I took my kids to the dentist for the first time ever yesterday. Now before you start judging me, you need to know that we've never had dental insurance since we had kids. MyHero makes too much for us to be able to qualify for assistance and we couldn't afford to pay for it ourselves. Still not sure how we are going to pay for all these dental visits!
Anyway, they did amazingly well for kids who have never been to the dentist! I was shocked to find out that ManBoy (13 years old) and Fashionista (12 years old) each had only 1 cavity! RoboBoy (10 years old) didn't have any! The bad news is that both ManBoy and Fashionista have been referred to the Orthodontist for braces. Ack! REALLY not sure how we are going to be paying for THAT!
By the time we got home from the dentist, I had to dig up the motivation to workout. I have been so sore from my workouts lately. My knees ache, my legs complain and my back moans. That didn't stop me from reluctantly donning my sneakers.
Monday I weighted my self and found that I'm down almost another pound. Woohoo! Of course, I would love to see the weight come off faster. Who wouldn't?? But I've come to the revelation that this race is not a sprint, but a long distance marathon where the slow and steady win the race. I believe it's those who get a good grasp on this point and hold on to it, will be able to loose and keep the weight off. I keep reminding myself, "This weight didn't pack on overnight and it's sure not going to come off overnight!"
I'm still trying to figure out what to do with ManBoy for this next school year. He is entering that scary world of high school! I know that even though he is homeschooled, there will be a lot more expected of him. I've never been one to give my kids writing assignments like reports etc. Perhaps that may need to change. I may need to consider some online tutoring in writing for them. Why, oh, why can't Time4Learning go through to 12th grade??
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Making Progress!!
Did you notice my new weight loss ticker?? The reason I used a turtle as the marker, is to remind myself that "slow and steady wins the race!" I think that is my new mantra! As I've said before, "I'm in this for the long haul."
Sometimes the long haul seems like just too long to me. Can I get an "AMEN"? That's why I allow myself to have treats once in a while. I'm looking for lower carb, lower calorie, healthier options for my treats. It's encouraging that I've lost 3 pounds since last week! Woohoo! All my hard work IS paying off!
We just had someone come to our house to teach me how to trim my bird's nails and beak. Romeo's beak was getting a bit too long and I was worried about it. It took me a while to find someone to help. But God is good and even provided someone who could come to our house! Being a one vehicle family doesn't make getting out to do these things easy!
Sometimes the long haul seems like just too long to me. Can I get an "AMEN"? That's why I allow myself to have treats once in a while. I'm looking for lower carb, lower calorie, healthier options for my treats. It's encouraging that I've lost 3 pounds since last week! Woohoo! All my hard work IS paying off!
I've been using the new activity scheduler on Time4Learning.
So glad that they have it now, but I do hope that they do some updating to it. My kids seem to be having a tough time following the printouts I get from the scheduler. One simple, but important thing I've learned that I need to do, is staple the pages of each child's schedule. Otherwise, they get them all out of order and may even end up with someone else's pages mixed into their own. Fashionista actually did her brother's assignments the other day because she grabbed the wrong schedule. All in all, this is proving to be a better option for us than umbrella schools. |
| Romeo (the green one) & Juliet (the yellow one) |
We just had someone come to our house to teach me how to trim my bird's nails and beak. Romeo's beak was getting a bit too long and I was worried about it. It took me a while to find someone to help. But God is good and even provided someone who could come to our house! Being a one vehicle family doesn't make getting out to do these things easy!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
More than Weight Loss Wednesday!
Is it Wednesday already?? My goodness how the days are flying! Not a lot to report on the weight loss front. I've been doing my 30 mins of EA Sports Active followed by another 30 mins on the elliptical machine.
Our elliptical has been having issues with the digital screen and yesterday it totally wigged out. None of the buttons on the touch pad were responding and the SD card that we can plug in to access a pre-programmed workout was not working. Basically all I could monitor was my heart rate, how fast I was going and how long I worked out.
