So Dee and I have each lost over 50 pounds doing the Dukan Diet.  We started on April 9, 2012.  I can’t tell you how great it feels to be this much lighter.  The basics of this new lifestyle is that we basically alternate protein days and protein + vegetables days.  We aren’t super strict about it, I’m sure we could be losing weight a lot faster if we were, but this really does work and it’s not so hard.
I’ve been asked if I eat the same things all the time…well, kind of because it’s easy.  Our fridge is stocked with nonfat yogurt (Dannon Light and Fit), Nonfat cottage cheese, light Laughing Cow cheese wedges, hard boiled eggs, a variety of chicken sausages (no nitrates…you can breathe now, Mary Cowie!) and lots of meats (chicken, seafood, flank steak) that we marinade for taste.  We also eat a variety of veggies, but mostly ones that are easy to grab and go or whatever we cook alongside dinner.
The boys aren’t missing out, they eat mostly what we eat but sometimes we make pasta or add bread to their dinner.  They get sandwiches at lunch and pancakes or french toast for breakfast so they are getting carbs.
The biggest difference I have noticed is that we jump at the chance to go on a bike ride or be active with the kids.  Instead of sitting at playing on the iPad while the boys do aikido, I jump on my bike and go for a quick ride.  Trey, Erin and I have taken Levi & Carlos’ soccer practice time to bike around Battle Point. 
I’m excited for the changes and think that the way we’ve been going at this (endulging every so often and doing the modified diet) will prove to be successful in the long term.  I can’t imagine carrying an extra 50 pounds ever again!

 There were many attempts to get the pinata hung – husband holding wife up, standing on the kid’s swing and 8 year old on the shoulders.
Pressure was on as the rest of the kids were on a treasure hunt and were finding clues fast!
Funniest part about it was it was the lamest pinata in the world, only lasted through 5 hits before it spewed all it’s contents.  All that work and demolished in 2 minutes.

 Trey and his bestest friend, C.J. got to celebrate their birthdays together with a super fun run around the yard type party.  There was cupcake decorating, treasure hunting and kids basically running amok.
Happy 7th birthday to two super kids!  Hope you had fun, I know we did.

a sweet, quiet moment….

until the herd of clue followers attacks!

“where is baby Erin?  She’s clue 13!”

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 I love this sport!!!  Having played from the time I was 6 years old until I was a senior in high school (then some rec indoor during college when I wasn’t too hungover and our Saturday game wasn’t too early) I was so happy to have the boys signed up to play again.  Sure, they played when they were little, but now it’s a real game and more fun to watch than just a blob of cute kids going back and forth across the pitch.
Levi is a thoughtful player and tends to prefer defense and to clear the ball rather than go for the goal.
Carlos, on the other hand, is scrappy

After being taken down once by an opposing player, a pep talk from the coach about being aggressive and attacking the ball, he let loose.
Glad to see the end results were smiles and sweaty, tired boys.  Mamas are going to have fun this season.

 This is getting a little out of hand….right before I was heading to take Levi and Carlos to soccer practice, I realized that I could take Trey and Erin with me and we could squeeze in a BIKE RIDE!  Poor Dee had to take the baby seat off of the smaller bike and then put it on her bigger bike (mine had a locked U-lock on the frame and can’t hold the baby seat) so we could make this happen.  Man, she needs a new bike seat…I can see why she doesn’t want to ride longer and I’m still ready to go.  It’s not about endurance, you get a really sore bum with a bad bike seat!

So today’s plan is to try to “car jack” method of getting the U-Lock off so I can bike with Erin.  She is not a huge fan of the trailer but that will be good for when it’s rainy (if I’m UBER obsessed at that point).

 I say it every year, we are blessed to have our boys in the amazing school they are in.  They were all excited to go back and come home each day with smiles and tales of all they did. 
Here are the first day of school pictures – Levi is starting 3rd grade, Carlos 2nd grade and Trey is in 1st grade.  They are growing up so fast!

 We found out it’s not easy to get a group of 11 people ready to go on a bike ride, especially if they are ill equipt to do such a ride. 
Dee and I didn’t have bikes that fit us well and were ridable, and we had to figure out the who bike seat issue for Erin and that was no easy feat.  With a lot of work (by Alvin) to get bikes ready, we were off!
We found out….we LOVE biking!  Ended up riding 7 miles our first time out and even stopped in to see Nancy!