Holy Cow!

It's been five days since I've posted last, man am I a slacker or what?! he he. Yesterday we had a 60th wedding anniversary party for Geo's grandparents (SIXTY!? SIXTY!!) Here's a few pics snapped by me-the "professional" ones won't be done for a while (go figure, editing 1000 pics might take a while! ha ha)

 This is Bitsy with her great Grandpa Witkowski and her new favorite Auntie, Jeanie (sorry Tori and Katie, you've been replaced-at least till she goes home!)

 And here we have Great Uncle Bobby showing off his muscles with the kids...

A bit of this and that

It's hard to blog regularly in the summer; for one there's a lot going on, for two, it's too nice to just sit at the computer and type. In the winter, there's nothing better to do than sit in a comfy chair and blog blog blog, but summer just doesn't have that same sort of feeling to it. That being said, here's what's going on lately. I had my five week weigh in today at weight watchers and I'm pleased to say I've lost ten pounds (woohoo) and I've lost 8 inches of body "area"? What would you call that? I don't know, either way, I've lost and that's a good thing.

We spent the weekend wandering around forest preserves that we'd never been to before. We ended up at an equestrian forest preserve where the kiddos got to check out a bunch of horse and watch them in the ring. They loved it but it was so darn hot and the flies were biting so we left and went to a historic farm down the road-that was fun. Ponds, sculptures, all sort of fun stuff. We practically had to drag the kids out of there. The only thing that convinced them to leave was the promise of ice cream!

A while back I posted about wanting a Le Creuset pot for our anniversary; I'm not sure that I ever updated about it, but we were at an estate sale a while back and I found one for ten bucks!! Talk about a happy momma! (and happy Hunky hubby-he wasn't looking forward to dropping that much on a pan ha ha) Man oh man, that pan is amazing. It's cast iron so it holds the heat nicely; I was able to take Geo's dinner out of the oven an hour before he got home last night and it was still nice and hot when he sat down to eat it. Not only does it keep food nice and hot, it is SO easy to clean. I thought for sure I'd be scrubbing the heck out of it to remove sticky teriyaki sauce from last night's dinner. Not so! A sponge and some hot water and it's good as new (to me he he)

It's an exciting week-we're celebrating Geo's grandparents 60th anniversary this weekend and the whole Wit family is going to be here! We're all so excited and it feels like Saturday is taking forever to get here!!!

Alright, that's it for now, time to go home in the pool with the kiddos for a bit! Till next time xo

Daddy's little girl!

Thankful Thursday: Perspective

Tuesday we went and saw Gabriel's neurosurgeon; it was approximately 900 degrees out, traffic was awful (particularly since I took a wrong turn and ended up a few miles outside of Chicago-whoops) and of course, the a/c in our car isn't working. I went into the drs. office sweaty and annoyed, and despite the great news we got from the doctor, I was still annoyed-I had spent almost two hours in the car to go in and speak to the doctor for literally less than five minutes. We left the hospital with a two hour drive ahead of us and I was crabby to say the least. We were just about to the parking garage when an old man stopped us and started talking; now generally I will stop and chat with someone for a few minutes (or 20...or 30 as I did with the old woman two buildings over the other night ha ha) but I was hot and frustrated. HOWEVER, my parents raised me to respect my elders and I want Gabe and Bits to do the same, so we stood there and chatted. After our chat, we left and I was muttering quietly to myself about the drive when Gabriel suddenly said "wow. that was nice. It must be national nice people day because that man was VERY nice, don't you think?" and he smiled at me and grabbed my hand. He said "you're a nice person too Mom and today's your day too"

Now how in the world could I be annoyed after that? Sometimes a dose of perspective is all you need to turn around your whole day...so I'm thankful for Gabe's perspective that hot and hazy day; it made an otherwise crappy day much better.

Baby It's Hot Outside

Oh baby!