God is SO good though! I posted a plea for another elliptical on a Facebook group I belong to that sells items between friends. Turns out that one of my friends has an elliptical machine that she doesn't use. She has been wanting to get it out of her house for a while now. She offered to give it to me! Praise God!! Oh, and another one of my friends might be wanting to take our crippled elliptical off our hands.
Can't leave out that my daughter told me this morning that I look skinnier! Woohoo! That just made my day!
I don't do this often enough, but I wanted to share something from what I was reading in my quiet time this morning. I'm reading Romans with a group of ladies who post our thoughts on what we are reading in a forum. This morning we are in Romans 12 where Paul talks about being a living sacrifice.
I think that all too often we humans get the wrong idea about what worship is supposed to look like. We think that it involves, things like singing, chanting and swaying until we reach some spiritual state of worshipfulness. While there is a place for singing God's praises in worship, I would like to contend that true worship is much more practical.
It involves setting aside our wishes, desires and even rights in service to others. It involves becoming a living sacrifice. This takes much more humility on our part.
Ok, time to move on, I've been REALLY struggling to get ManBoy to finish this FLVS math course he's been taking. He wants to just accept defeat but I will not allow that. There is too much at stake here. We've been searching the internet for ways to help him understand the concepts. Perhaps there are some free online puzzles that can help. Homeschool math has proved to be a HUGE challenge for us. But with God's help we will get through it!
Our elliptical has been having issues with the digital screen and yesterday it totally wigged out. None of the buttons on the touch pad were responding and the SD card that we can plug in to access a pre-programmed workout was not working. Basically all I could monitor was my heart rate, how fast I was going and how long I worked out.
God is SO good though! I posted a plea for another elliptical on a Facebook group I belong to that sells items between friends. Turns out that one of my friends has an elliptical machine that she doesn't use. She has been wanting to get it out of her house for a while now. She offered to give it to me! Praise God!! Oh, and another one of my friends might be wanting to take our crippled elliptical off our hands.
Can't leave out that my daughter told me this morning that I look skinnier! Woohoo! That just made my day!
I don't do this often enough, but I wanted to share something from what I was reading in my quiet time this morning. I'm reading Romans with a group of ladies who post our thoughts on what we are reading in a forum. This morning we are in Romans 12 where Paul talks about being a living sacrifice.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers (and sisters), in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1In the footnotes of my Bible it indicates that the word spiritual in this verse can be replaced with the word reasonable. So this is my reasonable act of worship.
I think that all too often we humans get the wrong idea about what worship is supposed to look like. We think that it involves, things like singing, chanting and swaying until we reach some spiritual state of worshipfulness. While there is a place for singing God's praises in worship, I would like to contend that true worship is much more practical.
It involves setting aside our wishes, desires and even rights in service to others. It involves becoming a living sacrifice. This takes much more humility on our part.
Ok, time to move on, I've been REALLY struggling to get ManBoy to finish this FLVS math course he's been taking. He wants to just accept defeat but I will not allow that. There is too much at stake here. We've been searching the internet for ways to help him understand the concepts. Perhaps there are some free online puzzles that can help. Homeschool math has proved to be a HUGE challenge for us. But with God's help we will get through it!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Weight Loss Wednesday
I had to take some time off from working out this past week. I'm now back into my routine full force. Monday was difficult as my body had gotten used to being lazy again. My legs were very uncooperative and clumsy. But I got it done!
Yesterday, I did my workout and it was much easier. Then a really strange thing happened. After I was showered and rested from my workout, I began to feel as if I hadn't done enough. Like I needed to sweat more and burn more calories. I had to remind myself that I HAD sweat quite profusely while working out and had burned my share of calories for the day.
I'm an obsessive compulsive person. In fact, I've been diagnosed as OCD. So I can easily see myself going overboard with exercising and end up abusing my body rather than helping it. So I turned to some friends and asked them to hold me accountable to not over do it. One of these friends has lost over 80 lbs in the last couple of years by putting her love for Jesus Christ before her love of food. Another of these friends is a certified fitness trainer and also loves Jesus. And last but certainly never least are my 2 best friends who I share almost everything with, one of whom is my husband.
