Biggest Loser; Challenge Accepted!

So I know it has been awhile and you have probably all forgotten about me, but here I am! The reason for my blogging today is because some members of my family are taking on a little challenge...

The Biggest Loser; Challenge Accepted! Is what we are calling it. Because it is 1. Similar to the show Biggest Loser and 2. 6 out of 8 of us love How I met your mother!

So here is the gist of it. There are 8 of us doing it. We had official weigh ins last night, that was our starting weight. We will do weekly weigh ins on our own to track how we are doing. Then final weigh ins will be on January 18th in the morning so it's a more true weight. The person who looses the most weight percentage wins!

What do they win you may ask? A pretty decent earnings! We are each putting in $20 to participate. So the winner will get $140. Then we are having a 2nd place winner and that person will get their $20 back. In the event of a tie the 2 people will split the $160.

I'm really excited about this! I'm hoping this will be the encouragement I need to jump start a big change! We did a facebook group just for us to track progress, share recipes and tips, etc. We even are having a motivator of the week. That person will be in charge of keeping us pumped! (We'll see how long that goes)

So with that being said, if you have any awesome healthy recipes please send them my way!

TP

Ryder's I'm so smart moment of the day...

Earlier today I went to the restroom. Yep, I go too! I used up the last of the toilet paper and like usual, I got side tracked and forgot to replace the roll. So later when I needed to go again I find myself sitting on the toilet without any tp... What do I do??? Luckily for me, like usual Ryder followed me into the bathroom. I showed him the empty roll and said “Ryder, can you go in the other bathroom and get me the toilet paper?” He left and came back with the roll! What a smart boy! Then he told me he needed to “poop” which he says for poop and pee so I set him on the toilet. I left him to do his thing while I replaced the TP in the other bathroom. Checked on him and he peed! What a big/ smart boy!

Smoothies

We have been smoothie crazy in the Gibson home lately! They are so good!!! Plus fruit has been pretty cheap lately too. Tonight we had a fun time, Ryder even got to help put everything in the blender. He is such a good helper!!!

Ryder loves doing Cheers!

Story behind the mugs. We love A&W Rootbeer. Unfortunately there aren't many around anymore. On our Honeymoon almost 3 years ago we stopped at one on our way to the Grand Canyon. That is where we got the 2 big mugs. Then when we were in Washington when Ryder was 3 weeks old we went to one there and got 2 little shot glass mugs. It is adorable!!!

So the smoothies kind of look like the antidote from TMNT II, but they were good!!!

New Slide

I am SO behind on this! I can't believe it. This should be fun, I don't know why sometimes I get into this rut and think it's a chore. Most of my blogging is done on my craft blog now-a-days, but I don't post a lot of the personal Ryder growing up stuff. 

I'm going to do a bunch of posts and hopefully get myself caught up. Instead of starting with where I left off I'm going to go with most recent and then continue on from here. Then back track whenever I have the time/ motivation.

On facebook I am in a few "virtual yard selling groups". I put that I was in search of a kids slide. I was. Ryder LOVES being outside, but we have nothing for him to play with out there except dirt and sticks (which he loves). Someone had a slide they were getting rid of and was willing to take $5 for it! I was so excited!!! The only downside was that it was in San Tan Valley, like a 45 minute drive. I just couldn't pass this up. It's like a $70 slide for 5 bucks!

So we hopped in the car for FHE and had a fun drive. When we got home none of us could wait to put it back together. And Ryder couldn't wait to test it out. As Chase was still screwing in a piece we started going...

We Bought a Zoo

I have been really bad at posting lately. Chase is home a lot more since it's summer so I waste a lot less time. Not the the blog is a waste of time, but I usually thinking about updating after I've wasted time on Pinterest of just googling everything imaginable. I will try to do a few update posts this week, but no promises.

