Usually a "slippery slope" is not a good thing. You don't mean to do something and then one small action leads to another and then before you know it, you're gone. Well, the last few weeks Adam and I have been on a slippery slope but, surprisingly, this time it is for the better. I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions. I prefer to make my goals during the year because when I make a goal I'm serious about it and I don't want to be considered a "bandwagoner" whose goals are forgotten by the 3rd week of January. Every year I giggle at the "get fit and lose weight" crowd that never makes it to February. When Adam and I rang in the new year "get fit and lose weight" was NOT on our agenda.
Then the phone rang around 8:15 p.m. on January 2nd, and the slippery slope began. "Adam, are you in or are you out?" Always one to rise to a challenge Adam found himself with a group of guys determined to complete the P90X "extreme home fitness" program. Sure, he thought, I can work out with these guys every night, it will be fun. He had no intentions of worrying about food even though the other guys were really gung-ho and started counting calories immediately. Soon the nightly discussions were about how much weight everyone was losing. Being a competitive guy Adam decided that maybe he should start to watch what he ate a little so that his numbers were comparable with the other guys. Then he is introduced to a website, "My Fitness Pal", that helps you track everything so you can successfully lose 1 to 2 lbs a week in a healthy way. It's free and gives you calorie counts for everything and let's you know how many calories you personally burn with different exercises. He showed it to me and then I started to think that maybe this would be the best time to finally get rid of that last 10 lbs of baby weight I've been carrying around for the last 5 years. If I'm going to be cooking healthy, low calorie meals anyway than I should probably just get it off once and for all. Before we both know it we have a food scale in our kitchen, have several conversations a day about how many calories we have left for the day and how we are going to use them and are both working out a lot more.
How did this happen?? I am NOT a January "get fit and lose weight" kind of person! And yet, here I am getting fit and losing weight. I don't know whether to be proud or embarrassed. I'm 1 week in and have 5 more weeks to go. I've lost an inch around my waist and Adam went to a smaller hole on his belt today. Somehow we got ourselves into this mess though I'm still not completely sure how.
I guess sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Oops, she did it again.
When I was a child I cut my own hair zero times. Never did it. Never even thought about it. Unfortunately my girls didn't get that memo. While Jenna specialized in doing major damage with her self haircuts (the kind that can only be covered up with hats or boy haircuts) Korinne's self haircuts have been annoying, but cover-upable (they should really add that word to the dictionary). I really really thought we were through with this phase of our children's lives but last week I was doing Korinne's hair and I noticed an entire patch of hair from the front that was no longer long enough to go back into a pony tail.
"Did you cut your hair?"
The look on Korinne's face was one of pure panic. I could tell she was genuinely surprised that I had noticed. She admitted that yes, she had cut her hair but it was only because she was at her friend's house and there was stomething sticky in it and she was trying to get it out. I can totally see Korinne coming up with the idea to just cut it out and being pleased with herself for knowing how to get that sticky stuff out of her hair without getting in trouble. While the plan was a great one in her mind, this is now what I have to put up with for the next year:
Lovely.
"Did you cut your hair?"
The look on Korinne's face was one of pure panic. I could tell she was genuinely surprised that I had noticed. She admitted that yes, she had cut her hair but it was only because she was at her friend's house and there was stomething sticky in it and she was trying to get it out. I can totally see Korinne coming up with the idea to just cut it out and being pleased with herself for knowing how to get that sticky stuff out of her hair without getting in trouble. While the plan was a great one in her mind, this is now what I have to put up with for the next year:
Lovely.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Update
The "P90X"ers are still going strong. At this point the skeptical wives are starting to become believers. No one has dropped out and they've even come up with a new recruit.
Mike is down 5 lbs, "and I've lost 2 1/2 inches"
Scott
Midway through his first workout he said, "I think I'm going to throw up." Spoken like a true P90Xer. All 6 original guys have lost weight. Here are their current totals:
Ryan said he lost 20 lbs but I personally think it's an exaggeration. 20 lbs in 2 weeks?? I don't think so.
Dave is down 13 lbs
Josh is down 11 lbs
Mark is down 10 lbs
Mike is down 5 lbs, "and I've lost 2 1/2 inches"
Adam is down 5 lbs.
Gee Whiz, I think I'm going to have to find a group to work out with myself! I'm convinced that it is the way to go.
By the way Dave has told every single living person about his P90X program. Seriously, everyone knows about it. His next big idea is a victory trip for all of the P90Xers and their wives. Hey, I'm all over that one.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
BBQ anyone?
