GROUT FAMILY REUNION DAY 1

We finally got most of the Grout siblings together for a family reunion. Not all at the same time, though....My brother, Bob, and his wife, Ewa, flew into Denver and the next day we drove up to Driggs, Idaho, minus my hubby who had to work. I was a little nervous because my brother and his wife aren't used to having so many little kids around and here they were in a van with all of us for 10 hours. It actually went farely well thanks to the Fablehaven books on CD.

My brother, Alan, flew into Jackson Hole on his birthday. I didn't get any pictures of Alan. They went to Burley the next day for a wedding and I went grocery shopping. The next day my mom and I got up at 3AM to drive up to Montana to pick up my Grandpa Reed. It was an 8 hour drive. We got there in time to celebrate my grandpa's 96th birthday with my aunts and uncles and some cousins. That was a lot of fun. Of course, I am a bonehead and didn't think to bring the camera. I got to see some family that I don't get to see too often. Then we jumped back into the car and drove back to Driggs. We got back at 1AM. Needless to say, it was a LOOOOONG day. But well worth it. :0)


Here is my grandpa. He is my only grandparent left. I am amazed at how sharp he is for his age. He is an amazing man and I absolutely adore him. I'm glad that some of my kids will have memories of their great-grandpa.

While my mom and I were away, Grandpa Grout took the kids on a hike. The babies were in the stroller. Emi was running with Ty and the stroller tipped over. Ty got a little banged up. But he's still smiling. What a happy little guy.

I had to get a pic with Grandpa and the babies.

Fortunately, my dad was able to get this little camper to put the kids in. They had a great time sleeping in there. Unfortuantely, they used the toilet which wasn't hooked up. Ooops. But really, what do expect kids to do.....?

Here are the cousins playing and having a great time. I had to capture this while I could since you know how towards the end they start having little spats.

Here we are at a park that is close to my parent's house. We took a picnic and let the kids play. The babies had a blast tasting the pinecones and pine needles.

There was a sprinkler running nearby so guess who found it, in his white socks and no shoes.

Well, then EVERYONE had to join in, of course. :0) Except McKenna who just watched.

She loves to pose for pictures, though.

Tori had fun playing with the babies and they loved the attention. This was a sweet picture.

Great-grandpa and Grandma

Later that day, my dad had the kids go around in the empty lots nearby and find these rocks.

What are the rocks used for??

He uses them to make a border for his landscaping. My dad isn't above using children for labor. LOL

Here they all are finding the rocks and carrying them back to the house. I will mention that they did get paid....in quarters. AND they were very excited about it.

Even Josh got in on it. I think his contribution was the smaller rocks. LOL

It was a long but fun filled day.

Stay tuned for more pictures from the following days!

How'd I do it??

That is the main question I have been asked over and over. I just wanted to post here exactly what I did for my exercise routine. I am a firm believer that it doesn't matter WHAT you do as long as you are doing something! However, I have found that Turbo Jam had everything that I was looking for and it gave me the results I wanted. I want to be lean, but toned.
So, I make sure I do cardio everyday. That is what really helped me burn the fat. I try to do 40 minutes. Then I will alternate between working my butt one day, my abs the next and twice a week I work my whole body using weights. I also mix in some pilates to help strengthen my back. I have had bad back problems ever since Highschool and my chiropractor told me Pilates is the best thing for it. Then I throw in some extra crunches for good measure to really tone my poor stretched out tummy muscles.
So there you have it! Anyone can do this....all it really takes is for you to DECIDE you are going to do it, COMMIT to doing what is necessary, and you will SUCCEED!
So, I want to hear other people's success stories. :0)
Thanks for stopping by!

WEIGHT LOSS PHOTOS! FINALLY....

Okay, so posting pictures is soooo embarassing! But I am pretty proud of myself. I didn't honestly know if I could do it or not, especially after having a c-section. I mean, how many times can your skin be stretched out before it finally says, "That's it. I'm staying right here."


So just for a reference, this is me at my HEAVIEST! I weighed over 200 lbs. Granted I was pregnant with twins, but still. Not pretty.

