Progress

First, my garden is starting to show some progress, here are the first of the cucumbers. I think I will have some squash in a few days and hopefully the green tomatoes will turn red before Lucas picks them all (b/c he thinks they are ready). I am trying to revive my acorn squash plant, we will see if my doctoring skills work...doubtful since I am not a very good gardener. Second, I am also seeing some progress with me! I have lost 3lbs. and ready to lose more! I am doing great with the excersize part; I started last Wednesday by pulling Lilly and Lucas in the wagon up and down the drive and around the house...58 pounds plus the wagon can really get your heart rate going! Then Friday night I walked two miles at my favorite park. Sunday walked one mile to the race track and one mile back from our parking spot (that counts right?). Monday the kids and I went on the Monon trail and I pushed the stroller walking 2 miles. Lucas actually jogged about a mile of that, first 1/2 and last 1/2. Some of you have seen his jog with his arms really going, he was doing a good job keeping up with mommy's "speedwalk". Then yesterday we headed back on our neighbors property. They have 14 acres back behind our house and they mow a weave of trails, if you walk all the way to the back you can see our other neighbors two horses which the kids think is great. So I pulled the 58 pounds in the wagon while the 76 pound dog pulled me...so my question is, does the dog's pull take away from the amount of my calorie burning or is it just increasing the calories since I have to walk faster? Hmmm...

The food side of things could be better. I should probably just go back to South Beach since it worked for me before and then I have some strict guidelines to comply with. So far I have been eating less, better choices for meals, saying no to things I know I don't need and snacking much healthier...wait till you see the peanut butter blog I have for later this week! Thanks for all the encouragement! I love the comments...it is very motivating!

Fun Weekend

Well, we started out the weekend with a trip to the waterpark on Saturday. There is a great park in Plainfield, their parks department amazes me. Why do we live in the "burg" again? Not sure. We didn't take the camera, but I would highly suggest if you are looking for a nearby place to spend an afternoon having fun in the water...go here.
Then on Sunday we got to go to the Brickyard 400 Nascar race in Indy. Thanks to my beautiful friend who is the best wallcovering rep a designer could ever have, I got offered tickets on Thursday and knew Tim and Lucas would love it! Thanks Misty! We didn't take Lilly b/c of the noise (she cries with thunder), but my friend Meghan watched her for us and we took her husband with us. Not sure that that was a fair trade off for her...but we do love her for it! The race was great, Lucas was pretty excited to see the race cars and the seats we had were AWESOME. They were right across from the pits at the end of the straightaway, and we could see turn 4. They were way up high, but under a roof (thank God since it was melting weather). Lucas actually picked Jimmy Johnson before the race started b/c that is "grandpas car" (he works for LOWES)...and he actually won! Guess we should have put some money down somewhere!

Here was our view of everyone singing "Star Spangled Banner", it was pretty cool to see all the pit crews lined up.Gentlemen! START YOUR ENGINES! Here is Lucas and daddy at the beginning of the race, Lucas was really great about wearing his ear muffs, he actually was trying to put them on before the race started!
And about 50 minutes into it, he was beat and crashed out on daddy. I think the water park from the day before was catching up with him...and it was nap time.

Can you see Lucas on Tim's shoulders?
After a little nap, we took sleepyhead for a walk to wake him up and walked under the track to the infield. Here is the "new" Pagoda.

We got to check out the pits up close and personal. Here is the Cheerios team. I think Lucas thought it was pretty cool to watch them change tires so fast.

So, only thing missing was Uncle Eric...should have made the drive down Uncle E! We would have loved to have you! Hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

Keep it Up!

You see this sleepy lazy adorable dog? Well, he is dreaming about taking more W-A-L-K-S (oh wait I don't have to spell things out on a blog b/c he can't hear me). And I need to walk more also...so I have a plan and need your help!

