HALLOWEEN INSPIRATION

It is funny how one picture can be an inspiration for the best Halloween costume I have ever come up with, and the best part, it was a family affair.

THE INSPIRATION

If you haven't figured it out yet we are the characters from the classic animation Movie Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Lily being the most adorable Rudolph on the planet, Molly being the sweet innocent Clarice, Myself as Hermie the elf, and Macie as the ever so terrifying Adominable Snowman. Mark was Yukon Cornelius in spirit as he was working late and then had to run to teach his class.

It was a hectic night and day getting ready for Halloween but so much fun, and honestly worth it alone for the adorable pictures. We hit up two houses with the Onofrychuk's being Macie's first house she ever trick or treated at, she was all smiles and loved the idea of people staring and smiling at her. Then we popped in for a quick visit to the Isackson's.  Then we ended the night giving candy to all the little trick or treaters. 

HALLOWEEN IN THE A.M.

                                                IT'S IS MY LITTLE MINNIE MOUSE!!!!

My 10 Monther

That is right my little girl is 10 months old. I can hardly believe it myself less then two months and she will be one.

So what is my little munchkin up to now, so many things..

- She is a tiny one and weighs 16 lbs being in the 5th percentile for her weight, and I can't remember her height but she was in about the 25% percentile.
- She is already so much like her mom and dad and has a lot of our little idiosyncrisies. The strongest trait she has of us I think is our happy dispositions that we have 85% of the time, however we do have that 15% of the time where we are grumpy and miserable and watch out when we are. Macie is the exact same way. She is all smiles and laughs until the diaper needs to be changed (this one is getting better though as we don't have to wipe her eye as much as we use to, so she is hopefully done associating the diaper wipe with an eye cleaning), she needs to be dressed for the day or her runny nose needs to be wiped. It is so annoying when we are in public and people say what is wrong with Macie, and to have to sit there and explain to people she just hates getting her diaper changed or her clothes being put on. First I don't feel like I should have to justify why my little girl is grumpy, she can be grumpy if she wants to be grumpy and second just wait until I am done and she gives you the most adorable smile on the planet, you will be thinking different thoughts of my daughter then. 
- Macie is obsessed with books and we probably spend a good 2 hours of our day reading them. Her favorite book is "Where's Dave" and will pull down all her books from her bookshelf until she finds it, then plops herself down and turns all the pages in the book. If I need a minute to make super or tidy the house, all I have to do is sit her in front of her bookshelf and it will occupy her for a good 30 minutes. She just pulls the books down and flips through all the pages. I love sneaking up on her and watching her sit there and look through the pages, I always wonder what she is thinking when she is looking at them.
- She is not walking yet but loves to walk around the house while holding mom and dads hand, or walk from chair to chair to chair to chair, another activity that occupies my daughter if I am busy.
- Is still obsessed with her baths. When we start getting her baths ready, we line up all her toys on the tub and once she finally squirms away from us after getting her diaper off, heads strait for the bathroom, stands up and plops all her toys in the tub. She has this one Octopus toy and she is obsessed with it, once she is in the tub she looks all around for it and will hold it the whole entire time she is in the tub. 
- Loves going swimming, we took her down the slide for the first time on tuesday and she loved it, it was a little scary and thank goodness we had someone at the bottom to catch her or she would have gone under. (Royall how you did it and kept Jonas from not going under is beyond me, Mark and I definitely have to tag team that one)
- Is not much of a talker, no wait let me change that, she is a crazy loud everybody pay attention to me talker, she just does not say many words yet, but I am not letting that stress me out, she is a smart little girl and she will talk when she wants to talk.
- She is a great listener though and understands a lot of what mommy and daddy say to hear. My favorite examples are: Macie put your toys away and proceeds to put her toys back in the bin, or Macie I am going to get you and runs in the opposite direction of mom who is coming to give big tickles, or Macie don't drop your food on the floor looks at me smiles and then drops her food on the floor and laughs as the puppies eat it.
- Grabs the attention of pretty much everybody when we go out in public, I will watch her stair somebody down, what for them to look at her, and then give them a huge smile and then an ever bigger one if they smile back at her. The cutest though is when she starts playing pick-a-boo with random strangers in public, it is so stinking adorable.
- Is still a fabulous sleeper and does 12 straight hours for me every night, except rare occasions when she is sick, but that is a pretty reasonable excuse.
- is down to two feedings a day, one in the morning and one at night. It has been nice to have more freedom, but also nice that I still get those two moments a day with her.
- Is on the go busy all the time, she will only sit to watch T.V. while I give her a bottle, which is more then OK with me. Actually it is one of the only ways I can get her to sit for 10 minutes to take a bottle is to watch T.V. if we just sit on the coach she wants to be active and moving and will only drink about 4 ounces, but if we go downstairs and watch a quick show I can usually get about 7 ounces out of her. Once she is down drinking though she is right back at wanting to go and get busy having fun.
- Is really good at playing by herself. Which is so nice for mom if I need to get stuff done, but also loves of course playing with mom and dad which we try to spend most of our time doing.
- Thinks Molly, Lily and Cobalt are the greatest and we get some of our best giggles out of her when she is playing with them. Must give props to all the pets for how fabulous they are with Macie.
- Is the best at giving High Fives, especially to mom
- Gives the best slobbery, suck face kisses ever, but it is hard to get them out of her. If you ever get one consider yourself lucky. Morning after nursing is usually when I can get some out of her.
- Has been to her day home twice now and loves it and I love the lady I take her too (Krista Cryderman). She is fabulous and I feel so good about Macie going there once a week.
- Is a total flirt, wonder where she gets that from? She is obsessed with boys and definitely prefers males over females, although she will go to pretty much anybody. But she always seams to give those guys an extra cute smile, and will crawl to them and want them to pick her up.

