Wii Fit Plus

First - I would like to say that I have Hubby's permission to write the following blog post.  He is comfortable with me discussing his weight issues and how we (as a family) are working together to become healthier.

Many of our family and friends know that Hubby has struggled with his weight for quite a while (as in: since he was 13).  Right before our wedding, he had lost lots of weight.  Then, in 2008, we purchased the Wii Fit which really helped.  He was focused on doing it almost every day and saw major results.  Up until GO was born, when he began to taper off his workouts.

Then, around May, the project team he is on at work went into high gear and he stopped working out.  It's been a battle since then.  He gained a little over 20 pounds in 5 months. 

Right after Thanksgiving, Hubby and I were with the Caterpillars in Target and saw the Wii Fit Plus.  For only $20 we upgraded our Wii Fit game to Wii Fit Plus.

Now, you can search the internet for reviews and game specifics.  All I can tell you is this.  Hubby has continued to watch his food intake and also been doing the Wii Fit Plus 4-5 times a week for the last 2 and a half weeks.  Already he's lost almost 7 pounds.  His goal was to lose 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas, now there is a very real possibility he's going to double that!  His highest weight since we got married was over 220 pounds and he's now down below 210!

I am super proud of Hubby's commitment to his health.  Plus, he feels so motivated that he has taken the Half Marathon plunge and will be running the ING Half Marathon in March!  So, if you own the Wii Fit, I highly recommend upgrading to the Wii Fit Plus.

The Skateboarding is my favorite - and it really works my abs!

~Lone Butterfly  )i(

Material Girl?

Let's see if Daddy likes Madonna this much when she's older...

We had a lovely evening dessert at the new Rita's that just opened. The Caterpillars had been given coupons at church, so we invited the Royals to come and eat with us.

I LOVE Italian Ice, especially because it's a place where I can enjoy dessert without making myself sick (oh, those pesky milk allergies!).

After dessert we went over to the Royals' house, where Prince and Princess had cleaned the living room. This meant the Caterpillars got to play the new Wii!

Queen and I left Hubby and King in charge and went out for a Segeway ride around the neighborhood.

Then it was relatively early to bed, since tomorrow we go visit Hubby at work! (Then another week of camp starts!)

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Family Night

This evening Hubby and I decided to spend some time with the older Caterpillars. CW has expressed that he feels "lonely" and even said he wanted more attention. Which I guess is a good thing, that he is able to communicate his feelings. He's certainly not taking it out on the baby Caterpillar - oh, no, he's quite clear that Hubby and I aren't spending enough time with him!

So tonight, we had a delicious dinner (Italian breaded chicken fingers, corn, peas, applesauce) and then got together to play the Wii.

Hubby hasn't played Wii Mario Galaxy since January, which is a game they love, because they get to take turns helping him. We played for about an hour, while GO slept in her carseat.

Then Hubby played Wii Fit, while we had a bowls of healthy Cheerios (to not tempt him)! A bit of good news is that our home scale reads NINE POUNDS heavier than the other scale. Poor Hubby had weighted himself on our regular scale for the first time in over 6 months and had a heart attack - he felt so much better when he stepped back onto the Wii Fit and saw his real weight!

I was able to snuggle on the sofa with B10 and CW individually. It was a great night, something we've needed for a while. I'm glad we made the time and we'll need to do it again very soon.

~Lone Butterfly )i(

It's a Party! (And I'm a CopyCat)

Okay, maybe not a party - but an anniversary event, none-the-less.

Hubby and I discussed where to eat dinner tonight (the Caterpillars spent the night with Cookie) and we were going to go to our favorite Japanese Resturant, but then decided to try some place we'd never been together before.

It's a great Fondue place - and they were very sweet for our Anniversary. It was perfect, as they even let us substitute the cheese fondue that came with our meal package with the dessert chocolate fondue.


I really want to bring B-10 back - there were kids younger than CW, but I wouldn't want to try that with the hot food so early. It would be more work than being a special occasion, I think, until they are 8 or 9 years old.

