Time to get back on the wagon and stay there!

I just finished a 6 week Group Express fitness class at the Y last week and today was the first day of a new one. It was a really good class - 30 minutes of continuous strength training in the gym. No weight machines to work with! Everything was weights, stability balls and your own body. I had contemplated taking the same class again with the same trainer, or taking a different class at about the same time that was a combination of cardio and strength - this was also an hour instead of just 30 minutes

I opted for the new class. So far I am thinking that I am really going to like this class! She told us that each class is going to be 20-30 minutes of cardio and then each day would vary somewhat in what we did for strength training. Very cool! When it is something different all this time, it is harder to get bored with a class!

I think this class might be just what I need to get myself back on a regualr workout schedule! I have been doing pretty good about getting to the gym Mon/Wed/Fri, but need somesort of motivation to get there other days! I seem to always find some excuse not to go! Taking this class might give me the boost to really watch my food intake too. The trainer told me that I was welcome to bring in my food journal once a week or so and she would go through it with me. Very cool!

Kittens catch their first mouse!

We knew the day was finally coming that our kittens would catch their first mouse! Today was that day! I got home from the gym to find the kittens both in the kitchen. Fozzy with a guilty look on his face and Silver was sitting on the floor in an odd position. It was after I started walking toward them that I realized that SIlver had a mouse in her mouth (realized it when she decided to drop it and it attempted to scamper off). Silver promptly poundedon it again and proceeded to bat it around the kitchen like a hockey puck. Fozzy sat there with a look on his face that said "but I wanna play with the new toy too!"

They must have caught it in the basement and hauled it back upstairs to play with it. We very rarely see mice upstairs so that was the only logical place where the mouse came from!

I managed to get past them, avoiding the mouse (I really do not like mice on bit!!) to call John to let him know that our kittens were officially mousers. It was at that time that I also decided that I would try and get a picture of them with thier mouse (probalby not the smartest thougth of hte day). As I was standing in the living room, leaving John a message, and picking up the camera, I turned around to find Silver prancing into the living room, proud as can be, with that little mouse hanging out of her mouth by it's tail! She was bringing me her prized to me to show it off!! I looked at her and told her to get away from me with that mouse and she decided to drop it!!

Apparently the mouse was nto dead - it managed to get away from Silver and scurried under the couch! THe cats tried getting under there any way they could to get that toy back! Unfortunatly I did not have time at that moment to try and find the (most likely) wounded mouse... I had someone coming over for some computer training in 15 minutes! I still needed a shower!

After Pam left and Darrin got home, we turned to couch over and there was no sign of hte mouse. We are hoping that it was not really wounded, just in shock and would be able to find it's way back to the basement. I am just hoping that it was still alive and I don't start smelling it pretty soon!!

At least we know that the kittens can catch those mice!!

A new school year brings great changes

As many of you might remember, last year with had some issues with Darrin in school. We were curious as to what we were going to find out when we went to Parent Teacher Conferences this year. Last year was very trying for all of us, including his teacher!

Last night marker the first Parent Teacher Conference of the year. Darrin had some incentives riding on how this conference went! He kept telling us that he was doing good, but we wanted to wait to see for sure (we learned the hard way last year that what he said was not always what was really happening!) Grammie has bought his a really cool pirate ship to paint, but he was only going to get the ship and paints if we got good reports! So now was the moment of truth!!

The conferences were actually Student lead, so Darrin was in the hot seat! His teacher and student teacher were both there to add their input but the first half of the conference was all him! He showed us some great work that he had completed and then shared what he THOUGH his grades were going to be. This is where his teacher stepped in and filled us in on what his actually grades were...

WOW... big differences from last year! All A's and high B's at this point! His was only missing ONE assignment! This was a huge improvment from last year (missing assignments, incomplete assingments and more!). We were expressign some of our concerns about what we had been dealing with last year (the talking in class, daydreaming, missing assignments, incomplete work etc). Both his teacher and the student teacher looked at each other, looked and Darrin, then at us as asked if we were talking about the same kid!

They have had NO issues of talking or other class disrutions, all his assignments are finished (with the exception of the one that we knew he was missing) and he is participating in calss discussionsn regularly! He is actually at a higher reading level than they look for by the end of 5th grade! He loves math and science and is always eager to learn more.

WooHoo!! The old Darrin is back! Now we are just hoping that he continues the great work! It will be a while yet before we get that first report card (not til after Thanksgiving) so we are anxious to see the results!

How things can change so quickly!

My business has been cruising along nicely, without too many bumps in the road! It has been really great to not have to worry about the little extras each month! My calendar as been consistently full for the last few months and that has been a great feeling! My biggest goal has been to build my team a little more so that I can bring my business to the next level.

And how things can change so quickly!

I found out a few weeks ago from a friend of mine that her mom has been seriously thinking about starting her own lia sophia business. And she wants to sign up under me! Very cool! I just met with her (and her daughter who is going to be doing alot of her computer work etc) and she is very excited to get started! She wants to do enough shows each month so that she can switch to working only part-time at her other job.

Then Last weekend I also got a call from my hostess the day before her show to tell me that she just lost her job! She wanted to turn her show into a starter show! Her and her best friend are signing up together and sharing the business!

Now the training begins! With the added new teammates, I am hoping to be able to promote to Unit by for November 1st Now I am just keeping my fingers crosses that as a team we will be able to make the numbers each month!