It was a balmy 18 degrees outside and we had hamburgers for dinner with fresh pineapple and kiwi fruit. I used to laugh at the guys in college who had mini grills outside of their apartments (yes, Adam was one of them) and grilled in negative temperatures--now I find them kind of heroic. Thanks Adam!
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Chore Chart
Growing up my Mom unveiled more chore charts than I can count. After awhile it became the family joke. We would gather around for a family meeting and my Dad would turn the time over to my Mom and she would present a new chore chart. Some of them were quite elaborate and I never fully appreciated the time she dedicated to making them. As we got older we couldn't help but laugh because there was always a new chore chart. Fast forward 25 years and now I'm the one always trying to think of new ways to get the kids to do their chores. I discovered what my Mom discovered before me--kids lose motivation after awhile you feel like you have to nag just to get anything done.
So, this week Adam and I unveiled yet another chore system. The kids will start out with a modest allowance each week. I don't like the idea of paying my kids to do what they should do be doing anyway, but I understand the motivating force behind money and we know we need to teach them to be financially responsible human beings so we have structured it a bit differently. They start out with their allowance and then each time they fail to complete a chore, or have to be reminded multiple times, or complain about it they lose some of the their money. Each child has a cup with some beads and each bead represents a dime. If the kids leave for school and don't have their rooms clean or if they complain about unloading the dishwasher Adam and I will just take a bead out of their cup and put it in the "dump cup". At the end of the week they calculate how many beads are in their dump cups and then deduct that amount from their allowance. The more they do, the more money they keep. Oh, and just so Britton can't use the "I forgot" excuse we put up copies of their daily routine and chores in their bedrooms AND in the kitchen. I'm not going to nag, I'm just going to start putting beads in the dump cup. Just try me.
We'll see how it goes. I'm sure it will last about as long as all of the other chore charts that we (and all of the other parents in America) have unveiled. Hmm, perhaps I should start thinking of our next chore chart. . .
So, this week Adam and I unveiled yet another chore system. The kids will start out with a modest allowance each week. I don't like the idea of paying my kids to do what they should do be doing anyway, but I understand the motivating force behind money and we know we need to teach them to be financially responsible human beings so we have structured it a bit differently. They start out with their allowance and then each time they fail to complete a chore, or have to be reminded multiple times, or complain about it they lose some of the their money. Each child has a cup with some beads and each bead represents a dime. If the kids leave for school and don't have their rooms clean or if they complain about unloading the dishwasher Adam and I will just take a bead out of their cup and put it in the "dump cup". At the end of the week they calculate how many beads are in their dump cups and then deduct that amount from their allowance. The more they do, the more money they keep. Oh, and just so Britton can't use the "I forgot" excuse we put up copies of their daily routine and chores in their bedrooms AND in the kitchen. I'm not going to nag, I'm just going to start putting beads in the dump cup. Just try me.
We'll see how it goes. I'm sure it will last about as long as all of the other chore charts that we (and all of the other parents in America) have unveiled. Hmm, perhaps I should start thinking of our next chore chart. . .
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monkey See, Monkey Do
We have been in the year 2011 for 7 days now. Britton and Jenna have been back to school since Monday but Korinne gets to hang out with me until Jan. 18th when her school finally starts again. My brother Taylor and his family stayed with us for a few days while they were in town from China but I forgot to take pictures, of course. My kids like playing with their cousin Will who is 15 months old (but looks like he is about 2). When they left the kids were upset because they wouldn't see Will again until summer. With Adam and mine's siblings so scattered they don't get to see cousins very often.
Ever since a huge printer box was placed under the counter in my small "mom office" Korinne has moved in. She usually sets up shop in Adam's office but one day this week Adam wasn't working in his home office on the same day the perfect desk-sized box showed up in mine so she decided to make the switch. Before I knew it I had an office-mate.
Since her big office move I have been able to get a better glimpse as to what she really does while she "works" at her desk for hours at a time. Yesterday she played the games on her Barbie computer (not so shocking). Today after going through flashcards for awhile she started scanning things using a "magnetic fun" container. So, when the magnetic fun container is not being used to tell the story of Noah's ark with colorful animal magnets it doubles as a pretend scanner. One by one she put in flashcards to "scan" them into her computer. The magnetic container/pretend scanner is about the same size as my portable scanner that I use all of the time. Hmm, I wonder where she came up with that idea. . .
As my kids get older it is kind of interesting to see their different interests and talents emerge. Britton has really taken to the piano and will stop by the piano several times a day just to play a few songs. On days when I've heard the SAME (slightly annoying) song a MILLION times I just have to tell myself how wonderful it is that he enjoys playing his songs. . . a lot. Even when he isn't playing the piano he has started doing this weird thing with his fingers. He walks around touching each of his fingers to his thumb one at a time. I couldn't figure out why he started doing it and then one day I noticed that when he was sitting at the table he was moving his fingers like he was playing piano keys. He didn't even notice he was doing it. That is when I realized the finger movements started about the time he started playing scales on the piano. He likes to play scales. It sounds kind of fancy and he is all about sounding fancy.
