8/11/12

Today was a very productive, yet relaxing day for our household.

The girls were up at their normal time, raring and ready to go. After some cartoons and time to wake up, we all had breakfast and got the day started. Christian mowed the backyard and did some trimming all around. I cleaned up the kitchen and living room, and got the girls dressed. Then, we all headed outside for today's task. Washing the vehicles. We vacuumed, washed and cleaned the car and the truck. I did some picking up in the garage and watered the plants. The girls took a nice long nap a midst all of this fun. It was the perfect day to spend some time outside....not too hot, a little breezy. It actually felt like fall is around the corner. Maybe we'll be blessed with a cooler August!

We ordered some pizza for dinner and goofed around for a while. The girls were pretty feisty tonight, but we did our best to harness it and play with them through the tantrums, fighting and little toddler screaming. Once the girls were in bed, Christian and I cuddled up with some movies. We watched Safe House, which was really good. Didn't really know what to expect from it, but it was better than I expected. Then we watched Act of Valor. Sad, very sad, but it was really good too.

I definitely passed out after that. I can't even believe I made it through 2 movies period! When we put the girls to bed, Olivia was really fighting it...crying, throwing a fit. Since we put them down at the same time, she was in our room to fall asleep. Well, to get her to sleep, I promised her she could stay in sleep with me tonight. We'll see how that goes - she is a wild sleeper!

Here are some pics of the girls helping us clean the car. YAY for free child labor :)

8/10/12

Finally Friday!! It was a short week for me, but even though I was busy, it sure didn't seem short enough! I learned this morning that our $200 KinderCare referral credit would show up next week...just in time to pay for fall registration! LOL, it's always something.

I had my Friday weigh in this morning, and I was down another 1.6lbs, for a total of 35.8 to date. With that, I am officially passed the halfway mark on my weight loss journey. I'm beyond excited to reach this point...up until now, I've felt like there is SO FAR to go. Like an uphill climb the whole way. Now, I've officially lost more than I have to lose, now it's like a downhill stroll. A little over 6 months in, 35+ pounds down, and I'm darn proud of that! Monday I'm getting back on track with my tracking, Level 3 of 30 Day Shred and watching myself. My facebook biggest loser contest ends on the 19th - and there's around $100 up for grabs there! My work biggest loser ends on 23rd and I'm ready to grab that title again!

Work was pretty quiet....that happens A LOT in the summer. Helps keep me focused though, so it's definitely welcomed once in a while. Christian picked up the girls after work because he had to help his parents with a couple things, so I did a little cleaning up before the rest of the house got home. Then, we just spent some time together playing downstairs with the girls' toys. They were actually playing REALLY well together, which is very strange for them.

After the girls went to bed, Christian and I hung out, watched some TV together and just relaxed. We are taking full advantage of our plan free weekend, and spending some much needed family time together.

Here is proof of the girls, playing together, like they like each other. Awwww.

8/9/12

Today was a pretty good day. We had our biggest loser weigh in. I was down 4lbs…even with our little vacation, so I was really proud of myself. This week’s incentive, for $15, is highest percentage of weight loss (man and woman), and I really think I might be in the running! I can’t wait to find out. YAHOO!!

Work flew by again. I was picking up the girls before I knew it. Olivia was much better today and yesterday, got her naps in and has adapted back into school well. She’s been participating well and having a lot of fun with her friends. Amelia only cried that one morning too, and her teacher said she’s been great. She said she really missed having her little helper around – I guess Amelia is really good about helping pick up and clean the classroom. My little helper! Her teacher said again she’s so happy to have her back in class, and it makes me so happy to know that they are so welcomed and loved at school. I’m so proud of my babies!

Christian brought home some leftovers from his parents last night, so that’s what we had for dinner today. I was also stuck online for a while dealing with T-Mobile and our STILL messed up bill. They still owe me $85 for the month of messages they charged me for, and keep telling me that the credit is set up to appear “next month”, but “next month” never seems to appear. I really let them have it tonight, and he “assured me” it WILL “definitely” be on our bill next month. Notice all those quotes – that’s how much faith I have in them at this point. So frustrating!

After dinner, the girls and I hung out and watched some TV, while Christian mowed the grass. I think he’s up to something. Last night, right before bed, he asked me “So, we don’t have anything going on this weekend, right?”. I said no, and that was the end of the conversation. Now, he’s trying to get the lawn mowing out of the way. Yeah, there’s definitely something going on…

We got the girls down after he was finished, and settled in for the night. Tomorrow is supposed to be my Friday off, but I switched it for Monday to save a day of vacation. So, the girls will be going to my in-laws, and I’ll be off to work. Looking forward to a weekend of no plans and some relaxation!!

I got these cute pics of Amelia tonight. Blurry phone pics, but they still capture her curiosity and happiness. Love her.

8/8/12

Well, today I finally got caught up on my vacation work that I was behind on, and even was able to crank out a few new Contracts this afternoon. I think I’m basically back on track now. Busy, but on track.

After work, we all headed over to my in-laws for dinner. They grilled some chicken and made some noodles for the girls, and his mom made some chorizo with potatoes and some chilequilles. I had to REALLY control myself because I have my biggest loser weigh in tomorrow, but it was TASTY! The girls ate great, then Olivia curled up to watch Tinkerbell while Amelia went outside with his dad to play.

We finally got the girls home, bathed quickly and into bed. Later than I wanted, but they went down better than last night. So, that’s kind of a success.

