School fun

As a homeschool mom, I plan our schedule a month at a time, making room for special activities.  I go through the school books, look at the science experiments and other bigger activities and then plan around them.  I like to make sure that every month we go to the library, make a craft, go on a field trip, bake some cookies, and maybe watch an educational movie about something the kids have been learning.  We are about to finish our first month of school.  We begin unit 2 today which means it's time to plan for other fun activities to do in October.

For the field trip, I decided to go to a museum.  A friend had given me a family pass so we all got in for free.  When I parked, I wasn't prepared for a parking meter, so I dug around the van for some quarters and put in enough to give us an hour and a half.  We walked into the museum and the kids were given a piece of paper with some questions for a scavenger hunt.  The kids were ecstatic!  They took off in search of the first answer.  I had to tell them several times to walk, not to get too far ahead of me, and to enjoy the museum while they looked for the answers.  They didn't listen to my third "command."  I did my best to enjoy the displays and read about them as I tried to keep an eye on all 3 kiddos.

I remember when I was kid, I didn't care about all the history stuff and all the signs to read.  I just wanted to look at what interested me and move on.  My mom loved reading about everything.  She loves history.  Our family would go on vacations every summer and whenever we stopped at a touristy place, Mom would walk slowly and read while us 4 girls ran around looking at stuff and then goofing around while we waited for Mom to finish.  I don't remember what my dad was doing.  He was probably either walking with my mom or talking with others who had joined us on the vacation.  Well, now I'm my mom.  lol

This museum had 3 floors of displays and there were answers for the scavenger hunt on all 3.  Once we finished on 1 floor, the kids wanted to rush to the next.  I encouraged them to take their time and look around at the things we missed.  At one point, a group of kids on a tour for school came in and frightened my kids.  I'm not sure why they felt like they had to hide or felt embarrassed or whatever it was.  I encouraged them to come out and not be afraid.  They're just kids like mine on a field trip like us.  As we searched through each area, A found several videos to watch.  She would push the button and let us know she found a movie.  A few times, we all sat down to watch only for A to tell me it was boring and she wanted to leave.  I wanted to sit and watch some more but A was not going to sit still for me to even enjoy it, so we continued on.  Finally, the kids found the answers to all the questions.  We turned in our papers and the kids got prizes.  I looked at my phone and saw we had 45 minutes left on the parking meter.  I guess I used 1 too many quarters.

Just 2 days later, on a Saturday, several museums had special tickets to let 2 people in each family in for free.  We printed one off and headed to another museum.  Another family didn't have a 2nd person to get in free and let one of my kids get in with them.  We all ended up getting in for free!  This one was much bigger than the other one with 4 floors of displays and a kids' playroom on the top floor.  Again, I wanted to take my time and read about different things but the kids rushed from one display to another.  We finally made it to the top and the kids got to play for a few minutes.  As we made it back to the first floor, we discovered we had missed an area and went and looked at mummies and other Egyptian things.

Yesterday was our craft day.  A while ago, I was looking on the internet for some craft ideas.  I try to match the craft with the month we're in or holiday coming up.  I saw a couple of articles on book marks.  I thought that would be fun, but everywhere I looked, the materials were expensive or it was too difficult.  I have to come up with something that my 4 year-old can do and that is still fun for my older 2 kids.  I sat and thought about it and figured, I could probably do my own bookmark.  I didn't have to follow the plans or buy the materials from other sites, I could do my own simple bookmarks.  I bought poster board, markers, stickers and yarn.  I already had a hole puncher and laminating sheets.  I cut up part of the poster board then cut out 16 bookmark-sized pieces.  I decided to decorate mine ahead of time to the give the kids ideas for theirs.

When the kids saw what we would be doing, they were very excited.  I gave them each 4 bookmarks to color and decorate.  I made sure all the markers got returned and had their lids.  After they had finished, they begged to do more.  So, I cut out 16 more bookmarks and we each did 4 more bookmarks.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids still wanted to color more, but I knew we were running out of time.  So I layed out 6 bookmarks on a laminating sheet at a time to keep them neat.  Then I cut them out and punched a hole at the top.  I cut pieces of yarn to tie through the hole for a tassle on top.  All the kids enjoyed making their bookmarks.  I had fun too.

