Weight Watchers Week #15

     Really, it has been 16 weeks since I joined, but since WW rewards me for persevering to 16 weeks, and I didn't go one week in December, we are calling this week 15(but I know the truth!).
     Some weeks I get really low about any loss because my scale or the Wii Fit board doesn't show it.  Some weeks my scales are totally in my favor and I find out they lied.  This week followed the first!  I was sure I would only break even or even have gained for the first time since joining the program.  However, I was totally surprised to find out that I lost 1.6 pounds!
     This brings my total to 29.6 pounds in 15 (16) weeks!  So next week, when I am rewarded for working hard for 16 weeks, I will have lost 30 pounds.  Course, it would be really cool if I could loose 2.5 pounds this week and show a 2 pound/week loss average.  .  . hmm, I see a goal in mind!!!

The Move

   I took a trip to California from December 10th-13th with just Gabriel.  I had a blast staying at my parents, visiting with my aunt and cousins and attending the annual Floyd Family Christmas Party.  The best part was surprising my brother and sis-in-law with the fact that I was there!  The party was at their house and they asked my parents to come early to help with the To Do List.  When we got there, Scott was in the front yard planting flowers and I opened the van door and asked him if he needed help!  Priceless!
    The day after I got back to town, Marc and I discussed the upcoming move/transition/Christmas plans, etc, and decided that we were crazy enough to pack up our house in a week and a half and move to Sarasota county on the opposite side of Florida before Christmas.  It was a crazy idea!  It would have been impossible without the devout help of dear friends in Jupiter who helped me pack or watched the children for me and also the help of new friends from our new church (which Marc is pastoring) who helped us pack, unpack and organize!
     The worst is behind us on that one, but our friends in Jupiter were surely shocked that we up and moved without proper goodbyes!  Marc is still there 4 days a week working and sleeping in our old, empty house, but the good news is that our church in Jupiter is throwing a goodbye party for us the weekend we return for Marc's cousin's wedding!  What a great way to come back and say goodbye while in the meantime, I am getting used to the new area and getting time with the ladies out here!
     Why did you move in a week and a half? You may be asking. . . Well, two main reasons!
1. We wanted to get the kids back into normalcy and schedule.  We had been off of school already since the middle of November and to drag the move into the end of January would have made it hard to school, pack and feel sane!  By moving before Christmas we shortened the amount of crazy time before starting school again on January 3rd!
2. We wanted me to start to get to know the ladies here!  I had only visited our new church 3 times before Christmas!  The first was the weekend they were checking us out (and we them!).  The second time I came my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their 4 kids came with us, so I was spread between old and new.  The third time, my parents were with us, so again, not a lot of opportunity to get to know people.  Our Christmas visit was supposed to be a 5 day visit while staying at a hotel!  Those 5 days cost more than 2 months of cheap rent at our current residence!  It seemed a no brainer to move into the rental, not stay at the hotel.  However, at first, we were going to stay in an empty rental on air mattresses.  Then Marc and I decided Christmas would be more enjoyable with FURNITURE!
     So we pushed to move in a week and a half and we have. . . drumroll. . . .normalcy, schedule, and time for me to get to know the wonderful ladies here!

                          God directed, we followed, and we survived!

It's Been a While, but HEY, I moved over Christmas!

     Sorry to have dropped the ball!  I am still here!  I have many posts to do: Move, Christmas, Kids, New Church, WW.  It is already after 10pm, so I will only do WW tonight-it is the easiest!
     It has been 3 weeks since I updated my weight loss.  Over the two weeks were moving I did not go to meeting and weigh in.  On December 28th I attended my first meeting here in North Port. Over the move I also didn't track a since food I ate.  I lost 5 POUNDS!!!  Talk about working the weight off!  I should move more often!  HA HA!!  The good news is that I definitely made my 10 pounds by CHristmas goal, and even overshot it by a pound!  Praise the Lord!
     This past week, when I weighed in on Jan 4th, I only lost half of a pound.  BUT IT WAS LOSS!!  My grand total is up to 28 pounds lost!  My pants are a little loose, but I wish I showed 28 less pounds more than I do!
     This week has been bad for me.  I was trying to get back into tracking, still get a grip on the new points for everything, started back to school and was SUPER HUNGRY on top of it all-not usual.  I don't know how it is going to go this week, but I'll let you know after Tuesday!

Gingerbread Houses X 5 !!!

The Boys get to work.

Amy helping the girls get started.

Zanna made a tidy roof and Sarah wanted grass.

Leah's first whole house-last year she shared with Jake, but actually, she shared with me this year.
Perhaps she will share with Gabe next year when he joins the gang!

Jake loved squeezing the frosting and only used red & green Decos!

Dan did a very TIDY job this year (compared to last year)  He even had a great time doing it!

Lovin' making a house, lovin' the gap in her teeth!

The yard and fence complete, she is ready to start on the house!

The kids await the verdict of who won for the competition!
They ALL WON!!  We came up with a category for each.

Leah's: Best Mommy Help award

Jake's: Most Coordinated (all red, white and green!)  Looks like a marshmallow world, too!

Dan's: Best use of every kind of candy available!!

Lizzy's: Best Use of Color-She made it very colorful!  I love the hearts on the tree!

Sarah's: Most realistic.  Nice yard!

More of Sarah's.  We loved her roof decorations and fence with "snow" on it!

