The New Mii on the Wii

Our ever generous dog, Dakota, gave the family a Wii this year for Christmas. Have I mentioned that? He also found Wii Fit(okay Dad helped) and Wii Play. The console comes with Wii Sports, so we've been pretty entertained by Wii.
The first thing we had to do is make a Mii, which is the Wii version of ourselves. According to our son, Kevin and his girl, Erica, you can't make your own Mii. You can have input, but you can't make it. So Kevin made all of our Miis.
Hubby's fits the personality he likes us all to think he has, a grumpy old man. Mine, well it's a likeness of me, kinda. Patrick's looks just like him, as does my much older sister's. Her's could be her driver's license picture, it looks so much like her.
So we have our Miis and we use our Miis to exercise and play. I love Wii Fit. I never would have thought a "game" could work me out. But it does. After exactly one week, I can tell such a difference in my exercising. My scores have improved in everything and my Wii Fit age today was 44!
Your Wii Fit age is determined by your BMI (Body Mass Index or body fat), your weight, your true age and a few exercises the Wii had you do everyday during your body test. At one point my Wii Fit age was 53!
So I do Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics and Balance Exercises. We play Bowling almost every night (I'm the family Champ!). I've done down hill skiing, ski jumping, shalom skiing, swimming, hula hooping (my first Wii injury), along with alot of other fun games. I think this was an even better investment than our pool!
So far I've lost a few pounds, which being Christmas and a few other things that cause girls to gain weight it's really a good thing! I'll take the few pounds! You can set goals and mine was to lose 5 lbs in two weeks. The Wii recommends losing 3. The Wii tracks this goal for you, letting you know the progress (good and bad) every day. It lets you know how long you've worked out total and how long you spend on each exercise. It also gives you extra things to do and games to play as you progress, so you aren't overwhelmed by it all.
I'm hoping to keep this up every evening after I go back to work, we'll see. It takes the two of us about 3 hours to do everything. Rick is even doing the yoga!
Such fun! You should try it!
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

OH MY! She's Posted!

I know, it's been a week and I haven't blogged a bit. I need to catch you up on my exciting life, such as it is. I'll try not to be long and boring, but you know that sometimes I just rattle on. So get a cup of something and have a seat.

Christmas this year was one of the best in recent past. Not so much in bounty, but the togetherness and fun we had. We wrapped money up for the boys, no Santa this year. They got boxes of tissue, contact lens solution, clothes, empty boxes all with sums of money in them. They really enjoyed unwrapping and counting to see how much was there. I used different denominations of bills in and around each present, so they had to stop and figure the running total. In the end, everyone got the same amount. While it was exciting, I don't know that I will do that every year. I didn't miss the shopping tho.
As usual, the dog got us the best present. He bought the family a Wii, Wii Fit and Wii Play. It was the highlight of our day. Everyone played, including my much older sister and her husband. I am the Wii Bowling champ in our family. Rick and I do the Wii Fit every night and it's an amazing program. Rick even does the yoga and is better at some of the poses than I am. I just can't get that Tree Pose down to save my life. The Wii has gotten us off the couch and active in the evenings. We'll see if it still wins out when the new TV season starts.
Speaking of Champs, me again, I am the Fantasy Football U Pick Em Champ for our league. I am the ONLY girl and probably know the least about football of the 4 of us. I have to say I was sweating the last day of games as the guy in 2nd place needed to win 4 games to catch me and we had picked four games opposite. But like usual, my teams won and I am the Champ! It was a great victory for me, as I had been a last place finisher most of the other years we've done this.

Day after Christmas was a bummer day for us. Our friend, Rod, lost his battle with liver/lung cancer Christmas night. We had just found out his diagnosis the Sunday before Christmas so we were all shocked it was so sudden. Rod was a man with a heart of gold. You know the one, he would do anything for anybody, he's always there to help in anyway he could. It didn't matter who you were or what you needed, he would be there. He helped Rick so much when he was Quarterback Club President at Escambia. Rod and his wife, Brenda, would have cook outs after every game and all the boys and parents were invited. We had so many good times with them, traveling to State, and college games. I only wish his big heart would have held out a bit longer. We will miss him.

That's pretty much it for the past week. I've been busy cleaning and cooking, which I do enjoy doing when I'm not rushing home from work. I've taken a day to explore the new Scrapbook store here in town, which shows great promise. This week my much older sister will be back for a visit. We are going to do a day of scrapshopping and then a crop this Saturday for Gulf Coast Wings of Hope.
I will post more I promise!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day celebrating this holiday, enjoying family and friends.

