The time has come my little friends

( left to right) Cousin Kynsie, Dustin,
Cousin Ryleigh, Emelia, Cole, Will, And Eliza

Well here I sit in what has been my home for the last 7 months. I must say that Texas has been good to me. Thanks to the wonderful people of Scottish Rite Children's Hospital, my little baby girl Emelia seems to clear of her disease, now... only time will tell. We have been able to spend wonderful times with our families here! The summer sun has felt good... as long as there is a pool two feet away to cool off in! Matthew and I have found something important to us... we want our jobs to be something we love and not just something we do to make money.
So here we are... ready to take the steps to make that happen. I have enjoyed being a stay at home mother for the last ten years but would love to feel like I could something more. I have always loved the idea of being a cosmetologist and now I am going to make that idea my reality. At the end of August I will be starting the 10 month program at The School of Designing Arts! Yippy!! I can't hardly wait!!!! While I am in school Matthew will be helping with the kids and deciding what dream he wants to fallow. Whether it be teaching, construction, or something crazy.... he has my support! So it seems the time has come for us to leave Texas. In just four days we make the trek north for our home in Michigan. Wish us luck on our new road to be debt free and doing what we love!!!!

Like somethin' is brewin' and 'bout to begin.

After writing what they thought the perfect nanny would consist of :
cheery disposition
Rosy cheeks, no warts!
Play games, all sort

You must be kind, you must be witty
Very sweet and fairly pretty
Take us on outings, give us treats
Sing songs, bring sweets

Never be cross or cruel
Never give us castor oil or gruel
Love us as a son and daughter
And never smell of barley water


And making deals:
If you won't scold and dominate us
We will never give you cause to hate us
We won't hide your spectacles
So you can't see
Put toads in your bed
Or pepper in your tea

Jane and Micheal stood at their bedroom window, wondering what had gone horribly wrong. What were all of these old, warty, mean looking nannies doing at their home. Not one of them had rosy cheeks or looked kind and pretty.

Then the wind began to blow!

One by one the ugly mean looking nannies where blown away. There in the distance somehow magically floating down from the sky was a beautiful nanny. She was everything they could have imagined. Rosy cheeks and all!

Mary Poppins, is one of my most favorite movies. At this point in my life I feel like Jane and Micheal. I asked for one thing and got something completely different. I have made deals and begged to be heard. At the point of thinking there is no hope, the wind is picking up, all the ugly is flying away. I can see clearly in the distance something beautiful and wonderful on the horizon.

I love the winds of change!!

Failing!!!!!

I am a Failure!! I have spent the last month coming up with every excuse I can think of as to why I cant diet... I cant exercise... I cant! I Cant! I CANT!! First and for most let me answer the questions that I was asked a full month ago.
What type of diet am I on? I don't believe in trendy diets I have been burned by too many of them! So I have decided to just eat low calories. I try to consume about 1300 calories a day. Totally blows!!
Am I going to work my habits into my kids life styles too? Yes, we are all in this together!I want to breed better habits in them than I had bred in me. We will definitely be taking advantage of the Texas sun and spend the summer running and playing outside.
What is my goal weight? I have no idea!! I feel like I should really have a goal or all is lost, right? But I don't know what I should weigh because I have not ever lost any weight since babies... so I have no idea what to expect with my body. To start I am shooting for 150 and once I get there I will look at myself and see where I need to go from.
I want to thank wonderful people like my friend Amy for saying she never thought I looked like I weighed 200 pounds. I think this may be one of my draw backs though... I carry my weight so well you would never think me to weigh that much but the pounds are there even if they are portioned well on my body!!

I have included this fat picture of me at 215! I think that this picture makes me look fatter then I did actually did in person. You know... the whole, camera adds ten pounds thing. What do you think... do I look like I weighed 215?

I have managed even with my lack of commitment to bring my total weight loss to 15 pounds. The 30 Day Shred was too much for me. It killed me for the whole day. I want a good workout but not one that I am afraid to do because for the rest of the day I am in pain. The pain never goes away either... it is everyday... no matter how many times you do the workout... you die! I don't want to hurt. I am looking for something new. Just a regular workout not a death sentence!!