I snapped these pics of the girls tonight. My sweeties...

8/7/12

Well, it’s here. Time to say goodbye to our friends (for now anyway). Christian was up and off to work at his normal time. I got up when he left to shower and start getting ready for work. The girls woke up around 8:00, I fed them and got them dressed. Our houseguests got everything loaded up in their van and were ready to go around 9:00, so we parted ways. They were off on their long trek home, and I was heading to work. Sad day.

I dropped the girls off at school and their teachers were SO happy to see them again. They were definitely missed, and that warms my heart. Olivia gave all of her little friends a hug like it had been weeks since she’s seen team. It was cute. When I picked them up this afternoon, I was informed that Olivia wouldn’t take a nap – so we had a little chat about that tonight. And, Amelia cried after I left. One week home and she’s reverted back to crying! LOL. Hopefully it was just a one day fluke.

Work was CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY. I had piles all over my desk and lots to catch up on. I’m so thankful that I did keep up on my e-mail and some of my routing while I was home otherwise it would have been really bad. It was time to head home before I knew it, but I did make a really good dent in my work, so it was a successful day.

Once we were all home, we just had a quiet night together. Leftovers for dinner, a little TV time, baths and an early bedtime. We’re trying to get the girls back on a regular schedule now, and Olivia was pretty feisty with her lack of a nap today, so they were ready to go down. I was still addicted to the Olympics tonight, so I was up way too late. Definitely need to get MYSELF back on schedule!

I didn't take any pictures today, but I did put together a little side by side of the girls, at Minnehaha Falls. I thought it was CRAZY how much they both have changed in one year...

8/6/12

Well, it’s here. Our last day with the Steveson’s. It is an incredibly sad day, but we made the most of it.

After our final big family breakfast together, we all got ready, packed up and made our way to Minnehaha Falls for the day. We had a picnic lunch when we got there, then made the trek down to the waterfall. Hung out there for a few minutes, took some pictures, then wandered down the path to the river opening. We spent a good 90 minutes just splashing away in the river. (Little) Christian spent his time building a dam with the rocks, Spencer wandered around getting into trouble with all of the other kids, Brooklyn and Amelia clung to me and Dawn and spent some time together, while Olivia hung out with daddy. It was just a perfect day. Amazing weather, great company, and perfect location. Relaxing, but fun. I think everybody had a great time, and that’s all that matters in the end.

Our meter in the lot was about to expire, and the little girls were getting tired, so we made our way back to the cars. The girls fell asleep right away as we left. We stopped at IKEA so Dawn and I could run in quick to get them one last thing they forgot on their trip the other day, then made our way home. Our friends stopped at McDonald’s for some snacks and drinks while we did a little cleaning up and started getting dinner ready.

Christian wanted to grill for their last night here. We had some chicken, potatoes and veggies, hung out in the yard playing the evening away, had some ice cream cones for dessert (regular sized ice cream cones, thank you) and spent every last minute we could chatting and laughing the night away. The girls have school tomorrow (they are going in late though), so we finally had to force them to go to bed. Christian has to go in tomorrow at his normal time, so he said his goodbyes and made his way to bed. The rest of the kids were sent to bed to try to start getting back on their normal schedule, and Tim wasn’t far behind them. Dawn and I watched some more Olympics together, chatted, and tried to stay up as long as possible. But, alas, I do have to work tomorrow, and she has a long drive head of her, so we had to give up and go to bed. Not looking forward to saying goodbye tomorrow, or getting back into reality.

8/5/12

Sunday’s are great in general, but simply amazing when you don’t work the next day. YES!

Today, we had breakfast and were all able to get up and out of the house earlier than the last few days. Our plan today was Mall of America, basically Nickelodeon Universe, for lots of rides and fun. A few months ago, when we won Brothers of the Sun tour tickets, part of the prize pack was two unlimited ride wristbands for the park, so the girls were all set. Christian and I are able to ride all of the smaller rides with them for free, and he doesn’t like real rides, so I just bought a few points to go on a couple rides with Dawn. In the end, we only ended up going on two adult rollercoasters together, BOO, but it was still fun though. The girls had a blast, and Amelia was able to go on most of the rides as well this time. I took Olivia down the Log Chute for the first time. She loved the ride itself, but was creeped out by the giant mechanical figures throughout the ride, so that kind of ruined it for her. We were able to meet TONS of characters today….Jimmy Neutron, Kai Lan, Dora and Boots, Spongebob and Patrick. YAY, great day to be there, that’s for sure! We grabbed some lunch in the food court, went on a few more rides, and then had to head out. Tonight Dawn is taking our family pictures, so we had to get the girls down for their naps. Our friends stayed and finished up their riding while the girls napped and Christian and I got ready.

As soon as they got home, we were off with Dawn for picture time. We headed to Minneapolis, to Nicollet Island for our pictures, and had a blast doing them. I haven’t seen all of them, but she let me peek at a few and they were SUPER cute. I can’t wait until she gets them edited and I can see all of them. The girls were really receptive to her, and she did such a great job. YAY, pictures, done!

It was around 9:00 when we got back to the truck and started on our way home. All of her family was passed out for the night when we finally arrived home, so we ate a quick dinner, put the girls to bed, and really weren’t far behind. Can’t wait for another exciting day tomorrow, though it is technically our last day together. That thought, makes me want to cry. Ugh, goodbye sucks!