A Love of Horses

Our girls love horses.  Stuffed ones, plastic ones, electric ones and especially the real ones.  If we go anywhere that has pony rides, we know without asking that the girls will want a ride.  So you can imagine the joy when they were able to ride again.  This time at Uncle Kelvin and Aunt Kim's house.

Aunt Kim loves horses too.  She has quite a few and she graciously let the girls have rides.  Samantha rode on Dreamer and Chloe rode on Sugar.  They were in heaven!

Thanks, Kim!  You made my girls' day! 

Conversations

A conversation between Chloe and me...


Chloe - "Where are we going, Mom?"

Me - "Crazy!"

Chloe - "Can I go to Crazy with you?"

Me - "Sure, Chloe."

Chloe - "You're the best, Mom!!"


What Chloe doesn't know is that She normally takes Me to "Crazy", not the other way around.  :)

Happiness

In the everyday craziness, sometimes I forget to stop and enjoy the simple things.  I'm hurried to get children ready each morning.  We're out the door and hurrying to get to school.  I hurry to get home and get my "stuff" done.  I hurry to get my "stuff" done so I can work on my school work.  I hurry to get my school work done so I can get the rest of my "stuff" done.  You get the idea.

Sometimes I get gentle reminders of why it's important to slow down just for a little bit.  These reminders usually come from the most innocent among us...my children.

This time is no different.

Here is my little Chloe enjoying a 10 cent horsey ride on "Her Horse".

First Pictures

These are the BEST first pictures with our new camera!  Quality may not be perfect, but the faces are!

A Trip and A Casualty

This last weekend we had some visitors.  Grandma and Grandpa Sillman.  On the way to Arkansas for business, they stopped and stayed with us Friday night.  The kids were so excited!  In the morning, we decided to all drive to Branson.  They were going to go through there anyways, so why not make the trip together.  

We left Saturday morning for Branson.  We spent the day walking around downtown and enjoying the small shops.  The weather was perfect.  The kids loved every minute with grandma and grandpa and it was nice to take a small trip to somewhere new.  Chad and I have never been to Branson.  Although we didn't make it to any shows or the main street, I especially enjoyed being in a city with a Target.

The only negative part of our trip was that we had a casualty.  Devastating!  The trip could barely go on.

I dropped my camera and broke it!

This is the point where Target comes into play.

We had all went back to the motel.  Chad went to the computer to work on some school assignments he had due.  Grandpa took the kids swimming.  And, my mother and I went to Target.

I was on a mission.  I must replace my camera.

Even though I am no photographer, I love taking pictures of my kids.  Some days I do better than others, but I must have a camera.

It must have been my lucky day because cameras were on sale.  With the help of the camera guy, I chose one.  And, the rest is history.

The sad thing is that I didn't get many pictures.  My camera had broke early in the day and the new battery had to charge for 12 hours.  Oh well.  I salvaged a few.  We'll just have to make another trip to Branson so I can get some more pictures.

I love this!  He's so irritated with me!

Fall Fun Day!

We took a small road trip this weekend to Louisburg, KS.  It's about an hour drive.

Louisburg, KS is home to the Louisburg Cider Mill.  They had a Ciderfest event this weekend.  Crafts, wagon rides, corn maze, straw fort, hay bale maze, farm animals, kettle corn, caramel apples, and pony rides.  Happiness for everyone!  

We spent a few hours there and had a great time.  The kids enjoyed running around outside and the weather was perfect.  

Happy Fall.

We're Losers!

That's right.  Losers.  Chad and I.  

Chad's the biggest loser and I come in a close second.  

(I laugh as I can picture people nodding in agreement.)  

Really.  We are losers.  

Chad lost 6 lbs last week and I lost 5.4. (And, yes the .4 is important!)

It was time.  Time for Chad and I to get a handle on our health.  

It's really no surprise for those that have known me for a long time.  I have a completely inappropriate relationship with food.  I'm not sure at what point in my life that I associated food to feelings, but I did and I do.  Food to me represents love.  But, it also represents sadness, guilt, anger, loneliness and fear. 

If I have any type of emotion, food seems to be a part of it.  

It's an addiction.  I recognize that.  It's my cross to bear.  Everyone has something.  This is my something.  

Our move to Missouri seemed to be the catapult for these feelings and behaviors.  In the past 8 months, I have managed to put on almost 30 pounds.  And, Chad has followed suit.  Not a good combination and a very negative, selfish situation to put our family in.  

Now, I have lost weight before and stated "this" would be the last time.  I would get myself under control and maintain.  And yet, here I am.  It's daunting.  It's exhausting.  It's a very lonely place to be.  Until now. 

Starting this journey with Chad has been different.  A good different.  We hold each other accountable for our choices and  I have a support partner "in house", which is wonderful.

Our method...Weight Watchers.  We have been counting points.  We get a set amount of points for each day and each food has a set number of points associated with it.  It works!  And, it's simple.  I love Weight Watchers.

As for our goals, we are not sure yet.  We have a range in mind, but for now we are just taking it one day(sometimes an hour) at a time.  We'll get to our goals, eventually.  When we do, I'll share that news or perhaps you'll see it. :)