better late than never {halloween 2011}

Here in this Siberian Wasteland we call home, the ground is covered in a blanket of snow that appears to be planning on sticking around for awhile. Given that fact, I figured that perhaps it was time for me to post some Halloween photos before my fingers literally freeze and fall off for the winter.

Elliot was a super-hero this year. He was also a super-hero last year. And it's highly likely that he will also be super-hero next year. I'm just so inspired like that.

Maya decided she wanted to be a flamingo this year. That one stumped me a bit. I found a few ideas online, but the best ones were all rather complicated so this is what I came up with. She made the decision to wear her vest under her shirt on her own.

Brenna decided she wanted to be an Indian Princess. When I went to the store to find her costume, they didn't have it in her size. So what did I decide to do? Why, I decided to make her costume of course! I own stock in procrastination (hello, it took me over a month to put this post together), so I hadn't gone to look for a costume for her until the day before a Halloween party she was going to. Which meant I had less than 24 hours to get it done. Thankfully, I happen to work well under pressure.

Wyatt was not really a huge fan of putting on his costume. However, all of the kids since Maya have been Grumpy Bear at this age so he was going to wear it whether he liked it or not. Once he realized people were going to put candy in his bucket he forgot all about his attire.

You may notice that there are only four kids in this picture. That's because Ethan managed to have his Trick-or-Treating fun taken away from him. In our house, Trick-or-Treating is a privilege, not a right. Ethan made the choice to be rude and disrespectful even after being warned that he wouldn't get to go if he continued his behavior. Thusly he stayed home with Aaron while the rest of us went out.

This was our door-bell ringing crew. It was unseasonably warm on Halloween night this year. There were so many kids out in costumes that weren't hidden under bulky winter coats that it almost felt like we were in a movie.

Poor Wyatt had a hard time keeping up with the big kids. He tried to, but his little legs are just so, well, little.

It cracks me up that Elliot not only wore his mask, he actually liked it. I did not expect him to like it at all.

He was very protective of his candy.

This was the last picture of the night for two reasons. #1: The sun was going down. It's hard to take pictures in the dark. #2: Elliot's bucket wasn't big enough for all of his candy. I dumped it in to his sister's bag to make room for more. He did not like that idea and decided to shut-down. Hence I had to carry him the rest of the way. And we still had a long way to go. My arms were quite fatigued by the time we got back. All in all though, it was a very lovely and memorable evening.

my journey part II {weight loss}

If you missed the first installment, feel free to go back here to read it. Before I continue on with my story, I want to emphasize that this is my story. I am going to detail what has been working for me. I am well aware (and hope you are too) that what worked for me isn't necessarily going to work for the next person for any number of reasons. So. Moving along. As I mentioned, I had decided that when the kids went back to school in September (2010) I was going to start working on losing all that excess weight I had been carrying around. I have been asked numerous times what motivated me to start the process. For me, the primary reason I wanted to lose weight was because I wanted to be able to be active with my family. I was to the point where I was getting my heart rate up just walking up half a flight of stairs. When you're that out of shape, it's really tough to get excited about going on a hike or bike ride with your family. That was and still is my primary motivation, but there was also the aspect of not liking what I saw in the mirror. I have never been a person to dwell excessively on my looks (I'm a comfort over fashion person to the core), but it was hard for me to feel confident in myself when I felt like all anyone could see when they looked at me was a heffalump (side note: I don't know why I assumed other people were thinking that about me, it's not how I think about other people at all) who probably sat on her butt all day eating bon bons and watching soaps. Which was absolutely not true. I was surfing the web and drinking Mountain Dew (or going to Target and drinking Mountain Dew...free refills!) thankyouverymuch. I wish I could tell you exactly how to really dig up that motivation. I can't. All I know is that without being mentally ready for it, I would have given up very early on. I can tell you that one thing that really helped me was to set small goals for myeslf. Rather than focusing on the overwhelming task of losing 72 pounds, I gave myself three managable goals.

Goal 1: Lose 27 pounds to reach my pre-pregnancy weight with Wyatt (almost 2).

Goal 2: Lose 25 pounds to reach my pre-pregnancy weight with Elliot (almost 4...are we noticing a theme here? Yes, all of my goals revolve around pregnancies).

