My kids: What I am thankful for and what I love about them!

1. I am thankful for the opportunity God has blessed me with, being able to spend my life being their mommy and all things that go along with that title.

2. I am thankful that they are built like their daddy and that they are tall and proud!

3. I love that Mackenzie is exactly like her dad and that she gives him a run for his money.

4. I love that Jack is mostly like me....he's gonna make a great husband! I just don't know that I'll make a great mother-in-law....

5. I am thankful that neither one of them likes Justin Beiber!

6. I love that Mackenzie had to ask me the other day who Madonna and Britney Spears are.....and, after my vague answer, she still doesn't know!

7. I love that my kids have no problem speaking their minds or asking me about anything...and I mean anything!

8. I am beyond thankful that they are both Christians and I looove that they both accepted Christ on or around Mother's Day (one year apart)!!!!!!!

9. I love that they love school and are good students.

10. I love that they completely love each other, even though it is hard for them to admit it sometimes.

11. It cracks me up that Mackenzie (almost 10 years old) still wants to sleep with Jack on the weekends....and I find it hilarious that Jack always says NO! He says it is because she doesn't really want to sleep, she wants to play/talk/read and all he wants to do is sleep!

12. I love that Mackenzie LOVES Harry Potter. She has loved HP/Daniel Radcliffe since she was 3 years old and I look forward to planning their wedding in 15 years.

13. I love that Jack still covers his eyes with his fingers and plugs his ears with his thumbs whenever he thinks something scary is about to happen in a movie.

14. It cracks me up that Jack still falls asleep almost anywhere we go at nighttime.

15. I am thankful they are healthy.

16. I am thankful that they are also loved by the people I love most.

17. I can't wait for Mackenzie to be old enough to read Twilight AND The Lord of the Rings AND finally admit to me that she loves them, too! She says it will never happen but I know the truth!

18. I love that they still think "stupid" and "shut-up" are "s-words." I finally told them they could say "butt" but only at home with me and Scott...they still haven't actually taken me up on it. ;-)

19. I love that Jack says the funniest, craziest things and that he lets me quote him on facebook.

20. I am thankful that I get to sit here and type up these wonderful things about my kids and share them with you.

21. I can't wait to add more to the list!

Halloween Update and more news

I forgot to tell you about the Halloween party we had for the kids. Remember, I was complaining about parents not RSVP-ing? Yeah, well, they never did RSVP and only one boy from Jack's class came. No one from Mackenzie's class came. Thankfully, we have made some wonderful friends in our neighborhood with children close to my kiddos' ages that were able to come over. Mac said that she didn't mind that her class-friends didn't come because she had fun anyway. I was so proud of her attitude! So, why was I, the so-called "Grown Up" bitter?? Because I refuse to let the idea of "good manners" die? Because I didn't want my children to be hurt and sad? Absolutely! I am over it now, of course, but it was still frustrating. Mac said that some of her friends couldn't come over because their parents don't know us. Well, DUH! That was the main reason for having the party...so that Scott and I could meet her friends AND their parents! Oh, well, we'll try again another time..

Jenny Craig is still going well. I am cheating a lot, it seems, which I don't like but I have still been able to lose. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to let myself have a "cheat" day, especially now that I am exercising regularly. Most of the time, I am able to stay "in control" of my eating habits but this past week has been harder. We went to the movies and out to eat Friday night, so I assumed that would be my "cheat" day. I didn't go overboard; I just enjoyed some of the food I haven't allowed myself to eat in the last 2 months. Unfortunately, the next day (Saturday) turned out to be a REAL "cheat" day.

We were watching the LSU game and I was cooking for Scott and the kids and I came down with a bad case of the munchies. After I had snacked on some Tiger Tators (Zapps potato chips from La.), I decided that I was going to eat a meatball sub with my family. For the past 2 months, my family and I have eaten different foods at every meal and I have been okay with it. But, for some reason, on this particular Saturday, I'd had enough. I wanted to eat with my family...not just "with" them but eat the same food they were eating. So I did. And I liked it. It felt good to kick back with my family and enjoy the football game with some great food. It felt "normal." It also makes me feel angry because I wonder if I'll ever be able to be "normal" when it comes to food. I absolutely hate the way I have allowed food to control my life.

So, now, I have a couple of days before I weigh in and I must get back on track. Honestly, most days I do not struggle like I did this past weekend. I think it must be natural to have set-backs like that and I hope I am over this one. I'm pretty sure I am. I woke up early this morning so that I could go for a walk/run but I couldn't find my sports bra anywhere without waking up my family, so I decided to catch up on my blogging! I'll exercise later, I promise!

And, for those of you who are counting, I've lost 18.6 pounds so far. My goal this past week was to lose 1.4, so that I can be at an even 20 (in 2 months!) but I don't know if I will make that goal. If I don't, I don't...if I do, I do...I just have to take it one day at a time....

Halloween

It is unacceptable that I have not blogged 18 days! The crazy thing is that I think about blogging all of the time: what to blog about, when I am actually going to sit down and blog, etc.. My reasons for putting it off usually come down to these 2: MY idea is not good enough or long enough to blog about and I don't want to go sit in the office to type up my blog.

We have an office in our house that allows Scott and me to each have a desk and computer, which is great, but I am realizing that I don't like to spend as much time in there as I did in our Borger house. Bella is not allowed in the office so, if I get on the computer during the day, I also have to keep an eye on her, which means I am constantly getting out of my chair and looking for her, making sure she is not getting into any trouble. Some days she makes it very easy for me and lays down just outside the office door. She knows she can't come in here, so she will put her head down at the exact spot where the tile in the foyer meets the carpet in the office...pretty darn funny.

So, if blogging during the day doesn't work, why not blog at night? Well, my family is here at night and I don't want to spend time on the computer when I can be snuggling on the couch with my kiddos. MY solution is to get a Mac Book Pro so that I can do my computer stuff and sit on the couch with the kids at the same time. Scott agrees that this would be a great idea...if Mac Books weren't so expensive and I didn't already have a working computer!

I thought I was one step closer to getting one yesterday because my computer was making a crazy noise. It sounded like a Harley Davidson was racing around in there. My wonderful, computer geek-of-a-husband knew something was wrong with the motor and he promptly took it apart and fixed it. No laptop for me...yet. ;-)
Now that I've explained all of that, let me think about what else has been going on....

We had a wonderful Halloween. This was Mac and Jack's first REAL time to go trick or treating. In Katy, we'd just take them to the few houses on our street and in Borger, most of our neighbors didn't really participate in trick or treating, but in our new neighborhood, they were able to truly experience the fun. Our neighborhood had a block party first, which was fun, then the T & T-ing began. After walking around for about an hour or so, Jack was ready to throw in the towel. We dropped him off at the house so that he could help Scott pass out the candy and then Mac and I finished the neighborhood. I now walk/run regularly but, for some reason, when we got home that night, my feet and legs were so hurting so badly, I could hardly move! We were completely wiped out but it was fun! The best treats of the night? A neighbor gave me some fresh rosemary from his garden and Mackenzie received a can of root beer!

Fun was had by all and, what little candy we had left over, Scott brought to his office. It is now the second week of November and the kids still have candy left. I told them they should save it because there are a few movies we will be seeing this month and I'll sneak their candy in the theater for them!!