First Day

Today Big Sis had her first day of VPK. She had a great day! Made some new friends and reunited with some old ones from last year. It wasn't too exciting for us since she has been in school for over a year now but still a proud day. She walked in, put her backpack away, sat down and said "Bye Mom". Lil Sis had a hard time though. She cried for about an hour about missing her. We headed to the gym and she played with friends and cheered up. Here are a few pics from today.

Race Day

Today was the 3rd Run for the Fallen (my second year attending). As most of my readers know I ran for Rachel Porto from A little pink in a World of Camo...the Gold Star wife of Cpl Porto who was killed in Afghanistan on March 14th, 2010. A big thanks to everyone who donated. The support feels great. The run itself went pretty well. Big Sis rode her bike (with no training wheels) the entire way while I pushed Lil Sis in the jogger. It was my first time pushing a jogger and a bit harder than I thought it would be. We had a huge storm here this morning so it was super humid. 105 with the heat index to be exact. I finished in about 35 minutes. Not as well as I had hoped but no big deal. Here are a few pics from this morning.

Me with Cpl Porto's cross.

The Fam



Big sis fell off her bike and scraped up her elbow. A quick first aid kit and she was good to go.

Time is Flying!

Well I've been absent! But I'm back and I have lots to talk about! We had family come in last Friday. Hubs parents got here from Boston and we all had a nice weekend visit. We went to gymnastics, the Aquarium, and Clearwater beach. Here are some pics from the visit.










Some other big news is Big Sis learned to ride a bike without training wheels! She is 4 and a half so we are pretty impressed :) She will be riding like a big kid for our race on Sunday. Speaking of race...have you donated for Rachel Porto yet? Link is at the bottom of my blog to donate. Also...big sis completed swim lessons on Thursday and passed Perch! She will continue to do lessons throughout September. School starts on Tuesday too!! This month has been SOOOO busy. And it still feels like we have so much going on in the next few weeks! Stay tuned!

Forgot to add a picture!

I meant to add a picture to my weight loss post the other night...here is one. It's not the greatest...I set the timer and ran in place real quick! Where is MelB (photographer) when you need her?



Speaking of photography...if any of my milspouse followers is stationed out at Quantico...My friend is an amazing photographer there. Here is her link.

Weigh In

So I had my weigh in today and I left pretty happy. My last weigh in was the week of June 14th....right before I went to VA. So almost 8 weeks ago. I've lost another 8 lbs and about 5 inches. My biggest goal...losing 1.5 inches in EACH thigh. Inch in my waist, 1/4 inch in arms, and 1/4 inch on hips. My last weigh in pretty much sucked so I've been pushing super hard. Ive had a couple of people ask for my workout regime. So here it is.

Monday - Zumba Class p.m.
Tuesday - Body Sculpting Class a.m.
Wednesday - Boot Camp a.m (this class burns about 1000 calories) Sometimes Zumba in the p.m.
Thursday - 202020 a.m. (20 min cardio, 20 min strength training, 20 min endurance)
Thursday - Zumba p.m.
Friday - Step Aerobics a.m.

So there it is. I don't eat salad and drink water all day every. I love to cook and eat, and I'm not giving that up. I don't eat fast food, or drink coke. But I love my pastas and pizza's. I am LOVING Zumba though. If you have a class near you (you do, trust me) take it! It's 500-1000 burned per class and you don't even know you're working because it's all dancing! I am quite the salsa dancer now! My 5k is in two weeks! Keep those donations coming please!!! It's for an excellent cause :)

Swim Lessons

Big Sis had her first day of swim lessons today. It's an intensive two week camp, mon-wed. The program is every day so the kids will be swimmers by the end. As for Big Sis...she knows how to swim but I want her to get a little more confident, self control in the water and work on her breathing techniques. She did GREAT today and swam on her own.





Here are a few straggler pictures from the past week.


I have no idea why my husband makes such ridiculous faces. But he's still cute :)




AND who watched Army Wives last night?? Even in an Army show the Marine Wives win! OOORAH!!!

Tricare

This is yet ANOTHER post about dental so feel free to skip it if you please. I waited until tonight to post this because I was so mad yesterday. I paid out the ass to get work done for the past couple of weeks. Nothing major...a few surface fillings. Which I paid out of pocket for. So yesterday I go to my wisdom teeth consult. Everything goes fine until they hand me the bill. Over $2,000 and thats WITH tricare covering 60% of it. The words that left my mouth were not pretty. And luckily the dental assistant understood my frustration. I just don't understand. Why don't us dependents have full coverage?? I know my husband fights for his country...but us dependents are here with the kids, house, worry, responsibility...and a million other things. It just seems so ridiculous to me that my husband can be away from his kids, for a year at a time, in a combat zone.....my I can't get my wisdom teeth out. I want some feedback on this!

On a happier note...we had dinner at a friends Friday night. Grilled out, laughed, ate, played with lots of kids. Tons of fun. Today big Sis had gymnastics and then we had family over. My uncle, his wife, 4 kids, my gramps and Vicky. I made my home made spaghetti and meatballs, salad and bread. Everyone had a great time. My uncle took lots of pics so Ill post those later. I have a CRAZY week that includes a lot of working out, zumba-ing, an enlisted spouses club meeting, some cleaning....list goes on. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

Cpl Jonathon Porto Family Fund

Cpl Jonathon Porto



Have you donated yet? My race is coming up fast! Please make your donations soon! If you haven't read the story behind the race...please take a minute and do so here

If you haven't read Rachel's story, please do so here

You can donate here

Thanks in advance for your donations. They are all being directly deposited into Cpl. Porto's daughter (Ariana) trust fund.