Snow Fun!

This morning I shoveled the walk & drive. I noticed that the snow was a good packing snow. So after kids got their schoolwork done, I let them go out & play.

 David & Jessica pausing to smile at the camera

 Gathering snowballs

 Having a snowball competition. Seeing who can get most in the dump truck.

Jamie building her snowman!

 Her finished snowman!

 Working on David's snowman.

Just another day of fun while other kids were in school! I truly love homeschooling!

Growing up too fast or not fast enough?

Have you ever noticed how society is pushing kids to grow up too fast? Not in all ways, but in dress & sexuality especially.  Kids are not allowed to be kids anymore. They aren't allowed to have time to just play, to use their imaginations.

Have you ever noticed how rare it is to have a teen or young adult who is grown up enough to take on adult responsibility? Ready to hold down a job, pay bills, get married, raise a family...

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I look at my kids & can clearly see that they are not as "grown up" as other kids their age. Other kids their ages (10, 7 & 5) are concerned about their looks, clothes & those of the opposite sex. I see it in my 10 yr old's peers especially. I see how they look down on my daughter because she doesn't have "Style" & doesn't really care about wearing heels & makeup. Part of that is her personality, but part of that is because she doesn't have all the peer pressure to "grow up". She still likes playing with toys.

But on the other hand, I can see where my daughter is more mature than her peers. She thinks about the feelings of others. She doesn't backtalk her parents or other adults. She talks to others respectfully. Now, she isn't perfect. She still interrupts adults while they are talking. She still fights with her siblings. I can see that I have lots of work to do to prepare her to be an adult! But we are working towards that.

My point is this. As we are raising our kids, what is our goal? Is it to have teens that are popular? Is it to have teens that fit in with their peers? Is it to have teens that "have fun"? Is it to get them out of the house & out of our hair? Or is it to train them up to be responsible adults? My goal is to raise young adults who know how to negotiate the world and accomplish any goal they have in life. I want them to look at the future knowing God made them for a purpose & that He will help them achieve that purpose. If along the way they are popular, then great. If they aren't, then great. The teen years are just a small part of life & I want my kids to be ready for what lies beyond childhood & the teen years.

Love Affair!

I'm finding that I've been having a love affair! Well, I've always had one with my hubby, but that's not what I'm talking about. I have a love affair with food! This is not a good thing!

I like to eat! I like the way food tastes. I love sitting around the table with family & eating. This is a big problem. I eat things that taste yummy! Once I start eating, I keep eating. Food has a grip on me. Even when I know that overeating will leave me feeling horrible, I still do it.

I've done better since the beginning of the year. BUT I still struggle. It's a constant fight. Why does eating taste so good? Why does it make me feel so good (at least at first). I'm coming to the realization that if I set my mind to staying within my calories, I can do it. But when I let my guard down, I over-indulge! I wish it wasn't a struggle. I wish I could just say "I'm not going to overeat. I'm going to get skinny." and *poof* it works. But it isn't that way. So I have to just keep pushing through & keep my guard up. It's going to take dedication, devotion & lots of prayer to stay dedicated to eating better & losing weight! I'd appreciate any prayers you all could say for me! I also appreciate all of you who have encouraged me as I exercise & work on this life change. Thank you!!

So, I'm going to try & end my love affair with food! BUT I'll never end my love affair with my hubby! ;-)

Hospitality

So, we haven't had very many people over to our house. It's not that we don't like having people over. We have friends over for New Year's Eve every year & we have a great time. We always talk about having more people over. But either we are busy, hubby is traveling or we just figure other people are busy & won't want to come over. Anyway, 2 things have come up in which we are opening our home up.

On Saturday, the kids (& their families) who have said the Beatitudes during Sunday Kids Worship are coming over for popcorn & Toy Story 3 party. I'm excited to have people over. BUT I've not even started cleaning yet. I am infamous for waiting till the last minute as I don't want my hard work to get undone! So tomorrow will be a busy day of exercise, schoolwork & cleaning!

Then on Thursday, March 3rd, I am hosting a Thirty-One Gift Party for my friend, Cami (http://www.mythirtyone.com/crw/) who is a new consultant. I haven't hosted a party like this since I was first married & hosted a Home Interior party. I've been working this week on getting invites out. Next week I need to plan my food. I plan on baking up a storm for this. Well, not up a storm, but I want to bake several things. I hope it's a good turn out for Cami.

If these go smoothly, maybe we'll talk ourselves into having a few more get-togethers this summer. I'm thinking a geek party! We have 2 Wiis & several party type games including Just Dance Kids & Rock Band 1, 2 & 3! Plus we have 6 computers networked together for some StarCraft! We also can just hang out. We can grill out & kids can play upstairs or in our fenced in backyard! Can you tell I'm trying to talk myself into being hospitable! ;-)

Have a great week everyone!

I think I'm addicted to exercise!

Really? Me?? I hate to exercise! But actually I'm finding out that I don't hate it. I'm actually enjoying it. When I don't exercise, I find I don't feel as good. I wake up in the morning achy & as soon as I start exercising, my muscles warm up & I feel great. I find myself wanting to exercise & missing it if I don't!

I'm really enjoying my WiiFit Plus. I do the Fit Plus combined routine (20 min, 50 min or 80 min) then add a few more exercises to get my time up to the next 1/2 hr. I'm finding I really like the Advanced Step routine. I can really feel it working on my leg muscles. I also like the variety of yoga, aerobic & strength training exercises. With fibromyalgia, repetitive motions can cause more pain. So the circuit type training routines helps vary the motions & the areas worked on my body.

I have also been walking on the treadmill some. Today I even ran on the treadmill for 2 minutes. That may not seem like a lot, but I haven't ran in over 10 years (maybe longer)! I'd love to get back to running distance, but don't know if my body will withstand it. When I was in high school, I ran 6-8 miles a day for track & I loved it. Who knows, maybe some day I'll be able to do a mini-marathon!

I'm also seeing some benefits to exercising. In just 1 month of exercising 3-5 times a week, I've seen my blood pressure drop & I've had my blood pressure meds cut in half! I've also lost 10 pounds so far. I love that I'm getting healthier.

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this. I guess just to say that if I can do this & like it, then you can too! Just get up off the couch & try! Push yourself for 1 month! At the end of that month, I bet you'll be addicted to it too!