The Challenge! Week 6 When In France

The Challenge Week 6! When in France....

Quoted from Diaper Diaries:

Remember back when you were dating your hubby and that firework sensation that came from a really good kiss? How come those “feel it all the way in your toes” kisses are far and few between once you’ve been married a while? I told one of my single friends once that once you get married you just kind of stop making out. She almost started to cry. Cause who wouldn’t want a good make out session?

Instead, it sometimes feels like “oh, you’re kissing me with tongue, that must mean you want sex.” What if you sprung one of those kisses on your hubby when it couldn’t be followed up upon? Now, I am not talking about some sort of teasing torture. That would be wrong (fun, but wrong). I’m saying maybe when he comes home and the kids aren’t paying much attention (lest you scar them for life), you plant a big one on him. Then smile slyly and move along. Build some anticipation that was so prevalent when dating. Then later, have a little make out session before getting down to business. Pretend for a moment the inevitable…isn’t inevitable.

Tim and do ok in this aspect. I pretty much can't get to the main course without an appetizer, so we HAVE to have adequate foreplay. Go for it!

The Challenge! Week 5! Double your Pleasure, Double your FUN!

Welcome to week 5 of the Challenge.

This is the post to divert your eyes from, if you do not want to read about my sex life.

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Quoted from Diaper Diaries:

"Ok, ladies, this week we step it up!!

Which I completely realize I said last week, but you guys are pros at this challenge now, so I know you can do it. This challenge is for the rest of the month of February. It is the month were we are supposed to be extra lovey dovey and remember that we love people in case we forgot the rest of the year. So there will still be weekly challenges, but you have to keep this one going for the whole month. Got it?

For this month you are to double your weekly frequency. First, here are the caveats. If you are one of those women who wrote me that you are a 3 time a weeker, you need not double it. You are more than welcome to, God Bless You!!! But you are already rockin this challenge. This one is for those of us with a bit lower numbers. Maybe you can just stand on the sidelines and cheer us on (not literally, that would be weird).

If you aren’t having sex once a week, then start with a baby step. Double your monthly frequency, your yearly frequency, whatever. Just double something. Oddly enough, sex is like a lot of habits. The more you do it, the more of a habit it will become and I find, the more you want to do it. I once heard a speaker say to put a little heart on the calendar every time you have a night of romance. The goal is for a month full of hearts. And your mother won’t suspect anything kinky cause it is February and you can just tell her you really got in the Valentine’s spirit with the calendar this year.

Ok ladies, are you in?"

Well, I'm in, as a cheerleader! We're getting it in at least 2-4 times a week right now, and I can't really handle any more! Good Luck!

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The Challenge Week 2

Mama Needs a New Pair of Panties

Quoted from Diaper Diaries:

OK ladies, lets talk undergarments. Was the last time your panties had elastic in the Clinton administration? Is your underwear hitting somewhere around your bellybutton?

Perhaps it’s time to overhaul your underwear drawer. Baby steps. I am not talking about plunking down $500 at Victoria’s Secret for a bunch of lingerie. I am just talking about a few new pairs of panties. BTW- Vicky’s secret? She has no cellulite or stretch marks from having babies. Let’s not be intimidated by her standard.

I firmly believe it is difficult to feel sexy in “grannie” panties. And I am nearly positive it is hard for your hubby to find you sexy in them. First, let’s just dispel the myth that sexy panties=thong. I know some women swear by their comfort, but I personally don’t enjoy flossing my behind. Sexy simply means something you feel sexy in. So go buy yourself 5 new pairs of pretty panties. They don’t have to be pricey, just pretty.

There is a catch. You must go through your drawer and rid yourself of any pair of underwear that is in the “definitely un-sexy” category. I know all the excuses for hanging onto them. Pregnancy, your faithful monthly visitor, working out. The problem is that often they make their way back into the regular rotation when we get behind in the laundry. If you insist on hanging onto them, get them out of your regular drawer so you won’t be tempted to pull them out during a bad laundry week. Again, no excuses ladies. Get rid of them.

Have fun. To really have fun, let the hubby help pick them out. To really, really have fun, do as one of my readers did. Call your hubby at work, tell him you have thrown out all your panties and that you will be home panti-less until he brings you home some. And then pray like a bandit that he doesn’t get in an accident on the way home. For extra credit this week, buy a matching bra. Every woman should have one bra and panty ensemble. Cause sometimes, just feeling sexy is half the battle.

So what do you think? Are you in?

