Unplanned....

So much has happend since we last posted on our blog, that it is hard to know where to begin. But, here's to more pictures and less blah-ging.

PHILLIP

This is Phil's dream car. People-mover meets power. I have a great future ahead of me!

This is Phil being an awesome dad. He is always an awesome dad!

Phil studies HARD, and he is doing great!
Phil also had a birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!

MARY
I am teaching a preschool. I could be long-winded about how fun this is, but I won't.
Let's just say I LOVE IT!!!!!!

For those of you who used to care, here's a "during" photo of my weight loss. I'm just shy of 15 pounds from my goal. I also cut my hair.

I made a birthday chair cover (see above; the embroidery was done by my talented friend Kim), and I recovered my couch. Now I only have 998 projects left on my list!

before

after

ELIJAH

Loves Preschool; he is beginning to tell me accurately what words start with.

Loves books (and being interrupted by our "angel in a chub suit" Caleb)

Is awfully handsome, don't you think?

And loves playing "house," cars, "Fire" (you run with pushing your truck yelling "fire!), trains, PBSkids.org, store/restaurant, hide and seek, and watching shows.

CALEB

Is learning to fold his arms for prayer.

When he's not praying, he's...emptying out the rag drawer, then the food storage, then the bread pans, oh, and then the tupperware. Wait! There's toys, too!?! Play coins and toy food also make a nice sound when dumped...etc. You get the idea.

And, last but not least, for you viewing pleasure......

Real Life

Before school started we took yet another road trip to finish up the summer! We visited Phil's sister Amy and her family who live in Michigan. We had a great time!

Now our sweet, wonderful hubby and dad is back in school! The boys cry every morning when he leaves, but he's been managing to study at home after class which has been good for us all! The boys have even learned to leave him alone! It's better for Phil because he has to spend less time setting up and packing up, less worry about food, and when he does take the occasional break, it's with us! I am so proud of Phil for all he is doing!

Elijah and I are going to be doing a little preschool together, and for a while, his friend Ayslin will join us! Preschool starts September 1st and I am so excited!

Bye Bye Bats!

After finding poop outside in the back,
A poor chipmunk gave its life in a trap,
Sixteen bats left their nest with a flap,
Never to return.

Professionals came and sealed their fate,
By putting a screen over their front gate,
Then, waiting until it was sufficiently late,
Let them all escape.

In our attic they had made their abode,
And regularly dumped us a toxic load,
Boy am I glad they have hit the road!
Never to return!

Portraits of our Boys

We were a month late, but we decided to try to do Caleb's "one year" portraits by ourselves. Phillip took the pictures, and we thought we'd share them with you. There are quite a few of both the boys as well as just Caleb. They're pretty cute and handsome, don't you think?! We're hoping to get some printed out soon so we can send some actual pictures on to many of you. Let us know if you have personal requests... :)
More posts about our trips, etc. to come. Sorry to jump around but I thought you'd enjoy these.

The Drive...

So as many of you know, our family had the wonderful chance to spend a large chunk of time recently in Salt Lake City with our families. We opted to drive, which allowed us the chance to visit a lot of historical sites along the way, as well as have our own car for transportation while away. True to our form, the volume of things we brought with us was, let's say, "substantial" despite having improved our efficient packing skills from past trips.

It's always hard to know what to bring. Do you leave home the multiple Costco boxes of diapers you've already bought if you know they won't fit when you get back if "technically" you have "room" for them? :) Well, packing became an artform (by force) - both going to and coming from Utah. We're proud of how we did though. School books, the jogger stroller, and too many other large things made the full trip, and coming back to WV we even brought an acquired-on-Craig's-List-for-a-really-good-deal play set and MORE! We're nuts. This video was taken just as we left a wonderful family reunion 2 hrs from Salt Lake when we really began our return trek. Take a look...

LOTS to come very soon... :)

Here's a good representation our lives for the last while. We're excited to update all of you on our family adventures! Coming soon on our blogspot blog...

Spelling and Crawling...

Elijah has been working hard on his letters, and loves reading the first two or three "BOB" books (some great books that introduce a few more short words each book). Every chance he gets he is writing an "E" for someone. He's putting together a LOT of things with regards to reading, and you can see it is obviously exciting for him!.

Nothing needs to be said. How cute is HE?!!!!

"You Can't Hide Anymore!" and "Best Friends"

This morning, while Mary was on the phone, Caleb suddenly vanished and we heard him start crying about something UPSTAIRS. He's made it up some of the steps before, but we've always caught him and brought him back. Today, he made it UP the stairs, down the hall, and into our room before we knew what had happened!

Just a few minutes later Elijah ran up the stairs and Caleb could hardly contain his excitement. He was almost hyperventilating as he starting cruising on up. We only caught the last few steps, but it is sure fun to see such an adorable kid having the time of his life!

These two little guys just can't get enough of each other. They really are best friends... (I think here in a few months we may hit an even higher level of synergistic energy. We can't wait!)

Today is Day 50!

Hello everyone! I have to apologize for being so elusive during this challenge. As I am sure many of you know, it takes so much effort to lose the weight, I couldn't really make the time to post about it a ton. I had intended to post every 10 days, but alas, it's over already!

