Wednesday Weigh-In

I've lost 2.6 lbs this week . . . and with that I've lost the equivalent of Clayton! He weighs about 34 lbs. So in honor of this little milestone, Andrew took some pictures of Clayton and I.

And Dory too.

When I pick Clayton up, I cannot believe that only three months ago I was walking around carrying that much extra weight.

Total lost so far: 35.8 lbs

PS- To see more of my 'photo shoot', click here.

Another Blog?

I figured gumming up our family blog with pictures and boring accounts of how I took the pictures was - well, 1) gumming up our storage space and 2) boring people. So I created a new blog to archive the dozens of pics I take and show them to anyone who might actually be interested in viewing more than just the one or two best pics of something or someone.

Flying Monks Photography

Wednesday Weigh-In

I lost 1.6 lb this week! And I went to a water aerobics class- it was great. Definitely the way to exercise in Texas in the summer.

Total lost so far: 33.2 lb

Four Months Old!

Dory and Claire turned four months old today! To commemorate the occasion, my amazing hubby did a photo shoot. I think if he wanted to, he could quit his day job. Here are the ones of just Dory:

And here is Claire!

Here are the two gals:

I guess they both saw something shocking?

Love these girls!

Brand New Second Hand

Here's a few of Lisa's latest yard sale finds - mid-week yard sale finds, no less. I think we've left the realm of weekend hobby and moved into something much more . . . ominous.

"You’re going to need a bigger garage."

Well, here's to relaxing this summer and enjoying our kids and their second-hand stuff.

Gettin' jiggly wid it

Here Andrew is jiggling Dory, and we couldn't stop laughing at her cheeks. We love you Dory.



Brian likes to be noisy. Really noisy. Here he is providing some extra sound effects for Andrew's Xbox game. Either that or he is swearing in German.

Wednesday Weigh-In

I've lost 0.6 lb this week - hangin' in there!

Total lost so far: 31.6 lb

Three-wheeled fun

Today I found a tricycle for Clayton on craigslist. Andrew took some great pictures of the boys riding around.


Brian's face without/with muffin crumbs all over it. I love his eyes in the photo below.

I'll ask you very confidentially . . .

. . . ain't she sweet?


Hello blue eyes!

Dream of Space, Part 10 - Hot Summer Nights

So after weeks of terrible weather, we finally enjoyed a clear night this weekend. Apparently Abilene isn't a dry climate at all - it just gets all of its rain in two months of the year. Wanting to to celebrate (and confirm that there were still stars in the sky) we got away from the city lights and spent the night at the local state park. We called up our friends the Bradshaw's as well as Matt and Abe to join us.

Now, I'd been there before, but a couple things were new to me:

1) The extraordinary heat - the sun must have snuck closer while hiding behind the clouds because we experienced roughly the surface temperature of Venus. Even after dark, the coolest it got was maybe 80 degrees. Puzzling to me though was the effort to get a fire going. I fully expected the wood to burst into flames upon blowing on it. Only after gratuitous amounts of lighter fluid did it start to smolder enough to cook our tinfoil dinners (which, I discovered later that night, would have cooked faster in my sleeping bag).

2) The legion of RVs. It didn't take peering into the vastness of space to make us feel small and insignificant - just pitching our tents between the towering Fleetwoods and Airstreams. At least I didn't feel so bad "roughing it" on an air mattress. We could have camped in the tent area, true, but the tent sites were scattered within the forest (yes, there are trees in Texas). Not really conducive to stargazing - but maybe not much worse than RV city. "Oohh, what's this one?" "Ummmm, I think that's the Winnebago Nebula."


As we expected, Brian was fascinated by the fire and did his part to keep it roaring by throwing on sticks, twigs, pebbles, and anything else he could find lying around. Clayton was just as entertained with the dirt at the state park as by that in our backyard.

Lisa and the kids went home after dinner and the rest of us stayed to stargaze. As I like to do, I stuck a small camera-equipped scope on top of the bigger telescope, so I could take short exposures of what we were viewing. Even quick pictures show a little more detail and color than the naked eye.

Here's a collage of some of the pics I took. Nothing spectacular, but a taste of some of the Summer Milky Way sights that I can hopefully spend some more time photographing in the months to come.


I also got up early the next morning to do some planet-viewing. Having seen Saturn earlier in the evening, and not counting poor, demoted Pluto - I was able to view all the planets (and the moon) in one night. You too can see Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Mercury in the eastern sky, if you're up before dawn this month. They all (mostly) outshine regular stars and lie roughly in line.

