Happy Birthday Dad!

52 years ago today, my grandmother gave birth to a beautiful little boy that would grow up to be such an awesome father, husband, poppa, brother, son, friend and co-worker. Little did she know what a remarkable man this baby would grow up to be. Or maybe she did know!

My Dad is the most importmant man in my life (besides my hubby) and I am so thankful for him. He has taught me so many things about life and love and most importantly about Jesus. He's has shown me the importance of giving to others, being kind to others, trusting in the Lord and so much more.

Dad has given me memories to last a lifetime! I can recall story after story of things we did together when I was a child! Some were as simple as him tripping on a sidewalk in front of the Compaq Center years ago, or spitting out an onion as we ate a cheeseburger while I laid in a hospital bed (for 12 days) and later noticing the same onion stuck on the wall! That was pretty entertaining to an 11 year old! I can remember the time we rented a pontoon boat in Arkansas and my sister wanted to jump in the lake and swim, and being the cautious and protective dad that he is, insisted he jump first to make sure everything was ok. Little did we realize that the boat had no ladder to use to climb back in the boat and it took about an hour for us to get him back in the boat!

My Dad is hands-down, the BEST dad on earth. Dad, I love you and am so thankful for you. I don't even think there are words or gestures to show you how truly important you are to me. I hope you have a wonderful day and are showered with love today!

Oh, and I hope you enjoy that new birthday truck!!!

Love You Always,

Jennifer

Mini Vacay Update

So we did go to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago and it was a blast! I don't have any pics from Schlitterbaun because I used a waterproof disposable camera, but I have lots of pics from Sea World and the Riverwalk.

We had a blast with my sis and her family! I will just let the pictures speak for them self!!!

Mini Vacation...Just what the Dr. ordered!!!

Tomorrow is the start of a mini-vacay for us and the kids.

Friday will be an all-day affair at Schlitterbaun-New Braunfels. James and I haven't been there in about 9 years. My kiddos have never been. Very excited!

Saturday will be Sea World day! We took Jacob when he was about a year old and haven't been back since. Jenna is sooooo excited, as this will be her first time!

Sunday we are taking the kids to the Riverwalk!

Will post lots of updates and pics when we get back!

Hasta la Vista!!!

Happy 6th Birthday Jenna!!!

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY JENNA!

8/4/09

Yesterday was my baby girl's 6th birthday and what a day she had! We started our celebration on Monday evening at the local skating rink for her "official" birthday party. She had a blast as well as everyone else. Jen's Nana & Poppa rented the entire skating rink just for Jen and her friends and family. How great are they!?!?!?! We skated, ate food, ate cake, watched Jen open her presents and then we even raced each other.

The first part of the skating included playing "Simon Says" which is really hard to do on skates! Poor Ginny Morrison, she was one of the 1st was out! Jenna made it to the end, but Jacob pulled out the win! After that we did the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance, which was lots of fun because even the people who weren't skating participated in their shoes or socks.

After the pizza and cake, we skated some more. I think this is where most people had the most fun because we did a few relay races. All girl's raced first and Taylor Coker blew away the competition. Reagan and Jenna came in 2nd and 3rd place followed by Bibiana, Chloe', and Gabby. That Chloe'...you have to watch her, she is a little cheat! ;-) The boys raced next, and Jacob came in 1st then Devin and Jaxon.

I would have to say that the adult race was the highlight though!!! The contestants were: Chip, Heidi, Sheldon, Christine, Me, James, Rachel, Ginny, Misty, Mr. Stockton and Kelli Coker. Sheldon was the winner and I don't even know who was next. I do know that Kelli did the splits upon takeoff and Misty fell too! Have you ever watched adults try to re-live their younger days on skates??? Oh man, it is really funny! The last race was the skooter race that I think Sheldon and Christine won, followed by a close second of Misty and Chloe'!

Jenna you have wonderful friends and family that love you very much!



The next day, her actual birthday, James and I woke up and took her, Reagan (her friend), and Jacob to Incredible Pizza. That was an interesting event too. We went on Senior Citizen day. Have you ever had to fight an old person at a buffet line? We almost did!!! No, but seriously, they were serious pizza eaters and they were everywhere!

After that, we took Reagan home and then went swimming with Rae, JD and Chloe'. Jenna had tons of fun and I think her favorite part is when the lifeguard blows the whistle for the kids to get out of the pool so the adults can swim...she hits the concession stand everytime that whistle blows!

