Master Bath (Before/After)

 Before our shower had to be ripped apart

...and after

Obviously, we went with the deeper blue because the lighter was too similar to the tone of the wallpaper in our bedroom and it felt a little matchy-matchy.  I picked up the bathroom rules sign at Kohls for $10.  The white storage cabinet is Allen & Roth from Lowes on clearance.  Super heavy and surprisngly nicer than I would have guessed.  Would definitely recommend for under $100.  The other bonus?  It came fully assembled in the box!  Yippee for finally having some bathroom storage.

Weigh-In, Week 2

Starting weight at beginning of this week:

147.2

Current Weight:

146.0

Weight loss this week:

1.2

Total to date:

5

I really thought I was only going to break even this week, so I am pretty excited about the 1.2 pounds which gives me my first five pound loss!  You see, this isn't just five regular pounds, this is the kind of baby weight that sticks like glue.  I would be completely happy to be down 5 more pounds over the next 5 weeks. 

For those pondering joining WW, I will say that the constant hunger isn't getting any better.  I am still struggling with the portions.  I passed up frozen sangria drinks last night at a friends house :(

Small Acts of Kindness

Hats off to you, Mr. GE Repairman,  who took one look at my dryer's timer knob, and walked out the door before his company GPS pinged on my house and forced him to collect the $80 service fee for just coming out to diagnose the problem.  Turns out I just needed a $12.50 knob.  (sigh of relief)  Gotta love unexpected honesty like that.  As much as I love the new fancy dryers with a steam setting, I don't feel like dropping that kind of money right now when we are potentially heading into another bathroom remodel (followed by MORE painting).

I ordered the part from Partselect.com at 2:00ish today and it is showing as scheduled for delivery tomorrow.  All for $20.  Now I have a gazillion loads of laundry to do tomorrow, but I am looking forward to having socks that aren't all strange colors for the boys again.  

High School

Patrick and I got to hang out with my high school pals and their kids Saturday night (Tom was playing golf and Tommy was home with grandma).  I admit, I just don't make enough time to see these girls during the year.

Patrick was the lone wolf among all the girls. 

A captive audience for the puppet show

These girls

Just Another Painting Post (these never get old)

Okay, I finally picked a blue.  The votes were pretty much 50/50, so that didn't help me much.  Two coats are on the walls and I am really happy with the color, but completely UNhappy with paint.  In the past I have always used Home Depot's Behr Paint and Primer in One, but Lowes is 10 minutes closer which saves me 20 minutes round trip.  I tried their Olympic One which is supposed to do the same thing, but it instead it just sucks.  It doesn't cover nearly as well and this was the only room in the house I painted where I had tons of paint come off when I removed the painters tape.  I dropped a lot of words I am not proud of during that process. 

So which color won out?  Ah, patience my friends.  I still need to paint the trim and hang my new storage cabinet,  THEN I will be sure to post a finished picture soon (not like the basement photos I am holding hostage because we still aren't done down there). 

Friday Weigh-In

Week 1 weight loss...
(drum roll)

3.8 lbs

Yippee!
Current weight: 147.2

Week One WW Photo

Here it is- the promised photo of my first week on WW: 

I managed to squeeze into this new (size 8!) dress for date night Tuesday (A Chorus Line -SO good) with the help of some impressive Spanx.  I weigh in tomorrow morning for the first time (yes, I will post my first weigh-in results) and have been really happy with the program.  I am still hungry a lot (I am hungry right now), but I think it is just my body adjusting to getting through a day without grazing.  How hard it has been to not to eat the crust cut off the kids' grilled cheese, the leftover pizza on their plates, the goldfish I am putting in their snack bowls.   I put on a pair of my shorts from last summer though and they are clearly too big.  Great encouragement!  I hope my crankiness subsides though.  I have still  been so short with the kids. 

Things I am not looking forward to:

 More painting.  Now that our master bath shower is working again and there are parts of the drywall that need repainted, I decided to get rid of the yellow and go with one of the two blues you see.  My first idea was a crisp cool gray that you can see under the two blues, but once the sample was on, I hated it.  So which blue..the dark on the left (Denim), or the light on the right (Cloudy Blue)?

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Tom,

Let's face it -if we stood equal distances apart from each other, put the kids in the middle, and then each called them, they would both run to you (laughing and squealing).  They sure love their daddy.
Hope you have the best day being adored...

Love,

C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXlbD5lNqZU&feature=youtu.be

Run for Your Lives!

