Eat Your Heart Out June Cleaver!

Would Ward do this for June? BBQing in the middle of winter when it's 15 degrees outside? I think not! June had dinner on the table for Ward every night by the time he got home from the office. But, my awesome husband is out there in the cold grilling just for me. He's turning out to be quite the support and helper.
Thanks Kolb!

Get off Your A@@, Jennifer!

It's late. I'm should be in bed. I am supposed to get up and go workout with Michelle in the morning. And Carl. How could I forget about Carl? He's NOT happy with me. I've dodged him for 2 weeks. It got really busy the week before Christmas break then we had some personal crap going on the week of Christmas and I wasn't in the mood for anyone's crap so I didn't even answer Carl's "where the hell are you?" calls. He caught me once coming out of Kody's Cafe though and hollered at me..."What are you doing in there? You shouldn't even be in there eatin' beans and burritos. I better see you in my gym in 1 hour, girl! ONE HOUR!" (I do love Carl! lol) I didn't show though. I could've made it, I suppose, but I didn't.

Anyway....not making excuses at all. I was just allowing myself to wallow and be lazy. I should've gotten my big butt in there and worked out some of the stress and anger...excuses. I got a million of em'. Carl counsels me about how it's supposed to be a lifestyle change....I know, I know, I know. I don't need the lecture. I know what I NEED to do and I'm going to do it. Don't count me out...I could be the longshot, but I'd still put money on me. I really don't like to be TOLD what to do though. Maybe the whole personal trainer thing isn't for me. I am super competitive though and that's what drives me. I like to WIN. Also, I don't want to be fat so that's a big motivator to me too. I've got the inner power to do it and make it happen, but I'm obstinate and apt to refuse to do something just on principle if I think I'm being forced. No wonder my mother sarcastically wished Carl good luck with me. "Oh good luck to YOU, buddy." she told him. I love my mom, she knows I'm a little shit and she loves me anyway. It was she who always told me I was the little girl w/the curl in the middle of my forehead.

So, anyway....Michelle's coming by to get me at 8:40. I know that's not THAT early, but I like to sleep in and lounge around on days my kids don't have school so it's early to me. Also, I'm stressed out and can't sleep so I know I'll be worthless in the morning. Will I make it or not? Michelle may be dragging me out.....we'll see.

Edge Magazine Blog

Check it out! ------------>
We started an Edge Magazine blog. Fun, huh? You can read about upcoming issues, back issues, get a bit more info on our stories and/or story ideas and get a sneak peek at some of the upcoming photography featured in our magazine.

We would love your comments and ideas as well. Get involved with us! It's YOUR magazine. Give us your input.

And...check out our cover shot for January. I love it!

There Once Was a Girl.....

There was a little girl,    
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.    
When she was good,    
She was very good indeed, 
But when she was bad she was horrid.  
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It's so true. It's so me! When I fall off the wagon I REALLY fall off.

I have indulged a bit much this holiday season. Definitely not like in years past though. I am not gorging myself or totally pigging out. I'm still keeping my portions smaller and eating a healthy lunch and breakfast, but I am indulging a bit much on treats: cookies, fudge and candy. I am not making excuses here, but I will say that I have been so busy and didn't make time to workout and if I'm not working out....I'm not as disciplined in what I eat.

Luckily though, Santa brought candy for my kids that I don't really like so that's good. Less of a temptation.

I'm getting after it next week though. I'm going to go hardcore and I'm not falling off again. Ever. I loved working out hard the first two weeks we started this. I actually felt GREAT. Plus, basketball season is starting and I want to be able to play more than 2 minutes at a time. I can't run for long periods of time yet, but by this time next year, I'll be a whole new me and I can't wait!

More Stupid...

I've discovered I do stupid stuff too, Christine. (If you haven't read Christine's post titled STUPID, then go to her blog...there is a link to it over there on the right------>, it's called "I'm Losin' It" or Christine's Blog. If you're reading this on The Edge site, you can go to each individual blog by clicking on the yellow post titles. To view all blog posts by that particular person, you click on the box that has the name of that person's blog in it...it'll take you to the HOME page of that particular blog. To access older posts, find the words, OLDER POSTS down at the bottom of the page and click. Enjoy reading!)

