Woot, Woot It's Monday Peeps!!

Well, well.....wouldn't ya know. The scale is a tricky little thing. It decides to play with my head all week, and then when it counts, it follows through! I lost 2.2 lbs. I was actually hoping for 2.3lbs because I had a goal I was trying to make, but I will take the 2.2lbs, no problem. I'm super happy about what the scale said today, despite missing my goal by just a hair. I actually had a couple of goals for this week. One was to hit 15 lbs, which I did. I'm at a total of 15.6 lbs down now. Yay! The second goal was to be under a certain number, which I am currently right AT that number, lol. I've lost over 7% now, and in a couple of weeks I hope to hit another goal. I've tried to come up with little ideas to celebrate every 15lbs. lost. The first one I came up with was a pedicure. It's been a while since I've had one and thought it would be a good thing to celebrate with first. The second one is the "playing volleyball" reward I've told you about previously. Only 14.4 lbs. left!! Yay. I'm really happy how this week turned out, even if I missed the mark by .01lbs. You can't get any closer than that. Until next week......

Weekend Update

Not too much to report. Friday night I went to bed at (are you sitting down for this folks?) 10pm. Yes, you read that right, 10pm. This is an oddity for me, but hey, I was TIRED! I slept until 8am. I did wake up during the night to help Grace get tucked back in. Then I woke up another time to help her get the eye mask, lol. Then at 1pm I took a nap (can you believe I took a nap after sleeping for 10 hours?) and I slept for 2.5 hours. I'm not sure what happened there, but I surely must have needed the rest. Then because of all my sleep, I went to bed Saturday night at a really, really, really late time.....perhaps we'll just call is "Sunday morning." Now, my body is trying to play catch up again, and I am about to go to bed soon and its just about 10pm now on Sunday.

Weigh day is tomorrow and quite frankly I don't know what to expect. I do know that I have NOT eaten all of my 35 extra points I'm given for the week, but I don't know how that will affect my weight loss tomorrow. I know I was hoping for a 2.2lb loss to put me at my first goal, but I'm not sure that will happen. I peeked on the scale twice this week, and both times it showed my weight as the same. However, when this has happened in the past, I've had a loss show up on Monday, which is fine with me. That is the day that counts anyway. I still have been lacking in the exercise department (it's so hard to get motivated when the heat index nears 100, and its not even JULY or AUGUST, the hottest months of the year). And I have not been keeping up with my water. It really is hard for me to keep drinking all day. I'm trying to work on these things.

Well, that's all for now. More tomorrow....

(Disclaimer.......this is summer. We regret to inform you that you will be updated on the weather regularly, including, but not limited to random complaints regarding the HOTNESS of said weather, and any Tropical Storm and/or Hurricane updates as they are made available. This unfortunately cannot be avoided due to the geographical location of the blog author. Apologetically, this will last until the October/November months. Please bear with any weather related comments until then. Thank you, Management)

Ouch

Hi.....I'm just here to complain today. =(

• I have a pretty bad headache and nothing is really helping it.
  
• Too bad Nate took his nap already. I'd love to lay down some.......
• IT'S WAY TOO HOT OUT!!!!
  
• I went outside at 8am this morning and was sweating. Had to turn the A/C on in the van to HIGH.
  
• Blah.
  
• I really wish it would cool off because this time of year I get totally UNMOTIVATED to exercise. I do so much better in the cooler months
• I know- excuses, excuses.
• Is it December yet?
• No wait....If it's December, then Nate will be two. Nevermind.
• It is currently 96 degrees out. NINETY-SIX DEGREES and it is the evening.(At Eglin, its an hour earlier and only 90 degrees. Boo)
  
• My head hurts.
• I think I need to cook dinner now, but I don't want to because my head hurts.
• I wish Ray cooked dinner.
• I'm sure he would offer if he was home, but he isn't even on his way home yet.
• That means it will be a while until he is home.
• That means I have to cook dinner.
• My head hurts.
  
• Ouch
• Ok, I think I'm done.

******It is now 8:14pm and it is 90 degrees out. Yuck!

Camera Phone Pics

Since I don't really have anything to blog about, I thought I'd share some camera phone pics I've taken over the recent months:

Taken Yesterday.......I see you!



Taken today, isn't he cute??

