My First Wordless Wednesday (from cell pic)

i *heart* thursdays

I am participating in this weeks I "heart"... at You and Me Plus Three. Go there now to add yours and read others!!

i ~♥~ that my mom kept BOTH girls for us one night this week.
i ~♥~ that my MIL is here for a visit =) The girls are super happy too!
i ~♥~ that I have a night planned away with the hubby soon!
i ~♥~ that we have an awesome back yard full of stuff for the girls to play in/on/with! They love it!
i ~♥~ that I just racked up on the giantsproshop.com sale! My hubby and BIL's will be so excited when they get some of their gifts at Christmas. YES I said Christmas! Woo-hoo!
i ~♥~ the way the Lil' Cupcake pats me on the back and hugs me when I hold her. (Which is all the time!)
i ~♥~ the Princess ability to carry on such a grown up conversation now! Wow, it's so interesting the things she says =)

Mailbox follow-up

This will be a quick post. My lunch break is almost over and today is super busy. I just wanted to follow up on the mailbox. I am HORRIBLE about taking before pics. I get so excited about the project that getting it done is all I am focused on. Lucky (or maybe unlucky?) for me there was another mailbox in my block that is in need of the same facelift. I would say that before our makeover they could have been twinkies (except their numbers looked better, they were not so baked on from the sun, lol). So I did what any neighbor would do...I ran to my front yard looking all non-chalant and used my zoom lense to get a shot. Here it is:

New Mailbox

Over the weekend the hubby and I did some spring cleaning. I had ordered a vinyl mailbox number cut out off of etsy. I thought this would help me to decide if I wanted the silhouettesd or not. I did order the silhouettesd, and it came in Friday. Just in time for spring cleaning. ;-) Funny how that works, right?! Anyway, back to the subject. When we got to the work outside I wanted to give the mailbox a makeover. I will have to take a picture of the only other mailbox on our block that was in as bad a shape as ours to let you see just what a face lift this thing got! I started by taking off the box. All I need was a hammer to remove the nails that held it to the wooden post. I cleaned up the box and used some "goo gone" to remove the old letters that were baked on from that hot southern sun. Next I took off the flag so I could spray paint the box black. Black is the original color but it had really faded. Then I proceeded to the road to paint the old wooden mailbox post. Somewhere in blog land I saw another DIY-er paint a very dilapidated looking rocking chair. It looked great when they finished. The secret? KILZ! So the hubby was going to Lowe's anyway for new mulch and he picked me up some kilz. I painted two thick coats and then spray painted the mailbox with the left over antique white spray paint I had. I originally wanted to use my heirloom white which is a little more creamish but I had run out of it when I spray painted the birdbath. =) Anyway, after it all dried I applied the new vinyl lettering. The hubby re-attached the mailbox to its post and here is the result (disclaimer: took this pic with my phone and it was so sunny I could hardly see):

Later in the afternoon we ran out for errands. On the drive back to the house the hubby said, "Hmmm...the makeover on the mailbox really does look good doesn't it?" My thoughts exactly. And what did it cost me? $6.50 for the vinyl decal, a small bottle of goo gone which can be used again for sure, two cans of spray paint(both of which I had on hand from other projects), and a minimal amount of kilz. Not near as much as the new mailbox I priced at the home improvement stores! I love DIY for that reason. =) And now my mind is reeling with ideas for that new silhouettesd! All I need is time. =)

i *heart* thursdays!

I am participating in this weeks I "heart"... at You and Me Plus Three. Go there now to add yours and read others!!

This week the I ♥ link up is on Friday! The week has been so busy I am kinda glad it was later so I could participate =)
So here are my I ♥'s
i ~♥~ Katie is being released from hospital therapy TODAY! (she will still have it at home, just her family won't be chained to a hospital 24-7)
i ~♥~ that Katie will be able to spend time with her brother and sister!
i ~♥~ Easter weekend. It was LOTS of fun.
i ~♥~ that my MIL is coming to town next week. Yipee!
i ~♥~ that I'm starting to plan a beach trip with friends. Haven't done it in YEARS.
Most of all this week, I'm continually reminded that
i ~♥~ the power of prayer. Thank you God for all the things you have done for me and my family. You never cease to amaze me!

Weight Loss

So I am linking up today with The Getts Times to discuss Weight Loss tips and websites I use. I have had some experience with dieting! I am not an expert but I will tell you what I've done. I had a friend at work who did Weight Watchers. She got me interested in it because you can do the program while you are still a nursing mom. You just get more points. And that is awesome! I did it after both girls were born and was successful at losing weight both times. I did not go to meetings. The thought of someone weighing me is mortifying. I checked HERE to get the information on how many "points" I was allowed based on my current weight. I used THIS online calculator to figure out points if I needed to. And my work friend was generous enough to share lots of weight watcher tips with me. She was going to the meetings. She was also having success in weight loss with their program. After losing the weight from the second pregnancy I lost interest and got too comfortable before I lost all the weight I needed to lose. However, by this time my MIL had started weight watchers. She did an AWESOME job. She lost all the weight and has been doing a great job maintaining! She also shared some tips with me she got from meetings. One of my favorite tips from my MIL was for VITATOPS. They are found in my local grocery freezer section but you can click on the website I linked up and order from them as well. My favorite two are the Cranbran and Deep Chocolate, depending on my mood. You can't beat 100 calories and 6 g of fiber!!!!

My MIL discovered these from a website called HUNGRY GIRL. This website has a wealth of information on nutrition, recipes, etc... and you can sign up for daily emails from them too!

