Deep Thoughts, by Tyler

"Why does Peter Pan fly and God doesn't?"

Lifetime... for a lifetime this time

Well, this week at Weight Watchers marked a special acheivement for me- I attained Lifetime membership status. What that means is, I've reached my goal weight and maintained it for at least 6 weeks. What it *really* means is, I can go to as many Weight Watcher meetings as I want and not have to PAY anymore!

I had actually acheived Lifetime status on my first go-round with Weight Watchers, back before I had Colby. I made it back to my goal weight after I had him, and then almost back to my goal weight after I had Tyler, but then, even without a pregnancy to blame, had gotten up above 200lbs all on my own. I decided this was my *last* time to lose these pounds!

So here I am. I've lost 36.3lbs since I started in September, and I'm quite proud of me. My mindset and outlook has definitely changed, and I truly do view it as a lifetime committment to being healthy, not a lifetime-long diet.

Colby, who has been "learning" a lot about Weight Watchers since he's been going with me while school is out, was really excited about the cute little magic wand I got from my leader. His exact words were, "I'm going to go to Weight Watchers if I get fat!!!"

Here's the classic "Before" picture, where you look your absolute worst:

A couple more "befores":

And here, happily, are the ever afters:

Welcome Caden!

Meet the newest Lego-building, sword-fighting, bike-riding, tag-playing, rough-housing good buddy to my boys, little Mr. Caden. His big brothers Kale and Caleb have already earned best friend status in our house; I'm sure it won't take Caden long to get up to speed. :)

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Just some fun flying kites at the park...

Fun at Disneyland

Having heard a rumor that the parks were mostly dead, we decided to brave the Disneyland crowds on a summer weekend last Sunday. I have to say, we were very pleasantly surprised at how few people actually were there. We only waited in one line all day, which was 45 minutes long, for the new Toy Story Mania ride. Everything else we wanted to ride was less than a 10 minute wait, and several of them we went on multiple times! Granted, we don't do most of the "bigger" rides, but Colby & Brian did go on Indiana Jones and both thoroughly enjoyed it.

Of course, I couldn't get away without a few pictures. Okay, over 200 pictures, but c'mon... that's what digital cameras are for, right?! I won't bore you with all of them, but here are a few of my favorites.

The main Mouse himself

This is what happens when you have two tired boys and only one stroller

This young lady, who's been working at Disneyland for 29 1/2 years, freehandedly scissor-cuts silhouettes on the spot. It's really neat to watch.

And here's the finished product after all of us had a turn in her chair.

This is a new Tinkerbelle statue; she sprinkles pixie dust on the Mickey floral at the entrance- very pretty!

Colby's favorite ride

Green army men- fabulous!

A couple got engaged in front of the castle before the fireworks show; luckily they didn't get in the way of my photo. ;)

Happy brothers




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