A few new things!

So, I figured I have some spare time, so I would update! :) We haven't had a whole lot going on, besides the gym of course! Of course, right after I wrote that, I realized that I definitely have a few things to update, and quit a few pictures. First up was a trip to the Maine Wildlife Park. This is Maine's idea of a zoo! :) Basically, it is where wounded animals go to recover. They have a few different animals, but nothing like a real zoo. We have a couple of bears, skunks, racoons, deer, moose, mountain lions, and a few others. We went that day because there was a children's singer performing there. Rick Charette used to play in the public schools when I was in grade school. I used to love him, and I still do! The kid's enjoyed it too. I don't think I will get in trouble for this, but I will take it down if I am asked too. Here is a video of one of his songs (with a slideshow to follow). It is called The Alligator in the Elevator:

We also had a birthday party for Rilee (youngest niece on Doug's side) on that same day. We went to the animal park first thing in the morning and then left from there to go right to the birthday party. Rilee turned a year old! We had a cookout and some birthday cake and enjoyed the family time. After the party, we decided to go to the races with them as well. It made for a VERY long day though. We left our house at 9 am, and didn't get home till 10:30 pm. Here are a few pictures of the birthday girl:






Since then, we had a memorial day parade. It wasn't that great, but was better than the one we went to last year! We also watched Caleb at some point, and the girls really enjoyed playing with their buddy. They gave each other rides on the girl's 4-wheelers, and then played in the sandbox. On Sunday night, we stayed at a local motel so we could go swimming. It is still too cold for any beaches around here. We rented a room, my sister Sarah rented a room, and then my sister Jess rented a room as well. We had pizza for supper, but mainly just stayed in the water for the day. The pool was cold, so you will see pics of all of us in the hot tub. It was still fun though, and the hot tub wasn't hot, just warm. It was great for the kids. We also went to the park that night before bed and had some ice cream. Fun was had by all! Here is a slideshow for you:

Ok, I'm winding down now! :) Last Tuesday was awards night and Kindegarten graduation at school. The kid's did really well. Jordan's class quoted some of their favorite poems and verses. As I said before (I think)), Jordan will not be going to first grade. He passed Kindegarten, but I think him repeating will be in his best interest. He just turned 6, so he will be older, and more mature. Wendsday was the last day of school. Latoya is officially a 4th grader. She did EXCELLENT this year. Here are some pics of the night, as well as the video:





I also just got the kid's spring pictures back from school. They came out AWESOME! Latoya always takes good pictures, but Jordan's usually look goofy. This year, his came out SUPER as well. The one with the 4 of the kids is above (as you saw), and here are the other two:




Now, a couple of things to close. Please continue to pray for Gray man (Grayson). He seemed to be doing better for a little bit, but has started to have the same issues again. My sister is hoping to have him referred to Boston tomorrow. He has had a couple of VERY rough nights. The poor little guy, and mom and dad. Please pray that he can get the referral, and that the Drs. find something to help him.

Last but not least. On week 20 of my weight loss, I am down 38.2 lbs. I also took my measurements a month ago and in for this month, I am down 12 in. This is from 5 different places. I am down 5 in. in my waist, and 3 in. in my hips. All only in a month! I was hoping to get to my 40 lb. mark this week, but I don't think that will be happening. I have had a very bad week and so far don't have any weight loss this week. In fact, I have gained about 1 lb. It's frustrating, and I knew it would start to get harder the longer I did it. Anyway, we will see. Either way, I will get there! Thanks for reading, I hope everyone has a great week!

Prayers for the Chapman Family!

I know this is old news to most of you probably, but I think this family could use all the prayers they can get. I personally had never heard any of Steve Chapman's music before this happened, but after I read the news story, I looked up his music. Steven Chapman is a Christian Music singer. His 5 yr. old daughter was killed a few days ago when her older brother was backing out of the driveway. Here is a link to the story: Maria Sue Chapman. As I was looking uo his music, I came across his song entitled Cinderella. I didn't even get hrough the first minute before the tears started flowing. After the video, he talks about what gave him the idea for the video (his little girls). Here is the music video, and then I am putting on a video of him and his daughters. I can't imagine the grief this family is going through. Please pray for them. Here are the video's (have the tissues handy):

Grayson's Doing Good!

