Stuff Happens, Get Over It

Stuff happens. Life isn't fair. When life gives you lemons make lemonade. The bumpier the road, the more we appreciate the destination. 

Life happens.  We can't always control the way things go because most of life we are surrounded by people and people aren't perfect. Sometimes we can't choose what's going to happen. We can have a plan. Have in our minds the way we want things to happen. Then bam. Life. Maybe you're dating a bum of a boyfriend. Maybe you're married to an uninvolved, nonpresent kind of a man. Maybe worse. Maybe you didn't get to choose your parents and they didn't turn out too great. What if none of that matters now?

We have a choice. Every day we wake up and have a decision to make. Every bed has two sides and we have to decide which side we are getting up on. Are we going to wake up and live in the past. Let the past rule us and control our future. Or. Are we going to wake up and get through it. Move on. Leave the past where it belongs. Behind us. It's not going to be easy. There will be struggles. And we must keep pushing on. Powering through. 

God did not give us a spirit of timidity. He gave us a spirit of power, love and self-control(2 Timothy 1:7). Power to overcome, love to forgive those that have hurt us, and self-control so that we can strive to be the kind of person God wants us to be. 

Stuff happens. Let's let God help us get over it.

People

People will always disappoint you because people are human. They are not perfect, they don't know everything and sometimes nothing at all. People will do things and say things based on what they believe even if those beliefs have no real basis. People will cling to how they are raised and not even try to come to their own conclusions based on their own research and study. And even then it's hard to change.

It's easier to cling. People do this because it's comfortable. People don't like taking chances, taking a leap and venturing out on faith. It's not safe. One could get hurt. One could offend someone. One could fail. One could disappoint. It's scary.

Living like Christ commanded is scary. So we have a choice. We can stay where we are. We can sit in the same pew week after week. Or we can take a chance with God. Let him take over. It's time to be in the passenger seat and let God lead us where he wants us to go...or stay. Sometimes staying can be uncomfortable. But it's in the discomfort that growth occurs.

The Weight Loss Journey Continues

Recap

Back in January 2010 we started changing the way we ate in our family.  We got rid of all processed foods and just started eating real.  From then until February 2011 I had managed to lose around 80 pounds and went from a size 3XL to an XL.  This was when I found out I was pregnant with Nathan who is now 1.  I continued eating healthy throughout the pregnancy and managed to not gain any weight but instead lost an additional six pounds.  For some reason though since he was born in November 2011 I got lazy and stopped eating so healthy and have gained some of that weight back.  Still in the same size clothes mostly though.  So now I have to do some backtracking and lose that previously lost weight and move on from there.

I am calling this Weight loss Part 2.

Begin date:  January 21, 2013

I started doing Zumba at the Y before the new year.  I was going with friends but they all backed out and I was going by myself which was fine if not as much fun.  However between the boys basket ball practice and needing to watch Nathan I decided to just buy the Wii Zumba Core so I can just do it at home.  It is easier to fit in my workouts that way.  This week I was able to get in four(two on Monday) which were a lot of fun.  I am hoping to get back to the gym at some point but this will due for now.

As far as eating goes, this week was mostly a success.  I managed to say away from processed foods most of the week except Thursday night at Happy Mom's Club.  I ate a store bought cookie.  Just one mind you but I don't know what I was thinking because I don't really like store bought cookies.  They were just there and everyone was eating them.  Then one of the mom's showed up with HOMEMADE whole wheat bread.  Yum!  I did manage to have only a quarter of a slice which in and of itself was amazing.  Wish I hadn't had that nasty store bought cookie though.  It was one of those red velvet chewy cookies with icing on it.  Tasted good but fake.  Would have much rather had a whole piece of bread.  At least it doesn't have any additives or preservatives in it.

I used to do so much better at resisting the bad carbs.  I was like a rock before Nathan was born.  Now I am back to craving them but it is getting better.  The longer I keep them out of my system the easier it will be to say no.  My plan is to just take one day at a time.

With all that said, today was weigh in day and I lost 2.4 pounds this week(Mon.-Fri-).  Not bad for the first week.  Can't think that it could have been more if I hadn't had that cookie or that bread Thusday night and the ice cream Friday night(forgot to mention that part).

Still.  All in all a good first week.  Next week will be better.

Complicated Parenting

I wrote this a while back before Nathan was born. Thought I would share.

