Summer Daze...

Highlights of the summer:

Yard work...believe it or not we had the best time as a family just pulling weeds and listening to music. The landscaping was in BAD shape from all the rain and no attention...but that was taken care of in a mere 3 hour weeding session on Friday followed by 7 hours on Saturday! Whew!

(yes, we always smile while pulling weeds...here I was saying, "Weeding's my favorite!" Ha

Darin agrees...just before this photo he said, "Do you think the neighbors would mind if we pull their weeds too?" lol

The "after" makes it all worth it!

We were greeted by some friends around dusk Friday night....Fireflies which are just so magical! The kids caught, released, caught, released, and so forth until we dragged them into the house. I'm falling more and more in love with this house and this land.




Boys of Summer...Baseball time!

If you know Darin, then you know he LOVES baseball. His mom has a picture of him sleeping with his bat as a little boy. You can imagine how thrilled Darin is that his little junior LOVES baseball too. We signed Roman up for t-ball several weeks ago and it finally started this week. Boy have we gotten some leverage out of it during this waiting period..."Roman, if you eat this it will make a you a good baseball player!"..."Roman, baseball players ALWAYS take naps."..."Roman, you have to eat barbecue...Baseball players LOVE it!" haha It's really all Roman wants to talk about...and he's especially thrilled that his coach is

.....dun.du.du.dummmmmm (drum roll) Darin!!!!! Darin is going to be the best little-league coach ever. Their first practice was a huge success...well, no the kids never got the concept of running the bases BUT they all had fun. I'm bummed that I didn't get a better picture of the coach with his boy..but I will next week for sure!

This video is short but cute - I didn't realize some kid smacked Roman in the head right before he started to run. Haha..ooops, not funny.




We also had a wonderful Sunday visit with some of our besties from Columbus. I only managed one picture of the kids because I was having such a great time chatting with their mommies. Can't wait to reconnect with more of our Columbus friends!



And so the enchanted days of summer begin....

Motivate Me Monday - BodyBugg & Gadgets

Two weeks in and I can tell a difference. Yay! I have to admit that stating that I enjoy working out was like jinxing myself for a not-so-stellar workout week. That's life and you just have to keep going - so while the girls were in swimming lessons at the Y and Roman and Scarlett were in childcare, I hopped on the treadmill for a 30 minute run but I did something different today...I wore my BodyBugg. Am I revealing too much info that I own this?! I bought it after our move to Cali when I also put on some moving weight..and it helped me lose it.

Have you ever heard of this little gadget? Maybe you've seen it on my favorite show, Biggest Loser?? So it's an armband that you wear that tracks how many calories you burn during the day. It also tracks how many steps you take each day. It does NOT track how many calories you eat - you have to do that yourself. So the company that makes the BodyBugg claims that it's at least 90% accurate - if Biggest Loser trusts it, then I can trust it. It's not a magic pill but it is another way to be held accountable for what you're really doing each day. You may think that you are getting a good workout in but wearing the BodyBugg shows you what you're really burning. Today I only had 30 minutes to run and I was able to burn 310 calories! Later I'm going to do 15 minutes of toning...just a DVD that I've gotten results from in the past. (don't laugh, it works! k, I'm slightly embarrassed about the name but fer rilz it's awesome!)

Pros of the BodyBugg - Gives you an accurate account of your day. Losing weight is Calories in - Calories out, so if you're tracking both you can know exactly what to expect on the scale. Also makes housework more fun - love to know how many calories vacuuming burns vs. facebook time ;-) .

Cons of BodyBugg - Let's face it, it's a big black armband. People will wonder what you're wearing. I'm considering blingin' the thing out like Chalene... (she has the BEST DVDs on the Planet!)

So this week I'm going to track EVERY calorie in and EVERY calorie out to really see how well this thing works. I'll post my updates on the sidebar. I'll also let you know what workouts give you the best bang for your buck.

Yes, yes, there are web sites out there that you can put in your weight and activity levels to see how much you're burning during the day - but I have to say that those are usually very generous. You probably sit around way more than you think - or you are chasing kids way more than you think...anyway, we'll see the results next Monday.

For Food Tracking I'm using the LoseIt app on my itouch. I think it's a fairly basic system, but it's a quick way for me to enter food without having to hop on the computer to look it up.

So does anyone else have a BodyBugg? Track calories? Use gadgets? I'd love to hear what you use and what you love/hate about it! Do you use the same DVDs as me??? If not, do you have any you recommend?

PS - The cribskirt is 1/3 done. I opted to weed for no lie...7 hours on Saturday...rather than finish it. What can I say? I had no idea one could become addicted to pulling weeds & our yard was THAT bad!

After much debate...

This cute little boy...

became this handsome young man...

I can't get over how grown-up he looks. I'd say he aged 2 years in a matter of minutes. We're loving the change, even though I teared up as soon as the clippers hit his head. No, not his first hair cut but yes, his first big-boy cut.

Without any debate this beautiful little girl...

decided to donate her hair to 'Locks of Love' and she still looks like a beautiful little girl. Maybe a tad older and more stylish too!

Amazing what a new haircut can do!


PS - in case you're wondering, Allie wants her hair to her knees and Scarlett says she's growing hers out too. ;-)

Motivate Me Monday - Workin' Out

A Happy Father's Day.

Soooo it's already been a week??!!!

Quick Update: I have to say that I was 90% good and maybe 10% really happy...haha pounding some Texas Sheet cake yesterday with great friends made for the Best Father's Day ever! I'm going to weigh-in tomorrow but I don't think I'll post the actual numbers. I know a lot of people don't like the scale, but for me it's just a way to gage results.