Ok, so I have to say that all of my friends have been amazing lately. They have been so supportive, laying on the compliments, being extremely nice, caring, and really helping me to feel good about myself again. So much so that I have finally built-up the energy and motivation to start my diet and work out plan again. Both of these take alot of effort and mental capacity that sometimes I do not have, but I just have to do it. My surgery back in February still doesn't have my knee 100%, but I am not going to get there without ever trying to just start jogging again. There are many reasons why I need to do this now, here are a few:

1. I need to have more energy to chase after my children.

2. I need to take care of myself and the body that God gave me.

3. I need to be happy with myself ...or at least the effort that I am putting forward in order to try and do something about this body that I hate...and the lack of self confidence that I have in myself thereof.

4. I have gained four pounds back of the 25 I lost last year and my new pants are starting not ot fit, oh so sad.

5. I am 30 now and it is not going to get any easier.

6. I would like mens (just one really) jaws to drop when I walk in the door.

So, with that said I am enlisting the assistance of my fellow bloggers and blog readers. I need accountability. I need support. I need motivation. I need love. I need you.

THIS is Lucas

Ok, sorry for the confusion. But this is Lucas wearing my shoes. I think b/c of the angle it doesn't look like a 3 year old boys legs so therefore everyone is confused about what is really going on. It was halarious at the time...but I guess you had to be there.Some may think, "Wow Melinda your legs look great!"

And others may think, "Ummm...Melinda, your shoes might be a little too big for you!"

Or others THAT HAVE A CLUE may think, "Wow! Lucas looks great in brown strappy heels, does he have a matching purse?"

Oh how I wish my legs were that skinny, and I am sure the only thing that made you question it not being me is the fact that there isn't a giant scar on the right knee. Ha! Well, at least this is some motivation for me to get my body into shape so that next summer I can post a picture of my own beautiful legs! Kids are just too funny. Sometimes you can't capture it all on camera...and sometimes you can!

Three Beautiful Girls

Well, when I was up North we tried to get a picture of the three girls in their matching dresses. Let's just say it is hard to get three kids that are 3 and under to all smile at the same time...or even be happy at the same time for that matter. But thought I would share my favorite ones with you!

This one is my favorite.
And I have to brag on my beautiful nieces!

This one is just too funny. Hannah is trying to share the love which you can tell Allie is use to but Lilly is like "Why are you touching me??" This one was almost perfect. And if you love the hairbows, my friend Jamie makes them and you can buy some for you little girl...or niece or friend. She even does customs to match certain outfits, or at least that is what I always do!

So pretty. Gotta love little girls.

Before and After

Well, some of you noticed the new hair do. I recieved a text message on my birthday from my girlfriend Christi that said she wanted to buy me a haircut and color! Who can say no to that right? I have never actually have had my hair colored...except for the one time freshman year in college by a girlfriend of mine...(it turned out very yellow). So needless to say I was pretty excited about getting something fun done. I have been growing my hair out for locks of love, but it wasn't quite long enough yet (unless I wanted to get a boy haircut) so we just went somewhere in the middle. Probably should have gone about an inch shorter to be a little more drastic, but when I saw 5 inches fall to the floor it seemed pretty drastic at the time.

So, last Thursday Christi took me to the best gay guy in town and I told him he could do whatever he wanted! Then she suprised me afterward with a little birthday celebration with the rest of "the girls"! It was fabulous...and VERY generous! Thanks again to Christi and to all the girls for a great suprise! It has helped me take a new perspective to 30. Sometimes a little boost in confidence is just what a girl needs to take on the WORLD...or at least MY world.

We likes to party...

Well, if you couldn't hear us rocking in the "burg" than you must live in San Diego. ;)

I had decided along time ago that when I turned 30 I was going to have this giant party. Well, it may have not turned out so giant but we did have a good time. And really it was just an excuse to have a party without children. Got to have adult drinks and adult conversation...and on top of it all there was an amazing band that rocked the night away since there were no children to wake up!!

As everyone has told me, 30 really isn't all that bad.

