You Capture/Spring

Spring is finally here. At least I thought it was here until I woke up this morning and it was 33 degrees. It was 60 by the time I left work, so maybe it is here. If you look at these pictures, I think you'll think spring is here. All the pictures were taken this past week at either my house, my place of work or on the March for Babies. I'm really proud of some of them. Hope you like them too. Spring has sprung at Beth's so head over and drink it in

The 21 Day Challenge

Today starts a new challenge at the Sisterhood. It's all about forming new habits. Did you know that they say if you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit? We are going to be testing that theory. We are supposed to pick one to three new habits to try. I've picked mine. Would you like to hear what they are?

First, I am going to get more sleep. I am the worst at going to bed at a decent hour. It's not uncommon at all for me to go to bed at 1:00 and then get up for work at 5:45 or 6:00 at the latest. I know that isn't enough sleep, but it doesn't stop me from doing it. My plan is to do this in increments. The first week, I'm shooting for midnight, 11:30 the second week and 11:00 the third. Sounds logical, right?

Second, I am going to exercise no less than 30 minutes a day, six days a week. I've been slacking in that lately. I'm thinking that if I go to bed earlier, I can get up a little earlier and exercise before work. I have no excuses for not doing it later in the day then.

Third, I have to get back to drinking more water. When I gave up diet coke for lent, I drank a ton of water. I also drank a lot of ice tea. I still drink the ice tea, but the diet coke is creeping back in. When the diet coke creeps back in, the water gets put by the wayside. No more! I will drink more water starting tomorrow (she says as she takes a drink of diet coke).

Lastly, this is a weigh in day. I'm sorry to say that I gained this week. Not much, just .4 pounds. Without the Weight Loss Warriors to keep me honest, I slacked off a little. I have to get back my enthusiasm. I'll find it, I promise. I'm going to post this now and then go see what everyone else is doing. Talk to you all next week.

Freschetta Giveaway

Do you like pizza? Me, myself and I, we love pizza and so does my family. I was contacted by Bolin Marketing and asked if I would try the new Freschetta FlatBread Pizza and give them my honest opinion of the product. Well, this is right up my alley, I thought. I said yes, of course. One of my smarter decisions ever. First off, the new FlatBread pizza is delicious. Our favorite was the Zesty Italian. It has pepperoni, Genoa salami, Italian sausage and a blend of asiago and mozzerella cheeses. So yummy, I will be buying it over and over again.

I also received a big surprise. I thought I was getting some free pizza coupons, which I did, but I also received a pizza kit. It is so nice. It included a pizza stone, pizza cutter, oven mit and free pizza coupons. Now here comes the good news. They also sent coupons for me to giveaway to you and a pizza kit to give to one of you too. Are you happy now?

Here's how it will work. I will draw four winners. The first three will receive a coupon to try the new pizza and the fourth will win the pizza kit.

Here are the ways to enter...

1. Leave a comment telling me why you like pizza. (mandatory)

2. Follow the Freschetta people on Twitter and let them know if you like their products.

3. Follow the Freschetta people on Facebook and tell them if you like their products.

Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.
I will draw the winners on May 4, 2010.

Good luck everyone.

Isn't this kit great? Hope you win one too!

Walking for Some Very Special Angels

Yesterday, I had the honor and privilege of walking in the March of Dimes March for Babies. I was a member of Team James and Jake. James and Jake became angel babies in January of 2008 at 19 weeks gestation. This is the third year that their mommy and daddy, Brian and Beth Fletcher have led their team. This is their mommy Beth. She is one of the most inspiring and loving women I have ever had the pleasure to know. To know Beth is to know what true love is all about. She is so very special.

This is James and Jake's new little brother Eli. I don't doubt that he was guided here by his big brothers.

This is Anna and Noah. They are James and Jake's big sister and brother. They are wise beyond their young ages. I had a lovely conversation with Anna during the walk and she talked about how she had four brothers. She was so sweet, it just melted my heart.

This is Rhonda, Mary and me. I met Rhonda and Mary through blogging. Rhonda is one of Beth's best friends mom and Mary is Beth's mom. We had a wonderful time together. Being the elder statesemen of the team, we had to suck it up and finish the walk. It was a little tough that last mile. We all decided that five miles would have been perfect. We also decided that when I get done with school in June, we are going to start meeting once a week to walk together. I am really looking forward to that.

These are the members of Team James and Jake. Last year, I had very little idea who most of these people were and now, I call most of them my friends. There are still a few that I don't know. I'll remedy that next year. I exceeded my goal in fundraising and so did the team. It was a very special day and I am proud to have taken part in it.

Spring Fling/The Final Weigh In

The Spring Fling challenge at the Shrinking Jeans has come to an end. I finished my last week of the challenge with a one pound loss. I'm happy with that. It's been a crazy week over here with the birth of our first grandson. I was a little worried about how much I'd lose. One pound is good.

