The Flying Monks

Wednesday Weigh-in

2009-11-11T11:42:00.002-06:00

I've lost 1.2 lbs - I think. Apparently my scale was not on perfectly smooth flooring, and my numbers were a little wonky this week. But I'm going with the highest weight it showed today, to be on the safe side. I think I have it working now- or maybe I need a new scale.

But the good news is, I know I did good this week! And my clothes are still getting looser, etc. So that's what matters.

Total lost so far: 45.8 lbs

Wednesday Weigh-In - Ups and Downs

2009-11-04T08:40:00.004-06:00

My weigh-in was not too exciting- I lost 0.2 lbs. I did not give it my best effort this week . . . let's just say my 'efforts' were spent elsewhere! But at least I'm still moving in the right direction, however slowly.

Total lost so far: 44.6 lbs

This week has had some real ups, and some real downs. Some of the ups:

*Trick or Treating. Which Brian still asks if we can do, EVERY night.

*Sledding. Which Clayton still wants to do, and tries to do, on our snow-free driveway.

*Clayton and Brian are doing so well in their preschool! It is awesome.

Some of the downs:

*Mommy has been sick with a sinus infection/sinus headache. Owie.

*Dory got a double ear infection on Monday. Double owie.

*Mommy has been up every night for the last 6 nights with sick kids, headaches, kids with night terrors, kids who decide they want to go trick-or-treating at midnight, etc. etc.

*Due to a busy day all day Monday, and our illnesses since, our house is a WRECK.

However- I have saved the best 'up' for last. Since Clayton has started preschool, he has made some really great improvements with his communication. The most significant one is that he is now IMITATING words!!!! Before, he would say a few words- when he felt like it. Not when prompted. Now he is acutally listening to another person, and responding appropriately!!! This is huge.

Here is a short, poorly-filmed video. It made my whole week.

Could we be any geekier?

2009-10-31T21:00:00.005-05:00

We had a blast trick-or-treating tonight! Brian was perfect- he said 'Thank you' and 'Happy Halloween' to everyone. Clayton . . . had a learning experience. He wanted to go inside everybody's house, and he rang every doorbell as many times as possible (before Mommy could grab him). Anyway, we had a great time. Here are some pictures of us tonight, plus some cut-n-paste specials, compliments of Daddy.

Here are the kiddos, ready to go! Complete with Darth Vader treat buckets.A kind neighbor took a picture of all of us:

And here is Obi Wan!
Princess Leia laughs in the face of threats from the dark side!
And our little Ewok . . .
Andrew's costume was awesome. He fits right in the movie, doesn't he?
Happy Halloween!!

When 3 years old you are, look as good you will not.

2009-10-30T20:29:00.006-05:00

Today is Clayton's birthday! Our little man is a big three-year-old. We will be celebrating his birthday next week. Tonight we dressed up in the costumes we've been working on for months- here we are!

Brian is Obi Wan Kenobi. And he is taking his Jedi training seriously.
And I'm proud to say I made his costume! A bunch of odds and ends from garage sales, some time on the sewing machine, and ta-da! Natalee, thanks a million for helping me with the sewing!!Clayton's costume is also from a garage sale; ready-made though. And it looks like Yoda and Obi Wan are duking it out.Dory is an Ewok, and so cute I could scream.I bought this bear costume at a garage sale, and gave it an overhaul.
And all the money we saved on the kids' costumes, we put into buying Mommy and Daddy's costumes on Ebay. We had a lot of fun putting these together.This is about as good a picture as we'll get of the 5 of us . . . especially using the timer on the camera. We'll have to try to get another picture tomorrow.

Have a good weekend! And may the force be with you.

Snow Day!

2009-10-29T12:20:00.004-05:00

Last night it started snowing- which I don't think would be a big deal if it wasn't accompanied by 40 mph wind. So, Andrew is home from work, and school was canceled! So we decided to have some fun in the snow.

Clayton got up first, and was eager to check out the snow on our little patio.
This cracked me up. Brian got up, and definitely wanted to play in the snow. I asked him to go get clothes, and he came up with these shorts. Let's try again, Brian.
Clayton the heart-breaker.
Here are a couple videos of the boys sledding with Daddy. They absolutely LOVED it. Even after he face-planted in the snow, Clayton did not want to come in the house. In the first video, you can hear Clayton laughing (and the wind blowing). In the second video, I'm standing in our garage taping the boys sledding down the driveway.