Parenting today has been made to be so complicated. As if it isn't already hard enough. With all the books and rules that the "experts" put out. To me they just seem to cause more trouble. First of all what makes them experts anyway? A PhD? And did you know that some of these people that are putting these books out don't even have any kids of their own. What's up with that?

I am not saying that there aren't good books out there with wonderful information in them. I read all the time and there are many books that I would be eager to recommend to parents to read. But come on. No wonder parents today are so confused about what to do with there kids. They read all these books and try to follow all the rules and can't figure out why they aren't working.

The key is to figure out what works best for you and your child in your situation. There are some things that are just givens. They are just things you have to do. But a lot of the other information out there is just extra fluff. Stuff to try and see if it will work. But if it doesn't work then for goodness sake try something else. Don't keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Move on. Just because an "expert" says to do it doesn't mean it will work with your child.

I guess you could say that I am old school. Even though I don't consider myself to be old. I believe in holding and rocking and snuggling your baby to sleep. I don't think you can ruin a child that way. I have two prime examples with my own two boys. That is how I would put them to sleep most of the time. I loved it, they loved it and they were very happy well adjusted easy babies. As they grew older we gradually phased into laying them in the crib while being almost asleep and then laying them down while still awake. It was an easy transition. But I would still sit and rock and read them a bedtime story.

Now, parents are told not to do these things. That if you hold your baby to much and rock them to sleep or hold them while they are sleeping they wont learn to sleep on their own. Instead they are suppose to just lay them in their crib and leave them to cry it out. Then they wonder why their babies are so fussy all the time. I'm not saying there isn't a time and a place for this but I believe parents may do it too soon.

Babies need the tender touch, the snuggling, the tender tone of your voice. It's through that they learn to feel secure enough to go to sleep on there own. Knowing that you are there and will take care of them if they need you.

That's just one area that I have been thinking about lately. This next subject is pointed mostly at mothers and is the subject of breastfeeding and all the rules that freak mom's out. I personally was not able to breastfeed my two boys for physical reasons. I have and do know women that are and I have read a lot on the subject. So of course I have my own opinion on the matter which I am eager to share.

Forget about the rules. They will just make you feel like you aren't doing things right and stress you out which will stress the baby out. Just do what feels right. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Do whatever works for you.

I forget who it was but I read or heard a lactation nurse recently talking about when they first started "teaching" mom's how to breast feed. She said that this was the turning point when mom's started bottle feeding more. That all the rules and different holds that are taught to mothers today only make things more complicated and end up stressing the mother out. Which in turn effects the baby and things just go down hill from there. I have a tendency to agree with her.

I only got a brief taste of this but I remember in the hospital a " lactation consultant " coming in to show me how to nurse. I remember her putting Sean in this very awkward, unnatural position. I believe she called it the "football hold" and then taking my breast in her cold hand and shoving it in his mouth. You could say I was a wee bit uncomfortable. It turned out that I was not able to produce enough milk anyway so that's all water under the bridge now. But I can understand a little about what that lactation nurse from before was talking about.

Something else she said was that mom's just need to relax, lay back with the baby at their breast and they will know what to do. How simple is that. Think about it though. Women have been having babies and feeding babies since the beginning of time. All babies are born with an instinct to nurse. God created them that way. I believe that God gave women the instinct to know what to do as well. We just have to listen to what nature is telling us to do and not the world.

Who are we to come in and make up all these rules that are suppose to improve the situation. Haven't you noticed that when humans try to improve on something that God has already set up perfectly it just ends up making things worse.

I guess what I am trying to say through all of this is to relax. Read the books but realize that they are not the holy grail of parenting knowledge. Listen to the advise that family is so eager to give but only use what will work for you and yours. Keep in mind that every child is different and what works with one may not work with another. Enjoy the time that you have with you little ones. It only comes once and is gone in the blink of an eye. Finally, pray for wisdom and patience. You will need them both as the years go by.

May God bless you and your families as you endeavor to do the most important task of raising your children.

