Sometimes I'm the luckiest gal!

So I have to take a little moment out from the hCG humdrum to tell you how lucky I am. Why, do you ask? Well I'll tell you!

Throughout my life I have been blessed, repeatedly to find friends, via the internet....through scrapbook forums, and now Facebook....that have enriched my life beyond measure.

One special friend I'd like to mention today is my buddy Leigh.

Leigh is an amazing woman that has taught me so much about loving everyone and taking what life gives you and making the best out of it.

She was friends with my brother on Facebook and ended up crossing over into my world. I'll be honest...when my brother told me...yeah...she's got 27 tattoos (or something like that), and how ever many body piercings, I thought wow....she's a crazy gal! I am SO VERY GRATEFUL that I didn't let my initial thoughts stand in the way of getting to know my amazing friend. I'm also truly grateful that she has helped me to realize how special each and every one of God's children are, no matter what! (Even with all of those crazy tattoos! ;) )

One thing I adore about Leigh is her gratitude lists. She has so often encouraged myself, as well as others to focus on the things we are grateful for that God has given us. In fact, one day when I was having a particularly bad day, she prompted me to say my prayers asking for nothing, but only thanking Heavenly Father for all that I have. It made me realize how absolutely incredibly blessed I am.

* I am blessed to have the knowledge of Jesus Christ our savior that gave his life for us so that we CAN be together forever.
* I am blessed with a wonderful God Loving husband, who does everything he can for our family. Who loves our kids like every father should love their children. Who appreciates me for what I do. Who recognizes my needs.
* I am blessed with 5 amazing children who are not only my dear friends but teach me love and patience each day.
* I am blessed with a beautiful home, in a beautiful neighborhood.
* I am blessed with friends in abundance, who love me even though I might not be the nicest or best of person at times.
* I am blessed with parents and inlaws that love me and my family dearly and would do anything for us at any time.
* I am blessed with by my children having wonderful teachers that give so much of their time and their talents to better my children.
* I am blessed to have clothing and food (although I'd do just about anything for a pizza right now! ;)

She is truly optomistic. One Thursday when I was having a rough time she sent me a sweet message, to which I replied that I was wrapped in warm fuzzies. She then replied:

That's the way it SHOULD be! My buddy texted me yesterday and told me to imagine myself all balled up in G-d's hand. I told her he was squeezing me too hard (!!!). She said he just loves me so much he's hugging me a little extra tight.

So if you imagine yourself wrapped in warm fuzzies/ on a beach/ on a boat/ in His hand...it might just help change your perspective in a tough moment. :)

Happy Thursday!

And all of this coming from a woman that has recently been diagnosed with Lupus, and keeps on smiling and counting her blessings.

I just wanted to take this small moment to thank her for what an example she is to me. And to share with you the thoughtful bookmark that she surprised me with.

Leigh...I love you - you need to get your hiney back here to Utah one day so we can meet!

(PS - there's the photo for you! ;) Bet you weren't counting on getting it this way!)

Adios Dos punto Dos!

Well, I have to admit that seeing my scale drop 2.2 pounds is enough to face the torture of another day in "starvation camp".


What?

Starvation?

Yup. That's right!

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I couldn't believe that people would actually maintain a 500 calorie a day diet. Cause lets face it. That is dangerous! It wasn't until I did the research and really understood how this diet works that I felt comfortable and confident with using the protocol for myself.

If you aren't familiar with how it works, let me shed some light. (Now don't you poke fun, cause I'm no Dr. Lee. This is how my brain understands it all!)

You know when a woman is pregnant? Well she creates the growth hormone which is HCG.



This hormone is a wonderful growth hormone which not only helps ensure that the pregnancy moves along, but acts as a protection to the growing fetus. Think about it. How do women, in 3rd world countries, who are malnourished, continue to give birth to healthy babies. The answer in part....hCG.

During the hCG diet, the hormone that you put into your system, for lack of a better description, allows your body to safely settle into borderline starvation mode. By having the hormone present in your body, it unlocks your abnormal fat stores so that your body is actually consuming not a measly 500 calories daily, but upwards of 3500 calories, since the average daily fat loss on this system is 1 pound. It's the release of the dangerous fat stores that allows your body to maintain the energy needed to go about your daily tasks.



Another beauty of hCG is it protects the normal and secondary fats, which are the good ones. It also protects muscle structure so that you will not see a breakdown of muscle, cause let's face it.....when you've got good guns, why would you want to lose em?



