ARRRR!

Ahoy there from Disney World, me hearties! Okay, so we all look pretty stupid, but they made us wear these silly looking things on our heads. We just got back from the Pirates & Pals event, which was a lot of fun. Actually, it was a lot more fun than we imagined it would be. We met at the Contemporary Hotel. There were all sorts of snacks and drinks. That was hysterical in itself because people were grabbing things like crazy. It was like a feeding frenzy. Then we got our picture taken with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. After that, we followed them out to some boats where we went out on the bay to watch the fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom. It was really cool. When we got back to shore, Peter Pan was waiting, but we decided not to get our picture taken with him. He was kind of spazzy. He walked up to Neil and sniffed him and said, "You smell like a pirate." Then they both raced down the dock. It was pretty funny. They did a trivia game on the boat and Nathan won a backpack with a skull & crossbones on it. Neil came back with a pirate water pistol. Hopefully, we can get that back home through our checked luggage without TSA flipping out.

Tomorrow we're getting up early to go to the Animal Kingdom. We're going to Tusker House for breakfast first thing. The only reservations they had left was 8am, so we have to get there early. It's a character breakfast and also a buffet. I'm really excited about Animal Kingdom -- lots to photograph there!

Too funny ...

Okay, how funny is this. And sadly ... it's so true. I have developed the very bad habit of weighing myself every single day. It's not a good habit to get into, but once you do, it's extremely hard to break. Getting on the scale can make or break my day. If I lose, I'm in a great mood. If I gain, everything just feels cruddy from then on.

I've been doing really good about losing weight since I started using FatSecret to keep track of my food. I have been on a pretty good roll and have lost another 10 pounds since doing this. I had hoped to be at 63 pounds lost today, but I'm not. Even so, I did lose another four-tenths of a pound, although I only really keep track of the pounds by the whole number. Maybe tomorrow. Also, I honestly don't know what's going on with Blogger. Whenever I try to post, things are all jacked up. Either it double spaces and doesn't let me correct them or it won't let me format or edit. Yesterday's post has a typo and I couldn't get the lines to justify. I can already see it's acting up now and won't let me edit or change the font. Not having something I type look right is one of my pet peeves, so this has been really frustrating.

Three more days!

Wow, it's hard to believe we only have three more days until our trip to Disney World. When we first started planning this trip, we were in the hundreds. Now we're down to the last 3 days. For the most part, we're all packed and ready to go. I have a few things I need to toss in our bags before we leave, but mostly stuff we're still using. I'm keeping a list, so hopefully I won't forget anything. Our plan leaves early on Saturday morning, so we have to leave the house around 4am. I better set the timer on the coffee pot!

I was a little depressed when I saw the forecast for Orlando for our first week was filled with isolated thunderstorms. I've never been to Florida, so I don't know what that really means or how it will affect us. It's still supposed to be in the high 80s and 90s and then there are sunny days popping up for later on. Hopefully, it won't be too bad. I'm not looking forward to the humidity.

Speaking of weather, ours has been absolutely gorgeous the past few days. Warm, sunny, spring days have been few and far apart for us, so we've been taking advantage of being outside. I've had lunch on the deck two days in a row and have even managed to sit in the sun for a bit. I didn't want to show up in Florida looking like one of the ghosts in the Haunted Mansion. The boys have been outside playing too, which is good because they've been so cooped up lately. Neil even did his math, science, and health out on the front lawn yesterday. I'm sure we'll finish up today's school work outside as well. It's just too nice to be inside.

Nichelle is on her way to California right now. I'm sitting here worrying, of course, at least until I know her plane has safely landed. She has some crazy flight schedule where she's stopping in Denver, Los Angeles, and then heading to San Luis Obispo. She's going there for a wedding of a friend that she met through her missionary trip. The wedding is in Pismo Beach, so that should be really pretty. Afterwards, Nichelle and some other friends are taking the train south to spend a few days at Disneyland. I'm sure they'll have a blast.

Oh, one more thing ... remember how I was saying I hoped to have lost 60 pounds by the time we left on Saturday? Well, I'm happy to say I've lost 62 pounds! I still have a few more days and I'd really love to hit the 65 mark, but I don't know if I can do it. Only time will tell, I suppose. Anyway, I'm going to get back outside and enjoy this sun while we still have it!

Happy Mother's Day!

A few nights ago I was sorting through some things in my closet when I got down one of my old jewelry boxes. I don't use it regularly, but had some extra stuff in it that I didn't want to get rid of. Pictured here are three things the girls made me for Mother's Day over the years. Keep in mind that my girls are ages 21 and 20 now, so I've had these little knickknacks for a long time. The coupons are even perforated. They were too cute that I never wanted to rip them out, so I tucked them away in my box. I have the sweetest kids! Of course, every mom feels that way, but I'm blessed.

