10 on the 10th in 2010!

My oldest is out of the single digits today!! How fast he's grown. He will always be our "miracle" baby, after 3 years of infertility, he was our blessing. (they all are!) What a special day, so many 10's, once in a lifetime thing! When I think of Jedi, these are some of the things I think of and smile about:

Firstborn, preemie baby, 28 days in the hospital before birth, only boy, big blue eyes, Nano-nut, clean kid, no food touching, no brown food, kisses only for mama and baby sisters, dinosaurs, early reader, St Nicholas, Science, garlic, my dear, sweet, child, (inside joke, I'll tell you later) Gardetto's snack mix, cub scouts, Weebelos, earning badges, one-on-one kid, playing games, made up games, collector, army men, swimming, Bionicles, Kung Fu, piano, BMX, Legos, Balsamic Ravioli, Magnifikid, Pieta memorized, serious, (yet) funny, goofy, jokester, little gentleman, sensitive, caring, loving, initials on shirts of characters you draw, Shel Silverstein poem books, reading Narnia and other book series with daddy, reading on the porch, same age as the year, the year 2000, glasses, wrestling, wrestling with your sisters, "hide and geek", soup for lunch, chunky yogurts, shy, blue, old comic books, Wookies, Wookie room, sweeping, "be the soup", "Nitty", the garbage is calling you, Yousa and Meesa, pizza and Pizza Ranch, the bench by the wall, of course, ANYTHING STAR WARS!!!!, and so many more things, I could go on forever...but I won't! (well, maybe I will but not in this post!)

I can't wait to see what God has planned for you Jedi, you are a great kid and we are blessed!

This is the dessert he picked, it's Christine's recipe! Ice cream sandwiches layered in a cake pan, covered with whipped topping and toffee bits, then put into the freezer. We made a double layer batch, but you can also single layer it. This dessert does not taste like ice cream sandwiches, it tastes more homemade than that! He didn't want a "theme" birthday this year...he's growing up! (Oops, something happened to the finished product...it's up there, way above this part of the post....I can never get them to line up side by side....)

I always make the kiddos home-made cards and I was up way too late making this one, but I think it fits his personality perfectly, goofy letters talking! I also blew up 30 balloons and put them in his room to surprise him this morning!

This is one of his cards from Ballerina Rosie, it just warmed my heart, on the front she wrote "Happy Gloden Birthday!" (golden) She spent all her money (except 10% she gave to church) to buy him 2 Bionicles. She insisted and couldn't wait to go buy them for him.

I love the love he gets from his sisters, he is so very blessed to have 4 little sisters!

He has a friend coming today to play and we have company tonight for supper....so I'm off!

Love, love, love. It's a special day!

Beautiful Baby....

Beautiful baby, can you please stay like this forever?
Please pretty profile?

It's been a balmy 40+ degrees here in MN, perfect snowman making weather!

I always find it so funny in movies how they always can make snowmen when it snows. In actuality, you have to have a certain type of snow, sun and temp!

Which we happily have right now!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I've left you with a few posts to read....

This Weeks Art Projects

We were inspired by Art Projects for Kids for this project.

La Boca Houses
We have a crimper, lots of kids, lots of paper and lots of creativity!
Here they are all lined up, like a neighborhood!

I recently found another great art resource here! And she's from MN!

We used acrylic paint and tinted and shaded using their chosen color and white and black paint.

We got very interesting results!

Babycakes (age 3 1/2) did soooo good! I did draw her rectangles in pencil so she could do buildings too.

Another one of her projects was Echo Flowers!

These were really fun!

Bubbles and Possums!

Margaret posted her recipe for bubbles and we couldn't wait to make our own!
Now, I need to go get some dishsoap though....

This is the "oops, I just tasted the bubbles!" look.

Our bubble play was interrupted by an opossum siting!!

I didn't get a front shot of him, but he was quite cute and not afraid at all. (which is kind of scary) I told them not to get too close. (at one time they were 2 feet away and he stopped and looked at them, I yelled "get away from him!") Later we read that opossums actually hiss and spray a foul smelling odor at attackers!!!

Mermaid or Whale?

I, first want to thank all you who emailed me or left comments on my "Weighty Issue" post. What wonderful women are out there! I want to answer some of you here.



