~~ L squared & A Big Green Ball ~~

Today's workout was legs and lower abs. It was an hour and 16 minutes and 822 cals burned. I hate, hate, hate the stairmill, but man, Lonnie had me on it not once, but twice today and it showed in my cals burned! OH YEA!


I have been promising the boys we would get in some last minute fun stuff before school starts and one of the things on my list was to take them bowling. So, this afternoon we headed on over to.....

We've been there once or twice for birthday parties and it has always been crazy busy with people, but we always had fun. I knew today was going to be different when I pulled into the parking lot and there were maybe 8 cars. It was pretty much like a ghost town-I wasn't even 100% sure it was open, even though it was 11:30. They were open and it was pretty much empty and it was so nice having the place to ourselves. Liz and the girls joined us and I am so glad they did. The girls had never been bowling before and they did AWESOME! It was great to be able to share such a fun first with them. We got our lane, our shoes, and our balls and we were ready to roll.....



First: Jesse





Second: Kami





Third: Michael





Last up: Nani





We took a break around the 6th frame for pizza and drinks, then we finished up. Here are a few more pictures of the kiddos having a ball.....

The mamas smiling, enjoying the last day of summer with our babies-in the a/c!

~~ Zing, Zang, Zoom ~~

Today was kinda like that, especially the zoom part!

It started as another lazy day-no workout, no leaving the house, no being out in the heat, until gymnastics anyway. The boys have been doing gymnastics now for 2 years and they still love it! And so do I, it is an hour of quiet for me to do a little of this or a little of that. Usually I read or work on my crochet. (pictures of my gymnasts and my crochet might show up in a later post.)

Around 5:15, Michael and I headed up to his school to meet the teacher and drop off supplies, but when we got there we found out we were a day early. There was an hour long orientation for new parents with all kinds of important school info. I *swear* that is NOT what the notice I read said. Anyway, we couldn't stay. We had a circus to get to!

Zing, Zang, Zoom is the theme for the circus this year! We sat in the Zoom section!

It was a fantastic night! It has become one of those yearly family traditions that we all love. I think this was the best performance so far! The boys get a souvenir each-Michael got a white tiger and Jesse got a motorcycle-and I got a picture of them on an elephant. Of course there was also lots of food and drinks.

Me and my littlest man. Jesse was upset and would not take a picture with me. :(

No worries, I got some of him anyway!

~~ Hot, Hot, Hot ~~

It has been SO hot here this week-I have no idea what the high was today, but OH.MY.GOODNESS, I'd be willing to bet it was at least a few degrees above 100! Because of that and the fact that school starts a week from today we stayed inside and relaxed-almost ALL DAY.
An early workout first thing this morning was a must, but after that-NOTHING! It was fabulous to just spend some quality time hanging with the boys, in the A/C!

Today's workout--1:33 PT-*Body Shapers* 756 burned

~~ Shopping ~~

Today's Workout: 1.5 mile/20 min. run on treadmill and 16.8 mile/53:45 min. cycle class

I remembered to wear my watch and band, yea! After 1 hour and 55 mins, it said kcal = 1035 burned!

Today started early and just flew by. It began with me getting all dressed up so that I could go drop off my resume at the elementary school right up the street. They have 2 openings and either would be *perfect* for me! I'm praying that it is God's will for me to fill one of those positions.

It was nice to get up, shower, put on make-up and get dressed to go somewhere. Since I have lost weight, my pants have gotten just a little baggie and that is a good thing! Not such a good thing, having to spend dollars on buying new clothes, because I'm not done losing weight yet! So, I pulled out a few tubs full of clothes that I had been storing, because one day I will be able to wear them again. It was like going shopping without shelling out the big bucks. Yea, new clothes!

The boys and I had lunch with Grandpa, Deb and Memaw. It has been awhile since we have seen them and it was great to visit and catch up.

Michael and I went school clothes shopping for him, instead of taking a nap. He got some new tennis shoes, new underwear, 4 shirts and 3 pairs of shorts. We went to Kohl's, so I didn't have to shell out the big bucks. He is all set and ready to start Kindergarten next week.

Phillip's on vacation, kind of, and he was home this afternoon so the boys stated with him when I headed to the Y for my workout!

~~ Mild? ~~

It has been exactly 2 weeks since Michael mastered riding without training wheels.

You see that boo boo on his chin? He got that boo boo last night.

We had a wonderful, busy day yesterday and we got home around 7:15. The boys begged me to let them ride bikes because, "it has been days since we rode bikes!" It was late, we hadn't had diner, and I was tired, but I gave in. Now I wish I hadn't. I gave them until 7:45. They got their socks. shoes and their helmets and they were off!

Everything was fine. Until the last 5 minutes. They were riding around the circle laughing and having fun. Then all of a sudden Michael is on the ground, crying and screaming. I didn't see him fall and I didn't realize he had hit his chin until I walked over to him. I feel bad I walked over assuming he just needed to shake it off.

Jesse ran in the house and got him a cold wet towel for his boo boo.as I carried him and his bike back to the garage. What a great big brother! He calmed down once we were in the house. It helped that I promised him a Spiderman band aid if he let me clean his boo boo.

Everything was fine. Until he couldn't remember what happened or what he was suppose to be doing. It was weird! I ran his bath water and asked him to get his pj's then get in the tub. I was going to let him bathe while I got his dinner ready. So I came back from the kitchen and he was standing in the hallway. He said, "What am I suppose to do?" So I told him to get his pj's and get in the tub.