Just wanted to update everyone and let you all know that Grayson came through the test fine. I went to the gym, then I went over to the hospital to catch him before he went under. He was tired and hungry. He hadn't eaten since 7 the night before. He had a juice bottle around 9 I think, and that is it. He did really well. The service could have been better, basically they were left in the room with a monitor on his toe and if they needed anything, they had to go find someone. The girls and I left right before he was sedated, because I knew it would probably be harder to go to sleep with everyone there. We went to get lunch, then we headed back when the test was over, and we brought Sarah, John, and Grayson some lunch. When we got back to the room, Grayson was awake, but still groggy. I held him, but wasn't prepared. His head flopped back like a newborn because of the medicine. It really was like holding a newborn again. He would try to crawl, and his arms would give out. He started getting upset because nothing would work right, and he was still sleepy and hungry. They finally let him have a bottle, and he ate 2 of them. Granted it was only 8 oz., but he usually only eats 4 ounce bottle at a time. He was still irritated after that, so I asked if he could go for a wagon ride. The nurse went and got a wagon and put pillows and blankets in there for him. The girls both pulled him, and they made quit the scene at the hospital. We took him all over the place. We weren't sure if he was supposed to leave the floor, but we took him anyway and they didn't send anyone after us. When we got back, you could tell that the medication was just about out of his system. He was doing much better at crawling, and was even pulling himself up and climbing onto a chair in the room. They finally discharged him. As far as the results, there was no one there to read them, and they said it would be between 5 and 7 days before they would get the results. They actually don't think this test will show anything. They think they will have to send him to Portland to do a 24 hr. test, but they will know that when they see the neurologist in June. So, that is all for today. Here are some pics. I am dissapointed because they came out so dark, and the first one is so tiny because it is off my camera phone (I had forgotten my camera in the van the second time I went up). The first one is after the sedation when we went for the wagon ride. The other 3 are before sedation. Thanks for the prayers, and have a great week!

Before & After, Plus A Prayer Request

*********UPDATE*********

Grayson will be going in for a EEG tomorrow morning/afternoon. He will have to be sedated and will be admitted because the medicine they use to sedate him is not good for children as young as he is. This test will show if he has in fact been having seizures. They will not have the results for 5 days, but I will keep everyone updated.

First I want to start out with the prayer request. I really wish you all would pray for my nephew, Grayson. He is my only nephew on my side. He is 9 months old. It seems like ever since he has gotten teeth, that he has been grinding them and biting his tongue. For a while, he was biting his tongue so bad that he was actually biting pieces out of it. It finally got really infected and was turning black. He was put on medication, but ended up being allergic to it. My sister brought him in and the Dr.s were confused and referred her to a ear, nose, and throat specialist. He of course didn't know anything and tried to call lots of his specialist friends. That leads us to today. Today while in nursery, it seems that Grayson stopped breathing and had a seizure. He was gievn two rescue breathes and came to. He was very lethargic after and rested for a bit. My sister and her hubby brought Grayson to the ER tonight. They think he has been having seizures all along at night, but is only noticeable now because he is biting his tongue when it happens. They did a CAT scan, which he didn't even need to be sedated for! It came back normal. They also did blood work and the only thing that showed up was elevated liver numbers. He is home now, but is being referred to a neurologist and further tests will be done to find the reason for the elevated liver numbers. Anyway, please pray for him and mom and dad. It's never easy to hear that something could be seriously wrong with your child. Here is a recent pic of him:




Ok, since you guys asked so nicely, here are my before and after pics. The first one was taken at my sister's baby shower in July of last year. The second was taken a couple of days ago. Neither of them is posed, obviously, I just found some that would work. So, when you look at the pictures, please remember that I still have a long way to go! I was very big to start with, and now I am getting smaller. :) So, that being said, I still have my spare tire around the middle, but it is shrinking! I also got a haircut a couple of days ago. Anyway, here are the pics. I tried to get them to be side by side, but I couldn't. For some reason all my things that were on the side of my blog have been moved to the bottom too, and I can't figure out what happened. Any help would be appreciated! Here are the pics (remember, the first one is "before" and the second is the "after" pic.):

I've been tagged ~ Unnoficially!

I actually wasn't tagged individually, but more of a group thing. Angie tagged a few people and then said well, I tag everyone that wants to participate. Well, I have been thinking about it since I read her post and finally came up with something. Here is the scoop on the game:

6 Word Memoir Meme

Angie tagged me for this Meme, and I'm so glad. This one took a lot more thought than I would have expected, yet was really fun. The Meme orginated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. It's a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words. His words were- For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Here are the rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4 .Tag five more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

My Life: Never A Dull Moment!

