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I think Anita Renfroe has the right idea. Instead of a "man" in the white house running things, it would be much more efficiently done with a "Mom-in-Chief", "First Mom", "Mominator". Take a look at this video! I think she's spot on. I nominate Anita Renfroe to run the country!!
"Mommy, I see your butt jiggling!" she said to me with a giggle as she placed her hand over her mouth to hide a smile. My two year old reminded me yesterday afternoon EXACTLY why I was doing those darned foot fires in the first place. EA Sports Active is most definitely "jiggling my butt"!! Foot fires, Sumo squats with pivots, and push ups...I loathe them but every time I do them, even when my legs or arms are so on fire they bring tears to my eyes I keep pushing! I am doing this for ME and no one else. I want to be successful in my endeavor to lose weight and I WILL!!! There are some exercises that I do enjoy such as the step-aerobics, boxing, and running. But, they can't all be fun and easy or we wouldn't lose weight, right!? No pain, no gain!
My total weight loss isn't as much as I would like for it to be, but I can see changes in my body and the way my clothes fit so I can "see" results. My preacher actually said to me on Sunday, "Have you lost weight?" With a big smile, I said, "Yes, a little" and he said he could tell in my face. He is a good man! ;)
My kids are a great motivation to me. My 5 year old son asked me the other day as I worked out with my EA Sports Personal Trainer 2 if exercising makes you die. I was a bit perplexed by the question, so I asked him to elaborate. He said, "Well, last time you worked out you said that it was going to kill you!" Hah! Yes, I guess I will actually have to choose my words wisely next time I am faced with foot fires, side planks, and push ups.
My 8 year old and I had a conversation as to why I worked out and went on diets. I explained to her that I not only wanted to lose weight, but also to be healthy. When I said that, she asked me why I wanted to be healthy. Of course my family is the number one reason why I want to be healthy!!! I want to not only set a good example for them, but also teach them to choose healthy when eating, stay active, and be healthy! They like to do their own "work outs" by playing the sports activities on the EAS game. You can customize your work outs, so I will usually just let them choose which activities they want to do.
You would think that a busy mom of three would just shed the pounds because she never sits down, right? In fact, I am writing this blog post with a cup of coffee in hand knowing that I need to get the family out of bed and start yet another busy day! When life hands you lemons, add it to some water and get on that treadmill!!
My 8 year old daughter, Shelby has always been very imaginative and creative. At an early age, she developed a love for fashion. She will combine some of the quirkiest patterns, styles, and outfits. I have always tried my best and it's dang hard! to let her experiment and be her own person.
Recently she has developed a love for duck tape. Duck tape indeed!!! She has created all sorts of things with it including purses, hair bows, rings, and wallets. Fortunately, there are lots of choices in duct tape styles these days, not just black or silver. She has leopard print, zebra print, peace signs, and even camouflage!
Here are two of her creations:
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| Her first purse (Medium) Leopard Print |
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| Her second purse (Large) Camouflage Style |
I have been working hard on coming up with healthy alternatives not only for myself but for my family as well. My kids have found that they love fresh fruit smoothies, cauliflower poppers, and even YOGURT! I have not been buying those pre-packaged snack foods, chocolate, and candy. I saw a recipe for some oven baked s'mores over at IzzyMom and I knew this would be something I my kids would love and worth a splurge!
The recipe includes: Ritz Crackers, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, and Large Marshmallows (cut in half). Yup, that's all! While you're preparing the salty-sweet goodness, pre-heat your oven to 350°.
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| Prep-work was so easy the kids did it! |
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| Before baking... |
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| After baking... |
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| Gotta love this!!! |
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| Tyler approved! |
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| Emily approved! |
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| Obviously Shelby approves as well! |
My oldest child is 8 years old. Although she has not been too adamant about it, she has started asking for things like a lap top and a cell phone. Yes, you heard me right. She is only 8 years old!! Recently my husband broke his Iphone. The screen cracked, so we upgraded to the Iphone 4 and let her have the old one to "play" with. As it turns out, the phone will now slide to unlock which it wouldn't do before thus causing it to be replaced! It's okay, though because there is no SIM card inside so it will not call or text. She can pretend to do both and take photos, so she is content with that. Every once in a while she will ask me when she can have a lap top. I just tell her that she is not old enough. Most of the time this will suffice, but I know that no matter how much I wish it would, this answer is not going to satisfy her forever! The truth be told, I don't know how old is old enough it this day and age.
With Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, I just worry that no matter how many internet filters we get, it won't be enough to keep her from seeing things that young girls just should not see! You know what I'm talking about, I'm sure. I get requests quite often on Facebook from people who do not know me. They want to friend me to spam me with porn or the likes. If a young girl gets a friend request and does not investigate, the outcome could be dreadful!
YouTube is a prime example of the internet at it's worst. Don't get me wrong, I love YouTube and use it quite frequently to upload videos of my children to post right here on this blog. But, have you ever noticed the "related videos" tab on the side after you watch a video? Have you ever clicked on those videos? Well, if you happen to do that, sometimes you wish you hadn't!!!
IzzyMom has written an open letter to Google concerning this very thing!
She asks:
"Why don’t you start a video sharing site just like YouTube…except for kids? So much of what’s on YouTube is way inappropriate for children (and that would be putting it mildly) and yet there it is, co-mingled with things that are fine for children."
"Union Pacific Corporation owns one of America's leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, links 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers and provides Americans with a fuel-efficient, environmentally responsible and safe mode of freight transportation. Union Pacific's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Energy, Industrial Products and Intermodal. The railroad emphasizes excellent customer service and offers competitive routes from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways. Union Pacific connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major gateways to Mexico, making it North America's premier rail franchise."
When there is snow in Arkansas, the state literally comes to a stand still. Of course you can make all sorts of jokes about it, but the fact is that generally speaking, road crews do not have equipment to clear all of the county roads thus leaving many folks stranded because they can't get out of their 3 mile driveway! School was closed yesterday here in Searcy due to about 3 inches of snow. We had to drive home from church on Sunday night and I must say that it was treacherous and I was thankful that hubby got us all home safe and sound. He called off work for his crew on Monday because in the end it's just not worth spending a half a day getting a truck out of the ditch or worrying about anyone getting hurt should something happen in one of our trucks.
We did get out at lunch and headed to my sister's house where we hitched up some sleds behind 4-wheelers and tons of fun was had by all!! Here is a little snippet of Tyler sledding with a big smile on his face!
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Since we live in Arkansas and there are only 2 snow plows in the entire state (okay, slight exaggeration...I think!) we got some snow/ice so most of the state is closed down! Don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining. We are taking the opportunity to be lazy, kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying some time at home. Since we have no place to be we rented some movies and while the rest of the family was enjoying a movie, Emily had other plans. Take a look:
The first full week of Twenty-Eleven has been great for me. I managed to work out 4 days with EA Sports Active 2. I really do love it, but it is surely a work out. I have found that with this program's warm up and cool downs I am much less sore than I was when I worked out with the first EA Sports Active. I enjoy being able to keep up with my heart rate with the heart rate monitor, although with my very last work out it stopped registering. Hopefully it was just a minor glitch and will work fine next time.
Dieting with Weight Watchers new Points Plus has been a bit easier than I thought it would be. Since fruits and (most) veggies are points free now it's harder for me to get all of my points in during the day, especially with my activity points added in. I tried some new recipes and some old favorites. Next week will be even more of a fun challenge!
Since Friday is my official weigh-in day, I thought I would go ahead and step on the scales to record any progress I might have had since Monday. Boy was I ever glad I did! They say that the scales don't lie, but I stepped back on and off for a couple more times just to be sure. Low and behold I had shed 5 pounds in (less than) my first week! What an awesome feeling that was to accomplish!!!
Needless to say the first week of my New Year, New Me program has been fabulous.
Tyler needs a hair cut in a BAD way. He has thick, coarse hair and it grows out curly, so there is nothing you can do with it...it just looks like a poofy mess. We usually keep it buzzed off pretty short. With the holidays, sickness, etc we just haven't had time to get it trimmed.
I thought I'd put some gel in it and give him a bit of a spiky look, well as best we can with his hair. It looked really cute, and I guess I doted over it too much 'cause he did NOT like it so he went in there and brushed it down.
After I dropped him off at school I get a message from his teacher telling me that he told the class he had "Jello" in his hair!