What an exciting weekend we had!! We welcomed a new member into the Witkowski family! His name is Logan Joseph, he was 7 pounds 3 ounces and 19.5 inches long. He has a full head of hair and the cutest cry EVER (seriously, he sounds like a little lamb when he fusses) Katie (momma) was in full on rock star mode the day she delivered Logan; four hours from start to finish and she looked amazing afterwards (seriously, it was sickening. ha ha) What a gorgeous new little nut we have; and just in time for our whole Witkowski family gathering coming up in a little less than two weeks! Congrats to JD, Katie, and Miss Aubrey on the birth of Master Logan...
I'm new here...and it's frickin' freezing AND bright! AHHHHH

 Momma and Logan...she's checking out all that hair!

 Practically twins, eh?

 Cuddling up with his favorite Unc and Auntie!

Wordless Wednesday is Late

Wordless Wednesday is late this week but it's a good one, I promise. Yesterday I took some belly pics (my favorites to take!) of Katie and here's a peek of my favorites...Little Logan should be here tomorrow...and expect pics of HIM soon too!

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed

or something like that...

I have one basic rule for the kids getting dressed: their clothes must be clean and fit them properly. (wait. that's two rules, isn't it? hmm) Ok, I have TWO basic rules for the kids getting dressed: their clothes must be clean and must fit properly. Lol

As a general rule, the kids pick out decent looking outfits. I try to make sure that most of their clothes are interchangeable so that they can just grab and go. Gabe is partial to shorts and sleeveless tees in the summer and jeans and tees in the fall; he's easy peasy. Bits on the other hand is, um, crazy. She likes to wear dresses...and skirts...at the same time. Every single time she puts on a dress, she throws a skirt on under it. She likes to be poofy, she likes to twirl and be very twirly while doing so. She dresses in layers and makes tons of laundrylooks super cute.

Lately, though, she's been on a "wear Gabe's clothes" kick, even if it's just his socks-though her favorite thing to wear of his is a blue dinosaur outfit. Today, though, she decided to really "kick it up a notch" as far as her outfit went. She, quite frankly, looked like a colorblind hobo. *shakes head* I am glad she loves to wear colors and patterns, but sometimes I wonder about her choices. Today's outfit was a pink and white striped shirt, a bright orange SHEER tutu (from her recital), brown gaucho pants under the tutu, Gabriel's black and yellow batman socks, and blue and white flowered shoes with random yellow spots on them. She looked like a hot mess...but a HAPPY hot mess and that's really all that matters. People who saw her (we went to the gym this morning) grinned and made comments about how cute she was and how happy she was, so I suppose the color blind hobo outfit wasn't too awful after all, was it? You can be the judge-I'll post this awful cell phone picture of the two goofballs this morning.

Weight Watchers: Week Four

I had originally planned to update every Tuesday about weight watchers and then decided that would be too boring; instead I'll do it once a month, which won't be nearly as annoying :P

Today was my one month weigh in; it's been 2 days shy of joining weight watchers and I'm pleased to say that I've lost 8.2 pounds and five inches! Not only that but I feel pretty damn good. I've got energy like crazy and my work outs have become much more productive. I'm more than halfway to my first goal (which makes me VERY happy) and once I hit the first goal, I'll be halfway to my SECOND goal-I like the way that works.

I've been tracking everything online at the weight watchers site; research says that people who use the online system lose more weight than those who do not use it and I can see why. You have numbers in front of you that are updated in real time; if you go over your points it doesn't yell at you or put your points in red, it just calmly adds them to your total. When you lose weight the system congratulates you, when you do not lose weight (or, gasp, gain)  it doesn't chastise you, instead it encourages you to go back to your previous week and see what small changes you can make to ensure your next week is a better week-which I really like. It's hard to be upset with yourself for gaining (like I did two weeks ago-thanks to an amazing anniversary cake AND two drinks...whoops) when the system isn't "mad" either, know what I mean?

Anyway, to sum it up; I'm losing pounds and inches and I'm gaining energy and optimism! I feel great and feel like this is finally "it" for me. I finally get it and my body seems to have gotten the memo as well! Hooray!

Busy busy busy!

We rarely have weekends with Geo because of his over time schedule; however this weekend we DID have him! We went to Railroad Days in West Chicago and had a blast at the carnival and then watched a great fireworks show-we didn't get to see the fireworks here last week because of Geo's schedule, so we were all happy to be able to go and watch them. And now on to the pictures...

Momma Musings: I'm THAT Mom

Have you seen this link? 