Well I know there are so many more things about Macie that are fabulous and that make me absolutely adore her, but these are definitely some of my favorites. I hope I remember to be as good with the next children as I have been with Macie about writing down all her milestones and cute things she does.

Macie's Play House, Daddy Style

THE HUNKERS RULE!!!

Yay for races, and sushi, and mini golf, shopping and temple open houses, and most of all fun times with family and friends. This Thursday we left for a little weekend trip to Calgary. We started Friday with spending time with family. First we went to the Calgary zoo and saw all the adorable animals, the best part was for sure the new penguin exhibit. Then we headed to my sister Keltie's house for some excellent Mexican food. Then one of the best parts of the trip, we headed to the Calgary Temple Open House. It was absolutely beautiful and stunning, the construction workers and architects who designed it did an incredible job. My brother was so wonderful and took Macie for Mark and I as she started freaking out and was crying uncontrollably once we got to the temple. He had already been through twice so he came and got her for us and chumbed with her in his van while Mark and I went threw. Saturday Mark and I got up nice and early and meet Matt and Royall Harker at Eau Claire Market to do the Halloween Howl 5KM race. We decided to go as a team and called ourselves the HUNKERS (Harkers came up with the ingenious name) and dressed up as basketball players. We all started off running together but as Royall and myself use to run together a ton when they lived up here in Lloydminster, we fell right back into sink and just flew through the race while chatting all about life. We all rocked it and finished under 36 minutes. Pretty good as none of us really trained all that hard core for the race. It was a blast and we even dribbled a ball throughout the race making everybody envious of our wicked prop. Next was on to our 4th annual Harker Hunsperger mini golf challenge. We lucked out and found a mini golf course inside a sports lounge right by the sushi boat restaurant we were going to for lunch and so we quickly popped in for a quick 9 holes. The Hunspergers were on there game again and came out the victors which meant a delicious reward of the sushi boat lunch on the Harkers. It was delicious and the coolest sushi restaurant I have ever been too, the Sushi floats around on boats that go around a round table and you pick a plate and just start devouring sushi. After our wonderful morning with the Harkers we headed to the mall where I meet my best friend growing up Kim Martin and  Chelsey, we visited, shopped and then took a tour of her beautiful new house she is building. Saturday was more delicious food and staying up late visiting. Sunday we went to church in Airdrie and then made the long trek home. It was a wonderful weekend and we had a blast, even with a grumpy sick little girl, who is finally better and back to her old self, thank goodness.

Calgary Mormon Temple

best shot we could get of the both of us

this pic is hilarious. Look where my hand is and then look at Mark's face :)

TEAM HUNKER

Mark's whole in one

the Sushi Boat

On a quick note I need to say thank you to a couple of people for making this trip better. Jamie Repp, the Isackson's,  and Alicia and Olivia Tinney for watching our dogs while we went away, as well my mom for watching Macie on saturday so Mark and I could have an enjoyable day together just the two of us.  THANK YOU!!!!

