Getting an early start on Summertime fun!

Wow. It has been a while since I have been to the blogger world.

 Well, I have vowed that I would not let this summer be filled with "I'm bored"'s and "there's nothing to do"'s. So, I have spent the last week brainstorming, pinterest and blog surfing, making lists and raiding the dollar store. And now, what could have been just another summer break from school, will be a fun and educational summer that I'm certain the kids won't soon forget

 Because of the fact that when I get something in my head I have to immediately do it, we have gotten a jump start on some of our fun summer activities. In the last two days we have tried a sensory bin filled with fun colored rice, painting with condensed milk, bubble snakes and fort building. I just wanted to share some of the pictures of the fun and the kids reactions to it all.

 The first thing I tried was the colored rice. Monkey was the only one home at the time so I thought it would be the perfect time to test it out on one kid (less chaos). Good choice. He LOVED it. Addison was gone at school for 2 1/2 hours and he played in it the entire time! And then he played more with her when she got home. It was a huge hit and they have since begged me to get it out several times.

 
These are the colors of rice we chose. Of course, once it was done drying it was all mixed up real quick :)
At first I just gave him some measuring cups and funnels. He really had fun. (The Dollar store shower curtainworked perfect under him!)
 
Then, I gave him some little dinosaurs. He would bury them and then find them. He loved this part! "I found it!"

 The next thing we did, later that day, was painting with paint that I made from condensed milk and food coloring. It was also a big hit. The really cool thing about painting with this, is that when it dries, it still looks wet. It stays shiny. They really liked that. Oh, and of course, tasting it. Well, not Addison, she wouldn't even attempt it.
 
Monkey eating a little of his masterpiece
 
The muffin tin worked great to hold the paint (got that from the dollar store too) And the same shower curtain we used under the rice was great to protect my kitchen table.
 Because of how sticky the condensed milk is, painting time was immediately followed by bath time. Which is no problem for him since he loves bath time :)

Day 2 I went and picked up niece Hayley and decided to bust out the rice again. It was a hit all around.

This time I got out the muffin tins and they really loved that. Addison and Hayley were making cupcakes with sprinkles :)

As soon as Matthew got home from school, I decided it was time to try out bubble snakes. Seriously, SO easy and SO fun. All of the kids had a blast. Matthew especially loved these. I just cut off the bottom of an empty water bottle, slipped a sock over it, put a rubber band (hair thing) around it and dipped it in a mixture of dish soap and water. It's that easy. You blow in the water bottle and watch what happens.

They were all able to enjoy it. Monkey blew it a little bit, but he mostly enjoyed playing with the suds that came out of the others socks. 

then we added some food coloring to make it a little more exciting. 

pretty soon, it turned into bubble mania and we just played in the suds and water.

which then turned into trampoline fun.

I know, picture overload. Just too cute! 

We finished the night off with a tent in the living room. Why not? right :)

Last year I made the most amazing fort kit. It had clamps and clothes pins, and I had even sewed straps on the edges of sheets to tie onto things. And then, I lost it... Oh well, I got old school creative for this one. 

with the type of chairs that I have, I was able to just wrap a few hair ties onto them over the sheets and it worked PERFECT. 

I decided to let them eat dinner in there. That completely shocked them since they are never allowed to eat in the living room. (there is that handy dollar store shower curtain again, definitely got my dollars worth!)

Movie time!

Not a bad couple of days. I got to try some stuff that I had really been wanting to try. I can't even tell you how many times over this last two days that I heard "you're the best mom!" and lots and lots of thank you's. While I was cooking dinner I heard Matthew in the tent say, "I'm in the best tent, with the best brother and the best sister and I have the best family" melts my heart and makes all the work putting these things together so much more than worth it. I can't wait to try out more of my very very long list of things to do this summer. Lot's more to come!

Update

Ok, I know I am terrible at this blogging business. It's been a while but here is the update on how my weight loss is going. So far it has been 2 weeks. I have lost 2 pounds each week for a total of 4 pounds down now. Can't complain to much about it. Especially since I had a couple of bad days in there. I did end up splurging a little when we went to Disney on Ice (which was awesome by the way). And I also splurged at Tiffany's baby shower.

I have other stuff to blog about besides the weight loss, but I don't feel like doing it right now. Hahaha. I know, like I said, I'm terrible at this.

Pump It!

My all time favorite work out song is Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas. Seriously, nothing gets me moving like that song. The second the chorus starts up and they start saying "pump it" I can't help but push as hard as I can and get my body moving :) Just FYI in case anyone needs a good motivator song.

Let me just say that LA fitness (at least the one on Stapley and University) is the best gym ever to work out at. I mean, check it out...

