weigh in

Weighed in last night - and lost another 2.8 lbs. Now before you think that is some greatness, I must admit that I've been sick for a few days and haven't felt much like eating. Likely, my loss will be less next week.  :)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, advice for this week.....................

Just keeping going. No matter how daunting your weightloss journey seems, just keep at it.  Days turn into weeks turn into months.  And even if you only lose a pound a week, after a year, that is 52 pounds!

Here's a challenge.  Try to get through ALL of halloween without eating even one piece of candy.  Not even one.  Candy (for me) is a horribly slippery slope.  It is very hard to stop at just one and each teensy tiny candy bar your children bring home packed to the gills with fat, calories and sugar.  Check this out: http://calorielab.com/foods/candy-bars/108 and I promise you will have no desire to sneak into your kiddos treat bag.  :)

Have a great day full of good choices!
Stacy

My week...or, the best laid plans...

So much for a craft a day!!  This week has been full of busyness and sickness at our house. The kids have been busy, and I've been sick.  We've done only two more craft projects for Halloween.  I might get to a few more this week, and if I do, I'll post them. 

Here's what we've done so far:
First, I found this gem here: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/msodajack.htm   We read this book first:

With our newfound dieting selves, we didn't have soda bottles, so we used water bottles.  It fit better with the book anyhow - which was about a little bumpy pumpkin.  This bottle was little and bumpy!  We also used tissue paper for the face, as it seemed to conform better to the bottle.  I think they came out adorable!

 The next book we read was this one:
It's about ghosts who come to dinner, and whenever they eat something, their body turns the color of the food they ate.  My kids have loved this book for years!

When they were done reading, I had them color in a ghost who had eaten their favorite food for dinner.  They also had to give their ghost a name.  Here is Jake's:

and Miss Bee's:

And Lex's:

Pretty simple crafts for a sick mama.  I hope to rally a bit in the next few days and do a few more crafts for Halloween, but we're two crafts behind in our Mexico study for Social Studies - so we'll see what we actually get done.  I'm hoping to be well again soon - being sick really slows me down!

Stacy

p.s. Oh, yeah - I did weigh in last week, and lost another two pounds.  I'll be heading to tops again tonight and will hopefully report tomorrow with another loss!!

Weigh - in Wednesday

Last night was good - I lost another 1.4lbs.  Nothing to be over the moon about, but a loss is still a loss, right?  At my weight loss group last night, we all brought in low cal, easy recipes to make.  I'm excited to try a few new ones. 
Let's see - words of dieting wisdom this week....um....um...I guess I'd just say keep on keeping on.  When you don't feel like it, when you do feel like it, when you have a great day, when you have a bad day, whethere or your kids are awesome, or your kids are being punks...just keep at it.  The weight will slowly come off.  It isn't a race, by any means, and it's taken me seven long months to figure that out.  I can't believe some days that I've stuck with it this long - it's really because of the awesome ladies at my TOPS group. They encourge, they are always there, and they want me to do as well as I want me to do.  That's vital.  I also have a best friend who calls me and encourages me, and tells me I can do it.  I am so thankful for her in my life.
Keep on, keeping on my friends,
stacy

Fun zig zaggy french braided piggies - short hair version

I found this: http://www.princesshairstyles.com/2008/11/triple-french-braids-piggies.html and figured I could do it on Bee's hair if I took out the bottom braid.  It worked out great, and she looked so cute!  It has been in for three days - we'll take it out today - but only because she has to take a shower.  :)  Here is how it turned out:

To finish the ends, I simply didn't pull her hair all the way through the last time I twisted the elastic around her pigtails - then I teased the ends so they'd fluff out a bit. This looked so adorable - even more so in person than the photos let on.
Be a blessing to someone today!
Stacy

A craft (almost) a day untill Halloween!

I know for a lot of christian parents, Halloween is a taboo subject - and while we don't participate in the gory aspects, we do enjoy crafting and reading some of the children's Halloween stories.  With all we have going on this year, I can't promise a craft each day until Halloween, but I'll get as many in as I can.  I'd love to see photos of the ones you've copied!

Today, we read a favorite book:

Then I drew a simple outline of the old lady on a large piece of construction paper.  The characters in this book are very cartoonish, and simple to draw.  First, I had them copy the colors of the old lady as closely as possible, to match the illustration in the book.

Last night, I had drawn with marker (then photocopied on my printer) one of each of the characters from the book that she eats.  Now, if you don't feel comfortable free-handing them, just use copy paper, and trace them!  I had the kids color them in (again as close to the illustrations as they could), cut them out and glue them on the tummy of the old lady!

Here is Jake's:

And Lizzie's:

And Lex's:

They were so proud of these, and had a blast making them.  It was nice to just let them color and listen to music for a little while this afternoon.  It was a much needed break after several weeks of hard school work.

I'd love links to great Halloween crafts that you've tried and loved!

Stacy

Weigh-in Wenesday and a Milestone moment!

Last night's weigh in wasn't anything spectacular.  I lost 1.6 lbs - but I hadn't gone to TOPS the week before, so really that one point six was over two weeks.  I guess I should be thankful that I lost anything, considering it was Bee's birthday weekend, and we ate ourselves silly on pizza and then Olive Garden.  :)   Back to it today, though - with vigor!

Here's a photo from the party of me - since I've lost a little over half the weight I'm aiming to lose. As of last night, I've lost 67 pounds.  :)   I know some of you who know me in real life are dying to see a shot, and I'm finally at the stage where I'm not embarassed to show one.  So, here's me and the birthday girl at her party this past weekend:

And our milestone...my baby turned 10!  Eek!  Double digits!  I can hardly believe it. I don't know how the time as flown so quickly.  Here are a few fun shots from her special day:

I hope you all have a wonderful Thurdsay!  The sun looks like it is finally considering to come out today.  Looks like we'll spend some time outdoors soaking it up!
Stacy