Let it Snow!

Today it snowed all day! It was absolutely beautiful!!! We had so much fun at Short Christian Academy today. One thing I love about homeschooling is that we get to be flexible and change things up when opportunites come our way. For example, I had all this other stuff planned today but instead we did "snow" stuff. Nathan learned how to read a thermometer when he wanted to see the tempature falling. Both kiddos drew winter landscapes and wrote and illustrated books about a snowy day. Then they sat in our "author's chair" and read them aloud to us. Of course, we did some of our regular work but we got to do it in front of big window watching the snow fall. After lunch the kids got bundled up and went outside to play. Even though a lot of the snow didn't stick they still managed to have a pretty good snowball fight. This pic of Madelyn is when Nathan hit her in the face with a huge snow ball. Thank you God for a good homeschooling day.

Our Space Unit

We are paper maching (I don't know how to spell)two of the planets, Earth and Venus.

Another Miracle!

You know how we have been trying to get Nathan to eat fruit and veggies, well it is going pretty well. Tonight he mixed his corn with ketchup and Jarrett fed it to him by the spoon full. He ate 4 big spoon fulls. He tries to swallow them whole, then his gag reflex kicks in. The faces he makes are hillarious!

A couple of nights ago we tried to get him to eat a grape. He didn't want the skin on it so I painstakingly peeled the skin off an entire grape. Try it sometime, it's fun. He freaked out once it got in his mouth and he swallowed it whole and then his entire dinner came spewing out onto the floor. It was pretty funny!

I have moved!

This is a pic of me really enjoying one of my last cokes!

Sorry, I haven't been around lately. I now live at the YMCA. Seriously, if I am not at home or running kids somewhere I am at the Y. I am doing 4-5 hours of cardio and 3 hours of training with Holly. Plus the kids go to swimming lessons and gymnastics there twice a week. I have come to terms that I will never be "skinny" I am short and squatty and that's ok! Instead of my legs or arms get skinny they are bulking up. My trainer now can see my triceps when I am doing tricep dips. Isn't that what every girl wants to hear? I just have to keep telling myself that I am making my heart healthy.

I am still drinking around 90 ounces of water a day. The girls at sonic know my name and always know to give Madelyn 2 mints. Everytime I order they hear her screaming "And two mints for Maddie!!!" I hear the sonic water with lime is catching on girls. Keep it up! If you need me just call 272-YMCA!!

He's Back!!!

Jarrett got back tonight and is alrealdy sound asleep and snoring, it is 9pm. He is exhausted, poor baby. We missed him dreadfully. I kept the kids very busy or shall I say they kept me busy. Sunday we went to a really cool children's hands on musuem in a town about 2 hrs a way. The kids had a blast!

We have been so busy I feel like homeschooling has been an afterthought lately. Nathan has been doing his work but I know we could be doing better. I like for us to take a subject that he is interested in a really explore it. We did that with Space for the last couple of weeks and it was so much fun. Some weeks I am better at the balancing act than others. The next two days I will be taking care of my 6 month old nephew while my sister is out of town so I figure this week is pretty much a wash.

Madelyn has started in the last week becoming more interested in our homeschool. She is asking for some "work" like brother and I made her some flashcards with simple three letter words and she is reading them. She is still writing everything from right to left though. I have brought out all my old kindergarten games that I had kept and we are playing those together. When we have "DEAR" time (drop everything and read) she is participating more and more. I am starting to think Maybe, I can homeschool her. Some days we think we should send her to "school" but then part of us wants to keep her home. I am believing that God will make it clear to us what we are to do so for the time being I will just continue to pray and enjoy my days with her at home.

Another Nathanism

This morning Nathan woke up before me and starting playing the Wii (which he not supposed to do). When I woke up and fixed his breakfast I told him it was time to turn the Wii off. He said in his most serious voice, "Mom, God said that men need to finish what they start, so I need to finish playing this game." I told him, "God also told you to obey your mother and father so turn it off now."

Not to leave sweet Maddie out, she is twirling around the tile floor pretending to be Karlie Karslie from the movie,"Ice Princess" She wants to take ice skating lessons. Oh, to be four again!

Jarrett leaves us for 7 days tomorrow. He is going to Savannah for a sales meeting. Pray for me! While I was gone last weekend to Florida/Georgia for Mama Bear's service Jarrett was mister fun dad. I have a lot to live up too. Madelyn asked me on the phone before I came home if I could stay gone for one more day. Isn't that just so sweet?? Do you all remember that this was my child that wouldn't leave my hip. Jarrett took them hiking, out to eat, to the movies, up to the lake with Grammy and Grampy,etc. It just isn't right. Now I have to be the one who instills order and limits back on them.

Yesterday I took a boot camp class and when I woke up today I could hardly move. Sitting on the toilet was pure torcher, especially when you have to pee every 10 minutes because you are drinking 75 ounces of water. I also started eating 1200-1400 calories a day. That is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I bet I have been eating over double that. My trainer who I started with tonight is having me write down everything I eat along with how many calories are in them. I was pretty sad when I realized how many calories were in my cereal and OJ I eat every morning. I suffered through the humiliation of her measuring each region of my body and measuring my body fat. Luckily my body fat has not really gone up since this summer. But my but and hips have definitely expanded. I just got a little pudgy from not being aware of how much I was eating and how much pop I was drinking. I am bearing all of this in hopes that it will keep me accountable and that I will stay aware of how I am treating my body. I have been given this body to take care of and treat with respect. So I will try, and if you would like to get ahold of me this week you can find me on the elliptical trying to burn 500 calories or keeled over from lack of food.

My healthy living tip for the day comes from my sis Kim. Stop by Sonic and order a Route 44 ice water with Lime. It cost 26 cents and is a great way to get a lot of your water in. The Lime really gives it a kick. Good luck fellow friends who are trying to get healthier. (I am refusing to call this a diet) By the way, to all of my friends and sisters who are pregnant, you just go right on ahead and enjoy all your pizza, pasta, cookies, chips and don't worry about me.

IT'S A Miracle

Nathan ate 2 1/2 green beans tonight!! He has an aversion to fruits and veggies so this is a major victory! On the other hand he has a love affair with desert, so being the wise parents that we are, we told Nathan that from now on if he wants desert he has to try something new. It actually worked tonight, I had brownies in the oven while we ate dinner, I think that helped. He soaked the beans in ketchup then swallowed them whole and made a hillarious face. I can't wait to tell his OT and speech pathologist. Anyway, it was one victory in our kitchen tonight.