Here I am 7 months later. I am wearing my skinny, SKINNY jeans. The pair I thought I would NEVER EVER get back into because I didn't think my HIPS would ever shrink again. You know what the best part is?? My husband gave me the greatest compliment today while taking this photo. He said, "I am amazed by you. I can't believe you had the will power to do it!" Probably in reference to me getting up every morning and exercising...It felt soooo GOOD to hear it from him! :0)

Here is a picture of my tummy. I thought I would never show my tummy to anyone again. My sister wanted to see the difference. So, Spring, this is for you even though I am mortified!

I am trying to convice her that Turbo Jam is WAAAAYY better than Tae Bo. :0P

I'm hoping that my skin will shrink even more. I'm giving it a year....

So there you have it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Teacher Gifts

So ever since my last venture in learning how to sew, I have gotten to be a little more confident, thanks to NOT breaking any needles in the first five minutes. YAY! So I saw a friend with this gorgeous bag and I thought, "I HAVE to make one of those!" She was kind enough to take the time to teach me. Here is the first bag I did. I LOVE this bag! It is so pretty and there are pockets inside to hold a water bottle and pens and another pocket to hold other items. So I made one for my mom for Mother's Day. It got easier so I decided to make one for my elementary kids teachers, 4 in all.
Here is one of the bags I made for the teachers. Different fabric. I can now make one in less than a day, easy! My hubby is rolling his eyes because I have yet ANOTHER hobby that costs money. Still cheaper than paying for therapy... :0)

I also made these little thank-you note holders using Lauren Meader's Timeless Timeplate, Captured Card Case. So easy. I just print, cut, score, assemble and decorate! The sentiment was perfect. It's from PTI's Teacher's Apple stamp set.

Inside are 10 little thank you notes and envelopes to match. I made the envelopes myself using Lauern Meader's easy instructions. I also made a pen to match that can be kept inside the box.

The little envelope holds mongrammed lables to seal the envelopes with.

The kids are giving them out today. I hope they like it! Mostly I just wanted to give them something that would be useful and NOT fattening. I'm sure they get tons of goodies at the end of the year. :0) Anyway, just thought I would share what I do with some of my free time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have you ever had one of those days....

Well in my case it has been more like one of those weeks! I just have to vent it all here so that I don't have an emotional break-down.

Just to set this up, my husband is out of town and I am PMS'ing...not a good combination to start with, but it just felt like everything was conspiring against me...

Monday started out okay. I really can't remember it, maybe I blocked it out, but then TUESDAY HIT! I was teaching piano and my oldest son thought it would be a bright idea to burn things in the basement while watching his baby brother, Ty. Now Jason is a relatively bright kid. He is, however, turning 12 and the hormones have affected his ability to THINK! So what would posses him to do this? Ty is laying on the cement floor while Jason is nowhere to be seen, but I can smell something burning. So we got in a big fight and he decides to run away from home right before some people are supposed to come over to practice a song for his talent show the next day. I am cleaning the kitchen, mopping on my hands and knees while crying and thinking I am the worst parent in the world. The people show up and Jason is nowhere to be found. Fortunately, they were very forgiving and even play with my children while I hunt for my son. She talks to me and makes me feel better and all is well.

Here was my Wednesday. I had to teach piano and then get the kids fed and ready for bed before I was to take Jason to his talent show. Emi and Bryce were to be in charge. I had reservations about them after I went upstairs to find Emi fully dressed in her PJ's standing in a bathtub full of water with her brother, Bryce, who was buck-naked and they were having a water fight. The babies were lying on the floor naked and there was water all over the bathroom floor. These were the two kids I was supposed to leave in charge?! Needless to say, I took the babies with me, which meant that I couldn't record the talent show. Jason did a great job and all is well.

