more to come

Good books?

I need some good books to read. Please leave me suggestions!!

Today I am 28!

Going private

I going to go private with this blog. Let me know if you want an invite (that means you secret readers are now going to have to fess up and admit that you like spying on my life! Ha!)

And in case you are wondering- because I stopped writing about it- it turns out that most days I am grateful for Bram in one way or another. I wore jeans yesterday that I haven't worn in over a year. Someday when the sun decides to shine again I'll write my "lessons learned" post about my 30 day trial. Right now I just don't have the motivation to be all insightful:)

Family Love

I took all of these pictures on Sunday. For some fabulous reason, my kids loved being smashed together.Silly faces.

Notice the name of the book: "Everything kids gross mazes book." I'm pretty sure that the maze was of an elephant pooping...

Sunday morning.

Luke and Todd

Luke loves Todd. Todd loves Luke.
The End.

Sleeping Princess

Bram is gone a few nights a week and I struggle with getting kids to bed by myself (he is the KING of bedtime!). This night had gone well (I thought) and I was watching Idol with Todd when Bram came home. He went upstairs to change and I hear "Honey, did you put Courtney down in our bed?" "No." A few seconds later. "Did you put her in a pretty dress before putting her in bed?" Huh? So upstairs I went to take some pictures and there she was in my bed in a pretty dress:)

Daddy Time

I have found them like this several times in the past month. I don't think Brammy is getting enough sleep at night!
Tissue paper balls- instant baby fun!

Posting onslaught to happen later in the day...Watch out!

I did it!

4 months ago I started painting the family room. Then I had a baby. Enough said. So on Monday I told Bram that I was going to finish this room even if I stayed up all night to do it. He lovingly and at times grudgingly (I am magic at getting Todd to sleep. Bram is NOT!) took care of Todd while I painted away. The above picture shows the "beige yellow" color, also known as "believable buff." I felt as thought I was erasing the beige with my beautiful blue.
Here we are all finished at 11:30pm. I still got to sleep! (Don't you love my pillar and wainscoting? I sure do!)
And here is what I did with that corner. I absolutely love it! My friend made me that FHE board and I picked up the music pictures (shown below) at Ross. Oh, and the lamp came from Wal-mart. Classy, I know:)

Maybe I will play the piano more. Maybe not. Right now it is not a priority, but this corner inspires me:)

In case you are wondering what the entire room looks like, you will have to wait a few more days. I have curtains but am lacking the hardware to put them up. If things go well tonight I will head on out and pick up what I need.

BEFORE
(boring)

CUTE FABRIC
(I love paisley)

AFTER!

Yes, there is plastic over the fabric. My children always thank me for the "wipe-able chairs" when they spill something. I feel so HGTV when I do a project like this!

Sunday

It is not such a good idea to have Sunday be my "cheat" day when it happens to be fast Sunday. Bad planning on my part!

I am truly grateful for happy music today. I held our first choir rehearsal (so many people showed up!) and I left floating on air. We rehearsed "He is Risen", " Praise to the Man". and " Abide With Me." I had goosebumps on more than one occasion! I feel so blessed to have the musical talent that I have. If I want to create music, I can. It is a fabulous feeling:)

Tomorrow starts a renewed convictions that I WILL work out TWICE in ONE DAY! I was doing so good and then life happened. I am still figuring out this 4 kids and a big house stuff but each month gets a little better.

Till tomorrow.
Anna

I think I can

Day 11- I really should do this every night because I am forgetting what I did during the week! Thursday night I shredded, level 2, and then fell asleep on the floor. Bram woke me up later and I took a shower and crawled into bed. I was so tired from being up with Todd the night before. I was grateful for the sunshine so I could take the kids to the park that afternoon.

Day 12- Friday. Todd had done better the night before, but I was still dragging quite a bit. Friday was the day of parties! Courtney had a little 3 year old birthday party to attend and then we went to a surprise party as a family later that night (way past the kids' bed time). I'm pretty sure I didn't exercise. I did, however, hold strong and not eat birthday cake. That totally counts as trying:) I was grateful for a flexible husband who didn't mind my last minute dinner.

Day 13-Today, Saturday! I got to go SHOPPING!!! For $50 I got a maxi dress, 2 shirts, earrings, lip gloss, sunglasses, and pink nail polish. While I was out I also got flower pots, Courtney a potty chair (which she promptly peed in when I brought it home), Jacob a new car seat, and some other odd and ends. It is now past 11pm and I have not stepped foot into the exercise room (aka, our bedroom). I am not giving up. I decided to prioritize and escaping the house and then cleaning the house was top on the list. Monday I will start again with renewed energy. Today I am grateful for our income that isn't stressing about gas prices. We will never be rich by America's standards, but we will always be comfortable. A Fabulous blessing!