Weight Watchers Week #11-12

     Hi there!  It has been a very busy week!  I traveled to California last Friday to surprise my brother with a Christmas visit!  I also surprised all of my dad's side of the family, but really, I was most excited to be 3,000 miles closer to my brother and sister in law and nephews!  I took Gabriel with me and we flew all day Friday.  Saturday we relaxed with Dad and Mom, then headed off to the annual Floyd Family Christmas Party.  My brother was surprised speechless when I hopped out of the car and my sister-in-law indeed looked pleased!  We had a great party at their house with about 60 FLOYDS!!!  It was crazy loud for a good 6 hours, but Gabe slept through most of it!  On Sunday we had a bridal shower for my cousin's fiance and finished the day with a nice visit with my brother's family, my aunt and cousin on my mom's side and then a visit from another cousin and his daughter!  What a weekend of visiting!
     Despite it all, I was concerned about my weight loss this week.  I would have to track my points AFTER I ate everything and pray I was close.  I tried to eat a lot of protein if nothing else and was conservative with the yummy Floyd traditional appetizers(artichoke dip with corn chips and bacon-wrapped water-chestnuts with sweet bbq sauce).  I had several mochas given to me that were NOT no-fat, but in the end, I still managed to lose 1.5 pounds!  All that and I even had a piece of cake, cookies, etc!  See!! Dieting can still include yummy treats and work!
     I never posted about the previous week, so I need to mention here that I lost exactly 1 pound the week before.  For my 10 by Christmas goal, I need to loose 2.5 more pounds in less than 2 weeks.  I am on it!  The weeks I eat more I actually tend to lose more, which goes against everything i've ever heard about dieting, but when you eat the right things, I guess it works!
  Look for a post soon with gingerbread house pictures!

Weight Watchers Week #10

     Thanksgiving!!!  Yep, we geared up for this big event for 3 WHOLE WEEKS at our Weight Watcher's meetings!  I am happy to report I preplanned my plate, stuck to it, and enjoyed the holiday without guilt of overeating!  For the FIRST TIME I had one little tumbler of Apple Cider-usually I could drink a whole bottle!  I passed up the pumpkin cheesecake and enjoyed my own homemade Butter cookies with vanilla frosting-so yummy!  I was nervous about my weigh-in, though, because we also ate at California Pizza Kitchen for my birthday lunch, and PF CHangs for my birthday dinner two nights later.  At CPK I had my new usual: Thai Linguini with Chicken, which I haven't looked up, but probably isn't TOO bad.  But AFTER eating at PF Changs, I looked them up, and that did NOT look so pretty!!  YIKES!!  All things considered, I was happy to lose 1.4 pounds over a holiday week!!! I have officially hit 20 pounds lost!!
     My mom rarely dreams.  She considers this a blessing, though I personally think dreams are hilarious and enjoy them!  However, a couple of nights ago she had a dream about herself and me being on a diet together.   It was called the "Butter Diet" and we could only eat things dripping and oozing with butter!!  She said in our dream diet we felt quite sick!  I LOVE IT!!!

A Wonderful Article About My Life

     A friend sent me this article from Veritas Press.  I hope it is not a bad thing that I am passing it on here, since it is from an email newsletter.  This about sums it up!

"In the Rock Tumbler" from Loving the Little Years   I remember a time when I used to be much godlier. It was sometime in junior high and my room was clean. It must have been beautiful weather outside because the lighting was very nice in my room where I was reading my Bible every day and feeling really good. It was quite clear to me that my sanctification was progressing very well. As the feeling wore off, I remember looking back to that time as a high point. That was really living the Christian life. The truth is my Christian life then was like a rock being refined by a slow river in a quiet place. It wasn't as though I wasn't growing spiritually, but my word! So easily! And so little! But God took me out of that life and threw me into the rock tumbler. Here, it is not so easy to feel godly, because we spend our days crashing into each other and actually getting our problems addressed. Here there is very little time for quiet reflection. I do a lot of on-the-job failure and correction. Repenting and forgiving. Laughing. Lots and lots of laughing. Because if there is anything that life in the rock tumbler will teach you, it is that there is no room to take yourself seriously. Like trying to strike "cool" poses on a rug that someone is continually pulling out from under you, self-seriousness in mothering is totally pointless and probably painful! The opportunities for growth and refinement abound here-but you have to be willing. You have to open your heart to the tumble. As you deal with your children, deal with yourself always and first. This is what it looks like and feels like to walk with God, as a mother. God treats us with great kindness as we fail daily. He takes the long view of our sin-knowing that every time we fail and repent, we grow in our walk with Him. It is easy for us to accept this, because our sins are, well, ours. But our children sin against us, annoy us, and mess up our stuff. We want to hold it against them, complain about them (if only to ourselves), and feel put upon by their sin. We have a much harder time accepting that every failure from them is a wonderful opportunity for repentance and growth and not an opportunity for us to exact penance. It is no abstract thing-the state of your heart is the state of your home. You cannot harbor resentment secretly toward your children and expect their hearts to be submissive and tender. You cannot be greedy with your time and expect them to share their toys. And perhaps most importantly, you cannot resist your opportunities to be corrected by God and expect them to receive correction from you. God has given us the job of teaching His law and demonstrating His grace. We are to be guides to our children as they learn to walk with God. Sin is just a fact of life. It is the way we deal with it that changes ours. Rachael Jankovic   Rachel Jankovic has five children under the age of 6, including a set of 2-year-old twins. Loving the Little Years is a slender book of short essays that presents an honest and sometimes funny glimpse into her life and the wisdom she's learned in the trenches.