If two years ago someone would have told me that I would be successfully running my own business and building it each month, I would have told them that they were crazy! But here I am, doing just that! This has been an exciting ride that I hope to continue! It has given me the opportunity to provide things for my family that I would not have been able to do, working a normal 40-hour a week job! And I can work at home in my pajama's some days!

I suppose I need to get back to work now! No one really knows what tomorrow will bring, but let's hop on and enjoy the ride!

Apples Apples and more Apples

Definitely a sign that fall is right around the corner! Cool crisp mornings, light breezes and... The Apple Orchard is open! We "discovered" the local Apple Orchard last fall and have been regulars ever since! I say "discovered" because John has lived in this house for about 9 years now and the orchard is only 2 miles away! He never knew it was there before last fall when we saw one of their ads on a local coupon shopper! They offer ready picked apples as well as pick-your own! We always do the pick your own because you can't beat the price! Last weekend when we were there we picked almost 60 pounds of apples and it was only $28!!

This place is awesome! I can't even keep track of all the different varieties of apples that they have! It seems like each week when we go, a different variety is ready to be picked! They just opened for the pick your own last weekend and we had our choice of Mac's and Cortland's. We actually picked some of each. Darrin loves being able to go up to the tree and pick an apple, wipe it off and eat it right away! He always had to eat one whole apple before he starts picking.

It says something about a business, if when you go there, they recognize you! The one lady that was always there last year was working again and remembered us from last year! And this is a busy orchard, so for her to remember her customers from one year to the next really says something! When you walk in the door, they are ready to help! You tell them what kind apples you like and they will point you in the right direction to find what you want!

This past weekend Patty was in town for the day with her daughter, granddaughter and her granddaughter's friend. She thought that the girls would enjoy picking their own apples, so we decided to meet there Saturday morning! The girls had a ball! And Darrin had just as much fun helping them find the perfect apples and fill their bags. I was not able to stay the entire time, but John and Darrin stayed to help them! By the time they were done, they had over 100 pounds of apples! Yes, they were picking for 3 different families, but that's a lot of apples!

I now have other friends of mine from the Weight Watchers message boards that want to go to the apple orchard too! We are all trying to find a day where we can do a family day at the apple orchard so we all can get together and go pick apples!

I think with all the business that WE are bringing to the orchard, we deserve some free apples or something!!!

I have been going through all my cookbooks and online to find new apple recipes too! I have my favorite apple salad that I make all the time, but sometimes you just need something different....

baked apples
apple crisp
apple stuffed pork tenderloin
apple bars
apple pie

man, I could go on forever! If anyone has a favorite apple recipe that they would like to share, let me know!!!

A day in the life of a 9 year old

So, DS has been at Grammie and Papa's house all week. (Quiet time for us yah!!).

My mom calls me this morning. Apparently last night DS mowed my Uncle's lawn as payment for my uncle taking him out on the boat tubing the other day. DS had a blast (mowing the lawn and tubing) and even THANKED my uncle for letting him mow the lawn! Go figure. We as adults really dont' care for mowing the lawn, but tell a 9 year old to do it and he is all over that! I guess we know a new job for DS to do around the house when he gets home!

Well, then she proceeds to tell me that they had just picked up one of DS's friends and they (My mom, DS and his friends Angie) are going mini-golfing. I guess Angie has never been mini-golfing before. (The poor child! We go mini golfing at least once a month when the weather permits!) So they were heading to one of the mini golf courses about 40 minutes from her place.

Before they head out of town, they have to stop to see Angie's mom at work so she can get some money. Then a quick stop at Wal-mart to pick up eggs and a few other things that they need at home. FINALLY it is time to leave....

One the way out of town, they had to stop so he couldput gas in the car - yes, he - my 9 year old! They pull up at the gas station and he jumps out of the car, as does Angie so she can help. So now we have 2 9 year old putting gas in my mom's car. He then proceeds to tell her that he needs a credit card. The pump said "to pay by credit card, please swipe card now". Once he is convinced that since he is paying by cash, they start pumping the gas. My mom then informs the two of them that if they go over what she told them, then it was coming out of thier lunch budget... so they are going very slowly, trying NOT to go over. Needless to day, they went over by .22 oh well, at least it wasn't too much over! Meanwhile, as they are pumping gas, my mom said she HAD to get a picture of them, in all thier glory, putting gas in the car.

So now they are on finally on the road....



Now I am just awaiting that phone call to see what other adventures they found today!

The FlyLady is my new friend

I have decided that I need a new friend! her name is the FlyLady (http://www.flylady.com/)She is going to try and help me get my house clean and organized! Several of my friends have already started using her tips to get their homes and lives organized. It is my turn!

I just spend this morning getting caught up on the daily missions for the week. I have also started trying to get into my morning and nighttime routines! Doing 1 load of laundry a day is definelty much mroe tolerable than doing it all at one! I have folding laundry and if I have 5 loads sitting there staring at me that need to be folded it is just too much! Now throwing in one load each day is much more reasonable! Now why didn't I think of doing that years ago?

The next big project is to get my weekly cleaning schedule somewhat figured out...

I am realizing that if I tackle smaller parts of the cleaning list on different days of the week, I am more likely to get it done! No one wants to spend the ENTIRE day cleaning... I can deal with a short time each day instead! I am hoping that this will help to make sure that all the cleaning is done before the weekend so we dont' have to spend our family time cleaning!!!

Today's list of stuff finished:
Kitchen swept and mopped
living room dusted
all trash cans empty
downstairs bathroom swept and mopped
Chili simmering in crockpot to take up north with us this weekend
Kitchen table cleared of everything except what needs to be packed in car tomorrow