April by the numbers

ZERO tolerance/respect for those who can't take responsibility for their words and actions.

ONE Mama bird sitting on her eggs in the tree, in our front yard.

TWO A. minutes were shaved off of my 1.5 mile run/jog at Fitness MD. You have no idea, how proud I am of myself :-).

TWO B. books read (Play Date and Sarah's Key)
THREE fabulous days spent in San Francisco as a family.

TEN blog posts posted.

ELEVEN scrapbook pages completed.

TWELVE weeks and counting...new (Round #2)Green Tangerines Biggest Loser Challnege.

FOURTEEN LL baseball games were played/attended. Go Padres! Go Owlz!

NINETEEN days/hours spent at Fitness MD, attending Fit Club.

THIRTY SIX eggs colored and ready for the Big Bunny.

FORTY THREE candles on John's birthday cake this year(I am the much younger wife).

SEVENTY ONE See's candy bars sold for Carter's BATTLE (soccer) fundraiser.

SEVENTY TWO miles logged on the treadmill/my neighborhood loop.

ONE HUNDRED,FORTY Mother's Day cards created/delivered for the Girls Camp Fundraiser.

a little motivation

First of all, I just want to thank each of one of you for all of your sweet comments on my "I have officially lost" post. You all made me smile. Lots of hard work at the gym, better food choices and participating in The Green Tangerines Biggest Loser Contest were a HUGE motivations for me. That very 1st challenge ended and we are gearing up for our 2nd challenge. You can check out the winners and see their results here. Pretty AMAZING results.

The 2nd Biggest Loser Challenge starts this Friday, April 29th. If you would like to join, you can call Green Tangerines (916-771-8010)and they will get you all signed up. I just officially signed up this morning and am SUPER excited to start again. Whether you want to lose just 20 lbs. or 50, it is a great way to motivate yourself. Anybody can sign up! There is even a men's challenge this time. Fun for all :-). We had girls from Florida and Utah participate us last time. The cost is $20.00. The grand prize winner of our last challenge won over $1,200.00. Not bad, huh? The 2nd and 3rd place girls took home a couple of hundred dollars, too. The more participants, the higher the prize totals. Who's in?

Easter Sunday

Since we were already in the city, it was easy to make our way over to my parents house. We spent the night with them. The boys were thrilled to wake up and discover that the Big Bunny had found them at Grandma's house.



We hunted for eggs.






















I even managed to get them to sit still for a group shot, before and after church.





My Mom had all of my siblings(and S.O.'s) and my Grandma Shore over for dinner. We always have such a good time together. I am so thankful for the time we get to spend with each other. I am thankful for those who take the time to organize these family gatherings. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know my boys will always remember these fun times spent with the people who love them and the people they love and adore.





Happy Easter!

Hum Baby

During day two of our San Fran escape, we hit AT&T Park and enjoyed a Giants game. They played the Atlanta Braves.










I seriously have never seen a more beautiful baseball stadium. The view was breath taking. The atmosphere in the stands was F-U-N and the fans were fierce.






This little Giant(whose Mom dressed him in Braves colors by accident) fell asleep during the 5th inning and had to be carried out of the stadium.




Favorite memories from today included the gorgeous view for 9 innings. Watching Timmy pitch live. Joining in with the entire stadium while singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"(I may or may not have got a little teary eyed during this). Watching Pat Burrell(one of my favorite players) play ball. Watching my boys enjoy their first Major League game(1st for 3 out of the 4). The Giants lost but it was still a amazing day at the ball park. Go GIANTS!

city by the bay

The boys had two whole weeks off for Spring Break this year. We took it easy during the 1st week and during the 2nd week, we went had some fun! We headed to the city. During our first day there, we went to Pier 39.





The boys loved all of the specialty shops. They wanted to buy something from each and every shop...even the Sock Shop -LOL! They settled for some candy out of the barrels.




The boys met the Pier 39 Sea Lions for the first time. We had a blast watching them and listening to them bark.


You can't hit Pier 39 and not have a bowl of Clam Chowder in a bread bowl. YUM!


