The Summer of Losers

No matter how many people tell me "wow, those pants are FALLING off you"... or "Wow, your hips looks smaller"... or "Sara, you have been loosing a TON of weight..."

They are all W R O N G.

I weigh approximately the same as I did the day I came home from the hospital with Hannah. & that isn't a pretty place to be.

So in order to get the scale to catch up with what my body is apparently telling people... We're ON. (oh, I don't see what everyone's talking about... I feel like I look pregnant when I look down... AND I AM NOT!).

Timmy wants to loose 60# between now & August 6th (which is totally achievable for him)... and I'd like to loose *something*! I hate giving myself a number, because, TO ME, it is just a number to fail. Seriously - if I say "I want to loose 5 pounds this week"... and loose 2... I say "Well, I failed my goal, so I might as well give up. Hand me those Oreos!" [mmmmmmm. Oreos]

No, that isn't mentally healthy or right - but it is me. Until I can change the way Sara Lou thinks... I'm going to say: "I want to loose something before Florida".

I'd love to loose 40#, but that is jinxing the whole thing. SHhhhhhhhhhh Don't tell me I said that.

How about this guideline: Between now & his birth, I want to loose as much weight as Cousin Carrie's Baby weighs (at birth). That is *on average* 7 1/2 pounds... and I have about 3 weeks to go. I'm PRETTY sure I can do it.

So. Now that this post is all about weight loss... Please - feel free to ask me how I'm doing!!

The loser this summer - I hope - is Hannah's Diaper Drawer. Crossing my fingers that she can be potty trained (mostly) before our trip in August... or at least before her 3rd Bday in September. She knows what's going on *down there*. She is just too stubborn to do anything about it. As long as it is HER idea... it will happen.

Off to watch some tv-shows... I mean... read the new book mom gave me... I mean... read my darling daughters some good night stories before tucking their precious heads into bed.

The Merry Month of May

So far, So good. I haven't seen a flake of snow for... about 4 weeks. I think it's gone. It is now officially safe to go outside.

Tim & I survived our birthdays. I took Tim to a hotel for his birthday (Easter Sunday). I wish I could say it was super fun, but we walked in the room, Tim laid on the bed & promptly fell asleep. He slept all night. He had been sick for about a week, so it was good catch-up for him. But I had planned on going to Dave & Buster's for some dinner & "play-time" (Dave & Busters is like Chuck E. Cheese for the "over 12" crowd.) ~ Planned on staying up really late eating popcorn and watching a movie or two...

Instead, I ordered a pizza & sat in the hot tub watching Friends. by myself. Wheee.

On my birthday weekend, I drove to Iowa with my mom & grandma & daughters to celebrate my "twin-cousin" & her coming-soon baby-boy! We had a great trip. I took the day off ON my birthday. I hung out with my husband & girls in the morning & in the afternoon, went to Sara Jo's house and she & I went on a "Dual Birthday Date". We are such moms. We got our hairs cut and ended up buying Milk at Target.

Remember when we used to just 'hang' out? watch movies (or pretend to watch movies while we sat & talk all night long)...

We did manage to sneak in a fabulous dinner at Outback in between ~ We even got free birthday dessert & not just a scoop of ice cream. Nope, she let us have our cheese cake & "Thunder from Down Under" Brownie!!! Happy Birthday US!

Well. That brings us up to now.

Hayley's gymnastics is done for the next 2 months. It starts up again mid-July. IF we enroll her. I'm torn because Gymnastics is at 6:15 on Wednesday. "church" starts at 6:30pm. I definitely think church is more important... but gymnastics has been so good for her. There is another gymnastics option for her on Saturday mornings at 9:45. We don't DO 9:45am.

We haven't decided if we are going to go to Wednesday-night at our church, or do AWANA at my parents' church. I LOVED AWANA when I was a kid... & I could hang out with Sara Jo during AWANA at Oak Grove ;)... But since we are trying to get more involved at our church, I think that is more logical for us. Plus they have Women's Bible Study during Wednesday night kid-time & child-care for Hannah. "Our" church has AWANA on Sunday nights...

BUT - I want Hayley in Gymnastics. She LOVES it, I think she is getting braver, stronger and more adventurous (she even did the Monkey bars BY HERSELF on the playground.).