Anyway...I eat fast. I wolf my food down. I am sure this began in college when I'd get mere minutes for a food break and then it only got worse when I became a mother. I would hurry up and eat so I could take care of the baby. Well, now that people aren't babies anymore, I sit there at the table and, since I'm finished, I eat MORE. Why not have another helping?

So, here's what I'm doing to stop that particular bad habit. I'm eating more slowly. Taking my time. Counting my bites and chewing my food. I am also taking a break in between mouthfuls. Put a bite in, put fork down, take a drink, hands in lap, wipe mouth, then pick up fork again. It's just good manners anyway. And, it makes me much more conscious of what goes in my mouth. Who knew eating was such work anyway? GOOD, HEALTHY eating is a bit of work, but oh-so-worth it!

Bravery....

Christine is brave. So brave!

She has all of our kids at her house tonight (except for my 2 year old). She's got Michelle's 3 kids, 3 of mine and 3 of her own. Crazy lady!!

I'm sure they're having a ball though.

BTW...I suck. I haven't worked out that much the last 2 weeks. It's just way busy this time of year though. I'll really buckle down next week and after the 1st of the new year.

Attitude....

So, I was riding the bike today (1st time I've made it to a workout all week) and I had on a long sleeve shirt under my t-shirt. I started to take it off and Carl went all puppy dog eyes and pleading with me...

"What are you doing? PLEASE leave it on!"

So I did. And it sucked. I hated being smothered! It was sweltering. I hate to be hot and I wasn't happy. Carl said, "Let's try to wear it once a week." I said.."Hmm, maybe. We'll see." So Carl said, "I thought we were going to work on your attitude."

Oh were we???

I had no idea.

Attitude? I have an attitude?

Whatever, man.

Hibernation....

I didn't workout today.

I didn't weigh in today.

I didn't see Carl today.

I took a nap today.

A big fat one.

And I loved it.

My little boys were napping though and I was TIRED. They are 4 and 2 years old and for some reason, they woke up at 5:30 am when Kolby was up getting ready for work and I hadn't gone to sleep til' very late (because I'm a little stressed out) so 3 hours of sleep just wasn't cutting it for me.

Plus, it was freakin' cold! It was 14 degrees in town this morning and I was cold. So, we came home, boys went down for naps and I curled up on the chaise in front of the fire with my blankey and I crashed. I slept for a good 3 hours while the boys slept.

Also, it was snowing outside so it was a lovely hibernation sleep. I like to stay in when it's snowing and curl up and be warm and snuggly. (not the same as being too freakin' hot in a stupid sweatshirt inside a warm building working out...that's a bad warm and snuggly. Just so you know!)

So, I didn't get a workout in. I overslept and would've been very late for my appointment with Carl, so I didn't go in at all. No weigh in for me today after all.

So, I got my way didn't I? And Carl didn't get his weigh. (oh ha ha ha...bad pun...sorry)

I refuse!

Ok...that's it. I'm NOT weighing in this week. No way. I know I've completely overdone it with the holiday parties and making of the goodies and treats. I've tried really hard to stay out of the cookies and to not hog out on good meals, but I really haven't stuck to healthy portions or good food choices. So...I'm not weighing in. Maybe I will next week. pbbbbbbtttttt! (raspberry)

Also...Carl wants me to wear a sweatshirt to workout in. Uh-uh. Ain't happenin'. I refuse. I wear sweatshirts to keep warm outside when it's cold. As soon as I walk into a building, sweatshirt comes off. No way in HELL am I wearing one to workout in. I sweat plenty as it is. There is no need to be too hot. That'll just make me ornery and Carl doesn't want that does he???

So...I'm not doing it. I may end up weighing, but I'm not wearing a sweatshirt unless I'm cold. That's my final answer.

