It's the destination, not the journey...

All through life, in all different situations and usually when there is a bump in the road, someone will say "Life is about the journey, not the destination." Well, I've come to the conclusion that losing weight is completely about the destination and not the journey. If I thought of the countless hours I've spent on an elliptical or stationary bike or the countless repetitions on the weight machines I'd go nuts and quit right now...BUT, since January 7th 2010 I've lost 17 pounds and nearly 15 total inches. I'd still like to lose another 30 pounds and I'm not totally sure how many inches I want to lose, I'd like to lose another 2-3 pants sizes and not have a gut hanging over my seat belt whenever I get into a car. So I'll continue riding my bike to nowhere and peddling the elliptical and try to get 10,000 strides in an hour and lifting weights until I don't think I can lift anymore and hopefully when 2011 starts I'll have reached my goals and can begin to work out to maintain where I am.

2011 all new Kia Sorento...

made 100% right here in the US, well, not right here but in Georgia! Last night for our date night we decided to test drive the new Sorento which was at the top of my list of new cars I want when we're ready to trade in the van. I'm in love, I've decided my must have options are 3rd row seat, smart key and Jerry prefers the V6 to the 4 cylinder. I would have loved to leave the dealership with one last night but we were just there for a test drive...I'm not sure when we'll buy but it will be some time before the end of the year.

New Friends...

Zac has a friend in school, Maddox, who invited him over for a play date a couple weeks ago. I met with Maddox's mom, Jill, who I was surprised to find has a lot in common with me! Zac and Maddox are pretty good about including Kaleb in their play so we all decided to go to the zoo last week, it was a lot of fun to have someone to talk to who also stays at home and has an almost 5 year old and is in her 30's (I thought I was the oldest mom in the class, I still may be but it's nice to know there is at least 1 mom not even a year younger!) To hear another person say that their goal when they were younger was to be a wife and mother just shocked me, I thought I was the last throw back to the 50's out there.
Jill and I were talking about Kindergarten and realized that the boys will go to different elementary schools, granted Mustang is only about 7 miles across and 3 miles N/S but I fear that will put a damper on the boys' friendship and thus ours. I plan to try to stay in touch and get the boys together at least once or twice a month.
It's funny, I always wondered how all these moms of school aged kids were friends and now I know. Hopefully my circle of friends will grow as the boys go to school and make more friends and have more play dates because I've truly missed adult interaction even though I don't miss working one single bit.

The kitchen is DONE!!!

The cabinets are done, except that I really should put another coat of stain on the inside of each door but that'll wait until I'm ready to deal with it. The dinning area is painted and new curtains are up. The whole area looks awesome and like you're in a totally different house.
The boys rooms are both done as well. Kaleb picked red paint for his room so the bottom 3 or so feet are painted red and the top of each wall is brown with a small chair rail type thing separating the colors, it is very cute. He also got new blue curtains in his room and a new dresser. Zac picked blue for his room and after I finished Kaleb's room wanted the blue on top so the top 1/2 of each wall is blue and the bottom 1/2 is the same brown as in Kaleb's room with the same trim/chair rail separating the colors. He got Kaleb's old (2 year old!) chest of drawers, his bed has been moved to the middle of the window wall and as soon as we can afford to get the boys' small flat screen tv's the big desk and 27 inch tv will come out of his room leaving him with much more room to play in his room. Both boys are very happy with how their rooms turned out as am I.
The next project on the list is painting the living room which will probably start some time in May. I'd like to have the living room and both hallways done by the time we have Zac's birthday party on June 12th. Why do I put deadlines on myself???

It's "Zac" not "Zach" or "Zack" or "Zachary"

Two weeks ago when I was looking through Zachary's Thursday take home folder from PreK I noticed he wrote "Zac" and some random letters on the top of one of his assignments. I asked him what it said and he responded "Zac, Z - A - C, that's how you spell my name, I don't want it longer any more." I asked him why and he said he didn't know but he liked "Zac". So I asked if he wanted it spelled "Zach" (which is what I had planned from the day we decided his name would be Zachary) and he said no that he did not want the "h" on his name. I made sure he understood that he still needed to practice his whole name sometimes but that if he wanted to be called Zac and spell it that way it was his choice which made him happy so we told his teacher who was more than willing to accommodate Zac but she forgot one day and wrote Zachary on something and Zac was quick to point it out that she spelled his name wrong. So Zachary is now Zac...just so ya know.

No more 2 year olds...

Kaleb turned 3 yesterday.
He seems like a little boy, not even like a toddler.
Last year at this time he was still in diapers, did not talk and still had lids on his drink cups.
He's now been potty trained for about 10 months, hasn't used a lid on a cup at home since last fall and talks so clearly it's amazing.
He spent 2 days singing Happy Birthday to himself, which was extremely cute.
He let his upset big brother help him open his presents because he is so compassionate he'll make you say "awwww" several times a day.
He even 'gave' gifts to his little friend at his party so he wasn't left out.


I am very happy with where we are developmentally with the boys, they are pretty independent, but still need mommy and daddy several times a day; they love going to school but can't wait to see mommy and daddy each day; they are pretty good problem solvers when they play but still want mommy and daddy to tell them things are going to be okay when one gets upset. I dread that this stage won't last long enough...I keep thinking about where we'll be next year and the next year and the next year; wondering what the boys will be like each year, how they'll change in so many ways. I'm not by any means wishing away the time we're at right now, or hoping the future will come faster - no, definitely not hoping time goes by faster. On one hand I can't wait to see who the boys' will grow up to be but on the other hand I don't want to leave this time behind us.

In just 2 short months Zac will be 5! I cannot believe he will be 5! I keep thinking of kids I've known at that age and it doesn't seem possible that he will be 5!