Now you may be asking yourself, "well if this is such a miracle hormone, why do pregnant women typically pack on the pounds". Sugar. Starches. They are the mortal enemies of hCG. In fact, according to Dr. Simeons, if you are not 100% committed to protocol, and sneak in those sugary and starchy treats then you are running the risk of gaining weight "at an alarming rate". And lets face it....I don't know about you mommies out there but when I was prego donuts and cheeseburgers were my friend! I'd be willing to bet if you looked at the diets of those super cute basket ball belly mommies that they maintained a healthy diet during pregnancy filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.



Another wonder of the hCG hormone is the HCG actually resets the Hypothalamus, which means that at the end of your diet phases, your weight is actually re-set. Of course if you begin eating junk all of the time you will re-gain weight, but isn't that the same with any diet?

So for now, I'm managing my energy levels just fine...in fact even did an actual chin up for my first time ever last night. Also threw in a few minutes of crunches and push ups. My demon right now is trying to put the thoughts of starches and sugar out of my mind. I know it will be worth it! And hopefully I will train myself to have healthier eating habits, cause let's face it, starvation camp just isn't worth submitting to just to pack it all back on!



Even though it's been mentally tough, I expect it to get easier. It's nice however, since this diet doesn't come without an ounce of entertainment, cause if my husband were to take a pregnancy test.....well.....




Nuff said.

:0)

Journeyings of an HCG Diet

Wow. A resurrection to the blog. Don't all gasp at once. (All 0 of you that are likely looking. ;) ) I just figured it would be fun to document my daily journeyings on the crazy HCG diet.

I'll be honest. Over a year ago when I first heard of the HCG diet, I thought THAT's NUTS! Granted the temptation of being able to lose 20 pounds of fat in 20 days was ever so enticing, I never really put more thought into it....mainly because of the cost and the shots.

So I'm visiting teaching the other day and my partner, the bishops wife, begins speaking about her diet. Lo and behold she and the bishop are on the HCG diet. WHAT? REALLY? Not only that, our Fotoplay photography partner and wonderful friend Jen is also on HCG as well. Welllllllllllllll then.......I might just have to look into this cause if the BISHOP is doing it, then it must be okay! ;)

Research, research, research and MOOOOOOOOOOOORE research. Cause let's be honest, I'm not about to submit my body to something dangerous or unhealthy.

Finally.

Convinced.

This is okay.

And at such a fabulous price? I can't say no!

So many of you look at me and say, "you don't need to lose weight, you look great." You know what? I'll be agreeing with you. I do look pretty great for a mom of 5. But that's just it, I hate the tag line "for a mom of 5", cause I'll be honest, it doesn't really make me feel any better that I haven't been able to shed this gut. However I will be the first to agree if you look at me from the front, or the back? Well, it ain't too shabby!



But from the side?



ICK!

And for those of you who know me, you know I'm not an idle person either. I love to run. I mean I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy love to run. Look...this is me just after a race.



See! I do! I love it! But truth is, as crazy as I am about exercising, I just haven't been able to lose that belly fat. Granted, I have all too often splurged on foods that I shouldn't, so by forcing myself to have healthy eating habits at the risk of gaining some serious pounds if I do not follow protocol while on the HCG, I do believe is exactly what I need!

So this,




and these,



are my new friends.

I'm not saying it's going to be easy, and I'm sure there are days that will flat out kill me this first week, but I have already given my kids full permission to put me into time out if I get too hangry.




Cause I want this



to change to this



so that when I am one of these



I can be happy and healthy and enjoy every moment!

Somehow or another - the boy's got game!

JM is crazy. He's a crazy, crazy boy. So much different than Aaron. Aaron is more "gentle", loves trains, that kind of thing. JM is all about balls, cars and sports. I have no idea where this "sporty" gene came from as Tracey and I could both care less about organized sports, but I'm thinking that pretty soon we will be finding ourselves hanging out at baseball games and most definitely......basketball. I'll have to have Tracey make a better video cause it cracks me up how JM will hold the ball like he owns it, and more often than not, makes a shot....even when he's standing on the ground! But my favorite? The way he flips his hands at the end, just like the pros do!

What a day!

Life with kids is always a surprise. What is actually a surprise is the fact that we've lived for 2 years with John Matthew and aside from normal bumps and bruises haven't had any accidents to speak of with him. And that my friends....is truly a miracle. We're talking this is the boy that sees a photo of a skateboarder or a snowboarder and the look of longing fills his eyes, because he wants to be that person living to the extreme!

Anyhow, this Wednesday past we decided to go up and visit Grandpa Lee, Aunt Michelle and the boys Lee cousins that were up camping in Big Cottonwood Canyon. I truly loathe camping at this point in life, because the kids are so hard to keep track of, so a day trip isn't too horrible. That way they still get the fun, and I maintain sanity since I can sleep in my own comfy bed at night!

It was a beautiful day and Sarah and I took some of the kids for a little hike. We also ate lunch and played some games.

