I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend so far. We had a house guest most of the week and he had to leave this morning. After he left my three oldest children and I went to some yard sales and found lots of bargains. It’s nice to have a break today as we have had a busy week. Here’s some things that we did:
My oldest daughter participated in a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness called Runway for a Cure. She designed and made her own dress and then got to model it. She had a lot of fun, and the young designers raised $1,600 for the cause.
Last night we enjoyed the last evening with our guest by including him in our Friday night tradition of “Movie Night.” I used to buy pizza, but once I learned to make my own crust I never bought pizza again. It’s so much better tasting and better for you when you make it yourself. Does anyone else make pizza at home? Since there are so many in my family I make four large pizzas and the little guys make their own crusts. I don’t know if you can see it very well, but my 4 year old wanted his pizza in the shape of a fish! Why not?
And finally, I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the thoughtful, insightful comments that you all added to my writings this week. If you haven’t read the comments from this week and you have a few minutes, please take time to read through them. I’m in awe of your wisdom. Here’s a picture that my son took of me in my usual place in front of the computer:
Thank you all again. I hope you have some great weekend plans. Stay strong! Diane
Joanna and Lance are doing ‘Blog For A Cause‘ with the intention to do an ebook in which they are accepting blog posts from different blogs and compiling them into an eBook. The proceeds will help support Breast Cancer Research. The blog post you choose can be one of your favorites, one of your most popular, or whatever! Contact Lance or Joanna for more information. I am definitely participating!
Hi Diane. You look beautiful! And the pizzas don’t look bad either.
Well done to your daughter for making her dress. You must be very proud of her.
Hope the rest of the weekend is just as enjoyable for you.
Best wishes,
Bearfriend xx
.-= Bearfriend´s last blog ..Another Tuesday Fail =-.
Thanks so much! I am proud of her.
Hope you had a good weekend too!
Beautiful daughter, beautiful dress, beautiful pizza, and beautiful mom!
Have a fantastic weekend!
.-= Sunny´s last blog ..It’s "Ebb" Time =-.
Diane, it sounds like you have had a busy week. Enjoy your weekend!
.-= South Beach Steve´s last blog ..Friday Blog Spotlight =-.
@Sunny – You are very kind.
@Steve – We did, but it was all good. Hope your week goes well.
First of all, you look so awesome! You have such a great life and wonderful kids (good job on that, by the way). I hope someday I will be as blessed as you are.
I just wanted to thank you. Some bloggers who I started following and who inspired me, lost the weight and quit blogging. You have kept with it with encouragement. You are what we all need – a ray of sunshine and hope. You are also able to put into words how so many of us feel. Thank you so much! Do you ever feel like this was your mission in life? I read your stuff and know it is.
@Learning – You know I just started blogging at the end of March and I really appreciate you telling me that you find my musings useful! It means a lot.
Thx so much for sharing the pics! Your daughter & her dress.. amazing & such a great cause! You do a fantastic job at home & here. I am in awe!!!!
.-= Jody – Fit at 51´s last blog ..Eating Slowly to Prevent Food Intolerance =-.
What a beautiful dress(and girl)! You have a very accomplished daughter!
.-= MackAttack´s last blog ..Let it snow! =-.
@Jody – Thank you. Hope you had a good one.
@Mack – I’ll tell her you said that!
Your daughter did a beautiful job !
Pizza- I used to make my own pizza crust and every bit of bread anything we ate in this house( bread, bagels, English muffins, pita bread, rolls and more). I worked as the baker for a doughnut shop years ago and learned all of the finer points of handling yeast. Since our weight loss journey began I have not made any homemade bread products because I cannot make them as low in calories as several commercial breads ( Arnold’s thins, Healthy life bread and La Tortilla high fiber tortillas). Pizza since we began has been only on the Aldi’s equivalent of the La Tortillas. We all really enjoy these!
.-= Diane´s last blog ..Weigh in because… =-.
Great photo, Diane. Great blog, too. But great photo.
.-= Sue´s last blog ..dancing monkey =-.
Your daughter looks lovely and what talent!
I love that pic of you by your computer, too – unposed shots tell so much about a person.
.-= Lori´s last blog ..John did a PR! =-.
@Diane – I often thought I would love working in a bakery because I do love to bake. I like pizza on tortillas too.
@Sue – Thanks so much.
@Lori – I appreciate that. My son was playing with my camera and said, “Mom, turn around.” So I did and there he was!
I love the pic of your daughter in her dress! What a great event! Thanks for sharing!
Yes, making your own pizza is great. I love that you made one into the shape of a fish! What a fun mom!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
we make our own too. I use an organic crust from the store and then we do our own sauce, toppings, cheese. Started because of the youngest’s IBS – the grease and oil and too much fat in cheese was too much for her. And now that we are used to the taste – we prefer our own. Once a week too.
.-= vickie´s last blog ..You know me well enough to know that this REALLY bothers me =-.
I am very impressed with both the dress and the model. Great work for a great cause.
@Andrea – She had a good time at the event, and it was a lot of fun.
@vickie – I love pizza so much. That’s probably why we have it once a week too.
@Nancy – Thanks Nancy. I hope you are having a good weekend.
She’s just as pretty as her mama. Lovely dress.
.-= Larkspur´s last blog ..Yay =-.
She looks gorgeous..you look gorgeous. I make my own pizza dough cause it has to be gluten free. It was AMAZING! Have you ever tried roasted pumpkin or squash on it..ok maybe and ‘adult’ type pizza…but it’s honstly amazing.
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..A New Do and Calling ALL! =-.
@Larkspur – You are too kind.