Jenna really likes to read. Britton reads because he is stuck in his room for 2 hours every night before he goes to sleep. If there was anything else he could be doing he would, but since there isn't he logs in some serious reading time. Jenna reads at times when she could be doing something else, but isn't. I often see her walking home from the bus reading a book. Right now she is on the couch reading. She stays up at night to read while Britton reads because he can't fall asleep. Big difference. Jenna has decided to give gymnastics a break while she tries her hand at violin lessons. (She wanted to do both, but I have a strict "one extra activity at a time" policy so she decided to take violin). Her first lesson is today and she is really excited. She tried her hand at piano when Britton started but didn't enjoy practicing with Mom. We decided to back off while we were still on speaking terms. :-)
Korinne is our tech girl. Britton and Jenna can't figure out why their friends want things like ipods and MP3 players. They don't get it. And since the "accidental calling of 9-1-1" incident they won't go anywhere near cell phones. Korinne, on the other hand, knows how to do things on Adam's cell phone that I have no idea how to do. . .and she is 5. Adam has a fancy cell phone--I can't even make a phone call on that thing (I'll stick with my blackberry, thank you very much. It actually has a keyboard). Korinne will grab Adam's cell phone whenever he isn't using it and pull up Pandora and start listening to her Hannah Montana music channel. If she doesn't like a song, she'll skip it, and when she has had enough music she'll start playing one of the games or puzzles she has downloaded. Yes, you read that right my 5 year old has downloaded puzzle and game apps BY HERSELF. Today she was showing Britton the "Despicable Me" puzzle she was working on and then said, "Oh, I've got something for you." She starting flicking the screen on the phone and before I knew it was saying, "Here it is, Star Wars for you, Britton!" Adam was with her and when I said, "How did she just do that?" he told me that this morning she downloaded approx. 15 apps for herself. Wow. I don't even know what to say to that.
I'm sure the kids will do a lot of growing up in the year 2011. Bring it on.
Ever since a huge printer box was placed under the counter in my small "mom office" Korinne has moved in. She usually sets up shop in Adam's office but one day this week Adam wasn't working in his home office on the same day the perfect desk-sized box showed up in mine so she decided to make the switch. Before I knew it I had an office-mate.
Since her big office move I have been able to get a better glimpse as to what she really does while she "works" at her desk for hours at a time. Yesterday she played the games on her Barbie computer (not so shocking). Today after going through flashcards for awhile she started scanning things using a "magnetic fun" container. So, when the magnetic fun container is not being used to tell the story of Noah's ark with colorful animal magnets it doubles as a pretend scanner. One by one she put in flashcards to "scan" them into her computer. The magnetic container/pretend scanner is about the same size as my portable scanner that I use all of the time. Hmm, I wonder where she came up with that idea. . .
As my kids get older it is kind of interesting to see their different interests and talents emerge. Britton has really taken to the piano and will stop by the piano several times a day just to play a few songs. On days when I've heard the SAME (slightly annoying) song a MILLION times I just have to tell myself how wonderful it is that he enjoys playing his songs. . . a lot. Even when he isn't playing the piano he has started doing this weird thing with his fingers. He walks around touching each of his fingers to his thumb one at a time. I couldn't figure out why he started doing it and then one day I noticed that when he was sitting at the table he was moving his fingers like he was playing piano keys. He didn't even notice he was doing it. That is when I realized the finger movements started about the time he started playing scales on the piano. He likes to play scales. It sounds kind of fancy and he is all about sounding fancy.
