The twelve days of Thanksgiving - Boot Camp Style

Last Friday morning my Boot Camp instructor announced that we were going to go through the twelve days of Thanksgiving that morning.

1 - minute of jump rope
2 - laps around the track
3 - push ups
4 - stand up/lay downs (basically, hold a dumbbell over your head while standing and then lay all the way down and then get back up; that's one.)
5 - squat/jumps (squat down and then jump up with your hands in the air)
6 - triceps push ups on each side (lay on your side with the hand of your top arm on the ground, your other arm wrapped around you, like a hug, and then push up the top part of your body)
7 - leg lifts on each side (lay on your side and lift both legs up in the air)
8 - ab crunches (lay on your back with a dumb bell in your hands and then sit up with the dumb bell up in the air as one)
9 - side skates (jump sideways and touch the ground, then sideways jump to the other side and touch the ground)
10 - plateau on the ground then lift each foot/leg up
11 - jumping jacks
12 - squat thrusts (stand up, put your hands down on the ground by your feet then jump your feet back so your in a push up position, then jump your feet back up to your hands and then stand up and that's one)

So here's how it works. You start with one. Then you add two. Then you start over with one, two, and add three. Each time you start over at the beginning and then add another one.

And yes, I'm still very sore!

Dress and Diet Adventures

I've already posted on my other blog about shopping for wedding dresses this week with my mom, but I wanted to make sure you all knew to go there and check it out!
I wish we had more time to look at dresses, because it was just so fun, but I did try on a lot of them and since I'm waiting to get one until I'm a little smaller, it would seem smart to do another wedding dress party in a couple of months or so.
I'm up to 52.8 pounds lost now, and I'm feeling great! But I've got more to go.
I've also been getting up at 5 a.m. to do the YMCA workouts in the morning before I go to work, so I get them out of the way. It's pretty addicting, once you start and are in the habit of going, especially when you see the results! Friday mornings is where they have Boot Camp at the Y and it's so hard core, and I'm ALWAYS sore after that class, but I know it works so good, that it's hard NOT to go to it!
Either way, I am very thankful that I've got the motivation to lose weight and continue to have that motivation! And I'm also glad I waited to try on dresses until now, because as sad as it is, I just don't think I would have fit into any of the dresses I tried on this week, but maybe one!

Keep checking my other blog for other wedding dress updates though!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! Just wanted to share a few pictures of the family... in no particular order (since I can't move the pictures around after I've just added them... Oh, well).

I noticed these cute leaves hanging from a really sad empty tree, in the shape of a heart and thought it was too cute not to take a picture of.
Tony: still SO BIG!
Tony: playing "Peek-a-boo!"
Me, Ben, and Jason: A.K.A. Mama Bear, Baby Bear, and Papa Bear!
The kids: Katya (Cat-Woman), Jack (Spider man), Kristen (Barbie), and Ben (Urlacher).

Jack, showing off their cute pumpkin.
Baby Bella: the cutest pink baby bunny rabbit ever!
Bella and Auntie Francie... isn't her smile just adorable???
Ben was going to be choo-bah-kah (a word I can't spell) but didn't like it, so I snapped a few pictures before talking him into being a Bear with me and Jason!
Me and Barbie, and yes, I still have that Barbie song stuck in my head!

Number 20!

My little sister, Natalie, is now known as "Prego". That is her new nickname for the next 7 months or so. This means that once she has "baby nay-nay" I will have 20 (TWENTY!) nieces and nephews!
This also officially means that I am the last of the family to get married, AND the last in the family to have kids! I guess the best is always last! Ha! Ha!

I am so happy for you, Natalie and Adam! I can't wait to see that baby! Oh, and don't feel shy about naming your baby after your favorite sister (don't worry, I won't tell the others)! And don't forget you're still my matron of honor, too, so don't forget about all the cool ideas you have for my wedding! And Nat, please continue to tell me how hungry you always are and all the food you are eating... as it is really fun to hear about, now that I'm on a diet! lol

Yay! I'm going to be an auntie! AGAIN!

More cute pictures of Tony and Bella!!!

It wasn't easy, but since they both decided to wake up from their naps at the same time, and early too, I figured I make them pay me back with some cute pictures! I had to redress Bella, because somehow, and I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow, her cream dress she was wearing earlier, got milk AND mashed bananas on it... I'm sure it will come out, but I saw this dress in her room, and thought it was too cute not to be on her!
I originally had them situated so that Tony had his arm around Bella, but it just didn't seem to work well, so Bella latched onto his arm, which turned out to be much cuter!

I even think they both had fun letting me take so many pictures of them!

They were acting so sweet, so I thought it might be cute, if I got Tony to kiss his baby sister! I'm not sure what my sister is teaching her children, but my idea of "kiss" is not quite Tony's idea of what it is! But it sure makes for an awesome picture, doesn't it??? And the look on Bella's face is absolutely priceless!

There was something about Tony's look when he woke up from his name... I just had to take his picture! And his hair was so adorable! I didn't want to touch it! It was the perfect "bed-head" hair-do!

He's so handsome!

By the way, I took all these pictures on Lori's camera, and that's why I have to blog about them immediately, before she puts them on her blog and/or facebook first! Ha-ha! And I also uploaded them on my walgreens site so I can have them printed too!

