My goodness, it's been a LOOOOOOOOONG while since I've posted. I still check in every so often to remind myself of simpler times....I know that sounds weird, but after the year I've had, trust me, these post entries were definately during simpler times. I was surprised to see that there are still people from several countries (WOW!) who are visiting the blog. I am still here. I am still working on losing weight. But there is so much more to the story than just exercise and diet, and I think I'm ready to share that with you.
I am working on revamping the blog and may even change the blog title. Stay tuned! As I am ready to make the changes, I will make sure to let you know. Look for a new series of postings explaining my "lost year" within the week. Thanks for sticking with me! I have a renewed feeling of hope and believe that my story might help a few of you out there.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, October 13, 2008
Upping the Mileage...
Since making the switch to run rather than walk for exercise, I've been trying to up the speed and mileage. I'm now up to 3 miles each session and hope to increase that in the next 2 weeks. It's not easy for me because when I see I've reached 2 miles, I have this intense desire to climb off the treadmill. But it's coming along. The goal is 15 miles this week.
The boys did great on their quarter tests for Spelling and Math. Ds10 also had a 7 chapter History test. I'm really pleased with their progress, as I think they are too! Since most schools have off today, they convinced me to do a half-day. We did Spelling, Handwriting, Math, and English. Tomorrow we'll be back to our full schedule.
The trench coat is coming along...I want to wear it during Halloween weekend so I need to speed things up!
The boys did great on their quarter tests for Spelling and Math. Ds10 also had a 7 chapter History test. I'm really pleased with their progress, as I think they are too! Since most schools have off today, they convinced me to do a half-day. We did Spelling, Handwriting, Math, and English. Tomorrow we'll be back to our full schedule.
The trench coat is coming along...I want to wear it during Halloween weekend so I need to speed things up!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Another Busy Week
I had a much harder time sticking with my diet this past week, although I did run about 6.5 miles. I ate pretty horribly and I don't see enough difference in my measurements to warrant taking pictures. But am I giving up or feeling sorry for myself? NO WAY!!
This week will be a very busy one, but I will get in running everyday. While I don't like to run, I do like the feeling I have after I've completed a couple of miles. I seem to be steadily doing 2 miles at a time, but I am working on increasing that to 3 miles each session this week. That's a HUGE adjustment for me. I've also noticed that on the days that I did run, my appetite was much less; another bonus.
We have an appointment with a speech therapist for my youngest son today, soccer twice this week, swimming on Friday, Science and Art with our "buddy" homeschooling family, and we've added an extra weekly gym class at the local rec center that's just for homeschoolers. The boys did it last week and loved it! Wednesday we are doing a day trip to a Natural Museum to see mummies, dinosaurs, etc. That's going to be alot of fun! This is review week for us, with Math, History, and Spelling tests being taken by Friday.
I am working on the back of the trench coat- it's taking forever, or so it feels, but it's going to be beautiful! I want to wear it Thanksgiving weekend. I promise to write at the end of the week on how well I stuck to diet and exercise and my progress on the trench coat!
This week will be a very busy one, but I will get in running everyday. While I don't like to run, I do like the feeling I have after I've completed a couple of miles. I seem to be steadily doing 2 miles at a time, but I am working on increasing that to 3 miles each session this week. That's a HUGE adjustment for me. I've also noticed that on the days that I did run, my appetite was much less; another bonus.
We have an appointment with a speech therapist for my youngest son today, soccer twice this week, swimming on Friday, Science and Art with our "buddy" homeschooling family, and we've added an extra weekly gym class at the local rec center that's just for homeschoolers. The boys did it last week and loved it! Wednesday we are doing a day trip to a Natural Museum to see mummies, dinosaurs, etc. That's going to be alot of fun! This is review week for us, with Math, History, and Spelling tests being taken by Friday.
I am working on the back of the trench coat- it's taking forever, or so it feels, but it's going to be beautiful! I want to wear it Thanksgiving weekend. I promise to write at the end of the week on how well I stuck to diet and exercise and my progress on the trench coat!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Don't Count Me Out!
Sorry I haven't been blogging this week. Last week really knocked the wind out of me, but don't count me out! Between the power outage, all of the chores left undone because of the power outage, the newborn puppies and soccer practices/games- there was very little time to keep up with the blog.
Although diet and exercise were non-existent in the last 2 weeks, I am back on track. I just ran a full 2 miles without stopping, which is a first for me. Usually I try to run the 1st mile, slow down for a couple of minutes and then speed back up to finish the 20 minute session. Today I decided to not worry about how fast I can run the 1st mile and instead concentrated on keeping up a running pace for the 20 minutes without slowing down. It was challenging, but not as difficult as I thought it would be.
This is going to be a very fast-paced week. Our 24month old daughter celebrates her 2nd birthday on Saturday and we have family coming in from out of state. All of the grandparents will be attending the party as well as the 2 little girls who share her birthday. We also have soccer practices/games, swimming class, homeschooling, and a boat load of cleaning to get done. We are about a week ahead of our schedule for school, so we are concentrating on History, Language Arts, Science and Math this week.
I am ready to start work on the Trench Coat, but I am still debating the color!! Some of the yarn choices I've liked will be too expensive so I'll have to limit which yarns I choose from.
The puppies are doing very well-Mollie is a great Mommy! She's been letting our oldest ds help her when the puppies start to get away from her. Just wait until they open their eyes! That should happen at some point later this week.