Thursday....da, da, dah....(insert dramatic music here). I took a shower and come down the stairs to find blood all over the carpet. At this point I'm thinking one of the children has been stabbed. I find Josh with a bloody nose and no one has died. I scrub the carpets that have just been shampooed, BTW. It mostly came out and all is well. I made french bread earlier in the day for hoagie sandwiches for dinner. I got done teaching piano, and sliced the cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and cut up the pineapple. I start slicing the bread and found the little silicon oxygen package they put into the flour to keep it fresh. It had busted and was baked all into the bread. So it's 6:30PM and a friend is coming at 7PM so we can work on baby shower invitations. I make a run for the grocery store, which is not close by, BTW. The whole time I'm speeding and thinking, it would just be my luck that I would get a speeding ticket or get into an accident and social services would cart my children away because I left them at home alone to run get bread! I get home and my friend is already here and the kids are telling her that the bread mom made was poisoned! At this point, I am ready to lose it. My week has been so utterly ridiculous that I just HAD to laugh! I mean, who could make this stuff up? Isn't life fun? Fortunately, my friend was very forgiving that my life is not as organized as I think it should be. She joined us for dinner. We stayed up until midnight getting the invitations done and had a good talk. All is well.
Now....what will tomorrow hold, I wonder......
Heaven help me...

WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE

Man, I have been bad about updating on my progress! Since January 6th, I have lost 25 lbs. I have at least 5 more to go. Over Spring Break I stayed at 152, but now I am losing again. it might be due to the stress of having to speak on Sunday, plus sing. AHHHHH! Have I ever mentioned how much I hate to speak in front of people?

I just have to say that the Turbo Jam workouts have really shaped my body into something that looks lean and fit. My arms are longer and skinnier, but I actually have muscle there! Woohoo!
My butt is sore thanks to all of the squats and lunges. :0) The thing I LOVE about Turbo Jam is that the workouts are FUN! I actually look forward to working out. The music is awesome and I really let go....Thank goodness it's only my kids that get to watch me dance around like a crazy woman. LOL I HIGHLY recommend Turbo Jam. There is a learning curve involved in becoming familiar with the moves, but once you do it a couple of times you can just rock out without having to listen to the instructor tell you over and over again what to do. With other workouts it's like, "Okay, I got it already, can we move on?" I memorized the Pilates moves and some Betty Crocker workout video (is that an Oxy moron?) so that I could do them when I travel or don't have a lot of time to exercise.
I will post a picture soon!

Spring Break Activities

Prepare to be bombarded with pictures! For Spring break I tried to do something with each one of the children. Jason and I went shopping together for some new pants...that boy needs to stop growing! We had fun. Emi and I attempted to learn how to sew. I found this cute pattern for these bags. I thought they would be easy....HA! But we managed to get it figured out. :0) It was like the blind leading the blind. LOL
I changed a few things. I used ribbon for the handles instead of fabric and I added flowers. I think they turned out pretty cute. We made one for each of the girls and for my niece, Tori, who just turned 8.

This flower is from the pretties kit that Stampin' Up! sells. The button is one of the corduroy buttons that SU! has in the Occasions mini catty that just came out. I LOVE these buttons!

With the leftover fabric we made aprons. I used ribbon again for the straps and PTI buttons. These little aprons are so cute. It is just a square piece of fabric. I made one for each of the girls and Tori.

Josh wanted in on the picture. What a character!

Kenna and I made TONS of cookies. We made Peanut butter chocolate chip, butterscotch chocolate chip, and TWO batches of Snickerdoodles because they are daddy's favorite. I freeze them in a big ziploc bag and then just pull them out as needed.

This is a picture of an accident we had. Josh fell off of our benches onto our dutch oven and tore his ear. They glued it back together. Not pretty, eh?

Of course we have to get a picture of the babies. They are growing so quickly! They are rolling and scooting. They are seriously the BEST babies I have ever had. So happy and they love to hold hands and talk to each other.

We had the Pinewood derby. Here was Bryce's car, Lightening McQueen. Too bad Dad wasn't here to help.

It wasn't very fast, but it was the best looking car there. :0) I found out later we were supposed to graphite the wheels or something?? Oh, well....


Bryce and I also went to see "Race to Witch Mountain". I have seen it twice now. Is it just me or is Dwayne Johnson smokin' HOTT?! :0) That's not why I saw it twice, though....

I hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek into my life!