Weigh in Wednesday!!

OK! So I buckled down and have been eating better and have tried out a new work out video which I am enjoying. I am doing every other day with Go Go Robics with the Pontani Sisters and then Sweatin to the Oldies with Richard Simmons. This seems to be working because this week I have lost almost 4 pounds! I am excited and it gives me motivation to keep it up.

Not weigh in Wednesday

I have dropped the ball as far as posting my journey through weight loss. I have been struggling a bit and have been afraid to post my progress. I have lost 6 pounds in the last 3 weeks which is not as good as I hoped but I have not been honest with myself. I have cheated and had food that was not healthy and have not been exercising. Ugh. I have not had much motivation but am determined to do better this week.

I hate that I open the fridge or the pantry and just look for things to eat. I just stand there and look hoping that this time there is a burger and fries or cookies waiting for me. I know that I eat out of boredom and am an emotional eater. I don't quite know how to fix that other than not buy things that are tasty and horrible to eat. I need to be accountable and hope that by making myself blog on Wednesdays (Weigh in Wednesdays) I will take action and take care of myself and in turn take better care of my family. They need a healthy wife and mother. I will do better

Nature

These are just a couple of photos from our trip to Eagle Crest.

Dear Karen

Dear Karen,

I am sorry it has been so long since I last wrote to you. As I know you will understand life has and hasn't been in the way. Lots of things have changed in the time it has taken me to write you another letter. Greg is with you know. I am sure the two of you are having a great time up there as it is well deserved. Everyone here misses you both daily. I miss Greg but he and I never had the time to build up our relationship like you and I had, so the loss is different. I literally think of you multiple times a day. Everything reminds me of you. Everything has significance.

Travis begged me the other day to make sure that we plan some time where we are not doing anything or traveling places. I have no desire to do this. I am finally succumbing to the grief. It has hit me in waves but this time it feels different. I have to keep busy or I will stay in bed for days only coming out to feed the children. They come to me to play on our bed or be read to. Our health insurance just took away our mental health plan about 6 months ago. Fantastic. Shana did mention in a recent email that she has access to a counselor and that we also might be able to use her as a resource. I might have to do this. I feel like I am failing as a mother and wife. I should open up to those closest to me but I don't want to burden them. I wish I could talk to you in person. We were always great about being honest and sharing. We were very similar in good ways and in bad. I have to admit I am still trying to please everyone.

The kids are fairing well and are enjoying the traveling. The weather stinks this week as it has been raining for 4 days now which is giving us cabin fever and not helping my mood. Claire is also 4 now. This amazes me on two levels. 1 the fact that she has been in our lives for 4 years astounds me. Time has flown by. 2. She is still alive despite her 3 1/2 - 4 year old attitude. For her birthday we took her to the zoo and met our families who could attend and then moved the party to Frank and Naomi's house for cake and presents. It was a good day.

Ben is definitely 2 now and also lucky to be alive. He loves to pout, tell you that you are wrong, and he wants to do everything without help just like his sister. I am afraid for when he turns 4. I may have to move out for a short while. Sam is growing in leaps and bounds and is the only one who doesn't talk back. He is rolling all over the floor, loves to jump in the jump-a-roo, and just today has slowly started army crawling. He is not even 6months old and is starting to crawl. Help me. We have discovered that Sam has an intolerance to the protein found in dairy. That means I am off dairy while I am nursing. This has been very hard for me since you know I have a love for cheese and sour cream. Sam's feet and hands are large for a baby and I think that, like a puppy, he will grow into them and become a rather large person. Not fat just gigantic.

Carol and Maria are coming over on Thursday this week for a visit. I fear I will have a bit of a hard time keeping myself composed but I will do my best. They are lovely women and am glad that they wanted to get together. Steve is also coming out today to visit with the kids. He loves them dearly and vice versa. Claire has come up with names for Steve and my dad. Steve is the old papa (My only conclusion to this name is maybe because Steve's hair is gray?) and my dad is called circle hair papa. It is of course obvious why she calls him that. It is even funnier to see her say his name as she traces a circle around her head where his hairline is.

Potty training is going well for Ben and we are now needing to buy M&M's in bulk. As a bonus he has almost mastered colors. Travis's birthday is on Friday. I think it is going to be a hard one since the last one was full of hope and fun. You were fine, Greg was well enough to bowl,and we announced that we were expecting another baby. This year I think he wants to sweep it under the rug and I am going to let him. We are going to cook ribs and steak at home and the two of us are going out to a movie. Stephanie is living practically around the corner from my parents now and she has agreed to babysit for us. We will pay her in steak and laundry services.

I will write to you again soon I am sure but I need to get ready for Steve who, on most occasions, likes to be early.