I do walk a lot with the kiddos in the warmer months, and have been "kid walking" for 15 years. ( I used to assistant teach at a Montessori school and then did daycare in my home before having children of my own) I have never lost any weight "kid walking". Has anyone? I mean, really? It is good for the spirits though, to walk and teach the kiddos to walk and just be active. I love being active. I love being outside.



Thank you so much for your prayers. You know, 3 years ago, I actually prayed a Christmas Novena, you know the St Andrew one that starts in November and goes til Christmas? The Novena was prayed for "time" to exercise so I could lose the weight so I could feel better about myself and be a better wife and mother. (see? I want to do the work, I just need that time) I do know, though, God answers in His time, not ours.



Uh, where's my apron? (kidding)



Swimming? Are you kidding? There's that crippling thing. I'm sure my swim suit does not fit, since I'm 21 lbs heavier than the last time I wore it. (before Sweetie Pie) Christine asked if I have my prego suit. Yes, but, OK, I'm not that big. I did lose about 30 lbs after Sweetie Pie. (I'll do the math for you, that's 50 lbs I gained in this last pregnancy)


I am an all or nothing person. I need to find that time for regular workouts, not here and there. It feels unfinished and disorganized. Workouts where I sweat, where it actually works the muscles and tones.


Here's a link a friend sent to me, that her hubby sent to her as a joke. My OB actually told me after Mary Hannah, (my 3rd) and a year of working out on an ab machine religiously, that plastic surgery is the only answer for my stomach. It's been stretched and cut too many times for natural repair. It's my war wound, my medal of honor, right? No surgery for me!



I do offer it up. I just wanted to vent and get it out there, I'm not looking for answers, I guess, just others going through the same thing, similar struggles. I got that. Thank you. I hope you did too.


Regan sent me this story she got from her mother. It's quite funny and true at the same time.


--Recently, in a large city in France,
a poster featuring a young, thin and tan
woman appeared in the window of a gym.
It said, "This summer,
do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"
A middle-aged woman,
whose physical characteristics did not match
those of the woman on the poster,
responded publicly to the question
posed by the gym.


To Whom it May Concern,
Whales are always surrounded
by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans)
They have an active sex life,
get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.
They have a wonderful time with the dolphins
stuffing themselves with shrimp.
They play and swim in the seas,
seeing wonderful places like Patagonia,
the Bering Sea
and the coral reefs of Polynesia.
Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CD's.
They are loved, protected and admired by
almost everyone in the world.
Mermaids don't exist.
If they did exist,
they would be lining up outside the offices
of Argentinean psychoanalysts
due to identity crisis. Fish or human?
They don't have a sex life
because they kill men who
get close to them, not to mention
how could they have sex?
Just look at them...where is IT?
Therefore, they don't have kids either.
Not to mention,
Who wants to get close to a girl who smells
like a fish store?
The choice is perfectly clear to me:
I want to be a whale.


P.S. We are in an age
when media puts into our heads
the idea that only skinny people are beautiful,
but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids,
a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver,
and a piece of chocolate with my friends.
With time, we gain weight because we
accumulate so much information
and wisdom in our heads that when there is
no more room,
it distributes out to the rest of our bodies.
So we aren't heavy,
we are enormously cultured,
educated and happy.
Beginning today,
when I look at my butt in the mirror, I will think,
Good grief, look how smart I am!"


Thanks Regan, for the laugh!!!
Yes, God is making many of us humble with our looks, and humble is good. Humble is always good.

A Weighty Issue

It's always on my mind. It is never not on my mind. It's crippling to a certain extent.


Weight.


My weight to be exact.
It holds me back and prevents me from doing the things I used to do. Not physically necessarily, but mentally.


(Now, don't get me wrong here, I have confidence in me, the inside me. I love myself. I'm not depressed. I love who I am. I just don't like the way I look. The outside does not match the inside. This blog is for me sometime, to get feelings out there and off my mind, this post is written light heartedly with a little seriousness along with it)


I'm often embarrassed to go places, especially without the kiddos. (I wouldn't want anyone to think I was just fat without having babies) I dread vacations and anyone taking a picture of me. We are going on vacation this summer with in laws and I really don't want to go. The only reason is my weight.


There it is again. holding me back. It's humbling to say the least. Especially for someone who has always gotten attention for my looks, and dare I admit, have always liked that.