Well, I didn't originally participate in Week 2, because we didn't have the funds at the time to go out shopping. Since then, I have purchased 1 new bra & found one hiding in my drawer. Bringing my good/fitting bra count up to 3. Yahoo! Last night, with my Valentine's Day money, I bought 7 pairs of Microfiber undies. They aren't SUPER sexy or anything like that, their just different colored nylon/microfiber underwear. Tim says he likes them, even when I'm not dressed up at all, so I figured this would be a nice thing to spend some of my V-Day budget on. He is already enjoying them! Hee hee...

The Challenge: Week 4 "Shock and Awe"

The Challenge Week 4: Mandy, you might not want to read this one!

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Well, it's Week 4 of the Challenge. I'm still in & I'm exited about this month, since I am hopeful we will get our pregnancy blessing this month! This week's challenge is especially close to home, since Tim and I have been discussing it the last couple days. He wants me to initiate and take charge more often & well, I just don't want to & can't get into it. I guess it's a mind-over-matter thing and I need to get over it & TRY. So, here goes.

From Diaper Diaries:

I don’t know if you have told your hubby about the challenge or not. Maybe he hasn’t noticed suddenly the bedroom has been rearranged. I hope he noticed the new undergarments (if not, you probably need to think sexier). But if he hasn’t noticed yet, I hope he notices this week. This week’s challenge is all about the element of surprise. So hubbies, avert your eyes.
If your sex life is like most housewives I talk to, evenings look like this: Do some cleaning up, organizing, miscellaneous things you couldn’t accomplish with kids around. Watch a little TV, surf the internet. Finally get to bed about 1/2 hour past exhausted. Head hits the pillow only to feel a little tap on the shoulder (or worse). You roll over and groan as you see “the look” in his eyes. The words, “I’m so tired” or “It’s so late” or even “You must be kidding me?” might be uttered. Sound familiar?
How about instead of the above scenario, you take command of the evening. Put the kids to bed and tell the hubby you need him to come do some made up chore in the bedroom (hang curtains, fix the dresser knob, fold socks, whatever). When he enters, you pounce. Hubbies get really tired of asking and getting shot down. It is a serious blow to his self esteem and self worth. So, this week, you initiate. He may fall over from the surprise, but then you will have him on his back, right where you want him. I can’t wait to hear how it goes.

So, I'm looking forward to it & I'm going to definitely give it a try. If you want to join in, just click over to Diaper Diaries, grab the button, and then start with Week 1! Good Luck!

The Challenge! Week 3

Mandy, this is one of those posts you might not want to read!

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Well, let's see. I skipped the challenge last week, because it required you to toss your grannie panties & wear sexy underwear. OR better yet, to go out and buy new sexy undies and well our budget just doesn't allow for that. Since I couldn't really participate in that challenge I didn't blog it either. This week's challenge is especially true for me.

First, here's a description from The Diaper Diaries:


If you are new to The Challenge, please start here first.

Last weeks challenge was a good reminder about how much of a factor self image is in our marital sex lives. Let’s just admit that there isn’t a whole lot sexy about the post baby body. A flabby tummy, stretch marks, saggy boobs, the list goes on. And I don’t care how skinny, well endowed, stretch mark free you are, most women have a laundry list of things they don’t like about their naked body.
I once heard a speaker at a marital conference say, “When wives are naked they are thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I am so fat (flat, ugly, flabby, etc).’, while their husbands are thinking, ‘Holy cow my wife is naked and I get to have sex!’”
Seriously ladies we need to cut ourselves some slack and give our hubbies some credit. I will admit I am shocked sometimes that my hubby still finds me sexy, but for some reason he does. I would bet a large amount of cash that your hubby does also (wait, find you attractive, not me…that would be very wrong). Do you know what a blessing that is? Are you taking it for granted?
So this week’s challenge, I will admit may be difficult for many of us. Your first two weeks were pretty easy though so let’s step it up a bit. Ready? Have sex with the lights on. Most women I know typically prefer it to be so dark they can’t even see their hand in front their face, but men are visual creatures. They were created by God to be that way. So let’s put aside our own insecurities and enjoy our husband’s enjoyment of us.
Now this doesn’t have to mean harsh fluorescent spotlights, you can use a dimmer. But the key is, he needs to be able to see you. No hiding under the covers ladies. And be kind to yourself. If you are hating yourself, you are going to have a hard time enjoying yourself. Jennifer Aniston on the cover of GQ is a bunch of airbrushed hooey. That is not a standard I intend to hold myself to and I don’t think your hubby does either. Get your “I am super sexy” mindset on and have fun with this.
Check back next Monday for your weekly challenge. Are you in?


