he's gonna kill me when he's older...

for posting this pic of him in these cute big boy undies! Lightning McQueen, of course! The other day, he asked if we could open his big boy undies and he said "I go poopy and pee pee in the potty, not on McQueen!"
Oh My gosh, that's right Justin! I was SO excited.
Pulled 'em out, put them on and he was running around the house, SO PROUD of himself! Nothing had happened yet.
I asked Jacob to help me remember to keep asking him if he had to potty and so we did.
Over and over again, "Justin, do you have to potty?"
He'd sit on his potty, make some funny noises and get up!
Minutes later, I'm folding clothes...
I walk into our bedroom for less than a minute and Justin comes running in...
"Mommy, I pee pee!!!"
I start dancing around the bedroom, singing "Pee Pee in the POTTY" and twirling around like an idiot
I start to walk into the bathroom,
he INSTEAD, takes me to his room
and right there by his train table was the PEE PEE!

ahhh, guess we'll keep trying...

our weekend...

started off with a trip to see Cars 2! Was it me or was it a little violent compared to the first one? Jacob came home and started making McQueen and Mater flip through the air and blow up?? Hmmm...but my boys liked it and Justin sat (and slept) through the entire movie! then we played some pajama basketball! What's that, you ask? Where Mommy tells the boys they don't even have to get dressed to shoot hoops! Ha! It's their favorite way to play :) Look at my little man, dribble!

and there's Justin cruising on his tricycle with his hat backwards...thinkin' he's so cool!!!

then our weekend ended with our Daddy. He had to work ALL weekend and we finally had him home on Sunday :) I guess you can see the excitement on their faces!

and then as I posted yesterday, we found out that we made the Aramco Houston Half Marathon!!! It's like my(and my hubby's) weight loss journey has come full circle and this race will put into perspective how far we've come. I started off a lazy, college girl who didn't even know who she was anymore. I was ready for change, found help and saw results I had wanted to see for SO long. I was a new person, no longer hiding. Not covering emotions with food. It felt great. I met Brandon and our lives were forever changed. He's my best friend, the best father to our boys and the best husband to ME. As years passed, he had let his weight take over, gaining as normal people do as they get comfortable in their surroundings. He was no longer active, was a TV watcher with the remote in hand while he was at home. Then something snapped in him too. I was not innocent either, I had gained here and there through both pregnancies, so we BOTH decided it was time to take our lives back! Totally back. He found running and fell in love! He found a stress relief, a runner's high as they say. He is a TOTALLY different man. Loves to be outdoors, active with the boys, brings them fishing, running, biking...you name it, they're doing it! I love the influence he is on our children these days...SO positive and showing them a healthy way of life! Jacob running his first 1K a few weeks ago felt amazing! Jacob sees us exercising and being healthy and he wants to be a part of that. Can't get any better than that. And me, I'm getting back on track too. Lost 11 lbs. through running and taking back control of eating. Although I never, ever gained all of my weight back, I had let myself slip. A LOT. Healthy food, turned into too much healthy food and as I always say, too much of a good thing-can be a bad thing! So, let me tell you...The McClellen's are back and stronger than ever! They WILL finish that half marathon, earn their first medal and there's hopefully more to come! Our boys will greet us at that finish line and hopefully that'll send a message to them that ANYTHING is possible!

a new challenge!

This morning, after my friend and I finished our 5K run,

we found out some exciting news!

That's right! We made the lottery for the Houston Half Marathon!

January 15, 2012-which is also our anniversary,

My hubby, ME, and our two friends are setting out to conquer a goal!

I am nervous, excited, anxious, totally TERRIFIED and not sure what to expect on this 13.1 mile adventure! Will I survive? I sure hope so! Will it take me 5 hours to finish...I sure hope NOT!

After all we've been through and our weight loss success over the years, I know we can do this!

Just something else we can say we've done TOGETHER and it's being held on our 7 year anniversary, I think that's pretty darn cool too :)

Wooohoooo half marathon training, here we come!

a gift for our BOYS!

Last week, as we were trying to figure out how to spend Daddy's day off. The beach? Moody Gardens? Schlitterbahn? to MeMe or DeDe's to swim? Nah...we ended up buying THIS!!!! Needless to say, our boys were SO happy! We've had our friends over to "break it in" and so far, SO MUCH FUN!!! Can't wait for the rain to go away, so we can set it up again!

And YES, Mommy had to try it out and it's TOO much fun :)

my friend's blog

My friend, Christine started blogging a while back! She's a wonderful friend, mother, wife and much more! We met her years ago when she was my mom's Jazzercise instructor. We instantly clicked and had SO much in common, and I admit that I thought Jazzercise was for 60+ women until I walked into her class...whew, she kicked my booty! Her enthusiasm pushed us to go the extra mile. She's recently decided to start a NEW journey after all that she's been through and I support her 100%. Her new blog is a way to share her story and struggles with everyone on her journey! As I was helping her create her new blog, I was bragging about my friends "followers" and told her how incredible you all have been through some of my toughest and proudest moments! So, PLEASE take a moment and visit her blog, Comin' from behind. Leave her a comment and maybe even expand her followers while you're there :)

Thank YOU so much!!

