This is how every family should eat dinner....

In a Dora tent of course! Ashlynn's been asking to eat dinner in her Dora tent for a few days, and tonight we gave in.






It was a tight fit, but well worth the laughs we all had. The last picture is of Ashlynn, 'given' me the flex' as David asked her to do.

Weight Watchers - Weeks 3 & 4 and my baby's 1st birthday

Oh a lot to catch up on... I will start with weight watchers (today) and work backwards...
I didn't weight in last week, trust me, it would of been bad! Today I weighed in and I'm up 0.2 pounds. Not terrible, but definitely not great. I just wasted 2 weeks. Arg!
On a happier note: My baby turned 1 on May 9th. We had a birthday party for her on the 10th. It was more for the older kids, but Brianna still had a ball. It always warms my heart to see everyone that attends my daughters' birthday parties. I have several friends that had more than one party to attend that day and they still found time to fit us in. It just means the world to me, especially sense we all know that Brianna won't remember it at all.... To the friends that couldn't make I totally understand how busy our lives are and you can't be in 2 places at once.





This past Sat. was a busy one for the Hightower girls. We had Ashlynn's dance pictures in the morning, a gymnastics showcase at 12:30 and Emily's dance recital that night. Ashlynn had a ball watching all girls dance on stage! She would ask me at each dance if Emily was in it. My hope was that Ashlynn would see how the recital works so when she is faced with it for the first time (in 2 weeks) she won't freeze on stage. And, I think it just might work... keep your fingers crossed for me.

A couple pictures of Ashlynn at the Gymnastic Showcase

She isn't picking... I promise! She is showing me that she is #1!

Mother's Day
Mother's day was perfect. Got up went to church then met the families at Buco de Beppo (one of the many reason's I didn't' weigh in last week). Ashlynn made me this wonderful Mother's Day card at preschool. I thought I would share part of it with everyone.

What can I possible add... Ashlynn summed it up!

Weight Watcher - Week 2

Another week. I was down 4.2 pounds this week!!! I'm down a total of 10.6!!! I'm so freakn' excited!!! David was down 4.2 for a total of 11 pounds. We're on a roll to get rid of our rolls!!!!

1st Hightower Jeep Ride

We had an wonderful time at the cabin this past weekend. Not only did we have our 1st family jeep ride, but we also had our first picnic. It was just awesome. Ashlynn had a ball! She rode with Grandma on the quad for just a little bit. She loves going 4x4ing. It must of been pretty boring because Brianna slept for most of it. I love going to the cabin. I love having my family around. I love creating all these wonderful memories.
Weigh in is tomorrow... wish me luck.

Weight Watchers - Week 1

Ok, today was my first weigh in. I'm down 6.4 pounds. WAHOO!!! It's a start. I still have many, many, many more pounds to go, however I took one step towards that goal. Wish me luck! Oh and David is down 6.8!!

To hit or not to hit....

Look at me, posting twice in one week. I just might like this blog stuff. This one is going to be a long one… but I really need some insight. My 4 year old daughter, Ashlynn has a best friend / bully at school. Let’s just call the BBF/bully Jaime. Honestly, they really are best friends. “The closest 2 kids in my class” according to their teacher. However, ‘Jaime’ is a bully. Jaime has scratched Ashlynn several times, once leaving a terrible scar on her arm. That scratch was so bad Jaime was put on a behavioral notice. Jaime has also been sent home twice for her behavioral problems, the school was in fear that she could endanger herself or another student. Well, with that little bit of background, let me tell you the most recent.On Friday I got a call from her school informing me that a ‘friend’ had pushed Ashlynn and she had some injuries. When I got to the school, Ashlynn seemed fine, she was sad; she never understands why Jaime does this. Here is the story from the teacher. Basically, in a nutshell: Ashlynn and Jaime were on the swing-set bickering. Jaime punched Ashlynn in the back and then threw sand in another girls face. Ashlynn left. Jaime followed and pushed Ashlynn from behind.
So, I have my daughter leaving the situation and this little girl comes from BEHIND and slams into her. Ashlynn has a little scratch on her chin and elbow, a decent size scratch on her knee (it’s gooey) and a really bad gash on the palm of her hand. The hand one had the teacher and I so concerned we went the to school nurse. Basically it’s too wide to stitch but it was deep enough. So, lots of TLC, Neosporin and band-aids and she will live to fight another day.
Before I got to Ashlynn's school according to her teacher Ashlynn went to Jaime and said, "you need to say sorry to me." That had to take courage. For a 4 year old to go to a 5 year old that she looks up to and ask for an apology… wow, I am proud of her.
So, to my question, “When is it ok to tell your daughter to beat the crap out of a bully?” I’m really torn. I don’t want to raise a ‘sissy’ that will be bullied her whole life, however how do you explain to a 4 year old that it’s ok to hit ‘sometimes’. I don't want to create someone like Jaime. So, David and I have decided to take the high road. We’ve talked to Ashlynn and said we’re sorry her friend isn’t always nice and that it’s never ok to hurt someone. But so help me, when my daughter is 8 and can understand the difference between attacking and defending, IT’S ON! Did we do the right thing??? HELP!

Ok, here I am....

Ok, here I am. I can’t imagine that I will ever have anything interesting or deep to share… but I figure what the heck, let’s find out what all the blog hype is about.

Today is my first day back to Weight Watchers. My hope is to blog once a week to share my weekly weight loss. No where to go but down, right?! Maybe if I type it, it will become more real for me? I can’t understand how easy it was for me 2 years ago to lose the weight and now it’s a daily struggle for me to not eat myself silly?? Like I said, today is the first day….
Well, I’m going to keep my first ‘blog’ short and sweet and end it here.

Oh, but I thought I could add a cute picture of the girls....