If any of you are familiar with weight lifting, a 10 pound dumbbell is a significant weight. This morning I got on the scale and was thrilled to learn that I have now lost 10 pounds! It doesn’t really sound like that much, especially considering how L O N G it has taken. However, when you pick up a 10 lb dumbbell it feels like a heck of a lot of weight. So I am very excited and proud. I have worked so hard for every one of those pounds. What’s interesting is that I think based on how my clothes are fitting that I am really close to the size I was before I got pregnant with the girls…but I’m about 7 or so pounds heavier. Which tells me that I have gained a lot of muscle. I recently purchased the new Winsor Pilates ball workouts and have been doing them every day. The 45 minute workout for my non-running days and the 20 minute workout for my running days. I love it. It’s actually really fun and I don’t get bored with it, thanks to the ball. And it’s challenging but do-able. Anyway, I’ve seen a big difference pretty quickly doing this..I highly recommend it especially for those of us who could use some help in the flabby post-pregnancy stomach. Well, I just was so excited that I had to share my success..I need to do my pilates!

I was getting the girls dressed this morning and when I came out, this is what I found. I thought it was so funny that I had to take some pictures. After some fast talking and manipulation, these are some of my favorites. In case you’re wondering, yes, that is one of the babies’ pink stretchy headbands around his head with the bow in the center. And yes, his swords are a broken air pump and a morocco from Guatemala. He doesn’t mess around.

Hello all. My sister is getting married very casually this summer and they have decided to get married on the beach. I think I sort of volunteered to help out with the planning of the thing and putting all the things together and we’re trying to figure out what all our options are. I thought that the best way to maybe do this would be to rent a beach house for the whole family (the wedding is probably only going to be family) and stay for the weekend. Does anyone know of any great beach houses that are reasonably priced, close to the beach and would sleep comfortably…8 adults and 2 children? (The babies probably don’t need to be counted since they don’t require a bed.) It would also be great if it was something nice looking..that way if we do plan ahead and it ends up raining we could do it inside in an emergency. Any help would be great. Thanks!

I was changing diapers this afternoon and when I was finished with Kynden I sat her up and faced her towards the mirror. As soon as she saw herself she just broke out into this huge grin. I know most babies do this..but she seemed so pleased at seeing herself in the mirror. My heart all at once started to ache thinking that it is very likely that someday in the future, she won’t be so thrilled when she looks at herself in the mirror. How many of us are? But since she is so fresh from heaven, she doesn’t know about all the terrible expectations that we put on ourselves about how we are supposed to look or not look. Right now, she knows that she is beautiful and she is full of joy when she sees her reflection. If only all of us could find the same joy in knowing that God made us and He doesn’t make mistakes. I certianly don’t see any mistakes when I see this picture. And I don’t think God sees any mistakes when He looks at us either. That thought is a constant challenge for me. God doesn’t make mistakes..God doesn’t make mistakes..God doesn’t make mistakes..

So I have now completed my 8 weeks to a 5k. Unfortunately, I cannot run a 5k quite yet, but I am still working. Also unfortunately I am now on my own to continue my workouts and training and I have to figure out how to push myself in a realm of activity that I am still completely unfamiliar with. What I have decided is that I will continue to run 3x per week..Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I would also like to ad a cardio something on Saturday that is different from running to add sort of a cross-training element. Does anyone have any ideas? I would like to avoid and aerobics video unless someone has one that they’ve done that they really love that I wouldn’t get bored doing. It would also be great if it nicely coordinated with running. Anyone who has any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Also, I am still trying to build up my time running so what my tenative plan is for that is for Monday to be my “hard” day where I try to add a longer distance and then Wed and Fri will be normal days. An example would be: Monday- 1.7 miles, Wed and Fri- 1.5 miles. Sat-different cardio. Next Monday- 2 miles, Wed and Fri- 1.7 miles and so on. Does that sound reasonable? I figure that Monday would be the best day to do a longer challenge run since I will have had 2 days off of running by then. If anyone has any other suggestions about that, I would appreciate that as well. Happy Monday!

A couple people have asked me where I found my training schedule for running online. I thought it would just be the easiest to post a link to the site I found. If anyone is thinking about learning to run, I would highly recommend this site. If I can learn to run, anyone can. Here’s the link: http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/running/3_mile_training_plan.htm

I am sitting here at the computer as a 27 year old mother of 5, still shaking and panting from the effort, with sweat still beading on my forehead to tell you…for the first time in my entire life I just completed a mile and a half run. I am so thrilled about it that I had to share it with the world. Yea, me!

Oh, and for anyone who is keeping track, I am now down 7 lbs and 24 more to go.

Turn Bryce and Jayden’s room into a Spiderman and Star Wars room: $100

Transition the girls into their own portable cribs: $235

New Large washer and dryer and other items to re-do the laundry area: $1220

New Table Saw for building in laundry room: (I don’t know, it was a Valentine’s Day present)

Cost of having two active boys, three baby girls and taking on 3 major projects all at once: COMPLETE AND UTTER CHAOS!

I know that there are literally hundreds of you out there who are just dying to comment on my blogs. (Ha!) Last night I made it possible by changing my comment setting from allowing only those with other blogger accounts to comment to now allowing anyone to comment. So comment on people, comment on.

I was taking pictures tonight of the girls and this one just totally cracked me up. Check out Adelynn on the left. And the other two look startled! Funny, funny.