Six Weeks and Growing? Actually Now He's Six Months

I was looking at my blog which I never post on and found this from back in December which I never finished.  Wanted to share and add too.
---

Another wonderful week has gone by as the mother of three boys.  We are all adjusting well and the boys are both very helpful.  Sean has gotten really good at fixing bottles and doesn't mind changing a wet diaper from time to time.  He even volunteers on occasion, of course it's usually when he should be doing is school work.=)  He has also become very helpful with cleaning up the kitchen when I need him too.  Sean has become quite the helper.  Nathan has grown so much since the day I brought him home.  Just this week he has gotten really good at pushing his chest up off the floor.
----

Nathan is now six months and WOW have things changed.  Sean is even more helpful now.  I don't have to ask him to clean the kitchen anymore.  He just does it on his own after breakfast and lunch if it's needed.  He has become quite the baby sitter too.  He can now feed, change clothes and diapers(both kinds without complaint) and put Nathan to bed.  Matt and I are officially back to dating whenever we feel like it.  Joshua is Nathan's entertainer.  He is always trying to get him to laugh and usually does. He likes to warm up the bottles when needed and is Sean's sidekick when babysitting.  They are quite the team.

Nathan loves both of his brother and will try to catch their attention anytime they come in the room.  Of course now Nathan is doing much more than lifting his head.  In the last four and a half months he has learned to roll over, turn in circles, sit up, lunge forward, inch worm, reach for things, turn over his basket of toys and most recently crawl. The boy's all over the place and doing so much more.  He loves to read books and anytime he see's one he has to have it.  He is the happiest baby and laughs, sings and talks to everything and anyone.  Just in the last week he has started reaching out for people that he loves and recognizes.

I was not able to breastfeed so I went with the next best option of making our own formula using a recipe from the Weston A. Price Foundation website.  You can check it out at this link http://www.westonaprice.org/faq/faq-homemade-baby-formula.  The reason I chose to make the homemade formula was because I like that it was made with real ingredients and I knew exactly what all of them were and why they were in there.

This month he started on his real food journey.  I say "real" food journey because we are only feeding him food that God made.  Nothing fake or processed.  We started him off on egg yolk instead of the normal processed rice cereal.  After the egg yolk he tried banana which he loved.  I'd have to say it's his favorite so far. Then it was avocado but it wasn't a big hit.  His most recent was pureed chicken and we reintroduced avocado again which he enjoyed this time around.  I'm glad because avocado is loaded with healthy fats which little ones need.  I'd have to say that he is loving his food journey.  We've only give him table food at dinner so far because he still needs milk to be most of his diet.

We are introducing foods based on the Weston A. Price Guidelines and others that follow a whole foods diet.  http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/nourishing-a-growing-baby

It's nice having a baby in the house again and I am glad that we are living a healthier life.  I am glad too that I have learned that it's my job to educate myself about health and nutrition so I can make the right choices for my family.  No longer will I follow blindly.

And he just keeps growing.

Nathaniel is growing so fast.  His smile has been melting my heart almost since he was born and the way he would turn his head when he heard my voice would make anyone feel special.  He is moving into 0-3 mths clothing now and is already in size 1 diapers.  He lifts and holds his head and chest up really well now and loves to look around at everything.  He is already starting to bounce using his own leg strength but it doesn't last for very long. His new thing this week has been him trying to push up using his arms. He make the sweetest noises and it's almost as if he's trying to carry on a conversation.  It always amazes me how quickly babies grow and learn.  He is truly miraculous and such a blessing to me.

pregnancy weightloss

Joshua hugged me today and said that he can reach further around me.  Matt came home from work today and hugged me and said that I feel and look thinner.  It seems like every part of me is still shrinking except my belly.  It must be the weights and swimming because I eat almost twice the amount that I used too.  I am still losing weight but not losing as much as I have been.  This last week I only lost .9 pounds.  I had been losing from 1.5 to 2 pounds a week.  So maybe the baby is starting to catch up with me.  My belly is definitely starting to come out more.  My regular pant are getting uncomfortable for sitting in.  Even my favorite pair that stretch a little at the waist.  I've been warned not to wear them to long or they will get stretched all out of whack.  So I am heeding her advice and probably wont be wearing them for much longer.

I don't want any of you to think that I am trying to lose weight because I am most certainly not.  That would be a stupid thing to do.  I'm just continuing on my healthy eating and exercise which I plan to do throughout my entire pregnancy until I can't fit in the machines anymore or it becomes uncomfortable.  I figure I will probably be able to swim the whole time.  I'll be the big buoy in the water. lol

It will be fun to see my doctors reaction when I go to my next appointment which is June 5 and still haven't gained any weight.  She will most likely be fine with it.  I'm just going with the flow.  We will see what the future brings.

