Not much different

There's not much different in these pictures from the ones from last week. Maybe I can tell there's a little bit of growth, but just barely.









The broccoli in the back row has been looking really good. So far so good.

The zucchini in the corner closest to us seems to be struggling a little bit. Also, it seems the strawberry plant isn't doing as well as the ones in the other planter box.

The corn seeds Duncan planted have sprouted! So far the poppies still haven't done anything.

So, not much to talk about this week. Still need to put the soaker hose in for watering. Also, still need to find a place, and prepare it for the other plants I have, and now Duncan's corn.

monday music 03.29.10

Monday music this week is by the gorillaz.

Josh had this up on facebook last week. I found that I liked it. But I like a lot of the Gorillaz music. Truthfully, I think the video makes this song that much better.

"Superfast Jellyfish"

This is from their new album titled Plastic Beach. I haven't heard much of it, but I'm sure it's in line with their other albums.

Any thoughts?

friday flashback 03.26.10

I may have used this picture before for friday flashback, but it's so darn cute I decided to use it again.

Pure cuteness!

I don't know what else to say, so I'll just leave it at that. Happy Friday.

milestone met

Lets look at the numbers right off the bat:

Last week: 217.0
This week: 214.6
total lost : 2.4

Last week, being only 2 pounds away from losing 20 pounds, gave me some motivation to be good with my eating habits. I still had some cheats, but I tried to make up for them by being more strict on other days, and not skipping any opportunities to walk on the treadmill.

Now that I'm feeling a lot closer to breaking 200, I feel that motivation still brewing inside. I think I can best describe it as being "excited" to reach those desired milestones.

I'm also just now starting to "feel" less fat, which has also been a motivator. It's still harder to "see" (at least for me) any changes, but I think I need to add a hole in my belt very soon. It's not holding my pants up like it used to.

Total weight lost so far: 20.4

round two

Well, it's time to see if we can recreate our garden successes from last summer/year.

We hadn't done any gardening in the winter months, so our planter boxes had gotten a little over run with weeds and grass. I spent a solid few hours last weekend digging that stuff all out, and trying to get as much of the roots out as well. (I should have taken a picture)

Then, I went to the Home Depot and picked up some manure, top soil, and garden compost soil. I also picked up a bunch of seedlings, but more on that later.

We spent family night on Monday, mixing all the new soils and existing dirt together in the planters, and transplanting the seedlings.

This is what it looks like now.


In the first box here: front row- strawberry, strawberryx2, yellow watermelon. Middle row- yellow squash, strawberry, red bell pepper. Back row- broccoli, broccoli, broccoli. This is the "crossing our fingers" box. It would be SO cool to have all of these be successful producers. We'll have to wait and see.

Box 2: front row- zucchini, strawberry, zucchini. Everything else is corn. I'm a bit more confident in this box. I'm pretty sure we'll be successful with what grows here.

I actually still have 3 broccoli, 1 strawberry, and 4 zucchini seedlings that I need to figure out what to do with. Not sure if I'll get a few large planting pots and set them up in those, or if I should till up the section of yard right behind the planters. I'd also like to put some corn seeds down too. Last time, the corn from the seeds did better than the seedlings. (I was feeling a bit impatient when I was buying seedlings.) So yeah, I need to figure that out soon.

Right now our citrus trees are bursting with blossoms, and it smells amazing in our back yard because of it.

Alright. Well, round two has begun, and I'll post an update every week. I'm sure it's boring as heck for you, but it's good for me. It very much helps me see the progress each week, which I need.

monday music 03.22.10

I found today's music via a friend on facebook. She posted a link to the video, and I watched it. Now it pops into my head at least once a week.

It's an easy video to like since it features the talented Ms. Zooey Deschanel. She's the "She" in "She and Him". They are obviously influenced by music of eras past, but in a good way.

She and Him, "In the Sun"

That's their newest single from their second album. I like it.


B-side (otherwise known as bonus music)-
I also came across this song of theirs called, "Why do you let me stay here?"
Put this one on the bizarre videos list. But it's still got Zooey, so it's ok with me.

Like? or Dislike? She and Him.

Friday Flashback 03.19.10

That time of the week again... Time for that trip down memory lane...

One of the many Foutz kids pictures that exists. This one is one of the sillier ones. (That was a lot of ones.)