Food: So sometimes I like to eat quick and convenient foods - like Fiber 1 bars, light yogurt, etc. but last week I focused on eating mostly food that isn't processed. Noooo, I'm no organic hippy but I do like natural, "Heaven-made" food. Soooo..that's nuts, fruit, cucumbers and other veggies, sweet potatoes (my favorite), and I have to say that I want to at least lean towards these foods always..there's room for both but the 90-10 rule for mostly pure vs. processed is do-able.

Working out has never been my problem. I LOVE a good workout. I'm in heaven when I run on my treadmill to some great music and HGTV on the tv. I can feel the minute the endorphins hit my brain and things become very clear. I can design dresses in my mind while I run, decorate rooms, finish projects....ahhh, if you've never had that moment, then you haven't had a great workout. That being said, I'm not a fast runner - I like to run at a 5 for 30 to 45 minutes. Usually around minute 10-12 I start feeling great. Soooo if you think you hate the treadmill, download some Miley Cyrus "Party in the USA" and CeeLo "Bright Lights Bigger City" jog for 10 minutes and tell me you don't feel better!

My other workout LOVE is Zumba!!! Have you tried it?! Since I was a little girl, I would BEG my mom to put me in dance, but there was no $$ for such. I would dance in my room though and I was in junior high drill team - loved it. Then at BYU I started taking aerobics and loved the dance-like workout...anywho...along comes Zumba and I feel like I'm taking my first dance classes. If you're a dancer-at-heart like me, try Zumba.

Nowwwww....I need to add in some weights, boooo. Weights are just boring to me, there's no workout high but they are necessary so I'll add 'em in this week.

NEW CHALLENGE:

I'm really glad that I posted my "jean" intervention last week, thank you for the comments! Nowwww...I need to challenge myself publicly to finish the crib skirt for Scarlett's room. Wow, now I feel committed - no pressure, right? I'll just whip that up and post the pics by Friday. ;-)

If you commit to something on your blog, lemme know and I'll come over to cheer you on!

I {Heart} Swamp People.

What's that you say? You've never heard of Swamp People?! Well, you're missing out. Maybe it's just because I'm from Cajun country and I feel like I know all these people, maybe it's because of my Cajun ancestry and my love of all things Gumbo...but I LOVE this show. It cracks me up. By far Troy Landry is my favorite, his Cajun accent is so thick that he needs captioning...adorable I'd say. Enjoy this little clip and let me know if you want to head down to the bayou with me to visit my family.

You might be scratchin' your head thinking, "Isn't she from Texas?" Why don't you google map Vidor, Texas? It's the second-to-the-last town before you get to Louisiana. Darin always tells people I'm from where they filmed "Water Boy" with Adam Sandler. He also loves to tell the story of taking a boat to bring turkeys to people for Thanksgiving who lived on the river in houses built on stilts when we visited one year. I love to tell about our neighbors who found an alligator in their backyard pond and kept swimming in the pond anyway, the time some kids found a small alligator in the "ditch" in front of the church, the time we went crabbing as a family and my cousin caught a huge alligator on his line...we left immediately (that alligator was eyeing all of us kids.) No, we're no Troy Landry's in my family but the culture of sitting on the porch eating crawdads (crawfish) makes up some of my favorite memories.

PS...sorry my family has a Southern accent, not Cajun. I lost my accent when I had to take voice and diction classes for my Theater/Film major in college. My dad says I talk like a "Yankee" now. :-(

PPS...I must apologize to my Mother for revealing that we have Cajun heritage - it's on my Dad's side, not hers. ;-)

PPPS...(last one) I dedicate this to my brother-in-law Johnny who loves life on the lake and taking his kids to spot 'gators at night. He even took my kids one night!

Motivate Me Monday...

My pants don't fit. :-(

I have very valid excuses:
1. Baby
2. Move
3. Food is yummy. (especially something called Killer Brownies!)

I don't want to buy a new wardrobe (well I can't afford one & love mine) but I haven't been able to find the motivation to do anything about this situation. I saw this quote the other day...

"You will never be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of your life." James G. Bilkey

and it made me think that I should give myself some pressure, tension, and therefore discipline by committing to a goal on my blog. {cringe} I also realized that my 13 year anniversary is in 5 weeks...soooo my goal is to be able to wear "my pants" on my date with Darin in 5 weeks. I'm not doing anything crazy - just eat right and exercise, blah, blah, blah kind of stuff....and I'll keep you posted on Mondays. Feel free to join in my challenge and I'll keep you motivated too.

PS - I'd LOVE some support in my journey and promise a handcrafted gift to my most loyal supporters!

Yay for goals & clothes that weren't purchased for an "in-between stage"!!! (gearing myself up;-)

A New View...

It's no secret that we were sad to leave El Dorado Hills. I have such beautiful memories from living there. One of the things I loved the most was the beauty of the land, the views. Wow, everyday I said a silent prayer as I drove, walked, or ran - thanking the Lord for the beauty of the land. I thanked Him for the views. After we found out that we were moving I had to stop my trail runs because I couldn't stop crying every time I saw these views...I wondered how I would live without them. Beauty is inspiring...and this place was the most beautiful to me.

Or so I thought. A few days ago the kids asked if they could have a picnic out in the front yard. I said sure and helped them pack a basket, find a blanket and advised them to head out to the shade. As I looked out the front door, I was taken aback by "the view"...the Lord had an even more beautiful view in store for me. Yep, I teared up a bit and headed out for a closer look.

The closer I got, the more beautiful it became....

The sound of laughter added to the beauty.

And then it was overwhelming...


...I love the Primary song, "There is beauty all around, when there's love at home."

I know that my Savior loves me and I'm so happy that He blessed me with such a beautiful view.

We're all settled and would love to hear from you.

xox

Ohio Lunts