Big Loser Quest

Well on my quest to be a big loser things are going pretty well. So far I have lost 10 pounds! It is coming off slower and taking longer than I would like, but I know that is actually a good thing as far as keeping it off. Even better than the lbs lost are the inches I have lost. I have lost 1 inch on each thigh and almost 3 on my hips, and I think about 1-2 on my waist. My clothes are fitting a lot looser and I feel better. I have been working out at least 5 times a week, both at the gym and at home and have been counting my calories and trying to make healthier choices. I would like to lose 10 more so I'm going to keep at it. Our weigh in at school for our contest is on March 26th. So I have a few more weeks to add to my total. I'm not sure I'll be able to win the contest, but I'm not giving up!

Dance Fever!!

So I recently decided to let Ella try out a dance class. I thought she would like dance but before committing at a "real" dance school I decided to sign her up for one session of classes at the local Y. I figured this would be a good way to test the waters so to speak and she if she actually like the class. Well we went a few weeks ago and bought her a real dance outfit, leotard, tights, and ballet shoes and she seemed super excited already, constantly asking when she would be going to dance class. So finally this week was her first class. She was VERY excited and told everyone she saw that day that she was going to dance class. She ended up doing really well at the class, she only tried to knock one kid down, (the pushing is a whole other story). She loved looking at herself in all the mirrors and actually did very well at following directions from the teacher. Basically this is a movement class with music and dance thrown in. They marched, did an obstacle course to practice hops, and danced with some bean bag animals. It was really cute. They next day she asked again.."I'm going to a dance class?". I think she was hoping it was everyday! So hopefully her excitement continues and this summer we might try going to a official ballet or tap class. :)

Craftiness..part deux

Well I am making slow but steady progress on the quilt. I have basically just continued to snip and stitch squares together. I have no idea how big this quilt it going to be.... we'll have to see on that one. In addition to working on the quilt I have been collecting sewing materials from various stores to built up my supply..fun fabrics, in different textures and patterns, ribbons, buttons, etc. I have made a couple pillows for Ella, and have been recently trying my hand at various types of burp cloths and taggie type blankets. I'm am also going to attempt some baby blocks I saw online (that could be interesting). Since I'm not expecting a baby, I have been mainly making things in girl type patterns (I figure Ella can use them for her dolls?) I want to start doing some boy stuff as well, but let's face it, it's harder to find cute boy fabrics! Maybe if I get good enough at these they can be gifts for one of my MANY expecting friends. At work they're are at least 4 pregnant women! Eventually we'll have another and maybe I can make some stuff for baby #2. Until then I'm going to just keep playing around and looking for small projects to tackle.

Snow Day!!!... (Again:))

Mother Nature has been really good to us this year, in regard to snow days that is! This makes 3 snow days so far this school year, I can't remember a year we had more than three...so I'm pretty happy. This was a tough one to predict though because when I went to bed not a single flake of snow had fallen, so I was not optimistic. However upon waking, one look outside and I was pretty certain I was going to get my wish. I've been up since 5am and I'm not really one of those people that can go back to bed so I've been pretty much enjoying some coffee, quiet, and the Today show. Ella and I spent a good part of the day in pajamas and doing errands around the house. I put away a TON of laundry, my least favorite chore, and cleaned Ella's room (again). I have also started packing up some of her toys to move down to the playroom. Our carpet should be installed in the basement within the next 2 weeks so I am getting ready make the giant move with the toys. We played with the Wii, made a "pwoject", played with blocks, made cinnamon rolls and watched Santa Paws, it was an awesome day!

Winter Blahs....

Well we are right in the thick of winter. It's sort of that blah time when it's cold and bleak and it seems like summer is SO far away. There is not much to look forward to, spring break I guess...but often in Michigan that is cold too. This is the time of year I HATE living here! I talked to my parents today and they said it was sunny and 77, must be nice! It was 44 here today and it felt like a heat wave. But I know that temps in 40's are short lived and winter will return with it's ice, snow, and frigid temperatures soon enough. I look forward to summer so much. I can't wait to be out of work, basking in the sun, sitting on the deck, gardening and planting flowers, going to the beach, the zoo, and the park. I miss cookouts and bonfires and just being outside! Ahhhh....I guess my glass is half empty today :( But here is the funny part...as I write we are anticipating a winter storm tonight. Do I want more cold and snow? No...or do I? While I dream of summer I am also wishing tonight for a ton of snow. For a snow day of course. So while I'll dream of summer I am also wishing for a blizzard. Come on mother nature, a three day weekend would be so nice :)

I love weekends.....