After a few hours I had reached my limit of chasing the Chuzzle and decided to head down the canyon with the boys. The girls stayed behind so that they could have a little more fun.

All it took was one text from Tracey to mention Pizza Benders and I was a girl with a mission....to get to Italian Village.

Boy was it heaven.

After eating Pizza Benders, we had a spur of the moment jaunt to Wheeler Farm so that we could feed the ducks. We had been there with the boys just two nights before, while Tracey did some filming, but we didn't have bread, so decided to take them back.








The kids had fun and I had fun snapping off a few photos of my favorite boys.




On our way out Aaron and JM wanted to play int he playhouse for a few minutes. No sooner had Tracey and I sat down to watch the boys, did JM fall off of the stairs and fell about 3' through the railing. Of course it was all in slow motion yet neither Tracey or I could get there quick enough! We though he was just fine until his blonde hair turned all red! YUCK!

Luckily there was a nurse sitting right there and she helped us clean him up and told us that he would indeed need stitches, so off we went in search of an Instacare to sew him up!

Now THAT, my friends was NOT fun....watching your sweet little baby, strapped into a papoose board, screaming his guts out, eyes just about bulging out of his head looking at me like I - as his mommy should be doing something to help.

So sad.

He took it like a trooper and ended up with only two stitches. Luckily they are in his hair so you will never see a scar.




I can't wait to see what he thinks when we take him in next week to have them removed!!!

Who said pushing 40 was a bad thing?

I love this photo. Every time it surfaces it puts a smile on my face. Why do you ask? Well because I was a 25 maybe 26 year old in this photo. Isn't that the age that you are supposed to be in your prime of looks? I don't know about you, but every time I see this photo of myself, I think "wow....you've got to be kidding me!"

I'm not saying that I'm any super model or anything like that, but I do think that for a mom of 5, pushing 40 (Okay so I really have 3 more years...just turned 37 last week), that I'm not looking too shabby. Oh and please excuse the self portrait that I just took of myself. No kiddos were awake to push the button for me!




I love that I have a hubby that encourages me to exercise and is every bit as motivated to keep fit and healthy himself so that we can live a long life together. So many days I find it TORTURE to get up an exercise, but then I remind myself of how I once looked, and where I'd like to be and get up and just do it. (With a little pulling and prodding and ripping the covers off of my by Tracey. You shouldn't have gotten me such a comfy bed setup for my birthday! ;) ) Seriously Tracey, thank you! And thank you for telling me that I look better now than the day we met. Same goes for you baby.

Another new addition....or should I say....Additions

So last night we were strolling around the ol' Walmart, because that seems to be what we do when we are bored. Actually Tracey was looking for some furry fabric, and unsurprisingly Walmart did not have any. What they did have right smack dab next to their fabric section (strange if you ask me) was their fish.

There was some lucky lil' dude getting himself a goldfish and Aaron marches right up to the momma of that lil' dude and tells her that he would like a new pet too. I guess Gary wasn't too exciting or something. Maybe too snotty. Who knows. The mother laughed which I don't think Aaron appreciated, so he turned to the worker and told her that he in fact would like a new pet too. He quickly pointed out the fish he wanted and was shot down yet again when the worker said that he would have to ask his mom.

So he asked.

I said "Maybe, but not today."

Tessa then quickly says "Maybe means never."

Am I really that reputable with my "maybe" answer.

I decided that yes, in fact I WOULD agree to having a goldfish (even though Aaron just broke our goldfish jar all over the driveway a few days ago).

So this morning, I packed up Tess and Aaron and off we went in search of our goldfish.

Somehow our GOLDFISH turned into "Plankton" and "Shrimpy...."Ug" and "Sunny". Oh and let's not forget "Fire" and "Ice". I mean, why NOT get a cute fish tank with a filter for $10 when a regular stinky goldfish jar would have been $7. Sure, maybe not the BEST of setup, but for the sake of seeing how it goes with more pets in the fam, I think it's great.

JM? He thinks they are the total bomb. Hopefully he wont try to take them out! Amazingly enough it's been 5+ hours and no one has died yet!

Meet Gary

I guess there is one thing to be said for the prizes that the kids claimed for themselves at Chuck E Cheese....we now have some "Fancy Livin" quarters for bugs.

What is it with little boys and bugs? Sheesh...what is it with little KIDS and bugs? Tess is equally as excited about "Gary" as the boys are.

We've already given Aaron the discussion how it would NOT be a good thing to feed Gary salt. Gary does not LIKE salt. Really, we don't know what Gary DOES like, other than Salt & Vinegar potato chips would likely be a bad choice.

Well Gary, I hope you enjoy your moments of captivity. I know the kids sure are enjoying having you around!

Baptism, Birthday & Campout.....OH MY!

