Busy Week!

This has been one crazy, busy week!  I can't believe it's already Thursday, but I am glad for the opportunity to sit down some today.  I shouldn't complain, though.  I'm happy to have things to do to keep busy now that the kids are all in school.

Yesterday, I spent 75% of my day at the kids school.  We went to the book fair before school, then I went on a field trip with Isaac's class.  Next, it was my day to shelf books in the library.  I finished up around lunch time and headed home to let the dog out to potty before returning to school to help Isaac's class shop the book fair.  Oh...and I got to do my first school fire drill in about 12 years!  It was a great day!

Today has been much more low key.  I've done laundry and the painters came to do some touch up work on areas where pictures had been hung while the house was being used as a model home.  Sadie was thrilled with their presence in the house.  She loves everybody!

Family Hike

What a gorgeous weekend!  I've been thrilled with the weather the past week.  It's been gorgeous.  I totally thought we were done with shorts and t-shirts, but we've been wearing them again all week.   Although, it's going to turn cold again this week.  Bummer!  I'm so not ready to experience my first Wisconsin winter.  The fire hydrants around here have these huge wire things attached to the top of them so they can be seen when the hydrant itself is covered with snow.  I've been told they never cancel school, but that snow removal here is done quickly and efficiently.  So, for now...I'll just be thankful for this nice fall weather!

Yesterday, we went to our local park and hiked some of the trails.  It was so peaceful and the kids loved it.  Every now and then one of them would ask if we were SURE we knew how to get back to where we started.  

Wayne took some pictures of Sadie yesterday and I just LOVE how this one turned out.  It's so cute!!

Getting Settled!

I guess it's official...I live here.  I was at the store on Tuesday and ran into someone I knew.  I was surprised, as I know so few people here, but it made me feel like an official resident.  No more going to the store looking like crap for me!

I think friendships are starting to be formed for me too, which is a relief. I'm going to start walking with my neighbor across the street, so I'm thrilled to have a walking partner.  Last night, I walked with her and another gal joined us part way through.  It was nice to have some time to chat with other ladies.  Then, we all hung out in our driveway with about half the kids in the neighborhood.  It was great!  It reminded me so much of our cul-de-sac having all the kids gathered at my house playing together.  I love it!!!

Yesterday I went with Isaac's class on a field trip to a local apple orchard.  The apples were delicious.  Nothing like picking it right of the tree and eating it.  Yummy!  I had a terrible migraine by the time I got home, so it was a good reminder of why I didn't really love teaching...LOL!  It was fun, though.  Today, I'm heading back up to the school to help with the book fair.  The kids in K-2 fill out wish lists and they need helpers to fill them out.

All About Me!

So, I'm going to let you into my heart today and it be honest...it makes me nervous.  There has always been one thing in my  life that I've been extremely self conscious about and that is my weight.  It's been a struggle for me since my sophomore year in high school.  That is when I began my first of many, many diets.  I've often joked about my size and that was my way of letting all of you know that I knew about the elephant in the room.  However, I promised myself that I would get a handle on it and take care of ME once the kids were all in school and I had more time.  Well, I started this past summer because I just didn't want to wait any longer.  

It's not been easy at times and it's definitely been as much of an emotional/mental change as it has been physical.  It's been all about redefining the importance and need for food and exercise in my life.  Anyway, I've been working hard and making progress and I finally felt ready to share that with all of you.  I took some "before" pictures the day I started when I was at my all time highest weight ever.  I won't get into how much weight I've lost so far, because it's just too personal for me, but I can say that I've dropped about 2 sizes so far and I'm close to dropping another one in the near future.

I hope all of you can understand how difficult it is for me to share this with all of you...especially the "before" photos.  But, I'm proud of myself and the changes I've made and it was time to open up about it.  I won't call the new pictures the "after" pictures because I'm not done!  There is more weight to loose, so I'll share with you again at some point.

 

Crud

Sorry...I am really trying to get to this blog more often, but time just gets away from me.  Right now, I feel like I live in a cold rainforest.  It has rained for 6 straight days.  Guess what tomorrows forecast calls for...more rain!  However, that is the end of it and the rest of the 10 day forecast calls for SUN!  I want to take advantage of the little amount of outdoor time we have before winter hits us.

Yesterday, I volunteered at the Library at the kids school.  I finished up just in time to go have lunch with the kids and they were all thrilled to have me there, so that was nice.  Last night, I went out to dinner with some Mom's of other kids in Isaac's class.  There were 8 of us and it was really nice to meet the parents of the kids Isaac has been talking about at home.  Today, I cleaned the house and paid bills and then tomorrow I need to catch up on laundry.  Even with no kids at home, I'm keeping busy!  This weekend is full with puppy school, Connor's football game, 2 birthday parties for Isaac to attend and church.  Wayne thinks he found "the church."  So, this week, we will all go check it out.  The funny thing is...the lead pastor of this church lives in our neighborhood!  They have some awesome youth programs at this church, so hopefully the kids and I will connect with it too.

It's Monday!

We had a wonderfully relaxing weekend!  It was SO VERY needed, too.  We've been busy busy busy since moving here.  Yesterday Wayne went to try out another new church.  It was not for us and when he explained it I totally understood why.  So, next week he's going to visit a church that I am interested in checking out.  I'm so glad I can trust him to find a church for our family.  He knows what we like in a church.  I hate dragging the kids to church after church every Sunday going "church shopping."  So, I'm glad he can get it done for all of us and we can just jump in when he finds one.

I spent the morning cleaning out closets, which I put off a while because of the move.  However, all the kids had clothes in their dressers and closets that they had outgrown.  I'm glad that is done.

This week should be a little busy, but fun.  We have dance tonight and tomorrow.  Football T, W & TH.  Tomorrow night is the first PTO meeting of the year, which I plan to attend.  Wednesday I'll be at the school most of the day helping with vision screenings and then Friday Sadie has a vet appointment for more shots.  I'm most looking forward to the school activities.  They LOVE parents at this school and I hope to get very involved since I have nothing else to really do all day.

Also, Sadie is growing like a weed!!  I need to post some new pictures of her.  She's gained almost 5 pounds since we got her and she's getting taller.

Busy Week!

This week seemed to fly by so fast!  Lindsey started dance class this week and she loves her new dance studio, so I'm thrilled.  Homework is really picking up, so we've been up late each night working on that.  The kids get home so late from school that Connor really has no time before football to work on any of it. So, he starts homework around 7:30-8:00, so on a night with a lot of homework to do it gets pretty late.  Ugh!  Football season is always so busy.

Thursday was my birthday and I got a comfy new robe, which is exactly what I wanted since I have to get up early in the morning to take Sadie out to potty.  We didn't really do anything to celebrate on Thursday because we just had no time, but we went out to dinner last night, so that was nice.

Wayne and Lindsey have Sadie at puppy school this morning.  Hopefully they can get some tips on how to stop her nipping because she bit Isaac's other ear last night.  Ugh!!!  Other than that, she's really been a great puppy.  I just need to finish getting her housebroken.

This afternoon is Connor's 2nd football game and it looks like a great day for it.  Low 60's and sunny!  Other than that, we have no real plans the rest of the weekend.  Yeah!!!  I look forward to some down time.  We've been crazy busy since moving trying to get the house the way we want it.  Tomorrow Wayne will try another church, so hopefully we'll find one soon that will fit our needs and likes.