It hurts....

If I could keep my arms up long enough to type for a long time I'd post something interesting, but...it hurts. My arms are sore. Carl had me lift arms yesterday, go 20 min. on the bike then I went and played basketball last night as well. My legs felt like jello by the time I got home and I didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

It all feels sooo good though. Truly, it does. Makes me feel like I'm really trying, really working. I'm hoping to see that scale go DOWN even more on Monday. Wish me luck with that though. I'm doing some holiday baking today and we've got Ward's company party tonight (that's my husband, Kolby....read my very 1st post, you'll get it then) then a family party on Sunday. Lots of food, goodies and temptations galore.

*sigh* I really do love pinoche' too.

For Michelle.....

Like A Good Jock Strap

Support! Ahhhh...just like a good jock strap! That's what I've got. My support team is AWESOME! We've got people here, there and everywhere cheering us on and supporting us. Thanks! Any tips, tricks, advice, recipes or encouragement is welcome.

My official support team consists of some tough players. Doni Horrocks is in charge of making sure I get a workout in and I know she'll drag me out by my hair if she needs to. She said it's good I picked her cuz she's a big meanie about this stuff and I said, "GOOD! Cuz so am I!" lol Backing her up are Amy Taylor (who I know will push me harder once she gets to workout again) and then Kara Campbell. I'm sure she'll come up with some good creative workout ideas for me.

My cyber support team members are many as well. My friend, Gina Drennon from Eureka Springs, Arkansas is always there for me to whine to about sore muscles and near heart attacks. (and, she tells me to suck it up, put on the big girl panties and just deal with it.) Julie Shaeffer, all the way from Chicago, is going to send me alot of yummy recipes and check in on me quite often as well. Kirsten Madaus in Virginia will get me into a pilates class yet and a high school friend, Shawn Busch, is going to goad me on Facebook to make sure I've worked out. And on and on...tons of friends out there to help me.

I appreciate it! The community here has been so responsive and positive about everything as well. That's a great support.

Just like a good jock strap or an awesome bra! All of ya!

Weigh In Day....

So, we had to weigh in today. We were supposed to lose 4 lbs. I didn't. I lost 6 lbs instead. Yay me!

Then I worked out hard. It felt good. We worked shoulders after a bike ride and some shadow boxing with weights for a warm up. It may not feel good tomorrow, but it felt good today. Seeing that scale going down is inspiring and motivational and makes me want to work harder.

Oh, and I got in trouble. Carl had a few chastisements for me about Diet Coke. He asked me if I've been drinking any, and of course I have been. I love it. But, I'm out of it now and I'm not going to buy anymore(well maybe not as much as I used to).

I did work out 3 days last week and got up a good sweat and worked myself, but, I'm going to attribute my weight loss to curtailing my eating habits and behavior modification. I'm eating a small breakfast...a scrambled egg with salsa and/or oatmeal and always a fruit, then for lunch I usually eat a salad with 2 oz of grilled chicken on it and those yummy spray vinigarette dressings (Asian Silk is my favorite), and for dinner, 2 oz lean meat, fruits, veggies, and 1/2 cup bread/starch. I'll usually find some way to add some calcium and dairy into my diet each day too.

Portion size and no snacking--that's my mantra. Behavior modification. That's my plan. It's just a healthy way to eat. I am not restricting everything, but I don't need to have a whole plateful of gravy covered food. I'm eating a whole plateful of food, it's just healthy food and proper portions.

I'm also trying to increase my cardio stamina by running on my own. I did great today, too. I made it a whole 1/2 a block before feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. LOL A whole minute! Oh man, I swear I thought i was going to have to call an ambulance! My 2 year old was in the yard watching me and he yelled, "Run, Mom!" after I stopped. Thanks for the encouragement, buddy, but I was dying..I think. LOL

It's just hard, once you let yourself get so big and wiegh so much...and once you get older, to get your body in shape. I always say "I want my 19 year old body back!". Well it's too bad I didn't take care of that good body when I had it. It's a long, hard road back to it...or something close to it anyway.