Jenna really likes to read. Britton reads because he is stuck in his room for 2 hours every night before he goes to sleep. If there was anything else he could be doing he would, but since there isn't he logs in some serious reading time. Jenna reads at times when she could be doing something else, but isn't. I often see her walking home from the bus reading a book. Right now she is on the couch reading. She stays up at night to read while Britton reads because he can't fall asleep. Big difference. Jenna has decided to give gymnastics a break while she tries her hand at violin lessons. (She wanted to do both, but I have a strict "one extra activity at a time" policy so she decided to take violin). Her first lesson is today and she is really excited. She tried her hand at piano when Britton started but didn't enjoy practicing with Mom. We decided to back off while we were still on speaking terms. :-)
Korinne is our tech girl. Britton and Jenna can't figure out why their friends want things like ipods and MP3 players. They don't get it. And since the "accidental calling of 9-1-1" incident they won't go anywhere near cell phones. Korinne, on the other hand, knows how to do things on Adam's cell phone that I have no idea how to do. . .and she is 5. Adam has a fancy cell phone--I can't even make a phone call on that thing (I'll stick with my blackberry, thank you very much. It actually has a keyboard). Korinne will grab Adam's cell phone whenever he isn't using it and pull up Pandora and start listening to her Hannah Montana music channel. If she doesn't like a song, she'll skip it, and when she has had enough music she'll start playing one of the games or puzzles she has downloaded. Yes, you read that right my 5 year old has downloaded puzzle and game apps BY HERSELF. Today she was showing Britton the "Despicable Me" puzzle she was working on and then said, "Oh, I've got something for you." She starting flicking the screen on the phone and before I knew it was saying, "Here it is, Star Wars for you, Britton!" Adam was with her and when I said, "How did she just do that?" he told me that this morning she downloaded approx. 15 apps for herself. Wow. I don't even know what to say to that.
I'm sure the kids will do a lot of growing up in the year 2011. Bring it on.
Monday, January 3, 2011
"Are You In Or Are You Out?"
At about 8:15 p.m. last night Adam received a phone call from his friend Dave, "Adam, come over to Josh's house (our next door neighbor) right now. If you come over right now it will totally be worth your while." Dave is one of the most entertaining guys I know. He is a "big idea" guy. He comes up with big ideas on a daily basis and he definitely knows how to talk the talk. When it comes to walking the walk, however, he struggles because he is way too busy coming up with new ideas to follow through with the old ideas. Adam went over Josh's house and after walking through the door Dave greeted him with this,
"Are you in or are you out?"
"What?"
"If you're not in then just leave right now. So, are you in or are you out?"
Adam said he was in. The room contained 5 guys and an amused wife. The project-- P90X. A 90 day extreme home fitness program that isn't for the faint of heart. It promises to deliver 6 pack abs and oodles of muscles. The impromptu meeting was called to devise a plan to ensure that all 6 guys would complete the program and lose tons of weight and get super buff. You see, Dave had inspired the right guys who would MAKE him follow through on his big idea. They were going to do it and they were going to do it together. Dave was leading the talk, of course, because that is his specialty. He had everyone sign contracts and they all agreed to meet every night at 9 p.m. at one of their houses to complete the workouts together. If they are late they have to pay $1.00 the first time, $2.00 the second time, $3.00 the third time etc. If they don't show up at all they have to pay $ 5.00. They have 2 sick days and 3 "my wife needs me at home but I will still work out for an hour on my own" days.
Failure is not an option.
They each wrote down a specific goal and the biggest loser gets the tardy money. Today is their first day and it is my privilege to have them in our unfinished basement at this very moment doing their first workout
Here are the "P90X"ers:
"Are you in or are you out?"
"What?"
"If you're not in then just leave right now. So, are you in or are you out?"
Adam said he was in. The room contained 5 guys and an amused wife. The project-- P90X. A 90 day extreme home fitness program that isn't for the faint of heart. It promises to deliver 6 pack abs and oodles of muscles. The impromptu meeting was called to devise a plan to ensure that all 6 guys would complete the program and lose tons of weight and get super buff. You see, Dave had inspired the right guys who would MAKE him follow through on his big idea. They were going to do it and they were going to do it together. Dave was leading the talk, of course, because that is his specialty. He had everyone sign contracts and they all agreed to meet every night at 9 p.m. at one of their houses to complete the workouts together. If they are late they have to pay $1.00 the first time, $2.00 the second time, $3.00 the third time etc. If they don't show up at all they have to pay $ 5.00. They have 2 sick days and 3 "my wife needs me at home but I will still work out for an hour on my own" days.
Failure is not an option.
They each wrote down a specific goal and the biggest loser gets the tardy money. Today is their first day and it is my privilege to have them in our unfinished basement at this very moment doing their first workout
Here are the "P90X"ers:
Josh.
"Woohoo!"
Mike
"Hey, be sure to get my double chin in the picture"
Ryan
"I could totally beat you up right now"
Adam
"You guys are going down. I've got this one"
Mark
"What have I just gotten myself into?"
Dave
"I am totally going to lose 50 lbs and have a six pack that is detectable by others"
The preparation.
And their off!
These guys are hilarious and I am looking forward to seeing their progress. All of this came about because of Dave's big idea after a Christmas caroling get together a few weeks ago when they all started doing push ups. I hope they complete the program and have a lot of fun in the process. I know that I'll have a lot of fun just watching.
Made it through their first workout.
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