I am not a big cook. Probably because I work full time and we are only home for about 2 hrs before it's bedtime for the girls. Which means we get home, play a little, eat dinner, and get baths and get to bed. And that's packed full. I do make these alot:
My girls love them and so do I and it's a good 'diet' food. I also like the Arnold Sandwich thins:

I eat them when I make sandwiches or sometimes I add pasta sauce and fat free cheese to make pizza or I might cook up some sauted mushrooms, peppers, and onions and add in some diced tomoatoes and eat with this bread. (another one my MIL introduced).
Obviously excersize is alway key to losing weight but with our busy schedule I rarely have time. I am really active with the girls so that counts now, right?! I do try to work out when I can but I can't say I'm a regular. I am back to dieting but right now I'm counting calories. My knowledge of Weight Watchers is very helpful though! I know alot more about food than I ever did before I followed their program.
So how about you? Do you have weight loss secrets you'd like to share? Recipes for good diet food? Websites you visit for info? Get over to The Getts Times and link up, or check out the other linkies!

Katie - Recovery Bound!

Just an update on my niece Katie! This is the happiest post I think I've done. Katie has had a tremendous last few days. It started on Good Friday. Her mommy said for a brief time when Katie's eyes were open that she saw Katie in there. And since then it's only gotten better. Katie was released from ICU yesterday and moved to a room. I took the girls to visit her and let me tell you...this little girl has SO much love and support. It looked as though a toy store threw up in that room! I LOVED it! It was only a small portion of the amount of prayers that had gone up for this baby! Katie has begun to talk and gain more movement in her right arm. She had a couple of days of intense therapy to help her regain some items that haven't been quite right. But, she's doing SO much better. She was moved to another hospital where she will continue therapy to enable her to become herself again. I was so excited to see her little face, with eyes open wide. So excited to see her smile. So excited...just pure joy to be seeing this miracle! God is so good! Thank you to everyone who is praying for her. =) God listens, don't ever doubt it!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday in Alabama was gorgeous! We got up and daddy cooked us pankcakes for breakfast. Daddy worked more on his diffeq test and then we all got ready and headed out to church. When we got back home we stopped in the yard for a few family pictures:

We headed inside for lunch. Just grabbed sandwiches really quick because the girls were itchin' to get outside and hunt eggs again! I finished first so I went out and hid the eggs in the front yard. Total count for two girls: 50! Before you see the pics, we know our yard is a hot mess. Daddy is working really hard on it! While daddy was deployed I had a mulcher blade put on the lawn mower to make it easier for the person that mowed our yard. It caused problems with dandelions and all kinds of weeds! YIKES! And I haven't had the chance to get out and trim our hedges and clean out the flower beds but it's coming soon! ;-) So back to the egg hunt...
The little Princess RAN out of the garage as if she were in stiff competition Egg hunting! LOL!

She literally searched high and low. Look at that stretch!

Daddy was in on the fun. He kept the girls entertained with his skilz in easter egg hoops! LOL!

The Lil' Cupcake was on the prowl too! She had the hang of what was going on this time!

We had originally planned on going to my grandmothers (traditionally we do), however, Daddy still had to finish that darn test and Mommy wasn't feeling so hot. So we skipped it and stayed home. We still ended up having a wonderful day with the girls.

I finally was able to cook the hubby his birthday dinner he'd requested.... Lasagna. My mom and stepdad called and wanted to stop in to see the girls on their way back to the hospital to see Katie. It was nice that we all got to enjoy dinner together. The girls were happy to see them! Speaking of Katie, she is doing better every day! She has tried to talk! Her speech isn't back to normal yet and she can't say alot yet. BUT, she's still healing. Her mind is sharp as a tack! Yay! Praise God for the Easter blessings for her and her mommy and daddy!

How was your Easter Sunday?

City Egg Hunt (Saturday)

I've got so many pics this weekend I am going to do two posts to re-cap! This will be my "Saturday" post!

We started our day with an Egg hunt! The weather was pretty cruddy during the morning. Dreary and on and off rain. But, the city we live in has the egg hunt at the soccer fields every year. I've been going forever! The girls love it. This was the first year the Lil' Cupcake could participate. Since I had the camera I went with the Princess and Daddy helped the Lil' cupcake. At first Daddy was showing her what to do (I can not believe how tall she looks in this pic!)

Then she got the hang of it!

The Princess would hardly look at me so I could get a pic. She was all about this egg hunt!

Can you see all the people in the background? And ALL THOSE EGGS????!!! I do love our city for doing this for the kids! It's such a great event. The morning hunt is ages 0-5. The night before they have a night/flashlight egg hunt for older kids.

After the city hunt we took daddy for his birthday lunch at Red Robin. I didn't take the camera in so no pics there. But by the time we got home, it was HOT and SUNNY! Daddy was working on a differential equations take home test so I took the girls outside and grabbed popsicles!

Einie WAS relaxing in the shade until the girls saw him. The Lil' cupcake ran over to him first and then the Princess followed. He's not the biggest fan of the Princess. He tolerates her but she was the baby that 'dethroned' him.

The Lil' Cupcake came along second so he holds no hard feelings with her. By then he had figured out he really was our pet and not the baby anymore. LOL!

Hmmm...sidewalk chalk or popsicle, or both?

The afternoon included lots of fun outside. Jumping on the trampoline and swinging.

She was loving that popscicle!

The Lil' Cupcake's favorite outside pastime is SLIDING!
I grabbed the Princess and put them on the slide together and the next thing I know, she was lovin' on her sister.

Ofcourse both of the girls enjoyed the egg hunt so much we had one at home to practice for Easter Sunday!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Saturday as much as we did!
Have a blessed night!