And I will tag:

Stephanie: http://www.stephaniechristner.blogspot.com/

Ellen: http://ellen-eternitytoday.blogspot.com/

Debra: http://thecryercrew.blogspot.com/

Laura: http://our-munchkins.blogspot.com/

Angie: http://waitingformaggienatalie.blogspot.com/

Erin: http://thepruetzfamily.blogspot.com/

I will also end by saying if there is anyone else who wants to participate, please do. This made me think, but was alot of fun!

Please look below for another update!

Catching up!

I have to say that I think this is the longest I have ever gone (thanks Laura for letting me know you missed me)! One of the problems is that I always think there is nothing to write about, but then everything sneaks up on me and there is too much to write about. Then, I get overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Anyway, I really am going to try to update more often so I don't get so overwhelmed. Things here are going well. Too well. You know how it is when you have a good streak, and you are just waiting for the ball to drop, that's how it is here. We have finally gotten rid of our snow and have had some awesome weather! It really has been great, I think this is our reward for the horrible winter we just had. Anyway, alot has happened since my last post. Nothing over the top, but alot I can write about, so I will get right to it. You will either have ti skip to the bottom to see my weight loss, or you can do it the right way, and read all the way through (I would skip to the bottom, but you guys are good and will read all the way through, right?). Anyway, since my last post, Jordan has turned 6! Yes, he is finally six. It really is hard to beleive. It seems like going from 5-6 is such a big hurdle, atleast in my mind. He had his party at Jokers and they had alot of fun. I didn't get too many pictures, but I will share a few in the slideshow at the end. I am going to give you a condensed version of the past month and all the pictures will be in one slideshow. So, first we had Jordan's birthday, then we went to a circus. It was the Shriners Circus. It was not that great, and I definitely could have done without the half dressed women in a kid's circus. The kid's really were not that interested in it. It is nothing like the Barnum and Bailey (which never comes this way). This one has horses, clowns, donkey's, dog's, and pigs. Not the real circus animals. We've been to a couple of parks and the kid's have gone swimming in our tiny pool once when it was really hot. We then had another birthday party at Joker's and you could tell the kid's were finally getting sick of going there. They did enjoy themselves, but were ready to leave much sooner than normal. Most things that we do now a days is done with my sister, Sarah, and Grayson. You will see them in quit a few pictures. A couple of weeks ago, the kids got to go fishing for the first time. One of the local town's was having a free fishing day for kid's. We took the kids as well as Sarah, John, and Grayson. John's brother also came with his wife and two boys. If 5 & under caught a fish, they got a prize. 6 & up had to catch 3 fish. I think 3 & under didn't have to cathc anything, they just had to try and they got a prize. Lucas (one of the other little boys), caught his fish first and then just a few seconds later, Jordan caught his. Luca got a sunfish I beleive, and Jordan got a catfish. Uncle John too the fish off the pole before we got a picture, and the fish slipped out of his hands. John grabbed it and ended up getting poked by it, but we got a couple of pictures. At first, Jordan wanted to hold it, but then when Uncle John got poked, he didn't want anything else to do with it. Latoya had no luck at all. She actually must have "caught" about 6 fish, but they all got away befopre she could reel them in. Since Jordan got a fish, he got a prize, and picked out a brand new fishing pole. The girls picked out a fishing pole and a tackle box. We gave the pole to Latoya since the girls really will never use it, atleast not for a long time. While we were fishing, Kelsey grabbed a hold of one of the poles and saw the bobber floating in the water, she tugged on it and said, "look, I caught a ball!" It was quit funny. Anyway, I think that is about it for now. Here are some pictures of the kids fishing, and then a very short video of the twins and Graysin on the train at Joker's, and then finally the slideshow. There are quit a few pictures on it, it has been a whole month you know! Enjoy!

So, you really want to know my weight loss total? Well, it was week 17 on Saturday, so technically I should have been down 34 lbs. I didn't quit make it, but I am officially down 32 lbs (and this is still without dieting)! I am super excited! Not only do I go to the gym 5-6 times a week, but we now go for a walk at night, after supper. We do just cardio on Mondays and when I go on Saturdays. We have also started taking classes at the gym during the week. We do total body, step, step/kick boxing, and lower body. I think I am forgetting one, but anyway, I feel great (maybe a little sore). I am going to keep going, and I will get there eventually. I hope everyone has a great week! We have a very busy weekend, so hopefully I can update during the week with more pics!