And does anyone question that I love being an Auntie?

Well, I didn't win... but I did!

Today was the final weigh-in for the Slimdown Challenge at work. It's been going on since May and I've been working hard! This last week I've been working out at the Y mornings and after work and have been really strict about not eating dinners, or just not eat a lot of dinner.
I wanted to win the money, which wasn't even $200 but still, I wanted to win the money because I was going to donate it to Rachael's "Simple Wishes" charity for the kids that live in orphanages in Russia. Unfortunately, I didn't win. The money that is.
But I did win, in the end, because I lost weight! I weighed in as the third place winner with 15.25%!!! The two men that beat me were at 19%!
It was a pretty good competition too! A lot of "talk" throughout the entire summer. And it was fun too because we all kinda kept each other in check throughout all the events our department had!
Either way, I had a lot of fun losing weight and this Slimdown Challenge was fun and went along with my weight watchers plan too!
Anyone else losing weight out there? Tell me what you're doing!

One-on-one with Bella

Bella and I had a lot of fun last night. Just chillin' out...I love this sideways look, I think she was trying to see what Brewster (the dog) was doing.

She was trying to take off her socks, and they were on pretty good, so she really had to tug!
Here she's already utilizing her eyebrow look! So cute!

Bell's and Ton(e)-Ton(e)

I've been spending a lot of mine time over at Lori's house lately. Whether or not she invites me and Jason over for dinner, I still end up at her house, almost every other day of the week, if not more. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but I do know this much (and in no particular order:
1. She's a good cook.
2. When I cook, it's more fun for me to cook at her house than mine because her kitchen is bigger (and she has a dishwasher!).
3. She also has a grill and making baked potatoes and then putting them on the grill after rolling them in olive oil and coarse salt, they are AWESOME!
4. They literally have fresh-from-the-garden veggies readily available!
5. They have the back porch almost done and a fire pit, just perfect for s'mores!
6. And... I love, love, love her kids!

Bella, is just a cute little baby! I call her "Bells" most of the time. And she loves it when I sing to her! In fact, if someone can give me some cute baby songs to sing, that would be most helpful, seeing as I can only get two stuck in my head, "With Bella in the family... happy, happy, home!" and "The Itsy-bitsy-spider" which she just loves! Most of the time, if she's crying, and I start singing, she stops! And sometimes it helps her go to sleep too! I love it! And I've also been able to join Lori and Bella and Tony for Sabbath School and I take Bella to her little class and she really likes it! She likes the songs and the toys. But it's a real work out! I have to pick her up to take her to the felt board and then go back to my seat and put her into her little baby seat, and then 2 minutes later, they want us to go up to pet the stuffed animals, and then back to our seats and back and forth, and back and forth! If it weren't for the cute looks on her face, I just don't know if it'd be worth it! But you can really tell she loves it! Oh, and they also sing songs the whole time and one song they sing and come around and put a little crown on their head and let them see themselves in the mirror, and she loves that part!
And tell me, how can anyone resist those cute little cheeks???!!!???


And Tony, who I affectionately call "Tone-Tone" is so adorable. He calls me either Francie, or Auntie, when he sees me and it's all jumbled up, but I know who he's talking about and I love it!
The other day I pulled up and Lori had Tony in his favorite red wagon and he didn't want to go inside, which is the case ALL THE TIME so I told her I'd hang out with him, so she could go inside and make dinner. I pulled him all through the eggplant field and he has the cutest little laugh that makes me laugh!By the way, don't look at his shirt, because I know it wasn't super clean, but I didn't want to change him and then get another shirt dirty, since we were out playing in the yard! But isn't he just so adorable? And he's in that stage right now, that he says whatever you want him to say. It's so cute! Oh, and the other day, Lori put on an episode of Barney (yes, I know, but if you saw the way he reacted to it, you would want him to watch it too!) His eyes lit up and he just sat there in a trance watching the opening song of Barney! And it's actually quite educational too!

That's all for now! I just wanted to write down what's been going on!

Okay, so Notre Dame lost last week...

A co-worker of mine, Jimmy, and I made a bet on the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game last weekend. If Notre Dame won, he'd have to wear a ND Jersey for an entire day at work. If they lost, then I'd have to get him his favorite long-john donuts.
But I wasn't going down that easy!
Luckily, for me, the local bakery hooked me up with green "ND"s on all the donuts! BOO-YAH!

Some of what I got at Fields!

Natalie has been asking about what fabric I got at Fields Fabrics this last Monday, so I decided to take a picture of them and blog about it! I only got 1/2 yards of each of these and I also got a few remnants and one of the cute pink wools that Rachael got!
I love the brown, orange and deep red in this print!
Nat, I think you made something out of this before, but I just love that color blue with the brown!
I think this one will look cute with grey or black accents or a bright flower maybe???
The pink above and the one below go together and will be a really cute purse! One on the outside and one on the inside. I think Nat's MIL Julie made a purse with the blue tone of the print below, and it turned out super cute!

I like this print (below). It reminds me of those candy corn that comes out in the fall and Grandpa Chuck, because no matter what the season was, he always had that candy in his candy dish!And here's a wool/polyester fabric, I think will look cute as a Hobo bag of some kind. Can't wait to get sewing!
So... when is our next sew-marathon? Rachael and Natalie???