peoria. The same outfit until it no longer fit, the same shoes, the same one glass of water, one cup of coffee, and one bowl of oatmeal. Sometimes we saved all our points for a nice dinner out. This morning, the same. One cup of coffee and the same "jogging" (laughing) suit, and snow boots I intend to wear every day for the next few months anyway.
To my surprise I found a small meeting, and I was the only one registering for the first time. Surely, one of the only people in the world starting their new lifestyle the day before the new year begins. I quickly filled out my paperwork, and made it back to the scale with my energetic and warm meeting leader. Didn't even take the snow boots off. Weighing in a ginormous 302.something pounds. I mean, who reads after the decipal point when you're looking at that kind of number!
Oh, man. That's a whole lotta Jamie.
Here's where my wheels start spinning. Oh, yeah. The goal setting, the stubborn fight. Remember that bitch I used to be? The one who effortlessly counted points, and blazed above her own will power with superhuman ease? Yeah. I thought I had forgotten her, and would never meet her again. (She stopped into the delivery room when I was birthing Hunter with no pain meds, while my husband was in Iraq, but she was gone as soon as she came). I never stopped loving her. I knew she was in there somewhere, but my kids may have been too loud, and I just couldn't hear her. Well, hello darling. Welcome to your life's biggest challenge.
I sat in the front row, and hung my coat on the back of the chair. I felt as plump and rotund as I ever, ever have, but beaming with life and confidence. I actually though, sitting there, I have got to be the most confident 302 lbs to ever sit in a meeting like this.
Hindsight added, I was as confident as I would have been a 302 lbs woman at a baking contest, or an eating contest at that.
I'm now half way through my first day. Just had an apple and bagel with 2 tbls cream cheese and a cup of alphalpha sprouts on top. Feeling unstoppable.
Each hug and kiss from my munchkin today has felt a little like magic to help me through, too.
If your tuned in, I have a feeling you're in for an enjoyable success story.

Doing it for these two.

See these two little angels? Two adorable, sticky little buggers who run our lives? They deserve a hell of a lot better from me. I'm pretty peaved with myself.








I know I've sung this song before, but I beg you to hear with fresh ears because it is with a fresh voice I'm singing. Not that it matters if anyone is listening, because I'm going on this journey alone, no matter what. But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't need the support. I'm starting Weight Watcher's in the morning. I have to.


Not too long ago, wearing a size 22, and weighing somewhere abouts 260 lbs, I was ACTUALLY feeling pretty okay, relatively fit, walking often. Set back sometimes by fibromyalgia, but I maintained my garden, cared for my kids, and had a good love-life with my husband.


Somewhere along the line (probably pushing a 4 and 2 year old in a double stroller up hill twice week), I injured myself badly enough to begin physical therapy for my hip, and found my occasional lower back pain worsening into some serious pain. Know the pain scale? We're talking 9-10. Labor-like pains, all day sometimes.


There was a defining week back in October: my physical therapist told me not to bend AT ALL. Haha! I have two kids, 5 cats, a dog, a husband (who, while mostly perfect, does like to leave his clothes on the floor every day), and a massive garden. Plus, I am a serious clutz. I must drop 50% of the things I pick up. No bending? How?


But, I tried it. I called little Ben and Hunter to pick things up for me. I succumbed to looking lazy and stupid, asking people around me to pick things up. The therapy helped, and I read a great book on fixing your back pain, but the insurance only covered several visits. And my pain worsened.


I went in for my annual appointment and asked for more physical therapy, which I have been given. Several months were approved, actually. I have been given muscle relaxers and more Vicodin, which I take daily because it is necessary. The therapy is helping, but I am in a lot of pain still.


So, since October I have not been able to to wash dishes, carry laundry, garden for more than 5 careful minutes at a time, clean low down or hard to reach places, and more. My husband has picked up most of those tasks. Last week we added "no vacuuming," per the physical therapist.


Most days walking through even a simple place like the grocery store is impossible. I am steps away from being one of those people in the motorized cart at Walmart.


In fact, sitting here hurts.


Turns out, when you take all those tasks away you have a pretty sedentary existence! I've put on 30 or more pounds (we'll see in the morning), and my size 24's are getting too snug to fit. My weight gain went straight to my breasts and stomach, which makes my back hurt soooo much more. This is a dangerous and alarming cycle I'm in.


I don't feel "right." My stomach is expanding like a pregnant woman's and it's uncomfortable. I am terribly unfit... but how do you stay fit when you can't DO anything? I'm starting to worry about my health in ways I have never though of before--- my blood pressure was high for the very first time in my life. I am beyond frustrated, and the only thing I feel I can do not is cut my calories. Make it right.


I am taking my guilty soothing pleasure of food away, and saving my own life. Period. Now. Well, in about 8 hours.

So kiss this fat lady goodbye, again. And wish me luck!!!


I have not attended a meeting for Weight Watcher's since the summer of 2002 (as I maintained 100 lbs weight loss), so I'm nervous and excited!!!!!!!