The time out box...

4 bedroom house, I mean 5 bedroom house...

The view from when you come in the front door... (ignore the carpet- the new carpet savings has been started). Now you see Gaby's wall, soon to have decorations.

Coming down the stairs, the door goes into the laundry room and Gaby's room.

Gaby was so excited to get her own space. She even promised to keep it clean... taking bets on how long this will last.

View from the door- it's a small room but it is all hers. Little details still need to be finished like paint touch ups, trim, and ceiling touch ups. This area used to be all open- Dustin really did an outstanding job. Gaby's excitement when we moved her bed in and told her that her room was almost done was worth the waiting, D's long nights, and the house being a mess.

Our family room is almost put back together... so excited!

Our Livingroom campout...

Summer fun has started at the Fluke household...

Just did week 3, day 2 of #c210K

(Tonight after Jazz class and running 3.4 miles with my 10K app... I am a hot mess!)

Tonight was a good night! This past week however was not. As I stated on my Facebook page, loosing weight is a humbling experience. There are days, weeks, even months I feel great and I know this journey is what I am meant to be on. And I am okay with that.

Then there are days, weeks, (hopefully not) months I feel like I am defeated, broken, and I am still that person who weighs 275. I will be honest-I hate pity parties, excuses, and negative attitudes, yet this past week I was the owner all three. I knew it and I just did not care. I told myself I was happier when I weighed more, Dustin loved me when I was 275- I can eat what I want, and I can just maintain at this weight and be happy.

Wrong! All I have to say is evil was taking over my body this past week! Negative self talk is a powerful thing. I took my calorie counting device off for 2 days and skipped journaling my food too- I told myself I was done. I had enough of the numbers controlling my life. I did not weigh in, ate what I wanted, did not work out and I felt like crap... big ol pile of dogie doo! My temper was short, I had no energy, and I even felt different in my clothing.

I felt like this past week I was at my lowest point ever- I felt pressure for the scale to have a big number, I felt pressure of the house projects (I hate that I can't help Dustin- I have no clue and we need one adult to take care of the babies), I felt pressure to have my entire summer for work and family planned out, and I felt pressure to make sure I am doing what's right for our kids. Again, pity party at it's best!

The power of prayer... I am a strong believer that God has placed this journey on my heart for a reason. I need to be healthy for my family and promote a healthy life style for my kids. I believe that being humbled this week and being torn down to my lowest point was all planned, God knew it was going to happen. I needed to meltdown to see things clearly again. I needed to forget about what everyone else is or isn't doing and make sure I am doing this for the right reasons. While running, I have so many things going on... I have the TV on (if at the gym), my music going, and I am self talking and praying like crazy! I pray that I can run to the next half way mark, then I pray I can make it to the next mile, and so on. The power of prayer and having a clear head is the best feeling ever! When I am done running and the feeling of puking is gone, I feel alive and like I can do anything!

(I would like to meet the person who made this machine- I have such a love hate relationship with this mental contraption! Yikes! I feel my abs after doing 25-30 of these things!)

I want to be a role model for others, I want everyday normal people to know they can loose weight too- that is why I am so open about my weight loss ups and downs. It is not easy- that is why it is called a journey-It doesn't happen overnight, some days are better then others, and even when you do have a bad day, week, or God forbid month, you can always get going again. I want people to know that if I can do this so can you- even from your home. You don't have to belong to a gym or Jazzercise, these are just things I enjoy to help me along the way. Get rid of the pity parties, excuses, and negative attitudes.

Even when you are down and out- just look up! Last week was a huge eye opener to me and I had no where to go but up. I cried, I ate, I avoided working out... it was the kick that I needed to press on and work on my next goal for 20lbs.

"God's divine power has given us everything we need to experience victory in our struggles."

Aidan's last day

Today is a day to celebrate, but it is okay to be a little sad too. Aidan is leaving our daycare to spend a fun filled summer with his family then start Kindergarten in August. I don't want to get sappy, scroll down to see his graduation post for that, but I want to wish him well as he begins a new chapter in his life.

Aidan and I

Aidan and his brother Alex started with me over 3 years ago. I had Alex for one year then he started school- and now it's Aidan's turn. I am truly blessed to have gotten to work with this family!

We had the most kid friendly celebration lunch ever... pizza and cake! ( yes, some fruit and veggies were thrown in there too)
When I brought Aidan in the kitchen to show him his cake he said, "wow, you REALLY love me". Which is just an Aidan thing to say.

