Happy Independence Day!!!

We went to a firework show on base Thursday before the the real fourth of July. It was one of the nicer shows they have put on in recent years.  

 We sat with friends and watched the show it lasted about 30 mins.

 Brody and his friend Christian looking for more to pop. We actually spent the real fourth of July at our house with a couple of friends and their kids, they had a good time swimming in the pool. All in all, it was good day.

Graduation

Brody graduated from Pre-school the othere night, and looked so cute in his blue cap and gown.

They all did a really good  job saying the pledge of alligance, and they sang "He's still working on me."

I was so proud of my little man!

 

I sometimes wish that he could stay just like this forever.

Next graduation will be Sydney's in 3 more years.

 

Coca Cola 600

The Coca Cola 600 was fun, but it sure was hot. I think it must have been 90 degrees and it felt like 100. This is my second time going to a Nascar race but the first time we came early enough to walk around. Nascar races are really fun, but this one was really long. I was so glad we were sitting in the family section of the track because I was able to take Brody under the stands and let him jump in the bouncy castle. And we didn't have anyone around us drinking alcohol, which is always good when you have a little one with you.

 I really wish we had a golf cart, we had to walk halfway around the outside of the stadium to get to our seats.

Michael Waltrip our only celebrity sighting.

I think my boy really liked this blue car.

I couldn't believe that there was a petting zoo

Thank goodness they had bouncy castles.

Getting ready for the white flag

Racing baby!!!

I love this shot. I feel like I'm in the movie Cars.

Still working on me

I can't believe that I'm putting this out there but I am really proud of myself. Over the past few months I've been working very hard to loose weight, I've not been a healthy or at my ideal weight in years. I started early this year when I weighed in at 175 Ilbs (yikes!!). I am lucky that our base has all women's gym with great instructors. I first  started working out 1 hour a day, five days and week and writing down everything that I ate. I now work out 2 hours a day five days a week and I had no idea it was going to be this difficult. Sometimes I get frustrated because the scale won't  move and it don't feel like I am loosing weight. My gym had a program that started in March called Bikini Boot Camp with lots of classes available and some 3 hour classes on Saturdays. It just ended and I have lost 16.5 inches overall and my weight is now 162 Ibs!! I am so pleased about the inches lost, that I just had to write about it. I have a long way to go and the most difficult part of all  is watching what I eat, I love food and sometimes I over eat.  My goal is loose at least 10 more pounds by my anniversary in July, wish me luck.

Here's some pictures of me during one of those 3 hour, Saturday Boot Camps.

I think we ended the day on the bikes. I was so exhausted and was glad it was almost over.

circuit class outside, it was so hot!! My favorite part was putting on the boxing gloves and getting my frustration out.

Insanity (needs no explanation)



Pool time

It's that time of year again, pool time. We had to replace the pump this year (that sucked) but it's so worth it. I love swimming with the kids in the afternoon after the sun has gone down.

So far Brody has not wanted any help, he's swimming all by himself.

Now I just have to find the money to clean the deck and replace some of the boards. I'm sure we'll manage to figure it out.

The reason we don't have a lot of rafts is because as soon as the wind blows them out of the pool, this little monster chews them up.  But who could get a mad a  face like that, I'm sure he's sorry.

Summer Wreath

This is my first tutorial so I hope that I don't disappoint. My neighbor had a beautiful wreath on her door so I went to her house for advise. She helped me make the bows and gave me some ideas for my own wreath.

First I bought a wreath from Michaels for around 5 bucks, then I bought the rest of the supplies below. I already had the pipping and some of the ribbon. I think I spent around $12.00 for everything. I used a coupon and they were having a sale on their flowers.



First I took a bundle of spring flowers and shoved them into the wreath. I mean really shove them in, make sure they won't come out.

Then just fold it over.. half around on side and half on the other.

Now I placed a bow in the center of these flowers. I used piping to hold the bow together and made sure there was enough to tie to the wreath.

After you tie it to the wreath and you are happy with the placement of the bow, cut the excess piping.

I bought two large flowers; green and orange these were a little expensive so I only bought two. Cut the stem with wire cutters and placed on either side of the bow.

I also bought a three of these little flower bundles they were cheap, I used them for the top and bottom of the wreath to give it a dangled look.

You can see here where I placed some pink ones on the bottom

All you do is place the stem into the wreath do not use hot glue. If you are worried about messing up the flower, just pull it off and after you have the stem secure, place the flower back on.

Next I added my second bow where I felt I needed to cover a bare spot.

 I love these flowers, they are much cheaper if you buy in a bundle.

After I cut them apart (by the way, use wire cutters) I used them as fillers. Place them anywhere you see holes to make the wreath look fuller.

 I took some ribbon I already had and the leftover bow ribbon and

 folded them in half, held them together with more piping and attached to the wreath.

I did this step 2 more times until all my ribbon was gone.

And here it is, I hope you like it.