Wow! What an incredibly fun filled weekend we had. Sooooooooooooo busy, and not what I would call relaxing by any means, but most definitely one that will be remembered for sure!

Saturday, June 6th, Tessa was baptized by her daddy bright and early in the morning. We had to be at the church at 8:20. It was no problem getting there on time, since Tessa was so excited for her big day!





We had quite a few of the relatives from each side of the family in attendance. It just seems so strange to me that Tess is already 8 years old. It doesn't seem that long ago that she was a little squirt.

I was so proud of Tessa and her decision to be baptized. I know it's more of a "thing to do" at her age, but her face was literally glowing with happiness. I hope that she will always remember how important this step is in her life and how as she grows older she will realize more and more the importance of her baptism, and the atonement of Jesus Christ.

After the baptism we had a little shin dig at our house. Lots of food! I felt like quite the Martha Stewart after having made a million and 10 puff pastries for chicken salad sandwiches.




We also had a less than eventful for JM birthday party moment since JM's birthday was on the 7th. (Poor kid having is birthday on a big weekend for Tess. Oh well. He's 2. He won't remember....right?) Grandma and Grandpa Lee got him the one and only thing that I could think of that he would like, since he's a loopy kid and doesn't play with toys. They got him the Fisher Price Bubble Lawn Mower. The kid loves being outside and loves bubbles so what better combination could there be?!?!




After the party, we took the little kids to Chuck E Cheese for their very first time....EVER! Maddi and Sarah will be sad that they missed out on the fun, but I guess spending time with Grandma and Grandpa is more appealing! ;)




JM was a crack up. The way he'd pump a token into the machine, press a button and wait for the tickets to come out. I don't know what the thrill is of collecting tickets to buy junk, but they LOVED it.

After that we went to Cabella's on a whim. Another place we have never been. Again...too funny watching the kids like they were hyped up on full doses of caffeine, Zipping from one animal to the next to the next!




We woke up on Sunday morning and the kids were excited to sing happy birthday to their brother. I was the total slacker mom that didn't really want more junky food in the house, so opted for JM's birthday cake to be a left over piece of Tessa's baptism cake. Nice. I promise baby, I'll make it up to you next year! I'll make you a groovy cake. No left overs. OK!

JM #2 from Tracey Lee on Vimeo.

After church we gave Matthew his basket ball hoop and I was sad that it wasn't the same one that he loves playing with in Nursery. Well, loves playing with it providing I am right there with him. The kid is just not too fond of nursery for sure. Anyhow, he was a little frustrated with not being tall enough to make baskets, but he will grow into it....right? Nothing like getting a bang for your buck!

It's just kind of sad to me that my baby is now two. These past two years have really flown by. As difficult as Matthew is with his speech delay, I know these times are precious and I try to enjoy each moment. Some moments are far better than others, but I know this time will pass all too quickly.

Having gone to Cabella's gave the kids the idea that they would like to sleep out in the tent. So we set up the tent, and they went camping for the night.







Honestly, back yard camping is my style. Dad gets to sleep out with the kids, and I get my comfy bed....no Aarons feet kicking my face....no Tracey snoring....just peace and quiet!

What a great weekend.

Sadly...I have to take JM for shots today. At least he will be accompanied by Sarah having shots as well. Happy birthday kid.

A girl has just got to love a NEW DO!

I can't believe that Maddi actually took the plunge to whack off her hair. She's been talking about it for quite awhile and both Tracey and I have been begging her to do something with her hair. Yesterday she finally did!

I can't believe how big and grown up she looks. I'm so grateful that she could care less about boys, cause heaven only knows, we are going to need all the help we can get when she does think that they are okay!







Here is also a photo that I took of some of the different varieties of iris that we have blooming in our yard right now. Don't ya love the nice chalk background. LOL!

Purple Cauliflower....who'd a thunk?

So today I was at the grocery store shopping for veggi's for the chicken pasta salad that I volunteered to make for our Relief Society Enrichment dinner tonight. You should have seen me stop in my tracks when I came to the purple cauliflower! I mean, honestly! Isn't it great! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add a little purple fun to the salad so into my cart it went.

I think the veggi producers must be onto something when it comes to kids. ALL of my kids were standing in line to try the "grape flavored" cauliflower. Much to their disappointment it tasted like regular cauliflower, but oh so much cuter.

Truth be told, I don't think grape cauliflower would be any good anyway!

Oh and the best part? It was actually CHEAPER than the regular cauliflower! Next time I'm buying the orange one!

Oh yeah. It MUST be summer!

I mean, what is it....barely 8AM and I offer ice cream to my kids for breakfast? Yeah. It's true. I did.

Nothin' more to say about that than HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO summer!

:)