The Man of the House

Our Sunday's lately aren't as smooth as one would hope. With Ray on the High Council he is only in our ward once a month. Which leaves me to be the frazzled single mom with four kids. Church goes just as you would expect. Sippy cups flying, kids crying, and me smiling on the outside, but freaking out on the inside.

This last Sunday had been a particularly trying day at church. And it was pouring rain when church let out. When we pulled up in the driveway all of the kids hopped out of the car and went running inside leaving all of the car doors open. My calls to them to come back and shut the car doors went unheard. While I am sitting there in the car having a pity party for myself, I see Benny coming back to help. He shut the car doors, then came around to my door and opened it for me and even unbuckled my seat belt. I told him how proud I was of him and what a great job he was doing as being the "big man in the house" while Ray was gone.

And of course the person to thank for that is Ray. What a great example he is to our sons. On that note, it might be time for Ray to tell Benny that he is a little to old for the one piece PJ's.

Weigh day already?????

The honeymoon is over. This week was brutal. Every half eaten peanut butter sandwich left over from the kids called my name. Every nibbled on granola bar left on the counter looked like Thanksgiving dinner. My body just wanted food of any kind in any form. Did I resist enough for a weight loss this week????
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-2 lbs

Whew! I was a little worried I wouldn't make it!

(And I honestly wouldn't have if it wasn't for this blog)

On to week three!

The Basketball Game

Last Saturday Ray had to ref a young men's basketball game. I was so sick, so Ray kindly offered to take ALL THREE kids with him. It probably goes without saying that it was kind of a disaster.

Will was CRAZY. He ran all over the place. Ray ended up having to hold him while running up and down the court for about 3/4 of the game. At one point Will ran across the court causing a boy to slide out of the way trying to avoid knocking him over. Another time in the game the whistle is blown and all of the players stop. Ray looks at the other ref and says, "What's the call?" The other ref says, "I didn't blow the whistle, you did" Just then they see Will stuffing a whistle back in the bag and running off. That sneaky little Will. I am sure he is going to be banned from the court before he ever steps foot on it as a player.

(this picture of Will has nothing to do with this blog subject really, it is just such a funny picture to me so I posted it. He is in a lion costume for an 18 month old!)

It's Weigh Day

Today I faced the scale and I was a little shocked!

This week I lost.......
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-8 lbs

Crazy I know! I am not doing a crash diet either. Just good old fashion calorie counting. I have 1800 a day. (I had to add calories because I am still nursing). And that is about it. My body must just be ready to get rid of this stuff!

Thanks for all of your support. The pressure of having to post this today was very motivating!

25 LB Challenge

Yay, don't you love it when you get pictures back where you thought you looked so cute only to see an insane postpartum stomach? Well, Avril is 6 months old and it is time for me to do something.

Starting today I am issuing myself a 25 lb weight loss challenge and to motivate me I am going to post my weekly weight loss results on my blog. Weigh in day will be every Friday. So you can check on Fridays to see whether I have gained or lost weight that week. And yes, I will be totally honest. My goal is 25 lbs by the summer time.

I asked Ray if I could join him at the gym on his lunch break. I said, "now be totally honest, would that bug you" Here is his reply, "Ya, one day a week would be awesome, I mean if it was every day that might be a little much" We both busted up laughing. I totally understand the need for guy time.

In the past Ray and I have worked out together consistently and it was fun, but I think I didn't follow guy protocol in the gym. One time Ray looked like he had pulled a muscle in his shoulder and I was like, "Oh did that hurt, let me rub it" he then jerked back like, "whoa, don't baby me right now" It was pretty funny.

Christmas vacation

We went to Utah for Christmas this year. Here are a few of the highlights...

Will wearing Hannah's hand me down snow clothes

Sledding

Chinese dinner Christmas Eve (a Benton family tradition)

Ray finally getting proof that his "fortress of solitude" exists

Yes, our kids are Brady Bunch lovers....I mean they like to wear robes

Building snow tunnels

We had such a great time visiting family and friends. And we dearly missed family we were not with.

Merry Christmas!!