Love,

KT

Fly like an eagle

We recently spent 5 days in Eagle Crest and had a wonderful time. There was hiking, swimming, volcanic flats, nature, family, and friends. What's not to like?!

Sliding into 4

Four years ago yesterday I was laid up in a hospital bed busy bringing our sweet baby into the world. After 30+ hours of labor Claire Elizabeth Larsen came into the world at 1:30am on July 5, 2007. Our lives changed for the better. She sits next to me now oblivious that I am writing about her and watching The Wizard of Oz.

She is the most wonderful daughter I could have ever dreamed up. She is sweet, kind, loving, SMART, beautiful, a leader, strong willed, I could go on and on for days. I think she will be a wonderful mother if she chooses to be. Watching her with Sam is incredible. She cares for him like a mother and never wants him to be upset. If he is crying she will sing, talk, play with him, or give him a pacifier. She tries to teach Ben new skills everyday and everyday she is learning new skills. She thrives in making friends and is not afraid to try new things (Foods not included).

For her birthday we had presents in the morning after breakfast. We got her some stickers, a couple of new night gowns for summer, a floor puzzle, and a slip n slide. The slip n slide was a huge hit! We got it out of the box, laid it out down the hall, and blew it up. We decided to put it to use in the afternoon and I managed to get some great shots of the kids and the slide in action. She is super excited to go to the zoo and have cake at her GG Frank and GG Naomi's house after. I think this will be a great 4th birthday for her and Travis and I love her to the moon and back!

Ladies in Red

For years I have wanted to have a garden and grow my own food. Apartment living was never conducive for farm life (Too small) along with the Oregon Coast (Cold, not enough sun, salt, harsh wind). We had plans of grandeur when we moved to Sleepy Sandy and planned to redo the yard immediately after we moved in. Weather it was lack of funds, an 18 month old daughter, or being 6+ months pregnant it was put on the back burner until we got help with all of those things. On a few previous blogs we tracked the progress of our yard and all the helpers who gave of their precious time a little over a year after we moved in.

The yard looks great now that it has had time to establish over the past 10 months. This spring we got a little more done with the help of Steve, Travis's dad, who built two 4' X 10' planter boxes for us to grow our own veggies. This was so exciting for our family! The kids were thrilled and I was thrilled! I have been striving to have this for quite a while and now it was here. Two huge boxes of dirt. Two boxes of dirt..............hmmmm........now what? Travis thought we should try to grow everything from seed. Great! Wait? We don't have a green house. No green house! No problem! Just get dixie cups filled with dirt put them on a baking sheet or thin plastic sheet, place them on a heating pad, and cover them up with cling wrap. Instant green house! (We got that idea after seeing Travis's brother Matt's set up. His was much fancier than ours.)

We waited. Every day we checked. After week 1 the kids had no desire to check on the seeds. Wow mom, what a fun project. Put dirt in cups and then go look at it everyday. The seeds finally started sprouting and the wind was put back into the sails of our hopes and dreams. unfortunately not everything we started from seed worked out. At one point we moved the seedlings into Sam's room to get them away from the cats who thought we served them greens on a silver platter. One day the door to Sam's room was left open as I was putting away clothes and the cat tried to jump into the window. Not only did he not succeed but he knocked the entire tray into the air. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. Every cup (Which was about 25 dixie cups full to the brim with dirt and just watered) went into the air and all of it's contents went flying all over the room coating the floor, bookshelf, rocking chair, and wall in a great muddy mess. Needless to say the cat survived as did a few of our plants.

I have been told that I have placed my veggies too close together. Too bad. Next year I will take that under advisement but for now I was just too excited to have a lot of several different kinds of veg in the ground. We are growing tomatoes, all colors of bell peppers, onions, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, tiny pumpkins, carving pumpkins, and watermelon. It is a lot I know but I just can't help it. I have to go look at it several time a day and marvel at the progress. I love that we are able to do this and I am pouring love into it. Travis thinks it is silly that I drag him out to look every night right after all the kids are in bed. I touch and smell them. I speak wildly about them to him and discuss all the plans I have for when they are ready to be harvested.

The title of this post is Ladies in Red. The reason for that is because I had to hire outside help once I noticed that my veg was being assaulted behind my back. It was being attacked by tiny ninjas (Green worms and aphids). Here I was pouring my heart out for my garden and it was disappearing before my eyes! What jerks! Not wanting to use any form of pesticide I found out that ladybugs are awesome at getting rid of pests. We released them last Friday when the sun started to go down. The kids were in hog heaven getting to hold and watch the ladybugs in action! Since we did that 5 days ago there hasn't been 1 bug on any of our plants! No more munching and crunching. It was fun to see them flying all around our yard and the benefit was huge. I even got some pictures to help remember how beneficial and fun it was.