Wednesday Weigh-in

2009-10-28T10:24:00.001-05:00

I lost 2.4 lbs! Yay! It feels good to be back on track.

Total weight loss so far: 44.4 lbs

Hat Day

2009-10-27T09:36:00.004-05:00

This week is Red Ribbon week, and today is Hat Day. So here are the boys in their hats. Clayton has a Lightning McQueen hat:
Brian was totally opposed to wearing ANY hat this morning. He didn't quite understand that just for today, it's okay to wear a hat to school (and Brian is a stickler for the rules). But when I offered him the option to wear one of Daddy's pilot hats, that was A-okay! Here is one airman who is happy about the new PT rules.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-26T21:06:00.004-05:00

Tonight we went to the local pumpkin patch. The boys liked all the pumpkins, and they LOVED the 'train'- made out of a converted riding lawnmower and several hand trucks tied together. It was great.

Isn't this a handsome picture of Brian?

We brought home three little pumpkins for the kids to decorate, and ate dinner at Culver's (burgers and frozen custard). It was a fun family night!

Where's the Beef?

2009-10-24T13:17:00.004-05:00

There is none, but you wouldn't know it from the taste. I'm talking of course about the antelope I bagged a couple weeks ago. It's back from the processor in the form of about 30 pounds worth of vacuum-packed steaks, roasts, and hamburger. So I wasted no time in cooking a little of it up.

I expected it to be tough, gamy, and almost unpalatable. I mean antelope are essentially goats that run free on the range eating sagebrush and prairie grass instead of standing in a pen eating corn and alfalfa. So I was pleasantly surprised to find it lean, juicy, and plump, with only the slightest hint of a gamy aftertaste. If you didn't know what it was, you might mistake it for a decent cut of grocery store beef. Cooked with seasoning, the ground antelope meat is virtually indistinguishable from hamburger - except that it has a third as much saturated fat. Very healthy. And minus all of the hormones, drugs, and other chemicals they put in farm-raised livestock.

The turkey on the other hand was a little more noticeably gamy. It definitely tasted like turkey, but was a bit more dry and flaky. Probably more suitable in soups or casseroles than served straight on the Thanksgiving dinner table.

If anyone in the local area wants to try either, we've got a freezer full.

Whatever happened to Wednesday Weigh-In's?

2009-10-23T10:18:00.003-05:00

So . . . it's been over two months since I last weighed in on this blog. What happened?

We were in the TLF for 6 weeks, without a scale. During which time you might say I 'fell off the wagon'. And got run over by it. Being in a hotel room with three kids and nothing to cook with was not helpful for my diet. The last time I weighed in (Aug 19) I had lost 46.8 lbs total. I was really close to reaching a healthy weight. Long story short, I gained back 4.8 lbs. So today I am going to restart my weigh-ins (even though it's not Wednesday!).

I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to just eat a balanced diet, have treats in moderation, etc. All my life, I don't think I've stayed at the same weight for more than a week. I'm either gaining or losing. Usually gaining.

I had to post this cartoon I stole from my mom's blog. I love it.

So here we go again! See you Wednesday.

Total gained: 4.8 lbs

Total weight loss so far: 42 lbs

Old traditions and new experiences

2009-10-13T22:36:00.009-05:00

We've been having fun in the Monks' house this week- yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving, and we were lucky enough to have Andrew's mom here to help us cook a big dinner! It was delicious, and it was so wonderful to have Grandma here for the week. We miss you already! Below is Andrew holding Dory, Grandma and Megan.

We have cooked Canadian Thanksgiving dinner every year, and for the last 4 years we've had one or both Thanksgivings with our great friends Scott & Megan. Here is our group this year, with Scott's dad and Andrew's mom too:

This week the men in our family are having some new experiences. Andrew went hunting for the first time on Monday. Scott and his dad took him and showed him the ropes. He had a blast- literally. He shot a turkey and two antelope. The turkey meat is already in our freezer, and the antelope are at a meat processor. Here is the turkey meat, with a few feathers still on there. Wow, we are rugged South Dakotans already.

Brian and Clayton also had a new experience- riding the school bus! We are extremely fortunate to have the bus come right to our driveway. It picks up Clayton for morning preschool, and when it brings him home it also picks up Brian for afternoon preschool. Pretty sweet deal for Mommy! Here is Brian riding the bus; Mommy did not find the camera in time to get a picture of Clayton.