Encouragement

I know you read my blog, so you should at least comment when you stop by and say "HI!".

Day 10

Last night I did level 2 on Shred. I know, I'm amazing:) I'll do it again tonight after Bram gets home from YM. Todd has his first cold and doesn't want to be put down for more than 5 minutes so I didn't sleep much last night and I don't expect to get much more tonight. He just can't breathe! I did accomplish 16 minutes on the elliptical this morning before Todd needed me. That was a blessing. I am starting to really enjoy doing physical activity in my day and I feel BETTER when I do. Who knew?

As funny as it sounds, I am grateful that I like Todd enough to not be bothered by his current neediness. With past kids, I have been pretty post-partum (stupid hormones!). Since I am not nursing anymore (long story) I have regular Anna hormones in me and they are HAPPY hormones!!! So there you have it. I am grateful to be totally in love with this little baby and quite enjoying the extra non-guilty snuggle time.

One more thing, I think I am shrinking :) :) :) Courtney handed me a shirt to wear today and I said "I don't fit that" and put it on the show her. It fit! Once more, I'm amazing.

Catching Up

Day 5- Worked out twice. Shredded with Bram. We babysat that night and I am grateful that I do not have 8 kids and do not have twins!

Day 6- Just got to Shred, no elliptical. Grateful for my ability to play the piano, as meager as it is.

Day 7- DAY OFF!!! Ate lots of cookies and cookie dough and am grateful for children who behave in Sacrament meeting.

Day 8- The kids controlled my life and all I got was 8.5 minutes on the elliptical. Grateful to have a fabulous friend who has the gift of hair. She did my hair and I feel fabulous!

Day 9- I have done NOTHING today because of Todd's lack of napping. As I type this he is crying (tired). Tonight I will for sure shred. I am eating pretty clean (for my standards) and look forward to getting in a little workout. Oh, and I am grateful for budding friendships in Georgia.

Till tomorrow!

Busy

I am still gratefully Shredding. I'll catch up on posts tomorrow.

Day 4

Today Bram came home from work HAPPY, and I am grateful for that today. We celebrated his happiness by going out to Zaxby's for dinner. For those of you who are not from around here, I will explain my meal. Start with two pieces of Texas toast and fry them in butter. Layer your club sandwich starting with the fried toast, bacon, cheese, fried chicken, lettuce, tomato, mayo, other piece of fried toast. This is served with french fries. According to the Zaxby's website, if I were to have eaten the entire meal it would have been 1250 calories and 73 grams of fat. I don't think I will ever eat there again! It is not worth the entire day I would have to spend on the elliptical to burn off the fat.

Tomorrow is another day and I think I will eat only lettuce and carrots to make up for today (okay, not really. If I were to do that then I would be CRANKY!!!).

In case anyone wanted to know, Courtney did Shred with me this morning. If you have never seen a 3 year old do jumping jacks, then you have not lived your life to it's fullest:)

Day 3

I cleaned the kitchen and came up with a list to be grateful for:

• modern day appliances that make cleaning easier
• Murphy's oil soap- the first cleaner that makes my hardwood floors look so pretty(and gets up all the spilled apple juice)
• my new mop
  
• our 47 inch TV- I watched Idol and cleaned at the same time!
  
• my miles of counter space
• my drop down sink
  
• hot water
• and I am grateful that Idol was ON so my cleaning was more enjoyable

There you have it. A not so serious grateful post. Oh, and I worked out twice today. My "sit on the potty" muscles (otherwise known as my hamstrings) are sore:)

Good Night!

Day 2

This morning I did Shred again and it was a little easier. I tortured a good friend and had her do the workout with me too. We had "fun" and bonded over the fact that neither one of us had ever TRIED to lose weight before. This evening I never got on the elliptical and now it is time for bed. I did, however, eat pretty good today so I am not feeling too bad about it. (Instead I went shopping with Courtney, did a little craft project, and read a book. I call that personal rejuvenating time). Tomorrow I will be a good girl and work out twice.

Today I am grateful for my van. I had all 4 kids home from school today ("winter holiday") and we were able to go to the park and have a lovely time. My van doors open with the touch of a button, I have a music system that constantly plays kid CD's, all my family fits in one car, and I always feel like I am driving a safe and reliable car. On a funny side note, even though it is winter holiday and still February, it was almost 80 degrees and we were outside in shorts and Todd was just wearing a onesie. I am a little scared for summer!