The Biggest Loser, Week 3, Sept 30

[Sorry I’m coming into the show a little late…I was the soccer mom tonight and we just got home from practice.]

That said, we are pleased to join the broadcast of the Biggest Loser, already in progress:

I so want to go to the Grand Canyon.

In that camper.

I am, by no means, an outdoorsy type--so that RV is looking mighty fine. Camping is scary. Not that I’ve ever been, mind you, but from what I can tell, there would definitely be some bugs and dirt involved. Which is why I’ve chosen to take an RV next time I am in the mood to camp.

Which would be….never.

Back to the show:
Ed & Heba did great on the calorie-counting challenge. Had I been there, I would’ve completely taken the challenge to guess the calories. I would’ve gotten them all right too! I know my calories, I do.

Pink team girl summed my thoughts on camping up quite nicely: “I don’t know why people do this voluntarily.”

The canoe/rope pull Challenge was quite, um, what’s the word…challenging.

They are all ready to get back to the ranch! That’s good; they’re starting to “crave” the better, healthier lifestyle. It was hilarious seeing them with the medicine balls earlier--they didn’t know what in the heck to do with them. All gave up and went for a walk instead.

Back at the ranch:
There’s those Ziplock Vaccuum Sealer bags again. And, how many times have they given a plug for Extra Sugar Free gum?

That is one mighty last chance workout. BRUTAL.

Weigh in!!!
My favorite part:
But, there’s a catch…nobody will be voting tonight. One person from the team below the yellow line gets a ticket home. That’s just plain cruel. So divisive!

Red Team (Phil & Amy): Lost 15 pounds He made it below the 300 mark! Excellent-
Brown Team (Brady & Vicky): Lost 8 pounds.
Pink Team (Renee & Michelle): Lost 9 pounds
Orange Team (Ed & Heba): Lost 16 pounds. Ed also made it under the 300 mark. Awesome!
Purple Team (Amy & Shellay): Lost 9 pounds.
Yellow Team (Jerry & Colleen): Lost 5 pounds total (she lost 7...he gained 2)

BUT, here's the silver lining...this makes is VERY easy to decide who will go home. He's in such bad health...seems like he was holding her back. He just can't compete. This was the team that logically needed to go beneath the yellow line. This is all just my humble opinion...of course, I am not there to advise them and Colleen is doing her best to convince dad to stay there.

So...now we wait for one hour...to find out who will go home from the yellow team. Thanks to the magic of television, we really only have to wait through one commercial break to find out.

AND...IT'S.....curtains for...Jerry!

Let's see how Jerry's doing today:
Wow--he looks great!!! Lots of exercise. He looks like a different guy. Amazing. He looks 10 years younger. He's lost 70 pounds. And, here's what Michael had to say about that: "That's really good because I was afraid they were going to say he had died." Always seeing the silver lining, that Michael.

See you back at the ranch next week!

Most Observant Wife

ME:
"Hey! You shaved your fu man chu thingy off your chin!"

MICHAEL:
"Hey! I sure did! About 3 weeks ago!"

Dress Code

Last Sunday, we had to go to "early church", which, I might say is very early. So, in order to be ready to leave our house by 7:40, I got up before any of the kids were awake and got dressed and ready for church.

Apparently, pigs were flying or hell froze over or some other extreme "this'll never happen" happened, since Maddy had NEVER seen me dressed before she was out of bed. I'm normally in my PJ's well after the house is up & going and I am always the last one in the shower.

She insisted several times that morning that I needed to "go get ready for church....almost time to leave mom....go get dressed....get your nice clothes on...come on, time to do it..." She was convinced I was still in my PJ's. ALL THE WAY TO CHURCH, she continued to heckle me. "I can't believe you're still wearing your jams, mom! What'll people think?"

Lest you think I was going super casual that morning, I had on black dress pants, black heels, a nice sweater/tank, and PEARLS. Since when would I be wearing heels and pearls with my PJ's?

She finally backed off...when we were pulling into the church driveway. I don't think she was ever convinced that I had real clothes on, but by that point, I think she had given up trying to convince me since we were already at church.

Happy 1st Birthday Will!

You tell me this isn't the cutest baby you've ever seen!!!

We celebrated Will's 1st birthday yesterday, Sept 28. Hard to believe how fast a year can fly by!

He thoroughly enjoyed his chocolate cake--he was definitely born into the right family. While we were putting a candle on it and getting plates ready to cut the cake, he kept putting one finger into the edge of the frosting, he'd cut his eyes around and see if anybody saw and he'd lick the frosting off. Over & over & over again he did this.

Of course, when he got his own piece on his tray, he went to town and ate heartily.

Happy Birthday Will!!! We are so glad you are part of our family....even if you are one big chocolatey mess!

The Lollipops need a curfew

Update on the Lollipops, Maddy's soccer team:

We've played 4 games and have won 1, lost 2, and tied 1. How do you say that in soccer-ese? 1-2-1? not sure. Anyways, there are only 2 girls who have actually scored goals for the Lollipops...and one of them isn't on our team (poor thing, scored in the wrong team's goal. )

So, yesterday, they were really having a rough game--moving slow and just out of it, in general (which isn't too unusual, I know...but it was a little more than we were used to.)

My friend Tracy, in her beautiful Scottish accent, described their look on the field quite well: "Oh my. Looks like the girls were all out drinking together last night."

My family has all asked me if Maddy cares about losing and I have to say that she is so very different than her brother John in that respect. When he plays a game of anything (heck, it could even be backyard football, and I am not joking!), he analyzes each play, each strategy, each player's strengths and weaknesses...the list goes on. He definitely has a future in sportscasting. Maddy, however, doesn't even know who won. SERIOUSLY. She doesn't even ask if they won. Her main goal in playing soccer is to visit with her friends and to drink Gatorade.

Baby Alive

OR....

Can you tell the difference between these two babies? Are you able to tell which one is "real"? If you can't, well, you're not alone.

A few minutes ago, I was upstairs getting ready to go run errands. Will was crying downstairs, so I 'hollered' down, "What is wrong with Will? Why is he crying?"

John replied, "Oh, nothing. Maddy just thinks he's Baby Alive."

Random Updates

If you've been reading for a couple of weeks, you're probably wondering how a few things I've blogged turned out. (I flatter myself, don't I? You haven't given these things a second thought since the minute you logged off your computer, but just humor me and act like you've been DYING to know the latest here...)

*Early Riser Will is still an early riser. Operation Sleep Later is still going on. I think we're losing. It's in his genes to wake up at 5:15 a.m. We need to surrender and just get used to going to bed at 8:30 when our kids do.

*Gas shortage seems to be over. I filled up yesterday afternoon with no wait. (But I still haven't gotten my pedicure yet. It's embarrassing.)

*The new flooring has been ordered & the installer has been scheduled! Oct 7-9 is when we're getting the new floors. The garage sale is next weekend when we'll be setting the bounced-on furniture out for the early birds.

*No, we never went to the State Fair to see the skunks. Several of you have asked about that one.

*My frozen PB&J sandwiches are still completely awesome. It has taken one of my least favorite chores completely off my radar. I don't even think about it anymore! Just wonderful--


More later...