I love weekends. I love everything about them. I love sleeping in, catching up on errands, cleaning, laundry, shopping, and just overall doing nothing. I like not working. I love not having anything I "have" to do. I like that we can just make it up as we go along. Pretty much anything we do together as a family is a good time. This weekend was pretty typical and tons of fun. On Friday we made some homemade pizza and relaxed with some movies. On Saturday we went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch and games and also met some friends there. Despite the fact that it got crazy busy we had a blast. Ella loves running around playing games, eating cotton candy, and collecting tickets. She also loves the big slide and tunnels and dragged me in there with her more than once. We have been to Chuck E Cheese about four times with Ella, but this was our first trip on a Saturday. I recommend going during the week if you can. We had a blast! The pics are from when Ella went with Grandma Barb in January. She didn't give me too many photo ops yesterday :).

Little Miss Independent...

Outfits you can only pull off if you are 2......

Love is in the air....

This last week we celebrated Valentine's Day! Doesn't it seem even the smallest holidays are better with little ones?! I find myself trying to make everything heart shaped and have been dressing Ella in red and pink all week. She is at such a fun age and seems to get excited about every little thing, so fun. :) Well the fun started on Friday when Ella had her school party. I was lucky enough to be able to leave work for a bit to join the fun. They passed out Valentines to their classmates, ate a plateful of snacks, read stories and played. Ella seemed pretty happy to have me there, as did her friends. This year Ella didn't seem to into passing out her Valentines (I pretty much did it for her), but she did REALLY enjoy looking through her treat bag at all the cards and gifts she received.
When we got home from school I let her eat some more of her treats, probably too many...but hey it's a special day, right?! Friday night Craig did the tile in the basement and now we are ready for carpet, yea! Ella and I watched the opening ceremony of the winter olympic games. On Saturday we met Grandma Boris and took Ella to Build A Bear. She liked picking out a purple bear, shirt, shoes, and a purse.

After that we went out to dinner at Applebees. When we got home Craig and I gave Ella her Valentine's gifts from us. I didn't go overboard (I swear), I just got her some candy, a paint set, some bracelets, and some Dora accessories (necklace, bracelet, and hairbrush), she also got a princess, heart shaped pillow and clothing from Grandma Eldred. On Sunday I made heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. All in all a fun week :)

An attempt at craftiness....

Well for a long time I have wanted to learn how to do a lot of things. And I must say I am pretty good at starting new hobbies, just not at following them through to completion. A good example of this is the guitar that I have sitting in my office closet. I always wanted to learn to play and I thought, well I can play lots of other instruments, including the violin, so how hard can it really be?!. I practiced and taught myself 3 chords...that was it. I haven't picked it up in close to 2 years. I do still want to learn it has just ....well....not happened. I have also previously wanted to learn how to knit and/or crochet....so I bought some needles, some yarn, and a how to book. I made my mom an elfish hat and a sad excuse for a scarf and that's as far as that went. So this year for Christmas I asked Craig to get me a sewing machine. I had/still have high hopes for my endeavors in sewing. I started with some pillows and am working on some burp cloths (I found a cute pattern online) and I came up with this (what I think is) an awesome idea to recycle some of Ella's outgrown baby clothes into a quilt. What a great keepsake right? Well so far so good...I've sewn a bunch of squares together and have several sections going. How is this all going to work out? Well I honestly have no idea. I like the idea of making a quilt though because to me a quilt isn't perfection. It's not perfect lines or stitches, it's more special than that. I hope it turns out (decent) and Ella will have a great keepsake to hold onto. So even though I occasionally want to throw the machine against a wall when it jams...arrrr....I shall keep on sewing (at least until the quilt is done:))

Snow Day!!!