Enjoying his day... Aidan told me once that I had to fill out an application to be his friend. I will never forget his funny stories, his awesome letter of the week bags, and his willingness to always give hugs.

Celebrating with friends...

And making a card for him..

Saying good bye is never easy. I spend more time with my daycare friends then my older kids in school. I am so excited for this next step in Aidan's life but it never makes the change any easier! We wish you well Aidan and family! Please visit often! We love you all!

Rainy day...blah!

Rainy day activities included the big kids playing their DS games for a while...

Others colored and did puzzles...

And the boys played with legos...

Such a rainy day...

Full House

We are in transition mode today. My big kids have started to trickle in as my younger ones start to trickle out. Some of my kids have different schedules in the summer and those start next week as the teachers end the last week of work. Today we played outside and enjoyed the awesome weather as we had a full house.

Here are some pictures from our morning outside...

Kids playing school... brings back memories from when I was little! I LOVED playing school!

Some played super heroes... I spent a lot of time telling the kids not to play with the sticks this morning. It was over and over I was telling them, Finally, I gave into the sticks. However set some rules for playing with the them. They did well and I was happy they could play their game but try to be safe.

The little ones played on the deck for a while... we did stories and songs while the big kids played downstairs.

It was a great transition day...

randoms...

"Hold on tight... here we go". Saturday we heard this phrase a lot. It is Worlds of Fun's new thing to say before you ride each ride. I have pictures of this weekend... really I do. However, they are on another camera that isn't set up to "talk" to my computer yet. The night before our outing to KC, Dustin and I discussed how we needed a small little camera for times we didn't want to load up our big ol' canon. It is so nice to have a little point and shoot one again. Oh, how I have missed it! But that is all to say, I don't have it all hooked up and I am so behind on posting because of it! So, hold on tight... more pictures will be coming! As if you an hardly weight! ;)

Here is my pile of "to-do" stuff. I am planning games and lessons for my older kids so they are not "bored" with everything the little kids are doing. I finally made a huge dent in that yesterday. Nothing like waiting to the last minute. I am also reading a great book, "Born to crave". I actually had to write, "read book" on my daily list. If I didn't, I would go weeks without picking it up! It's a great read... I'll blog on that soon!

I felt like the last 2 weeks of May have been crazy- just gearing up for summer changes, trying to make everyone's time here with me fun yet educational, and well balanced. This summer is gonna be a good one- I am just excited about some little things I am throwing in there to help our day. The list is getting shorter and that is always a great feeling too.

My big ol' hairy mess. This is my dining room- really it is my daycare classroom. I wanted to change things up a bit and ended up making a hug ol' mess on top of Gaby's room project! After 3 coats of mud, sanding, 3 coats of primer, and 5 coats of yellow- the wall is fixed and I can redecorate the daycare learning area. Note to self: wait for husband to come home before doing a "little" remodeling. I even have one more decal ordered to go on the other side of the lion to make up for that space down there. Yippy for the wall being done!

Yesterday was Gaby and Kadyn's last day of school. They both came home with book bags full of stuff from their desks. Gaby is like me in so many ways but one way she is NOT is being organized. Her desk was always a mess. I don't know how she could find anything... kinda like her room (which will be changing when she moves into her space with walls). Her bag just had crap in it. Crap. So waited until this morning to go through what we should save and what could be trashed. I threw out almost everything. Gaby had maybe a journal and a few little thing but other then that I filled up half of our kitchen trash can with her stuff from school. How can this kid really be mine... I am not a clean freak, but I hate clutter and not being organized!

My pile of savings... read next post! I am couponing! My neighbor passed on some inserts and I have started meal planning and keeping track of sales and deals... on a very small scale!

I did find these in Gaby's bag... (Liz, this reminded me of what you posted too), When the girls ate home lunch, I would write notes and stick them into their lunches. Gaby had saved them and put them in her bag. One day I had packed Kadyn's lunch and spaced off doing the note- She came home in a sad mood and I asked her what was wrong- she told me, "you forgot to send a paper that had words on it and a heart". (She couldn't read yet) It warms my heart to know they really like the notes and actually saved them!

First day of summer break... Gaby slept in, Kadyn stayed in her PJ's until after 9am, and Mia loved having her sisters here to play with. Ask me in a month how things are going but as for today- I love having my kids home. I love summer break to do things with them and not be so concerned about bedtimes and routines. It is a break for all of us! No fighting in the morning to get dressed or threats of missing the bus. Ahhh! Summer!