My First Trimester in a Nutshell

On the last day of my first trimester I have decided to blog.  My son got on to me yesterday because I haven't written a post in a while.  So here I am.  It will be difficult to write about an entire trimester but I will do my best to without boring you too much.  Of course if you end up getting bored you can always just stop reading and that would take care of that problem.

One can not describe the feelings that have been going through my head these past weeks.  Feelings of utter elation to thoughts about how crazy I must be to start all over again after having one son practically raised and one half way raised.  Alas, here I am and I have come to terms with the fact that I am starting over.  Oh but what a journey it will be and what fun times we all will have.  The boys are so excited about having a little SISTER or brother that they can hardly stand themselves.  Especially Joshua.  He keeps coming up to me and hugging and kissing my belly and saying, "I love you Kaydence".  Yes he is determined that it is a girl.  I keep telling him that it could be a boy and he has even helped me come up with some boy names but he still keeps calling it Kaydence.  Then he will throw in "or Nathan or Ethan or Obadiah".  Like I said, he has been helping to come up with names.  Sean has more of a mellow approach to the whole thing but is still very excited.

As far as how I have been feeling these past few month.  Things haven't been too bad.  I had a few weeks with some nausea but it all went away and now if it wasn't for my increased appetite and exhaustion I wouldn't even think I was pregnant.  Of course I've actually seen the baby and heard it's heartbeat which definitely makes it more real.  I did have a couple of scares with some bleeding but there wasn't any cramping and the baby is still in there.  The doctor just said that it could have been caused by a number of things and that it isn't anything to worry about.  That's nice to know but when you are the person that is pregnant it kind of freaks you out.  Everything is fine though and the baby is very healthy and continuing to grow.

As everyone knows, before I got pregnant I was in the process of losing weight. Well of course with being pregnant losing weight kind of falls on the side burner.  That's what I thought anyway.  I have just continued with eating healthy and exercising as I have been doing with a few minor adjustments.  There are a few weight machines that I no longer do because it is uncomfortable.  I have lowered my weight resistance a little so I don't strain or pull anything.  Two doctors appointments ago after meeting with the doctor we met with this lady who explained to us how I should be eating (LOL) and about exercising.  She said that I shouldn't be lifting anything over 25lbs.  So at my next work out I tried the whole 25lbs thing and decided that If I was going to be in that gym and only lift 25lbs I might as well not go at all.  Can anyone say feather weight?  It was like I wasn't lifting anything.  Especially my legs.  Now my arms were okay with 25 on some of the machines.  I understood what she was saying but that was crazy.  So I am just being careful and still making sure my muscles don't go to mush during these nine months.

Now, I said that I was not trying to lose weight while pregnant.  Never a good thing to do but since I have continued to eat healthy and exercise and I have a little parasite in me eating up every little morsel that I seem to devour(which is a lot) I am still losing weight.  Actually at a quicker rate now than I was before I was pregnant.  Just since the middle of February I have lost 16lbs and I really don't think that is going to be the end of it.  I eat and eat but it never seems to matter.  The weight keeps going down.  The doctor is actually happy about it.  She knows how I've been eating and all the changes that my family has made over the past year and a half.  She says as long as I'm eating healthy and the baby is growing than there isn't anything to worry about.  So here's to me and getting skinny while being pregnant.  Eventually it will all catch up and I will start gaining some baby weight but honestly I am hoping that all it will be is baby weight.  I am still overweight and health wise can not afford to put on any extra weight.

Since I am overweight that puts me at higher risk of developing gestational diabetes.  So I am being extra careful to keep my sugar intake low.  I really don't want to take any chances.  I opted out of the first glucose screening which Dr. Rutter was fine with but there is another one sometime towards the end of my second trimester or beginning of my third.  I'm not sure she will let me out of that one.  I guess we will see how the pregnancy is going then and how much weight I have lost or gained by then.  Can't really make any assumption on something that is still a ways off and depends on so many factors that have not come to be yet.

I did forget to mention something.  One thing that I found out during this whole thing is that I have failed thyroid.  So I am currently on medication because my thyroid doesn't function.  This could also play a role in my losing weight.  I started taking the medicine around the same time that I found out I was pregnant.  Your thyroid function has some impact on your ability to lose weight.  As much as I hate taking medication this is one instance where I don't see another alternative.  Not something I want to be messing around with while I'm pregnant.

I guess that pretty much sums it all up.  Tomorrow is the beginning of my second trimester.  May it pass as quickly as the first and be better than the first.

