Andrea's Baptism

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Andrea's 8th Bday Party

So, I told Andrea that this year we weren't doing a big party, just something simple...I don't know what happened along the way.  Truth be told, the party is really for me to let my crafty side come out, but most often it takes over.......

Gift Table

Craft Table

The agenda was to decorate tshirts, flip flops, and headbands first for seven girls

Flip Flop station, curly ribbons and beads

Head band station, with jewels and flowers.

Fabric paint and markers for tshirts too

Home made goodness

The finished t-shirts and no casualties

Isabelle's T-shirt

Flip flops

Playing Wii Dance! So much fun! Strike a pose!

All done!

"ok girls, look at each other, don't look down or up so it doesn't block the camera. I am going to take a picture of your flip-flops"   Carolyn obviously didnt hear.  She is lucky she's cute.

Headbands

Gift time

Those two logs are ice cream cakes, homemade, but not as easy on the eyes as I thought. Oh well, plenty of sugar anyway!

Guess we should have gotten more swim rings.... It's like watching 10 clowns trying to get into a volkswagen bug...

So we got more swing rings

Andrea is in there somewhere....

Andrea's birthday outfit from Nana... on phone with Uncle Michael who's wishing her a Happy Bday.

TIME FOR MOMMY TO REST!

July 4th 2010

Left to Right-Uncle Brian, Jordan, Dad, Andrea

Block Party, this is our lawn

Andrea! I love America and sparklers!

Back to Front - Uncle Craig, Carolyn, and Isabelle

Uncle Craig watching things blow up

Sparkly things....so pretty

Jordan lighting them and running

Jordan on the Trek

I am so proud of my son I have to share.

He went on a three day Handcart Trek with the youth in our Stake.  It was from Thurs to Saturday, they dressed in pioneer clothes, slept under the stars (no tents) and pulled handcarts up hills, through streams and creeks and learned alot.

It was the most awesome thing I have EVER seen! I am so glad he went.  He plays football for his High School and he and a friend were boasting that they would be able to eat a sandwich, text, and run with the handcart the whole time. Well, they weren't allowed to bring phones of course and I was a little skeptical but they did well!  They do practice for football in 100 plus weather....soooo

They originally had the group Jordan was in as Group 1, but they literally were too fast and everyone else was way behind, so they moved them to the back and my studly son did pull the cart the whole time--so proud!

It was a great event, well organized with alot of amazing adults to accompany them!

So here is the first photo of a Puerto Rican pioneer :-)

Road I drove to get there!!

The group of 100 plus coming over the hill!!

First Group

Jordan's Group coming and ready to cross creek..

Jordan is second from left in white v-neck

MY SON! SO COOL!

My new routine

So here is what has helped me LOSE 30 POUNDS (and counting), kick the constant issues with my mobility, and get a hold on the crippling daily fatigue and pain:

• Daily EXERCISE !!! 
• A Gluten FREE DIET !!

I know it is hard if not near impossible to exercise everyday when you are in such pain and have no energy for daily functions let alone exercise, but it works! It took about 2-3 weeks to get through the added stiffness and pain AND to push myself to exercise even though I HAD NO ENERGY.  Now granted, exercise for anyone with auto-immune issues is REALLY RESTRICTED because we cannot jog; walk on hard surfaces; use an elliptical machine, stair climber or treadmill; do any aerobics; no weight training; no jarring motions; and nothing too intense to cause damage to the muscles that causes an immune response.  SO, what does that leave you with....breathing, walking to the bathroom, and oh yeah a stationary recumbent bike. 

So, I do 20 minutes A DAY of exercise 4-6 times a week.   I wake up early before everyone else and do my exercise. Sometimes I can only do 10 minutes and if I get really sick none, but that has been limited really.  It makes me feel better, less stressed, more energized, and helping me to lose the prednisone weight!

Exercise videos for FREE or minimal cost:

• Comcast "On-Demand", Sports and Fitness, Exercise TV, 10-20 minutes work outs. (WITH SERVICE)
• www.exercisetv.tv (FREE !!!!-with 3-5 min workouts, 10 min, 20 min, more)
• Netflix, "Watch Instantly", Fitness and Sports, type in "10 minute solutions" and  pick one (WITH SUBSCRIPTION)

Here are some specific suggestions and my favorites:

• Netflix or for purchase:
• 10 Minute Solution:  Target Toning (MY FAVORITE)
• Split into five 10 minute segments--Thighs, Buns, Abs, Arms, Power Stretch 
• 10 Minute Solution:  Pilates
• Split into five 10 minute segments--Abs, Buns and Thighs, Sculpting, Burn, Flexibility
• 10 Minute Solution:  Yoga
• Split into five 10 minute segments--Basic, Buns and Thighs, Abs, Burn, Flexibility
• 10 Minute Solutions: Carb and Calorie Burner (work up to this one)
• Split into five 10 minute segments--Slow and Steady Burn, Carb Killer, Power Blast, Interval Burn, Metabolism Booster
• For Purchase:
• Workout: One-On-One Training with Jackie 
• Split into three 20 minute workouts (that include cardio)--Abs, Upper Body, Lower Body (work up to this one too--I do this on a good day)
• Windsor Pilates: 20 minutes
• Exercisetv (my favorite trainers and videos):
• Stephanie Vitorino:  
• Bootylicious Buns 1 (10 Minutes)--works really well to get your butt back after prednisone and to firm it up period!)
• Natural Lift Workout: for arms/chest (10 minutes)
• Nicole Stewart:
• Pilate Abs (10 minutes)
• Leg Slimmer Toner (10 Minutes)
• Total Body Pilates (20 minutes)
• Holly Perkins:
• 20 Minutes Sweat Workout (work up to this one)
• Strength Training (10 minutes)
• Jennifer Galardi
• Standing Abs (10 minutes, no CRUNCHES)
• Lizbeth Garcia
• Less is More Pilates (20 minutes)
• Tandy Guiterrez

Also most of the videos on exercisetv can be found on COMCAST too.

And lastly, the GLUTEN FREE DIET, so essential! My crazy nurse friend,whom I love, told me that she had read articles about studies showing significant improvement for people with autoimmune diseases (including Lupus) and it was worth a try for me.  What did I have to lose?  Well, I explained to her that I was  a carb addict and didn't think I could live without bread, sweets, etc.  I knew and saw the amazing results her autistic son had with the diet --so I tried.

It wasn't cold turkey at first, I admit, I had to slowly take stuff out of my diet...took about 2 months. She sent me some cook books (made for cooking for kids) and gave me some advice and websites and I was off. But HOLY CRUD what a difference!   The crippling fatigue and pain was GREATLY DIMINISHED!!!! But, my abdominal bloating and pain was completely gone!!!! And guess what, it helped me lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks! That was over a year ago and I can't imagine any other way.  If I eat anything with gluten I know within 5-10 minutes--first the stomach upset and then the pain and fatigue.  It is amazing how quickly it happens.  They think that people with autoimmune diseases have a leaky gut thing going on and when they eat gluten it leaks into their system and causes an immediate immune response.

So I eat rice, potatoes, meats, veggies, rice crackers, rice chips, etc.......and I bake my own sweets.  Takes alot of fast food out of the picture--but how is that bad! 

So there, it worked for me.

Memorial Day--BLOW THINGS UP!! God Bless America!

This is what we did for Memorial Day--we honored America and our soldiers (my father being one) and blew stuff up!!  That is how this great country was founded....."the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."