My current frustrations with all of this: I am a stress eater... and I am stressed!
My husband and I started this together and he is down 35 pounds and looking great... I am excited for him and frustrated at the same time!
I love food! Good food!! Why is that so bad? Why am I punished for loving a good Mexican dinner, followed by a smooth slice of flan? Why cant these things equal thin?
My daily song is that of Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka:

Veruca Salt:
Gooses! Geeses!
I want my geese to lay gold eggs for Easter

Mr. Salt:
It will, sweetheart

Veruca:
At least a hundred a day

Mr.Salt:
Anything you say

Veruca:
And by the way

Mr. Salt:
What?

Veruca:
I want a feast.

Mr. Salt:
You ate before you came to the factory

Veruca:
I want a bean feast!

Mr. Salt:
Oh, one of those

Veruca:
Cream buns and doughnuts and fruitcake with no nuts
So good you could go nuts

Mr. Salt:
You can have all those things when you get home

Veruca:
No, now!!

I want a ball
I want a party
Pink macaroons and a million balloons
And performing baboons and ...
Give it to me
Rrhh rhhh
Now!

I want the world
I want the whole world
I want to lock it all up in my pocket
It's my bar of chocolate
Give it to me
Now!

I want today
I want tomorrow
I want to wear 'em like braids in my hair
And I don't want to share 'em

I want a party with room fulls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don't get the things I am after
I'm going to scream!

I want the works
I want the whole works
Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises
Of all shapes and sizes
And now
Don't care how
I want it now
Don't care how
I want it now

Did you happen to notice that she starts out talking about a goose and turns it into, I want everything and all those things include food!! This is how I feel I want everything and all those things include food!!! I don't care how I want it now!!!!!

Getting Real With Myself and You!!

So... I am tired of people starting video blogs or regular blogs talking about their weight loss plan and never telling you how much they weigh. Um... Hello... you are obviously over weight or you wouldn't be doing what you are doing. So come out and tell the truth!!
Here is the real deal people... I am fat!!! I currently weigh exactly 200 pounds. I have been dieting for 1 month and have lost 11 pounds, and I started exercising 5 days ago.
Questions and Answers
Was I hard core dieting? No.
Do I think the exercising is helping? Yes.
Would I like more results? Yes!!!!
Have I always been fat? No.
What are my weak points? SUGAR!!
Do I come from what is called "fat stock?" Well... I wouldn't say "fat stock" I would call us "pleasantly plump."
Do I really want this? Um...Yes.(sarcastically said)
Am I a self motivator? No.
Am I okay with delayed gratification or do I need instant? Instant, I need results if I am going to be depriving myself of the food that I love and getting up every morning busting my butt working out.
Is this the fattest I have ever been? No... isn't that sick!
What exercise am I doing? Jillian Michaels 30 day shred.
Background Check
When I met my husband at the age of 18 I was 5 foot and 6.5 inches weighing in at a whopping 125. At the age of 20 I weighed 205. Okay you can pick up your chin and ask the question... Laura, what the hell happened to you!?! Simply put I had toxemia with the pregnancy of our first son that caused me to blow up like a whale. At 22 the story was pretty much the same another baby more fat packed on. I never really lost a lot of weight between baby 1 and 2 so during pregnancy 2 I went up to 245. Yuck!! I feel awful even admitting these things. I don't want to hurt any feelings in saying that. I am sorry if that is where you are or possibly bigger in your weight. But shouldn't we say YUCK! What is happened to us. Why are we letting this happen are we really that weak. YUCK!! YUCK!! YUCK!! Anyway... I digress. I have had a total of 5 babies in a real hurry. They are all about 2 years apart, which means no time for my body to ever really recoup. The most I ever weighed was at full term with my oldest daughter and that was a weigh in of 270. My poor body... the hell I have put it through! After every baby it only takes me about 2 months to get back to my pre-baby weight but is that really good when my pre-baby weight is 200 pounds?Now with a 16 month old, done with having babies and 29 years old I want to fix the mess I have made. Don't I deserve to be hot or at least attractive? Doesn't my husband deserve a wife that is confident in herself? (lets face it ladies an amount of confidence is lost when you look at you cottage cheese butt in the mirror)
As I bring you with me on my weight loss journey feel free to ask me any questions. I want to be brutally honest with you. I might fail... I am hoping not. I am tired of trying and waking up 6 months later just as fat as I was. Can you imagine if I wouldn't have failed where I would be today? HOT!!! That's where I would be. Don't you want to be there? I do!!