Well, break is over, our History and Geography lesson awaits!
Although diet and exercise were non-existent in the last 2 weeks, I am back on track. I just ran a full 2 miles without stopping, which is a first for me. Usually I try to run the 1st mile, slow down for a couple of minutes and then speed back up to finish the 20 minute session. Today I decided to not worry about how fast I can run the 1st mile and instead concentrated on keeping up a running pace for the 20 minutes without slowing down. It was challenging, but not as difficult as I thought it would be.
This is going to be a very fast-paced week. Our 24month old daughter celebrates her 2nd birthday on Saturday and we have family coming in from out of state. All of the grandparents will be attending the party as well as the 2 little girls who share her birthday. We also have soccer practices/games, swimming class, homeschooling, and a boat load of cleaning to get done. We are about a week ahead of our schedule for school, so we are concentrating on History, Language Arts, Science and Math this week.
I am ready to start work on the Trench Coat, but I am still debating the color!! Some of the yarn choices I've liked will be too expensive so I'll have to limit which yarns I choose from.
The puppies are doing very well-Mollie is a great Mommy! She's been letting our oldest ds help her when the puppies start to get away from her. Just wait until they open their eyes! That should happen at some point later this week.
Well, break is over, our History and Geography lesson awaits!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Power Outage and Puppies!!
Well, we survived. We lost power around 10 pm Sunday night and endured a very wild 28 hours. First, let me say, thank goodness for our generator! It allowed us to take showers, make coffee (Woohoo!!), and made life, well, livable. Even though the local schools were closed, our little school was not! We worked until it became too dark to see.
Our dog Mollie provided our Science lesson when she suddenly went into labor yesterday and several hours later we had 9, yes 9 healthy puppies!! Five girls and 4 boys, all named for characters from Star Wars. Sadly, we did have a 10th puppy that was stillborn. That was a really difficult moment. But we are thrilled to have Mollie and her 9 pups in good health and she is quite the Mama looking after her little ones.
Let me also say that power outages do NOT go hand in hand with losing weight! You pretty much eat what you can and without my treadmill there wasn't a way to exercise as I had the children (and puppies) to worry about, not to mention that pesky thing called electricity. Did I mention the large tree laying on 4 wires on the road 2 houses down from us? Our very busy road was closed and we are lucky to have the power back on...our next door neighbor still doesn't. I just continue to pray for those who were in the path of the hurricane. We weren't even in it's direct path...I can't imagine how difficult it must be for those in the south without power and or a generator.
I have been a zombie today. We had school, puppies, and a soccer game. My husband went to work, came home to help the neighbor without power (elderly lady), then went back to work only to have the computer system shut down due to a water main break. The first floor of the building was evacuated. Ok, so exactly when do the locusts show up? Seriously, will Purell cure Pestilence? Because if it does, I am so on it. I'm your go-to gal for all means of plagues, just after I get some sleep! Tomorrow is another day....and I'm off to get some well needed sleep!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Yea, Sure....What??!!!
That was my response to my ds10 this week when while getting ready for his brother's soccer practice, we had this conversation:
"Mom, I'm going to take my gameboy."
"That's fine, I'll be walking."
"Wait, my gameboy is in Dad's truck!"
"Why don't you take one of your books to read?"
"Yeah, I guess...Hey Mom, can you make me a multiplication sheet to do?"
"Yea, Sure....What, you mean Math?!!!"
"Yea, can you make me one to do real quick?"
"OOOkay, I can do that..."
It was at this point that I had to hide my "cat that ate the canary" grin! I couldn't believe it! Math. Fun. Seriously! Come on! This is the same boy that could barely get through his 4 x tables in May.
Homeschooling has brought ALOT of changes to our lives- all good so far. A few challenges, for sure, but I'm so glad we made this decision. One change I've noticed is the shift of time, in that 3-5 p.m. doesn't seem to have the same chaotic tone it had before. It's really busy, but not chaotic. By 3 p.m., school is done, my dd24months is awake from her nap, dinner is getting prepared and the evening is open to just soccer/swimming practice and family time. No homework, no extra responsibilities to take away from family time, except occasional cantor practice. But the day is super busy. We are ahead in our work right now, but I'm trying to build in a "cushion" in case of sickness.
The boys fight ALOT less. Their "recess" time is limited, like at school, so when they do play together they want to play and are less apt to argue. They also take turns playing with their sister during the day and that's a ton of fun to watch. She sits on a chair, pats the cushion and calls to one of them to sit with her. If they were at school, they would have very little time with her. They would be home around 2:30 and after homework there would be a short time for dinner before soccer/swimming and then off to bed. This time in their lives is gold and I'm so glad they are getting to spend it together.
Academically speaking the boys are doing great. I don't want to get too confident because I know enough from other moms that challenges are almost certain to come, so I just enjoy where we are now. Take care of today and tomorrow will take care of itself.
My challenges are of course to maintain exercise and diet and boy is that a challenge! I'm getting in 20 min. of running most days with extra walking while the boys are at sports. It's a great time to chat with friends as well. Diet is harder because I am trying to stick with Body For Life, but my family isn't. Dinner isn't the problem, but Breakfast and Lunch prove harder to manage. We are trying to have breakfast all together before my husband goes to work- before it was eat when you wanted to before getting to school or work, but we wanted to spend more time together as a family. They would like a bigger breakfast. I want cream of wheat. Like THAT's going to go well...but I'll get it figured out!
