Adventures in La La Land

1. I had such an amazing time last weekend with my girlfriends. We went up to Traverse City for 2 nights and enjoyed the perfect balance of downtime at the hotel and going out and about. We shopped, wine tasted, ate and ate and ate, sat in the hot tub, watched HGTV and TLC, giggled and talked and cried. I'm so blessed to have these ladies in my life: 2. So did you all notice that I got my smartphone this week? ;-) I'm going to drive you crazy with my Instagramming. Hopefully the novelty will wear off, but for now I'm loving it. I was worried I'd hate the touchscreen on my phone, but I've gotten used to it quickly. Thanks again, Rachel, for hooking me up with Republic Wireless! It's awesome! Some instagram faves from this week: This is my new go to when Lena is grumpy: youtube cat videos. 3. May 1st marked one month of trying to eat healthier/exercise. I lost 3 pounds (mostly in my boobs - had to go buy a stinkin' smaller bra). I still have 10 po...

Today you are getting the advance version of the Saturday 7 because I am off for girls' weekend as of 4:30 this afternoon!! Two  nights away at a hotel with good friends! Of course I'm already feeling anxious about leaving my girls, but I'm also really excited to get away. Haha. Paradox.  1. We had such a nice Easter with family. My girls looked adorable in their dresses, although they weren't thrilled with posing for a picture. 2. One of the best things I put in Lucy's Easter basket was a pack of raffle tickets I found for a dollar at Dollar Tree. She loves those things. We've been playing train and carnival a lot this week. :-) I also got her a book of mazes that she zipped through in 2 days! 3. Thanks to splurging on Easter goodies, I gained a pound this week. It made me really mad and I've been slacking as a result. How's that for counter-intuitive? 4. I'm sure you've seen on facebook that I reread Redeeming Love this week. If you ...

My little Lena Bean is 15 months old and it's time for an update.  Mostly I want to record all of the words she knows. I'm pretty sure Lucy was saying about 3 words when she was 15 months old. Here's Lena's list: 1. Hi 2. Bye 3. No (her favorite and most frequented) 4. Uh-oh 5. Wow 6. Whoa 7. Up please (uppee! - complete with little jumps until I comply) 8.Thank you/there you go - they sound the same and I'm never sure which one she's actually saying. Haha. 9. Mama 10. Lola (usually yelled in a scolding tone. Lola!) 11. All done/all gone - again, they sound the same 12. Fish (goldfish) 13. Dada 14. Amen 15. Eye 16. Ow/down 17. Hot 18. Brrr (cold) 19. Please 20. Baby She does sheep, cat, and car noises. She loves to growl but doesn't associate it with a certain animal yet. Haha.  She pats her belly to indicate "me too" or "take me with you." If I ever tell her we're going outside or...

1. A huge storm blew through here last Saturday. I've already written about it in this post , but wanted to record it here as well. As a result, we lost power for 3 days. We packed up and moved in with Justin's parents in the interim. We're so grateful to have family willing and able to take us in at the drop of a hat. 2. One night while were at Justin's parents', I heard Lena crying in the middle of the night. I stumbled down the hall to get her and heard Lucy singing softly from her place on the floor next to Lena's crib, "Jesus loves me this I know . . ." So precious! 3. Lucy's actually been full of it this week. One day we were in the car and she randomly asked, "Mommy, how did Lena get out of your belly?" I told her that the doctor helped me get her out, but she said, "No, like how?" I tried again to tell her that the doctor just knows what to do, but Lucy wouldn't buy that. Haha. She asked "Did the doctor cut ...

We've been on a roll with our Easter activities. This morning, we did the Easter egg scavenger hunt. I thought I'd share the clues/questions I made up in case anyone was looking for inspiration. I put two M&Ms in each egg: one for Lucy, one for Lena (who thought this was the best game ever!). Why did Jesus die for us? To take away our sin and make our hearts clean. Clue: Jesus made our hearts clean. Where do we go when we need to get our bodies clean? [shower] How did he die? On the cross Clue: The cross was made from wood. Where do we keep our wood for the fire? [fireplace/wood pile] What did they put in his hands? Nails Clue: The soldiers pounded the nails in with hammers. Where do we keep our hammer and nails? [toolbo x] Where did they put Jesus after he died? In the tomb. Clue: Where do we put wet clothes to make them dry? [dryer – discuss how it looks like a tomb] How long was...

I've been reading through the Old Testament and have noticed that anytime something notable happens, the people build an altar and are instructed to tell their children what the altar stands for in the years to come. I've heard it said that we need to have "altars" as well - visible reminders of how God has worked in our lives so we don't forget. Well, I'm going to use this blog for that purpose today. On Friday, I wrote a blog post about Lucy's fear of the wind. On Saturday, I had plans to go to a chocolate party in Grand Rapids. Earlier in the week, Justin and I had talked about all of us going down there and stopping at the mall before the party. Lena ended up taking a late nap, so we didn't have time to go to the mall, but it was raining and windy and Lucy had already watched 17 hours of TV. So we just kind of spontaneously decided to go together anyway. I'd take Lena with me to the party and Justin would take Lucy out for dinner. 15 minut...

1. Tuesday marked one week of dieting/exercising, so I weighed myself: down 2 pounds! I weighed myself again yesterday and was down another 2! One of the benefits of eating pure junk all the time is that my body is so shocked by healthy changes and sheds pounds immediately! Haha. I haven't been doing anything too hardcore. Normal breakfast of coffee and an English muffin with peanut butter, healthy lunch, small portion of regular dinner. Less snacking and less Dr Pepper. I generally try to stay under 1500 calories, but don't stress too much about it.  2. The exercise has been killing me. My knees seem to think I weigh 400 lbs and am 82 years old. I had to do 200 jumping jacks the other day (for the beach body challenge) and I thought I might die. I just kept thinking, "If the people on the Biggest Loser can do this, I can do this." My other problem is that I have zero core strength. My pregnancies totally destroyed my core. I'm supposed to be doing planks fo...