While blogging about different things in the same post, I try to think of a way to tie everything together. While thinking about this post- hunting . . . riding the bus . . . how can I tie them together? Then I remembered this scene from Napolean Dynamite. Waa-laa!

Cool side note: Lyle (the farmer who shoots the cow) is Lyle Critchlow in real life, and he is in fact a local Idaho farmer. His son Jay is a teacher, who I worked with for 4 years. Jay even got me an autographed photo of his dad; how cool is that?

Rub-a-dub-dub, three kids in a tub

2009-10-12T17:14:00.003-05:00

Today Dory had a diaper explosion and needed a bath, and the boys decided to come along for the ride. I've never bathed all three at once before, and it was just so darn cute. Plus, you can see Dory's teeth at the very end- she has one all the way in and just cut her second one.

What. A. Week.

2009-10-09T20:44:00.002-05:00

Holy canole, so much has happened since the last blog post! Here's a rundown.

Sunday- said farewell to the #*@$ TLF, and spent the night at our new house! Stayed up until midnight painting the boys' room.

Monday- the movers brought our stuff and moved it in. It is SO nice to have our own beds back. Phone/internet got hooked up. Stayed up until midnight unpacking.

Tuesday- the unpackers came and unpacked the rest of the boxes. Andrew's mom flew in to help us for the week- YAY!

Wednesday- the unpacking continues.

Thursday- got SNOW, and the boys had their first day of school! Clayton goes 3 mornings a week, and Brian goes 5 afternoons a week, each for just over 2 hours. Next week they get to start riding the school bus. Pictures to follow.

Friday (today)- Andrew and I decided to go on a much-needed date night. As I was getting ready, I realized I couldn't find my wedding rings. Hmm. After looking for awhile, I started thinking back . . . I knew I had worn them in the new house . . . but didn't I take them off? While we were painting? . . . OH CRAP!! I took my rings off and put them in my pocket while we were painting . . . and the jeans got ruined with paint. And I Threw Them Away. Trash day was yesterday. They are gone.

I tried calling the garbage company in hopes that they could track down our garbage- but it is long gone in the landfill and at least 3 feet under from what I learned. I am currently working with our insurance company to see what happens next.

So- yeah. Pretty sad date night. Me crying and feeling like the biggest idiot who has ever walked the earth. I threw away my wedding rings. My beautiful rings are in a LANDFILL. I'm still in shock.

But I've had a couple hours to calm down, and here's the good news. I may have lost my rings, but I still have my best husband in the whole wide world. We're talking about a guy who after his wife THROWS AWAY one of our most valuable possessions just squeezes her hand and says "Let's go buy you a better one!". A guy who smiles and says "Let's just say it was my fault- I'm the one who took the garbage out".

Man, I love that guy. He is the best. Thank you sweetie!

Goin' Mobile

2009-09-30T13:22:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of Dory in action. I can't believe she is just 7 months and crawling already. The boys didn't crawl until 11 months! I think she wants to keep up with her big brothers.

In other Monks family news, we are finally closing on our house today!! Our stuff will be delivered Monday. I am so happy, yay!

These kids need a good paddlin'.

2009-09-25T19:20:00.005-05:00

We took the kids out on a paddleboat today- it was so much fun!! The boys loved it. Poor Daddy had to do all the work at the pedals; we sure appreciate him!

I held Dory with me in the baby carrier, and the boys took turns helping Daddy drive the boat in the front, and watching the geese with Mommy in the back. It was great.

Of course, the entire trip was also spent trying to keep Clayton from diving in the water. Not a surprise.

Seven Months Old

2009-09-23T22:23:00.007-05:00

Dory is 7 months old today- really? Can we really be closer to a 1-year-old than a newborn? I can't believe it. Today also marks 1 month in the TLF- we got here on her 6-month-mark. It's been the longest month in the history of existence. We will be finally closing on our house on the 30th though, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, we've been in transit so long that the kids are growing out of the clothes that Mommy packed. The boys have outgrown their shoes. Dory has outgrown . . . everything. Thank goodness for garage sales. I found this dress for Dory at a garage sale in Sandy that my mother-in-law and I shopped at. It's Ralph Lauren! For $0.75. Heck yeah! I got the shoes last Saturday at another garage sale.

So here is Dory at 7 months!

Smile! You're on Clayton Camera.