My latest crochet project is something I want to wear soon. I am not having much luck with wearables that require shaping so I hope this goes better. I've been ripping out alot of starter projects.
Lastly, our female dog is expecting puppies any day now. We think sometime between now and the next 3 weeks or so. She was already a high wired dog, but now she's testy and hormonal (poor thing). We have also made arrangements to purchase a ram for our sheep so our farm continues to grow.
Time's up, got to get to bed...tomorrow is a school day :)
"Mom, I'm going to take my gameboy."
"That's fine, I'll be walking."
"Wait, my gameboy is in Dad's truck!"
"Why don't you take one of your books to read?"
"Yeah, I guess...Hey Mom, can you make me a multiplication sheet to do?"
"Yea, Sure....What, you mean Math?!!!"
"Yea, can you make me one to do real quick?"
"OOOkay, I can do that..."
It was at this point that I had to hide my "cat that ate the canary" grin! I couldn't believe it! Math. Fun. Seriously! Come on! This is the same boy that could barely get through his 4 x tables in May.
Homeschooling has brought ALOT of changes to our lives- all good so far. A few challenges, for sure, but I'm so glad we made this decision. One change I've noticed is the shift of time, in that 3-5 p.m. doesn't seem to have the same chaotic tone it had before. It's really busy, but not chaotic. By 3 p.m., school is done, my dd24months is awake from her nap, dinner is getting prepared and the evening is open to just soccer/swimming practice and family time. No homework, no extra responsibilities to take away from family time, except occasional cantor practice. But the day is super busy. We are ahead in our work right now, but I'm trying to build in a "cushion" in case of sickness.
The boys fight ALOT less. Their "recess" time is limited, like at school, so when they do play together they want to play and are less apt to argue. They also take turns playing with their sister during the day and that's a ton of fun to watch. She sits on a chair, pats the cushion and calls to one of them to sit with her. If they were at school, they would have very little time with her. They would be home around 2:30 and after homework there would be a short time for dinner before soccer/swimming and then off to bed. This time in their lives is gold and I'm so glad they are getting to spend it together.
Academically speaking the boys are doing great. I don't want to get too confident because I know enough from other moms that challenges are almost certain to come, so I just enjoy where we are now. Take care of today and tomorrow will take care of itself.
My challenges are of course to maintain exercise and diet and boy is that a challenge! I'm getting in 20 min. of running most days with extra walking while the boys are at sports. It's a great time to chat with friends as well. Diet is harder because I am trying to stick with Body For Life, but my family isn't. Dinner isn't the problem, but Breakfast and Lunch prove harder to manage. We are trying to have breakfast all together before my husband goes to work- before it was eat when you wanted to before getting to school or work, but we wanted to spend more time together as a family. They would like a bigger breakfast. I want cream of wheat. Like THAT's going to go well...but I'll get it figured out!
My latest crochet project is something I want to wear soon. I am not having much luck with wearables that require shaping so I hope this goes better. I've been ripping out alot of starter projects.
Lastly, our female dog is expecting puppies any day now. We think sometime between now and the next 3 weeks or so. She was already a high wired dog, but now she's testy and hormonal (poor thing). We have also made arrangements to purchase a ram for our sheep so our farm continues to grow.
Time's up, got to get to bed...tomorrow is a school day :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
And The Winner Is...
Entry #2, the classic trench coat! Thanks to everyone who entered and voted. I appreciate the help in picking a pattern to make for the Fall/Winter. I was going to make it in a mocha brown color, but I don't know now...any thoughts? I am working on a project that I should have done by my daughter's birthday at the end of the month, then I'll start work on the trench coat. I've got to get to bed, but wanted to get this posted. Congrats to Contestant #2! Take a look at the options for first prize and let me know which one you choose!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Help Choose The Winner!!! 3 Finalists Announced!
Ok, here they are- the 3 finalists for the Cool Weather Clothing Crochet Pattern Contest. Take a look at all three and then place your vote in the comments section under THIS post. Feel free to make suggestions for colors on your favorite pattern- If it wins, I might use your color and or yarn selection! You can place your vote through September 10th.
****I should note that if this one was chosen, I thought I might do one of a two things: add sleeves and sew up middle; or wear over long sleeve shirts. Feel free to add your own thoughts if you choose this one.
Entry #1: Hooded Coat from Romantic Looks Crochet
Entry #2: Classic Trench Coat from Modadea.com
Entry #3: Trendy Top from 24 Hour Crochet
****I should note that if this one was chosen, I thought I might do one of a two things: add sleeves and sew up middle; or wear over long sleeve shirts. Feel free to add your own thoughts if you choose this one. Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Pineapple Outfit
I got my entries back from the county fair this morning, so I was able to get some pics of my daughter's outfit from this weekend. The top is a design from http://www.mylittlecitygirl.com/ and she has other wonderful top designs to crochet. The pants were my idea- I hemmed a pair of pants to be capris and added some crochet appliques to make a flower design. Both top and pants are beaded. I bought enough yarn so I can undo it next summer, add more of the pineapple motifs and crochet the white and green trim back on the top so it can be worn again. Heck if I'm going to do all that work to have her wear it once!!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
School's In Session!
Yesterday was our first day of homeschool and it went well. It's a pretty full day and then we went to my youngest son's soccer practice, followed by my husband purchasing hay and loading it into the barn (oldest son helped with that).