This has been my best challenge ever with the Shrinking Jeans. I lost something every week. I never once had a gain. My total loss for the challenge is 7.6 pounds. I can finally get my 15 pound button.

My team, the Weight Loss Warriors are fantastic. I love the team challenges and this time I totally lucked out. My team was so supportive. We laughed and cried together. We encouraged each other. I love these ladies. They are truly the best. If we can pull off first place this week, we'll win the whole thing. That would be so awesome. If we don't, it's okay too. I can live with that. We are winners no matter what. Melissa, Brooke, Amber, Lisa and Misty, thank you so much. I'm going to miss this!

So, that's it. Check back and I'll let you know if we took first place and won the challenge.

Spring Organizing Giveaway

Update

Using random.org, the winner is number five which is Lissa. Congratulations hooker. Please email me your information. Thanks to everyone for entering. A new giveaway will be starting in a few days.

I don't know about you, but when I think of spring, I think of cleaning and organizing and decluttering. That's what I've been trying to do around here lately.

I started in my family room. I am considering a new entertainment center. Ours is pretty old and we just got a new tv. I was looking at corner tv stands at the CSN Stores website. Have you ever checked out this website? I was amazed at the number of things they have. They have furniture, home decor, housewares, things for home improvement, outdoor things , exercise things and so many more. I was very impressed.

I was contacted by a representative from CSN Stores and she offered me a giveaway for my readers. The giveaway goes along the same lines as what I have been doing at home. You will have your choice of one of three things from http://www.racksandstands.com/ . All three are for organizing and storing dvd's and cd's. I'll put the link to each item under the pictures so you can go check them out.

http://www.racksandstands.com/Atlantic-63712035-AL0354.html You would get two of these.

http://www.racksandstands.com/OIA-29692-IAB1131.html


http://www.racksandstands.com/Atlantic-1316-AL0010.html


This giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada and the prize will be shipped directly to you from CSN. Be sure to leave your email address in your comment if your comment doesn't link back to a blog that has that information.


Here's how to enter...

1. Leave a comment telling me which item you would pick if you win.

Extra entries...

2. Become a follower of my blog.

3. Spread the news about the giveaway on your blog or on Twitter or Facebook.

Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.


I will pick a winner on April 26th using random.org.

My Loves

Words would fail me if I tried to describe how I feel about these three adorable angels.

Let's just say that I love them with all my heart and leave it at that.

Can you blame me?

You Capture/Fresh

Fresh cut flowers

I confess that I almost didn't do this week. I didn't have much time to do it and I really didn't want my post from yesterday to be second in line. But then I had a thought.

How about fresh out of the hospital?

It works, right?

I bet there is a lot of freshness over here.

As Promised, My Little Jack

Jack William

9lbs 15ozs

23 inches

April 13

2:34 a.m.

Check out the hair on this little man.
Not a lick of sleep all night, but boy were they happy.
With not much more than a lick of sleep, grammy and papa were pretty excited too.
Last night, I took biggest sister Natalie up to meet her little brother and see her mommy. Big sister Lizzy stayed home with papa. I don't think she would have liked seeing mommy and then having to leave her at the hospital with that new kid.
This isn't a great picture except for the radiance and pride on Sarah's face.

Natalie seems to like her new brother. She was a little concerned about the weird thing on Jack's belly button and she insisted on seeing his feet.

Yea, he just gets cuter by the picture, doesn't he?

I think he's starting to wonder who the crazy woman with the camera is.

And maybe he's getting a little bored with her. Enough with the camera already grandma. I could use some sleep. I had a rough night last night.

This is my sweet angel Lizzy. She looks pretty happy with the balloons her cousins sent her. Poor baby has no idea how her little world is going to be rocked this evening. That's okay. Grammy has all the time in the world to be sure this little one is spoiled rotten too.

So, that was my day yesterday. Having a grandson is quite the novelty. I told you before that it has been 25 years since we had a boy in the family. He's pretty special. Not just for that though. He's special because he is a wonderful gift from God. He's special because he is perfect and beautiful. He's special because he is my grandson. He's special because he has a family who loves him very much. But mostly he's special because he has two equally special big sisters who are the best around. They are going to take such good care of him. And lets be realistic here. They are girly girls, but they are pretty rough and tumble too. They are going to drive him crazy, but he's going to learn to love it, I think.

_________________________________________

So, I just went back and reread this before posting and I am in tears. Maybe it's lack of sleep, but I think it's pride. The great love and pride I have for this family. This family of two that has grown to a perfect family of five. Tonight, they will begin that journey. A family of five. I'll be there with camera in hand to capture the moments. It's going to be a lovely ride.

HE'S HERE!!!!!!!

Jack William was born at 2:34 this morning. He weighs 9lbs 15ozs. No length yet. He has a head full of dark hair and dark eyes. Jack and his mommy are both perfect. I'll be heading up there later this morning to take at least a million pictures to share with you. Needless to say, I am very happy. How am I going to go to sleep now? It's 3:57 a.m. and I'm far too excited!