Then we drove to our local Target and took Edelweiss and BG's lead on Anniversary Gifts:

Delightful!

Well, it was delightful, until Hubby took the WiiFit test, which didn't give him exactly the results he was hoping for. That may have put a bit of a damper on the evening, but he's set his goal and has 3 months to work towards it. I think CW will help be a great motivator - as soon as he sees there is another fitness game for the Wii (he loves the stuff that came with the Wii).

I'll have to wait a bit to use WiiFit, since there's isn't a "pregnancy" option that we could find!

We also purchased a gift for the entire family, since this is the day we became an "official family". We are waiting until Thursday when we are all together to share it with the Caterpillars, but I have been wanting this since I discovered it was coming out:

WHOO HOO! Legos are awesome, Indian Jones is awesome, what more can I say?

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Photographic Evidence

Acutal Photographic Evidence of two Siblings playing together without arguing.

Please do not note the state of the room. Joy comes at a price, people.

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Two Things...

Two "big" things occured on our electronic front this past week.

First was the death of my digital camera. It was a good little camera, coming in at a fine 5 pixels - but I had been hoping to upgrade to a nicer one since last summer. Husband and I had talked about what kind we wanted to get and how quickly we wished to purchase this newer camera. We looked at the after-Thanksgiving Day sales and the Christmas sales and the after-Christmas sales...but never actually bought something.

Then, on Thursday, at CW's 6th Birthday party (right at the beginning, of course), my camera breaks. The on/off button won't turn on or off.

Now, you can do a lot of things when a digital camera has issues, but there's nothing in the world that's going to make one turn on if the on/off switch is broken.

So, I ended up with precious few pictures of my baby's big family birthday party at the really awesome (and brand new) bowling alley, but at least he had a blast.

The second item of importance in our electronic lives was a birth, per say.

We finally got a Wii.

Wii!

A Wii!

Wii got a Wii!

I would post pictures of the family playing (watching), but if you'll recall - we had a death in the electronic family. ;)

Aunt Boo and Uncle Firefighter found the Wii at their Gamestop. They live in a much smaller town, about 30 minutes further out of Atlanta than Husband and I do. We are eternally grateful for the quick-thinking (and grabbing) skills of Firefighter. He protected the Wii with his life, while Boo was calling me (so I could call Husband) to confirm we wanted it.

Um? YES!

Always buy a Wii if you can get your hands on it. Don't believe me? Take a look at what you can sell the thing for on eBay if you have the receipt and an unopen package. I am SO glad we payed retail.

We only purchased the boys one extra game - Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.

I was very surprised at the E+10 rating (ie: For everyone ages 10 and over). I would hardly call this a violent game, or in any way inappropriate for my 6 and 8 year old sons. In fact, I think it's rather adorable, when you "kill" another character they simply break apart - because they're all LEGOS! And there's virtually NO sexual connotations at all. Princess Leia in her "Jaba the Hut" outfit? Sure - it's painted on the flat square LEGO block. There's no cleavage to be found, no inappropriate shaking of various backsides - it's all LEGOS!

All in all - this has quickly become a family favorite to play.

After we take our daily fitness test, of course. Which is awesome. Everyone has their own Mii, that looks like them. Then we can daily (and only once a day) take a fitness test. If we have time, we can use the Wii to train. (As a side note - the boxing leaves you SORE the next day - you're throwing punches hard!) And there's something for everyone. CW is the reigning bowling champ - on one of the games he scored 3 strikes in a row!

I have to give Nintendo credit for taking the video game to a new level of family fun. It's truly something that we can now do together, and we aren't sitting around like lumps on a log. (Poor Husband, who does most of the Lego Star Wars playing, has to stand the whole time so he can dodge and swing his lightsaber!)

So, there you have it - the Circle of Life complete in one weekend.

Now, I'm off to play some Tennis with my sons - on the Wii.

~Lone Butterfly )i(