Carvin’ Pumpkins

We waited until Daddy was able to join us to carve our pumpkin, so we didn’t carve it until Friday night. Nothing elaborate this year – Charley wanted it to look just like her “candy holder pumpkin”.

Maddie was “over it” at this point!

Charley has been loving the Cinderella pose . . .

The final product.

Halloween Party #1

Charley had her Halloween Party at school on Friday. I signed up to bring treats and so I decided to get creative and experiment . . . the night before. Needless to say, the treats didn’t turn out quite the way I had planned, but they sure tasted good!

 

Move over Vlad! There’s a new impaler in town!

Maddie found breakfast! What the heck, Halloween only comes once a year!                

Cinderella goes to preschool.

All I can say is that Disney makes bank during Halloween!

Bad Guys and Baptism

 I dropped the girls off at a friend Mariana's house a couple of days ago to be babysat. My friend has a little boy named Lucas who is about Charley's age. When I came to pick the girls up, Mariana smiles at me and tells me the following conversation that took place between Charley and Lucas:

Lucas, being the "bad guy", says something to Charley about killing another character in their pretend world. Charley looks at Luca and says, "See that river over there Luca? We can go over there right now and baptize you and wash away your sins and you won't be a bad guy anymore!"

Well, in her mind it's simple!

Today Ameri asked her who was going to baptize her and she told him John the Baptist. "He's the best baptizer ever!"

Might as well aim high, eh?

Wanna know WHY Charley can dance like a star?

On Oct. 26th, I got my braces off! (Pictures will come soon!) As I was over on the “West Side”  and had to go back to the orthodontist to get my retainers, I didn’t want to go all the way home so I took the girls to the Pier to pass the time. We had a great time and Charley let her magic “star shoes” – Converse! – take over.

Some of you on “facebook” have already seen this, but for those of you who have not, here’s your smile for the day!

October and All of the Fun it Entails

Charley and some of her best buddies from her preschool class: Francesca, Lexi and Kylie at their visit to the pumpkin patch.

Group shot!

Maddie trying to decide which pumpkin will suit her best.

A match? I’m not so sure . . .

Charley and one of the twins, Kylie, wilting in the October heat! Poor dears – it was close to 100* that day!

My favorite house in town every year at Halloween!

Embracing Her French Side

Scarves . . .

and being a trend setter.

Some Firsts

Madeleine’s first ride of a carousel. She and Charley had a great time. I, of course, got dizzy!    

Charley’s first day back to preschool.    

Disneyland! Charley and Madeleine had never been. Our friends the Moodys invited us for a day of fun. Their Dad works for Disney so they can get in for free and they kindly let us tag along! Thank-you Moody Family!         

The “Buzz Lightyear” ride. I was with Maddie in the car right behind Charley. I thought she was having a great time – and then I reviewed the pictures!! :(        

Aw! There’s my happy Charley! She had a great time driving in “Autopia”. Maddie too!        

Enjoying some music time in Mickey Mouse’s House. 

We all got to meet Mickey and take our pictures with him.

The princess and her castle! We’re definitely going to have to go back soon! THANK-YOU MOODY FAMILY: BECKY, ETHAN and BEN! Dan Moody too :) – after all, his job got us there!!

The Rest of our Summer . . .

I’ve been putting off blogging because I was so far behind that I just didn’t know where to start! I’ve decided that I’d just “sum up”!

The 1st Annual (hopefully) Jensen Family Reunion! We all gathered outside of Heber City, Utah and had a wonderful time hiking, boating, playing games, catching up and celebrating the life of our wonderful Grandma, “Granny”, Grandma Great . . . Genece Jensen. She turned 87 this year and she’s still showing us all how it’s done!!

A lot of our summer was spent in the water. Steve and Vicki’s pool was the “cool” place to be . . . no pun intended! :) 

Grandma and Grandpa Hollingshead even got to enjoy some of our California activities. Isn’t my mom cute?

Maddie made her own water fun. Swimming suits are optional, but marching to your own tune is better.

We also got to spend some time at some of the L.A. Beaches. Our friends the Huntzingers joined us at Mission Beach on a rather gloomy day. Charley was just grateful to be with Hadley! It’s hard when your best friend moves away!

For our final beach outing of the year we went down to Torrey Pines beach in San Diego to spend time with my sister’s family and to show Ameri’s parents a good time! They were visiting from Tahiti and this was the first time Philippe (Ameri’s dad) had been in the ocean in the U.S.!!!

The girls loved the attention.

Torrey Pines has amazing waves to play in . . . though the beach itself is lacking! I love this picture!

Hina (Ameri’s step-mom) enjoyed herself by reading a good book and watching us all play.

My sister Katie and I with Maddie and Eli. I love having family close! Don’t you?

This one just kind of sums it all up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving today to all my friends up North! Love and miss you guys! 

Every time I watch this I laugh out loud . . . Brilliant!

Fun With Family

So, by now you should know me well enough to know that I don’t have to explain why I’m posting about July in October. It’s for posterity alright?

My sister Katie and I went up to Utah a few days early to spend time with our family before the 1st ever Genece Jensen Family Reunion began.

Papa Allen enjoying the kids :) Love ya Dad!