Goal 3: Lose 20 pounds reach my pre-pregnancy with the girls (8 and 10).

With those goals in mind, I dug out my tennis shoes and started going to a step-aerobics class at the Y three days a week. I had taken step before, but it had been years since I had been a regular attender and boy did that first class kick my butt. I came home starving and exhausted. I was so hungry that although I tried to make healthy snack choices, I just wasn't feeling satisfied with my apple, so I moved on to the foods I knew would help me feel full. Cheez-it's and a chocolate dipped granola bar. I continued on in my workouts this way for two weeks. Go to class, come close to death, come home and stuff food down my throat. Oddly, the scale didn't budge during those first couple of weeks. That's when I decided I needed a bit more of a plan. It can get really overwhelming to try to wade through all the different diet options out there and some of the recipes call for bizzare ingredients or are just too time consuming to make. I needed a plan that was easy to follow. Enter Advocare. A friend of mine had been using and distributing Advocare products for a number of years, and it sounded like it was just what I needed to get myself moving in the right direction. I started off with the 24-Day Challenge (modified because I was still nursing Wyatt). I had a fiber drink and meal replacement shake for breakfast, a SPARK mid-morning, a post-workout recovery shake after step class, a healthy lunch, and SPARK in the afternoon, and a healthy supper. I also took ProBiotic Resore in the morning, an Omegaplex in the evening, and Catalyst with my SPARK (all Advocare products). Part of the challenge is training your body to stop craving sugar, so I also gave up soda and my beloved nectar from Starbucks and started drinking a lot more water. On day 1 of the challenge, I weighed myself and took measurements of my arm, shoulders, waist, hips, thigh, and calf. A scary and rather sobering experience. At the end of the 24 days, I took my measurements again. I had lost 8 pounds and a total of 5.75 inches off my body. I was so happy with the results that I decided I was going to continue on with the challenge. By January, I had lost 26 pounds. Just one measly pound away from from my first goal. I had been using Advocare products for about 3 months and was still loving them, but I decided I wanted to change things up a little. Another friend of mine recommended the book Cinch! by Cynthia Sass. Cynthia does a great job of explaining how to put meals together and has 100 recipes in the book to get you started. There's also a 5-day fast forward option in the book that I decided to try. It wasn't easy to stick to, but it was highly effective. By the end of the five days, I had lost 7 pounds (which I know is excessive but I think was largely water-weight...I had slacked a bit over the holidays) and had reached my first goal. I continued on with a combination of Advocare and Cinch! for the next few months. I also decided to take a break from my step class and joined the boot camp class at the Y. I loved that class because we did something different every time so I never got bored with it. At this point the weight was still coming off, but definitely not as fast as it did in the beginning. By June I was within 5 pounds of reaching my second goal. And there I sat for the rest of the summer. I am a person who thrives on routine. With the big kids home for the summer and our impending move in August, routine flew out the window. I joined a twice a week kettle bells class at the Y which I loved but I typically only made it once a week. I also wasn't doing quite as well with my eating. However, one hurdle that I have finally jumped over is the, "Well, I've already failed so I guess I'll just give up," mentality. I can have a bad day, week, month, or even season, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over and let it get the best of me. Once again, I decided that in September (2011), I was going to kick it into high again. I joined kettle bells (and didn't miss a single class until the last one when I took my kids up to the Children's Museum) again and started another round of the 24-Day Challenge. As of today, I have lost 60 pounds and 36 inches off my body since I started this process last September. I have reached my first two goals and am 12 pounds away from reaching my last one. More importantly, I feel great and have the ability to be much more active with my family. As promised, I have posted a current picture of myself. But before you see it, I need to tell you a few things. A) I still hate getting my picture taken. It's awkward and I'm not photogenic at all. B) I'm still not at my goal weight. C) I'm currently in the process of getting my thyroid whipped back into shape. One of the symptoms of hypothyroidism is a puffy face. That combined with the fact that I'm not quite at my goal means that my face looks, well, puffy.