Feb '07 (Man how I wish it was still chilly out)

Feb '07

Feb '07

Feb '07

Feb '07

If he fell asleep there, he MUST have been tired!!

Jan '07

Jan '07

Yes, it IS possible for him to sit still

May '07- Grace in a dress Ray bought for her that came with a matching dress for a doll, which instead Grace thought was better for her teddy bear named Teddy

Wow, he must have been tired again. Poor little guy......

Would anyone care for a basket of Nate-dogs?

Grace at dress rehearsal for her recital. She is in the middle. I know, its a terrible pic, but you can still tell those are little bunnies. I will post REAL recital pics soon, I promise!

At dress rehearsal, waiting for the bunnies to go up on stage...

Nate thinking he's all slick and smart trying to use a toy as a stepping stool to reach unreachable things. You really gotta keep your eyes on this kid!

Nate preparing to jump onto the couch. He does this like 1,000 times a day!

Ok, so this was supposed to be a really cute pic of Nate. But somehow, something happened and the pic I took shows up like this. However, if you look at the thumbnail of the pic, it looks like the cute one I took. This frustrates beyond belief. Grrrrr!


Taken today.....Grace was at a Princess Birthday Party for Jordyn, a girl from her ballet class


More party pics

Nate trying to entertain himself during a girly party

More party pics.....


Yesterday at Grandma's cooling off in the stinkin' awful heat

Happy Anniversary

This is a shout out to my peeps, John and Wendi, who , today, are celebrating their 9th anniversary. Happy anniversary, peeps!

Kaleb

This is Kaleb. He is 6 months old and for the first 5 months lived a normal, healthy life. He is the son of Kristy and Joshua Schwade, a family whose story I have been following for a couple of weeks or so now. Kaleb is now fighting for his life. On May 9th, Kristy picked her son up from a woman's home who had been watching him, and she noticed something was wrong. After being taken to the hospital, the doctors found that Kaleb has suffered from bilateral hemorrhaging and subdural hematoma (bleeding on the brain), which was a result of Shaken Baby Syndrome (you can read about it by clicking the link, or by searching for info on the web). Kaleb is now blind, had had numerous surgeries, has had shunts put into his head to drain fluid and keep his brain from swelling, he's had a pic line put in (its a catheter inserted in, used for various reasons, and in Kaleb's case its being used for extended antibiotic therapy), he's contracted bacterial meningitis as a result of the fluid draining from his brain, and he's had a feeding tube inserted into his stomach.......and he's only 6 months old and all this has taken place in the course of a month. Doctor's have said that even if Kaleb survives, he will live the rest of his life in a vegetative state. His parents are believing that God will not only save his life, but that he will live a normal life and show the world that God can work miracles. Please keep this family in your prayers, and especially little innocent Kaleb. This sits close to my heart because, as some of you know, God worked an amazing miracle with Grace (I'll share that story with the rest of you sometime), and proved that sometimes medicine doesn't always make sense. Sometimes whats logical isn't always sound. And sometimes, well ALL the time, God works things out for the good of those who love Him.

I've used this verse before, but I use it again now, because it fits so appropriately:

I Corinthians 1:27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

If you'd like to follow Kaleb's progress, please check out his mom's MYSPACE and read the blogs section. Her blog is the number one visited blog in myspace right now. It's so amazing how a blog that started out keeping friends and family up-to-date on Kaleb's progress has now warranted national attention from THOUSANDS of people. I remember when I first heard the story, I was unable to find very much info on the web about Kaleb and his family, and now there are pages and pages that come up on google.

Also, I wanted to share with you a song that Kaleb's mom, Kristy has had playing on her myspace. What a fitting message for what she and her husband are going through right now, and for anyone else going through a hard time. Please remember Kaleb and his family in your prayers right now, and all those who may be having a hard time right now as well.

Josh Groban- YOU LIFT ME UP (<---click to listen)

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

When All Else Fails

......Just laugh.

With gas prices being the way they are, you can either laugh, or cry. Here's something for your laughing pleasure:

Bullet Update

Since my last post took me two days to get together, I am just going to update you with bullets.