Here they all are!

This is the creativity of A.  She drew her own designs and added stickers as she pleased.  She did have me help her with one.

These belong to K.  She already started reading a book just so she could use one of her bookmarks.  Some designs she came up with on her own.  Others, she took my ideas.

These are all J's.  He loves to play the XBox 360.  Right now his favorite game is Mechassault.  I have no idea what it's about or anything.  I guess these are all picutres of Mechs.

These are mine.  The first has a verse, Col. 3:17.  The second is my favorite color pair: black and blue.  Next is my favorite color purple.  The next 2 are just fun designs.  Then the American flag.  The 7th I used almost all of the markers to make a rainbow and wrote "God's promises are true!" to remind me to remember to trust God and his promises.  The last one is my favorite season, winter.

Now that October is coming up, I will have to think about what I want to do for a field trip and other things.  Tomorrow we will watch a movie about the human body because K has been learning about it in science.  I've also watched some of Apollo 13 with J because he was learning about the space program in social studies.

Colossians 3:17 "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."  NASB



America's battle and mine

Losing weight.  Ugh!  Right?  I have never had a weight problem until a few years ago.  I had my third baby, turned 30, and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism all within 2 years.  That's a triple threat on weight.  I have never struggled with losing weight before and the only time I fought with gaining too much too fast was when I was a freshman in college.  Eating ice cream every night isn't exactly the best thing to do to your body.  So, I worked to get that weight off so I could fit into my Christmas banquet dress.  It was snug but it fit.

My sophomore year in college, I was engaged.  The college had an outbreak of mono.  I had a job that required me to clean the bathrooms on our dorm floor.  Students were getting so sick that they had to go home.  Some dropped out because they missed so many classes.  I started getting sick, too.  I missed a couple weeks and ended up going home in late October.  I had lost 10 pounds in 2 days and kept dropping.  Eating was exhausting.  Just bringing the fork to my mouth wore me out and I had to take a break between bites.  I returned to school sometime in November and only had to drop 1 class.  However, I was getting married in May and I did not want to be that anorexic bride so I worked at gaining.  This was the only time I truly worked at gaining weight and just could not do it.  I was 1 pound short of my goal by my wedding day, weighing in at 119 lbs.

Getting married caused a little more weight gain.  We ate supper late, still going to school, hubby had a job that was very sporadic plus he was student teaching for a semester.  The elementary education program is not for sissies!  With stresses of early marriage and school, I was back up to a normal weight without a problem.  I never worried about what I ate, what I drank.  Weight was never a huge issue with me.  I stayed in a healthy range without trying.

So, back to my triple threat.  I gained 5 pounds a year since the birth of my baby.  Every time I attempted to lose it, I gained 5 more pounds over night.  Ok, within a week.  Still, it was very discouraging to see the scale go up when I had been working very hard to lose weight.  The more I tried to lose, the more I gained.  Then, my body would completely give out.  After a few weeks of working out, I would suddenly not have the energy to workout more than 10 minutes.  I used the Wii Fit often and before I even hit the 10 minute mark, I was lying on the floor, barely able to raise my hand with the remote to turn it off.  I blame that on my thyroid.  So, after gaining and collapsing, I give up.

I'm back at it.  Only once did I start a workout plan and started losing right away.  I found a weight loss program online, bought it, and started eating and doing what it said to do.  It worked.  But it got expensive and the food became less and less appetizing.  I hit a platteau so again, I gave up.  That ended a couple months ago.  It's been in the back of my mind though because I have 2 things that are pushing me to try again.  1: I made the commitment to not cut my hair until I reach my goal weight of 135 lbs.  2: I have to fit into a bridesmaid dress next July.  It's already bought and in my closet.  When I first tried it on, it was snug around my thighs but not too uncomfortable.  But I want it to be comfortable...or even better, needed to be taken in.  :)

What's my plan this time?  I have joined a Biggest Loser contest on Facebook.  I have done this multiple times with my college alumni site but have never come close to winning.  But, it keeps me motivated to keep trying, even with those disappointing weeks of gaining!  I'll add back in those healthy foods from the diet program I bought, hopefully not breaking the bank.  And I'll drink more water - I've always struggled with drinking enough of anything and water is my last choice of beverage.  Certainly, I'll cut down on pop, late night snacking, and junk food in general.  The weekends are my weakness.  I drink a lot more pop, eat a lot more snacks, and really get into the ice cream.  I can't give up ice cream completely, but I could cut down.  My biggest struggle is finding the time to shower after a workout.  I have no problem finding time to workout.  It's the stupid shower afterwards that takes so much time out of my day when I just want to get on with it.

