JPAC Fall Spectacular!

The girls had their first gymnastics performance debut today at JPAC (Jaycie Phelps Athletic Center - Jaycie is from Greenfield and a member of the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal Team and Co-Owner of the gym.) None of us were quite sure what to expect, but they all did a great job! It was set up like a real meet so the groups of girls went through their rotations and Josie and Tessa had to wait and watch all the other kids which is different than their normal classes. They were grouped with the older girls and I was really impressed with how well they did for the entire time (especially Tessa!). The younger girls group still performed as a group together much more like their classes. Each coach had the girl do the skill that was most applicable to their age group. And, of course, everyone got a medal and got to stand on the big mat/podium! It was great exposure to competition and performing. I really like that they get a chance to perform but we don't have to spend hundreds on costumes. Just a $20 leotard!

Here are the pics...

Warm up -

Jack also was a great sport - sat relatively still on Tom's lap for the entire two hours!

Josie and Tessa's group - The Olympians - Josie spotted us obviously!

The whole group

Josie and Tessa (she was the shortest so she got to be the leader the whole day - made her day!) walking to their first rotation

Josie on the bar

Josie getting ready to do the vault - cheese ball!

Josie on the vault again

Tessa getting ready for vault - her teacher told me last week that she's really good at this because she can run so fast and with power!

See the judge with her hand up? Tessa was waiting for the OK to start.

The coaches tried to keep the girls busy while they were waiting.

Josie doing her floor routine - prepping a handstand

Tessa's handstand - nice work!

Tessa and the judge

Josie getting her medal from Jaycie Phelps. So cool that the girls get high fives each week from an Olympian!

Way to go Josie!

Tessa walking to the podium

Tessa getting her medal from Jaycie

Just a little shy but I can't believe she got up there and did her thing! (In her defense, there were probably 100 people in the crowd!)

Sweet sisters!

What a fun experience!

New Camera Lens!

Last Christmas, Joyner Homes bought us a nice, new Canon Rebel for our Christmas gift. :) We were going to pay for a professional photo shoot for one of our most recent homes, but decided this would be a better investment. We were right! We've gotten some great pictures of homes and of course, our kids.

Fiddling around on various photography blogs last week, I came across a suggestion of a "cheap" Canon lens that promised to take great portraits. I saw the results of a photo shoot using the lens and just had to have it. I'm not a photography person, but I know that a sharp subject and a blurry background (aperture and bokeh as I'm learning more...) make for a fantastic photo.

It finally arrived yesterday and I had fun taking some pictures of Jack in the natural light. (I caught him in the middle of some mischief too!)

Just woke up from his nap - no natural light here - I'm trying to get a little more comfortable with the manual settings.

A little overexposed here but he was looking out the front door. I still like the pic.

He was pretty proud of himself and the fact he stole one of his sister's Capri-Suns.

Oh, if only this had been in focus! This is obviously not a great photo, but I love his little face!

My favorite picture of him of all time! Love it all!

 Just want to eat him up!

This is what I found two minutes before we had to leave for gymnastics. Yes, we were late because I grabbed the camera. Dumped an entire box of Honey Nut Cheerios on the floor.

He was having a great time.

Tom gave me a good hint about taking pictures of little people - get on their level for the right perspective.

He is making a chomping sound as he's shoving them in his mouth. I wish I could write it out phonetically!

Finally, I took some pictures of still objects just for fun. I just love this lens! These really show you ho blurry the background can get with something up close in such sharp focus. So excited to put it to good use!

Now, I'm just looking for a photography class to actually work on how to put this thing to good use. Any ideas?

Back on the Horse Check-In - 11/07/11

This will be my last post in this series. I should have posted it on 10/31/11 but life got in the way as usual.

Ok - here were my goals for the Back on the Horse Challenge -

1. Run the Riley Run 5K in 25 minutes - Ran it in 27:47. However, I'm sure it was at least 3.3 miles, so not totally fair. That mileage would have made my true 5K (3.1 miles) about 26 minutes. Granted, not at my goal but a lot closer. I did sign up for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day but I'm not sure I'll be able to do even 26 since my running routine has been less than stellar.
2. Lose 10 pounds by October 31 - a pound a week - Well, I didn't hit 10 pounds. But, I managed 8. I'll take it. Most of the 8 pounds is due the Four Hour Body book. More later...


You could look at these results in two ways - 


1. A failed challenge - I didn't hit either goal. I'm two pounds and two minutes from my goals. 


2. A new opportunity - so I worked pretty hard. I trained for a race and lost some weight - all while eating healthier. 


I choose #2. I think I'm still moving in the right direction. Plus, what's another month in the whole scheme of things?


As for the Four Hour Body, I guess I have mixed reviews. It definitely works. However, the book claims 20 pounds in 30 days. I think that is totally possible if you are eating a very high carb diet (mine was only moderate - and I tried hard to eat "good" carbs) and if you are male. But, I did lose weight for sure. In fact, I haven't been at this weight since I was doing hard core Insanity and counting calories in a major way. {Side note - I have been majorly slacking in the exercise department in the last few weeks and it hasn't stalled my weight loss.}


All in all - I'm sticking with it. I'm really close to a new low and want to see that number on the scale. Bad. I think I may break it this week, but the next week will be also be a good chance. Plus, with the concept of a "binge day," I get the chance to save up all of my cravings for one day. And, I don't have to make a million decisions about what to eat and how many calories. I simply decide I'm eating the things on this diet and can eat what I want on Saturday. It works for now. 


