Wednesday Weigh-In

Since last Wednesday I have, well really, it's more like since one of those Wednesdays in June...

Okay, truth time.  Since we started the patio work, I hadn't had any time to exercise.  And then we went on vacation in mid-July.  Which I might add, I did take 2 of my DVD workouts but I didn't use them.  I wanted to run on the beach and I jogged for about 3 minutes.  We hiked and walked our way through the Maritimes but at the same time, I also ate my way through, so that really cancels each other out.  I had every intention on starting to exercise when we returned but it had been so long and I was so tired all the time and then I was sick.  So I know, excuses, excuses.

On the plus side, I didn't gain weight on vacation.

On the negative side, I have gained weight since being home. :(

I have only exercised twice since returning...and that includes tonight!

So there it is.  I need to re-commit to my goals and have new incentives.  I think my Christmas dress will be a nice start.

And it continues

So our small backyard reno turned into something slightly bigger.  There were countless trips to the dump to remove the dirt and I can't even begin to tally how many back-breaking hours that were involved.  Steven & John dug dirt during the day and I helped when I got home.

Our big joke when we started digging the hole in the backyard was that Steven would dig more at night and then carry a rolled up carpet into the backyard in the middle of the night.  Then he'd casually start to mention to people that "my wife has gone away.  I'm not sure when she's coming back."

Then the hole got bigger and bigger as the project slowly took on a life of its own.

Then we got gravel.

And shoveled the gravel into the gigantic hole in our backyard.  Right around now, we started thinking that perhaps we should hire an expert.  Well to be fair, I thought about hiring someone during the early days of this project but ahem, someone didn't agree with me.

And then we hired someone.

But due to unfortunate scheduling and inconvenient weather the job wasn't started.

This is how we left our backyard when we went on holiday. 

So when we returned, the job finally got started.

We stood and watched for so long, I'm pretty sure we pissed them off.

We tried to make it up with popsicles, ice cream sandwiches and beer.

Isn't it gorgeous?  Yes I know, there's that small sad little patch of grass in front of the garage but believe me, we have BIG plans for that space. 

Our first purchase for our new "outdoor living space". 
The chiminea.  You'd think that this would be something easy to buy.  You could think that but you'd be wrong.  We looked high & low and near & far only to discover that of course these were popular a few years ago but not any longer.  But Steven found a wonderful store. 

Doesn't this look great?

The Birthday Party

For his bithday party this year we took John and friends to see Cars 2 (3D).  It was John's first movie and he LOVES the first movie.  Steven & I were very excited about the surprise because we're lame like that.

It was also the first time eating popcorn.  I know, we're boring parents too. 

Then home for cake, presents and pizza.  (and the hat!)

mmmm.  DQ Ice Cream cake.

Happy Birthday!

And then in the middle of the ever-growing backyard reno, it was John's birthday.

Look who's 4 years old!

This is his actual birthday.  The night before Steven & I debated whether we should do something on his actual birthday and then decided that yes, indeed we'd be horribly, bad parents if we did nothing.  So, I whipped over the store and bought a small cake and made him wear the hat.  The hat that I am going to make him wear until his 18th birthday, when there will only be one pathetic blue sparkle and only one blue fringe left on the ripped hat.  But damn it, he'll wear that smelly hat!

And then he got to open one gift.  The stupidly ridiculous gift that I, ahem, I mean Riley got for John.

It's a bike horn.  And yes, it's loud and obnoxious and everytime I hear it I shake my head and inwardly curse myself.

Well, Hello Stranger

Well, hello stranger.  Remember me?  Of course I'm assuming that there's still someone out there reading my blog. 

We've been busy.  Shortly after my last post waaaaayy back in mid-June, in a flash of inspiration, we decided to finally tear out the flower beds in the backyard.

Doesn't Steven look sad and pathetic?  Shall I mention that this whole backyard reno was his idea? 

 John is demanding worms.  This from a child who, when he saw a worm, screamed and ran away in fear last year.

 And now, thankfully he wants to play with them.  Fine by me, I guess.

 Trying to remove this plant was living hell.  HORRIBLE.

The Dump. 

Yes, we're so very glamorous.

So our small backyard reno seemed harmless.  We wanted to remove the back flower beds, trellis and plant.  We also wanted to replace the wooden steps because the wood was rotting.

sounds simple, no?

And then Steven started talking with people who filled his head with ideas.

IDEAS, people.  The Devil's handiwork.

We worked every day, digging dirt.  Oh wait, have I mentioned that because we do not have a back gate that we had to shovel the dirt into the wheelbarrow, take the wheelbarrow through the garage, into the alley.  THEN we had to shovel the dirt from the wheelbarrow into the back of a truck.  Back breaking work.  Good thing John's such a hard worker.

And so is Darrin!

Isn't my little guy adorable?

He's such a muppet.

Seriously, John is a HARD WORKER!