Charley made “TinkerBell’s House” with Kevin’s girls.

Katie and her son Eli. I love this kid!

More Eli. Bath time – Grandma style!

Spending time with Grandma Charlene!

We all have our favorite excuses.

I am about 5'7" and my ideal weight is about 130 lbs. I was 133 lbs. when I got married. I gained about 30 lbs. with each of my pregnancies. I lost 15 lbs. after giving birth and quickly gained 5 back. Does that story sound familiar to any of you? You may not share my "stats", but I'll wager a guess that many of you moms out there have experienced something similar. Some of you men out there probably gained a few pounds after your kids were born too - am I right? ;)

I am a personal trainer. A pretty good one too. So, of all people, why did it take me almost 2 years to get back to "normal" after each pregnancy? Simple. Though I did not lack the tools and knowledge to lose weight, my circumstances had changed dramatically and so had my body. We all have our favorite excuses! Those are mine.

Today was a great day for me. I finally broke into the 130's again. Yep. I'm officially 139lbs today. Whether you think that an accomplishment or not, what it means to me is that I've finally found my motivation. Wanna find yours?

In a world where shows like "Biggest Loser" and "America's Next Top Model" get thrown in our faces on a regular basis, we tend to get the impression that we either have to go to extremes to shed some poundage: starve or have someone scream obscenities in face on a daily basis. Nope. It's a lie - as is most "reality" TV, but that's another blog . . .

First you have to know what your LONG TERM GOAL is. Five pounds? Twenty pounds? One hundred? Figure it out and put it in your head. On your fridge, steering wheel, toilet seat - I don't care, just know what it is and put it in front of you.

Second, have a TIME FRAME. When do you want to get that weight off? If it's 5 lbs, you can do it in about 3 weeks. (You could do it in a week, but we're talking about keeping it off aren't we??) If it's 50, 75, 100? You're probably looking at 6 to 18 months. Be realistic with yourself.

Third, what's your SHORT TERM GOAL? How much do you want to lose each week? If you're only trying to lose about 15 lbs, 1 to 2 lbs/week is realistic. If you're heavier, you'll find that you can lose five or more pounds/week with just small changes to your routine. As you become more fit, you may notice that your weight loss slows down. Don't be alarmed, even if you plateau (don't lose weight for a few weeks). You'll probably just need to change some things in your routine to continue to see progress.

WRITE UP A CONTRACT between yourself and someone else: a spouse, a work-out partner, your personal trainer, etc. Sign it and put it somewhere you can see it. Make it known to some close friends and family. Put people on your side so that they don't become the devil on your shoulder. Loved ones can sometimes be your worst enemy if they think it's a passing "phase" you're in. Tell them you're serious and ask for their support.

KEEP THINGS SIMPLE and START SLOWLY. Some personal trainers may disagree with me on this one, but with my physical therapy background, I've found that the tortoise really does win the race. If you're going to make a "life change" you have to do it gradually, otherwise you're setting yourself up for failure. If you have to start with daily goals, then weekly goals, monthly and so on. When you know you've mastered one obstacle, you know you can overcome the second, etc. It may take longer to reach your goal, but no one knows you better than YOU. On that note: DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT.

Here are a few things that I've applied to myself this time around:

1. NO soda! Limit juice and high calorie drinks - why drink your calories? If this is a big one for you - work ONLY on this goal for about 3 weeks. Drink lots of water. You'll find that just cutting out high calorie drinks may help you shed a few pounds.

2. No "seconds" and take home left-overs when you go out. You don't have to finish what's on your plate. Easy on the salad dressing too! :)

3. Try not to eat anything after dinner. I've tried to close the kitchen around 7pm. If you work late, just try to have a lighter dinner - take some snacks (healthy ones!) to work so that you're not ravenous when you get home.

4. Only eat sweets/baked goods on the weekends. Again, some personal trainers would disagree with me on this one and tell you to cut them out completely. I practically grew up in my parent's restaurant and I LOVE FOOD. I also love chocolate. I'm not going to be miserable every time I eat. I refuse. I've just learned to make better choices and savor the good stuff on the weekends . . . in moderation.

5. SNACK. If you have small, healthy snacks (i.e. 1/2 protein bar, apple, etc) at work or at home in-between meals, you won't consume as much when you have lunch and dinner.

6. INCREASE YOUR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. That's a whole blog post in itself of course . . . leave your email if you need help with that one!

7. If you have children: don't eat what's left on their plates!

OK. So now you're thinking, "A FEW things Kristi?! Sheesh! Who is this woman?" Really. Start slowly. You don't have to do all of these things at once! Start with your goals and your contract and then build upon that foundation. Take your time. Believe me, after doing it the other way around, this is what works. If you need someone to email you every now and again, let me know - a lot of you are on facebook so I can contact you through there if necessary.

If you don't want to do it, you're not going to. It's simple. If you're ready however, I can help.

P.S. Part of my difficulties in losing weight right after my pregnancies was also due to a Vitamin D deficiency and other hormonal imbalances due to having children. I am now working with an endocrinologist to balance things out. If you feel you have "side-affects" (don't we all? :-/ ) post pregnancy, you should talk to your doctor.