Ok, so for me, this is VERY difficult. Not having the lights on, that's a matter of convenience really. If they're on, they stay on, if they're off they generally stay off. Today, Tim asked me to get up and turn them on, and I did. He wanted to be able to see me & actually told me & complimented me while he was at it. Which is nice, but I still felt fat. I really felt fat when he also told me WHERE & HOW he wanted me. OMG...really fat. I kept saying "Am I squishing you? Can you breath?" It really couldn't have been pretty. In my head, I see a beached whale trying to get back into the water. Um, yea, moving away from that visual.
I have serious issues with my self image. I hate the way I look in all of my clothing & I rarely feel "sexy." That's why I'm participating in Think Thin Thursdays and really trying to lose weight. So far, I've lost 1 lb. and I'm holding steady at 193. Small steps. Hopefully, my Wii Fit will help me with my weight, flexability, and strength and I'll be a little more adventurous in the bedroom!

So, anyway, I'm in, I'll try this week! I really will!

Good luck ladies, go get 'em!

The Challenge! Week 1

Our bedrooms should be a haven. I find, it’s pretty hard to get in the mood with piles of dirty laundry waiting to be folded staring you down. So, your first assignment is to turn your bedroom into a romantic retreat.


Lose the TV: I once watched an Oprah (though not in my bedroom) where a woman proudly admitted that she watched Oprah while having sex with her husband. That’s about the worst thing you can do with a TV in the bedroom, but frankly I can’t think of many better reasons for it. I love TV as much as the next gal, probably more than the next girl, but it is a passion killer in the bedroom. One study showed that couples who have TVs in the bedroom have sex half as often as those who don’t. So lose the TV and focus on each other while in bed. No excuses on this one ladies, I have heard them all and I ain’t buyin’ it.



OK. So we are SO guilty of this one. Tim and I had sex watching Harry Potter the other night. At least we're still getting it. Hee hee.... I can't focus if a series is on though, so the night we got started in the middle of Star Trek, Tim had to go turn it off! Fortunately, we don't have an actual TV in our bedroom, just the laptop. It's pretty easy to just shut the lid. We've gone through phases where we listen to Adventures in Odyssey or talk radio before bed, but Tim was raised with the whole t.v. watching thing, so it's hard to kick. Probably the most effective way for me to impliment this is to say, no computer "t.v." during my fertile phase. That way we can focus on each other when it really counts. We don't do much when I'm not fertile b/c it hurts.


Tone down pictures of the kids: I can’t think of anything that kills the mood faster than glancing over at pictures of my kids. Don’t get me wrong, I think my kids are the cutest things since sliced bread, but I keep their pictures up in other parts of the house. If you really want pics of the kids in your room, just avoid putting them right next to the bed.



Seeings how we don't have any kids, this one isn't a problem for us!


Get rid of the clutter: Try and keep your room picked up. If I see messes waiting to be cleaned up, I have a hard time focusing on the task at hand. If you really want to be creative, tell the hubby you can’t focus on the task at hand with the room so messy. You will be amazed at how quickly the room stays clean. Of course, I would NEVER encourage manipulation…



This is another one that's not really a problem for us. The laundry that needs folded is in the guest room, the closet door is closed to the laundry, and I clean off our dresser at least once a week. Our room stays pretty tidy. (Except for the floor b/c the dogs all shed!) One thing I did do to help out the bedroom is I bought a natural de-odorizer at the pet store. It's a bag of volcanic rock & it is really reducing the doggy odor!


Get romantic lighting: No one wants to see themselves naked under harsh fluorescent lighting (let’s face it most of us don’t want to see ourselves naked at all). Install dimmer switches or light bulbs that can be set on different light settings. Better yet, get some yummy smelling candles and create an even more romantic mood.



Hmm....we've never really tried candles or anything. There's just enough light coming in through our window that we don't need a light on or anything. We do have a 3 way lamp in our bedroom that we sometimes have on, if we've been reading in bed.


Try some mood music: Get a CD player and put on some music that puts you in the mood. I won’t even give suggestions cause one persons Enya is another persons Van Morrison. Use whatever works for you.



This is another good idea. Perhaps I could put together a playlist at playlist.com for bedtime that includes mood music & relaxing music. This would solve the bedtime t.v. problem, would be relaxing, and would help with setting the mood!


You’re not even required to have sex. Although you will get extra credit if you do So what do you think? Are you in?



I'm definitely in! Do you want to join? There's a button on my sidebar, link up & get to "hopping"!



Now, let me add 2 things that have been nice this week for Tim and I.



We are making a commitment to start reading our Bible's daily. I found this webpage that outlines a way to read the entire Bible in a year. We're going to do it chronologically and then talk about it together.



Second, we have ventured a tiny bit outside of my comfort zone in the bedroom & it really makes Tim happy. When he's happy & into it, that helps me out, so it's been VERY nice!



(Insert big cheesy, toothy, smiley grin here!)