Where Did Tuesday Go!

It's Christmas Eve! I stayed so busy yesterday that I didn't blog. One of the things I promised myself I would do these two weeks off is blog every day! Oh No!
I spent yesterday making more cookies, doing laundry, cleaning house and running errands.
At 3 I laid on the couch for one of my 20 minute power naps that I'm famous for and woke up and 4:45! I was amazed I slept that long, that the boy or the dog didn't wake me and the phone never rang! What woke me was the cell phone ringing in the other room, my friend, Sharon, calling to wish me a Merry Christmas!
I ran into several friends while out running errands. It was nice to see them and catch up. I think everyone and their brother was out and about. The stores were packed! I scored a special present that hubby had been looking for. He's helping the dog shop. The dog buys the best presents for our family. He's Santa's special elf. I think everyone will be happy.
Kevin arrived home about 9:30 last night. He brought Christmas dinner with him. I won't tell you til Christmas what it is. I want everyone to be surprised. Since my sister reads this, I won't spoil the surprise for her. But it's good!
Kevin also brought home the Wii, and Wii fit. We stayed up til almost midnite playing that. I beat hubby 2 games in bowling. Then they played golf and a few other games. That machine is amazing and the first video system I can say I actually want! It was fun watching the boys do the yoga. I didn't attempt that, I will today when I'm not so tired.
I'm off to straighten up, do dishes and make some breakfast for these boys. A bit more shopping to do and I'm done!
Merry Christmas Eve!

Monday, Free Monday!

It wasn't back to work for me today, and I took advantage of it sleeping in til well after 8. Now I have that drowsy feeling you get from oversleeping. It's also only 29 degrees this morning, good sleeping, cuddling weather. BRRRR!
What a difference a day makes!
As promised, pictures from our Cookie Exchange Saturday. Ann has such a beautiful house, and she had it decorated from floor to ceiling.
When you first walked in the door, the carolers greeted you. Aren't they adorable?

 

I spied this little prize right away. It was a consolation gift for being eliminated from the big gift basket. I won it, sorry to say, the consulation prize that is. It's okay! I love snowflakes and this little white bucket will stay in my scraproom yearround, holding something or other. The snowflake hanging from it will be added to my collection that I hang in my dining room windows. I create Florida snow by hanging snowflakes in the windows. I have different ones, shapes and sizes, just like the real thing!

 

We played several fun games. In one we had to get in groups of 3, blow up red and green balloons, stuff them in a pair of pantyhose, alternating colors, get one member to "volunteer" to put them on their head, and sing the entire Jingle Bells song. My team won, thanks to my teammates, Melanie and Sharon. They of course enjoyed their prizes while I had to pose for a picture.

 

Here's our cat, Boots. This is his favorite place to lay lately. He does walk around here thinking he's God, so I guess it's appropriate he spends Christmas season laying in the manger.

 

Saturday Night

I've been a bad blogger. All the last minute stuff before school got out for Christmas kept me away from my blog. Now I'm off two weeks, I'll probably post more than I need too.
Tonite we had Ann's Cookie Exchange. It sure wasn't our momma's cookie exchange! I think we drank more bottles of wine than we ate cookies. Not that we needed cookies, there was plenty of food. I took my famous Cheeseball and everyone loved it. Someone brought Redneck Caviar. It was a mix of veggies in a dip, kind of like a salsa. I have to get that recipe! There were Teriyaki Chicken bites that were to die for and Ann's Cheesy roll ups were delish too. Another recipe I have to get.
Some where along the line we played a few games. I'll post the pics tomorrow, but somehow I ended up with pantyhose filled with red and green balloons on my head singing Jingle Bells. Don't ask how many glasses of wine that took.
My new wine of choice is White Merlot or Light Merlot by Berringer. I think I had too many glasses to remember. Some one bought a bottle of some kind of Reindeer wine, it tasted like Reindeer p... YUCK!
I'm off to bed, pictures sometime Sunday, I promise. I needed tonite, it was soo fun!

:J

5 More Days

Til I have two weeks off! I can't tell you how excited I am about this! I have no plans, other than baking and scrappin'. I don't care if I go anywhere, I don't care if I do anything. I just want a few weeks of home.
Kevin should be home for a few days, Christmas eve. Daniel & Felicia will be here Christmas day. All will be good again.

Now I Hope YOU win!

