Hearts in Service Blog

I buckled down this week and worked hard at not using all my extra points and I exercised quite a bit. It paid off in results! I lost a total of 3 lbs. this week for a total weight loss of.............. 15 lbs. When I can see the results, it certainly keeps me motivated. So I'm going to keep plugging away. I'll check in again with you next week.

We went blueberry picking this morning at an orchard we go to every year. We ended up with 20 lbs. of blueberries in about an hour and 15 minutes for much cheaper than we would of got them in the store. Rows of berries. Mmmmm, they were very juicy and sweet. The bushes were loaded with them and there were only about 5 other people picking. Dan tolerates this task every year. I think he'd rather be doing almost anything else but he's always a good sport and comes along. I honestly wouldn't make him come but he loves spending time with the family. Emily was the first one done. Stephen has the same attitude about this task as his father. LOL! Nathan just plugs along until it's finished. The fruit of our labor!

My mother made me this dress and brought it with her when she visited. It's very cute. I actually will need to take it in a bit in the hip area but other than that it fits great. Thanks Mom!

We bought family passes to our town pool this summer and spent a couple hours this afternoon there. It's a very strange pool in that it's a giant circle. All around the circumference it's a wading pool and then it gets deeper as it gets to the middle. The deepest part is only 5 feet but if you're hot, that's all you need! Emily enjoyed herself immensely. Nathan entertaining Emily. The boys swam a bit. However, they didn't last too long. It's a bit boring for them. Emily, on the other hand, didn't want to leave. What are ways you are staying cool this summer?

This has been a busy morning and we got two projects started, but certainly not finished. First of all, my garden is a mess! Everytime I want to go out and weed, it's raining. Or I'm busy or something. It is starting to look like a jungle. So I decided to hire Emily to weed 3 rows of beans. I told her I would pay her $5 if she did a good job on the rows without complaining. Here she is on the first row. And finishing up the 3rd row. What do you think? Did she do a good job? :-) The boys started working on our creek. There used to be a dam and a little pool at the top part of the creek when we moved here 4 years ago. However, heavy rains and the fact that the town built up the road and now all the water washes across the yard and into the creek has made a mess of it. The dam washed away and it looks horrible. This used to be a little pool of water. Those giant slabs were totally covered with water. All the stones have washed downstream. Anyway, after getting permission...

I got a call today from a couple in our church. They told us they had picked their fill of raspberries and to come over and help ourselves. We had lunch, cleaned up, and went over to pick. The branches were bending over because the berries were so full. Mmmmmmmmm, good! I had to keep reminding the children to lift up the branches to find the berries hiding underneath. Emily was very proud of herself. However, she fizzled fairly quickly and was off to play in the sandbox. I came home with enough berries for 4 pies, a potful of fresh picked spinach for dinner, lettuce, and a green pepper. Thanks to our friend's generosity, it was a bountiful afternoon!

Well, I knew it would happen eventually but I had a week that was less than stellar. I didn't go off the diet but I certainly used up every last extra point I had. And I paid for it. :-( The irritating thing is I exercised more this week than I have previously. This week, I gained 1 lb. so my total weight loss after 5 weeks is...... 12 lbs. So, this week I'm refocusing and getting back on track. I'll keep you posted next Sunday.