Where have I been?

As soon as I got back from Hawaii I hit the ground running.

Meetings at church, craft project hell, and now a speaking engagement. WHAT!

So, I agreed to be on a committee at church and thought I would help out this program by making a wall organizer to help them out. No big deal. Jo Ann's is a crafter's friend. So, for 3.5 days I channeled the craftiness of my SIL and BFF to get this out like it looked in my head. Sometimes I get these great ideas, and um yeah, they don't turn out looking like what my brain imagined.

So here it is......

It looks way better in person. The pockets are on a denim background. I think I actually did a good job this time. So, after I finished this I had to start working on the topic to be discussed at the ladies night out, which is tonight, the same night this wall dealie-o had to be completed.

I have never spoke at any function, so please pray for me. I am gonna need it. Sheesh.

So, I am starting to feel the busyness of life. Noah has school 3 days a week, I try to fit in the gym while he is at school, the ladies functions, squadron functions, teaching at church, and trying to make time for kids, husband, and miscellaneous items to make for school, church, and home. Oh and I met with a personal trainer today, cause I am gonna do a triathlon. Yeah, that's right. I have gone crazy.

However, this personal trainer is exactly what I needed. I have hit my plateau and I have tried and tried to get over it, with no success. He and I worked together for about an hour this morning and I feel like I fell down a mountain. Ya know, like on tv, when folks go tumbling down a mountain and they just keep flipping, and pounding into the ground. And when the tumbling is over you know that person is gonna be in some serious pain. That would be yours truly today. URGH! However, I asked for it.

So, I will try to get Skinny Tuesday back up and going. Hopefully after tonight I can get back into a groove. It is bad, when my BFF calls me and says, "uhm, are you ok, cause you are not updating your blog". Ok, my bad. I am the blog pooper here lately and I won't promise but I will try to get a little better.

Friday is out, cause that is Johnny Appleseed's birthday and we are having a party! hee hee. Seriously, we are!

Hawaii

There are not enough words for this vacation. Our room was terrible, but hanging out with my boys on the beach can make up for anything. Kevin had to work all but a day and a half, but we made the most of it. I love Oahu. Noah learned how to use a boogie board, and Caleb did a little body surfing with his momma. I am sufficiently sunburned, hopefully enough to avoid skin cancer but give me a little color through the Alaskan winter. I can't wait to go back!
Here is a little summary of all the fun we had and places we visited:

Honolulu Zoo
Dole Plantation
Matsumoto Grocery - best shaved ice in the world
Waikiki beach
North Shore beaches
Duke's - great place to eat
Hanging out with the Cosme's
Snorkeling on the North Shore
Luau at Paradise Cove

The boys gave it all they had and are sufficiently worn out. We got home about 2am this morning. The boys and I were waiting for Kev to bring around the car to load it up and when Kev drove up N had a break down. Apparently, N loved our rental car soooo much he was devastated that we did not have it in Alaska. Amidst all the tears he told us he wanted us to sell the van and by a SUV. It was so funny! Bless his little heart, he loves those rentals.
We can't wait to go back!

Laid Back

Usually I am laid back when it comes to politics. I never force my issue and if someone disagrees with my position I do not argue with them or try to change theirs. However, I read an article this morning that just fires me up.
Why is it that celebrities are stupid and selfish enough to blast a candidate over ONE issue. This particular celebrity is just completely unintelligent in her argument because it is selfish and based on ONE issue, her homosexuality. Lindsay Lohan is speaking out against Palin and if she was arguing on something more besides her gayness maybe she wouldn't look so stupid. Seriously, what about our economy, taxes, iraq, pakistan, iran, education? No apparently for some in the Hollywood area, abortion and being gay is the only important issues and the health of our nation is really not that big of a concern. Vote Obama cause he is for gays and abortion? GIVE ME A BREAK! This just goes to show how seriously dumb the celebrity scene is, it does not matter about the nation, just what is good for the celebs and their insane lifestyles.
Just because God blessed you with a mouth does not mean He blessed you with intelligence. And BOO on the media for putting out such crap. Seriously, what impact does lohan have on the political scene? Yep, none. Just another pretty face spewing her dumb-ness.
I would seriously like more news on J-Lo finishing the Malibu triathlon than a highschool dropout letting crap fall out of her mouth.
ok...I am done.
Well, not yet. lohan says, "Is being gay a sin?", well, as a matter of fact, yes it is.
Now, I am done.