On the back it has "Nov. ?" and "98". With my horrible memory, I can't remember if Kyle's on his mission at this time or not. He's the only one not in this picture.

If it's Fall of 98, then Keith has graduated H.S., Kim is a junior, and Kelly a Freshman. I've been married for almost 3 years, Kevin has completed his mission, and Kristi had no hair.

I don't know what else to say about this picture, other than I vaguely remember taking it. I want to say it was around the time that Kristi wasn't around much? And it was kind of a cool thing that she was around. I could be way off on that too.

Anyhow, still a fun picture.

that's more like it

I was a little worried that I over did it last night with the corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, and Irish soda bread at dinner. (After all, it was a holiday.) And that I would still have a lot of that food sitting in my gut when I got on the scale this morning. But I was pleasantly surprised that I weighed the same this morning as I did yesterday afternoon.

The numbers:
Last week- 219.4
This week- 217.0
total lost- 2.4

That's more like it. Two weeks ago I weighed 218.2, then put on 1.2 to put me back at 219.4, and now being at 217.0, I think that puts me back on track. I'm going to try and get to 215 by next week. When I get there, I'll have lost 20 pounds since starting my weight loss plan. I'm looking forward to reaching that milestone.

monday music 03.15.10

Today's monday music was pretty easy to choose. A few days ago, Anna came home asking if I had seen any of the new OK GO music videos. Their song, "This too shall pass", has two official videos. I had seen one, but didn't know there was another. Anna hadn't seen either of them, and wanted to see both of them, so we looked them up in youtube.

I like both of them. Anna likes them both, but one a little better than the other. So here they are...

The first video.

The second video.

Which one did you like better, or do you like them both?


On a side note:
I used to embed the videos into my blog, but for the past few months, embedded youtube clips seem to be blocked on my computer. I don't have any trouble viewing videos from youtube's website directly, but once I embed in in my blog, all I see is an empty square where the clip should be. This is also the case for a number of other blogs I frequent. I don't see the embedded clips on their blog either. I've been trying to find what setting I need to change, but haven't had any luck thus far. Any tips or ideas on how I could fix this problem? Thanks.

friday flashback 03.12.10

It took me a while to get this picture scanned. Not sure where the problem is, whether it's the actual scanner, or the connection, or the software, but it's been REALLY temperamental as far as working on Fridays goes, over the last month or so. But, I finally got it all to work together...

We're in front of the compound (actually just off to the side in front of the "lot" next door). If I remember right, Keith was getting ready to head up to Utah... or back up to Utah... or just got back from Utah... (or was it Idaho?) ...OK, so maybe I don't remember specifically, but it's one of those (I'm pretty sure).

I don't think we had Liam yet, so I'm guessing it's mid-2002. I'm wearing workout clothes, and Kevin and I did that mostly before Liam and Aidan were born. I also know that it's morning because we worked out in the mornings. That's what makes me think Keith's leaving rather than arriving.

Anna must have just gotten her dreads re-tied and rolled. They look all tight.

I think this is the car that had the dashboard display in the windshield? I think that's why I'm on that side of the door. I think I was checking it out.

Anyhow, it's a fun old picture.

Pinewood Derby!

Yesterday was the combined ward Pack Pinewood Derby. The quick ending is- Duncan's car won 1st place!


Duncan decided to make his car look like a Wii remote. When I was working with him on choosing a design, we looked online at many cars and saw one as a Wii remote. Once he saw it, he wanted to make one too. Duncan did about an hour's worth of sanding. He got a little bit of help cutting the small pieces. Anna and I spray painted it white. Duncan painted the details. We put a bunch of layers of clear-coat on it to give it a nice glossy finish. I put the wheels on it.


Most of the action was caught on video, and I have clips of the races at the end of the post.


Here's a group shot of all the cub scouts and Webelos that participated. Everyone got a ribbon for participating. The first, second, and third place finishers got a medal.

Duncan was also part of the opening and closing flag ceremonies, and was assigned the U.S. flag.

I'm not sure how long that track is, but I want to say I've heard someone else say it was about 70 feet(?).

Afterward, Anna took the kids to get ice cream to celebrate Duncan's victory. (I left to go to a Wood Badge beading that same night.)

Here's the first race.

Here's the second official race. The race just before this, Duncan's car had jumped the lane it was on, so they did the race over again.

I believe there were a couple more races to determine the winner. Duncan's car was undefeated!

