The More the Merrier

As I mentioned in a previous blog our family had a little holiday to Edmonton last week.  After a very eventful Friday we were headed home on Saturday.  We had planned on going to Galaxyland but Ashton had been sick overnight and was not feeling up to it.

We met a friend of Jason's for breakfast at the mall and had a nice time catching up, and then the boys played a few games at an arcade.

Driving out of Edmonton Ashton asked if we could drive past the Edmonton Temple.

While travelling Ashton was feeling sick to his stomach so I gave him a bag just in case he thought he needed to throw up.  When I turned around to check on him I saw this...

I guess that's easier than holding it!  What a goofy boy!

Another big reason for this trip was to visit Jason's newly found aunts.  If you remember in the summer Jason made contact with his Dad's two sisters.  We were so excited to finally meet them and to be able to see pictures of Jason's dad.  We had a great visit and they were very warm and welcoming to all of us.

His Aunt Shirley on the left, and his Aunt Dorothy on the right.

They had made some copies of pictures for Jason to have of his dad.

Dorothy on the left, then Kenneth (Jason's Dad) and then Shirley

Dorothy, Kenneth, Shirley (I see a resemblance to Jason in this picture)

The hair cracks me up, if Jason grew his hair out it would totally look like that - especially if we blow dried it!

Jason's Dad is on the left in the white suit, his profile reminds me of Jason.  The lady in the pink dress is his Grandma, and the man beside her is his grandfather.

Jason's Grandmother - she passed away in 2006

Jason's dad is on the right - obviously, look at that hair!  The cross around his neck we think is the one Jason has!

What a blessing to finally have some pictures and to have met some of Jason's family.  I can't speak for Jason but I know this has meant a great deal to him and has lifted a weight that has been on him for many years.  We are excited that our extended family has expanded - the more the merrier!

8 Week Challenge - Week 2

Another week over of our 8 week challenge.  I weighed yesterday morning and I lost ...

1 lb

That brings my grand total to 2 lbs lost so far.  I was okay with my weightloss considering I was sick for part of the week.  I'm feeling quite a bit better today so I hope I will be able to have a really successful week.

Even being sick I still managed to exercise 4 times.  Drank all my water.  I ate all my fruit and vegetables except for the days I felt the worst.  Only had one treat day.  So overall a good week.

Walked on my treadmill this morning already.  I found it difficult though after not doing it for a couple of days.  |Feels good to have done it though.  Continued success to all my teammates!

Star Wars Exhibit

We took full advantage of it being teachers convention last Thursday & Friday and we headed to Edmonton for a little family holiday.  It was a much needed break for all of us.

Thursday morning we were on our way ...

When we got to Edmonton we checked into our hotel that was right across the street from the West Edmonton Mall.  It was great to be so close - we just parked at the hotel and walked over.  We spent a few hours checking out the mall.  Ashton made a very important purchase.  He had brought $20.00 of his own money to go towards it.

Ignore the hair - he desperately needs a haircut!

He's pretty excited to finally have an authentic oilers jersey.  He wore it the entire weekend.  Bowen didn't bring his Flames jersey to Edmonton (he thought he better not!), but he put it on as soon as we got home.

Friday morning we headed to the Edmonton Science Centre for the "Star Wars Identities" exhibit (our actual reason for the trip).  We were given wrist bands and individual audio systems with headphone.  There were several stations you went to where you needed to make a decision.  You just put your wrist band up to your choice and your individual information was recorded on your wristband.

Choosing what type of character we'd like to be.

I apologize in advance for the amount of photos in this blog - I took alot of pictures.

In addition to the stations to make choices there were also audio stations when you stepped in the hexagon you heard the audio and usually there was a little movie to watch as well.

What surprised me was the amount of movie memorabilia.  Costumes, models, concept art, puppets etc.  It was a very cool exhibit.

Life-size pod racer

Hayden Christensen's Costume

Costumes that Natalie Portman wore

Here is how our characters ended up looking (from left to right - Bowen, Ashton, Jason and  me)

After a couple of hours at the science centre we grabbed some lunch at the mall and then went to the Waterpark.  We all had a great time - swimming in the pool, having fun in the waves, and riding slides.  I think my favorite part was when Jason took the boys into the pool for a bit and I sat in a deck chair and read a magazine!  About 5 1/2 hours later we were exhausted and hungry and got a bite to eat and then back to the hotel for the evening.

Waiting for food at the food court - tuckered out after a fun and exhausting day!!

8 Week Challenge - Week 1

Yesterday was my weigh in day for week 1 of our 8 week challenge.  Even with going on holidays for 3 days I lost ...

1 lb

I reached several of my goals.  I exercised 5 days out of 7 for 30 minutes a day.  I drank over 64 oz of water for 5 out of 7 days, and had no sugary treats 4 out of 7 days.  I was happy with my successes, and plan to do even better this week since it is just a normal week for me.

It helped to be accountable to others in the challenge and certainly kept me more motivated.  I think the best change I made this week was doing my workout first thing in the morning after dropping the boys off at the bus stop.  Also, using a water bottle that I know I need to fill 3 times a day to get my daily water intake.

I'm going to use Char's idea this week and purchase some easier fast vegetable options (eg. sugar snap peas, baby carrots etc.) to help eat my 3 servings of vegetables a day.