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Thank you to my dear friend Michelle for snapping this picture for me. I plan on posting another picture when I reach my last goal. Even though I know I'll still hate getting my picture taken.

my journey part I {weight loss}

Sorry guys, no cute pictures in this post. I've decided that it's time to share with you my weight loss story. I've even decided to be brave and post one of the few pictures I allowed to be taken of myself pre weight-loss. I have not decided to be brave enough to post actual numbers for anybody to see. Baby steps. I guess I'll start at the beginning. I've always been a pretty average weight. Not overweight, but not super-model thin either. It wasn't something I ever had to work at, it was just the way my body worked. Even after giving birth to the girls (10 and 8), I bounced right back with a diet of Cheez-it's and Cherry Coke. I guess I lost some of my bounce after Ethan (7). With him I was still hanging onto an extra 20 lbs even three years later. It didn't really bother me too much though. I still had plenty of energy and didn't feel "fat". Then I got pregnant with Elliot (almost 4). During that pregnancy, a routine blood test showed that I had developed hypothyroidism (for those who are interested, my TSH was at a 9, normal is 0.3-5). My doctor put me on some meds to control it and I went along on my merry way. After Elliot was born, I went in to have my TSH levels tested again and received a call stating that I could stop taking my meds and to come back in a month to be tested again. Being a mother to 4 kids and with the new baby having nursing issues, I didn't go back in. 4 months later I had put on 20 lbs, was feeling increasingly more tired, was having a hard time thinking clearly, and my voice was changing (getting more raspy if you must know). I decided that perhaps I should go get my TSH tested again. I scheduled an appointment with my endocrinologist for a couple weeks out, but asked if I could go in sooner to get my labs done so that the results would be in by the time I met with the doctor. A couple of days after the test I got a call from my doctor's office saying that they wanted to see me the next day. My TSH levels had jumped up to 212. While not thrilled about that, I was happy to at least have an answer to why I had been feeling like crap. I also foolishly thought that taking this magic pill was going to help me to lose the 20 lbs I had put on and then some. Yeah, nope. Not so much. At this point I weighed 60 pounds more than I had before becoming pregnant with Ethan. Around Elliot's first birthday, I decided to start working on losing weight. Because, you know, I was done having kids and all so I was going to focus on me for a bit. And I did lose weight! I lost 15 lbs in about 2 months. However, one side-effect of weight loss can be a delayed cycle. Which makes natural family planning pretty ineffective. In March, I learned that we were going to be expanding our family again. With Wyatt (almost 2. When did that happen?), I was much more on top of my thyroid condition. I had done extensive research and made sure to push for testing even when the doctors didn't think I needed it (I did...my dosage changed every time...sometimes doctors aren't as smart as they think they are...if you're a doctor I'm not talking about you of course). While this was all well and good and I initially lost weight after his birth, my diet and exercise were not conducive to keeping the weight off. It gradually crept back up until I weighed what I had at the END of my pregnancy. 72 pounds over what I weighed before Ethan. That's a lot of excess weight to carry around people. I decided that when the kids started school in September I was going to start working towards losing that weight. So without further ado, here is me before losing weight. Actually, I think I had gained a few more pounds before I started losing, but as previously stated, I didn't exactly like getting my picture taken.

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Okay, here it goes...

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no really, I promise...

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gulp...

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Don't be distracted my the pretty girl in the dress. That's my dearly beloved sister-in-law. That's not me. Nope, I'm the one holding the cute baby. In part II of my story, I will post a current picture of myself (still not quite to my goal, but much closer) along with the gory details of how I got there.

po-dink town {pictures}

A couple of weeks ago I came up with the brilliant idea to take the kids to Po-Dink Town to snap a few photos of them in a couple of new (to me) locations. I still hadn't taken Ethan's "school" pictures yet, so off we went. While this seemed like a good idea in theory, I guess I really didn't think it through very well. Mainly because I didn't bring anyone with to help wrangle my crew.

We started out at a cool building just off the main drag where I took some individual shots.

Ethan had the privilege of being my first test subject.

He tends to be such a ham that it's hard to get a non-cheesy smile out of him.

He's certainly going to be a heartbreaker.

Maya was up next. I really love photographing her. Partly because she has the most eclectic sense of style and partly because she is simply photogenic.

That sassy look on her face? 100% real. That's just how she rolls. She pretends she doesn't want her picture taken even though she truly loves it, so she sort of semi-cooperates with me. She goes where I ask her to, but grumbles the entire time while posing.

She's a very complex girl. I am already quaking in my boots just thinking about her teenage years. Somebody please prescribe me some Ativan, STAT!