Basically the author talks about "curbing your brats" and other equally as obnoxious rants directed towards parents of unruly children. I agree with a lot of what he has to say but also see the other side of the story as well; I have two smallish children whom 95% of the time are really well behaved in public. We take them out to eat, we go to the movie theater, the train, etc etc and they behave well. It's important to us that they have manners and know how to behave in public (much like OUR parents thought the same thing)

Tonight, however, was one of the 5% nights.

It had been a long day; we were up fairly early, had errands to run and then had to leave to go the library so I could work for a couple of hours. The kids were wound up-they played with a friend out on the playground for over an hour, they had some decadent chocolate cake made by a patron of the library, and were really acting riled up. I made the mistake of going grocery shopping tonight after this long active day. The store, thankfully, was not busy. Gabe and Bits were excited to be in the store, they were being a bit silly, but nothing I was concerned with. They were using manners, they weren't screaming, they were actually being quite good...until we got to the pickle aisle.

*sigh* the pickle aisle. I am sure the pickle aisle is going to be an aisle that Bits avoids for a good long time after this evening.

Miss Bits was being silly, pointing to random things on the shelves saying "hey mom, do we need may-o-naise? what about a million pudding cups? AND PEANUT BUTTER?!" she and Gabe were having a good ole time pointing out silly things...until she saw a giant jar of pickles (we're talking the giant gallon size of pickles) rather than just POINT at them she picked them up (you see where this is going, right?) *sigh* She picked up the pickles (say that ten times fast lol) and the pickles, being heavy AND in a glass jar, started to slide out of her arms. I wasn't close enough to her that I could catch them and they fell and the glass shattered and the briny smell of pickles filled the air.

And then the tears started and the wide eyed stare of Gabe happened and I had to suppress a giggle (uh oh. did I really just admit that I thought it was kind of funny? yes, yes I did) Bits was so upset, I didn't have the heart to scold her. I asked if she was okay and she replied through sobs that she was "so so sorry momma, I'm so sorry momma" We got a wet floor sign and put it near the pickles and sought out an employee. Thankfully the aisle was empty-as was most of the store. I feel badly that someone had to pick those pickles up, but it was an accident; I'm not too proud to say that I've broken things in stores-it happens sometimes. I've always offered to pay for them, but people know that accidents happen-even when it's a silly kid acting silly-accidents are accidents.

Was she being intentionally naughty? Of course not. Will she EVER pick up a glass jar that's half her size again? Probably not. Were we part of the "brat" culture the articles' author was describing? Probably. Did Bits learn a lesson? Yes. Was anyone hurt? No. Am I a bad momma for this happening? I'd like to think not. The fact of the matter is that sometimes accidents happen and they can't be avoided...and the author of the previously mentioned article would be wise to NOT lump all parents together because of single incidents he's seen from children.

And now it's off to bed for the pickle princess' pooped parent!

Thankful Thursday: Thankfulness

Today I'm thankful for thankful kids! Today we were getting ready for a snack and Gabe said "wait mom, we thanked you but we should probably thank God too" So the kids decided they'd say grace. Gabe said "dear God, thank you for being nice" and Bits butted in with "and thank you for grace" they both said amen and dug into their snacks. Truthfully, Bitsy was being thankful for the opportunity to SAY grace, but I found her wording completely and utterly appropriate. As the saying goes, there but by the grace of God I go, right?! What are you thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday: Welcome

Welcome to the world Joshua Mark Viking! Congrats to Eri, Mark, and Stomp on the birth of Joshua earlier this week...everyone is doing well and we're so happy he's come!!

Happy Independence Day!!

Where I've Been

I've admittedly, been awful at blogging the last few days; Geo's working at night and sleeping during the day so we've been trying to stay out of the house and keep quiet and as a result, I just haven't been near the computer as much. HOWEVER a bigger reason as to why I'm not blogging are being busy with Gabe and Bitsy girl. They keep me on my toes and for that, I give you pictures of THEIR toes (is it just me or does Gabe's foot look enormous? I mean, I know it IS enormous given that I often wear his socks because someone *ahem* has put them in my sock drawer, but really, my goodness, look at those clodhoppers!)