With each pregnancy, (except one) I've accumulated almost 20 lbs that I've been unable to lose in-betweens. You can do the math, but I've got 75 lbs I'd like to lose. It's a little overwhelming to say that outloud.



Now, I know common sense says
eat less
exercise more
I can do the first part, really I do. It's the 2nd part that is challenging for me.


My husband was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. So, since I've been a type 1 diabetic for 30 years now, I put him on the diet right away and within 3 weeks, he lost almost 30 lbs! (which I'm so happy for, he's feeling great and doing great) But putting him on the same diet that I do, only with more calories, more carbs than I, (since he's a man and needs more) It's frustrating that I've lost none.


He's measuring everything, so, I am too. I admit that I've kind of let that slide over the years. it's easy to eyeball things but also easy for those eyeballs to get bigger over the years. Maybe what looks like a cup of cheerios may actually be closer to 2 cups. I've gotten sloppy at counting my carbs, instead of counting before I eat, I'd been counting afterward. "Oops! I've just eaten 3 carbs in my chili and 3 carbs in my piece of cornbread, now I'm over on my carbs...oh, well..."


The last few weeks though, I've been counting right along with my husband (boy does it help having someone else watching it in the house). Having been a type 1 diabetic for 30 years, I've never snacked on chips or drank sugary sodas or drinks. I've never snacked in between meals and I don't snack late at night. So no major diet changes, except to watch it closer, tighter.



For me, it really boils down to exercise.
Which then boils down to time.
At least for me anyway.



I know 30 minutes a day doesn't seem like a lot, does it? It doesn't sound like much anyway.
People never mention that 30 minutes does not include changing and showering time, so we are actually talking about an hour, aren't we? Showers are a luxery around here with a baby and 4 busy kiddos!



A few weeks ago, I walked for 30 minutes in my cold basement (thinking I won't sweat this way, therefore no shower time right?) for 4 days. I lost 3 lbs that week. (I must clarify, that I did shower during that week, just not immediately after exercising)


But in order to do that week, I really worked hard at getting supper ready at a certain time and prayed Sweetie Pie would not need to eat at that particular window of time of preparing and exercising. The kiddos are trained to do the clean up jobs, clear the table, put dishes in the dishwasher, wash the dishes, sweep the floor....etc....but this mama likes it done a certain way and well, let's just say it was hard to come up to the table not wiped, the stove messy and the "hard pans" left for me to wash.


I know, wah, wah, right?

The other day I read that Rachel Ray spends 30 minutes per day running, then 45-60 minutes elliptical training before choosing from a circuit of machines.

2 hours?

Then needs to shower and get ready, right?

She's busy with 280 TV episodes a year, 15 recipes for her magazine and publishes an annual book.

Says Rachel, "It would be selfish of me to bring children into the world." She also says she's maternally happy with her dog Isaboo and her and her husband spend 1 weekend per month home with her.

I think this is typical for many stars.

Not for me though, If I had to choose on workout time and having my beautiful children, of course I'd pick my children, you gotta know that.

I know what a lot of people are thinking (I just know), you are thinking, "you deserve time to yourself" Can't your husband watch the kiddos?

Yes, he can.

Yes, he does.

It's not him,

It's me.

I don't like missing that busy after supper time of cleaning up with the kiddos (as crazy as it is), doing baths, reading books and saying prayers. I'm selfish like that, I love doing it. (even if I do yell and complain when they don't particularly listen during that time....)

A friend of mine recently told me about her grandmother. She said that her grandmother had 12 kids and was always on the "big side" while the kids were home. She always remembers her wearing her apron and working in the kitchen, caring for her family, baking and cooking and all that goes with that. She said what stands out the most is the dress and apron that her grandmother wore.

Once her kids were gone, she lost the weight....

and the apron.

I guess, I really think that is me. I know when the kids are grown and gone, I'll have time for my workouts every day.

So I'll struggle on. Trying to find that time and schedule that works for me. For our family.

In the meantime,

where's my apron?

Big Dreams!

Ballerina Rosie, after talking about a few favorite saints and discussing that they were just "normal" people, was thinking quite deeply.

Ballerina Rosie: "Mom, I don't think I can be a nun. My voice is just SO beautiful that the whole world needs

to hear it. I love my voice so much, that every day I can't wait to hear it.

Get ready, mom, because, in 10 years, I'm going to be on American Idol."