Wednesday Weigh-In

I've lost 4.4 lbs, yay! I am so excited. Losing weight this time around has gone so much better. There are two main reasons- first, my thyroid (which is really low) is finally regulated. I've had my medication changed many times, and it's finally in a good place. Second, publishing my weight loss online really does make me think twice when I'm tempted!

I'm starting to think about what my goal weight should be- I still don't have a specific number in mind, but another 25 lbs would be great. I will say that my BMI has gone from the 'obese' zone to the 'overweight' zone, which is good. Now on to the 'healthy' zone!

Total lost so far: 31.0 lbs

Other Pictures I Liked This Week

Here is Clayton, asleep in our retro-chair (got it from a friend's garage sale and I love it!).
Above we have Brian sitting on Dory's play mat. Clayton came and sat on his lap . . . and Brian welcomed him! Usually Brian has to have his space, but he actually hasn't minded snuggling with his brother as much lately. Which is good, because Clayton is a BIG snuggle-bug! Brian even prefers Clayton to share his bed at night.
Here are the boys working on some paintings, wearing the smocks I found at a garage sale. Not that they don't still make a mess . . . but the smocks do help.


Clayton, it takes a real man to wear his sister's hat. While drinking from a pink sippy cup. You da man.

And here is our Dory-girl! I am proud to say that I took this picture- even Andrew approved of it.

Blast Off!, Part 2 - Birthday Outakes!

Recently declassified photos from deep within the NASA vault:

To boldly go where no 4 year-old has gone before.

Astronaut Glamor Shots.

"Sorry girls, can't take you to space with me."

Space Cowboy?

"They're retiring the Space Shuttle next year?!"

". . . And replacing it with a UAV?!"

Blast off!

Today we had a party for Brian's 4th birthday! It was so much fun. I can't believe my Bri-man is a big 4-year-old (tomorrow).

Brian's party theme was 'the solar system'. He is obsessed with the planets, and has been since he was two. I had the best time planning this party- it was a fun theme. I got a set of inflatable planets and collected some cheap fabric for the decorations:


Here is Brian pointing out Saturn and Jupiter.

I have to brag a little about one aspect of Brian's party. His astronaut flight suit. It sold new for $49.99. I got it at a garage sale . . . brand new with tags . . . for $0.75! It might be my favorite garage-sale-find ever.

And look how handsome Brian looks in it!!! Can this big boy really be my baby Brian??
Anyway, here we are playing our party games- Saturn's Ring Toss and a Meteorite (beanbag) Throw. Here at the Monks home, we like games that can be made out of old boxes. We also like throwing things.
Merritt (below) was the champ of the beanbag throw. Here are Dory and Claire, our little birthday buddies!Here is the cake:
Above is Brian blowing out the candles. Coolest. Picture. Ever. Way to go, Daddy!


Below is our moon juice and space shuttle water-bottles.

Here are Daddy and Brian opening our pinata. Brian is demonstrating his listening skills, as you can see.

Brian, Kaylee and Merritt in their new shades.


Thank you Kaylee, Merritt and families for coming to the party! We had so much fun.


And finally, here is Clayton. He fell asleep 10 minutes before the party started and missed most of it, but here he is making up for lost time. Happy Birthday Brian!

Wednesday Weigh-In

I've lost 3.8 lbs this week! And in honor of me losing over 25 lb, I'd like to pause and do a little happy dance.

Total lost so far: 26.6 lb

867-5309

OK, that's not actually our new cell phone number, but we do have one. After learning that our current service provider doesn't cover South Dakota, we decided to quit bucking the system and switch from our $20-every-three-months-pay-as-you-go-dino-phone to a real cell phone.

Also, we seem to still have a couple openings on our unlimited "friends & family" plan - so if 900 minutes a month won't be enough to talk to us, lobby us with your phone number.

Anyway, if you want to talk to a boy who has paint on his forehead (at least it matches his shirt) call: 605-787-3997. Mmmm-wahhhh! (that's a kiss from Clayton).

Yet another post about our kids playing in water

The Dyess pool is open! We bought a family pass for June, and started using it right away.
Here is Clayton (below) right after we arrived. He learned pretty quickly that he couldn't sit down in the 'deep' end of the kiddy pool.

Andrew took the boys (one at a time) into the BIG pool; they loved it.

Dory was tired when we arrived at the pool, and was not happy about having 'fun in the sun'. But she felt better after a nap:

Here are the boys with our pal Merritt. Fun times.