Baby update: Week 7

I've decided to do away with the weight loss updates and start a baby update.  How my baby is growing is much more interesting and more important.

I do continue to lose weight.  I believe since I found out I was pregnant I have lost over 5 pounds. I am now at my lowest weight of 194.4 lbs.  After I lose that .4 lbs I will have lost a total of 70 lbs all together. I will keep you informed on my weight, which I am sure will start going up eventually.  But I like to look at it as the babies weight going up, not mine.  With me still being overweight, I will need to watch my weight gain.  I have a good feeling though that with me continuing to eat healthy and exercising I will be able to keep the weight gain to a minimum.

Now, due to the crazy growing that the baby and my uterus has been going through, I have been experiencing abdominal cramping(growing pains).  More than I ever did with the boys.  Matter of fact, I don't remember having any with the boys.  This week it seems to have increased quite a bit.

I was just reading an article about it this morning.  It said and I quote, "Women whose abdominal muscles are tightest will experience these cramps with more frequency than women with more supple abdominals."  I think that's a nice way of saying squishy abdominals, which is what I had when I was pregnant with the boys. That explains a lot.  So basically, the more abdominal muscles you have the more often and worse your cramps could be because of the stretching of the muscles.  Great!  So all those crunches and ab work I've been doing just set me up for cramping?  Well at least they will also help me shrink back down.

The nausea that I was experiencing last week seems to have subsided.  I guess it was traded for growing pains.  I seem to find myself wanting to eat a little more often than usual and the bathroom is visited quite often still.  I know that will continue throughout the entire pregnancy.  We wont go into what my chest feels like on a regular basis(TMI).

All things are normal on the baby front except that a lot of what I am experiencing I did not experience with either of the boys.  I had no nausea, no cramping, no breast soreness(sorry men).  Who knows why I am with this one.  Could be cause I am healthier now and my body is doing what it is suppose to be doing for a change.  Could be cause it is a girl!  Maybe!=)  Or all of the above.

We will see what new adventures this week will bring.

Weight loss update

Yeah, I am below 200.  I weighed in at 199.7 this morning.  I have just been on this gradual slide these past couple of weeks.  Could be cause I'm pregnant or it could be because my body just kicked back in gear.  I remember when I was pregnant with Joshua and was exercising the first few month I lost weight.  Maybe this one will be the same way.  I'm certainly not trying to.  My goal now is not to lose weight but to just keep my focus on eating healthy, exercising and to do all I can to have a healthy baby.  If I happen to lose more weight, well, I wont turn down that gift either.

Weight Loss Update: Week 59 1/2

This week has been a constant loss for me except for one little hick-up of a .4 gain one day.  Other than that it has been all down hill.  I think this is one time when down hill is a good thing.  I wont keep you in suspense any longer though.

I have again reached my lowest weight of 200.4.  Not much more and I will be below 200.  If I can keep myself from eating too much pasta at the Teachers Appreciation Dinner tonight then I might actually make it this weekend.  How exciting that will be to weigh under 200 lbs.

There could be a slight catch to my weight loss journey.  Something that will eventually slow it down for a while.  I found our recently that I am pregnant.  Yes you read it right.  I am going to have a BABY!  So you see why I say that eventually my weight loss will stop.  Who know when though.  I am not worried about it at all.  I figure I'll just keep eating healthy like I've been doing and exercising the same until it gets uncomfortable then I will have to do some adjustments. 

I don't think I will have to make many changes when it comes to my exercise.  I already made one change by starting to swim.  That is something that I should be able to continue through out the pregnancy.

I am super excited about the whole thing and look forward to seeing how this will effect my weight loss.  Who knows, I may come out of this whole thing weighing less than I did going in.  You never know, it could happen. With my second pregnancy(Joshua) I lost weight in the first few months and wasn't eating nearly as healthy as I am now.  I did do water aerobic for the first few months but then I had to stop because I no longer had access to the class.

Since I am overweight I am not suppose to gain as much weight as if I was normal weight.  I believe it's somewhere between 15-25lbs.  So I am going to keep doing what I'm doing.  I know one thing.  If people start telling me that I need to eat more because I'm eating for two or being pregnant is an excuse to eat whatever I want.  I think I might scream.

I've been there done that and all it got me was a fat me and big babies.  I want my pregnancy to be healthy. I am so glad that I started this health journey a year ago.  I feel like this past year has been preparing me for the moment.  I am so thankful for that.  I thank God for this wonderful blessing.