Saturday We went to Mesquite Jr High for my Niece Brittney's 6th Birthday Party! It's crazy how old these kids are getting. On the way home we were hungry so we stopped at Fili Bs and got ourselves a feast. Ryder was asleep by the time we got out of the pool parking lot so we knew he'd be out for awhile so we decided to rent a movie too. We rented We Bought a Zoo from Redbox with our free code:)

It was a really good movie. Nothing really bad in it which I love. The romance was hardly even there. The only reason I even bring this up is because something funny happened that I wanted to share. Half way through the movie Chase says, "this is seems like the type of movie someone would cry in." He turns to me, "Are you crying?" HAhahaha yep it is the kind of movie someone wold cry in. Me being that someone. I am such a baby when it comes to movies and everything really. I see someone cry and I have to do everything in my power so I don't cry too. I hate it. Even if I don't know the person or they are crying over something that isn't really necessary to cry over. I cry along. SO ANNOYING!

If you haven't seen it, rent it! It was really good. If you are anything like me though, you've been warned.

Mother Nature's water day

Where did that rain come from last night! It was completely out of no where. All of a sudden I get a call from Chase seeing how the dogs were because it was pouring where he was. Sure enough there was a pretty heavy rain coming down.

I took this opportunity to re-introduce Ryder with rain. Living in Arizona it doesn't come around very often and I didn't want to miss this chance.

He wasn't so sure of it at first, but he grew to love it! 

 

Bed Hair

This is what I found when Ryder woke up from his nap yesterday! Crazy Bed Hair! He pulls it off nicely though:) Isn't he the sweetest boy ever?!?!?!

I love how when he wakes up he doesn't just scream and cry anymore. He just talks to himself. It's so fun to listen to. He'll just lay there or sometimes sit up. But almost always with his legs/feet sticking out through the bars. Love it!!!

Playdough

So spur the moment the other day I decided to make playdough. I don't remember the recipe I used it was on the instructables.com website. There are a million out there so it's be easy to find. This was Ryder's first encounter with it and he seemed to enjoy it.

Tastes good too!

Towards the end he just wanted to put it in the cup holder of his high chair.

1 batch of the play dough made 4 1/2 balls that were a good size. We made blue, yellow, red, and green. The 1/2 ball I didn't color and am going to put inside a balloon. I've seen it online and kids for some reason really love to play with it. It will be a part of Ryder's Church Toy Basket.

Zoo Trip

My sister's zoo membership expires this month so we want to get a few more times in before it does. We went to the zoo on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun. Only downside is Wednesdays are field trip day so there are a ton of kids there.

When we first got there we had to wait for Preggers (aka Brittany) to go to the bathroom. As we waited some ducks came up to us. Kaden even touched it. The kids had fun chasing after the ducks.

An unplanned tradition is we always go to the reptiles first. That is what Kaden always says he wants to see first.

This is about the time Ryder went wild looking at everything. He had some much fun. He could walk around and go where he pleased...

Outside of the reptile place they have this little half wall that has some birds in it. Ryder wanted nothing more, but to look over this wall that was just his size.

He'd even get up on his tippy toes!

As we were walking around having a swell time we came across this fowl. We decided to make friends with it...

Even Mema tried befriending him.

He followed us for about 30 seconds, we named him Fred. He was our friend...

Until Ryder chased after him...

Sad day, all well, Ryder had fun!

This was the first trip that Ryder actually acted like he cared!

How cute is my boy???

The day was like a never ending game of musical seats (without the music).

Ryder took his turn and pushed Hunter for a little bit. What a trooper!

Does anyone else remember when the alligators (or crocs) were at the end of this little bridge thing? I remember it being so scary because you were surrounded and it looked like it could break any second. Now they have flamingos and a few other animals.

For some reason I absolutely love this picture!

It was a fun time. Afterwards Mema treated us to Olive Garden and then the kids had fun playing outside in Mema's backyard. We're hoping to get one more trip in before the membership expires.

This is me trying to get better at this...

Of course there is nothing really happening in our lives right now. This week was pretty relaxing compared to the usual.

Chase's dad was in town so we got to see him. That is always fun. Ryder has changed a lot since we've last seen him. It's amazing!

I've been getting ready to host a busy bag swap and am participating in a file folder swap. Hopefully we'll come home with plenty to keep Ryder entertained. He is walking and getting into EVERYTHING!

I've also got a recipe swap going on that meets once a month. We've done it twice and it's been fun! And of course card night. April is summer lovin' themed and my card is already done. Not sure if I like it or not, but it's done so no going back now.