(I might have to bite the bullet and get up on Saturday AM.)

Okay - it is a beautiful day & I am "wasting" it by sitting inside at the computer.

On to the Park We Go!!

Easter Photos

Here are some pictures of our Easter!

We saw Mister Easter Bunny at The Woods in Maple Grove!


Dying Easter Eggs:





(or... hand dying?)







Mom thought she'd make our Jello healthier by adding some Beans... JELLY BEANS!

So the results are in....
She doesn't have Whooping Cough.
Or even "False Whooping Cough".

Today we went to a park near our house. I noticed something lumped around Hannah's ankle. Her diaper had ripped at the tab & slipped down her leg. Well, she was about to go down the big slide... something she's been afraid of... so I didn't want to slow her progress down with something as trivial as a diaper. After all, she has been potty-training & she knows pee-pee goes in the toilet or diaper... and she has some great bladder control. I didn't think 2 minutes would matter (famous last words of a mom)... YOU ALL KNOW WHAT IS COMING! She slid down & then on her way back up... she pee'd all down her leg, promptly ending our trip to the park.

Note to self. NEVER leave a potty-training child diaper-less. Ever.

This upcoming weekend, the girls & I are headed to IOWA!!

And by girls, I mean, Hayley, Hannah, My mom AND my Grandma.
PARTY ON WAYNE,Party on Garth.
My Twin-Cousin*, Carrie, is expecting in June and we are attending her shower.

The "good" parts of this trip will be:
I get to sit in the back of the van with the girls & the DVD player.
We are staying at a hotel that has a pool.
We get to go to Carrie's Shower (Crossing fingers for silly Shower Games... my specialty).
I get to see Auntie LaLo & Laura.
AND I get to share a bed with one of my babes.

By "Share" I mean... no matter HOW big the bed is,
a) I will be grabbing the edge while pushing a foot away from my face or a fist out of my gut...
b)Maybe mom & I should share a bed and let the girls fight it out in theirs.
OR...
c) the girls can camp out on the floor & mom & I get our OWN space.

Me thinks plan C is the winner.

Well, I have pictures from Easter Sunday. On the Camera. Locked in the glove box in the car.

I know the suspense is killing you, but you'll have to wait.


*Twin Cousin... we are basically the same person in different bodies. We don't look alike, but we have the same sense of humor, the same outlook on life, talk the same, walk the same, we have the same grandma... TWINS!

Seventeen Days.

That is all it took to get me back to my blog. I just feel I have nothing exciting to say!!!

But let me tell you about our "excitement"!

Hannah & Hayley have had "weird-to-mom" coughs the past week. So I took Hayley in to the doctor today. (Her's seems to be more aggressive and a bit more harsh than Hannah).

The Pedi. said he wanted to test her for WHOOPING COUGH! What?? is this 1942? Apparently there are outbreaks of W.C. in the area and even though she's all inoculated, she can still develop this "bacterial infection of the lung" So they stuck a cotton-tipped wire up her nose to scrape the back of her nasal passage...

I'd LOVE to report she was nice and calm. HA HA HA !!! Have any of you met my drama-mama?? It took me & an LPN to hold her down. The RN doing the test said "WOW! She's strong for a 4-year old girl."

Here are a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure:



Hayley is enjoying her Gymnastics class. I'm not sure if an Olympic career is in her future. I think she is already taller than most Olympic Gymnasts...


Tim & I took the girls to the Children's Museum on Family Free Day in March.
The third Sunday of the month - everyone's free! & if you park at Macy's... FREE Parking.

Tim had to tell me no less than a hundred times to stop making the girls POSE for pictures, because we were there for them to have fun!! WHAT?! If you can't make a photo shoot out of it, it isn't worth it!!

(Tara... Tim said "Look, it's Antie! He didn't really die!")

And finally... since I didn't go out much with the girls this winter, Hannah decided to take matters into her own hands.

and made...

Salt-Angels.



I learned my lesson after Hayley made "Formula-Angels" 2 years ago... so I took some pictures & found the humor in the situation before cleaning up the mess. (& might I add, Salt is WAAAAAY less expensive than a can of baby-formula.)

Ta Ta for Now... I'll be back with some Easter Pictures, I'm sure.