Check this out! 12 more days of giveaways! Hurry! It's today!
http://www.designmom.com/2008/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-giveaways.html

:J

Wednesday was not a good day for me. Last night we were rear ended while sitting at a red light. The driver got out asked if we were okay, told my husband to pull over to the side to exchange insurance info and then took off! We didn't even see where he went!
We are okay, a little sore, and our car is in better shape than his. His hood was crinkled in half, headlight out, driver's side front panel crinkled. But our bumper is cracked that's all. How Fun!
Needless to say, I didn't sleep much all night. I have a meeting at work or I'd just stay home. Merry Christmas!
:J

OMG! I Won!

One of my favorite things about Christmas the past two years has been Tim Holtz's 12 days of Christmas. Tim is a mucho talented artist who makes fantastic altered projects using some of the funkiest things.
Every year Tim does a 12 Days of Christmas tag set, doing a tag a day for 12 days. He teaches a variety of techniques and does beautiful creative projects. I guarentee, these tags won't be thrown out with the wrapping paper.
I love checking his blog and usually I make a comment. TiM is so generous, he picks people from his comments to win items from his line of creativity tools. Today he picked my comment!!
Just when I think you can't come up with another cool technique, you outdo yourself again! I love the snow technique and am already thinking of a thousand ways I can use it! I finally have a way to incorporate snow into this Florida lifestyle! :JPosted by: MamaJayne - December 07, 2008 at 6:41 PM

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this! This is my first time ever winning anything like this. How cool is that!?! I can't wait to see what I won. I'm hoping for the new Metallic Crackle Paint!

My day is made! I hope yours is just as slendiferous!

Strange Man at the Mall and other happenings

 

Okay, this isn't the strange man, these are my sons. I don't know why it didn't work the previous post. But I'm trying again! From left to right; Patrick, (the youngest) Daniel, (the oldest) and Kevin, (the middle). The youngest is available, the two older ones taken by girls who are scrapbookers, so I'm NOT even thinking about finding them new girlfriends!

So now on to my encounter by a strange man at the mall.
Since I'd put in a few weeks ago to take a half day off today, thinking I was going scrappin' with my much older sister, I went ahead and took the half day. Even tho, our scrappin' crop was canceled. I thought I'd do some shopping, some Christmas related, and some shopping for me.
For me, I was in pursuit of a plain white turtle neck, mock or real. Do you know how hard they are to find? Apparently turtle necks, especially white ones, are not "in" this year. I can't find a one! My search took me to the the mall. I don't know what I was thinking, out of my head probably. The mall? on a Friday afternoon? But I did, thinking maybe Lane Bryant, who always carries alot of staple shirts in a variety of colors, would have a white turtle neck. The answer was no there too and rather than fight a crowd, I left the mall.
As I left the mall, walking across the parking lot where alot of cars were coming into the mall, a shiny, black car pulls in front of me. The car had tinted windows, the guy inside had on a dark leather jacket and sunglasses. He didn't look criminal or anything, but a bit on the arrogant, flashy side. He looked at me and was rolling down his window, as I thought quickly "okay, is he going to rob me, rape me or does he just want directions?" and "what am I going to do?" I started to just ignore him and walk past, when he suddenly gave me a "WTH!" look.
OMG! It was then I realized it was my oldest son! Did I ever feel like two cents. I never expected him to be at the mall in the middle of the day. I'm sure he didn't expect to see me either. He lives about 40 miles from here, but was in town to see about his car and meet a friend for lunch. I apologized profusely for ignoring him, that it just didn't look like him nor was I expecting him. Too funny! He drove me over to my car so I wouldn't be robbed or raped and we laughed. I guess while trying to be "aware of your surroundings", my imagination was on overload.

I made it safely home, with no turtleneck tho. Just some fond memories of my strange encounter at the mall.

Pictures, Pictures!

It's a rare occasion anymore to get all three of my boys together AND get them to cooperate for a picture. I won't tell you how many I had to take to get them all looking the same way, at the same time, smiling, with no bunny ears behind one or the other of them. From left to right, Patrick (the youngest) Daniel (the oldest) and Kevin (the middle)

 

We were lucky enough to get Rick's coaching buddy, Mike to come to dinner too. Mike said he ate more that day then he'd eaten the previous 6 months. I promised him that when we are in the playoffs next year, I'll cook for the coaches the way I cooked Thanksgiving day. Rick on the left, me in the middle, and Mike on the right.

 

If sharing headphones doesn't say love, what does?? Kevin & Erica shared a movie after dinner.

 

Patrick is used to being the center of attention around here. While he enjoyed having his brothers here and all our other company, he enjoyed the next evening, relaxing with the dog, after everyone had left. Patrick doesn't realize it, but the dog is really the center of attention. LOL!