There are very few times in life that a phone call at 5am is a good thing. However, if you are a teacher and it's wintertime...chances are you'll jump out of bed like a kid at Christmas just to answer it. Today was one of those mornings! (except for the jumping out of bed part...I was already up) Anyway, when I went to bed last night I was pretty confident that today would be a snow day, but I packed my lunch and went to bed at a reasonable time anyway so I wouldn't jinx it. So I wasn't surprised at all to see all the school closings this morning. Ella was up early and by 6:30 she was asking to get dressed for school, used to the schedule I guess. I told her it was a snow day and there was no school, she started crying...apparently she hasn't got the memo that kids are supposed to LIKE snow days. Anyway after a couple Dora's and some snuggling she decided she no longer wanted to go to school (go figure).Craig decided to take the day off as well and after lounging around for a bit we went to Menards to pick out tile for our basement. We also stopped by Lowe's and set up an appointment for the carpet installers to come measure. Our basement should be finished by the end of the month! This is way exciting since we have been waiting so long for everything to come together. I can't wait to start setting up Ella's playroom! I think at this point I am more excited for that than anything else simply because her room is such a total disaster with all the toys. After we got home Ella and I made a Valentine art project and then some cookies for her school party on Friday. So thank you mother nature, today was an awesome Wednesday :).

A typical weekend...

A typical winter weekend at our house....after work on Friday I usually go grocery shopping with Ella (glamorous I know). We then head home with high hopes of making something delicious for dinner, I usually end up being to wiped out and opt for something quick instead. I settle in to relax and watch a movie after Ella goes to bed. I proceed to fall asleep within twenty minutes and wake up to the tv still on with credits rolling. Saturday....lately I spend most of Saturday at home in pajamas. I might do some cleaning, some laundry, or make some type of project with Ella. I try to avoid going shopping in an effort to save money. I watch tv and catch up on everything I have DVR'd over the week. I look at the sewing machine and think about working on my quilt, some days I do a little, most days I just look at it. I think about cleaning out my closet, but it seems to overwhelming and I assure myself that's a better summer project. I'll usually complain about the cold and dream about summer. I'll go look at the basement and dream about it's completion. Some weekends I take Ella to the mall or Jungle Joes to get out and do something. Saturday night looks a lot like Friday night, only I might actually make it through a movie...emphasis on "might". Sunday is prepare for Monday day, pack Ella's bag, finish laundry, pack my stuff for school, etc. Despite how mundane this might sound to someone else, I love my life. And yes, we do do other stuff, we go out, we see friends, etc but my favorite thing about weekends is spending time at home with Craig and Ella, not doing anything special, but just being together. I love spending all day in pj's just playing with Ella. I like not having anything I HAVE to do. I love not having a schedule to follow. I love my life and life is good :)

Life with an almost 3 year old....

Well it's really hard to believe but Ella is just under two months away from being 3. Where has the time gone?! You always hear how fast they grow, but until you have children of your own you never truly understand. While I am excited for all her milestones and all the growing and changing she is doing, I wish it would just SLOW down....I want to enjoy her being little a while longer. In the last year she has really started to come out of her shell and be more outgoing. She has also learned so much! She knows her letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. She can sing a whole catalog of songs and even knows a few sight words. She also summersaults like a pro, or sumpersaults as she calls it. I think she is a genius, but well I'm partial.... She does love school and her teachers and they have done a great job teaching her. I have to give them credit, they are awesome :)
Every day she surprises me with something new and she is turning out to be quite a bit like her mom :), stubborn, and a REALLY picky eater! No matter what you offer her she usually responds with a " I don't like that ". I phrase I use a quite a bit as well. She would gladly eat Cheetos and cupcakes every day for every meal (I guess what kid wouldn't?!) and from time to time I have let her eat junk for a meal just to keep my sanity...I figure my sanity is worth a bowl of Cheetos now and then. When she was little it was so much easier, a jar of carrots, a jar of applesauce, and she gladly would eat it all and then somewhere around one and a half she started getting picky. This has made mealtimes pretty difficult and while I want her to have a well balanced meal it can be frustrating to prepare everything and then have her refuse to eat it! I hoping she learns to try new things and actually eat a meal, instead of wanting to constantly snack. And today I did get her to eat three actual meals, or at least part of three actual meals..although dinner is somewhat questionable as an "actual" meal...she is putting macaroni and cheese between saltine crackers and making sandwiches, Mmmm. Sounds like something her Aunt Beth would like :)