Washington D.C.

We recently had the opportunity to take Jenna and Addison to D.C. with us. Bret had meetings most of the time, but the kids and I were able to see and do quite a bit. We walked around most of monuments, took a trolley tour, got a personal tour of the capitol (if you are going to D. C., email your senator for a tour. It's part of their job to help constituents when visiting D.C.). An intern from Senator Hatch's office took just the three of us on a personal tour. It was great and we didn't have to stand in any of the long lines.





A and J in front of the White House. This guard was every bit as ornery as he looks.



Standing in the very center of the capitol and D.C.

Girls in Braces

Here are some pictures of the girls in their new braces. Jenna is thrilled to have braces, Sarah isn't. We got Sarah the clear ones since she is starting high school this year. Sarah just needs one year in them, but Jenna will have them for two years. We chose an orthodontist close to our home and the girls can actually walk to appointments after school. (That may be my favorite part of the whole thing).



Jenna is starting with just four brackets on front.



Sarah got the full set.


Sarah with braces. The clear ones are awesome!

Book Review: LOVE FOOD & LIVE WELL

I was excited when I was asked to review "LOVE FOOD & LIVE WELL". I was intrigued by the idea of being able to eat foods you enjoy and still be healthy. I really dislike diets that focus on deprivation.

The author of this book, Chantel Hobbs, lost 200 pounds and has kept if off for years. She has two previous books out ("The Never Say Diet" and "The One-Day Way") and in September of this year she's coming out with another book, "Walk Strong, Look Up". In "LOVE FOOD & LIVE WELL" she shares some advice that has helped her not only change what she looks like, but how she feels about herself and food.

Chantel has an 80/20 rule that she discusses in the book. She suggests that 20% of the time you splurge on foods you love (like birthday cake and other celebration foods). The other 80% of the time you choose foods that will deliver maximum fuel to your body. I love the idea of focusing on foods that will help your body be healthy and give you energy. It seems to me that anytime you try to avoid foods, you end up eating more of the foods that are off limits. This idea of finding the best fuel for your body helps you focus on positive changes.

Chantel educates the reader about calories, basal metabolic rate, carbs, protein and fat. After discussing foods and nutrition she moves on to discuss the importance of exercise and interval training. The book has a few recipes and great exercise information and pictures of how to correctly do the exercises.

I really enjoyed Chantel's writing style. She's very down to earth and knows what she's talking about. Her stories through out the book were engaging. She talks about a conversation she had at the gym with an attractive, thin woman. The woman told her she ate a piece of chocolate a day. Chantel was surprised and asked how she had the will power to only eat one and not the whole bag. The lady seemed surprised by the question and responded that if she ate them all there wouldn't be any for tomorrow. That idea of moderation and not deprivation is the theme of this book.

You can find this book at amazon for $13.59 or check it out at your local library.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Way too long...

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything. Here are some fun pictures my brother Jeff took while he was in town.




Jeff told us to act silly for this one. Bret lost his balance and really did fall backwards. I was impressed my brother was able to get the shot.


We didn't get around to getting pictures of the youngest two. I guess they'll get to go first next time. My brother definitely has an eye for photography. These were all taken in my parent's backyard when we were together for a picnic. Like for Jenna's picture, he just had her stand close to the house. I would have never thought of that.

Great Deals

Smith's is having a great sale this week. I got the 20 items in the first picture for $-0.82. The cashier didn't know what to do about the negative number and told me I'd have to take a coupon back. I threw in a pack of gum and ended up paying $0.21 for the groceries. Here's a link so that you too can get 16 boxes of pasta for free. :) If you click on the Smith's link on the right of her blog you will see more information about the sale.



This set totaled $15.29. There was also a danimals yogurt drink 6 pack, but the kids love those and have already had them.

This and that...

Andrew and I went to the Living Aquarium this week. His favorite thing there are the jelly fishes. Here's a clip of them. We also liked the penguins, but he started climbing up on something he shouldn't have been on, so I had to stop recording and get him down.




Yesterday I asked Andrew to put his breakfast things away (milk to the fridge, cereal back, bowl in the sink. Andrew said, "You're not the boss of me." I told him that since I was his mom that made me the boss. He said, "No, Jesus is the boss." I had to agree with him on that one.


I was excited to learn that I won the chance to host a Singer sewing machine house party. The party kit arrived in the mail today and we had a fun time unloading it and looking at everything. They sent enough kits for 14 people, so let me know if you want to come. :)

The kit has two different patterns, 3 things of thread, fabric, project instructions and a few other things for each person who comes. I get to bring a singer sewing machine home for a week so that everyone can try it out. Sounds fun.

Book Review: The 60 Minute Money Workout

I was sent The 60 Minute Money Workout to review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing this past month. The author, Ellie Kay, is a financial expert on Good Money (ABC news), CNBC, CNN, and Fox News.

Here is the summary from the back of the book:

"You can revolutionize your finances in only sixty minutes! Looking for long-term economic stability and not common quick-fix schemes? Now a nationally recognized financial expert and best-selling author, Ellie shares her one-hour-a-week program that has made it possible to take care of her family and do it all debt-free! With entertaining anecdotes, easy-to-follow charts, and practical advice, The 60-Minute Money Workout is both fun and feasible. You’ll be able to:

> Get out of debt and save for your kids’ college
> Have meaningful and debt-free vacations
> Pay cash for your cars
> Make a difference in the world by giving generously
> Find financial peace with your spouse
> Be content with your current circumstances
> Latch onto hope for your financial future

In just one hour a week, you’ll be financially stronger and smarter. Revolutionize your quality of life with the Workout and you’ll never look back!"

This book has taken me a while to review, but I enjoyed reading it. I agree with a lot of the information in the book. I like how she explains that spending one hour a week discussing your finances and making plans can make a difference in your financial life. There are 12 sections in the book that detail how to go about discussing subjects and planning for the future.

Bret and I followed the discussion guidelines for creating a spending plan (budget). It was very helpful to sit down and discuss a budget together. I think it's important for both of us to know what's going on with our finances. Our discussion led us to go and get Quicken and figure out how to make it work for us (we'd bought the Quicken 2008 a few years ago and didn't realize it's only good for 3 years - after that they stop allowing you to download information from the credit cards and banks).

I like the information in this book and the idea of meeting together weekly to discuss the finances. I didn't love the whole work out analogy for the hour meeting (warm up- prep for your money workout, strength training- set financial goals, cardio burn- put goals into action, heart rate- measure financial performance, and cool down- reward yourself).

The author has a great website with a tool center including many different calculators and planning tools. I think this book is a great one to check out from the library and peruse. I'm not sure I would recommend owning it, most of the information in it were things I already knew.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.