Duncan's car was the most "finished". I overheard one of the other newer parents saying they didn't know about weighting the cars, etc. Might make for some more exciting races next year.

We might also look into entering some district pinewood derbies. I'll have to find out when they are.

Anyway, good times!

could have been worse

It just didn't seem that I had the discipline this past week.

-Ate refreshments at a scout function last Saturday.
-Had the YM presidency and their families over on Sunday for dinner. Tried to limit my carbs and calories, but... nah. Had the extra rolls, and cake.
-Had the sister missionaries over for dinner on Monday. Same story as Sunday.
-Been munching on Honey Roasted Peanuts since Sunday. Bought them to snack on while watching some rugby with my presidency on Sunday after dinner.
-Missed one of my walking days.

So yeah, not too hard core this week.

Last week: 218.2
This week: 219.4
Gained: 1.2

Oddly enough, 219.4 is exactly what I weighed two weeks ago. With all the extra eating I did, to only have gained 1.2 pounds back isn't too bad. I'm going to try harder to be better this week. (But I guess I always say that.)

Duncan's turn again

Duncan pulled a tooth out this morning. It was only a couple days ago that he showed us that it was loose. Guess he had been working on loosening it more. He pulled it out all on his own. It's one of his top lateral incisors.


He was quite pleased with himself that he pulled it out all on his own. I'm not sure if he has any other loose teeth right now, but I know Liam does. I'm sure it won't be long till he's got that one out.

Fun times.

quite funny

We had the sister missionaries over for dinner yesterday. They got a kick out of the things the kids were saying. Here's an example-

Liam: Can I have a bun(roll)?

Anna: After you eat some of your dinner.

It took a while, but he eventually ate it.

Liam: Now can I have a bun?

Anna: Yes, would you like it with or without butter?

Liam: With butter! I love butter!

Anna cuts the roll, spreads on some butter, and hands it to Liam- who wasn't paying attention.

Liam: Hey!... Where's the butter? I said I wanted butter on it.

Anna: It has butter. It's on the inside. Look.

Liam opens the roll and sees the butter.

Liam: Oh... it's camouflage!


The sisters busted up! They thought that that was hilarious.

It was a good dinner.

monday music 03.08.10

This is a song that I hear on the radio often... and I'm glad I do. It's got a great sound. The group is called Five Finger Death Punch. I'm finding that I kind of like most of their stuff.

The song is titled, "Walk Away".

What do you think?

another tooth

Liam had another tooth come out yesterday.

It's one of the lower lateral incisors. They're both loose, but the one that was loosest, as it did with the two front teeth, got the most attention. He constantly wiggled and "messed" with it till it was pretty much hanging there, and Anna lassoed it. I'm sure it won't be long till the other lower lateral is lassoed out.

The two front adult teeth are descending pretty steadily. Every couple of days, it seems there's more of them visible. Liam is unfazed by it all. He's just happy to have another dollar to spend at the Dollar Tree.

friday flashback 03.05.10

Family portrait taken in 1994. (I'm pretty sure)

That would the the kids' ages- 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, & 11, that year.

As I look at this picture, I'm looking for things that are different, but all I can think of is how much we're still pretty much the same now as we were then. Obviously we're older, and are "aged", but other than that, no one is significantly different.

I find that I really like this picture.

slower than I thought

This week, I'm starting with the numbers-

Last week: 219.4
This week: 218.2
Loss total: 1.2

Any weight lost is better than no weight lost... but... I thought I would lose it faster than I am. I thought I'd be averaging closer to 3 pounds a week instead of about 1.5 pounds.

I'm sure the bottom line for that is my eating choices. If I ate strictly my diet foods, I'd probably see larger losses. But when Farmer Boys has cheeseburgers for 99 cents like they did last Saturday... . You get the idea.

So yeah, I'm only slightly flustered because I know it's me. I guess the real test would be to be hardcore on eating only my diet food for a week and have no "cheats". But, no "cheats"?! that's just crazy talk.

monday music 03.01.10

As I did some dishes this week, I reached for my iPod, and discovered that it was dead. Bummer. So I looked at the CD pile in the kitchen and decided to listen to Swoon, from the Silversun Pickups... GREAT CD!

The first song you hear on the record is called There's No Secret This Year. The opening guitar riff aways puts me in a good mood, and I become eager to hear the rest of the album.

Take a listen.


Good stuff.