I had hoped to have back my things from the fair, mostly because I wanted back the mannequin so I can post pics of the outfit my daughter wore Friday night to the rehearsal dinner. I was so pleased with it! She hated getting into it because the back is kind of complicated to tie and 23 month olds are NOT known for their ability to stand still....
We had a wonderful weekend. It's the last of the weddings from this generation on that side of the family. I think my children thought they were Zach and Cody, the 2 brothers who live in a hotel. They loved staying at the hotel!
Anyway, I need to get school started- we have another full day ahead of us. We are studying Indians and Explorers to North America among other things and it's a lot of fun to read to the boys!
I'll try to get the final entries for the contest posted with pics for you to judge in the next 24 hours. I was up exercising at 11 pm last night and just too tired!!
I had hoped to have back my things from the fair, mostly because I wanted back the mannequin so I can post pics of the outfit my daughter wore Friday night to the rehearsal dinner. I was so pleased with it! She hated getting into it because the back is kind of complicated to tie and 23 month olds are NOT known for their ability to stand still....
We had a wonderful weekend. It's the last of the weddings from this generation on that side of the family. I think my children thought they were Zach and Cody, the 2 brothers who live in a hotel. They loved staying at the hotel!
Anyway, I need to get school started- we have another full day ahead of us. We are studying Indians and Explorers to North America among other things and it's a lot of fun to read to the boys!
I'll try to get the final entries for the contest posted with pics for you to judge in the next 24 hours. I was up exercising at 11 pm last night and just too tired!!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Pinch Me!!!!
I can't believe it! ALL of my crocheted items placed!!!! The Upsy Daisy Poncho took 2nd place in its class, my daughter's Christmas Dress also placed 2nd in its class, and the Swimsuit took FIRST PLACE!!! WOO HOO!!! Below are pics of them with their ribbons. By the way, while my chocolate chip pie didn't place, the Molasses Sugar cookies placed 2nd. Wow, 4 out of 5 entries placed. I just can't believe it. And while I ended up enjoying a pretzel dog at the fair, I did some extra walking at the ballfield to make up for it. Just a great day! Another Fitness Milestone For Me!
I finally reached a big fitness milestone- I did a mile in 11:28 minutes! That's my best time ever! I really didn't think I'd get under 12 minutes during this challenge, but I did. Yea me. I started off with 4.5 mph, which is the fastest I've ever started and reached 6.7-6.8 mph at the end of the first mile. For the 20 minutes, I ended up doing 1.57 miles which is just awesome for me. The ultimate goal is to do 2, 10 minute miles and I would be absolutely shocked if I reached that before the end of this challege!
Well, I'm off to shower and then we are going to the fair to see how my entries did. Please, DON'T expect any ribbons- I saw alot of my competition last night and I don't stand a chance, but that's ok. It was fun just to enter things in the fair. My oldest has soccer practice this evening so the kids will be eating dinner at the fair (this is our one night to go), and I'll be toting my protein bar and diet pepsi. Boy, I live on the edge, don't I?
I'll write more about the fair this evening.
Well, I'm off to shower and then we are going to the fair to see how my entries did. Please, DON'T expect any ribbons- I saw alot of my competition last night and I don't stand a chance, but that's ok. It was fun just to enter things in the fair. My oldest has soccer practice this evening so the kids will be eating dinner at the fair (this is our one night to go), and I'll be toting my protein bar and diet pepsi. Boy, I live on the edge, don't I?
I'll write more about the fair this evening.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
What A Great Day!
The children are all tucked in their beds, with visions of their new Toys R Us gift cards dancing in their heads....
Today was the big birthday party for both our boys. The oldest is 10 and the youngest will be 7 in a few weeks. Our baby girl has her 2nd birthday next month.
The day started off with me cantoring for morning mass. I get so nervous now- never used to, but I think it's different singing for a community of friends. Singing for church is different than anything else. It's just NOT about you. It's about serving - leading your community in song with out standing out. That's a hard line to stay on the right side of, but messing up every other time helps keep you humble :) Today was a good day and I was really pleased.
The party was just wonderful. My dear italian grandmother who is 94 attended. This was her first visit to our farm and I loved having her here, as did the rest of my family. We had a great round of ghost stories!! The boys had all their favorite friends, including the children they'll homeschool alongside with this year. Our daughter had her friend at the party and planning their birthdays will be quite the task. They were born the same day! We have to make sure they can be at each other's parties!
My husband and I had some great conversations with friends (parents of the children) and family. Just a great day all around.
Well, back to the grindstone. What is this, week 5 already? I have a wedding at the end of the week and we 1/2 school days going on- not to mention baking tomorrow for the fair. We're going to take the crochet and baking items over tomorrow afternoon. A friend told me that judging might actually be on Tuesday so we might have to head over there Tuesday afternoon! Wish me luck! Pics to be posted end of the week and hopefully the final picks for the contest will be up to show you by end of the week!
Today was the big birthday party for both our boys. The oldest is 10 and the youngest will be 7 in a few weeks. Our baby girl has her 2nd birthday next month.
The day started off with me cantoring for morning mass. I get so nervous now- never used to, but I think it's different singing for a community of friends. Singing for church is different than anything else. It's just NOT about you. It's about serving - leading your community in song with out standing out. That's a hard line to stay on the right side of, but messing up every other time helps keep you humble :) Today was a good day and I was really pleased.