P.S. Please leave you thoughts or comments as I made need to use them as motivation.

Goonies

Have you ever seen the movie Goonies? It is one of my favorites. A little too much cursing to allow my children to watch it but a good movie for when they are a little older. Well anyway... Emma is my little photographer, she is almost 3 and loves cameras and taking pictures. She is really quite good at it and I love to see things the way she does. How do these things tie together? Goonies and Emma's love of photography. Well Emma took a picture of her baby brother Dustin and it reminds me of Goonies. Dustin in this picture looks like the big guy that Chunky meets under the restaurant. You know the guy... the big one that can only say one word at a time. For example...Babyruth. I can just see Dustin in this picture saying Babyruth. His ear all sticking out probably from some sticky food he just ate. (no Dustin does not always look like this) I really dont think that my son looks like a deformed big retard... I just hear that guy when I see this picture. So for me it is a good laugh!

Happy Birthday Ganny

Soft little Eliza

My little Eliza just turned 5. She is a little girl with a big dream. Eliza wants to be a ballerina. Not a all around dancer, she doesn't want to do hip-hop or tap she wants to be a ballerina. She has been asking me for a solid year to buy her real leather ballet slippers. This year for Christmas Eliza got her ballet slippers...pink leotard...soft pink skirt...and a ballet bag. She now asks everyday when she will be starting ballet. Right now we cant afford ballet with Matthew (my husband) starting school in a month and our plan to get out of debt in the next year. So for now I am just showing her what I can of ballet. She is so passionate that she listens to every word and tries her hardest to be perfect. I wanted to mark this point in her life so we took a lot of pictures! Here are some of my favorite...

All Of the little ballerinas in the house! Eliza, Monica (my little sister) and Emma my little baby!

Dermatomyositis and Emelia

I just wanted to let you all know we started a blog page to keep family and friends up to date with Emelia. Please check it out!! www.dermatomyositisandemelia.blogspot.com

My Bed!!

This was a unbelievable find!! Last year Matthew and I had spotted this beautiful sleigh bed at our town wide garage sale. It was priced at $700. As the weekend continued the owner lowered and lowered the price until she had it down to $250. My husband asked her what she would take for the bed....her response blew him out of the water $150!




She told him she paid $3000 for it new and was moving and didn't want to take it. Why not... is my only question. But hey, for me it was a great find and I absolutely love this bed. It is super solid and has side rails that are over a foot tall. When I brought it home we had never had a king bed before so we completely redid our room. It went from blue and white to this. This is what in our family we call thock and roch, which is thick and rich for... your house ( well that's what we call it anyway) I am participating and spreading the word about

Finding Fabulous: Frugalicious Friday...share your fabulous finds!

My Little Sister

When I was growing up all I ever wanted was a little sister. I was the only girl sandwiched between two brothers. I begged and begged but I never got one....until.... I was 23 years old and expecting my own daughter. On October 11, 2004 my dream of having a little sister came true. I was excited and jealous all at the same time. Even as a grown woman with children of my own I realized I was no longer my daddy's little girl. I was his big girl. For some reason this reality was so painful for me. All of it melted away when I got to meet my little sister for the first time. She was 4 years old ( I know...I know... why so long) I was 7 months pregnant with my fifth baby. I was so excited to see my dad and have him meet my children. And all my little sister could think about was getting to meet her big sister. I love her so much. Who knew, that even with an age gap and only 4 days together, you could love someone so much and feel that big sister bond. I am so excited to be able to move and be with my little sister. I hope that the next year living with her, I can measure up to the role of the loving big sister. Happy Birthday Monica!! Only 29 days until I am in Texas with you!!

