Wow! I had forgotten how much they looked alike when they were little! Not anymore though! Still adorable. We took Syd to the doc today because she gave us a little scare this morning. She had slept all night (12 hours), and then when she got up, she came out to the living room and got on my lap and fell asleep again. She was real clammy and sweaty too. After breakfast, she laid on the sofa and fell asleep again for 45 minutes. She's also been saying that she's tired all the time. So we took her to see Dr. Patten and he decided to take her blood to make sure that she's not anemic or something. He will let us know tomorrow. She also took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. Maybe she's just fighting off a bug.

I've been real busy lately with interpreting jobs. It's been fun and a little crazy. It's great to have the chance to earn some extra cash, but it also makes me respect the women who work full-time and are mothers as well. It's a lot of work! I'm doing some interesting jobs. Like a support group for recovering addicts, a back surgery, and a workshop at The Roanoke Times newspaper. I get to be in situations that I would never be able to experience with any other kind of job. I love my job! I was telling Jon yesterday that every kid going into middle school or high school should be required to sit in on one of those support group meeting and just see how drugs and alcohol will mess up your whole life. The stories are so depressing. Jobs lost, children taken away from them, jail time...I could go on and on. Tomorrow I get to interpret at a new high school here in town, it was just built recently within the last few years. Besides all the great experiences, the money is good too and it will be nice to use it to pay off some debts. It's amazing how God works for our best. At the beginning of this semester, I lost a few regular weekly jobs due to schedule changes. I was really disappointed and upset (especially since I needed to save for Columbus!), but Jon told me that God had something better out there for me. Well...I passed my National Certification and now I have to turn down interpreting jobs almost everyday! Only God knew!!!

I'm watching American Idol and I can't believe Sanjaya has made it yet another week. My gosh, it's crazy! But I heard someone on the radio say that they vote for him just because it makes Simon mad! Stupid reason.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I lost another 1.2 pounds last week! That brings me to 9.4 altogether. I may have a friend joining with me next week. I don't mind if she goes with me, but it's also been kind of nice to go somewhere that I'm not known as the "pastor's wife". I've enjoyed having a bit of anonymity and meeting people that are trying so hard to reach the same goals...weight loss! Plus, it doesn't seem like my friend really needs to lose weight, she seems thin enough to me already. Oh well, her prerogative...we'll see if it actually happens.

Ali, just three more weeks!!!

Weight Watchers Works!

Another 2.2 pounds lost last week! WooHoo! Total weight loss at 8.4 pounds in 4 weeks! So proud of myself! Good thing Ali is doing this too so we can keep each other accountable in Columbus and not gain it all back!

Friends

Allen girls and Dawson girls

Kenzie cuddled up with a book and a snack. How much better can life get?

Well, we decided not to go to Florida with our good friends, the Dawson's, and instead stayed here and saved money. Probably the right decision, but not the fun one! Luckily, we did still get to see the Dawson's when they came through Roanoke on their way home to Indiana. We got a not so good pic of all the girls on the sofa, five girls under the age of 5! Wow! Craziness!

Shout out to Mom and Ali on their birthday weeks! Hope they were happy ones. Ali, exactly 4 weeks and two days and we will be in Columbus!!! Seeing movies, eating out, shopping till we drop, sleeping in...I'm salivating right now, I can't wait!

Success Again!

It's amazing! I ate terribly over the weekend since I went to Williamsburg for the Ladies Retreat and didn't count any points...BUT I still lost .6 pounds! I was pretty happy! Jon and the girls greeted me at the door and Jon said, "You must have lost weight since you're smiling!" He was probably worrying about it the whole time I was gone. Our group lost 89 pounds altogether, I thought that was pretty impressive.

Well, as most of you know already, we did NOT go to Florida with our friends. We're saving money! And today we worked on a worksheet from Financial Peace University called Debt Snowball. It's a helpful tool in figuring out how to pay off all your debts. We figured out that we could pay off ALL our debts, even our house, in only 8 years! Yes, can you believe it?!! Only 8 years! That would be amazing...to be debt-free that soon. Seeing how it could work, did inspire me to save better! Jon's thinking, "Finally, something that inspires Erica to save!"

I stole Ali's idea and found an old pic of the girls that I love!! Whenever I feel a little resentful for having to lose weight due to pregnancy, I just find an old pic like this and it reminds me that they were worth every pound.

We Love Grandma & Grandpa!

Cuddling with Grandma in the morning.

Making Lego towers with Grandpa.

Syd is so cute when she's happy!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted pictures and blogged. I will try to get you all updated here.



My second week at Weight Watchers and I lost a pound! I passed the 5 pound mark and got my star sticker...I felt like an elementary student again and loved every second of it!



We had Danine here visiting for a week and then Bill joined at the end. We had a great time and I know the girls loved having them around. Bill gets right down on the floor and plays with them...they love that. One day, I walked into the room and Kenzie said, "I'm playing with Biiiaaal". You just had to be there, but it was the strongest Southern accent I've heard from the girls yet! It was really cute though.



We have our house on the market which means cleaning up every time we leave even though only three realtors have come through to see it. It's been really slow going, but hopefully with the weather picking up, we will get some more hits on it.



Our friends, the Dawson's are going to Florida next week and have invited us to come down for a few days and stay in their condo. We are seriously contemplating it. We have just started taking Financial Peace University at church and we are trying to save...Dave Ramsey would probably advise us not to go. But I told Jon, we still have to enjoy life! There's more important things in life than saving! We never get to see these friends and we love vacationing with them. But then this is probably why we never get ahead because we are always getting bigger and better opportunities. What to do? Jon wants to sleep on it and make a decision in the morning. Good plan.



And lastly, but most importantly, what's up with American Idol this year??!!! I can't believe Sanjaya and Antonella are still around! They should have been out of here last week and they keep sticking...and stinking as far as their singing ability goes! Also, what's with Kelli Pickler? She looks like she's aged 20 years...way too Marilyn Monroeish. I think she got a boob job. I like the old innocent Pickler. I guess that's what showbiz will do to you. That's why I never want to be famous...yeah, right, who am I kidding?