This morning Rick brought me breakfast in bed, which was a special treat. I was also given some beautiful cards, fresh flowers, gift certificates, and a French press travel mug. Now I can have good coffee wherever I go. I spent most of the morning on the deck sitting in the sun and even had lunch out there. The clouds are starting to roll in now, so it's back inside for the day. I hope everyone is having a great Sunday. Happy Mother's Day!

Cookies & Willpower

My boys and I are huge fans of the Frog and Toad series. We really wish Arnold Lobel had written more in the series. Nathan reads them in the most hilarious way, too. I'm not sure what it is, but he has this monotone sound to his voice and it suits both characters perfectly. Neil and I love listening to him read the books out loud to us. Today he read Frog and Toad Together and as soon as he finished with the Cookies story, I knew it was what I'd be blogging about.

In this story, Frog and Toad are eating lots of cookies, but become worried that they'll get bellyaches. They decide to put the cookies in a box, but that's not good enough because they know they can just open the box and eat more. So, they tie the box with a string, but realize they can easily cut the string. Eventually, they get a ladder and put the cookies way up high, but that's still not good enough. Frog says they need willpower to stop eating the cookies. He ends up getting the cookies down, cutting the string, opening the box, and letting the birds eat them. Then he says how great it is that they both have lots of willpower now. Toad disagrees and says Frog can have all the willpower because he's going home to bake a cake.

HA! It's such a great story. If you haven't read the series, you really should. It's hard to believe these books were written in the early 1970s. Like I said, the boys and I love reading them. During lunch, I went upstairs and baked a batch of cookies for myself. I have a special recipe I got from the weight-loss book I'm following, so these are something I can eat. Basically, they're peanut butter cookies, but using soynut butter and a sweetener instead of sugar. I was joking with Nathan about the book and how I needed to have willpower like Frog and Toad, so I was going to bake them now and have 2 tonight at dinner. HA! Well, two of the cookies broke as I was putting them away, so I had to eat them. I just HAD to because they were all jacked up. So much for willpower. Now if you'll excuse me ... I'm off to find some string for that cookie box!

Mickey's going to Disneyworld!

I'm sure you're thinking, "Huh? Mickey already lives at Disneyworld." I'm talking about my shorts here. I got these shorts in the mid-90s when my girls were little. I've had them packed away in The Box for years and years. Well, when I found out we were going to Disneyworld in May, I've been really hoping to lose enough weight to fit back into them. I'm happy to say I can. They're still a bit tight, but they're wearable. And if I lose anything between now and the time we leave on the 14th, they'll fit even better. So yay for Mickey!

I was so close to hitting 60 pounds lost this morning. I'm only two-tenths of a pound away. I probably would have hit it if I had waited an hour, but I was hungry and had to eat. I'm hoping to be there tomorrow or soon after. My goal is to lose 74 pounds, but recently I've made a short term goal to be at 60 pounds by our trip. Today I managed to squeeze into another pair of denim shorts I've been saving. These are 11s, which might sound huge to some of you, but it's a big deal to me. I haven't fit into this size in over 12 years and after wearing 1x, it's a pretty big deal for me. My goal is to get back down into my 9s. The Mickey shorts are labeled as medium, so I'm guessing they're somewhere between a 10 and an 11 size.

It's hard to believe our trip is only 10 days away now. I wasn't super excited about going at first, but as time has gone by, the more I'm looking forward to it. Let's just hope I don't eat too much and those Mickey shorts rip right off my body -- ACK!

Run, run, run, as fast as you can ...

Does anyone remember this little guy? It was a YEAR ago, last May, that the boys and I made our own versions of The Marshmallow Man. This picture was taken the day we made them. Would you be shocked to know we STILL have him? We do! He's been sitting in our wine rack all this time. He still looks pretty good, too. His bowtie is a little cracked and he's developed a few wrinkles with his old age, but he's doing well. He sends his love.

Stephen Macquignon illustrated my third picture book, The Marshmallow Man and he's been posting his process for breaking down a story and creating a storyboard. It's really fascinating, especially to watch how an idea materializes into an actual character. Or as in this case, an entire cast of characters. Click here to see what I mean.

If you click on the link to the book, you can order it directly from my publisher, 4RV Publishing, LLC. It's also available online at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Books-A-Million. It can be ordered through any bookstore as well. On my website you will find some fun activities for your kids to do after reading the book. The best one is making your very own Marshmallow Man, followed by eating him up, of course!