Now a new journey begins.

For My Big Brother

Today is a very special day.  My big brother was born 41 years ago today.  He must have been a pretty good big brother.  Either that or I have blocked out a lot of the bad stuff.  It's been a long time since the days of growing up on the farm in Bentonville, AR but I can honestly say that was the best place on earth for us kids to grow up.  What fun and special times we had there.  From romping in the woods to playing in the creek and catching crawdads.  Oh and don't forget about the bouncy bridge.

Now we are grown and David is a missionary in Africa.  He recently finished an 11 year mission to Togo, West Africa and is now preparing to return to Africa to do a new mission work with the people of Rwanda.  I am so proud of my brother and the man that he has become.  He is a wonderful Christian, a good husband to his wife Becky, and father to his 4 kids, Hannah, Elijah, Gabriel, and Caleb.

My prayer for him today is that he will continue to grow and serve the Lord in what ever way he is called.  That he will continue to be a good husband and father.  May the Lord bless him in all areas of his life and my he find peace in such a hectic and hurried world.

“The LORD bless you

and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine upon you

and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you

and give you peace.”

Number 6:24-26

Fun With School, Ending Studies and New Adventures

I take it as a good sign when you give your kids an oral quiz over the past three lesson in science and the pretty much remember everything they studied.  Especially considering that each lesson takes two weeks to cover.  So that means they were remembering stuff from over a month ago.  That either means that I am a really good teacher or the curriculum presents the material in a way that is fun and easy to assimilate.  I think it's all of the above.

We have had a lot of fun learning about plants.  But alas that is soon to come to an end.  Our study of Botany only has two more lessons in left and they are mostly wrap up stuff.  I am in the process of planning a couple of field trips to end our study with.  One, I want to take the boys to a botanical garden with an indoor conservatory(due to the season) and two, I am wanting to take them on a nature walk with a field guide to look at and study the trees.  I think these two things would be a lot of fun and would tie up nicely all that we have learned.

They are also getting close to finishing their study of U.S. Geography and I will soon be looking for a new curriculum.  Not sure exactly where we will go from here but where every it is I know it will be a journey.

This is the boys last week of there Bible study of Revelation.  They have really enjoyed it and had lots of fun learning about all the seals, the horsemen and the woman and the beast etc...  They probably know more about Revelation than most kids, maybe even adults now.   We have picked out and ordered our next Bible study.  It is the same curriculum study, Discover 4 Yourself but it is titled Amazing Adventures with God.  It is a study on Issac, Jacob and Esau.  It should be very good and we are looking forward to it.

They are continuing on with their language arts and math.  It is a full year curriculum and will be done with it sometime in May.  Then we will probably continue with the curriculum we have been using.  The kids really like it and it is very easy to use and teach with.

Joshua has really been enjoying his Art class and we will definitely continue that for him.  Sean is about to complete his season of basketball.  What started out as me just signing him up even though he was very adamant about the whole idea.  Needless to say he is now in love with the sport and we will be looking for another way for him to play because the Y only offers it during the winter.  Joshua will be starting soccer at the end of March and is not too excited about it.  He would rather play kick ball but I haven't been able to find a kids kickball league.  You can find adult leagues but not kids.  Maybe I should mention starting one at the Y.

The only thing left to talk about is their PE class.  It is two days a week on Monday and Wednesdays stating at 7:30am which gets us all up at 6:00 on those days.  They have really enjoyed their PE class and will not be very happy when it ends the end of May.  It follows the public school schedule so when public school is over, it will be too.  I will have to plan something else for them over the summer because we pretty much continue school through the summer with a little more flexible schedule.

Well, I think that covers all that is going on with the kids school right now.  This next year will bring about many changes as Sean enters 7th grade and I have to start keeping more permanent records of his grades and school work.  Should be interesting for me.  I'm really not looking forward to that part and am not sure were to start.  I am sure I will figure it out.

That's it.  I hope this has not bored you too much.  Just my teacher ramblings.

DIFFERENT DRUG PROBLEM

The other day, someone at a store in our town 

read that a meth lab had been found in an old farm

house and he asked me a rhetorical question,

"Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I

were growing up?"

  I replied, I had a drug problem when I was young:

I was drug to church on Sunday morning.  I was drug

to church for weddings and funerals.  I was drug

to family reunions and community socials no matter

the weather.