Every cardio machine has a TV on it that you can plug your headphones into. Plus, there are TONS of machines. Definitely the nicest gym I've ever worked out at. Between my awesome work out song and a little TV, time flies by while I get my work out in. Can't complain to much :)

the elliptical is my friend

For a really long time now I have struggled with bad knees. I'm not sure exactly where I get that from but it sucks. All throughout highschool in dance and aerobics I always battled with the pain in my knees. Especially the right one. The elliptical machine at the gym never makes my knees hurt. The last few days I have done at least a half an hour on it. A couple days ago after the gym I wanted to do Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video with Sasha and couldn't do very much of it at all. It hurt my right knee so bad I thought I was going to collapse.

Jayson got home last night at a little after 9 so I was in a hurry to get in my car and get to the gym. I was walking through my garage and slipped on some stupid plastic piece from one of the kids' toys. I fell and where do you think I land.... directly onto my right knee. All of my body weight just crashed down to the cement right on that knee. ummmmm, OUCH! I cried for a minute, had Jayson help me up, dusted off and went to the gym.

needless to say, the Elliptical is my best friend. It's what I'll be doing for most of my workouts for a while. hopefully soon my knees (as well as the rest of my body) will get in better shape and I'll be able to do more.

On another note, I started off so strong the first few days with eating really good. Today, I have had to tell myself to "Put the food down" a few times already. I haven't eaten anything I shouldn't but I was close. It seems to be getting harder instead of easier. Maybe I'm just at a hump that I need to get over. Does it ever get easier? My first real test is going to be Addison's birthday party on Saturday. I love pizza. Like LOVE it. It's probably my favorite food. But, I won't be eating it. It's the salad bar for me.

One day at a time :)

discouraging

Ok, I said part of blogging my weight loss journey would be so I could vent. well... I am so MAD! I weighed myself Sunday morning when I started and I told myself "michelle, only weigh yourself once a week" but I just couldn't help it this morning so I hopped on the scale. The results...

Starting weight: 204
Today's weight: 204.4

Really?! What the crap? I am really mad right now.

1. because I have been doing really good with eating and exercising.
2. that makes me want to give up. (i won't) but i want to.

Talk about discouraging.

Weight loss

Ok, so I am totally determined to get back to my old pre-baby (pre-baby-matthew) weight. I thought that one thing that would help motivate me is if I recorded it all and put it out there for people to see. that way, I will really want to do good so I don't look like a total idiot. I am even going to be putting my weight on here. Which, if you know any girls, is a big deal. I don't usually talk about how much I weigh. It's not exactly something I'm proud of ya know. So, here goes...

Starting weight: 204 pounds
Goal weight: 130 pounds

I want to be at my goal weight by the end of this year. I believe that is a very realistic goal and I may even surprise myself and achieve it before then. Today is Tuesday, April 5, 2011. I started dieting and exercising on Sunday, April 3rd. So far, it hasn't been too bad. I am eating more calories than I'm supposed to a day because I am still breastfeeding. I plan on using this blog to vent, boast, motivate and all around help me on my weight loss journey. As soon as I have someone here to take a picture I am going to take a "starting weight" photo and keep posting pictures as I go.

Wish me luck!!

Koglmeier/Lytle Day at the SNOW!

So, we went up to Payson, AZ today to check out some snow. Matthew and Addison have never really been to the snow plus we got to take our new car on it's first mini road trip. It was lots of fun. We caravaned with our good friends the Lytle's. Brett, Edyta and us haven't been on an adventure together in a while and it was great to get to do that. Unfortunately, my camera decided to take a crap on me today and when I got home to put the pictures on our computer, I was left with a few from the beginning of the trip and a few from my iPhone. So, I'll put what I can up.



The Kids in the car on the way up to play in the snow.



After we stopped in Payson to get a couple of sleds, we drove around for a while trying to find the perfect sledding location. What ended up happening was we got stuck in the snow. After a TON of attempts at trying to "rock" the car out and many other failed methods, we tried tying the only rope we had from Brett and Edyta's car to ours (it snapped immediately). Luckily, a nice fellow and his wife came by with a chain and pulled us out. So, after over an hour of being stuck, we were free.


Matthew made the most of our getting stuck adventure and played in the snow a bunch. Next stop was pizza hut in Payson. The baby was hungry ;)





Finally, after some more driving around, we ended up in a snow free parking lot (so we didn't get stuck again) that had a small hill near by. And.... Matthew got to sled! He had a blast!! This picture is from my phone. All of the actual pictures of this didn't work :(



The only time Addison was happy was when someone was holding her. We couldn't put her down or she would cry. She liked the snow about as much as she liked the sand at the beach (not at all!).



Jayson and I



Me and Addison found a spot to sit since I couldn't put her down.



My husband is insane. We're all freezing and he is in shorts and a T-shirt.



Matthew on his sled


She was wiped out!



The drive home, they were both wiped out.


Well, that's all the pictures I have. Sorry for the lack of representation Lytle's. All the pics with you didn't work.

It was a really fun day and Matthew LOVED the snow. Other than getting stuck, our car did a grand job getting us there and back safely.