 

That's all that Blogger will let me post, 4 pictures. More again another time. Because I left out some VIPs that were at dinner, snow pictures, and a few other wild things.
I hope you enjoyed them...

and the Blessings Were All Counted

The past week has been a blur, but the pictures are clear, even tho they are still in two different cameras. I'm starting to think Thanksgiving should be a week long celebration. I'm starting to like it better than Christmas. It's like all the fun without the gimme's and commercialism.
We began celebrating on Sunday with our kids and my sister & brother in law. Kevin & Erica cruised in first on Saturday night late. It's always good to see them. Susie & Truman were next, arriving early on Sunday, while I was in the midst of cooking. I like to cook it all, so no, no one else has to do anything. I did have Kevin & Erica bring the rolls, and Danny & Felicia brought deviled eggs. But I think I'm taking those duties back next year. (I also forgot to buy/make those things, so it was great to delagate at the last minute).
We didn't have pumpkin pie, but we did have Triple Berry/Apple/Rhubarb Pie and those Cream Cheese bars that I "never make for us" and of course, Kevin's Pink Fluff. But all the boys love the fluff, it's not just for Kevin. He just brought the recipe home. So we ate way too much food, watched way too much football and played a game of Trivial Pursuit til I couldn't stay awake any longer.
They even cooperated and wrote up journal cards with what they were thankful for. Which everyone was pretty much on the same page, except Patrick, my out of the box thinker. He was "thankful my mom makes us do these wonderful activities" and leftovers and of course, "thankful for tomorrow when everyone leaves". He likes being the center of attention around here. Which is hard for him to do with two older brothers in the house.
I made it through work Monday and was totally shocked when a co worker offered me FREE tickets to the Packers/Saints game that night. Then I was totally sad when I had to turn them down because we needed to pack for our trip on Tuesday. But it's a good thing we didn't go, the Packers lost badly. It would have been too painful to watch in person. Kevin & Erica went, and had a good time, despite the loss. Our tickets went to another Packer fan friend, who had never been to a game. So I'm glad for that.
Tuesday we flew the friendly skies for 3 hours to Milwaukee and then drove til 2 a.m. (3 hours after landing) to the inlaws house in the woods. Yes, there was snow on the ground and it was 13 degrees. Yes it was d-mn cold, especially since I left my coat packed in my suitcase.
Wednesday after sleeping in, we just hung out at the house until it was time to go to mass/Eucumenical service with the inlaws. Rick and I both got put to work there. I helped with the refreshments and he helped his dad with the collection/handing out programs/everythingelsehisdaddoes. It was a very nice service and the church was packed with people from 3 churches in their community. By the time we got home, Rick's sister had arrived with her husband, daughter and two granddaughters. The grands were already asleep, but we chatted til the wee hours with the adults.
Thursday was dinner at their friend's lodge on the lake. What a nice dinner! We gathered for attitude adjustment at noon and dinner was about 1. It's such a beautiful old lodge, over a hundred years old with alot of old handcarved woodwork and history throughout. Dinner was scrumptious and afterward the kids cleaned up while the adults chatted. Such fun!
Sadly Rick's sister & family had to leave right after, but it was good to see them for a short time. I had fun with the girls, they are at the fun age (4 & 7). All the little ones were so well behaved.
The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing. I put a huge dent in my Christmas card making and showed Rick's mom how to make bows for her packages. She was so enthralled that the next day we went to Hobby Lobby and bought her all the supplies she needed!
Saturday my brother drove up from Illinois to visit. It was great to see him again! We spent most of the day just chatting but took him to the lodge for dinner. He loved the place. After we got back to the house, he showed me some neat tricks with my camera, and we looked at old pictures from Rick's family. It was well after dark when he left, so I worried about him making it home (3 hours).
Sunday, all too soon, it was time for us to go. The snow I had prayed so hard for had begun to fall. But it wasn't heavy enough or falling fast enough for us to delay our trip, so off we headed. Of course, THEN, it started pretty heavy, but the roads were good enough to get us through. It was a very pretty drive, tho, I would have much rathered sit in the house and watch it fall.
After plane delays and plane delays we finally made it home at 11:55 p.m., I headed straight to bed, opening my suitcase only enough to get my jammies out! It was good to be back in my own bed.
Our trip was fantastic, never long enough. The week was peaceful, relaxing and reflective. Just what a Thanksgiving celebration should be.
Pictures another day, I promise!

:J