   I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful

to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I

disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home

a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke

ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't

put forth my best effort in everything that was

asked of me.

   I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth

washed out with soap if I uttered profanity.  I was

drug out to pull weed in mom's garden and flower

beds and cockleburs out of dad's fields.  I was drug

to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to

help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the

yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood,

and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single

dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug

me back to the woodshed.

    Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect

my behavior in everything I do,say, or think.  They

are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and,

If today's children had this kind of drug problem,

America would be a better place.

   GOD BLESS THE PARENTS WHO DRUGGED US.

This article was sent to me by my Aunt Susie.  It did not have a name attached to it as to who wrote it.   I agree with it.  Just wanted to share.

Weight loss update: Week 56

Last week was not a good week for me.  I'm not sure what the reason was but last week I gained 1.6 lbs.  I was at my lowest of 203 and that put me back up to 204.6.  This weight gain could have occurred for a number of reasons.  Could have been from all the chocolate I ate and the delicious dinner we had for Valentines day.  Or it could have been from my increase in weights at the gym and my body was just slapping on some more muscle.  Whatever the reason I gained weight.

Here's the kicker though.  My last weigh in was Friday and then this morning I weighed and now again I am at my lowest weight of 202.4.  So that means that over the weekend I lost 2.4 lbs which is more than I gained last week.  So there you have it.  I was afraid that I had ruined my chances of reaching my end of the month goal of getting below 200.  Now I have only 2.5 lbs to lose by the end of the month which only gives me 1 week.  Not sure if I will make it but I am going to give my best shot.

I am going to start swimming laps today at the gym for my cardio instead of the bike.  Just to change things up and see if that will help me along the way.  I have always liked to swim so it should be enjoyable.  I always tell everyone to pick an exercise that they enjoy otherwise they will end up quiting.  That is what I have done over the past year and it seems to work for me.  Plus it is nice to change things up a bit from time to time just to make things more interesting and not get bored with it all.

Not to mention that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again your body will get use to it.  That is why walking is really not the best exercise for losing weight because it is something that most people do on a regular basis.  Now if you are at a point where walking is the only exercise you can do and if that is where you are than that is what you need to do to start off plus some weights of course.

You have to do weights.  Building muscle is one of the best ways to get your metabolism started up and keep it going.  I do more weights than I do cardio.  The lbs may come of slower but you will find the inches come off quickly because you will be exchanging fat for muscle.  I have said this before but pound for pound muscle weighs the same as fat but muscle takes up less space.  So you will have a constant loss of inches with bursts of weight loss.

Slow and steady wins the race.

The Right Stuff

My sick boy wanted chicken broth for lunch.  He's not very hungry right now.  I thought I would make it quick so I grabbed my emergency ration of store bought organic free range chicken broth off the shelf.  The real stuff was frozen in the freezer.  I got it all warmed up in the pan.  Then I decided to taste it.  Yuck!  It tasted like water.  Literally.  I called Sean in to taste it.  I asked him what it tasted like.  He said, "Water!".

We looked at the ingredients.  It read, Organic chicken broth....Okay so the first ingredient is actually chicken broth.  Or is it?  We went to read the rest of the ingredients.  After the "first" ingredient in parentheses it read (filtered water, organic chicken)....Now I know in order to make chicken broth you have to use water but I guarantee there was more water in there than chicken.  To make it worse, this was the low sodium kind so there wasn't even enough salt in it to even make it taste better.

Needless to say, I got in the freezer and now the frozen homemade broth is sitting in a sink full of hot water thawing out.  I am not feeding my sick boy that...  It has no flavor what so ever plus I don't know what I was thinking anyway.  The homemade stuff is much better for him.

Now for a little cooking lesson:

It is so easy to make your own healthy chicken broth.  All you do its take the left over carcases of two chickens or one whole organic chicken.  Add three quarts of water, onion, 2 carrots, celery, 2 Tbls. of apple cider vinegar.  Let it set for 30 min to an hour.  Then bring it to a boil.  Lower to simmer for 6-12 hours.  The longer it simmers the better the broth.  As it simmers at first remove any scum that comes to the top.  When it is done strain it into a bowl and refrigerate it until it cools and the fat comes to the top, then you just scoop the fat of, put the broth in glass jars and freeze it.  Best tasting broth you will ever have.  Oh I almost forgot.  If you use a whole chicken, don't forget to pick all the chicken out of the bones.