• I lost 1.4 lbs last week. My total now is 13.4 and 6.22%.
• I regressed with my water drinking and I haven't been keeping up with my 4-5 glasses per day.
• Two weeks in a row, I have put the laundry away the SAME day it was washed and dried.
• I know....shocking, huh?
• Two nights ago, I went to bed at 10:45pm and woke up at 6:50am and I did not wake up one time in between. Eight straight hours of sound sleep......I can't remember the last time that happened.
• I do not like overripe bananas and I will not save them.
• Last night I went to bed at 11:30 and woke up at 6am, 6:15am, 6:30am, and 7am (thanks to Ray's alarm clock). However, I did get 6.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.....well, who am I kidding, that stinks!!
• Tonight I am going to bed early, I hope.
• If you ask Nate, "What does a lion say?" he will growl.
• He can tell you what a dog and a cat say, too.
• He likes to jump off of the arm of the couch and dive onto the couch.
• He learned this from Grace.
• Grace is going to VBS this week (Vacation Bible School) thanks to my friend, Carla. She will be there from 8am-12pm everyday.
• I have one load of laundry to dry, and one to wash and dry and then I am done with laundry. For now.
  
• Did I ever tell you how much I HATE putting laundry away?
• I hate it almost as much as I hate trying to figure out what to make for dinner.
• No, maybe I hate trying to come up with ideas for dinner more.
• No, maybe it's laundry.
• Uh, it's a tie.
• Are you bored?
• I would like a latte now.
• But they cost too much money.
• Would you like to donate to my latte fund?
• Please?
• Pretty please?
• I'd better go finish my laundry.
  

Safari

Yesterday we went to a place we've been wanting to go to forever.......Lion Country Safari. It's about an hour north of me in a very rural area compared to where I live. It's a little on the expensive side (adults are $22), but we had an awesome coupon for yesterday that saved us $22, so yesterday we went. The biggest part of the attraction is the drive-thru safari, where you can see tons of animals up close and personal. In addition to that, there is a petting zoo (which wasn't much of a petting zoo), a little ride on train, a huge carousel, an mechanical elephant ride (kind of like the dumbo ride), a ferris wheel, some animal and bird feeding areas, and a splash area where the water splashes up from the ground. Well, due to the storm that was approaching, and this new lightning detection technology that's been implemented throughout much of south Florida , which detects lightning from up to 5 miles away and issues a warning, all of the rides and the splash area were closed. The park issues rain checks, so because the closings were due to inclement weather, we were able to get a rain check to come back (but it must be within the next 30 days). So, at least that was nice that we might be able to come back and do the other things we missed out on.

Grace doing her Flamingo impersonation

Nate, "Iss Dat?" (What's that)

Iss Dat?

Grace walking with her friend Avian

Playing in the water misters (they had these throughout the park)

Nate running around outside the splash park

Gracie-face

Tired Nate-dog

Ray and Grace driving through the Safari (Don't worry, the speed limit is only 8 mph)

The Safari part was really cool. Here is the list of animals that you might see along the Safari (the ones in bold print we actually did see, or should I say the ones I know we saw):

Brown Pelican, Fallow Deer, Brazilian Tapir, Aldabra Tortoise, Rhea, Llama, Impala, Greater Kudu, Aoudad, Gemsbok, Nile Lechwe, Nilgai, Blackbuck, Asiatic Water Buffalo, African Lion, Ostrich, Addra Gazelle, Mouflon, Eland, African Elephant, Wildebeest, Waterbuck, White-handed Gibbon, Grant's Zebra, Giraffe, Chimpanzee, and Southern White Rhinoceros.

African Elephant (the haziness here is due to heavy rain falling)

Asiatic Water Buffalo

Blackbuck

More Blackbuck

Brazilian Tapir

Gemsbok

Giraffe -This was actually taken during the walking part where there was a Giraffe feeding area.
This is also in the Giraffe feeding area. You can see how close he was to us.

This Giraffe was in the Safari part and was probably about 10 feet or so away from the car.

This particular Zebra is called Grant's Zebra.

Another view of Grant's Zebra

I believe this is a Greater Kudu (female).

I believe these are Impalas

More Impalas (except for the brown one, which is a Nile Lechwe)

Llamas

African Lion-Male

African Lion-Female

Mouflon

Mouflon

Nile Lechwe (the dark brown one)

Ostrich

Southern White Rhinoceros (see the rain falling?)

Rhino again

Waterbuck

Waterbuck again

Wildebeest

White-handed Gibbon

Not sure....John help!

Not sure again.....John?

Same one as the pic above, but now he's (she's) trying to hide