Archive for April, 2009

April-23-2009
Filed Under (Colleen) by Colleen

Last night as we were closing the blinds to get ready for the bedtime routine, I spotted three little bunnies in our back yard.  I called Audi and the kids over to come look.  All three bunnies were playing and chasing each other not ten feet from our window.  It was so cool.  We watched for a few minutes then Audi spotted another rabbit behind the fence of our neighbor.  He came to play too.  Then we saw another one!  They were all playing around our next door neighbor’s crab apple tree.  As we stood at the window in amazement, one little bunny came over to the tree line at the back of our property and started scratching his ear with his foot.   Audi began narrating his thoughts.

“Eeewww.  My foot stinks!”  The bunny then put it down and picked up his other foot to scratch his other ear.

“Whew!  This foot stinks too.  No wonder the other bunnies don’t want to play with me.”  The bunny timidly started to hop towards the rest of the gang.

“Hey, guys!  Do you want to smell my feet?  They stick really bad.”

“No way!” the other bunnies yelled.  ”Get away!  That’s gross!”

“Aw, come on!” said the bunny with stinky feet as he started to chase the other four through the yard, around the tree, and under the fence.

It was a lot of fun hearing Audi make up dialouge like that, and Jayden loved it.  I can’t remember ever seeing anything like that even when I was little and lived at the cemetary house, which would have been the best chance I had at seeing a group of rabbits at play.  It was really neat.

I went off to get the kid’s rooms ready for bedtime, and Audi said two more rabbits came to play for a total of seven.  I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of them soon, and it’s nice to know that this is a great neighborhood for kids of all species to play!



April-14-2009
Filed Under (Colleen) by Colleen

What a month it’s been.  Early March Audi and I started watching our calories, and me - being the book worm I am - got online and requested half a dozen books from the library that dealt with metabolism and weight loss.  One book really caught my eye.  ”The One Day Fast Track Detox Diet” by Ann Louise Gittleman.  What an interesting read.  Summary:  The liver and colon are overworked by you eating junk.  Feed them foods that help them do their job and get rid of excess waste and toxins fast.  Sounds good to me.

It was a lot of preparation: getting rid of almost everything in the pantry because it was off-limits during the detox, which was NOT one day by the way.  It was seven days of prepping your liver and colon for a one day fast (only drinking a special kind of juice we had to make from scratch) and then three days of building up your body’s natural antioxidants and good bacteria (aka: eat lots of yogurt).  So anyway, we suffered through the first four days and by day five were smooth sailing.  We got used to eating broccoli and asparagus every meal and were dealing with the loss of all refined sugars and starches.  At the end of the eleven days, Audi had lost 7 1/2 pounds and I had lost 7.  We’re doing really well continueing to eat healthy, well-proportioned meals.  We’ve switched to whole-grain in all the foods we still eat like pasta, bread, and tortillas.  I used some of my amazon gift certificates to get some new workout videos from “The Biggest Loser” trainers.  Audi and I do Bob’s workout together, and I do Jillian’s 30 day shred by myself, plus my Sara Ivanhoe Yoga DVD’s.  It’s nice because when Audi and I can work out together, we’re both doing something we like and getting a longer workout (60 min.), while when I work out by myself, my yoga DVD’s and Jillian’s circuits are only 2o minutes long, but I still get the benefit of a longer workout because she kicks my butt!  TV’s toughest trainer indeed!  It’s been nice.  April 1st was our first day with “real” food, and we’ve kept the weight off for two weeks.  I’ve dropped another two pounds, and I think Audi’s dropped at least one.

Jayden’s been really cool about the whole thing.  I talked to him about it before we started and explained that Mommy and Daddy were going to start eating healthier so we have more energy and can do more things easily.  The other week when he went with Audi to Kroger to pick up a few things, they went down the cracker/cookie aisle, and Jayden turned to Audi pointing to the cookies and said, “Daddy, that’s a fat food.  You should only have it sometimes.”  Awesome.  :)  He’s tried several foods and found out that he likes carrots (with a bit of ranch) and celery (with peanut butter).  He also LOVES the trail mix I made with Multi-Grain Cherrios, peanuts, cashews, raisins, and M&M’s.  Guess which ingredient is his favorite?  But, hey, he eats all of it.  What do I care if he eats the M&M’s first?  Personally, I save mine for last.