2009-09-11T11:16:00.002-05:00

I got out the video camera to see about putting a couple of videos on here . . . and discovered that Clayton has been helping himself to it. I deleted over 30 videos he took- each between 1 second and 4 seconds long. I also deleted his 8 1/2 minute feature of our ceiling. But for your viewing pleasure, here is part of another video he took. He's quite the director, no?

Here are a couple more videos, showing how we keep ourselves entertained while cooped up in a hotel room for weeks on end. I bought Dory the exer-bouncer-thingy at a garage sale here for $8. LIFESAVER.

Mt. Rushmore

2009-09-07T09:09:00.004-05:00

Here it is, the moment we've been waiting for. Ever since we got the B-1, I've been looking forward to seeing Mt. Rushmore. I've never seen it before. Well, it was even better than I could have hoped!

The views and weather were spectacular. We visited the museum and learned all about the sculptor and other workers. And we went on the trail that takes you much closer to the actual site. Brian calls it 'The Faces'. It was awesome!

And here we have another great family photo. Anyway, come visit Mt. Rushmore if you get the chance, and we'll be glad to show you around. Doesn't that sound like fun???

Storybook Island

2009-09-07T08:53:00.006-05:00

There is an amazing park here in Rapid City called Storybook Island- it is full of great Disney and nursery rhyme characters, and tons of fun stuff for kids to do. The best part? Free admission! Above are the boys in one of the many 'houses' that kids can go inside. Below are Andrew and I looking just . . . adorable?
Above: Clayton climbing a tree at 'Pooh Corner'. Below: Dory enjoying the sights.

Here are the boys driving the fire truck! They loved it.
Above is Brian checking out the old steam engine. Below are the boys riding the kiddie train:

Here we are, off to see the Wizard. And below is Snow White's house, complete with two new dwarfs! Crabby and Crazy.

Dressed for Less

2009-08-31T18:04:00.004-05:00

Here are Dory and I dressed for church, wearing almost all garage-sale stuff. My skirt was $1 at a garage sale, my shirt was purchased in the bargain bin of Park Avenue Thrift Store in OK for $0.27! My necklace & bracelet were $1.50 total at garage sales.

Then on Saturday I found this gorgeous dress for Dory for $1. It was brand new with tags, and the tag price was $32! It is SO cute, I love it. Not bad for $3.77.

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-27T14:25:00.004-05:00

We are finally here in South Dakota! It is so beautiful here, and there is lots to do. We'll have plenty to post soon.

Our big news is that we made an offer on a house, and it's been accepted! We are SO excited. Here are some pictures of it. There are still things to do before we close (in about a month), like the inspection, appraisal, etc. But barring any huge unexpected problems, we'll move in by the end of September.

Here is the huge family room in the basement. Please note: there are a few odds and ends that the sellers left behind; they'll be gone soon!Above and below are the kitchen and dining room.

Here is the back of the house.

Here is the front:

We will even have a guest room and bathroom in case anyone wants to come visit us (hint hint)!

Rocky Mountain High

2009-08-21T15:15:00.004-05:00

Here's a Brian/Dad outing up Little Cottonwood Canyon yesterday. I set up to take some pictures, and Brian commenced throwing rocks in the river. When my battery pack died an hour later, Brian was still going strong.

Aquarium, Temple and Guitar

2009-08-19T15:00:00.006-05:00

Here we are at the Aquarium here in Sandy. It was awesome. Clayton LOVED the jellyfish, and kept trying to climb in the tide pool.
Here are some pictures of us visiting the Draper Temple. Above is our kids with Grandma and Grandpa Monks. Hmmm. Brian is bouncing off the walls, Clayton is trying to dive off Grandpa's shoulders, and Dory has lost it. Gotta love this picture! It's worth clicking on it to enlarge.

Below is a great picture Andrew got of the temple:

Clayton has found a new obsession. His Auntie Kiri plays the guitar, and so does his Uncle James. He LOVES it. Here he is with Kiri's guitar.

We are having a ball in Salt Lake!

Wednesday Weigh-In

2009-08-19T14:58:00.001-05:00

I've lost 1.2 more pounds. Yay!

Total lost so far: 46.8 lbs

Summer Days in SLC

2009-08-17T11:48:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the Hogle Zoo. It was so much fun. The boys absolutely loved the carousel.
Below the boys are sitting on a lion statue. Clayton still has his 'pop-eye' look.
Here is Dory with Grandma and Auntie Kylie:

Here are the kids playing in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard with their cousin Aleah. Dory had fun sitting in the baby swing on the swingset.