Being Responsible

Matt and I had the opportunity to go out shopping and to dinner tonight without our children.  This is not a new thing, our kids staying home alone.  We started letting them stay home alone quit a while back.  Tonight was different though for one reason and one reason only.

We had a nice late afternoon of shopping at the Outlet Mall.  Matt found two new pair of tennis shoes.  One for working out/running and one for everyday wear.  I found a cute casual pair of sketchers that I had been wanting to get that just slip on with a strap across the top.  Matt also found a pair of casual pants that he really needed because his pants are starting to fall off.  Wouldn't want that to happen now would we?

After shopping we went to a place called the Cool Mint Cafe but they were full so we ended up at this new Thai place.  I forget the name.  When we finally finished dinner we headed home.  Now, when we left the house we had told the boys to be in bed by 8:00.  We do this every time we go out but they never seem to make it.  Matter of fact they are usually late by an hour.  So we were expecting to show up at home at 8:45 and find them still up.  We didn't stay out very late because of church the next day.

So here we come driving up to the house and it's dark inside.  No lights at all except for a nice glow from  Joshua's room from his night light.  We go inside and both of the boys are in bed with lights out.  I was so proud of them both.  But that is not all that happened tonight.  While we were at the restaurant eating, I think it was around 7:30 Sean called to ask if they could watch some Star Wars Clone Wars the TV show on the computer.  He could have just as easily of just done it but no.  He called and asked for permission.

What a night.  Our kids are becoming more responsible and I am so proud of them.  It is so nice to be able to trust them to do what they are suppose to do when we are away.  Way to go boys.

Health Nut

With all the changes that have come to our family these past three years I believe the most recent has been the most fun. I think I have officially been labelled a health nut. I am by no means perfect nor will I ever be but the physical health of my family has become a priority in my life.  Of course their spiritual health will always be at the top but that is not what we are talking about now.

One of the greatest things has recently come about.  My oldest son Sean has always dabbled with the idea of liking salad over the past year.  He would eat a little here and there.  Lately though he has become an all out salad lover.  His favorite salad is a mixed up nutty salad.  They serve it at Jason's Deli but is easy to create at home.  What it has in it is Romaine lettuce, some other mixed greens, grapes, raisins, cranberry's, sliced apple, walnuts, tomatoes, feta cheese and all drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.  We can fix him a huge plate of this salad and he will devour the whole thing.  It is rather delicious and Matt and I enjoy it too.

I am really proud of Sean and how he had adopted our new way of healthy living.  It just goes to show that even older kids can learn to like healthy foods.  If you have young kids start now with the healthy eating so they will learn as they grow and it will just be a normal part of their life when they are older.

Here's to yours and your kids health.

New Role

I've taken on a new role as speech therapist in our house. Joshua has been having problems with pronouncing the /th/ sound for quite a while.  I was hoping it might correct itself over time but it has not.  So now on a daily basis we will be having speech therapy.

One of the first things I need to do is determine which sound he is not articulating.  The voiced /th/ as in the word the or the unvoiced /th/ sound as in the word thanks.  Also, I need to determine if he is having problems with /th/ initial words, /th/ medial words, or /th/ final words.

Now, whether or not I can do this on my own without enlisting the help of a professional is yet to be determined.  I remember going to speech therapy in elementary for not being able to pronounce the \r\ sound.  So, I know the routine a little and there is tons of information on-line and some great books out there.  We will see what happens.

Consistency

I think one of the hardest things about being a parent is being consistent with your children.  I know for me it's like I go through these stages where I'm really consistent for a while and then gradually I slide right back into lazy parenting.  Parenting takes work and lots of it.  It's not a part time job that you can do sometimes and then other times you just checkout.  It is a total mind, body and soul, 24/7 job.  Throw into that the rest of your life and it can get pretty hectic.

Not only am I a parent but I have also taken on the role of teacher, among other things.  I homeschool our two boys which has turned out to be a true joy and a challenge at times.  One of my biggest challenges lately has been getting them to focus on their work and not want to talk to each other constantly about other things, like computer games for example.  So this week I have really been trying hard to be consistent with them on their punishment if they don't stay focused.  One thing I have done is remind them that school time is school time.  When they enter the "classroom" the rest of the world stays outside.  If they start talking about, say Starcraft, then they lose Starcraft for the day.  Now normally after school is all done and they have completed their daily chores they would get to have one hour of EPT(electronic playtime).  So you see how this is a good incentive.  This seems to be working well and I am hoping I can stick with it.