The party was just wonderful. My dear italian grandmother who is 94 attended. This was her first visit to our farm and I loved having her here, as did the rest of my family. We had a great round of ghost stories!! The boys had all their favorite friends, including the children they'll homeschool alongside with this year. Our daughter had her friend at the party and planning their birthdays will be quite the task. They were born the same day! We have to make sure they can be at each other's parties!
My husband and I had some great conversations with friends (parents of the children) and family. Just a great day all around.
Well, back to the grindstone. What is this, week 5 already? I have a wedding at the end of the week and we 1/2 school days going on- not to mention baking tomorrow for the fair. We're going to take the crochet and baking items over tomorrow afternoon. A friend told me that judging might actually be on Tuesday so we might have to head over there Tuesday afternoon! Wish me luck! Pics to be posted end of the week and hopefully the final picks for the contest will be up to show you by end of the week!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Quick Update...
I'm getting my children ready for soccer practice (although we have a thunderstorm moving in so I don't know if it's really going to happen), but I wanted to take a minute to update you on the contest and other bits of news. First, the contest. I'm waiting to hear from one contestant who entered an entire book. I need her to narrow it a bit down for me! :) I'm going to give her a few more days to respond. In the meantime, I'm looking through the choices and narrowing them down to a few that I'll let you decide through a poll.
Secondly, I don't know if I am looking better, but boy, do I feel better. I have more energy, and I feel like I'm going somewhere with this program. Free day is going to be my sons' birthday party on Sunday. Can't wait!!
Lastly, I entered 3 crocheted items into our county fair!! The Hot Mama Swimsuit, The Upsy Daisy Poncho, and my daughter's Christmas dress. I also entered a Chocolate Chip pie and my husband's grandmother's Molasses Sugar cookies. They have to be taken to the fair grounds on Monday. I won't know how I did until the weekend of the 23rd. Wish me luck! Oh no, lightening, gotten run!
Secondly, I don't know if I am looking better, but boy, do I feel better. I have more energy, and I feel like I'm going somewhere with this program. Free day is going to be my sons' birthday party on Sunday. Can't wait!!
Lastly, I entered 3 crocheted items into our county fair!! The Hot Mama Swimsuit, The Upsy Daisy Poncho, and my daughter's Christmas dress. I also entered a Chocolate Chip pie and my husband's grandmother's Molasses Sugar cookies. They have to be taken to the fair grounds on Monday. I won't know how I did until the weekend of the 23rd. Wish me luck! Oh no, lightening, gotten run!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Oops...Week 4!
Sorry about that! I missed a week check in- it's very easy to get sidetracked in this house! I just got off the treadmill, smiling ear to ear. I hit a milestone this evening. I ran a 12 minute mile! That's a minute and 15 seconds LESS than my previous best time!!!! I managed to maintain a 5.5 mph for 5 minutes and then kicked it up to 6.1 mph and RAN AS FAST AS I COULD!!!! It felt great! Did I just say that?
The friend that I'll be homeschooling with is actually not starting her school year until September so she can get all of her unfinished projects completed. There is ALOT of wisdom in that approach and with swimming two mornings a week and speech therapy once a week for my youngest ds, we have alot of interruptions to our day. Soccer season just started this week, with my oldest ds having practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays and my youngest ds will ofcourse have practice on Mondays and Wednesdays. I mean, they couldn't possibly have practice on the same nights and make my life easier, right? Oh well, I'll use the time for extra walking sessions.
I have completed all of the motifs for dd's top and am now attaching them. After that, it's just trim work and beading. I need to make sure the motif layout is going to fit her properly and not be too big.
I've only had a few entries into the contest. I'll make a decision on Monday, so you have until then! If you haven't entered, now's the time!!
The friend that I'll be homeschooling with is actually not starting her school year until September so she can get all of her unfinished projects completed. There is ALOT of wisdom in that approach and with swimming two mornings a week and speech therapy once a week for my youngest ds, we have alot of interruptions to our day. Soccer season just started this week, with my oldest ds having practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays and my youngest ds will ofcourse have practice on Mondays and Wednesdays. I mean, they couldn't possibly have practice on the same nights and make my life easier, right? Oh well, I'll use the time for extra walking sessions.
I have completed all of the motifs for dd's top and am now attaching them. After that, it's just trim work and beading. I need to make sure the motif layout is going to fit her properly and not be too big.
I've only had a few entries into the contest. I'll make a decision on Monday, so you have until then! If you haven't entered, now's the time!!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
End Of Week Two
It was a pretty good week. I didn't miss any exercise sessions and did a few of them at 10:30 or later at night! Funny thing is, I actually pushed myself harder when working at night. Maybe it's the lack of distractions or that I wanted to prove to myself that exercising at night doesn't have to mean moving slower.
Yesterday I managed to shave off another 10 seconds from a mile. My best is now 13:15 which is not bad considering I was doing a 16/17..ug, maybe 18 min. mile before the challenge. I'm trying to make the switch from walking to running and it's HARD!!!! After I do the first mile, I slow down for a couple of minutes and then force myself to get back to running and then finish the 20 minute session going faster than my previous top speed. Yesterday I pulled off a 6.1 mph for one minute. Thought I was going to fall off the treadmill!
I am working on 2 projects, nope, 3 projects at one time. There is a method to my madness! The first project is a baby blanket for one my younger son's therapists who is expecting her first child this fall. It's a simple pattern using super bulky yarn and I can work on it even with chaos going on around me because it's so simple.