At any rate....next week I'm hoping to be down 5 more lbs. I'm going to be much more disciplined this week and work harder so I may just hit that goal. Go Jenn! Go Jenn! Go Jenn!

Michelle Has Good News!

Come on, Michelle! Post up the good news!

You rock the house, girl!

Mommy Guilt

"Mom, can I please go with you to the gym?" begs my 10 year old son.

"I can go with you too, Mom! I'll be really good. I promise. I'll take my crayons and draw." states my 7 year old daughter.

"Mom...pleeeeeaaaaassssseee can I go? I really want to go!" whines my very active 4 year old son.

"Peeeeeseeeee! Mom! Take me wif you!!! Don't weave me!" cries my little, blonde 2 year old with those big, sad, puppy dog eyes, desperate to catch me as I walk out the door, as if his little world will shatter as soon as I leave.

So, I leave them all and go do my THING and then I suffer from Mom Guilt. Not that I'd ever take them with me to a workout facility, daycare or not. I would NOT enjoy having them with me on the premises, but I should not have to feel guilt for having one hour of time just for ME. But I do. If they were in bed, I wouldn't feel bad at all, but I feel selfish and guilty for indulging myself in that one hour a day to go workout.

I did take my 10 year old son with me to work out yesterday. He wants to workout alongside me. Which is fine with me, he needs to stay in shape for the various sports he plays and he likes to walk and run. He would love to hit the weights, but I said NO on that one....and so did Carl. So, Carl has him doing push-ups and pull-ups though. He needs to do more of those so he can pass his Presidential Fitness Test. Go Carl! Get him working!

Anyone want to babysit the other 3 for me? ;-)

BUSTED!

So, Michelle, Christine and I went to look at an office space today (yes! We're looking for an office for the magazine. Movin' up in the world!) and, as is our custom or habit or cravings or whatever, we went to lunch. Who doesn't love to lunch with the girls though? It's fun! And it was kind of a meeting anyway.

But, we went to Kody's Cafe and guess who works there? CARL PARKER! Our trainer. His first question was "What are you guys doing HERE?" And I was just SURE he was going to sabotage our food with something more healthy or tofu-y or something, but he didn't. He let us make our own choices then he came out afterwards and asked us how we enjoyed our meals.

How nice, huh? Carl's a great guy. As he said goodbye, he gave each of us a look and said, "I WILL see you in the gym later today." UH OH! Totally busted and that WAS a Carl-The-Personal-Trainer warning. LOL Christine...you're in for it, babe! Hope that Diet Coke was worth it! I'm sure I won't be happy I ate the rest of that burrito later on.....

Fat Chick's Crack

Cheeseburgers. A fat girl's crack. OMG I love them. Big ol' greasy cheesburgers from those greasy spoon and drive-in type joints, or the horse race track..mmmmmm track burgers...that takes me back. Good ol' greasy burgers dripping with melty cheese that blends in with the grease with onions.... mmmmmmmmmmmm...mmmmmm...mmmmmmm...OH! Snap me out of it!

Cheeseburgers are a BAD habit! Tasty habit though, eh? Dang I really love cheeseburgers. But, you know what? I'm over it. I really am. I haven't fallen totally out of like with that kind of food, but I'm over the love affair I've always had with food. That's my big problem. I love to eat and if it's good, I want MORE. And I love all the worst stuff. Cheeseburgers, fried chicken, gravy, fried taters and gravy, and anything with gravy. Seriously though..I'm over it. I don't HAVE to have it anymore. See those 3 chins? Thanks gravy and cheeseburgers! No more for me, thanks!

Antelope and taters...fried, of course, and smothered in gravy. YUMMY. No more though! Too much of that and I'd be bleeding gravy, huh? ;-)


Here's one good thing coming from this weight loss journey/competition....I am noticing how stupid my habits are. For example: I'll grab fast food in town just because I'm in town. Just because I have access to it when I'm in town, and I don't go to town every day and it's FAST FOOD! so I must have it. How idiotic is that?

