Sunday, September 8, 2013

First Day of School

Well, school started a few weeks ago.  I was ready for school to start.  I love my kids, and love hanging out with them- but I like having a schedule.  I am always ready to start getting up early and get going.  It's so hard for me to be motivated enough to do it on my own in the summer.  I welcome the alarm clock.  
Paul is in 6th grade this year- which is at the Middle School.  But he did not want to go to Middle School.  He is staying home and going to school through Florida Virtual Online School.   It's a great solution for both of us.  He gets to stay home- and I don't have to come up with a curriculum and spend a ton of time teaching him.  Plus I know he will be right on track. 
It still takes a decent amount of my time.  Especially getting him registered!  It took a week! It was as much paper work as buying a house.   But we got him registered and got him going. 
He is so self motivated and disciplined it is perfect for him.  I don't have to get on his case for not wanting to work, or taking forever.   I feel like it is perfect for us this year. 
 

Waiting for the bus on the... first day of school.  I think Paul felt so big to not be getting on the bus.


Love the pictures of Kyle again!



So far school has been going great.  Ellie has the same great teachers as last year.  And Kyle is loving his teachers.  I am so grateful for good schools.
This is the year I told their teachers we will be moving before the end of the school year.  wierd.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Yesterday at Scouts Paul got a stern talking to about not having his uniform on.  Today I sewed the patches on.  I just noticed I sewed them on the wrong shoulder.    I'm not even kidding.  Do you think the spirit is trying to tell me he shouldn't go to Scouts?

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Trekking and Yoga in the Himalayas, Yes Please!

Ok, this would be pretty much my dream vacation.  Someday.  I'm going to start saving in 7 months!

https://www.livingsocial.com/escapes/785862-trekking-and-yoga-in-the-himalayas?afsrc=1&msdc_id=305-hoboken-jersey-city&utm_campaign=digest_escapesweekend&utm_content=524&utm_medium=email&utm_source=blast

Some Good Parenting Advice

You may have heard me say before that I love Power Of Mom's website.

This podcast is the best one I have ever listened to! (except Marilyn's of course). It is about positive parenting, and pretty much nails positive parenting right on the head.  It really struck a cord with me.  It is about an hour long.  You could listen to it while making dinner, getting ready in the morning, doing laundry or something.  It will definitely be worth your time.  I loved it!

 http://powerofmoms.com/2013/08/positive-parenting-with-amy-mccready-episode-60/

Friday, August 30, 2013

My Diet Soapbox

Can I just tell you if I hear one more person say they don't want to eat any of my whole wheat bread because they are on a diet I might just freak out at them?  Seriously. Freak.Out.
I usually keep it simple and say, "I have lost 30 pounds eating this bread.  And doing this one simple weird trick!"  Just kidding.  Really.  I'll just get it all out on my blog, then I won't have to do it to someone's face.  It will save myself a lot of embarrassment and awkwardness. 

 Here is my diet soapbox.

If you want to loose weight do 6 things,
1. Don't eat processed sugar 
2. Don't eat white flour or white grains 
3. Only eat 2 TBL of fatty foods a day.  (butter, mayo, etc.)
4. Don't eat after 8:30 pm
5. Exercise.  Seriously. Exercise. Hard.  Gardening, vacuuming and taking the stairs don't count.
6. Give yourself 1 free day a week to eat what you want.  Or maybe 2 half days. 

That's it.  It sounds easy, but have you ever cut sugar out of your diet, for even one day?  It's hard! I try and eat really good during the week and then taking the weekend off. When you don't allow yourself to grab that box of crackers, or chips, or cookies you will find yourself getting very hungry and looking for something else to eat! Then you start eating all sorts of fruits, veggies, protein shakes, green smoothies, meats, eggs,and best of all- wheat bread.  Wheat bread is one of the most filling, healthy food out there! What in the world possesses someone to cut it out of their diet?  So they can eat steaks and peanut butter by the spoonfuls?  Please!!!   Give me a break.  No wonder these fad diets don't work.  When people are on a diet and they tell me they are cutting out carbs I roll my eyes so hard I feel like I might fall over.  Then I want to tell them they are not going to loose weight, and if they do they will gain it right back.  But I don't say anything because they wouldn't listen to me anyways.  A low carb diet is not a lifelong way to eat.  Carbs are not the problem.  White flour, sugar, and processed foods are the problem.  duhh.
Can I also say cutting out fruits because they have carbs is also one of the dumbest things I have heard of.  Whenever you get a sweet tooth eat fruit! It a natural sugar.  It's so much better than reaching for candy or cookies.  You aren't going to get fat from eating too many grapes or apples.  Seriously people.

Body For Life is the way to go.  Body For Life.  It's been around forever and is a real way you can eat.

There I feel better.  Can you tell I encounter a few dieters this week?   

*This post is not intended to make anyone feel that they need to go on a diet.   It is only to encourage the consumption of whole grains.  And to persuade people to buy my bread, therefore making me more money.

MTV Music Awards

  I read this post about them from Stephanie Neilson- on her blog Nienie Dialogues.  She writes,

"I didn't watch the MTV music awards last Sunday, but I heard about them.  
I heard they were crass, explicit, embarrassing and very disrespectful.
Awesome.
I like a good song as well as the next person, but
If those idiots ever think they can come into my home
and mess with my children and influence them with their "shocking" ways;
then I say:
over my dead freaking body.
Nice try world."

 If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, 
we seek after these things.
 
 
I couldn't put it any better than that.  I didn't watch the MTV music awards either.  I find all those awards, the Grammys, Emmys, Golden Globes so annoying.  I can't stand the stuff.   I am so disgusted by Hollywood and the music industry I haven't even turned on my radio since then.  

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Summer Round Up

As school starts and summer ends I think back to what we did over the summer. 

I had big plans- we were going to kick off the summer by going to David and Marilyns for Blair's wedding and seeing my cousin Circe and her family.  Then in July we were going to spend a day snorkeling in the keys.  Then in August I really wanted to go Harry Potter Land at Universal. 

A couple weeks before school got out reality hit. hard. After looking at our budget I realized that financially none of our summer plans were going to work.  Have you ever spent a whole summer without going anywhere?  I hadn't. I'm not going to lie.  This summer was a little hard.   And by the end it was pretty bad.  My kids were climbing all over each other, and anytime I said, "anyone want to go to the beach?"  the answer was, "noooo, it's soooo hot!  We've already gone there this week!"  We pretty much went to the gym, pool, watched movies, read, and went to the Children's Museum a lot.  That sounds fun, and it was for the first 2 months- but it gets old.  Those are fun things to do while your planning or recouping from your vacation.  Not 3 months straight.  Plus it just doesn't FEEL right!  We need to be packing to go to Montana, or camping, or Grans, or Southern Utah, or to my mom's or to the Keys, or SOMETHING! 

I kept telling myself- it's ok.  That if I lived in another country I'd be so grateful just to have my car and nice townhouse, and food and air conditioner!   And I am. 

I also have to think that Erica and Mike and Rachel are coming to visit in Oct.  And David and Marilyn are going to come for Thanksgiving, so I have something to look forward to.  Plus, we want to do something special when Darren graduates. It will be our 15 year anniversary and my mom is going to come out and watch the kids so we can do something fun.

I haven't posting anything because I don't want to sound ungrateful, or complaining, I mean, we have a great life.  We really do. But I do want to remember to be EXTRA grateful when we do have the resources to go on summer vacation. Someday, when Darren has a job I want to read this and think, "remember that summer we didn't have enough money to even pay for gas to go somewhere??!! Yea, that was hard!  I'm glad that's over!"  LOL

Next summer.  Next summer.