The second project is the tunic and I am working on this every time I have pockets of time without distraction, and of course that would be about 1 a.m.....:)
The 3rd project is actually a top that I am trying to make for my dd who is 20 months. I wanted to make her something to wear to the rehearsal dinner for the family wedding at the end of August. I got a pair of white capris for her and plan to make some edging and floral appliques to put on the capris to go along with the top. I'll ask the designer if I can post a pic and link to her pattern (for sale on ebay and I think etsy). Lots of little motifs so I do those anytime I have 5-10 min and race to see if I can get one done fast!
At some point, all 3 projects will get done! I have a small list going of future cold weather projects to make, but have room for one more so I need any last entries for my contest! I'll wrap the contest up at the end of the week, so PLEASE keep looking for something awesome for me to make to wear!!!
Yesterday I managed to shave off another 10 seconds from a mile. My best is now 13:15 which is not bad considering I was doing a 16/17..ug, maybe 18 min. mile before the challenge. I'm trying to make the switch from walking to running and it's HARD!!!! After I do the first mile, I slow down for a couple of minutes and then force myself to get back to running and then finish the 20 minute session going faster than my previous top speed. Yesterday I pulled off a 6.1 mph for one minute. Thought I was going to fall off the treadmill!
I am working on 2 projects, nope, 3 projects at one time. There is a method to my madness! The first project is a baby blanket for one my younger son's therapists who is expecting her first child this fall. It's a simple pattern using super bulky yarn and I can work on it even with chaos going on around me because it's so simple.
The second project is the tunic and I am working on this every time I have pockets of time without distraction, and of course that would be about 1 a.m.....:)
The 3rd project is actually a top that I am trying to make for my dd who is 20 months. I wanted to make her something to wear to the rehearsal dinner for the family wedding at the end of August. I got a pair of white capris for her and plan to make some edging and floral appliques to put on the capris to go along with the top. I'll ask the designer if I can post a pic and link to her pattern (for sale on ebay and I think etsy). Lots of little motifs so I do those anytime I have 5-10 min and race to see if I can get one done fast!
At some point, all 3 projects will get done! I have a small list going of future cold weather projects to make, but have room for one more so I need any last entries for my contest! I'll wrap the contest up at the end of the week, so PLEASE keep looking for something awesome for me to make to wear!!!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I Might Electrocute Myself, But...
I might electrocute myself with all the sweat I am dripping on to the keyboard LOL:), but I had to write a quick post before I hopped in the shower. I just completed my cardio workout for the day (yes at 11:09 pm!) and I did the fastest mile I have done in months!!! I ran a 13.25 minute mile which is awesome for me. I had been doing around 17 minutes when I was doing a 60 minute cardio routine. The Body For Life plan requires 20 minutes of really intense cardio and man, did I accomplish that!! I managed to hold a 6.0 mph run for 30 seconds and stayed at 5.6-5.7 for several minutes in the workout. I am really proud of myself right now.
Our boys are getting used to their half-day homeschool routine. They are getting to bed WAY too late. Tonight they made a tent out of blankets in their room with the top of their fooseball table being the "secret door" complete with password. I, being the ever clever top secret Mommy agent that I am, quickly guessed the password (name of the youngest son :)) and I was allowed top secret clearance. Daddy was at a meeting tonight so they had ice cream, a movie, and I let them sleep in their tent. That lasted about 10 minutes and they were back in their own beds. Too funny!
Each day we do lessons in handwriting, spelling, english, and double math and phonics lessons. Both boys are making great strides in their math and reading! I started to read a loud to them yesterday but I don't want to get ahead of the schedule too much. We don't officially start until August 4th and we still have summer activities like swimming and soccer to work around, so I don't expect to be on our true schedule until September. Until then, we just tackle our daily schedule by fitting it in where we can, making sure it all gets done each day. So far, so good. I'll probably write more about school in the weeks to come, as I imagine there might be a few of you with questions of what they will be learning and how it will all work, so I'll continue to expand on our homeschool adventure as we go.
I had to rip out my tunic WIP!!! Ug!! I could tell it was going to be too small so I ripped it out and am starting over tomorrow with a bigger hook. I crochet with a tighter tension these days and I think that's the reason it wasn't working. Oh well, like I haven't ripped out a WIP before.
Ok, off to the shower and then bed. We have a full day of swimming, school work, and playing buccaneers ahead of us tomorrow and if I don't get enough sleep, I'll be walking (crawling) the plank!!
Our boys are getting used to their half-day homeschool routine. They are getting to bed WAY too late. Tonight they made a tent out of blankets in their room with the top of their fooseball table being the "secret door" complete with password. I, being the ever clever top secret Mommy agent that I am, quickly guessed the password (name of the youngest son :)) and I was allowed top secret clearance. Daddy was at a meeting tonight so they had ice cream, a movie, and I let them sleep in their tent. That lasted about 10 minutes and they were back in their own beds. Too funny!
Each day we do lessons in handwriting, spelling, english, and double math and phonics lessons. Both boys are making great strides in their math and reading! I started to read a loud to them yesterday but I don't want to get ahead of the schedule too much. We don't officially start until August 4th and we still have summer activities like swimming and soccer to work around, so I don't expect to be on our true schedule until September. Until then, we just tackle our daily schedule by fitting it in where we can, making sure it all gets done each day. So far, so good. I'll probably write more about school in the weeks to come, as I imagine there might be a few of you with questions of what they will be learning and how it will all work, so I'll continue to expand on our homeschool adventure as we go.
