Our trip to the state fair

Well we finally made it to the LA state fair this year. The first time for me and Chris. Zac, Annie and Dave have been before but never had the chance to take Chris so we have always stayed at home.
It was not as good as I hope but we had fun. We spent most of our time at the zoo area feeding the animals which was a lot of fun as much for me as for the kids.
Zac wasn't to sure about the giraffe sticking his tough out at him but he only wanted a carrot lol.

kinda liked that guy! we just keep feeding him. Annie and Chrissie wouldn't get anywhere near him.
Chris loved the goats but kept telling them to stay, lol
in case you wondering yes both my boy's have long hair.

He was not sure about most of the animals but we did get him to have a pony ride, which was so great I had to left him up on the pony and he started to get upset but once he sat down and the pony started to move he started to enjoy himself then I had trouble getting him off so the guy went around a couple of more times for him.
for you all that don't know of my Chris, he has Down syndrome and is severely mentally disabled. he is 10 but has the mind of an 18 month old so It's hard for him to see the world as we all do.
Well we spent to much money and walked way to much but over all it was a great day.

190lbs weight loss

OK here Is what I am to day looking and feeling a lot better.

Here is what I used to look like before. It's hard for me to look at the old me I don't really remember how bad I looked but I sure do remember how I felt in the before I was hiding a walking stick behind my back couldn't walk much with out one.

Well It took 18 months but I did some thing many said I could never do I went from 318 lbs down to 128lbs. How do I feel? Thin, healthier, not bad for an old gal like me.
But here is the hard part keeping it off for live. I have to remember that I may look thin but there is and will aways be a fat person inside of me trying to get out. If I ever let the fat one take back control I will fail.
How Did I loss so much? I learned to cook healthy foods that the whole family could and would eat. learned there is more to life then the frying pan. there was one other little trick I did that was to get square plates (You know you can't put as much food on them then round ones?)
I learned I love steamed veggies and so does the kids which was lucky for them lol we eat them a lot and Chicken, fish and Pork has became our main meats. I still eat steak but its smaller and not so often. Pasta is a big part of our life I make sauces from scratch which means I know what is going in to it and what is not.
We still have our little treats, OK! I still have to have a cookie, but one, not the whole packet.


Losing this much weight or just a couple of pounds is never easy. It took me a long time just to get started, Once I did, there was times I wanted to give up. Times when the weight just would not move no matter what I did, but I kept going. This it was all about my health I walked with a stick i had to stop to get my breath my legs and back hurt from all the weight. I have 3 wonderful kids that I needed to hang around for so it was something I had to do. And hay the new cloths I had to buy was not so bad as well lol.

Ok I should have done this in the first place but wasn't sure I could do it but I been asked for a before and after photo. so here goes.

New Year coming soon

Well Christmas is over and time for us to take down the tree for another year and start thinking about the new year that will be upon us in a couple of days. I hope it will be a good year for everyone. For me the new year always means a fresh start and renewed hope, I home school my kids so this year will mean a lot of new learning, We are also looking in to going Green (as in earth friendly) It's time every one did something no matter how small, we are starting with light bulbs It saves energy and money, recycling is another easy and cheap way to start. I have being thinking for a while how we can change things with out it costing us a lot of money but in it's small way will help. We are recycling our battery now so no more in the trash, no we won't be giving up our battery items but that don't mean we have fill the land fill with acid from the battery's.
Another way is to read the labels before buying. I look to see what it made off and were it comes from. We use a lot of paper so we go for recycled paper it cheap and not from cut trees, We reuse paper bags and plastic ones, plus for small shopping we carry our own shopping bag. It would be nice to use them all the time but we do main shopping every 2 weeks and that's a lot of shopping. even the food we eat could do with some changes but no I will not spend over the top for organic food. But I will look for things that have less of what we don't need in it.
Well that's my say for the day, I hope every one have a great and peaceful new year, look on the bright side and lets all hope for a happy & peaceful new year all over the world.
Dido

REMEMBER DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE

All about Christmas

Right now that is all that is happening in this home . Christmas is a big time of the year for us, The kids are ready if we are not. The tree is looking good, Everything is looking a lot like Christmas. The kids have made their wish list and we have spent out as always. But It's good that they understand the reason we have Christmas, What it is all about. lets not forget this is Jesus Birthday. There is just the wrapping to finish, and baking to be done.

All there is to do now is to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas. from us to you all.

Dido

Remember don't drink and drive.