When it comes to parenting and teaching it is important to be organized and have a routine.  However, the most important part is to be flexible, have a tremendous amount of patience and pray a lot.

Weight loss update: Week 53

I have been loosing weight now for a year.  I have lost a total of 59.2 pounds as of today.  There have been times when I wonder if I will ever get to that end point.  Not sure exactly what that end point will be yet.  I've made small goals to reach and have reached all of them at a fairly good speed.

For the past few months things had slowed quite a bit.  Partly because of holidays and partly because I have not been putting as much effort into keeping my self on track as far as eating goes.  Not that I have gone back to eating all that processed garbage but have not been eating nearly as many vegetables as I used too.  

It is amazing the difference eating vegetable can make when you are trying to lose weight.  There is an actual pattern that I can follow.  The times when I have been very conscious about eating vegetables, the weight just falls off.  There are other times when I notice my vegetable eating has declined and I will either not lose anything or actually gain a little.  The funny part is that when I pick back up on the greens I lose it all back plus more.

This week for example what I call an up down week.  Lose a little, gain a little, lose a lot gain a little.  The past couple of days I have made a really good effort of eating more veggies and today it all paid off with a lose of 1.5 pounds which put me at my lowest weight.  I have to say right now that never at any time over the past year have I gained a lot of weight back.  Maybe a pound or a few ounces but only to lose it all back plus more.  Of course (sorry guys) some of those gains have been during that time of the month.  So most likely they were more water gain than anything.

I have noticed also over the year that when I haven't had much weight loss I have still been losing inches.  Since last January I have gone from a size 24W (plus size) to a size 16 ladies.  I no longer shop for clothes in the Women's (plus size) section.  Did you know that some stores don't even carry clothes over a size 16?  Just a little added trivia.

I set a goal to be at 199 by new years.  I am sad to say that I did not reach that goal.  However, I am currently at my lowest weight in I think 10 years.  I now way 204.8 pounds and I am hoping to reach that 199lb goal my the end of this month.

That is how things are going in a nutshell.  I hope someone finds this encouraging.  If you want to know what I am doing to lose weight and become a healthier me, just leave a comment and I will be happy to share that in another post.

Have a good day and God bless you all!

Practice What You Preach

Something has been bugging me lately.  I hear Christians all the time complain about how horrible media is and how it has just infiltrated our homes.  They make it sound like they have no say in whether or not those things are in there homes or not.  You see the thing is you do have a choice.  You could not watch them.  Or better yet just cut cable out of your life completely.

So, here's the question.  If this is how Christians feel, then why don't they do something about it instead of just continually complaining.  Why let your kids watch too much TV or spend too much time on the computer?  Why do we as adults come home from work and sit ourselves down in front of the TV and remain there for the rest of the night with the exception of eating?  Oh wait.  I forgot.  We eat in front of the TV too.

When was the last time you ate dinner at the table together as a family?  Do you eat dinner in front of the TV more than one night a week?  I can understand special Friday night movie nights.  But come on.  What ever happened to the good old family style meals where the family gathers around the dinner table and shares a meal together?  I'll tell you what happened to it.  We let the media and the world take it away from us.  Did you notice how I said let.

That's right.  We let the media fill our homes with all that garbage.  We are letting the media take family from us.  We are letting media influence us and our children.  If you don't like it then do something about it.  Everyone has heard the saying, "practice what you preach".  In other words if you are going to get on your soap box and gripe and complain about media and how horrible it is, then you better be willing to back those words up and actually take action.  Otherwise what you are saying doesn't mean a thing.

My challenge to you all is that if you feel this way about media, then do something about it.  Don't just preach about it.

Is God Stupid

I recently watched a youtube video by Sean Croxton titled Is God Stupid:  Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Chicken Skin. Basically the premise of this video was the thought that when God created all this food for us to eat he must have been stupid because the FDA, CDC, and most doctors and nutritionalist tell us to stay away from things that are naturally occurring in some foods, ie. saturated fat.  So what they are saying is that they know better than God.  He also made a great point when he stated that with all the processed foods, medicines etc. people just keep getting more sick.  All the foods that man has created are just making people sicker.  The medicines aren't helping people live longer, they are just keeping them alive longer.


Why do we continue listening to these people when what they are telling us to do isn't making things better but making things worse.  I encourage you to watch the video and make up your own mind.  Is God stupid?  Do we really know better than God?  Or are we just being fed a bunch of bull to get us to spend more money?