I had to rip out my tunic WIP!!! Ug!! I could tell it was going to be too small so I ripped it out and am starting over tomorrow with a bigger hook. I crochet with a tighter tension these days and I think that's the reason it wasn't working. Oh well, like I haven't ripped out a WIP before.
Ok, off to the shower and then bed. We have a full day of swimming, school work, and playing buccaneers ahead of us tomorrow and if I don't get enough sleep, I'll be walking (crawling) the plank!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Finally, My Second Bit of News!!
So sorry I didn't post right away. You'll probably understand why when I tell you the news I spoke of last post. First, NO, I am not pregnant. I need to lose a couple of dresses sizes before I visit that topic...:)
Before I tell you, I should back up and say that we made this decision a while ago, but I wanted to make sure all of our family was told before putting it on a blog. After lots of prayerful consideration, we pulled our 2 boys out of school. There were lots of reasons for doing this. Some were school related and I don't want to get into bad mouthing anyone, but we absolutely knew that our youngest could not and would not go through what his older brother did. We wanted to include other subjects into their studies that just aren't possible otherwise. So, here's the news: We are homeschooling our boys this Fall. For the last several months I have been blessed with a great friend to help mentor me in this process. She has homeschooled her children for several years and has done it well. She has been guiding us through all of the aspects of homeschooling, coursework, and scheduling issues. I feel REALLY confident that we can do this. I don't know if I have mentioned before, but I was a high school religion teacher for 4 years prior to having children and taught adult students at a local college for a few years in the recent past. Lesson planning, teaching, grading, juggling students isn't anything new to me.
So, this past week, instead of posting, I have been teaching. I didn't want the boys to get overwhelmed with work, so we have been doing a modified schedule to get them use to how the day will work and also they now have a head start on some of their subjects. We are doing Math, Phonics, Handwriting and we started Spelling last week. Today we are adding in English. Our first "true" day of homeschooling with all subjects will be August 4th. History, Geography and Science will begin then. Piano for the oldest will come in late September and German (their choice of foreign lang.) will start in the fall as well. They will continue to do Swimming year round as well as sports (Soccer should start within the coming weeks).
I'll write more about it in the coming weeks, but that's the reason for the delay in my post. Ok, onto weight loss...
I completed my first week of Body For Life and was really pleased with how I did. No cheating and no tweaking of the plan. I'll check my progress at the end of week 4. I am concentrating on just following each day as written and doing what's required. It's a great plan to follow for a homeschooler in that it's very straight forward, easy to follow, inexpensive, and I am not eating separate meals from the family at dinnertime. I am using the BFL cookbook and making meals from it. I wrote out a 3 week menu plan of BFL meals so that I can eat with the family and get everyone eating healthier as well!
As far as crocheting goes, I am making a test pattern for a sleeveless tunic for a fellow crocheter on crochetville. I plan to wear it in late August during a family wedding weekend. I can't wait to show you the color!!! I have a few ideas for fall patterns but still need entries into the contest!! Please keep looking for me!!
Before I tell you, I should back up and say that we made this decision a while ago, but I wanted to make sure all of our family was told before putting it on a blog. After lots of prayerful consideration, we pulled our 2 boys out of school. There were lots of reasons for doing this. Some were school related and I don't want to get into bad mouthing anyone, but we absolutely knew that our youngest could not and would not go through what his older brother did. We wanted to include other subjects into their studies that just aren't possible otherwise. So, here's the news: We are homeschooling our boys this Fall. For the last several months I have been blessed with a great friend to help mentor me in this process. She has homeschooled her children for several years and has done it well. She has been guiding us through all of the aspects of homeschooling, coursework, and scheduling issues. I feel REALLY confident that we can do this. I don't know if I have mentioned before, but I was a high school religion teacher for 4 years prior to having children and taught adult students at a local college for a few years in the recent past. Lesson planning, teaching, grading, juggling students isn't anything new to me.
So, this past week, instead of posting, I have been teaching. I didn't want the boys to get overwhelmed with work, so we have been doing a modified schedule to get them use to how the day will work and also they now have a head start on some of their subjects. We are doing Math, Phonics, Handwriting and we started Spelling last week. Today we are adding in English. Our first "true" day of homeschooling with all subjects will be August 4th. History, Geography and Science will begin then. Piano for the oldest will come in late September and German (their choice of foreign lang.) will start in the fall as well. They will continue to do Swimming year round as well as sports (Soccer should start within the coming weeks).
I'll write more about it in the coming weeks, but that's the reason for the delay in my post. Ok, onto weight loss...
I completed my first week of Body For Life and was really pleased with how I did. No cheating and no tweaking of the plan. I'll check my progress at the end of week 4. I am concentrating on just following each day as written and doing what's required. It's a great plan to follow for a homeschooler in that it's very straight forward, easy to follow, inexpensive, and I am not eating separate meals from the family at dinnertime. I am using the BFL cookbook and making meals from it. I wrote out a 3 week menu plan of BFL meals so that I can eat with the family and get everyone eating healthier as well!