From the mouths of babes! *LOL*
My 2 year old daughter and I were on the way to pick up the older two kids from school and the sun was shining in her eyes. She requested her sunglasses. Unfortunately they were not in the car which prompted this conversation:
Emily: "Mommy, will you please get the sunshine out of the sky?"
Me: "Emily, only God can do that, not mommy."
Emily...looking up toward the sky with sheer concentration, "God, will you please get the sunshine out of the sky?"
Day two of my healthy new lifestyle started off great. I was pouring my first cup of coffee at 5:30 and found myself singing. YES, I said singing at 5:30 in the morning. I felt great. I was refreshed, and ready to tackle the day, no matter what was thrown at me. Boy, did I ever eat those thoughts!!!
Against my better judgment I gave Emily chocolate milk because she threw such a fit wanting it. Let me reiterate that this was against my better judgment. I knew that she should probably not have milk since she was vomiting and had an upset stomach on Monday but she was kicking and screaming. I will spare you the details but suffice it to say that I should not have given her the chocolate milk. It was with a heavy heart that I stayed home with her again.
With that being said, I managed to get a work out in and had a great work-out partner to boot! Day two of the 9 week challenge on EA Sports Active 2 brought back nightmares memories of the original EA Sports Active Personal Trainer and all of those squats that made me almost unable to walk for days. I must say I could definitely feel the burn after today's work out. I am worried that I will feel it for a few days in fact. OUCH!
There was a time when I lived for comments, I would check my mail, stats, comments every few minutes. I wanted a high PR ranking, I wanted to be a top blogger. I wanted everyone to know my name. Then along came child number 2 and 3. So much for that idea! I no longer have time to sit down at the computer and visit other blogs so why should I expect them to visit me. Frankly, I don't. I have contemplated shutting down my blog on several occasions, and then I realized that the whole reason I began blogging in the first place was to document for my friends and family the goings on of my family...the good, the bad, and the extremely crazy! I had a realization that nothing else really mattered.
Sure, I am like a lot of other "mommy" bloggers. I like to do the occasional paid post, or product review but I am surely not making a living from it. There are those of you that are, and that is great! I have three kids who I have to haul around to and from school, a business to co-manage, church, family, and frankly blogging just doesn't fit into my schedule much anymore. I do facebook a lot simply because it is quick, mobile, and I can do it on my phone while I'm waiting in the parking lot at school, in the doctor's office waiting room, or even sitting on the toilet (oh, come on - you know you do it too!!!) I have connected with many bloggers there and still keep up with them.
This blog is loaded with comments these days, but not the kind of comments that one would hope for. They are SPAM comments. Thankfully my spam filter catches most of them. A big part of them are inappropriate content for this blog! But there are those that occasionally slip through. You know the kind - "Nice blog", or "Great post". You even get some that will actually leave a comment that might half way look like they read the post. But, the thing is...IT IS STILL SPAM!!! It chaps my hide and I can't stand it.
People are being PAID to leave spam on your blog!!! Did you know that??? It irks me that THEY are making money by leaving comments and back links on MY blog. It doesn't fly with me and spammers beware that your comments WILL be deleted from this blog so don't waste your time or mine!!! Don't think you are going to get a free ride from this blog. It ain't happening...not now, not ever!
*steps off soap box and puts it away*
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...already in progress.
Yesterday I explained how I am working on a new me this year. I am incorporating a lifestyle change including eating healthier and working out. I have really let myself go over the last few months and it is something I really have to work on! I can and WILL lose weight, get healthier, and feel better! I've done it before and I will do it again.
Yesterday was Day One of my new lifestyle. It was a great day in spite of a killer headache. I'm not sure if it was diet related or if it was the PMS fairy visiting. Either way, I managed to keep it under control most of the day. I had to go grocery shopping and I got all of the ingredients I needed for some new dishes as well as some old family favorites that we ate before when we were doing Weight Watchers. The house is fully stocked with LOTS of fresh fruits and veggies. I did find today that I had way too many points left over at the end of the day. As it turns out, fruits and veggies (for the most part) are all points free now so I was trying to find enough things for dinner to make up all of the points I needed. Tomorrow and going forward, I will adjust my menus to compensate for this.
