Lately.

Life hasn't been too crazy lately, I just haven't had the "blogging bug". Lately, we've been having family movie nights and "just Doug & I" movie nights. Usually, when the kids go to bed is my blogging time, but I've been giving that up to spend some more time with my husband. So here are some pictures of the last week or so, via my crappy iPhone lol.

Yoga time on the Wii fit. I'm more flexible/balanced than I thought I would be.

Even Kenzie does yoga! She watches Cosmic Kids on YouTube.

Apple Pie smoothie.

I won a monogrammed hat on FB!

I love spending my time under our huge pecan tree in my swing.

Friday is library day!

This dog....

Went to see The Wolverine Saturday night. I wore my awesome Marvel pocket tee from Stitches & Splinters.

Sunday was a lazy movie day for us. I even got to snuggle with my baby man:)

 That's pretty much what's been going on around these parts. It's been so gloomy & rainy that we haven't been able to swim in a couple of days! Crazy weather. I don't think I've EVER been able to say it was too cool to swim in JULY.
 

Weigh In Wednesday

I had lost 2 more pounds since last week, but then I made mistakes. I was doing really good all week until yesterday. Yesterday I ate a cookie and drank two Sprites. I haven't had soda in like 3 weeks. Blahhh. And for dinner I had two helpings of taco salad. I just overate and made myself miserable. Lesson learned though. Because from yesterday morning to this morning, I'd gained back 2 pounds. And I feel bloated. Boooooo. I've been off my game for counting calories, too. I guess this is just my "off" week. 

Here's to starting new. Again. lol!

Stats

Height: 5'6"

Starting weight: 220 lbs

Last week's weigh in: 212 lbs

Current weight: 212 lbs

Goal weight: 160 lbs.

Follow me on MyFitnessPal

Here's some motivational mojo!

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The BEST way to send snail mail.

I was compensated for a free card for this review from Cardstore.com. All opinions are my own.

I don't know about you, but I get super excited when I get something (other than bills) in the mail! Especially something personal. I also love beautifully designed cards. So I was thrilled when I found out about Cardstore.com. They have the cutest cards. And that's not all. You can do everything online. And by everything, I really mean everything. Personalize, add your signature, and even mail the card to your recipient, all through the website! It's amazing!

Here are some reasons to head on over to Cardstore.com and make your card:

{1}  They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you don't like your card, tell them within 30 days, and they will replace your order OR refund you! That's pretty nice of them, I think.

{2} They mail your card for you, optionally. But if you are anything like me, you'll carry the card around for weeks days and forget to get a stamp. Cardstore.com just saves that extra step!

{3} You can add your signature online by choosing a font, writing your own font and uploading it, or sign with your finger using the mobile app! How cool is that?!

{4} You can add pictures through Facebook. Because for most of us, that's where we "store" our photos anyways.

I opted to send my card to my house first, before sending it to my best friend, just so I could take pictures of everything. Because that's what bloggers do, right? :)

I love the packaging. I love the colors and the fonts and how sturdy it is.

Look how cute! "YAY! I'm here!". I mean seriously, who wouldn't love seeing that in the mail? It just screams happy.

I decided to send my  card to my best friend. She always does so much for other people, and I just wanted to take the time out of my day to thank her for being my "person".

 When you mail your card to yourself, it comes with two envelopes, the card, and a super cute calendar with a coupon on the back.

If you knew us, you would know how perfect this card is. But I think the picture just pulls it all together, don't ya think?

 I decided to just use the fonts that were available to "sign" my name.

Also, you can join Cardstore's reward program! I mean, who doesn't love being rewarded? You can earn points by connecting your social media accounts, referring friends, and by shopping for cards! They have a variety of card categories to choose from such as birthdays, thank yous, holiday, and photo cards! Find them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+.

Right now they have an offer going on for $1.99 5x7 folded cards + free stamp! 

Just use the code CCJ3723

Offer ends 7/29/2013.

Weigh In Wednesday

First off, I have a question. The scale at my doctor's office and the Wii Fit board says I'm 10 pounds lighter than the scale in my bathroom. Which one do I go by?! I'm thinking the Wii board, for obvious reasons haha! But seriously? Which one?

On to the weigh in part.