My (Macie's) First Fever

I wanted to have this in writing so I remembered the first time Macie got really sick. She has been such a great girl in that area and never gets sick. She has had one tiny cold when she was 6 weeks old, a time she ate something bad and was throwing up for the day, and then a runny nose when she cut her first tooth. Other then that never has been all that sick and has never had a fever. Sunday afternoon though things just started going south, she had been fighting a cold all week and I was hoping it was starting to get better, but Sunday she started getting warm and was so fussy. We gave her some Tylenol and things seamed a little bit better. Then Monday morning she woke up at 6:00 and had a temperature of 39.1 (102) we gave Tylenol again, and then again that afternoon as it started to rise. She pretty much slept all day monday or snuggled in my arms. Then Monday evening came and her temperature would not go down, we gave her Tylenol then Advil and finally by 12:00 it dropped to about 38.0 (100). We gave her a bite to eat and then tucked her into bed. She finally fell asleep around 12:30 but woke up at 5:50 this morning with another fever. I gave her Advil and after 1 in a half hours it still was not dropping 38.8 (101) it kept reading so finally I decided to take her to the E.R. Of course it was just a virual infection which I knew it was going to be, but I just felt so helpless as her mom and felt like nothing I was doing was working and going to see the doctor was the only thing that was going to bring me comfort.  She is snuggled fast asleep in her bed now and I am hoping she gets better soon. There is no question I have loved the snuggles that my little girl has given me but this is definitely the toughest thing I have gone through so far as a mom. It was really sweet seeing Mark be so protective of her, and Mark and I being so worried for her and trying everything to make her feel better. It definitely makes me appreciate that I have a healthy little girl. Those parents who have to spend hours upon hours in the hospital with sick children, that they don't even know if they are ever going to get better makes me cry. I will thank my Heavenly Father every day for blessing us with a strong healthy daughter.

PHOTO DUMP!!!

Love the Morning Hair

Is obsessed with Mommy's keys

ummmm when did you grow up so fast, where is my baby

loves pulling the tupperware out of the drawer.

COUPON DATE NIGHT!!

Date Night consisted of using coupons that were all from this coupon book Mark and I bought from some kids that came knocking on our door.

We first started the evening with a bowling coupon for buy one half hour get the second half hour free,  and because it is no fun to bowl by yourself we got some other families to join in with us. It ended up being a fun very non-competitive game with lots of chit chatting, and cheering from adorable little Hailey Isackson (anytime someone knocked over a pin she would run and give them high five, too cute).  The Fyfe's and Bennetts joined us as well last night. Next was onto Dairy Queen were we used a bunch of two for one coupons, then back to our house were we used a coupon for a free movie rental. A super cheap fun night and definitely would do it again.

PINTEREST PROJECT

It never goes according to plan, and it never looks as cute as they make it look on pinterest, but here is my attempt at being crafty for the new house.

Honest opinions people of what you think, I will not be offended.

The teal one in the middle is going to be re-done with a black and white one, as I don't like the teal on teal, and the table is going to be stained or painted black. The picture frame is going to hold a black and white family photo.

I will post a new pic when it is done 100%.

KALINDA HUNSPERGER: A WEIGHT LOSS STORY

I have wanted to do this post for some time but have never known how to approach it with out sounding cocky or prideful. Yet again though I had someone ask me how did you do it Kalinda, and how do you keep it off. So here it is in a long personal detailed description, how I did it and how I do it.

First off I want to start by saying I am not perfect at it and still have weight and fat pertruding in areas I wish it didn't,  I still have an ultimate goal to lose another 12 lbs and be at my dream goal weight of 125 Pounds (which I guess you can figure out how much I weigh right now if you really wanted to add those two numbers together). However I am a Mom a Wife a Latter Day Saint and a Women first and for most, which means that sometimes those work outs don't get in or that food gets eaten that I shouldn't because I still want to be happy and enjoy being thin and not hate every minute of it.