I started the 9 week challenge on EA Sports Active 2. I am excited about this new program as well. I am really digging the new work out format. I love that there is no nun-chuck cord to get tangled up in. The heart monitor totally rocks! I am looking forward to getting back into a work out regimen but not looking forward to the way I will feel the rest of this week. I remember last time I started the EA Sports Active work out, I was so sore from all of the squats, rows, etc that it hurt every time I moved...even squatting on the toilet! Oy!
I did my measurements this afternoon and took some "before" pictures. I have decided not to post them here today because quite frankly I am just not ready. Maybe in the future when I lose some weight I will be able to post them proudly. But, as of now this is the way I look and I'm just not proud so I am not posting them here.
In the mean time, through hard work and lots of dedication I will be working on those "after" pictures!
Happy New Year!!!
So, this is the time when "resolutions" are made...and in a few weeks we'll say this is the time when those "resolutions" are broken. In my case, of course I want to become a "new me". I am setting out to lose some weight, get fit, and enjoy life! I did so well during the summer last year and I have let myself go, so to speak during the last few months. I've put on 13.5 pounds since my last log on to Weight Watchers!!! Honestly, that number surprised me, because with the way my clothes are fitting I thought it would be more. Not only have I put on weight, but I just feel yucky. I am tired all of the time and have zero motivation! I am out to change that. Have you seen Jennifer Hudson lately?! She was on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year telling her story and she also sang. She looks amazing!!! What an inspiration she is.
I know WW works because I have done it before. The plan has changed a bit. They now have "Points Plus" and it looks like fruits and veggies are points free, so that's a great thing. I am looking for WW recipes and tips for those willing to pass them along. My e-mail is in the side bar and if you have any resources, I'd be interested. I have many recipes from when I was doing the plan before. My husband and I both lost weight and felt much better! I am out to get fit and healthy!
You have been forewarned that this post contains content that may not be suitable for women who have not bore children, anyone with a weak stomach, or if you don't like to read about bodily fluids! If you think you can handle it, read on!
I've been up since 3:30am with my sweet little Emily. It seems as though she's contracted the virus that Tyler had last week. She came into my room this morning with vomit in her hair saying she wanted to get into bed with me. I was quick to haul her to the bathtub as she once again began to heave. The poor little thing had liquids coming from both ends. I got her cleaned up, got the puke pail ready, and for 4 hours I've been up with her catching her vomit with the puke pail in between naps.
Since we have spent our Christmas break potty training, when she needed to go potty, even though she had a diaper on she wanted to go to the toilet. We ran in there and she pottied. As we returned to the living room, she began to vomit. Thankfully we made it to the puke pail. Unfortunately, we hadn't replaced her diaper...it was NOT pretty as I only had ONE pail to catch the liquids. It was at this point when I realized that you have to be dedicated as a mother to endure this!
I laid down on the couch once, she'd been asleep for a good 30-45 minutes so I thought maybe she was in a good deep sleep that no vomit could interrupt. Just as soon as I shut my eyes, the alarm clock began to chime. I went to the bedroom and turned it off, laid back down, and within minutes the auto-brew coffee machine began to spew out liquid goodness. The aroma filled the air and quickly reminded me that if I fall asleep at this hour, nobody will make it to church. It was about that time that Emily was awakened from her slumber by another visit from the vomit fairy.
Whilst cleaning vomit this morning I have come to two conclusions, when we build a home, we will have a) NO CARPET and b)Leather Furniture!!!
Please say a little prayer for Emily if you're so inclined for quick healing and maybe throw one in for me as well, for a quick nap at some point in the day. Believe you me, though 4 hours of sleep has gotten me through many a day since I've become a mother!
Just wanted to take a minute to update 'round here. First of all we had a marvelous CHRISTmas celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. The Crosby Baptist Church Christmas Play was a huge success and I just want to say THANK YOU to all of my friends and family who came out to support the hard working cast. It was a lot of work, and so worth it to have so many people come out to watch!
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| Brien with his new guitar. |
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| Emily kissing her new baby doll carrier. |
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| Tyler was excited about this zhu zhu pet! |
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| Shelby got some zebra striped shoes! |
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| Oscar was licking his lips when he realized that Santa had left him a gift! |