It all goes back to when I was a teenager though. There was alot of banned food in my house. My mother didn't want us eating junk food and we always got crap from her when we brought home a Whopper or other restaurant food. So, I started taking advantage of trips to town to get fast food and hide in my car to eat it before I got home. Really dumb habit!

Then, in college, that's all I ate. I ate out all the time. Fast food, restaurant food....whatever. I hardly ever cooked at home. I had this love affair with fast food and restaurant food. That habit is really stupid too because fast food really isn't that great! It's kinda gross, in fact.

Cheeseburgers are good, but I'm stronger than cheeseburgers. Stronger than gravy too. I think. I hope so.

Let's Get This Party Started!

Ok...that title sounds alot more enthusiastic than I feel right now but it works. I'm officially on board now. I met with Carl today and got started on this journey. It's gonna be a helluva ride, too.

Carl is cool. I like him. He's a city boy. Says he's from New York and he wants to experience alot of the things we do around here like hunting and fishing and outdoorsy stuff. We can certainly help with that. But, I think Carl may be afraid to be out in the woods with me and a loaded weapon just yet. He senses alot of anger and aggression coming from me so I don't think he's quite trusting of me yet. For now, we'll work out on the punching bag alot. That sounds fun.

Carl need not worry though. I'm harmless. Well...maybe not completely harmless. I do have quite the attitude, but I'm not TOO aggressive. Maybe a little aggressive. Ok, maybe alot aggressive. Ok Carl...maybe you should worry! LOL Seriously though...I'm really only mean one week a month. Or twice. Three weeks out of the month, tops.

Carl weighed me today and then we got started. He was going to have me do a brisk 30 minute walk on a 2.2 incline on the treadmill. Well, I didn't make it 30 minutes. I made it to about 7 minutes and had to slow it down. And this whole time Carl is next to me walking dreamily on a treadmill and casually chatting away about my eating habits and making dietary suggestions and what not....just having a grand ol' time over there talking....and the whole time I'm just hanging on for dear life on this treadmill of death, trying to concentrate. I'm not sure what he really talked about. Something about grapefruit juice and no more diet coke. I did get that part of it. (I don't think I liked that part of it.) So, I pushed for another 7 or 8 minutes and was done. 15 minutes was all I could handle. I was about to puke and my legs were shaky. I haven't felt that way since the first day of 10th grade basektball practice. I did puke that day!

SO...bottom line...I really suck. What a sad story! I used to be in great shape but I've just let it all go and I can barely walk 15 minutes on a damn treadmill. And I weigh over 300 lbs! Good lord! No wonder I have anger and aggression, eh?

Back to it tomorrow though. Pretty soon I'll be able to power through my cardio workouts and I'll wipe the floor with Michelle and Christine in this contest. ;-) I am at a disadvantage, being much larger than both of them and packing alot more weight, but don't count me out. I'm determined. I know neither one of them thinks I'm much of a threat right now...but that's ok...neither does my mother and neither does my husband. Neither one of them has much confidence in me that I'll do this at all. But, I'll have the last laugh when I've got the weight off and I'm healthy and looking good and strong again.

And when I throw out my husband's freakin' prized fry daddy!

I didn't play today

I didn't meet Carl today. I'm way busy getting ready to go out to the Book Cliffs for the annual Thanksgiving camping trip. Plus, I hate everyone this week and should really not be around anyone because I just can't play nice.

I don't want my mom to lecture me, I don't want the lady at the hospital billing office to lecture me, I don't want my husband to yell at me, I don't want the lady at the mortgage company to be a bitch to me and I sure as hell don't want Carl telling me what to do today.

So, I'm going to go feed one of the science fair rats to a snake. Then I'm getting the hell outta town for the weekend and hopefully I'll come back all nice and recharged and ready to play again.

Diet Starts Monday!

BMI's are BULL

There. I said it. BMI charts are a buncha bull-puckey. For people like me, at least.