Some of my older kids... Like I have stated before- it's a fun change to have my school aged kids coming back. They bring a little, okay a lot of spunk to the day!

I started taking a vitamin this week... and look they have one that will give me energy. I am not sure how much more energy I have- I haven't felt any different besides the fact I pee more. Oh well... it was a suggestion to try a vitamin for my weight loss. So, here it is!

Weight loss is sucking right now... nuff said! I'll have a post all dedicated to that soon. I decided I wasn't going to post it until I could get out of my little pity party and move on! So for this week and last, I am in maintenance mode- it is just want I needed for now. I am not dedicated to actively losing my weight today, and that is okay!

My mom has a cool new chair coming soon. She needs something that when she is in her room hanging out she can keep her feet up- my brother found one that is steel framed and looks uber cool! She is excited and I am excited for her- She hasn't had "new" furniture in forever. I am sure this will be a highlight for the girls too that hang out with Grammy.

I am throwing this out there... we are still on the search for concrete bids for a drive way... know of anyone, please let me know. I have called over 2o people and maybe gotten 3 bids back.

Swimming lessons are starting soon- I am so excited but the weather must change or my kids and I will be frozen. Today was perfect in temps but I miss my hot weather a little. I know my tune will change soon but I am ready now.

I have decided not to tan in a tanning bed this summer. I haven't been since after Mia was born just because of time. I always feel like I "look better" when I am tan. But after seeing how my skin reacts to it, it's just not worth it. I get more freckles and the whole skin cancer thing really hit home now that I am older and see so many of my family and even younger people around me diagnosed with cancer. I know I can still get cancer or other skin issues but why make my chances higher. I almost gave in 2 weeks ago- I had talked myself in to just getting a "base" tan then not doing it any more, then I saw a couple of friends post a video that changed my mind yet again. My chances are higher due to my skin, my hair color... it is such a crazy thing that I wrap my self worth around how tan I am or am not. So... I am not tanning. I am just learning that my body will look good if I am pasty white or dark.

I guess I need to wrap my randoms up! I had a lot to chat about I guess!!! Hope the week is going well!

2 store in one night...

I am in no way an extreme coupon person... I know it is the "cool" fad going on right now because of TLC's show but I just can not wrap myself around the entire coupon world as these families do on the show! Kudos for them- I admire them but it isn't for me.

However looking at my daycare food budget and my large family food budget I can see that grocery shopping is a place where I can save some money by investing a little bit of time. Last week I did my first 2 store shopping trip. I am a Walmart girl. I love their off brands of most items and I found that unless the coupon is REALLY good, most of my basics are still cheaper there. So why waste the time.

There are items that are close in price at Dillons. Like the 2 packages of diapers. Dillions had them on sale for 8.99 a pack, then I had a 2.00 off coupon per each pack, then when I checked out I received a 3.00 off coupon for my next order. So, in this case, it was a good deal to get diapers at Dillons vs. Walmart.

I like certain brands... like laundry soap. I love ALL, none of my kids have problems with it and I like how it works on stains. I searched for a ALL coupon and was able to find 1.50 off. Which made this bottle 50% off just because I took the time to look. Little deals like this, is what will add up. Like I said, I am so doing the coupon thing small scale.

I also like how Dillons has the 10 for 10 items. It was a great way to stock up on frozen items that make good snacks for daycare. I hate serving processed food to the kids and my family so I try to avoid it at meal times. However a small amount at snacks or a meal here and there isn't going to hurt them.

Another good find for the week... Dustin takes the same lunch to work every day. He loves these chips and with the coupon in the paper last week, I got 1 can free.

I follow a couple money saving blogs... it really opens your eyes to what you can do or save if you put the time and effort into it. My goal is to track my savings this summer and see how we do.
Monday at Dillon's, my bill was 99.00. Between my shoppers card and coupons it was lowered to 74.58. Not too bad for my first week! I think it will go smoother once I have the coupons organized and built up a stock pile! Wish me luck!

Today we spent some time finger painting. So simple yet so much fun.

Some of the kids jump right in and some take their time starting...

Mixing all the colors...

Making fun designs...

Thank goodness it's washable...

Even Kenni was interested...

We reviewed our letters today... my older preschoolers have a workbook they have been working out of. Today A finished tracing, writing, and coloring his ABC book today.

This week we are doing 3 books... these are some of my favorites. They are also good lessons as some of the kids will stay for summer care and some are moving on to school. All good reminders on how to make friends, our moms always come back, and our hands are not for hitting!