Then it was Brenna's turn. For some reason, this is the only picture I took of her that I really liked. That just happens sometimes.

After Brenna, Elliot was up. I took a bunch of shots of him that were adorable, however I wasn't paying close enough attention to my (faulty) metering in my camera and over half of them were over-exposed.

I did get a couple though. He was pretty cute, too. He knew just what to do in front of the camera and was very good at flashing his pearly whites. Even if his "smile" did resemble more of a grimace.

Last up was Wyatt. He had been hanging out in his car seat up until this point and was definitely getting a bit antsy. Combine that with the fact that he's an almost-two-year-old boy and you get a subject who refuses to sit still.

So I just chased him around with my camera for a few minutes.

Then I put him back into his car seat and we took off for our next location. When I had scoped out Po-Dink Town the day before, I came across a very cool blue building. (It may have been on private property. Don't ask permission, ask forgiveness?) As it turns out, it was an even better spot than I realized. In addition to the building, there was a pond, some big rocks, and some cement pipes. Of course, it was a bit tricky to focus on taking pictures when I was trying to keep Wyatt from certain death, but it was still fun. My biggest goal for this area was to get a picture of all five of the kids together.

Attempt #1 at least captured all of the kids together in the same frame.

Then we found the cement pipes.

In true biggest sister form, Brenna helped her littlest brothers jump from pipe to pipe.

At one point, poor Wyatt got stuck between two of the pipes. Being the shining example of a mother that I am, I took advantage of his precarious position to take a couple of photos before helping him out.

I also made two more attempts at getting a picture of all 5 kids together on the pipes.

Still not exactly what I had in mind.

After jumping around on top of the pipes for awhile, the crazies eventually decided to climb through pipes. An activity that caused my claustrophobic sweat glands to go into hyperactive mode. Thankfully they all made it out. Phew!

It was clearly exhausting though. Maya had to take a little rest on a rock.

At the end of the day, this was the best picture I snapped of all 5 of them. It may not be your typical family picture, but I happen to love how it so clearly shows each of their personalities. And they love how they were treated to Happy Meals at Po-Dink Town's Germland McDonald's when we were done.

Dessert Friday! {blueberry boy bait}

Every Wednesday evening during the school year, my hubby and I attend a small group. Given my love of baking treats that I've never baked before (which, up until a couple of years ago, consisted of anything but chocolate chip cookies), many of these nights I will bring a snack for the group. Meaning that on those Wednesdays my kids get to watch me put a decent amount of effort into preparing a dessert that they can see and smell, but are not allowed to eat. As I was putting some apple pie into the oven for this past Wednesday's group, it occurred to me that here I was, once again, making a dessert for my friends all the while telling my very favorite people that they couldn't have any. Hence I decided to begin implementing Dessert Fridays. Every Friday (with some flexibility allowed for holidays and birthdays and such) I am going to bake something for my family. This week I chose what I was going to make, but from here on out I'm going to let the big kids take turns picking something. Enter *Blueberry Boy Bait. I came across this recipe while searching through the archives of one of my favorite cooking websites, Cooking for Seven. To find the recipe and some great pictures, check out Smitten Kitchen.

As with most baking recipes, this one begins with mixing the dry ingredients; in this case flour, salt, and baking powder.

Next, heft your 30 pound mixer over to the counter by the sink as it is right below the only window in your kitchen. Then throw in some butter (unsalted....venturing into new territory for me), brown sugar, and white sugar.

Then turn on you mixer to medium-high and sit back and watch the batter become fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time mixing until they're just incorporated into the batter after each one.

Then add in some flour...

...and some milk.

Once the batter is combined, fold in the blueberries. I used frozen and they worked just fine.

Mix up some cinnamon and sugar...

...and use your cute little spoon to sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake.

Or if you're impatient like me, after a couple of spoonfuls just sprinkle it right from the bowl. You lose a point in the cuteness factor, but gain one in efficiency.

Pop the cake into the oven and go get your sick boy who woke up too soon from his nap. He'll be very cranky and won't really know what he wants until he sees applesauce. He'll be way too tired to use the appropriate eating utensil, so he'll just attempt to drink his applesauce straight from the cup.

When he throws a tantrum because you wiped his face and gets applesauce everywhere, he'll need to be put in a time out. He'll look pitiful, but it's for his own good.