I'm a big girl. I always have been. I've got a big, stocky build. When I was thin I was still considered overweight according to the BMI charts though. If I were to be within normal range, i'd have to lose down to 150 lbs. For me to reach 150 lbs would be almost impossible. I haven't weighed that much since I was a sophomore in high school. And even then I think I was lying. But I was pretty thin. I was wearing a size 10. Still pretty big by high school girl size standards.

I've always LIKED being bigger though. I've got broad shoulders and a thick chest cavity. I was an athlete. It was to my advantage. I even had the bench press record in high school. I was a bad-ass that nobody messed with and I could take a hit in any game. I like contact sports and I like mixing it up and getting rough. Being bigger usually put me at an advantage there as well. I doled out two serious injuries in the Powderpuff Football game when I was a sophomore...and i gotta admit...it felt GOOD to hit like that.

I played college softball my freshman year at SUU in Cedar City. I was in the best physical shape of my life back then. I was working out 30 minutes a day on the exercise bike, practicing, lifting weights, catching for the pitchers, practicing in the batting cages and I worked all weekend and most nights. I had little time for classes and homework so I barely had time to eat. I was always eating on the run. I remember my roommate making sandwiches for me in between practice and work. She'd make me a chicken sandwich on 1 slice of whole wheat with a little bit of mustard on it and I'd usually grab a salad or something at work (I worked at a Golden Corral). I'd eat pasta with tomato sauce on it for lunch with a few raw veggies and a handful of cracklin' oat bran for breakfast on the run. I lost quite a bit of weight that year and weighed in at about 170 lbs. I wasn't completely fat free, but I looked good in my clothes and felt comfortable enough to walk down the beach in California in just my swimsuit..no shorts to cover my thighs.

But I was still considered overweight according to the BMI charts. Bull-puckey! Plus, I was pretty healthy.

But I still love my Diet Coke! lol

Giving Up Diet Coke?

What did you say about giving up Diet Coke, Michelle? ARE YOU INSANE??? That's just crazy talk, girl! I'm not giving up diet coke! No way, man!!!

Food log?

I was supposed to start this already? Ooopsey!

I'll get right on that. It ain't gonna be pretty though. I'll say that right now. And if I had kept one from this past weekend....it would've been REALLY ugly. We ate out at Hollow Moon on Friday night, Golden Corral on Saturday, and then went to mom's for dinner last night. It was a dessert-a-palooza there too. Total dessert overload and I just couldn't hurt people's feelings by not trying their tasty treats, right? ;-)

I've got some BAAA-aaaa-AAAAAD habits to break.

THE Contest

Ok, so I'm a part of this magazine called The Edge. It's a local magazine that I help create each month with 2 other Super Moms named Michelle and Christine. We are busy, creative, talented and beautiful women who are always on the run, but we are it also fat. So, I came up with a plan to help us lose weight and hopefully it will inspire many others in our community to do the same. I hope this will be the start of something HUGE.

Here are the sketchy details. Basically, this will be a "Biggest Loser" type of contest between Michelle, Christine, and myself. We will incorporate personaly trainers, dieticians, doctors and a whole slew of personal supporters and folks who will help us in our quest. We will take before pics and we will pretty much lay it alllll out there on the pages of our magazine each month and report our daily progress on our blogs.

This also means getting a BMI drawn up, weight taken, pics posted...the whole works. EEEEKK! But, we're going for it. It'll be a great, healthy journey and next year, there will be 3 different people in our contest.

We also want the general public to join us. Schedule a check up with your doctor, chart your starting weight and make sure your doctor approves your weight loss plan. Snap a before pic and then get healthy! If you want to blog about, set up a blog here at blogspot.com and we'll link to it. Send us your progress updates as well. Don't forget to include your tips, tricks, complaints, and worries. We'll help support each other! At the end of 6 months, when Michelle, Christine and I end our contest, we will determine a winner amongst our readers who participate.