After all the swimming, we finished off her birthday at Cracker Barrell. (Not at her request, but at mine...we have free kids meal coupons!!!) But, she loved it. Nana, Poppa and Mema even joined us there and the waitstaff sang Happy Birthday to her.


I hope that we made Jenna fell special on her birthday. I grew in a family that just doted on you the whole day of your birthday. They just really make a big deal about it and make you feel so special and that is one thing that I hope to pass on to my kids.

Jenna, we love you, are thankful for you and hope that you know how much each one of us love you. Jenna, you bring spunk, spark and sass to our family and we can't imagine our family without you!!!

Love You Bunches, Mom

Skating is awesome fun excercise!!!

The other day, my kiddos were invited to a birthday party at the local skating rink. I took them and low and behold, I found myself skating right along beside them. It was a blast. So, a few days later I loaded up the kids and my hubby and got my sis, bro-in-law and niece to go back with us.

We had so much fun! Skating just makes you feel like a kid again! There is nothing better during a hot Texas summer than going to the skating rink and skating while the wind blows in your face!!! Jacob decided to participate in the 8 and under race for boys and blew away the competition! He was awesome and even won a free drink! Jenna raced in the girl's 8 and under and I was extremely proud of her too! She is about to be 6, so she was younger than most of the girl's, but she still tried. She came in about 7th out of probably 10 or 11 girls, which isn't too shabby. She didn't fall at all and that is huge for her!! My girl loves to skate. She wants to take skating lessons and is even having her birthday party at the rink next week. Here is a video of her dancing on her skates. I love this video, it cracks me up everytime I watch it!

Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did!!!

Weigh-In Update...

WOW! This is what I thought when I stepped on the scale at the gym this evening! I fooled myself. I thought I was having a really crappy month but the last few days I kicked it into overdrive!

Total lbs lost from 6/17 - 7/16 = 6lbs
Total Weight loss from Oct '08 = 52lbs

Every month, my trainer takes measurements and calculates my BMI (body mass index), on 12-29-8 my BMI was 42% which is considered morbidly obese (that's embarassing!) but tonight he informed me that is has dropped to 25.6% which is only .6%from being in the average range. So pumped and excited! He actually had the nerve to say, "Dang Jen, you were fat when you came in here, but look at you now!" I did punch him in the arm for that one though!

I am so thankful and excited that I got off the vicious cycle I had been on of wanting to lose weight but doing nothing about it, to finally getting off of my butt and doing something about it. Before I started my diet and exercise routine I had some health issues that started to worry me. I snored so bad that James would have to sleep in the other room many nights. My son told me that he would get scared because he thought I would stop breathing at times, which I did thanks to the sleep apnea from my weight. I also had severe heartburn every single night, it didn't matter what I ate or didn't eat. Every morning I would wake up tired and my lower back would be hurting me so bad. It sucked! I was tired all of the time and never felt good. Also my triglycerides and cholesterol were way to high and my doctor suggested that I start take medicine to get them down. All of these symptoms at the young age of 29...I was way to young for that!

Well, after the first 25-30lbs, every symptom had vanished and my cholesterol and try's were back down to normal. Every lb I've lost after that has just helped me feel even better, not to mention my dress size keeps decreasing (Yay!). So if you are reading this post and wondering what in the world I am ranting for, it is simply because for tonight, I am going to let me be proud of me! I don't do that very often, I am probably most own worst critic, but not tonight. Also, if anyone can relate to the vicious cycle I was talking about, contact me. I would LOVE to help you get off of that cycle. I feel like I am getting my life back after a whole decade of wasted time!

Life Gets in the Way!

This past month has not been a very good month for weight-loss. With celebrating birthdays and more birthdays, being at baseball tourneys every weekend and just simply not making good eating choices, I have only seen a very slight budge of the scale.

The bright side is that I have gotten in all of my training sessions and have done my extra cardio! Btw, if any of you need a good trainer in The Woodlands area, I have the best! I will hook you up! ;-)

So frustrated how I have just let life dictate my food choices the last few weeks. Sometimes it seems like the closer I get to my goal, the more I sabotage myself. Why? Why? Why?

This is the time for me to just dig in my heels and keep pressing on...and that is exactly what I intend to do. So, this time next month, I hope to have a good report!!