Biggest Loser, Week 9 Nov 18

Recap from last week: MAJOR drama. Amy voted Brady off--(Vicky's husband.) Vicky is viciously vindictive. (That right there was some good alliteration, huh? My English degree finally gets used!) Heba and Ed are very quiet during Vicky's rants and raves about her anger toward Amy. It's confusing because Vicky has been PLAYING the game this whole time and now when Amy makes an obvious choice to play the game as well, Vicky acts shocked and betrayed. HELLO! There's only ONE Biggest Loser each season.....

So, it's 80's Week. This should be entertaining.

And, yes it is. These outfits are outrageous (more alliteration for ya).

Ziplock. Product Placement Palooza (What's the word of the day? Alliteration.)

Amy. Amy, Amy, Amy. Why are you making apologies to Vicky for voting the way you did last week? Really. Amy! You have nothing to apologize for! You voted to win the game!

Weigh In:
Michelle: Lost 8 pounds
Renee: Lost 8 pounds
Ed: Lost 11 pounds
Heba: Lost 7 pounds
Colleen: Lost 3 pounds
Amy: Lost 8 pounds (Yea! I like her.)
Vicky: Lost 6 pounds

Vicky & Colleen are below the yellow line. This will be VERY interesting...Amy has the swing vote once again.

And going home.......is Colleen. DANG. She didn't do it. Amy!!! You disappointed me twice this week! First the apology to Vicky about voting for Brady last week and NOW....you had a chance to clean the house out...and you didn't. Dern it.

Alright. Another week down. Just a few to go...

Call me Irresponsible

Back in October, my parents were in town. Dad asked how Will was doing with his sleep @ night and early morning rising. (Remember all those posts?) Well, I was happy and proud to report with a big smile on my face that he was over all that and sleeps in until the rest of the family is up and that all is well on that front.

Do you think my dad was glad to hear that? NO. Instead, I was....

CHASTISED! I was chastised for being an irresponsible blogger! Apparently, he was under the impression that we were still undergoing Tough Love: Operation Sleep Later here in order to get him to sleep longer in the mornings.


Dad was very concerned about the crying babies left in their cribs all over America whose mothers read the blog and were heeding my advice on how to get their babies to sleep in. (I didn't have the heart to tell him that my readership doesn't quite reach that far...)


SO, I am clearing the air. We are all good here. No more early morning wakeup calls. We've even made the turn on the time change and I'm very proud to report that we all woke with a frantic start at 7:00 am this morning (way too late to get John ready for school!).

It was frantic, but just wonderful in a frantic sort of way to wake up with the sun shining through the window. Well worth almost missing the bus!

Friday night--what it was NOT

Michael went out with the guys Friday night to see the new James Bond movie (which totally stunk, by the way--he said it was a huge disappointment!) so my friend and neighbor Anna came over to pass the time with her two little boys. Picture this: it was 2 adults, a 7 yr old, 4 yr old, 3 yr old and 2 babies. After she left, she left the following message on my facebook page:

My dearest Ellen: It was so lovely spending the evening with you and your precious family. I so enjoyed our quiet time together while the kids quietly played. Elias and Will built such an amazing tower of blocks...complete with a color coordinated pattern. You must tell me your secret of how you got Maddy to speak in French so fluently...that must have taken some convincing to get her to switch from Latin to French. And that John - what a piano genius! I need to get back to homeschooling Cohen now - he always gets stumped on long division problems. Oh - and I must have that recipe for that no fat, no calorie and cholesterol free dessert you made. It was delectable! Sincerely, Anna

;o)

Thanksgiving: Fact or Fiction

I realize that in all my excitement over Christmas, I seem to have glossed over the fact that Thanksgiving is still 2 weeks away.

I was reminded of this fact quite a bit this week as Maddy brought home lots of little tid-bits she learned at school about the Pilgrims and their journey.

To put you to the test, I'm going to list the pieces of information she told me. The information below represents what she brought away from her lessons at school.

So, now, I want you to participate in a little activity I like to call "Thanksgiving: Fact or Fiction."

1. FACT OR FICTION: The people who came on the big boat were called the Pilgrims.

2. FACT OR FICTION: They were on the boat for 30 days.

3. FACT OR FICTION: They didn't take baths at all and the boat got very stinky.

4. FACT OR FICTION: They couldn't take a bath in the ocean or they'd drown.

5. FACT OR FICTION: They ate beef jerky and soft biscuits.

6. FACT OR FICTION: Their boat was called the "Cornflower."

7. FACT OR FICTION: There were 70 hundred redults (that's what she calls "adults") and 30 kids.

8. FACT OR FICTION: They landed in Chicago.

9. FACT OR FICTION: They went to Africa too.

10. FACT OR FICTION: They made houses before winter and met nice Indians.

Biggest Loser Week 8, Nov 11

Another week at the ranch! Let's see how they're doing.

Phillip got sent home last week....blue team couldn't be happier. Vicky & Brady--once again, being so incredibly annoying with their sly gameplay. THANKFULLY, the redeeming thought is that Bob is onto them and knows what's up.

OK--So, the eliminated players are back to try to win a spot at the ranch again. They're all very excited to see their family members.

How'd they do since they left?

