Easter

We had a very blessed Easter holiday.  We started the day going to Mass as a family.  Patrick couldn't go, he had to work.  I was excited to see what the Easter bunny had left for me at my parents house.  We took some pictures of the kids.  After church I headed home to change clothes and get Patrick and we headed to my Grandmother's house for lunch and egg hunting.

*Warning Picture Overload*

The sweet girls all dressed for church 

Porter did not want his picture made.

Harper pretending to sleep. 

Snaggle tooth Ava Jane. 

Patrick with his babies (minus Drew).

My brother's super sweet family. 

The siblings.

The loot the bunny left at my parents.

Ava on a mission to hunt the eggs. 

Harper styling in her new sun glasses. 

Isn't she the cutest thing. 

Harper talked Uncle Shawn into helping her find eggs. 

Then Dad had to help her too.

the big kids hunt.  John is just mean.

Daddy blowing bubbles with the babies. 

She loves bubbles. 

I got the Golden egg. 

The start of the final round.  I did not find one single egg. Not One.  I was very disappointed.  Harper was the cutest thing hunting eggs.  She had my dad or uncle carry her basket and every time she found one she looked over to where everyone was sitting and said "I found one!"

It was a great day in my book.  After we left my Grandmother's we went to the Horton's house.  Melissa had a great spread as usual and we all ate till we were sick. 

Happy Birthday Porter!

Porter is 4 years old today.  I remember vividly arriving at the hospital right after he was born.  He is such a sweet, caring, thoughtful child.  We love him to pieces.

Day 116

It's Electric

Ally's bed gave her a bit of static this morning.

Day 115

Happy Easter!

From John, Patrick, Me and Elizabeth.

 Just some sibling love before Easter Sunday Mass this morning.

Day 114

Anxiety

I have a confession...

grocery shopping gives my anxiety.

I had to go today and I put it off all day long knowing that the stores were only getting busier. 

Day 113

New Wheels

Little Bro got a new ride today to hopefully cut down on fuel costs.

It's so cute.  It's a 5 speed so we're having a driving lesson this weekend!

I'm pretty excited!

Day 112

One lump or two

I actually take about 4 lumps of sugar in my coffee!

I felt like a grown-up having coffee with Brittany tonight.

Day 111

Wednesday Weigh-In

First of all, I just want to say Thank You so much for all your encouragement last week.  I needed it!  Everyone is doing so good I can't wait so see everyone's progress this week.

Day 110

Down 2lbs from last week.  It's an improvement and I'm not complaining!  (I'm still up 2lbs from week one but progress is progress and I'll take what I can get!)  I've really tried hard to drink more water and less soda.  I indulged this weekend but have tried to get back on track and so far so good I guess.  I did a lot of walking on Saturday and I think that helped!  The weather was beautiful so it was nice to be outside. 

My ideal plan for life would include 2-3 days a week 60 minutes of intense calorie burn whether it be bootcamp, a group fitness class or just running.  Then on the weekend take part in some sort of physical activity outdoors like walking, swimming, playing football or hiking (for the record I've never in my life been hiking but maybe I will someday!)  Eating would include a well balanced diet during the week with a little room to splurge on the weekend.  I want to learn to cook and eat more healthy before we have kids.  Simply because I want them to grow up in a home where food is used to nourish our bodies not comfort our emotions.  (Sounds weird I know) 

I'm still working on this plan and will probably be working on it my entire life.  I've got the weekday exercise covered.  I do need to add one more day and it's been torture to try to do that. 



Precious Porter

When we got in the car to go to church Sunday Porter said, "We forgot Parper!"  Harper can't be quiet at church so she doesn't get to go with us.  He was so concerned, it was really sweet.

Day 109

A-Day

Saturday bright and early, I met up with some tailgaters and we headed to Tuscaloosa.  It was going to be a beautiful day and I was excited.

Coach Saban's statue at the Walk of Champions.  I'm just going to give my honest opinion here.  The statue is atrocious. His head is to big or something and it looks weird. 

My little brother and sister.

We then headed to Denny Chimes to see the 2010 Co-Captains hand prints.

After that we finally made it to the stadium. I love Bryant-Denny Stadium. Something about that place makes me smile every single time I walk in there.

After the game we headed back to the house and has hot dogs.

All in all it was a great day!

Relax

After being on the go all weekend long, I'm putting my feet up for the rest of the night and catching up on some DVRd shows.

Day 108

Sunday Funday

We watched the race with some friends today.

Ally was happy to see us when we got home.

Day 107

No words

Day 106

Where's Ally

This is what the sign room looked like today.

Can you find Ally Bama?

There she is!  She has stayed hidden all week!  This has been her spot!

Day 105

We've finally finished all the signs for the Magnolia Festival this weekend. Now I'm getting ready for Margarita Friday! Yes, I'm braving this weather to have some Margaritas! (Margaritas are probably not something I need to indulge in while trying to lose weight but my sanity would disagree!)

She's gonna need dentures

Ava Jane lost another tooth this weekend.  I can't believe this girl is 7 years old.

Day 104

Thank you all so much for your encouraging comments on my Wednesday Weigh-In.  I really needed it. 