I have a feeling I would have heard about it if anyone reached the goal of ten pounds (PLEASE MAKE IT KNOWN IF YOU DID IT!!!!), but how DID everyone do? I weighed-in today at 162.2, only 2.4 pounds from my goal, so I am pleased. In weight loss, just making progress in the right direction will get us all where we want to be eventually! I just hope this challenge made it a little more fun for everyone.

If there isn't a winner, I think I'm going to use the $50 to register for a mini-triatholon in Salem Utah at the end of May (800m swim, 14 mile bike ride, and a 5k, I think). So much exercise has awakened something in me that makes me wonder if I'm an athlete deep down! Wouldn't that be a great surprise? It's not something I ever would have guessed about myself because when I was younger (and not overweight), and attempted to get into an exercise routine, it just never clicked. I'm like the guy on the Kashi commercial that says he'd never run a day before his 30's, but he then is like this mountain trail runner in his 50's. I have a feeling my best is yet to come.

I want to give a loving and grateful shout-out to my awesome husband and boys. They have put up with a lot as I have spent a lot of time and mental energy on losing weight for way longer than the last 50 days, and it's not even over yet. Phil has done a lot of kid-patrol, dishes, meals, and especially listening as I think I barely talk about anything else (how annoying!). Elijah has let his legs go numb I am sure as we do one more, no, two more laps in the jogger, or as he watches yet another round of Word World or Bob the Builder. And poor Caleb has waited patiently from the exersaucer for his salty milk watching me be-bop to my exercise videos or run on the treadmill. THANK YOU FAMILY! It's my deepest desire to use my healthy self to serve each one of you as long as I live! I LOVE YOU!

When you tell us all how your weight loss went, please share anything you learned that could encourage us all to appreciate anything else we may have GAINED during the whole experience! I can't wait to hear from everyone!

Day 18

Hey team (and cheering fans)! From all the comments, it seems many of us aren't doing as well as we'd like! You can just see my weight chart to know that so far, any one of you could win the $50! No one give up! Let us all know how you're doing!

GAME ON!

Today is DAY 1 of our "Lose 10 Pounds in 50 Days" challenge! I am so excited that a couple more people joined us! WOOHOO! Day 50 is March 20, so we can do it! Every one of us! Good luck everyone!

Official List:

1. Mom
2. Melissa
3. Laurie
4. Jen
5. Kim
6. Brianna
7. Abby

Almost There

Hello! For those of you who have committed to the 10 pounds in 50 days challenge, get ready! I weighed in at 170.8 this morning, so in the next couple of days our challenge will begin! If you are trying to decided whether or not to join us, there is still time until the challenge begins! Thanks everyone for your support in this! So far, here is our group (and the order in which they signed up):

1. Mom
2. Melissa C.
3. Laurie W.
4. Jen A.
5. Kim W.

Are you joining us Tara? Abby? Julia? I have talked with each of you a little about it...whatya say? Anyone else?

Challenge Anyone?

Many of you are aware that I am on a quest to lose weight and stay healthy. I started posting my weight here on the blog on September 1st. This has helped me tremendously! I am now .1 pounds away from having lost 20 pounds since then. This is good, but I always hope to lose 10 pounds a month...aggressive, but doable, right? Except that I have never done it! HA! Well, in my LONG weight loss journey (it began at the end of 2003ish and I'm still working on it) I have finally learned to make attainable goals. According to the chart at the left, it took me 68 days to get through the 180's, and so far 67 days to get through the 170's which I haven't quite done yet. I am hoping to get there before February begins (2.8 pounds to go). So, to shake things up, keep myself motivated, and maybe help some of you out there who may also want to lose some weight, I am issuing the .....

LOSE 10 POUNDS IN 5O DAYS CHALLENGE!

I want to sail through the 160's! This is a race between me (or you) and time, as well as between me and whoever wants to challenge me. I usually do well for a week or so, then don't for a while, and back and forth. I am issuing this challenge to keep myself in the game long enough to lose 10 pounds without slumping. Hopefully it will be faster than 50 days, but I like realistic goals these days.

What's in it for YOU?

So, I challenge you to beat me to it! If someone loses 10 pounds before me (see start date below), that person will get $50 from me. Limit one winner. Need I say more? :)

But, the first 5 people who lose their 10 pounds in the 50 days win $10 each! You can do it!

(This lovely challenge is sponsored by personal Christmas cash...it's worth more to me to need to buy the clothes because all mine are too big, than to actually be able to.)

RULES:

1. The challenge begins the day I see 169.8 on my scale first thing in the morning, and ends 50 days later. I will do a post to begin the challenge.

2. Go to www.pfpchallenge.com, which is The Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge website. They are donating a pound of food to the hungry for every pound you lose. You just have to commit, and then report your loss in April-ish! Cool, huh?

3. No extreme measures should be used (i.e., lipo, super-stimulation pills, colon cleanses, etc.; healthy eating/diets and exercise should be our tools!)

4. Commit to the challenge before it begins. Do this by leaving a comment to this effect. If more than 5 people succeed at losing 10 pounds by the 50th day, the winners will be decided by the order in which they signed up.

Given the length of my weight loss journey, I know how hard it is to lose weight. I think this challenge will be fun, and I hope to be out $100 by the end!

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

A FEW of the Brough's Christmas Highlights

A Couple More Videos...

Christmas Time...

We can't believe how much love we felt and how full our hearts became by spending good time over Christmas with our family. More than anything we want to keep that special fire going so we're throwing on some recent pictures and movies from way out here in West Virginia... We love you!