First Day of PreSchool

Well, like so many of N's family and friends, he too started preschool today. N has really shown a need to be in a more structured learning environment despite my best efforts to keep a "fun" learning environment at home. He has partially sprouted wings to total independence. He was so excited this morning and got out of bed an hour before he was supposed to. He carried his backpack with pride and was so happy to be the first one to school this morning. There were no reservations about mommy and daddy leaving him there, he went right on in met with his teacher and began his day at her instruction. I had to press for his attention to get a hug and kiss goodbye. C and I took advantage of N's preschool time and ran lots of errands. When we went to pick up "bubba", Noah looked at me with sad eyes and said, "Are you here to pick me up?" There were more tears shed at leaving school than going! His teacher was impressed with N. She has made N the class cheerleader cause he was so excited and got the others going with his excitement and overall loudness. So, after day 1, preschool is a hit.

First day pic before we left home

N in front of his locker - he shares with 4 others

N in his classroom with one of his teachers Ms. Ivany

Following the leader - end of day activity - that's his other teacher Ms Thea - he walked right by me and did not see me taking the picture - that is how much fun he was having!

N at his locker at the end of the day - we are picking up his craft he made today - it was a hand print with a poem about all the things he did on his first day of preschool.

To top off this day of complete excitement and fun, we let the kids know that we are leaving for Hawaii in the morning!!!! YAY!! Here we come surf, sun, and FUN!!!

I just have to say.....

God has blessed me with the best kids in the world.

Last entry I mentioned about being able to pass on the love of being outside to my kids. Well, this year we were able to go to Midnight Sun Bible Camp. This is a camp that is owned by our church and is used all summer long for youth to learn more about God and fellowship. One weekend is Family Weekend or FamCamp. It kinda marks the end of the summer season since Labor Day is when most everyone closes up and prepares for winter. It was a great weekend. We camped in a cabin with several bunks built in, no electricity, water, etc. Pure Bliss! I know you are thinking I am crazy, but this was heaven. We hung out with our friends, cooked for one another, had fun together, and let me tell you, my boys were made by God to be outside.

We canoed, walked, picked blueberries, relaxed, sang, worshiped, and we just enjoyed every minute we had out there.

One big shout out goes to the Hewlett Family. They let us borrow their 4x4 jeep. We would not have made it down the dirt road in our minivan to the camp, so THANK YOU!!!!

Ok - back to the boys. I needed to walk to the jeep and it was going down just a little bit on a steep grade, so I asked Noah to stay at the top of the hill, I would run down and back and we would walk on together. So, I am coming back up and he is lying down with his arms outstretched, eyes closed, completely relaxed, and I say, "Noah what are you doing?" He says, "I was born to be in the woods." I love it!

Both boys went nonstop while at camp. This is already on the calendar for next year.

Time with Family

My dad was able to come up for a solid week. It is really nice when family visits and they can stay long enough to enjoy this HU-MONGO state. I was able to take my dad camping at one of our fav places, Seward. Camping with my dad is always fun cause he was one who took me camping as a little girl. I have been camping my entire life thanks to my family and I get to pass that on to my boys, which I LOVE. Among the numerous things we got to do here are the highlights: watched salmon run the streams, glaciers cavving, moose in the wild, glass melting (hee hee!), native alaskans dancing, catching lures instead of fish, and my boys love on their "paw paw". For a moment I thought my dad was going to move into our garage!! Anyway, here are some of my fav pics from his visit.

Me and Dad at the Aialik Glacier

Watching the salmon run

yeah, that's not a fish

It's our stick we used to get us loose from hang-ups!!! hee hee

Skinny Tuesday

Sorry about last week folks, family was in town, and well you know how that goes.