Dun dun dunnnnnnnn.

I've been slacking in the calorie counting department, but I've not been eating as much, also. The past two nights, I've stopped myself before I'm miserable. Today I've been drinking water with lemon up until supper time. I had to have some tea. 

So as of today, I weigh 212 pounds (according to my bathroom scale). That's 8 pounds down from where I started. I'd say that's progress. 

I mentioned the other day that I bought Wii Fit. So I'm going to record my progress with that soon. 

Stats

Height: 5'6"

Starting Weight: 220 lbs

Current Weight: 212 lbs

Goal Weight: 160 lbs

Follow me on My Fitness Pal!

And here's today's motivational mojo:

{source}

Linking up here:

Splish Splash Birthday Party!

Like the past three years of shared birthday parties, this year was no different. BUT, I think this year was the best turn out and the most fun for the kids. 

It was also the MOST stressful because we had it at our house. I'm a perfectionist. If things aren't going right, I lose it. But on top of being a perfectionist, I'm also a procrastinator. Doesn't make much sense, huh? Tell me about it....

Let me just make a list of things that didn't go as planned:

1. I forgot to send out invitations. This one is no biggie because I made a Facebook event, too. So whatevs. But I made these super cute invites that no one got:(

2. We spent $60 making a "Kiddy Car Wash". And when I say "we" I mean Doug. That was NOT in my party budget (if there even was such a thing). But the kids seemed to think it was pretty cool. But maybe not $60 worth of cool. 

3. My printer ran out of colored ink so I couldn't print the cupcake toppers or goody bag notes.

4. When I went to make cupcakes the night before the party, I realized I didn't have any eggs. This was at 10pm. Everything in my town closes at 9pm. And I was not about to drive 15 minutes to Wal-Mart for eggs. 

5. Doug and I stayed up until 3am filling up water balloons and getting the carport & backyard "semi" ready. 

6. I had to wake up at 6:30am to go to the grocery store to buy eggs to make cupcakes the day OF the party. Which started at 12pm. Also, I only had ONE cupcake pan which makes 12 cupcakes. So I had to make 5 batches of cupcakes. 

7. People started arriving at around 11:30. I was NO where near ready. Nothing was decorated outside. Doug hadn't even started the grill for hotdogs. The icing wasn't even on the cupcakes yet. I was on the verge of just going back to bed.

BUT. Out of all the things that went wrong, there was definitely a lot of things that were right that day. My best friend came early to help with pretty much everything. She helped me ice the cupcakes, she hung up the decorations outside. 

My other best friend helped set up the drinks and food.

See my dress? My Mother-in-law MADE it. Yeah, I'm pretty lucky.

  My Nana came early to help me make the punch (which we just made up on the top of our heads because I didn't get enough ingredients to make a double batch lol!). She even brought me the cutest new owl bracelet:)

So after all the chaos of everything that went wrong, to look outside and see 15-20 smiling kids' faces, was SO worth it. To have all my family under one roof was worth it. To see my babies faces light up as they were opening their gifts was totally worth it.

We had a slip-n-slide, a "kiddy car wash", a wading pool with water guns and squirters, and water balloons. I think the kids loved it all.

  After the party was over, I just felt so blessed. Even though everything was so chaotic and I didn't get a chance to really talk to everyone, I was just so happy to know just how much my children are loved. I have friends who love my kids just as much as family. And my family would do anything for my babies. 

My mom, Nana, and Papa went in together to get them (us lol) the new pool. 

And Doug's family went in together and got the kids a new swing set!

 They were SO excited when they opened their eyes. Tucker literally sat in the swing for two hours after they brought it to us. They love it! Now, with the new pool and swing set, we will never go back inside this summer haha!

The kids loved all their gifts. I love watching their eyes grow big when they throw the paper out of the gift bag and reveal the most awesome presents they've ever seen. They are so blessed, and they don't even know it yet.

Dobby also thoroughly enjoyed himself.

 So that was how Kenzie's 5th & Tucker's 3rd birthday party went. Chaotic, but filled with joy. 

All of the pictures were taken by my best friend, Raven, who has a photography business. I swear, if she wasn't there, I wouldn't have had any pictures of the party. She's amazing.