Good luck to all my teammates this week.  I hope to have continued success on the scale next week!!

Happy "Love" Day Preview

The boys both have little valentine parties at school today.  Last night they got to work getting their valentines ready for their friends.

I found the idea on pinterest.  I thought they turned out super cute!!

I was in the dollar store yesterday and found this cute valentine decoration.  I hung it on the mirror over the little table in the entry.  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone tomorrow.

Weekend Update and an 8 Week Challenge

This past weekend was busy and great.  It started on Friday when Jason and I were able to attend the sealing at the Calgary Temple of some dear friends and their two little children.  What a privilege it was to be there.  To see that sweet family all dressed in white sealed together for time and all eternity was something I will never forget.  I was glad I had thought ahead and brought kleenex.  After, Jason and I decided we already had the babysitter watching the boys so we took advantage and went out for a romantic dinner.  We always have a great time together and it was awesome to have some time alone.

On Saturday Jason took the boys to a local lego exhibit.  They all had a great time and told me all about it when they got home.  Unfortunately Jason's phone was dead so he couldn't take any pictures.  Later that afternoon Bowen attended a classmates birthday party - finally someone had their party on a Saturday!!  Then we spent the rest of the day doing housework and grocery shopping for Sunday.

Sunday was a typical busy day for us.  Meetings, church, choir etc.  After church we had invited Jason's brother Ty, his wife Jill and their two boys Dane and Bennett for supper.  It was great to see them and we had a yummy dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, spinach salad and yorkshires with gravy and cheesecake for dessert.  I got in some much needed cuddle time with Bennett.  It was a great night.  Of course no visit to our house is complete without a lightsaber fight.

So I'm changing up how I am approaching my weightloss efforts.  Thanks to Char and Rachel's suggestions myself and my sister, sister in laws and mom are going to be participating in an 8 week challenge.  Rachel found the idea off of sixsistersstuff.com blog

Take a look if you want to try it.  Every week you earn points by how much weight you lose, as well as for drinking water, exercise, keeping a food journal, etc.  We are each putting in $20.00 dollars and the money will be split between whoever has the biggest percentage of weight loss, and the person who earns the most weekly points.

I'm excited about a new challenge and am happy to report that I have already exercised this morning.  Stay tuned each Monday morning for a report on how the past week went.  Thanks to Jill and Char who suggested I put my workout clothes on when I get up in the morning and then exercise as soon as I get back from taking the boys to the bus.  It totally worked this morning.  Good luck to my teammates!

Wednesday Weigh In - Week 4 & An Update

Today is Wednesday, and I of course am supposed to weigh today.  Just thought I'd let anyone interested know - that didn't happen.  I was a little distracted this morning and forgot to weigh.  Now it is too late in the day as my weight always goes up as the day progresses.  So I'm going to wait until next week to weigh in.

I'm continuing with my same struggles.  I am having a hard time being motivated to work out.  I know if I just do it I'll feel so much better so I'm really going to do my best to improve.  If anyone has any tips on how to get myself started I'm all ears.

I did much better with drinking water.  I took Rachel's advice and have been using my big water bottle to help keep track of how much I've been drinking.

So the goal this week is the same as before to exercise 4 -5 times.  I really want to do better with my exercise - plus I've got my cute workout jar I want to fill with money.  I'll be back next week, with less of me to weigh ;)


As for the reason I was distracted this morning was because as you all know I had my first mammogram on Monday.  Well, yesterday I got a call from the diagnostic place asking me to come back in for an ultrasound.    My appointment was for this morning.  I am quite proud of myself that I didn't overreact and panic - but you can't help but be a little nervous in hoping that everything is alright.

So I show up for the ultrasound and I'm told that the radiologist saw some cysts in my left breast that he just wanted a better look at - nothing to be concerned about, easy for them to say.  The technician did the ultrasound and then left me in the room to wait while she showed the images to the radiologist.  I was a bit nervous while she was gone.  She came back a few minutes later and said that the doctor said everything looked fine!!

Whew!

Welcome to the Club

Disclaimer - for any male readers (I doubt there are many) this may not be the blog for you!!

So today I went for my very first mammogram.  I must admit I was pretty nervous about it.  As I got in the exam room, and the technician was asking me a few questions, she asked if I'd ever had a mammogram before.  I told her no "this is my first time" she replied with "welcome to the club".  That made me feel "OLD".  Don't old ladies have mammograms!  I'm not quite ready to be part of this club.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting.  It was pretty uncomfortable, but not overly painful. I was grateful Jason had suggested I take a pain killer before I went - I really think that probably helped.   It was more awkward that anything.  As you lay your breast out on a platform in front of a total stranger as she pulls and then a machine flattens it.  I felt a bit like a chicken breast being flattened to make into chicken cordon bleu.  I also thought I was probably going to need to roll them back up to fit them back into my bra.

The other day the boys overheard me tell Jason that I had booked my mammogram and Ashton wanted to know what that was.  So I told them.  Ashton told me that he hoped my breasts would go back into their original shape, and Bowen answered with "yeah, then you'll have square breasts".  Rachel says I'm a little too open with my boys - maybe I am!!

Anyway I'm glad that is done and I'm not worse for wear!