This will be an adventure! Hopefully a healthy one and a fun one. Stay tuned!

Official Super Mom

Well, I did it! Last Tuesday I think I officially reached "Super Mom" status. Normally I wouldn't classify myself as anything great...I'm just a regular mom just taking care of business, but something changed last week that made me really think about all that I do on a day to day basis. And it's ALOT.

It all came about last Saturday morning when, in the midst of one of my cleaning furies and rages, my husband angrily shouted, "What do you want me to do?". This frustrated expression came about when he was told not to just sit around. I wanted some help! So, he said, "Well, you don't have to act this way just because you finally chose to clean the house today. I'm surprised you guys aren't just sitting around all day like you always do while I go to work!"

Oh no he di'nt!!!

Oh yes, he did!

But, the man got lucky that time. And I mean VERY lucky. No...he got EXTREMELY lucky because I remained calm and quiet and spared him the "Well Look! Ward F-In Cleaver, this is how it is and how it's gonna be" lecture. I remained silent and continued working on the walls I was so vigorously scrubbing. And while I was scrubbing, I started taking a look at just what had happened the previous week that had interfered with my house cleaning. I felt like I had cleaned non-stop. I certainly wasn't sitting around watching soaps and eating bon-bons all day (what the hell are bon-bons anyway?) . So, what HAD I done?

I decided to keep better track of how I spent my time each day and while Monday was quite a busy day, Tuesday was THE day I'm claiming I reached Super Mom status.

The day began like any other. I got my kids up out of bed and ready for school. This requires much yelling and prodding and is actually quite an exasperating process. I also cooked omlettes for breakfast and curled my daughter's hair. She left for school looking as beautiful as ever and my 10 year old looked quite presentable and neat. I won't let my children leave the house looking bedraggled and like they just rolled out of bed.

A friend dropped her 4 year old off so I could babysit him for the day. He fits in very well with my 4 year old and my 2 year old boys and they all 3 played quite well together the whole day. I did have to make them breakfast, get milk about a million times, keep them out of the dirt and mud and make sure they weren't tearing the house down.

By mid morning I had cleaned up the kitchen and done 2 loads of laundry and soon it was time to take the boys my mother's for an hour so I could volunteer in my daughter's class. I work with the top level reading group three times a week for 30 minutes. Afterwards I picked up the 3 little boys, made them lunch, did more laundry and got some work done on a website I am paid to work on. Then I accomplished the momentous task of getting three little boys down for naps at the same time.

Later on, I attended the Veteran's Day program at the kids' school. Afterwards I hosted my daughter's friend and my son's friend as sell as the extra 4 year old I was babysitting. 7 kids running around. It was at this time we discovered the lost science fair rat. My 10 year old was in the middle of a science project that involved rats and it seems one had escaped. Oh lovely!

So, I calmed people down from that crisis and began to make cookies and work on my website at the same time. Cookies were soon baked and consumed and friends went home. And so it was onto my daughter's basketball game. And, of course I'm the coach. After her game it was onto Cub Scout pack meeting. I had to resort to feeding my peeps McD's cuisine though, which I readily admit COULD put my Super Mom status in jeopardy, but I figure the Super Mom Rulers can kiss my butt on that one because there just wasn't time in the day to squeeze it in!

After pack meeting we returned home where more laundry was started, house was cleaned, children were bathed, read to and put to bed. PHEW!! What a day!

It still wasn't over though. I still had plenty of work to do so I plowed through it and finally put myself to bed at about midnight.

But I had baked cookies AND coached little league AND hosted 3 friends AND had gone to a Cub Scout meeting all in one day. That along with all my other duties is what classifies me as a Super Mom. Wanna know what I did the rest of the week?

It's different every day, but I'm always busy and always doing something with or for my children. I am devoted to my family, but I still manage to find some 'ME' in my day and enjoy things I like too. It's a precarious balance, but I manage. I know for certain my husband could never do what I do.

So there you have it, Ward F-in Cleaver! June's day PLUS some. Bite me, man!