Nothing goes to waste either.  I have figured out that from cooking so long all the bones from the chicken have gotten so soft that you can squish them.  So I take all the scraps(bones, skin, veggies) that were strained out and put them in my Vitamix and puree them into what we have affectionately come to call, "puppy pate'".  We save this back and add it to our dogs dried dog food for extra nutrients.  She loves it.

That's it.  I hope you all enjoy making your own broth and stop buying that horrible store bought stuff.

Plan to Succeed

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  

I don't know who said that quote first but it is so true.  I don't know about you but there are so many times in my life that I have failed at something because I didn't have a plan.  I can think of a couple of biggies right off the top of my head.

Our family failed with our finances because we didn't have a plan.  We just went day to day spending our money until it was gone and then once it was gone we would turn to our credit cards.  We were spending almost $1000 a month eating out all because I didn't have a plan at home for fixing dinner.  If I did have a "plan" we wouldn't always stick to it.  We ended up $75000 in debt with no idea how to get out.  We had planned to fail because we didn't make a plan to succeed.

Finally we did make a plan to succeed in our finances.  We started planning where our money was going to go.  We made a budget and stuck to it.  We made a plan to get out of debt and spent 2 1/2 years paying that debt off.  We are now debt free all because we made a plan.  All because we made a plan to succeed.

Another area in my life that I failed to make a plan was with my health.  I reached a maximum weight of 279lbs all because I didn't make a plan to succeed.  I went day by day eating whatever I felt like eating.  If it sounded good I ate it.  Sure I did the watch your fat, watch your calories, watch your salt etc...and I just ended up fatter.  I tried exercising but never really stuck to anything.  I had planned to fail because I didn't make a plan to succeed.

It wasn't until I made a plan to take charge of my own health and stop listening to all the stupid low fat diets and start studying about and learning about health and nutrition did I started to lose weight.  I made a plan to workout when my kids went to PE at the YMCA.  I was there.  Might as well, right?  Now I can't imagine not working out.  I plan out our menu for eating at home instead of dining out all the time because most restaurants aren't very healthy.  Over the past year I have lost 60lbs all because I made a plan to succeed with my health.

These are two areas in my life that I was weak at and now I am strong.  Satan took advantage of those weaknesses.  He used our lack of planning with our finances to cause strife in our marriage because we had so much debt because we wouldn't control our spending.  He used my lack of planning when it came to what I put in my body to get me to a point where I was obese and unhealthy.

Satan uses these things to get us down.  He wants us to feel helpless.  He want us to believe that these are not important areas but they are.  Did you know that money fights are the number one cause of divorce in America.  Problems with money are tearing our families apart.  How much harder is it to serve God and do work for the Lord when you are overweight and tired all the time?  I know from experience how much more difficult it makes things.  This is what Satan wants.  He wants us to not plan.

Now, how many of you have a plan to succeed spiritually?

"If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail."

1# of Fat for 1# of Muscle

Many of you have heard that muscle weighs more than fat.  Well I am pleased to say that that is not true.  A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat.  What is true is that muscle takes up less space than fat.  Think about it.  Muscle clings to your bones and fat hangs out.  It just does.   Also the more muscle you build the more fat you burn because your metabolism increases.  So as you build muscle you may not necessarily lose any weight but you will lose inches because you are burning fat.  So basically you are swapping fat for muscle.  Not a bad trade off if you ask me.

So it is very important if you want to be nice and toned after all that fat goes away to work your muscles on a daily basis.  Also, if you are not building muscle while you are losing weight, you could be losing muscle too along with the fat and that isn't good at all.

In nutshell.  If you want to lose weight and keep your body toned as you go along, you have got to hit the weights.  Lifting weights has become one of my favorite things to do.  Give it a try.

My Mother

Today is a special day.  A day to celebrate someone who has been a part of my life since the beginning of it.  Without this person I would not be who I am today.  I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for her. My mother is strong, beautiful, committed, loving and supportive.  

My mother taught me to love unconditionally.  She showed me what it meant to be committed and to always lean on God in every circumstance.  I am so grateful that she chose to stay home and be a mother to me and my brother and sisters.  She has always been such a great example to me in so many ways.

If it wasn't for my mom, I would not be the person I am today.  Thank you Mom for being so selfless and for loving me unconditionally.  Thank you for teaching me what it means to be a mom.  I appreciate you so much.  I love you.

Happy Birthday Mom!

      

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.