Phillip came home and talked to him about his day and his boo boo and then he jumped in the shower. Then Michael asks me, "Do I have to take a bath tonight?" His water was already in the tub and I had told him twice. I started to get a little freaked out.

I got him in the tub and bathed and he asked me several times--What happened? How did I get my boo boo? Did I cry? Did it bleed?

WEIRD! He didn't remember what happened 30 minutes earlier!

The final straw? He was at the table eating dinner and after Phillip got out of the shower and walked in he said, "I didn't know you were here."

I called the after hours nurse and she said to take him to the emergency room. I'm glad she said that because I would not have been able to sleep if I didn't find out if something serious had happened when he fell.

Oh, but let me tell you the ER is no fun with an impatient 4 year old! It took FOREVER.

It was probably 9:30 when we got there.

About 9:50 when our name was called and we went back.

At 10:08 we had seen the doctor and he wanted to have a CAT scan done, just to make sure everything was alright with Michael's little noggin'. At this point I was thinking, right on, less than an hour and we'll be going home soon. Not gonna happen. We waited for an hour. I swear they forgot about us, but the nurse claimed there was someone in front of us having a scan done also. That nurse, by the way, grumpy and not so friendly.

We went back at 11:10 and at 11:30 we were done with the scan and we were told it would be about 10 minutes. You see, the results were sent to the doctor that reads the scan and then he would call the ER doctor to relay the results to us about what they found, if anything.

Finally, finally at 12:10 we found out he had a MILD concusion. I was told he would be fine and we could go home.

We got home at 12:30 and crashed.

That makes trip #2 for Michael, in case you don't remember his 1st trip you can read about it here. He is only 4--OH BOY! Waiting was hard, but he did great and it was good to keep him awake and make sure that he really was okay.

~~ Michael ~~

I took this picture of Michael last night and played around with it a little, cropping and editing color, brightness, etc.

The original is on the left and the right is the "finished" product. Next to the original, I think the color looks so much better. What do you think?

~~ NoNo's Pool Party ~~

Tonight we celebrated Nolan's 6th birthday!

lighting the candles.....

thinking about what he is going to wish for.....

giving it all he's got!

He's an August baby, born on the 4th, and well, it is HOT in August. So what better way to keep all the kiddos cool, and wear them out, while celebrating than have a pool party?

I can't believe he is already 6, man these kiddos are growing up SO fast! The kids had a blast jump in and out of the water and they were just all over the place, they would not sit still for pictures, but here is one of the birthday boy and his pretty mama!

*It was a great party and that part about wearing the kids out.....it didn't work for mine! It is almost 10 and they are wide awake. Also, ya see that big red balloon in the 2nd picture? Miss Amy gave the boys that balloon to share. When we got home we let it go. I thought that was what they both decided to do with it, but once it was long, long gone-barely a dot-Michael's eyes fill with tears and he says, "I wanted to keep it." His feelings were hurt and it really broke my heart. I promised him I would get him another one and he could keep it forever!

~~ Rolling, Rolling, Rolling ~~

Less than a week later........

Michael is doing it on his own too! Now there really is no stopping them!

~~ Big Wheels ~~

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine posted pictures of her little man riding his bike without training wheels. He is 6 months younger than my youngest, so I figured it was time to teach both of mine to ride on just 2 wheels!

Saturday morning we all headed out to Academy because the only way I could get both boys to agree on letting me remove their training wheels was if I bought them elbow and knee pads. Seriously? They actually could use them for riding their skateboards. A bonus in the package = gloves!

We got home and it was just too hot, but that evening we were out there for a long time practicing! Both of them did real well, as long as I didn't let go. We worked on balance and pedaling and I ran beside them and behind them, letting go but staying close. The neighbor, Jessica, came out one time and told Jesse it took her like a week to learn to ride her bike. After that he was determined to beat her time and learn in less than a week.

After practicing a couple of times a day (I could only handle about 30 mins early mornings & evenings) for only 3 1/2 days.....

There is no stopping him now! So proud of him!

There were a few falls, but luckily not too many and no major scrapes or other injuries. I guess it was worth it to get those knee pads for extra confidence!

One down and one to go! Michael is making progress-he is doing great and with a little more practice, especially balance and confidence, he will be racing his brother around in no time!

~~ Swim Lessons-Day 2 ~~

Another day of lessons and well, my boys might just be turning into little fish. They are just loving the water and they are so excited about swimming! Jesse wants me to get him one of these red belts. I'm hoping that by the end of next week his instructor will have him trying to swim without one. Michael told me after his lesson he went under 3 times. He was so proud!

~~ Swim Lessons-Day 1 ~~

I was so impressed with how well the boys did in the water this morning.

We actually go to the pool on a regular basis being that 1) it is so close to the house 2) it is 100+ degrees outside and 3) it is free! Jesse has really gotten brave this year. He has started wanting to go under, jump in and tippy toe to the deep end. It is the combination of all 3 of those reasons that they both need to take lessons. Michael doesn't care to go under or have the water in his face, but he tends to eventually do what his big brother does.

They did take lessons a couple of years ago, but I was in the water with them and the instructor. This year I get to watch from the lounge chairs on the side of the pool. They go everyday for 2 weeks and I am excited to see how much they will learn!

~~ SummerFest 09 ~~

~~ The Long and Short of It ~~

I did something today that I have gone back and forth about for a couple of years. It has been miserably HOT for many months and the last month of soccer and 100+ temps convinced me that this needed to be done. So, without further ado......

THE LONG.....

THE SHORT.....