Watch out for IRONMAN!

Jacob loves Ironman, so when Costume Discounters asked if we'd review this costume, he was SO excited!

We searched their website and they have a lot of costumes to choose from, especially for kids! Their website was very easy to navigate and their convenient sizing chart made it easy to find the costume that was right for him.

We found exactly what we were looking for with this War Machine costume!

What do ya think? Pretty cool, right?

It shipped quickly and you should have seen Jacob's face when he opened the box! EXCITEMENT to say the least! His brother was not so excited, because once the costume went on, he started chasing baby brother acting like a superhero!! Ha!

Now, I know Halloween is pretty far away but they have costumes for ALL occasions, even 4th of July costumes which is right around the corner! It seems like every year we fight the crowds at the local Halloween stores to find that perfect costume, but Costume Discounters makes that process MUCH easier through online shopping. We can search thousands of costumes for our entire family and completely avoid the crowds this year! We discovered that a lot of the popular costumes are on sale through this website vs. other leading costume retailers. Their website even carries a Men's Ironman costume but when I mentioned it to my hubby, he said NO WAY! Oh well, it was worth a try! Some orders ship free and they have a great return/exchange policy which takes the stress away from online purchasing! With our experience through Costume Discounters, we'll be using them in the future!

Now our next task is finding the perfect superhero costume for Justin??! Hmmm...


**I hope you can see his expression in that last picture, through his mask?? He was SO annoyed that I kept taking away from him play time to take that picture...he's HILARIOUS!

Disclosure: I received this costume from Costume Discounters free, in exchange for my honest review of the product(s). All opinions are 100% mine!

McQueen MANIA!

McQueen is ALL over our house and everywhere else, if you've noticed?! Jacob had an OBSESSION with Lightning McQueen and had a Cars themed, second birthday party too. So, you can imagine our excitement for...wait for it... CARS 2!!! We can't wait! We have our tickets, t-shirts and a few miniature McQueen's and Mater's to take along with us!!!

Anybody else excited about THIS movie??!

Cucuzza?!

What in the heck are my boys holding, you ask... It's CUCUZZA!!!

Still confused?!

I grew up knowing Cucuzza and watching my grandmother prepare Cucuzza stew!(pronounced Ko-KOOTZA or "googootz") but for most of you, you are probably TOTALLY confused...here's a little about them: Cucuzza looks like a smooth, pale zucchini with an elegant curvature and can be up to three feet in length. Its pale green skin needs to be peeled, and the white flesh is generally cooked rather than eaten raw. The flesh has an extremely mild taste and, even when peeled, holds its shape well when cooked. If the seeds are tender, you can eat them, but they start to get harder as the squash matures. If the seeds are hard, discard them. Cucuzza can be steamed, grilled, fried, baked, sauteed, stuffed, or used almost any other way you would use summer squash, as long but make sure you peel it first
Yes, this would be another strange thing that We, Italians eat! And they are growing in our garden! Yep, my grandma would be SO proud! They are beautiful plants and make a gorgeous vine! And let me tell you, they're SOOO good! I created these Cucuzza Sticks (pictured above) and they are DELICIOUS! My boys loved them and we dipped them in plain Greek yogurt mixed with a ranch packet (yogurt in place of sour cream!)...so easy and a fun alternative to fries, right?! and the recipe is on my Move It Momma's blog!

having lots of fun...

Our week started with a baby shower for my cousin at my house... Then on Tuesday, we watched Landon for the day instead of him going with Mommy to work and he sure had fun! They did the new waterslide that we bought, played in the bunk beds and lots of basketball, football and baseball! These three had a good time :) and thankfully they included baby brother!

Wednesday, we kept little Jillian...is she not precious? She was perfect and I think she liked the attention from the boys! Look at her with that football!!

Thursday the boys played dress up and went on a "hunt" for deer and alligators!!

...and they also watched a movie and I looked over to find Justin trying to immitate Jacob! HILARIOUS! Justin takes a binky, but as he watched big brother suckin' his thumb, he thought he'd give it a try too! I caught him in the act...

So, as you can see we've been keeping busy and having lots of fun this summer...hope you are too!!!

Batter Up!

It's that time again...and yes, we're in our second, summer season! Our first game was last night and the Tigers played a great game! Lots of hussle and teamwork!