Hungryyyyyyy.

Zapped and cranky after dragging two little ones, now also cranky, to the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon.

Well deserving husband is playing golf all day.

I have morphed into this.

Save yourselves.  For the sake of society and my kids, I am taking a nap. 

Day One

About to head to bed.
I used up all my points and am fighting through this dreaded evening time when I usually do some grazing while I watch TV.  This is a little harder than I thought.  I could definitely eat right now. 
Hungry...

P said grace at dinner tonight.  It went like this:

"Dear God,
Thank you for our food.
Thank you for our fork
and our knife
and our spoon.
Thank you for syrup.
Amen."

And no, we weren't having syrup, or anything that would remotely go with syrup, for dinner.

Watch Me

It is 10 pm in my household and I am still up because...I just signed up for Weight Watchers. I know three people currently on it who have dropped some impressive weight and I want to be part of that club! 
Starting weight: 151. 
Starting Weight last August: Probably 152, 153.
A whole year has flown by and here I am, still looking the same.  So I'm giving it a whirl.  What have I got to lose? (ha, ha!)

I promise you all a starting photo within the next week. 

In news of the superficial, the pair of J-Crew sandals I have been coveting for TWO whole years is sitting neatly tucked in its box in my bedroom.  I found them at the mall today in a random clearance grouping of shoes at J-Crew.  The only size left in the sandals was MY size.  That NEVER happens to me.  They were 65% off.  Yippee.

The Great UN-Escape, Part II

We couldn't take the kids to Erie without stopping at Waldameer Park.  Tom's grandparents took him to this same park growing up, and many of the kiddie rides have remained the same.  I am a big Waldameer fan-it is just as nice as Idlewild Park and Patrick proved much more adventurous than last year's amusement park visit.  Sadly he was still too little for even the kiddie roller coaster.

This was my favorite old ride-you can't tell from the photo, but the horse and carriage rock back and forth to imitate riding over a bumpy road.

Patrick later said that the Sky Ride was his favorite because we rode over the entire park and could see everything like a bird.

Fun at the Fun Mirrors

I need a zoom lens (hint, hint honey).  Tom and Patrick had the whole ferris wheel to themselves.  They are up there somewhere.

2012 Whac-a-Mole champs with their prize

Poor Tommy-the only ride he was big enough to go on was the carousel (which is always my favorite).  He loved every second and kept bouncing up and down even though the horse was already moving.  

The Great UN-Escape, Part I

Sometimes, I need a good UN-escape with my all my favorite boys.  So with good reason behind the sooner-than-later, we packed the car and drove 2 hours north to Erie, PA.  Forecast:  Cool (the high was 67 I think), windy, and chance of showers each day.  We made the best of things and had one AMAZING trip.  The kind of trip where Tom and I must have said ten times on the way home, "what a great trip". 

Presque Isle State Park
 Erie, PA

Tommy must have run up and down the beach 30 times.  His arms are in this position in nearly every photo I took.

The boys trying their hand at kite flying.  Have you seen the Three Stooges?  If the shoe fits...
Note the lifeguard who is bundled up like it is February.  The kids didn't care at all, but this was the first and last time Tom wore shorts on the trip.

Back at the hotel.  Patrick stashes his "buddies" on top of the furniture at home too so his brother can't get them.  This gang is inseparable.  Teddy, Alligator, Yoda, Ollie and Mousy.

We stayed at a Residence Inn so we could have the luxury of a two-bedroom suite.  Golden.  A bonus was the
pool-sized jacuzzi tubs in the bathrooms.

 But the real reason for our trip was to celebrate Uncle Pat's 90TH birthday!  He has lived in Erie all his life and could probably run for mayor.  He knew practically everyone at our breakfast spot.  Pure Erie celebrity. 

After breakfast, Uncle Pat even took us up on our offer to hang out with the kids at Beach 7 where he used to lifeguard back in the day.  We finally were able to bask in some sunshine for an afternoon.

For two days we practically had the beach to ourselves.  Apparently Pittsburghers are hardier than our northern neighbors who disappear when the temps dip under 70.

We wrapped up the day with some fishing in the same spot Tom fished on family trips to Erie.  If you ask Patrick, he'll tell you all they caught was seaweed.  Then he'll giggle.

Patrick, exactly 2 minutes after he swore he wasn't tired after a day of beach and fishing.

 And this is what mornings look like on vacation...