So Little Time

I feel like the past few weeks have flown by. It's been crazy around here with Spring Break, the Pinewood Derby, and me having Sharing Time for the month of March. It seems like forever ago that I posted anything. Anyway, I did reach my first 20 lbs. last Wednesday and also found out I dropped my cholesterol 48 points. It is the first time in 7 years I have had good cholesterol and not borderline. I am keeping myself busy with working out, watching what I eat, and trying to take care of everything I need to do.

Two weekends ago my mom, sisters, and 2 nieces came for a visit. My cousin was having a bridal shower in Mesquite so they all came down a day early. We traveled to Zion National Park and went hiking. We also had to go through the tunnel. Katie says the only way to do that is to scream, honk, and holler. It was pretty entertaining. We were able to get two hikes in that day - Riverside Walk and Canyon Overlook. The kids did really well and we all had a great time. That night we went for frozen yogurt at Krave because I'd been telling them all about it. Cara and Kincade weren't down here for the hiking and missed the yogurt, but we had fun with them down here anyway. The bridal shower was Saturday morning. We got in some shopping before and after heading to Mesquite. They left Saturday night.

Brax was out for Spring Break after from that Friday until last Monday. It was fun, but very busy. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday my grandpa Cowley came down for water meetings and stayed with us. After dropping him off on Tuesday we headed out shopping. We also went swimming with some friends at the Washington City Rec Center. It was a lot of fun and the pool had quite a few things to do. Brax even went down the hydrotube about 7 times. It was shocking! We were able to get a few other things done that day before picking Grandpa up. We dropped him off Wednesday morning and then headed to Zion with Branden's brother Bryant and his little family. We got four hikes in that day and I could definitely feel it the next day. That night I had the Relief Society Birthday Party. Our friend Rhett also came to visit and spend the night. Thursday was the Pinewood Derby and nothing much else got done besides get ready for that. Brax raced a car for a friend who was out of town and had a great time. Friday morning Brax and I got up and headed for Venice and Glenwood. We had a fun visiting family and we both had a hard time leaving Sunday morning. While there we spent time chatting and I went to a Pampered Chef party. We had a little family party on Saturday night at my parents. We got up Sunday morning at 7 and headed home so I could give my sharing time. On Monday Brax and I just hung out and got laundry done. It was relaxing. On Tuesday of this week I helped in his classroom and went Visiting Teaching. Wednesday was Primary Presidency Meeting. Thursday I had Futsol, but I was sick and stayed home. Last night I went and played competitive volleyball. It was a lot of fun, but man am I sore. Today we had a futsol game. Branden went with the Scouts to pick up food. We did a little rearranging of the house and got my sharing time ready for tomorrow. Needless to say, we've been very busy and I look forward to a mostly calm week next week.

Dr. Seuss Week at School

Last week was Dr. Seuss week at school and I can't go without posting pics of my little man. He is so funny and we had so much fun! Last year I made him 2 hats and bought him one. He wore each one this past week. We had a lot of fun coloring his hair for crazy day and I hope you all like the pictures of it.

Braxten's new found love is taking a blanket out on the back lawn and lying down. We've gone out there a few times over the past week. I have a picture I will include.

Weight loss is not going so hot for me, but great for Branden. I am down a total of 14.2 pounds in 7 weeks. Branden is down 7 lbs. in 2 weeks. It's amazing the change I have seen in both of us. We started using a program called Lose It which is on loseit.com. You type in your weight and goals. It has places to record your food intake and exercise. It also tells you how many calories you can eat a day to reach your goal. I did go for a bra fitting yesterday and found out I am down three cup sizes. I need to find a new bra ASAP. It is the smallest size I've worn since Braxten was born. It is an awesome feeling and I'll keep working at it.

Proud Parents

Yesterday I went to Braxten's SEP conference with his teacher. I'd been considering getting him tested for a reading disability. After yesterday though, I'm no longer going to do that. Braxten is currently reading at a 1st grade level and we couldn't be more proud of him. He still needs to work on his fluency and speed, but lately he has gotten to be a lot better reader. Talking to Mrs. Barton really helped calm me down a lot about Brax. She said that part of the reason she believes he was behind in his reading is because the time when most kids are starting to learn to read a little bit, he was in speech therapy learning how to speak. He still has trouble with a few sounds, but he's come a long way with that too. He is doing really well with math and spelling. He is also the only child in his class to return his take home books 100% of the time. GO BRAX! That is his responsibility.

I didn't know you could learn so much about your child at SEPs, but I learned more than just what is written above. Braxten's writing is very pointy and good at math. Those two things lean more towards a logical personality most commonly found in engineers. He is very sensitive and gets his feelings hurt quite easily which leans towards me as well as the being good at spelling. After learning all of that I decided that Brax is a good combination of his parents.

Anyway, after all of the learning and talking to the teacher. We went to the Book Fair. It was buy one book, get one free so we did. After that, I took Brax to Krave for frozen yogurt. It's a pretty cool place. They have about 10 different kinds of frozen yogurt and probably 50 different toppings. I wouldn't have found it myself. My friend Crystal told us about it while we were at the book fair. It was fun and look forward to going there again.

A Great Day

This is going to be a short and sweet post. I weighed myself today and I'm down another 2.4 lbs. in a week. It makes my grand total 13.2 lbs. Branden has also joined me in the quest to lose weight. It is nice having a partner and someone to help motivate you. I guess it also helps because we're both competitive, especially with each other. I'm hoping to lose another 20 lbs. by June. It'll be great! Anyway, I'll post something else next week as well as weight loss reports.