The Good, Bad, and Downright CRAZY!

Wednesday was Wacky Hair Day! I have been so busy with the Sign Language Club and Student Council recently, so I had no desire to get Leigha up an hour earlier to braid her hair all funky. For some reason Leigha has wanted a wig. I decided this might be a great opportunity. I gave Leigha the choice of waking up REALLY early or we could stop by the store and grab some wigs. What do you think she chose?!

I don't have access to my pictures that we took at school. Noe snapped a picture of us when we got home.


We had a great time with it! My grade level went all out with the wigs. We even got our principal to wear one of the other teacher's extra wigs. I think she was a bit weary of doing anything crazy in case a parent came in to speak to her. What better way to show our unified school spirit than to participate in the Student Council's Spirit Days?! She looked great.

Our Student Council Pumpkin and Boo Gram Sale is going well! In the first three days we had already cleared almost $400. It's nice to know that the 4 hours a night I spend on cutting out ghosts is paying off. UNFORTUNATELY, I am a little afraid about what I am heading into the week of Halloween. We still have 7 more school days to sell the Boo Grams. We are going to have to separate them out by class (there are 800 kids in our school), tape candy to each one (shoot...I should have bought candy today), and then get them all delivered on Halloween. Check back and see how I am doing THAT week!

On Friday night we had Trunk R'Treat at my school. I brought my camera, but I wasn't very successful in taking pictures. It was kind of hard to walk in my costume, pulling the wagon, carrying a diaper bag and camera bag, and try not to run any one over. It was packed! I did get a few pictures here and there. It's a good thing this was just the dry run, I didn't get any great pictures of the kids in their costumes.

Wonder Woman


Unfortunately it was 85 degrees that night. The monkey costumes were just not made for this heat. After we walked around for an hour, and Leigha played all of the games, we headed back to my classroom to eat. There was NO way I was letting the boys eat in their costumes.


The funniest thing happened as we entered my classroom. Noah immediately started screaming Singing Time at the top of his lungs. A few weeks ago I laminated all of my Signing Time posters of the alphabet and numbers and put them up on my front walls. Noah wakes up begging for Signing Time. If I say not right now he starts bringing me the board books and repeats the words Signing Time over and over. He knows how to get his way!

I took the boys out of their costumes and gave them dinner. We then headed back the the fun. I had to hang out until everything was over so I could get the money box from the Student Council booth. Thankfully I had parents and representatives to sell the entire time. Do you like my poster? That is what happens when you forget that you don't have a sign made until right before the sale starts.


Now that the kids were fed, and the boys were more comfortable, it was time for Leigha to have some more fun. I will have a few more pictures once I get to school on Monday, but I was able to snap a few myself.




When we left, Leigha told me she had a great time. I loved hearing her say that.

Yesterday, Noe and Leigha started off the day by carving our pumpkin. Leigha has been looking forward to this all week. Noe put the boys in their booster seats and pulled them up to watch and be a part of it all. I especially loved the few times Robert grabbed the carving knife and started showing it to me (aka waving it). FUN TIMES! There is a reason my hair is turning grey!


They had their plan and they were set to go! The inside of the pumpkin was NOT what Leigha had expected it to be. I think her face tells it all.


About 12 days ago I started my weight loss plan. I hate the word diet. That word just sends me into an obsession with what I will be eating 12 hours from now. I am trying to watch the grams of fat I am eating. It's no wonder I have gained so much weight in the last few years! I have a little pocket book that tells me how much fat is in different foods and different restaurants. YIKES! The first week was pretty slow going. It is always frustrating to eat so much healthier, but not see the pounds dropping off. This week I started getting a little better.

Then DISASTER struck! My cousin, who I will blame tomorrow when I get back on the scale, sent me the most amazing Thank You gift. I thought I was getting a box of flowers when the box arrived. It was from a flower company. Boy was I wrong! I opened it up to find the most amazing and MASSIVE fortune cookie! I realize now that my picture will not do it justice since there is nothing else to compare it to. Let me just say it's HUGE!


At first I thought I was safe. There were nuts all over it and I am not a big fan of nuts. I should have known that was a bad assumption because I will eat peanut m&ms when they are around. We finally broke into it last night. I gave Leigha the little piece that was missing on the plain side and I took the little piece missing on the caramel and nut side. It's a good thing we walked away before eating it, because that was DELICIOUS!

This morning I was so encouraged with my weight loss. I lost another 0.5 lb from yesterday, despite that delicious bite of the cookie. Now I just have to find the time to add in the exercise part of this program. I tell myself I will do it at night, but then I am just too tired and have too many other things to do.

Right before lunch we decided to take the kids out front. Noe took Leigha's training wheels off of her bike the other day. I think I was more scared than she was. Noe thought it was time, I did not. She doesn't have a lot of opportunity to ride her bike. This came out of nowhere (hmmm...wonder if he broke them somehow).

Yes, I know, she has no helmet on. Noe didn't let go of her at all. She will have it on when she is practicing. I just have to get that through Noe's head. I NEVER wore a helmet and it's not something I think about often. However, I have been telling Leigha (and Noe) that she has to wear one for her protection.



We even got Noah on the tricycle for the first time. He really didn't want to have anything to do with the pedals, but it's a start! I looked at Noe and told him that we were going to have to get all three of the boys new tricycles for their birthday. How in the world do you pick who gets the old, yucky tricycle and who gets the brand new one?! Especially since Matthew's is going to cost us almost $300, I think both of the others deserve nice new ones for their birthdays.



Everything went downhill from there. Unfortunately, I will probably have gained back everything I have lost during these 12 days in just one day. This is what that GIGANTIC cookie looks like now.


Granted, I am not the only one who has been eating it. I know myself and my lack of will power. I immediately invited all of my kids to try the cookie part. When Noe came in I offered him some of the GOOD side. He's not a big sweets eater, but if he likes something his self control is kind of gone, too. He is just not as bad as I am.

I am now drinking a ton of water. I will have a very low fat meal tonight and I WILL get on the treadmill. Now who is coming over to my house to make sure that happens?

Edited to add:
Here is a picture of the container the fortune cookie came in. It USED to barely fit in their diagonally.


Maybe that will show you just how much we ate!