Isn't that what tball is all about??!
Jacob LOVES to hit the ball, run the bases and slide into home...HOWEVER, we're still working on fielding-he just doesn't care! He made a great play last night, but other than that, he'd rather stand there, play with his glove throughout the inning and get back to batting!!! Ha! Guess we'll work on that this season!!!
As for baby brother, Justin. He enjoys the games because he gets tons of snacks(junk food, mostly) and lots of attention from the team cheerleaders and families! He totally soaks up the attention and at practice last week, he thought he was a player on the team...running the bases, fielding the ball and even playing catch! Guess we have another tball player in the near future??!

Where have we been?!

...doing things like this!!! ...and this!
and MUCH more! We have been soaking up the 100 degree weather with lots of water play, swimming, sliding, tball and more! We have been visiting with family and friends.
Staying busy, that's for sure!

Hope you are all doing well too!!!

Run By The Bay 2011

Run By The Bay was today and although my hubby and I were suppose to run the 5K race together, plans suddenly changed...

Our babysitter, my mom in law was taking care of our niece-who was sick, running fever, therefore our boys could NOT be exposed and they came along with us. Our first plan was to get our packets and just go home and run, BUT then Jacob decided he'd run in my place in his FIRST, EVER KIDS 1K RACE!!!
He warmed up with the Mayor of the City and other participants. He did stretches and took pictures...He finished and did GREAT! I ran with him most of the way, but toward the end he took off, told me he was going to WIN, he raced passed about three kiddos before reaching the finish line! We were all screaming and I grabbed him, picked him up and told him I was SOOO proud of him :) He said he loved it and wants to do another one, tomorrow! Ha! He wants new, faster running shoes too-says his are too heavy! Ha! Now I think we've got him hooked!

...and then 15min. later, it was my hubby's turn to race-that pic is right before he crossed the finish line! He finished 10th overall, think there was about 400 runners! His time was 23:27! His personal PR! So proud of how far he's come in just over a year. He's living proof that it's never too late to change YOUR life! So proud of him!

...so I didn't get to race this morning, but I came home and hit the track! Ran about 4.5 miles in 47 minutes! It was already 90 degrees out there :( Ughhh, SO hot and humid! But I fought through it and am proud of myself for having my own race after the big race!

I guess you can say today was a great race day for all of us! Even little man, Justin ran all over the place waiting for Daddy to finish, so guess he got a workout too! He kept pouring the water on his head and breathing in and out like he was racing...totally needed my video camera! Ha!





**If you wanna see our before pictures and see how far we've come, click below...

Marissa

Brandon

Rockin' Out!

I guess I can't get mad that he knows how to dance...afterall, I've been dancing and playing music throughout the house since he was in my tummy! And now, when he knows he's driving me crazy...he'll grab the iPod, turn it up and "ROCK OUT"! hahaha, that's what he calls it! and just when I think I'm gonna lose my mind, I bust out into laughter at this kid...I mean, look at him?! He's hilarious! And what song was he ROCKIN' OUT to? "Down on Me"-50 Cent

Ahhh he's just like his Momma!!!

Yesterday, I was trying to workout in the living room-changed it up and did a video, and he jumped on the mat with me doing jumping jacks, push ups, mountain climbers...HILARIOUS!!!

busy weekend in the SUN!

Summer is definitely here in Texas! In full force!

100+ degree temps and lots of sunshine= a weekend at the beach and in the pool!

It started off with a trip to the beach and ended with a celebration for my mom-in-law's birthday at their house swimming in the pool All.Day.Long! Whew, we're exhausted but it sure was fun :)

Welcome to McClellen Speedway!

START YOUR ENGINES...

Our boys would stay outside and never come in...EVER! I'm serious.
So, the day starts off with-
breakfast,
going outside,
lunch,
going outside
and then MORE going outside or should I say, STAYING OUTSIDE!
They never want to come in. And it's (hopefully) not that our house is terrible, it's because they love the outdoors and they love to do THIS...

I know for a fact that Jacob could not steer these cars when he was 2, but Justin has been driving them for about 4 months! It's hilarious. He will steer, reverse, off-road, bump his brother...all of it! He thinks he's so tough, especially when he's able to snag big bro's 4-wheeler!

So, at the end of each and every day, we take the chargers out, plug them in and take baths...as we prepare for yet another day of the races at McClellen Speedway!!!
Oh and because of this...my poor hubby's grass is toast! It's like flattened, dead grass but he's over it now that he sees how much fun they're having!

Random Phone Pics!

I just love going through my phone each month and seeing the TOTALLY random pictures we capture! Some are when we're on the go and I don't have my camera, others are these boys being silly in the house and I only have time to grab my phone...looking back on this month's collection, we sure keep things exciting for these boys! They play outdoors ALL.DAY.LONG and love to drive each other crazy! And although sometimes they drive me CRAZY, I love them SO much!! Please leave a comment if you're sharing your Random Phone Pics too!

Do you take pictures with your phone?