Pinteresting

So I joined Pinterest. If you haven't, you need to. I mean, you should join only if you REALLY LOVE AWESOME STUFF. Here is some of that awesome stuff right here.

My family will be doing a Valentine Family Project that is a combo Family Celebration/Pinterest find that I thought was really cute. AJ will pick a heart on a straw Feb 1-14 and we will do the activity together. Then on Valentine's Day, I will make a special dinner (and by make I mean order Lou Malnati's pizza) and we will eat on red plates. Or at least use red napkins because I already have those.

Thank you, Rev. Brian and Mrs. Sally Cope for lending me this book!

I am back on the weight loss wagon. Well, I am waiting at the station for the wagon. Then I will haul my big butt on it. And the wagon will slowly go forward. With me on it. Hanging on. Mike will be on the wagon too. His jar of rocks is the short one. Mine is the tall one and there are 20 some rocks in there. The one that says, "Pounds Lost" represents my loss so far and I can't ignore those pounds. I earned them. There are 30 something (I know exactly how many) in there, by the way.

I am also using menu planners to make my family decent food. Some of it is downright yummy, in fact. We will be eating them in portion controlled fashion and with lo-cal ingredients. I haven't told Mike that part yet (Shh).

Happy #1 B-Day!

We had the PLEASURE PLEASURE PLEASURE of celebrating Ms. N's first birthday with her p's today. Watching them be parents this year has been truly an honor.

It Finally Snowed

After creepy warm temps this winter, snow was finally dumped on us last night. I raced as fast as I could to Melba's (my usual 7 minute drive across the SP took 20 minutes) to jam AJ in his coat, boots, hat, and mittens. I got him into the car and we FINALLY left the SP at:

Apparently no one who is responsible for removing snow in any of the 7 towns we travel through on the way home heard the weather reports I had heard for three days prior telling the IL people that there would be snow las night. So our car joined the 10's OF MILLIONS OF OTHERS on the drive home, but the plow companies took the night off.

Here's what we did:

1. I listened to Gary Meier (although I am not a regular listener, I enjoyed it very much)

2. We ate the emergency snacks

3. We rationed the water (bathroom issues, you know)

4. We looked for trains

5. We complained about the snow

6. We looked for plows

7. We felt bad for the guy who had to be towed off of Irving Park Rd.

8. AJ threw his toys on the floor

9. AJ took his boots off

10. AJ complained about his feet being cold

11. We saw a train

12. We whined

We pulled into the garage at:

We ate crock pot food and played Chuggington.

However, the snow made for some fun play time outside this morning and the hellacious drive home was a distant memory.

I have to give props to Acres Group and the guys who clear our snow. They had our association cleared and our walks, drives and mailbox areas shoveled by 10:00 pm last night. They always do a great job!

I Couldn't Let A Week Go By Without A Train Post

We fed AJ's obsession with trains again last weekend by attending the Train & Hobby Show at the Conference Center. Mike bought Union Pacific and Santa Fe hats. AJ was thrilled with the train viewing opportunities but not with the crowds. We will be attending again next year.

Bon Anniversaire

Mike and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on

January 18th.

We went out to eat large steaks.

Frustrated

AJ loves numbers, loves words, loves to know how things work, and loves putting things together. He dislikes writing and doing any art. At all. Teachers call tasks that kids dislike doing and will avoid at all costs and, at times, throw a fit if they see the tasks coming "non-preferred" tasks. Writing with a pencil is a non-preferred task for AJ.

He struggles to hold the pencil in the style one holds a pencil to write. I see that although he can identify letters and numbers, (and even some words) he can't begin to see where one would move the pencil to make the letter. We have worked hard, and we have not gotten very far. Today AJ said, "I want my name to be H. I can write that. AJ is too hard." And it near about broke my heart.

An upper case H is his only letter he can create so far, but we are taking that as a victory. He and I went to The Chalkboard today and together we picked out some larger, chunkier pencils and grips of all sorts. Some are squishy, some are rigid, some are for fat pencils and some are for thin ones.

Each day, we will practice a little more and see where we go. He asks to do his "schoolworks" with me, so I can tell he is not so frustrated that he wants to avoid it. As time goes by, I hope I can help him feel more successful so that writing becomes one of his preferred tasks.

When Toys Were Toys and Christmas Lights Were Big and Made in America

My coworker Sue has a party during the Winter Break. We went and played with her husband's collection of classic toys while looking at spinning aluminum trees with old model trains underneath. Great food, great people.

Healthy New Year!

As my 2012 starts, I want to set some goals and recommit to my healthy eating/exercise plan. I have been off my rocker with eating lately, so it's time to buckle down and get back into a habit that I had down pretty well not so long ago!

Some of the fun workouts I do:

Meets at the Cong. Church of Algonquin at 6:00 pm every Monday (except the 2nd Monday of the month) Childcare is available for $1.00 per child.

Booya!

Punching, kicking, dancing. So fun. A good place for beginners.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. Strength training for people who don't like heavy lifting.

Chalene makes it seem like a treat.

When I started to use Shakeology in July 2010, I thought I would do so for a short time to see if it made any difference. It is pricey, I won't lie- but I can't believe how much if a difference it has made for my gut. So I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach. I get a discount of sorts and it helps a little bit. So if you are interested in trying any of the products that I have used or want a sample of Shakeology, I can help you out!