I was so excited that my highschool girlfriends came all the way from the region to help me celebrate! Thanks for also helping me set up and get ready! It was sunny for about an hour before the rains came down, so we didn't get to fully enjoy our outdoors. But we did get to still enjoy the deck for awhile b/c my brilliant husband had put a giant tarp over the pergola. Thanks Tim! One day we will have a party that isn't cold or rainy...really. But when the rains started to really pour the band started rocking the house! Matt & Roy 2(squared) + Dave can really rock the house! Roy on drums, Matt on Guitar & Roy Sr and Dave traded off playing the bass. I think everyone joined in for vocals but I know Roy was losing his voice by the end of the night! You guys were amazing!! Thanks!!

These were the back up singers. Good job ladies!

And here is Tim singing some Mellancamp.

Not sure who this base player is, but thought I would spare you the video of her belting out (and dancing to) Baby Got Back. (It is even hard for me to watch). Thanks to all who came!! I had a blast, hope you did too!

The rest of the story...

So I should probably sum up the rest of my vaca week before I get too far behind here. Let's see, Monday night Lilly started puking and was sick most of the night and next morning. So Tuesday was pretty much a day of sleep and taking care of her. (Thanks to Tiff for helping clean up (I will spare you the details), and pre-occupying Lucas. Wednesday she was feeling a little better and we got to play outside and enjoy the pool and weather again. We also did a photo shoot of the girls, but I will post that later. Wednesday evening we headed over to Tim's parents house to start our "lake" part of the vacation. We could see the lake from the house but that is about as far as we got. Lucas started running a high fever that night which didn't go away until Saturday. Lilly got sick again on Thursday morning so basically I spent Thursday watching like 6 kids movies and vedging out on the couch with two sleepy sick children sipping pedalite. I do have to say though that having nothing to do but take care of sick children instead of trying to accomplish 6 other things is way less stressful.

Anyway, Tim showed up Thursday evening and by Friday everyone was a little more up for some beach adventures. The Hess tradition at the lake is always great...

good food. (my first twinkie cake...yummm!)and great family. (5 of the 7 brothers and kids/grandkids)
Lucas had a good time with cousin Andy steering down the hill.

Uncle Ben and his favorite niece.

And then Friday night Lucas was still awake when it was time to leave for fireworks (you have to boat to the other lake), so we decided to take him along. He lasted about 1/2 way through. It was cute though not hearing oohs and ahhs but "A Green one...A Rainbow one!"

All in all (even with the lazy sick days) we had a great week. I think it took the kids 1/2 of this week just to catch up. Hope everyone else enjoyed their holiday as well as we did.

6 blasts from the past...along with 10 of the present

So last Monday during my little vaca, Tiff and I drove over a little farther west and met up with 4 of our old highschool girlfriends and ALL our children. Here is some glimpses of day...

It began with a duet by Lilly and Allie on the piano.

Then Madi tried to see how high she could swing Hannah and Lilly in the hammock swing.

Then Madison posed for her age 7 portrait

Lovely Miss Hannah Banana didn't want to be left out
A game of peek-a-boo with Lilly and a tree.

Hannah (yes another one) and her brother Nicholas wanted to see if they could swing even higher!

then we were joined by the newest addittion to the kid bunch.

then we had a synchronized swinging competition

And then to finish it off we bribed children with popcicles while we got them all to sit on a blanket for a group photo. Wow, do we not only know how to bribe children...but also to produce children! And this was even with one girl missing...and she has 4 more! If you want to see the hot highschool friends (before we squeezed out these children) you might want to click here.

And if you were wandering where the pics of the boys are? Well they were off doing boy things like nerf guns and video games (boys tend not to pose for pictures). I should have gotten a picture of Lucas with the nerf gun that was as big as him though, he thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Wow what a week...

Well, last week was a week of fun, sun, relaxing and a bit of the flu...but I will get to that explination later. We were heading up north for my niece's birthday party on June 28th and then would be heading back up to the same area for the 4th so the kids and I decided to just stay up north all week and save $100 in gasoline. It will probably take me all week to catch up with blogging to share all the great pics, but better to keep you in suspense, right?

The week started with a Big Bash for a Little Lady.

What a cute little birthday girl.
and here she is in the pool...which she shared with her cousins and big sister...and even this sinkerface.

And here is me on my little vacation with an armful of cuties. Who says you can't still pick up two little hotties when you are 30? ha!