I'll keep updating on my progress, but I don't intend for any major changes. This just seems like a good lifestyle choice. We'll see. I'm always looking at new things!

New House - I'm Gonna Do This!

OK - so except for the five kid part, I'm totally doing this at the new house. The girls are old enough to put away their own laundry, even though they don't want to and I'm not a fan of the hanging everything.

Laundry System from Clover Lane's Blog - Thanks to my friend Stephanie for introducing me to this great blog!

Our new laundry room has a nice area in which I want to put in a long piece of laminate top as a shelf. Here's a shot of what the room will look like - don't be fooled by "built-ins" as we're just doing a shelf I think.

I can totally envision five laundry baskets beautifully labeled set on the counter and put away nicely each Saturday morning. I already do laundry on Monday and Friday and will probably stick with that. But, I'll start folding in the laundry room and putting them in baskets for the kids to put away. Tom says it's a pipe dream. I say it's a nice pipe dream and I'm gonna make it happen. :)

We Went to Gatlinburg! And Took Pictures! Saturday/Sunday Review

Saturday was a great day! After eating pizza in the night before, we headed out for an early morning walk and could swear we saw blue sky! We took off for the Donut Friar, which had rave reviews on Trip Advisor. Wow - were they right. They were fantastic donuts! Plus, it was a very casual place for us to eat and fast.

We did a little shopping around the town and hit up a nice, local shop for the girls - Claire's Boutique. :) They were thrilled. New headbands and Nerds lipgloss. We meandered our way back to the hotel to plan the rest of the day and let the kids play a little. (I forgot to mention that on Friday, we found a store that had all kinds of stuff for a dollar. It wasn't a dollar store, but seemed more like someone had ripped off a Hallmark truck and was unloading stuffed animals. Either way, the kids loved their toys!)

After a quick lunch at a biker bar (we were desperate not to go back onto the main drag because of the crowds - once again food OK but not fantastic), we headed into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The drive in was beautiful!

I wanted to make sure the girls got to the visitor's center by 2:00 for a Junior Ranger program. We got there a little early and went through the museum. They had a great collection of native animals and a nice exhibit on bats, which coincidentally, Josie had just studied in school. Very educational! :) We also told the girls that at the end of the day, we would count up all the good pictures we took and give them that many Jelly Beans. So, they insisted on posing by each of the stuffed animals.

 This one is probably my favorite of the whole trip! Josie's face cracks me up!!!

After checking out the museum, we went outside for the Junior Ranger program. It was on furs and the different types of animals that lived within the park. I think both girls really enjoyed it and learned new things. Josie, though, was particularly interested and I don't think the Ranger knew quite what to do with her. She was very interactive saying things like, "Hmmm, I didn't know that." And, asking pretty detailed questions. It was really fun watching her interact and learn new things on her own.

Finally, it was time to head in for our hike. It was about a one mile hike and took us about an hour and a half. :) Everyone was having a grand time and we got some great pictures! I think this is the first hike we've done as a family and we'll definitely be looking for opportunities to do more.

Heading onto the trail! (Jack wanted nothing to do with the backpack and really did a great job of keeping up.)

Cracks me up that Jack just looks like one of the gang!

Pretty Tessa! Notice the new headband!

Jack loved the little signs talking about the different types of trees. They were right at his level!

The girls practiced their balance beam skills and Jack wanted to play along.

Cute sisters!

Such a cute baby!

More sisterly love. :)

They had fun on this log that was bouncy and just high enough off the ground to be scary.

The end of the trail took us to Cataract Falls. Josie took the map from the Ranger at the beginning and led the way. (She's her mother's daughter, that's for sure!) But, she was adamant we were heading to Collect Falls.

Mama and Jack when he started seeming a little worn out.

We handed the good camera over to the girls. Josie took this one and I think it's really good! It's going on the Christmas card!

And, Tessa took this one. Not bad Tess!

This could be a school pic!

Yes, this was as dangerous as it looked. Everyone did a good job though and the girls were holding on tight! Jack didn't start to squirm until the very end.

Jump!

Camoflaged Jack!

After our hike, we took a little drive up to the Elkmont Campgrounds. It took us a little higher into the mountains which was great! We also saw some turkeys!

The drive back down was beautiful!

Once we were ready to leave the park, it was back to reality - traffic! Oh, it was really bad. It took us a long time to get back to the hotel and I was glad that Tessa and Jack took a little snooze. At one point, I jumped out of the car, ran 25 yards or so and into Wendy's for dinner for the kids and came back out to Tom sitting right in front of the restaurant.

Hit the pool again for the evening and then Tom and I ordered in. This time the food was really bad. It didn't help that there was a wreck downtown and it took an hour and half to arrive. It wasn't bad enough to ruin the great day though! What fun!

Sunday was time to pack up and the girls and Tom hit the game room and finally each won a toy out of the crane machine. The rest of the day was filled with travel and, you guessed it, traffic!

I will say again how much I loved the hotel. It was the perfect place for a family like ours. It had some nice features, like the pool, a cool lobby with a checkers table and a game room. And, the amount of time we were gone was just perfect. I was a little afraid it would be too short, but it was just right. Now, if those city planners could just do something about all the people and cars... :)

It really was a great trip and some great, quality family time!