Monica Weaver

The start of a new school year

My little Eliza started school this year. She is in a pre-k program at the school here in town. On her first day she didn't cry she was thrilled!!! She had gone the week before and got glasses for reading. Eliza picked them out all by herself.

Eliza's first day of school!


William, Eliza and Cole


On their way!


Breakfast time!



Eliza's classroom and friends.

Harvest

Just some of Matthew's harvest!!!

Answers

Matthew and I recently found out that we will be moving to Texas. This has been a very hard pill for me to swallow. I do not want to leave my home. I have never lived in a house as long as I have lived here in this home. I have brought three of my babies to this home after their arrival into this beautiful world. I live next door to my mom, both of us on three quarters of the block. We call it our little corner of the world. I love that I can watch my kids walk all the way to school because its just across the street. I feel safe and happy here! My husband needs a better job though. His job here is good for now but when babies become teenagers it wont be enough. I would love to help to bring in more income but our promise to never not have mommy at home prevents that. So we move. I have been searching for an understanding to all of this because the other promise Matthew and I made for ourselves was to never move for money, leaving family behind.
This Sunday I was sitting in church and while the sacrament was being passed I asked Heavenly Father why I was being sent somewhere I didn't want to be and if he would help me to understand his plan. I sat through the next speaker listening to his words. I have never said a prayer and expected an instant answer but I have also never said a prayer and waited for the answer. I was waiting this time, hoping I might find comfort in his words and plan for me and my family. As the next speaker began to talk.....I felt the spirit rush over me. The speaker was talking about Temples.. completely clear I heard the Holy Ghost tell me "That is why...Laura... you must leave and make more money so that you and Matthew can pay your tithing...become worthy Laura...so that you may seal your family in the temple and be sealed to the man you love for all time and eternity." I felt the warmth of the spirit and I felt what I heard was true...and I felt I understood God's plan for me.Then again it spoke "Laura... I can only give you the means to serve me...I cannot make you do it..it is up to you to make the choice and to make this happen...I love you and I want this for you...you are my daughter" I sat there and began to cry hoping no one noticed because the speakers wasn't saying anything too moving. Matthew and I have never made enough to pay our tithing. I know that we should pay it anyway and he will provide the way for us. I just couldn't allow Matthew to pay a tithing and then ask the church to pay another of our bills we couldn't pay, even if that is how the church would prefer it. Because of this Matthew and I have never been worthy to go to the Temple. I know my Heavenly Fathers plan, and I am so thankful that I can feel his love and know that what I am doing is the right thing. This is a blessing... for me... so that I might be sealed to my family and my husband.Finally there is light at the end of my dark tunnel.

Lucy, my new niece!!

Lucy Fitzgerald Weaver
August 11, 2009
7 lbs. 12 0zs. 20 inches long


Lucy and Mommy


Big yawn!!


The whole family!

Babies

Summer is so busy with all the kids being home. I have not had time to think at all about anything but them. I wanted to take a minute though and welcome into the world my new little niece, Lucy Fitzgerald Weaver. Lucy was born on the 11 of August, she is 20 inches long and weighs 7 pounds 12 ounces. She has wavy brown hair with very full cheeks. This is my brother Dustin's first baby and I congratulate him and his beautiful wife Lauren. I can't wait to meet her and love her! This is the second baby we have had the blessing of joining our family this year. Little Mollie Grace Weaver joined us 3 months ago and was born to my other brother Stuart and his wife Caitlin, she is their first also. I am so excited for my brothers and hope with their new families they can see why I have five of my own children. They are such great blessings! I love my family so much and hope to meet both of these little princesses soon!!!!!

So much time and so little to do. Wait strike that, reverse it.