After Pier 39, we made our way towards Lombard Street. It was a first for John and the boys. They thought it was so cool. Next, we headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of driving across it, we got off on the exit right before the bridge and stumbled upon Crissy Field. One word...A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! We had the best view of the Golden Gate...a new family favorite. The boys brought their gloves and baseballs and we spent about 2 hours playing baseball and playing along the shore. It was awesome.








We ended our day at our hotel. My sister, Amber and her 3 boys met us there and the boys had so much fun swimming in the Hotel's indoor pool. It is NEVER dull nor quiet when these 7 cousins get together.

brotherly love

This is this weeks Kit of the Week that can be found at Green Tangerines. New product(Jillibean Soup and LUSH alpha letters) + old(er) photos = a happy ME. I am still plugging away at our 2008 photo box and am loving that I am getting those photos onto layouts. As always, you can call Green Tangerines(916-771-8010) to order your kit. As a little side note, this kit comes with a full package of alpha letters so you can easily change the title to fit your photos/theme.

I have officially lost...

a small child. When I weighed in this morning, I was thrilled to discover that I was down another 5 lbs.(from just this week alone). That puts my total weight loss at 40.4 lbs.. Woot-Woot! I called my Mama this morning to share the good news with her and we likened it to losing Brody :-). This boy(almost)weighs 40 lbs.. He is lean and so tall. When I stopped and really thought about that little fact today, I almost cried. I still have a ways to go to hit my goal but 40 lbs. IS 4o lbs.. and I am doing it. To think that I was lugging that around & working out with those extra pounds on me makes me cringe. I can't imagine running around with him attached to my body...or doing pop squats...or walking lunges...or push ups(you get the idea). Just last week while I was at the gym and running a large lap, I thought (to myself) that I felt lighter while running. I was also thinking about how much I despised running. Just so you know, running is still something that I do NOT enjoy...but I am doing it:-)!




















For those of you who might be interested, Green Tangerines will be starting/hosting our 2nd annual Green Tangerines Biggest Loser Challenge next week. You can call the store at 916-771-8010 for more information. A little friendly competition is always good for the spirit!

Best Banana Bread E-V-E-R

I always feel guilty when I throw semi brown bananas away. I love bananas but in order for me to eat them, they have to be a bright yellow(even slightly green). I am very picky when it comes to my bananas. So back to my feeling guilty. I decided to hunt for the best banana bread recipe so I could put those bananas to good use. This is this one! I found this recipe at ALL RECIPES.COM

Banana Bread
Yield 1 - 9 X 5 inch loaf

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 medium bananas, sliced

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2.In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!
*note* I used chopped pecans instead of walnuts.

Baseball season is upon us.
Here are a few shots to prove it.
We are spending many evenings and Saturdays
at the ball park and we love it...especially when
it is warm with a cool breeze!




























Go Padres!
Go Owlz!

March by the numbers

Happy April!
March has come and gone. March was filled with so many rainy days. I love rainy days but not for days on end. The 83 degree temperature day that we enjoyed yesterday sure makes up for all of those wet, cold days. We are really looking forward to all of the Spring days that lie ahead. The blossoms on the tress have been refreshing and the flowers blooming have been gorgeous. Bring on Spring!

ZERO the # of pull ups Brody is wearing to bed these days...our days of buingy diapers/pull ups are LONG gone. HOORAY!!!

ONE the number of years since Grandpa Shores passing. I miss him terribly.

SEVEN girlfriends at the beach for 3 days of relaxation.

EIGHT the number of years our family has lived in Roseville. On one hand, it feels like we have always lived here and on the other, those 8 years of flown by. The statement "time flies when you're having fun" really applies to our move/life here.

NINE blog posts for the month of March.

TEN the number of candles on Carter's birthday cake.

TWELVE weeks of the Green Tangerines Biggest Loser challenge completed. So motivating for me! I can't wait for the next challenge.

NINETEEN layouts completed this month.

TWENTY ONE DAYS/HOURS spent at the gym(Fitness MD) attending Fit Club classes.

THIRTY FIVE lbs. lost/gone. Ba-bye :-).

SEVENTY EIGHT.SEVENTY FIVE miles logged on my treadmill this month :-). This # does not include all of the laps(small, dump and large) completed at the gym.

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY NINE cards prepped for our Girls Camp Mother's Day Fundraiser.