I chatted with my fitness trainer friend on the phone today and she helped me to come up with a smart plan for my workout schedule. She suggested 4-5 hrs of working out a week while including a healthy balanced diet eating foods that are as natural as possible. She likes to say that the closer it is to how God made it, the better it is for you.
So I plan to workout Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday for an hour. Wednesday and Sunday will be my rest days to allow my muscles to heal from the damage I cause on the other days. I'm finding it hard not to do my workout today. Believe it or not, I'm actually beginning to enjoy working out!!!
I'm excited to report that our homeschool curriculum has added a new feature which will allow me to make assignments for my kids. I've been wishing for this for a long time. This is going to make it SO much easier for me to keep up with monitoring what my kids are doing in school and making sure they are doing what they need to be doing. Who knows? They may actually even conquer those dolch words that they are constantly asking me how to spell!
Yesterday, I did my workout and it was much easier. Then a really strange thing happened. After I was showered and rested from my workout, I began to feel as if I hadn't done enough. Like I needed to sweat more and burn more calories. I had to remind myself that I HAD sweat quite profusely while working out and had burned my share of calories for the day.
I'm an obsessive compulsive person. In fact, I've been diagnosed as OCD. So I can easily see myself going overboard with exercising and end up abusing my body rather than helping it. So I turned to some friends and asked them to hold me accountable to not over do it. One of these friends has lost over 80 lbs in the last couple of years by putting her love for Jesus Christ before her love of food. Another of these friends is a certified fitness trainer and also loves Jesus. And last but certainly never least are my 2 best friends who I share almost everything with, one of whom is my husband.
I chatted with my fitness trainer friend on the phone today and she helped me to come up with a smart plan for my workout schedule. She suggested 4-5 hrs of working out a week while including a healthy balanced diet eating foods that are as natural as possible. She likes to say that the closer it is to how God made it, the better it is for you.
So I plan to workout Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday for an hour. Wednesday and Sunday will be my rest days to allow my muscles to heal from the damage I cause on the other days. I'm finding it hard not to do my workout today. Believe it or not, I'm actually beginning to enjoy working out!!!
I'm excited to report that our homeschool curriculum has added a new feature which will allow me to make assignments for my kids. I've been wishing for this for a long time. This is going to make it SO much easier for me to keep up with monitoring what my kids are doing in school and making sure they are doing what they need to be doing. Who knows? They may actually even conquer those dolch words that they are constantly asking me how to spell!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Weight Loss Wednesday
I've really stepped up my workouts this past week. I've been doing my EA Sports Active workout (30 mins) and then getting onto my elliptical machine for another 30 mins. My goal is to blast all these extra pounds to oblivion!
Not saying that I look like an athlete while I'm doing these workouts! Far from it! Picture an out of shape, middle aged woman huffing and puffing, barely making it through the workouts. Hopefully, I'm getting stronger though. My clothes are starting to get a bit looser.
My goal is to get in 5 days in a row of 1 hr workouts. Today marked 3 days in a row so I only have 2 more to go!
On the homeschooling front, we are still plugging along. I found out today that there is a new feature on our online curriculum. They have added a scheduler for homeschool parents to use! I'm so excited and can't wait to try it! This is going to make things so much easier for me.
Not saying that I look like an athlete while I'm doing these workouts! Far from it! Picture an out of shape, middle aged woman huffing and puffing, barely making it through the workouts. Hopefully, I'm getting stronger though. My clothes are starting to get a bit looser.
My goal is to get in 5 days in a row of 1 hr workouts. Today marked 3 days in a row so I only have 2 more to go!
On the homeschooling front, we are still plugging along. I found out today that there is a new feature on our online curriculum. They have added a scheduler for homeschool parents to use! I'm so excited and can't wait to try it! This is going to make things so much easier for me.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Weight Loss Wednesday
Time for another Weight Loss Wednesday post! Honestly, my scale has not been very friendly to me lately. I'm not going to let it get me down though. I have been working out and building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. Also, my clothes are starting to fit better. More importantly, I'm in this for the long haul. This is not a quick fix, this is a lifestyle change.