As enticing smells begin to fill the house, you may begin to notice a bit of drool dibbling down the chins of everyone in the house. Including your own.

If you timed it right, the cake will be ready for your kids to eat just as they get off the bus. A perfect snack for a crisp fall day.

*We didn't actually call this Blueberry Boy Bait in our house. We called it Blueberry Cake. We aren't interested in attracting any more boys to our house for two reasons. 1) Our girls will not be allowed to date until they are 30. 2) Boys eat. A LOT. We already have 3 boys (plus one husband) living in our house. We don't need anymore bottomless pits roaming free in the kitchen.

Not Me! Monday

It's time for Not Me! Monday over at MckMama's Blog! This week, one lucky participant will win a spot in her first ever online photography workshop. Giddy up! Not Me! Monday's is all about sharing your less-than-perfect moments of the past week, all while stating that these are things that you "did not" do.

This week, I did not start getting sweaty palms and heart palpitations just thinking about the fact that I had to go in to the dentist to get some cavities filled.

Finding myself unable to procure child care for Wyatt, I did not just strap him into his stroller and bring him with me to the 90 minute appointment. At no time during said appointment did he practice his Houdini skills by getting himself out of his straps and climbing out of the stroller.

I did not keep my eyes closed tight and squeeze my hands together for the entire appointment. My fears were not founded as they certainly did not have to give me novocaine three times during the procedure.

There is no way that I was so traumatized by the appointment that upon arriving back at home I fed my boys some lunch and promptly climbed into my bed to take a nap.

I am not stressing already about the appointment I have scheduled for next week to fill more cavities.

Not me!!

pictures {school}

UPDATE:

Look! No blob! I guess it pays to know people who have Photoshop skills that are far superior to to mine (which are admittedly sorely lacking). Thanks Dan and Carly!!

This year I made the harrowing decision not to purchase any of the pictures of my kids taken at school. It was a choice made at the last minute as I was filling out their school forms (side rant: it is so incredibly ridiculous to me that in the age of technology I still have to fill out the exact same registration papers for each of my kids. every. stinkin'. year. Someone please explain to my why this is not a process that can be done online where parents are required only to view the information every year and enter in any changes). As I was trying to decide which pose/background color/overpriced package I wanted to purchase to wind up with mediocre pictures of my kids that would be left forgotten in some random box in our house, I was struck with sudden inspiration. I decided that starting this year, we would have a new school picture tradition. One that would be significantly more inexpensive and result in much better photos of my kids. I decided that this year, I would be my kids' school photographer. So far, I have only taken pictures of my girls, but photos of the boys are soon to come.

Every year, I let the kids choose one "accessory" for school. Maya's choice this year was a feather for her hair. Her favorite color this year is orange. Hence the orange feather. It actually suits her eclectic style quite well.

Brenna wanted a blue streak in her hair. The dye I picked up is supposed to last 6-8 weeks. Perhaps their test subjects never washed their hair? It actually washes out in about a week.

My dear sweet friend Erin asked me if I would take some pictures of her family as well. I'm always up for a new challenge so I agreed.

Emma is one of Brenna's very best friends. They have literally known each other since birth and are only three months apart in age. She wasn't entirely thrilled to be photographed, but I still got some good shots of her. Of course, she's such a beauty that it would be hard to take a bad picture of her.

This sweet boy did not make my job easy. He was much more interested in playing than posing, but I did get a few good shots of him. And then he was off to fly down our driveway on a skateboard.

Halle is the poser of the family, but it still took a bit of coercing to get her to cooperate. Once she got started though she was a perfect subject.

I picked up this cool chair at a thrift store for $8. Score!

Family pictures are definitely out of my comfort zone. I was thankful to have good friends to practice on.

A little behind-the-scenes shot...

...and a little, well, behind shot.

Erin also wanted a few shots of her and her husband together as they haven't had them done since their wedding. Twelve years ago. Now if I just knew how to get rid of that green spot on Mike's shirt, we'd be good to go. It's not as noticeable in the black and white version, but I really like the colors in this one. I won't tell you what we were talking about to actually get a smile on Mike's face.

I couldn't resist getting a picture of my chubby little guy on the new chair. Don't worry, he does have a diaper on.