Wednseday Weigh-In

Well it's Thursday and I'm just now getting around to posting my Wednesday Weigh-In.  Let me start by saying I have the best hours at work 8-3.  That being said, weeks that I do have to work till 5 (like this one) I feel like I mine-as-well just sleep there because I'm there so much.  I guess if I had to do it everyday I would be used to it.  It also makes it tough that Patrick goes to work at 7 so I usually try to have dinner "on the table" (we never eat at the table) by 5.  When you work till 5 it's hard to have dinner ready by 5.  So this week has been crazy simply because my schedule is all out of whack.  When my schedule is crazy I tend to eat crazy. 
I guess that's all the excuses I can make this week.  I think my main problem is I haven't been exercising enough.  I'm pretty sure my body is used to burning the calories that I burn at bootcamp so I either A) Need to readjust my diet and take in less calories or B) Add another day or two of exercise.  I probably need to do both but I really don't feel like I eat that much.  I've done better about drinking soft drinks.  I've only had 3-4 this week when I was having at least 7.

Yes, that means I'm up 4lbs from last week.  How can one person gain 4lbs in one week, I'm not sure.  I don't feel like I did anything differently.  I'm only 5'2" so I can usually see 4lbs but I really don't feel like I can see these.  I guess that means I've got to get serious this week.

Any tips, suggestions are appreciated.

 

Breakfast of Champions

I'll have Wednesday Weigh-In up later.

I haven't weighed all week.

Judging by the breakfast below it isn't going to be pretty!

Day 103

When the wife's away...

The husband will do no dishes.

Day 102

I've been really busy this week.  I'll hopefully be back soon with some actual posts.  Tonight Patrick grilled hamburgers, I had to work late, then had bootcamp and then watched the DWTS results with my parents. ( I was there getting Ally and always get sucked into whatever they're watching.)  I didn't want to eat a hamburger so late so I left Patrick a note to heat me one up in the morning when he gets home.  He's going to think I've lost my mind.  Maybe I have!

I also have some fun pictures of the nieces and nephew at the park Sunday!

Bunny Door

I put out our few Easter decorations this weekend.  I love this bunny on our front door. 

Day 101

I'm headed to the basement the tornado siren is going off.  I'm not a fan of bad weather.

100 days

Harper enjoyed birthday cake at the park today!

Day 100

Coffee Anyone?

I never considered myself one of those people who needed coffee to start the day.

Until I didn't have any for about 2 weeks.

First cup in a while and it's been good to the last drop!

Day 99

I'm making my grocery list for the week and I have to go to target to get a few things.  I guess I better get busy!

Happy Friday!

I don't know about you, but Ally and I are very happy for the weekend.

We have two birthday parties on the agenda and a lot of resting.

I couldn't be more excited!

Day 98

Is it getting better?

Everyone I've shown this to today said I need to see a Dr.  and that it looks infected.

I don't think it looks as bad in these pictures.

Day 97

Wordless Wednesday

Day 96

Wednesday Weigh-In

Allow me to introduce myself.I'm Maggie.  I love Mtn Dew and French Fries.  I have issues with food.  I'm working on it.I have always struggled with weight.  In the summer of 2005 I was diagnosed with ADHD and part of my treatment was a change in diet.  I was cutting out sugar, caffeine and all processed food.  I also added a little bit of running.  I dropped 30lbs in about 2 months.  I'd never felt better.  I kept it off for about 3 years.  I got married in March of 2008 and I started gaining it all back.  I had gained almost 50lbs in 2 years and I was miserable.  So in January of 2010 I joined Weigh Watchers.  I lost 20 lbs between January and May.  I quit going to the WW meetings in Feburary and used my blog as my main accountability.  It worked.  In May I knew I needed to start exercising to continue to lose so I started a group fitness program BodyShock Bootcamp.  It was the most intense workout I'd ever done.  With the help of Bootcamp I reached my goal weight of 135lbs in June of 2010.  I kept it off and did great until the holidays.  I gained 8lbs from Thanksgiving to the new year.  I've been working so hard to get back to my goal of 135lbs.  I would really like to be somewhere between 125-130lbs for summer.  I'm excited about this challenge since I had so much luck using my blog before.You can read all my Wednesday Weigh-In posts HERE.

This week's Weign-In

I am maintaining my 135lb goal but now I'm shooting for 125-130.  I'm not really worried as much about what the scale says at this point but I still have some belly fat that is driving me crazy.

I've actually been doing really well this week.   I did miss bootcamp last night due to traffic but I think my body enjoyed the break!  I'll be back with it Thursday feeling quite refreshed.  I'm thinking I need to add at least one more day of exercise.  Ideally I'd like to go to a class one night and then run on my own one night plus the two nights of bootcamp.

Sunshine for the Soul

The kids came to see me this afternoon.

We played out in the sunshine.

Day 95

KtB

Today was the 2nd Annual Katie Burkett Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament.

It was a success!  The weather held off.  I love being reminded that there are good people in the world and events like these really make my heart warm.  So many people want to support this family and cause and because of those people a senior from Gardendale will get money for college every year forever and ever.

Day 94

My First {fur} Baby

She's the sweetest, most gentle dog.

She doesn't get nearly enough attention but still loves us anyway!

Day 93

Baking warms the heart

I baked some cookies today between episodes of Jersey Shore.

Day 92

Grey start to a blue day

Ally's face says it all.

This is exactly how I feel today.

Day 91

It's been gloomy all week both inside and out.  The weather has been cold and yucky.  I've been really busy at work which is a good thing but I don't really work well under pressure.  I tend to get mad and either cry or quit.  So today it's been tears.  Glad it's Friday and the sun made an appearance this afternoon which was a nice change.  Tomorrow is supposed to be wonderful.  Hopefully some sun is just what my soul needs.  We'll see.