I went to visit a sleep doctor last week. He has me taking an herbal concoction that is helping me to get to sleep easier. Also, he prescribed a med to help me STAY asleep and not wake up millions of times through the night. I have Asperger's Syndrome and one of the traits we have is not being able to get to sleep easily or stay asleep.
Chronic insomnia has plagued me my entire life. With these new meds, I feel like I'm FINALLY starting to catch up on all that lost sleep! Between this and regular exercise, I'm finding more energy than I've had in ages. What a great feeling!
The crack down on the kids continues. Yesterday, they got grounded for not having their chores done when daddy got home from work. I'm glad to have MyHero taking an active part in helping me to enforce these rules.
Perhaps we will all finally be able to get into a routine of getting our part done to keep this family and home running smoothly.
Oh, here's a funny for you! Yesterday, RoboBoy and Fashionista were having a debate about something or other. RoboBoy said to Fashionista, "Are you hallucinating?" Both Fashionista and I looked at him and I asked, "Do you know what that means?" Fashionista explained that it means to see something that isn't really there. Then RoboBoy changed his exclamation to, "Are you crazy?" LOL Perhaps I need to have him tackle a few context games.
That's my post for today! I'm off to check the kid's chores and school work!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
I missed this week's Weight Loss Wednesday. It's rather difficult to post when you are stuck in bed with a migraine. It hasn't been easy to convince the migraine to go away and stay gone either. I believe that I'm finally beginning to feel "normal" again, whatever normal is! Although, my medication is making me groggy so hopefully, I'm not posting a bunch of gibberish!
So for this week's Weight Loss update. I'm not sure how much if any I've actually lost this week. But I AM starting to fit into my skinnier clothes. Yippee!!
God never seems to let me take the easy road. My weight loss journey is no exception. I was really enjoying doing the EA Sports Active 2 on our PS3. However, it seems that every time I become consistent with doing something like that, I end up with yet another injury. Perhaps it's due to getting older in body, but not in mind.
Anyway, I found myself back at the Chiropractor this past week. I was informed that I have a tiny bit of arthritis in a couple of my disks along with a fair bit of swelling. The doctor told me that I am allowed to continue working out on my elliptical machine, but I'm NOT allowed to do the Sports Active for a while. Bummer! But at least I can still use my elliptical!
What are my kids up to? I'm so glad you asked! Daddy instigated a bit of a crack down on chores this past weekend. Since then they have been doing really well with getting their chores and their school work done without having to be goaded into it.
ManBoy announced to me that he has finished the assignments for Language Arts in the online curriculum we use for homeschool. Now I need to figure out what to do with him until we are ready to tackle high school. Ack! Are we REALLY here already??
Perhaps one of these homeschool writing courses is the answer.
So for this week's Weight Loss update. I'm not sure how much if any I've actually lost this week. But I AM starting to fit into my skinnier clothes. Yippee!!
God never seems to let me take the easy road. My weight loss journey is no exception. I was really enjoying doing the EA Sports Active 2 on our PS3. However, it seems that every time I become consistent with doing something like that, I end up with yet another injury. Perhaps it's due to getting older in body, but not in mind.
Anyway, I found myself back at the Chiropractor this past week. I was informed that I have a tiny bit of arthritis in a couple of my disks along with a fair bit of swelling. The doctor told me that I am allowed to continue working out on my elliptical machine, but I'm NOT allowed to do the Sports Active for a while. Bummer! But at least I can still use my elliptical!
What are my kids up to? I'm so glad you asked! Daddy instigated a bit of a crack down on chores this past weekend. Since then they have been doing really well with getting their chores and their school work done without having to be goaded into it.
ManBoy announced to me that he has finished the assignments for Language Arts in the online curriculum we use for homeschool. Now I need to figure out what to do with him until we are ready to tackle high school. Ack! Are we REALLY here already??
Perhaps one of these homeschool writing courses is the answer.
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