First and foremost I think I need a "high-five". I got the results back from my physical and I dropped my cholesterol by 60 points! I went from 208 to 147. The drawback is my bad stuff, LDL is now in the average zone, but my good HDL is low. This could be because I stopped lifting weights for 5.5 weeks while training for the marathon and/or a lack in monounsaturated fats. It is probably a combo. I am super happy my hard work is paying off.

So this week is about the importance of having annual physicals. My personal story is this......
I never had annual physicals before. You know, I had done them in school to play sports and it never occurred to me to keep up this routine throughout my life. I maintained what I thought was a healthy weight - I did not own a scale till now - so this weight was based on how my clothes fit. My entire family takes medication for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. and I thought this was going to be me too, it's hereditary right? So I ate what I wanted and exercised enough to make it satisfactory. I gained weight while pregnant and didn't loose it all after Noah. Oh well, that is just part of life. It happens to everyone. I went through my twenties telling myself I would do it when I was 30. Another baby came, more weight came along too. I still went around with my head in the clouds. I'll get the weight on sooner or later. 29yrs of age and I finally decide to have my first annual physical. I find out that I have high cholesterol, and the doc says he doesn't want to start me on medication, yet. The word "yet" was enough for me to say enough. I don't want to take pills. Period. I will give up whatever, and do whatever it takes, to prevent taking medication. Another factor that played into my decision to start having annual physicals was what happened to a loved one. One December day Kevin gets a call and someone we hold dear finds out they have leukemia. The only way they found out was through an annual physical.
There is so much talk about prevention and early discovery that we should take annual exams more seriously. Sure it takes time out of one day to go to the doc when you are not sick. You know what, is it worth not knowing something that could seriously impact your LIFE? For me, I think quality of life is way more important that having to sit in a doctor's office for ONE morning.

So, I urge all of you to start having those annual physicals. Almost all insurances pay for one annual a year. Take advantage of this benefit, after all you are paying for it and you are worth it!!

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:

To the core folks!! Core strength plays a huge part in overall health. I can't stress that enough. So here it is...

Standing Side Bend With Towel - See Demo HERE


TIP OF THE WEEK:

Breakfast is very important. We have heard that our entire lives. Well, do you really know why? Try starting out your morning with a breakfast low on the glycemic index. It will help keep you full and will help you lose weight by stabilizing insulin. I'll go more in depth on this next week. Give it a try this week and see if you feel better! GOOD LUCK!

Ragin' - Dont use Proflowers.com

Do not, DO NOT order from Proflowers.com

If you do, you run the risk of EzSaver, Ez Savings. Easy saver, etc attaching to your bank account and charging you for 14.95/month! Hugmongo S-C-A-M!!

Once again I am a first hand example of this SO DONT USE PROFLOWERS!!!!!

These thieves have taken about $77!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!

Lack of Sleep

The past week and a half has went by so fast and with little sleep. The crazy part is that Labor Day weekend marks the END of the summer season for Alaska. Most stores and shops, that open for the summer, close. Folks start winterizing their cars and campers. Even the trees think it is fall here and have begun changing colors. Our camping is over until Memorial Day, boo hoo. On the other hand, I am looking forward to slowing down enjoying our saturday mornings on the couch watching game day. I am so ready for college and NFL football and am so glad it is here.

For the past week or so, my dad came up for a visit. It was superfun. We camped, went on a cruise of Alaska'a coast, hiked a little and watched the salmon running, fished, panned for gold, and went to the fair. I took a million zillion pics so these may come over the next few days.

My dad left sat morn and we then hit the road for family camp at bible camp. It was so much fun. the camp is set seven miles back on a dirt road. We had to borrow someone's 4x4 so we could go, the ol' minivan wasn't going make it. We would have been stuck in the first half mile.

The kids are getting so big and have thoroughly enjoyed the summer. Noah starts preschool next week. I think Caleb and I are going to miss him while he is there. I have some great videos of the kids to post. I can't believe they are growing up so fast!!

Here is just a sampling of the pics.....