With it being summer and all five kids being home I feel there is no tome for what I just enjoy doing for the fun of it.(my blog) I have to find some time in there for things other then baseball, cooking, cleaning, running kids here and there, Pampered Chef and loads of fixer-upper jobs that need to be done on the house. Yesterday we were able to take the kids to the library and get us each our own card. I really enjoyed this. I hesitated to get a book though, when I have a book to read my house goes to the side and falls apart. The kids really enjoyed being able to get their own card and book. I wondered why we had waited so long for a free card to a world of adventure, knowledge and just plain fun.
Just now while taking a couple minutes for myself. I was thinking all the kids where in the den watching a Disney movie, only to be informed by Cole that Emelia had gotten a hold of some seasoning and was dumping them on the couch. Not sure how she got on the counter to get them but that is Emelia for you. I believe my only solution to my problem is to get up nice and early and take care of what matters to me before any of the little needy babies are up. So I guess I will try this again tomorrow morning. I am praying Dustin sleeps!!!

Changed Settings

I have a lot of people saying that they cannot leave messages on my blog. I was not aware of the the fact that I could change settings so that anyone could leave a message. Any of you out there that have had a problem I believe I fixed it. Please if you want to say something do so. I don't care if it was on my first post. I would love to read your thoughts! Thank you so much for taking the time to read what I have to say. Laura

Laughter

I was thinking of all the things I want to put on my blog and what is keeping me held up. Like the granola my mom made that I have a picture of but no recipe. Spinach dip is the same story photo but no recipe from Matt. Thoughts on the baby birds that hatched and grew right outside my kitchen window!(I am saving that one for tomorrow) As I was scrolling though the pictures on my cell phone I came across one that made me laugh. I thought of the importance of laughter. Matthew and I have a game we play and have played for years. We lock each other out of the car and make the other person dance to get in. We do this with our kids also. No matter what is going on rain or even running late to church, we stop to laugh. Many times arguments have fizzled after a booty shaken dance in the Walmart parking lot. This picture made me laugh and while I am embarrassed to share it, it was taken to make my husband laugh. Sometimes when Matt is having a hard day I send him silly messages to make him laugh. So I feel that why should you not have a good laugh and yes even at my expense. Just please know, I don't always look like this!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...Thursday May 4, 2009

Outside my window...it is another beautiful Michigan day!

I am thinking... that it feels good to open the windows and let the breeze fill my home.

From the learning rooms... I am trying my hands at several different crafts and hoping they work out for the craft fair coming up.

I am thankful for... my children for helping me clean the house today so that we can enjoy the evening together!

From the kitchen... I am hoping to get in an make a lemon cake to use the rest of the cream cheese frosting Matthew made! Yummy!!

I am wearing... a black top with denim capris and my favorite black sandals.

I am reading... the complete works of Grimm. Very fun to know the original fairy tales.

I am hoping... that we will survive June with baseball 4 nights a week!

I am creating... pillows, signs and lots of food!

I am praying... that my oldest brother's wife continues with a safe pregnancy. My Mother is able to buy the house across the street and that my big brother will move in it. (my mom already lives next door) And that my little brother continues to enjoy his new baby and that she is healthy. I would love to see little Mollie!

Around the house... I would love to finish my laundry room. I have the flooring and paint now all I need is the drive!

One of my favorite things... curling up with my husband to watch So You Think You Can Dance

A few plans for the rest of the week... Baseball, baseball, baseball oh and did I say baseball.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... I have been wanting to share this picture.It is of flowers that my husband picked off my own snowball bush. Isn't it beautiful? I love the spring in Michigan!!

I got this format from a Simple Woman's Daybook, I really enjoy this sight, check it out.

Simple Treasures

Have you ever gone to an antique store and loved the look of the old table runners or doilies. You leave without them though cause you can't figure out what you would do with them. My mom found the perfect idea. Someone had taken them and made little pillows with them. They were charging 15 dollars a pillow, crazy! We decided to try our hand at it. In about an hour my mom and I made 3 of them. The cost to make them is about 3 dollars each. We felt like they turned out really cute. The only thing we felt like we would do different next time is to tea stain the background fabric, to make the whole pillow look old. But look at the absolutely adorable country pillows we made for just pocket change. We are hoping to open a booth at the local craft fair in July to see if other people might enjoy these little bed pillows!