As far as crocheting goes, I am making a test pattern for a sleeveless tunic for a fellow crocheter on crochetville. I plan to wear it in late August during a family wedding weekend. I can't wait to show you the color!!! I have a few ideas for fall patterns but still need entries into the contest!! Please keep looking for me!!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
I'm Back!!!
There really wasn't any good time to get online and write a post for the blog, so sorry for the wait.
Wow! There is so much to tell you, where to start? Ok, first off, our English Shepherd, Mollie, may be well on her way to having puppies. Seems her "husband", Jack, finally, well, um, you know...anyway, I'll let you know how that one turns out...
The beach trip was fantastic, lots of fun and lots of soul searching.
I have a couple of items to share with you. First, the weight loss war. I truly think I am not any better off than I was when I took my first before pictures. The weight is still the same and I swear the waist in inches keeps moving like a see-saw. I feel like I am just treading water, or more appropriately, moving deck chairs on the Titanic. If you go back to the first entry of this blog, or the description of this blog, you'll find a mentioning of me following the Body For Life Program. It got me thinking, what happened with that? I know what happened with that. I did what I have done all the other 6-7 tries I have given the program: I refuse at some point to totally commit to it and start to tweak the program beyond recognition. Then, I tell myelf it's not working and I look for something else. That, my friends, is my first revelation. I don't want to do what I need to do. Deep down, I want to eat the way I did when I was 20 and a size 10.
I have come to a point where I want to complete the 12 week challenge, not because I might lose fill in the blank pounds, but because I want to say "I did it!". I want to follow the challenge to completion and not tweak it to death. I have no idea what kind of weight loss I'll have, but honestly, is what I have been doing, namely floundering around, been helpful? Nope. So, here I go, Body For Life Challege, try number 8. Eight's the charm, right? I feel different about it this time.
I asked my Mom to stock my frig with food for the program before I got home and I am ready to go, right now! Who's with me? Anyone else out there want to try it? Google the website to read about it. Honestly, you don't need to buy any books. All of the basic info is available as free downloads on their website. I'm not waiting for Monday. Tomorrow I'll start eating according to the plan and then Monday I'll start counting the weeks. I'll retake some pics on Monday, but don't count on me to focus on weight loss at first. I am all about completing each day's requirements and eating "clean" as it's called. One day at a time. One workout at a time.
This is a REALLY long post, so I'll write my second bit of news tomorrow evening!
Keep those entries for the contest coming!!
Wow! There is so much to tell you, where to start? Ok, first off, our English Shepherd, Mollie, may be well on her way to having puppies. Seems her "husband", Jack, finally, well, um, you know...anyway, I'll let you know how that one turns out...
The beach trip was fantastic, lots of fun and lots of soul searching.
I have a couple of items to share with you. First, the weight loss war. I truly think I am not any better off than I was when I took my first before pictures. The weight is still the same and I swear the waist in inches keeps moving like a see-saw. I feel like I am just treading water, or more appropriately, moving deck chairs on the Titanic. If you go back to the first entry of this blog, or the description of this blog, you'll find a mentioning of me following the Body For Life Program. It got me thinking, what happened with that? I know what happened with that. I did what I have done all the other 6-7 tries I have given the program: I refuse at some point to totally commit to it and start to tweak the program beyond recognition. Then, I tell myelf it's not working and I look for something else. That, my friends, is my first revelation. I don't want to do what I need to do. Deep down, I want to eat the way I did when I was 20 and a size 10.
I have come to a point where I want to complete the 12 week challenge, not because I might lose fill in the blank pounds, but because I want to say "I did it!". I want to follow the challenge to completion and not tweak it to death. I have no idea what kind of weight loss I'll have, but honestly, is what I have been doing, namely floundering around, been helpful? Nope. So, here I go, Body For Life Challege, try number 8. Eight's the charm, right? I feel different about it this time.
I asked my Mom to stock my frig with food for the program before I got home and I am ready to go, right now! Who's with me? Anyone else out there want to try it? Google the website to read about it. Honestly, you don't need to buy any books. All of the basic info is available as free downloads on their website. I'm not waiting for Monday. Tomorrow I'll start eating according to the plan and then Monday I'll start counting the weeks. I'll retake some pics on Monday, but don't count on me to focus on weight loss at first. I am all about completing each day's requirements and eating "clean" as it's called. One day at a time. One workout at a time.
This is a REALLY long post, so I'll write my second bit of news tomorrow evening!
Keep those entries for the contest coming!!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Ready to Roll....
The car is packed and we are ready to leave on our, gulp, 12 hour trip to North Carolina with 2 boys and one very obstinate 21 month old girl. Gulp. What were we thinking? Oh well, pray that it goes fast- well as fast as 12 hours can go.
I'll take some pics of me while on the beach, but honestly, there is absolutely no difference from what I look like now and my last progress pics. I've done alot of thinking this week about what I want to do and how I need to do it, and I have some plans to tell you about when I return. Expect a lot of changes to the blog, and to my diet plan/exercise.
Please keep the Cool Weather Clothing Crochet Pattern Contest entries coming in. I'll be sure to write a post or two while on vacation!
I'll take some pics of me while on the beach, but honestly, there is absolutely no difference from what I look like now and my last progress pics. I've done alot of thinking this week about what I want to do and how I need to do it, and I have some plans to tell you about when I return. Expect a lot of changes to the blog, and to my diet plan/exercise.
Please keep the Cool Weather Clothing Crochet Pattern Contest entries coming in. I'll be sure to write a post or two while on vacation!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)