I'm ALSO trying to sell some homemade cards on Etsy. So far no takers. They say to sell more post more. Who knows if it's true. I have 7 listings so far. Don't want to do too much and not make anything. I'm thinking 20 is my limit, if I don't sell anything then I'll quit forever.

WOW that sounds like a ton going on, but really it's not too bad. So many swaps!

Anyways, enjoy the rest of your week...

Same ol' same ol'

Man, I have really been sucking it up lately. Let's do some updates over the last 4 months Person by Person...

Chase: He finished a semester at School and has started another one. His Major is Geography, not sure if or what he'll do with it. He really enjoys it so that makes school less of a pain. In December he hit his 1 year mark with MPS. We really love that job. It is super flexible and perfect for our family right now. Chase has started riding his bike more and is hoping to do the Tour de Mesa in April (or atleast the shorter version). He recently did training at Discount Cab and will be doing that VERY part time. He just has to work 1 shift every 30 days. So he can keep it during the year and then when summer comes and he's off from MPS he can pick up more hours at Discount Cab. If you or your Hubby apply say Chase referred you! It seems like a nice set up.

Courtney: Just living the life of the wife and mom... and loving it! I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've started an Etsy shop selling homemade greeting cards to hopefully bring in some money. Check it out sometime and feel free to make a purchase if there is something you see. I'm kind of giving it a test run right now, we'll see how it goes. It's something I love doing (cardmaking) so it's fun too! I've started watching How I Met Your Mother during nap time. It's so funny and gives me something to do to relax. I participate in a card night every other month. It is so cool how "big" it's turned out. I started it about 2 years ago. It's so much fun! I also started a Recipe Swap every month. Last month was the first and there was some good food:) Next is Bfast foods. Yum!!!

Ryder: He is no baby anymore... he's 13 months now! He had a puppy themed birthday party that was so much fun! You can read birthday posts on my DIY blog here. He's been walking for a couple of weeks and walks more and more everyday. He is so smart and is learning so much! He says bye bye everytime we put him in his car seat. He's so much fun! He's a pro sleeper now and it has made life so much better! If you are hesitant to try the cry it out method, give it a try. Sleep has been so nice!!!

Tonka & Ella: Well they are still being turkey's getting out every once in awhile, but we can't really blame them. Tonka is now neutered. We took Ella in and found out that she was starting her heat cycle so we have to wait. They love attention and going on walks.

Family: We went to Disneyland in December (Post to come someday maybe). Nothing to big is happening. We started a goal of going on 1 hike a month and take the dogs. Today was actually our second hike and it was a little intense and didn't go very far. Baby steps right? We even bought a hiking baby backpack to carry Ryder in. We try to go with the Packer's that want to come and are working up to our goal of Havasupai Summer 2013. Chase & I have really gotten into the games Dominion and Thunderstone. They are strategic card games and so much fun! If you wanna play let us know. We'd love to!

Life is great and we are having fun and enjoying our time together as a family.

Updates and Leslie Family Reunion...

Ugh... I hate having to do this. Why can't I just stay on top of this so I don't have to do a HUGE post to catch everyone up, and by everyone I mean the one person who actually reads this...

So back to November. It was the Leslie Family Reunion (I think I promised to do a post on that.) It was a lot of fun. It was different with Ryder I couldn't just go off and play I had to make sure he wasn't getting into trouble. Luckily Ryder has a Pampa that always wants to play with him.

Pampa took Ryder on the swings and Ryder loved it!

There are a few traditions we have at these reunions.

#1. Volleyball!

#2 The Train...

Ryder enjoyed watching the kids go...

Until it was his turn...

Luckily we were able to bribe him with a ball. No hard feelings Papa!

The train is always a huge hit with the kids

Ryder was fine when cousin Brittney took him. Maybe he just wanted to sit in the front.

Tradition #3 Papa's birthday.

We always have the reunion the Saturday after Thanksgiving and My Grandpa (and Chase's) Birthday is the 26th. Every year someone mentions my Grandpa's birthday, he hates it! This year the reunion actually landed on his 85th birthday. Happy Birthday Papa!

This year they had some balls and stuff for the kids to play with, Ryder had a fun time at his First Leslie Reunion!

Happy Birthday to you too Daddy:)