I remember it very clearly waking up one morning and stepping on the scale and seeing that number again for probably the 300th time, 175 lbs. Why, why, why? Why Kalinda do you do this too yourself, another night of lazing around on the coach and eating popcorn and ice cream, and again another morning of waking up and not wanting to go to church because I feel fat and gross. I finally told myself this is it, it is finally going to change. Now of course for the first 4 months I did what I usually do whenever I start a weight loss challenge, go good for one week then bad for two. Finally in January the big change came. I got my braces put on and had two weeks of eating hardly anything but shakes, and soup. I lost about 10 lbs in those two weeks and was feeling the best I had ever felt. I told myself this is it this really could be it. With talking with some friends we made a goal to run a triathlon and having a huge competitive side to me, the training began so I would not suck at it. This helped me lose another 10 lbs pretty quickly. 4 months had gone by and the scale was being kinder to me then ever before 155 lbs, hallelujiah. Next I got diagnosed with this wonderful disease called Endometriosis. With lots of research it seamed liked most doctors and nutritionalists talked about a lot of the same foods you should and should not eat with having this condition. So onto finding books and recipes that were healthier options. I was very lucky in that area, as I love veggies, fish and chicken, fruit and shakes and don't really love pop, not a huge fan of things pounded in dressing and I can say no to candies and fast food restaurants anytime I want. My big weaknesses are Chips, Ice cream and popcorn. The Triathalon did not happen because of work, however me and my friend did sign up for a 5KM race to do together. With eating healthier and exercising almost everyday I was finally at a weight I liked to see on the scale 145 lbs.  The race happened we both rocked it and life was going great. Then the weight loss challenge finally came to a holt but for good reasons it was time to put on weight and grow a baby. being 148 lbs on the day I found out I was pregnant my goal was to get no bigger then 175. With eating healthy and exercising once I was past the 12th week. I achieved my goal yet again. 173 was the highest I ever saw the scale while I was pregnant. Upon 3 months of having Macie I was back to that magical number of 145 to 148. I was so happy it came of so quickly and know it was because of the good choices I made while I was pregnant. Next was the training for my half marathon I was starting to train for this before I got pregnant and told myself I am going to do it no matter what the summer right after having Macie. I can't believe once I started training for it how quickly the pounds fell off. With eating healthy almost everyday and exercising a lot, the morning after my half marathon I weighed 133 lbs and could fit into size 4 clothes.  Since then things have calmed down a bit and I find myself anywhere between 135 and 137. I still get frustrated when fat roles out of the top of my pants or my but looks big when I put on a pair of paints, however I have never felt happier and been more in shape in my whole entire life.

Now to maybe get a little mean and forthcoming here, but I think I need to. When I hear people make comments about people who work out and eat healthy are to obsessed with their weight and apperance it makes me so mad. I know from being someone who has been fat and been heavier that when you are that way you think about it just as much as someone who has to try and plan  a work out into there schedule or takes a little bit longer to make a meal so it is healthy. When I was fat I thought about it all the time, I didn't want to go places sometimes because I didn't think I had anything nice to wear and didn't want people to see me. I was terrified of giving talks, being the center of attention, and being around thin people, it always made me so uncomfortable. I found it took more away from my life being unhappy and miserable about the way I looked then it does now being happy and feeling good about my apperance.

I just want to rap things up hear by saying it is not as hard as it seams. Last night I ate rolo ice cream, this weekend I will stuff myself with a thanksgiving dinner and right now I am eating a lifesaver candy. All it takes is a little will and determination. The biggest help was signing up for races, they forced me to work out and get in shape. Avoiding the isles at the grocery store and only filling my cart with whole grains, fruits, veggies, chicken, fish and all the other healthy food. You know you know what they are. Finding treats that were healthier options when I needed that fix and also allowing myself to eat unhealthy sometimes.

A typical day in my life is:

Breakfast: oatmeal with raspberries and cinnamon sprinkled on top
- french toast with an orange and glass of skim milk
-a healthier cereal option with skim milk
- two eggs with one piece of 100% whole grain toast a piece of fruit and a glass of skim milk
- or two slices of 100% whole grain toast with peanut butter and jam and some piece of fruit.

Go for a walk with Macie

Lunch: a Shake (strawberries, banana, spinach, yogurt, pineapples and ice) with fresh veggies or cheese and crackers
- a toasted tomato sandwich on 100% whole grain bread with fresh veggies
- or a big salad with sauteed shrimp.

Snacks: fruits, veggies,  quacker rice crisps, hand full of almonds, frozen yogurt.

Supper: Salmon or chicken with 100% whole grain brown rice and a steamed vegetable. We probably have a supper like this about 4 to 5 times a week and the other 2 to 3 meals, will be average in healthiness but a little more exciting in taste. etc. taco salad, lasagne, fajitas, spghetti, soups, pulled pork or beef.

evening: 5 to 10KM run on the treadmill with a quick toning exercise afterwards like jumping jacks, situps, pushups or sometimes all three.

It really came down to a lifestyle change for Me and Mark and if you ask the both of us we don't ever feel like we suffer in the food department and thankfully we both enjoy exercising. I am happier then I have ever been because of many changes that happened in my life in the past two years, but I know without a doubt that being healthy and in shape changed my life for the better and brings such happiness and satisfaction into it. If anybody wants help or motivation I am here and would love to be a help and support to anyone. I know what it feels like to be at the heavier end, and I now know what it feels like to be at the thinner end and I never want to go back to the heavier end again EVER.