Shellay: Started at 216, Current weight 177 for 39 pounds lost

Tom: Started at 314, Current weight 266 for 48 pounds lost

LT: Started at 357, Current weight 300 for 57 pounds lost

Adam: Started at 340, Current weight 305 for 35 pounds lost

Stacey: Started at 221, Current weight 190 for 31 pounds lost

Ed: Started at 335, Current weight 277 for 58 pounds lost

Amy: Started at 229, Current weight 182 for 47 pounds lost

Phil: Started at 331, Current weight 263 for 68 pounds lost


Phil & Amy have rocked it at home with both losing 20% of their bodyweight.

What is up with all the Phil-Hating!?!
Here's my theory:
I think the whole Phil-hating thing started at the challenge several weeks ago when they were put in the dark room and told that whoever ate the most calories got to divide the teams up however they wanted. Well...when Heba started to try to take control of that temptation and figure out how to divide the teams up and figure out who would eat the calories, that made Phil mad, so he just got up and started eating Reese's cups. Anybody else remember that? The blue team took that as him being sneaky because he wasn't on board with letting Heba call all the shots.

The sad part is that Stacey (green team) really wants to come back, but now with all the fighting in the house between Heba, Vicky, Brady, and Phil, she's not sure she wants to come back. AND....Heba is trying to convince her that it's all because of Phil. I have to disagree heartily!!! I think it's so negative because of Vicky & Brady.

The Challenge:
1000 steps on a step bench. First one to 1000 wins a place on the ranch.

I really hope Stacey does it! For the sake of the peace...really don't want Phil, Amy, or Ed back on. It would be too much drama each episode and I just don't know if I could watch all the conflict!

Stacey turns it on! My heart is seriously pounding at this last commercial break before the last 30 steps. It's Stacey & Ed...down to the wire.

ED.

Dern it.

My heart breaks for Stacey. Why, oh why!!! Why didn't she do it?!?

Will forever be an unsolved mystery.

Final Weigh In: The one that counts:
Ed: Lost 4 pounds
Heba: Lost 9 pounds
Colleen: Lost 7 pounds
Amy: Lost 6 pounds
Michelle: Lost 6 pounds
Renee: Lost 7 pounds
Vicky: Lost 8 pounds
Brady: Lost 6 pounds

Brady and Michelle are below the yellow line...REALLY hope that Amy comes to her senses and joins the old black team in order to vote Brady off. That would be fabuloso.

Let's see what happens....
BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY BRADY!!!!!

I am doing the dance of joy.
Way to go AMY! So glad she is thinking for herself.

Bye bye, Brady.

Christmas Kick-Off

I've put it off as long as I possibly could. I did wait until after Halloween this year and though my aim is always to wait until after Thanksgiving, I consider it a success that I waited until today, November 11, to turn on the Christmas music.

I buy a new CD each year. Last year was a total bomb. Jars of Clay's Christmas CD stunk. So, I was a little nervous about making my selection--I didn't want to have 2 years in a row of new bad music and resort to listening to Bing over & over & over again. (***Not a thing wrong with Bing, but really, when you have your heart set on something new....well, even Bing gets a little old).

SO....I am pleased to announce.....that I made a GREAT selection this year!

I went to Borders with a 40% off CD coupon and purchased Kristin Chenoweth's new Christmas album A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas. I love her voice and she's cute as a button, so I was already leaning toward that over Tony Bennett's new album...but when I saw track #8 listed on the back along with track #12....well, I was headed to the check-out register straightaway.

#8: She covers Evie's classic "Come on Ring Those Bells." YES! Come on Ring those Bells! Light the Christmas Tree! Jesus we remember it's your birthday! Yes, that's the one. I love that song--grew up listening to that, along with "Merry Christmas Darling" a la Karen Carpenter. Kristin Chenoweth does this song with a country-western feel which I didn't love at first, but now I'm cool with it.

#12: Sleep Well Little Children/What a Wonderful World. I am a sucker for anything "What a Wonderful World." Love that song. Doesn't matter who is singing it, it just conjures up a very grateful heart.

So....with that, it's all begun. And I love it! I love Christmas.

What's your favorite Christmas album (new or old)? Maybe this year I'll buy TWO new ones...

Christmas photo session

My friend Sarah takes awesome pictures and has done our family/kid shots over the last few years. She's so good....that when you go to pick up your pics at Walmart, they will often sequester you behind closed doors and demand that you sign a release form stating that they are not professional photographs and are not copyrighted. We always chuckle...yes, they are great pictures, but, people, really--we stand in her garage in front of a white or black bedsheet! No, Walmart, these are not copyrighted!

Anyways, today our family took a little trip to Sarah's garage to attain the following:
A. 1 year old pictures of Will
B. A family Christmas card photo
C. "Generation picture" and "Grandkids picture" with Mimi

We worked long and hard and I think it's safe to say we accomplished Goal C. See below:

HOWEVER....Will was unbelievably uncooperative and screamed his head off through most of the shoot. The only time he was happy (as in the photo above) was when we fed him Nerds candy and poked his belly with a broom all while Michael jumped up and down behind Sarah.

So, we have lots of shots that look like this:

And, more shots than I could possibly count that look like this:

But, there were definitely some good ones too....

Honestly, I think the family picture sums up our life pretty well for 2008 and I'm thinking I'll use it anyways for the Christmas card!
Joy to the World?
Peace on Earth?

Other caption suggestions, anyone? Post a comment if you've got any ideas.