@Michelle – I have never tried anything that gourmet on my pizza. I’ll have to try that. I agree that my little guys might look at that one funny, but my older children would probably like it.
a. your daughter and her dress is beautiful.
b. so are you, great picture. you are glowing.
.-= Robin´s last blog ..Fairing Well =-.
Robin – I really appreciate your comments. Thanks.
Wonderful job by your daughter!
I might try making pizzas at home sometime. I know my kids would love it!
I love the picture of you too…
Oh, and like another commenter mentioned, I too am grateful that you keep up your blog even though you are maintaining your weight loss. I brings great encouragement and learning to me to read your blog daily.
Have a great Sunday!
.-= Leah´s last blog ..New At-Home Gym (kind of…) =-.
your daughter looks so beautiful!!! what a huge talent too that dress is a knockout!
.-= MyKashiDiet´s last blog ..another recipe…. not necessarily low in fat =-.
Your daughter is beautiful inside and out…just like her mother.
.-= Joanna Sutter´s last blog ..Sunday School =-.
@Leah – They would love it. After I had made my own crust a few times I was in a hurry and bought pizza from Little Caesars. We couldn’t believe the difference.
@MyKashiDiet – I’ll tell her you liked it. She worked soooo hard on it.
@Joanna – You really are sweet. Thank you.
Your daughter looks lovely and what a clever girl to design her own dress…You must be so proud of her!
I’m keen to look at your pizza recipe as I no longer eat it with it being so high in points, but if I could make my own at lower points then will give that one a try.
I’m back in Germany now…arrived this morning…Your is the first blog I’m catching up with…:)
.-= Marcelle´s last blog ..Last Family Function =-.
Loved the photos! I too love making pizzas (and of course eating them) but haven’t in a while because I’m watching my carbs and my kids are now grown and mostly gone. I thought you might enjoy this story about my first homemade pizza attempt. Before we married and started our family, my husband and I lived in New York City, where we enjoyed many wonderful slices of pizza. My favorite, which I walked 20 blocks to purchase, was a white pizza loaded with garlic and spinach and just a little cheese on a fabulous crust. So years later, home with an infant and a 2 year old, I decided to make pizza. My 2 year old was thrilled, he loved pizza. All day long we talked about the pizza. And then I finally brought it to the table and watched my son burst into tears! Spinach everywhere and not a single slice of pepperoni, which to him was pizza. Can’t believe I didn’t think about 2 year old tastes and make a second pizza, but then home with a 2 year old and new baby and little sleep I just wasn’t thinking I guess.
@Marcelle – I really am proud of her. I think a lot of times what makes the pizza so high is the amount of fat in both the crust and the abundance of cheese. If you made it yourself you could control all of that. You’d probably like it better too! Glad you are back – looking forward to reading more of your blog.
@Babbalou – I love that story. I would have done the same thing not even thinking about what my 2 year old would think. Thanks for sharing that.
Your daughter is a beautiful young woman and I can imagine how proud you are of here!
.-= Fran´s last blog ..A day in my life: Saturday October 10th 2009 =-.
Hey, You should make that shot of you at your computer your new profile pic on your blog. It’s a great picture of you.
.-= chocolateprn´s last blog ..Thoughts? =-.
@Fran – You are too kind. John and I are proud of her.
@chocolateprn – I may do just that! Thanks for the idea.
I second the “beautiful daughter, beautiful dress, beautiful pizzas (even the ‘fishy’ one!), beautiful blogger” comment! Was this daughter homeschooled too? I have been wanting to write, and I guess here’s as good a place as any other: I know you dropped all of your weight in about 14 months, and I have read through your plan, but I’m interested to know how you came up with how much you would eat (calorie based, point based?) and how much your exercised. I am lucky if I lose .2 in a week (and that’s following my WW points and getting about 4 hours of exercise each week)…Just thought you might be willing to share your “formula”, and whether or not you varied it throughout that year you were losing. If you get a chance, would you email the info to me? Either way, thanks so much
Yes, she was homeschooled all the way through high school. She’s a freshmen in college now!
Of course I’ll share anything with you that you are interested in. That’s why I do the blog!! I’ll email you later tonight or in the morning.
What a great picture of you!!!
.-= Staci´s last blog ..Monday Update… But on Tuesday =-.
Thank you very much Staci.
Daughter and Mother both looked gorgeous! What a great experience for your daughter.
Love the fish-shaped pizza. I totally agree with the “why not?” attitude!
What beautiful photos… you and your daughter
.-= Shauna´s last blog ..Soon To Be Named Podcast – Episode #2 =-.
I loved the pictures! You are both so beautiful.
.-= Hanlie´s last blog ..I should clarify =-.
Congratulations to your daughter, that must be exciting for her. Garage sales are great, aren’t they? That’s about all I can afford these days. As for pizza, I tried the whole wheat dough from TJs once, and it was awful. I used to be half-baked pizza crust at the farmers market, now I use whole wheat pitas. One is about the right size (the ex-bf eats 1.5) I make my own sauce, shred my cheese (love my food processor), add peppers that I roast and keep in freezer, broccoli, onions, garlic, any other reasonable veggies (not carrots or celery) and pepperoni. That’s a tradeoff, between the broccoli and ww pita, it tastes too healthy without, I won’t be able to make myself eat it. Occasionally I’ll buy a slice (not 2, like I used to) when I’m out and very busy, but it always tastes and feels heavy and greasy in my tummy. I guess that’s what happens when you adjust your taste buds, they adapt.
.-= julie´s last blog ..Old vegetables smell like farts =-.
Oh my!! I absolutely LOVE your daughters dress! It is sooo beautiful, and she looks like a princess in it!! I love the pic that your son snapped of you! You are beautiful, inside & outside!!
Your daughter did a wonderful job!
I love the picture that your son took of you! You are stunning!!!!