I find it ironic that a TV that helps people lose a tremendous amount of weight is 2 hours long.  Sure, they encourage viewers to get up and do some exercises during the commercial breaks, but I guarantee you that most people are sitting on their couches snacking on some unhealthy snack for 2 hours straight.  Every week.  As I watched the premiere last Tuesday, I had the urge to get up and workout with the contestants so I think I will do that every Tuesday night from now on.  I can't just sit there for 2 hours watching other people who start out heavier than I am work their tails off and lose 10+ lbs a week.

I have taken before pictures several times and each time, I am bigger.  Definitely going backwards.  I will spare you these pics because they are not at all flattering.  However, if I am successful this time around, I will post my after pics alongside some recent ones of myself at this weight.  But I am not going to take before pics anymore because there has yet to be an after.

Pray for me if you feel lead to.  There are so many discouragements in trying to lose weight and for someone who never had to worry about what I ate, I just really struggle at choosing the right things to eat.  I wish I could go running somewhere, but it's hard with kids.  I know I'm going to have some battles but I must press on.  I don't want to gain any more.  I don't want to be tired any more.  I want to be healthy and energetic and fit into nice clothes, not loose big ones in an attempt to hide my belly.  Thanks for your support on yet another attempt to get back to a healthy weight!

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, my hip went out.  I have been telling Seth that I will need a hip replacement by the time I'm 40 and I'll have full alzheimer's by the time I'm 50.  I would hate to be right.

Occasionally, as I am out shopping, my hip will go out.  I suddenly can't move and I have to do a couple of high knee bends to get it back working again.  Last night's hip issue was completely different.  I felt it slide out of place almost....I can't really describe it.  There was no popping sound, just sudden pain and I couldn't move.  I couldn't put my weight on my right leg.  I felt like my leg bone was completely out of the hip socket which I'm sure is not actually the case.  I pulled myself into bed and carefully layed down.  I couldn't believe how much my hip hurt and I wasn't sure if I would be able to sleep.

Well, I didn't sleep great.  I woke every time I needed to turn over and carefully rolled into a position that was somewhat comfortable.  It was painful.  Finally, I woke up wondering what time it was, if my alarm would be going off soon.  I reached back to check my phone but that was too painful so I adjusted my position a bit.  I had 9 mintues left.  Could I wait it out?  I tried.  My hip just hurt lying there.  I needed to get up move around, find out how bad it really hurt.  So I grabbed my phone and keys, picked up Seth's work clothes for today, and carefully got out of bed.

Surprisingly, I was able to put weight on it.  The more I walked the better it felt.  I went upstairs and eventually sat on the couch.  But I immediately stood back up.  It hurt to sit.  It hurt to lie down.  It didn't hurt as much to stand or walk.  So for the next couple minutes I paced the living room, working my hip to see if it would feel better.  Seth finally got up and asked what was going on.  I just told him my hip hurt.  He told me to take ibuprofin but I would be too stubborn.

He's right.  I don't take medicine unless I'm practically dying.  My hip wasn't killing me, but it was certainly interfering with my normal daily activities.  I sat in my computer chair and it wasn't too bad but I couldn't sit long.  I paced some more, went back downstairs, came back up, sat on the couch, but moving was definitely the best thing for it.  Seth left for work and left me to my regular day.

I sat down on the edge of the couch and opened up my devotional book.  I am currently reading "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.  Each devotion is dated and written as if it were God speaking to me and then it gives verse references for me to look up and read to support what was written.  I opened it up to September 8 and this is what I read, "Accept each day exactly as it comes to you.  By that, I mean not only the circumstances of your day but also the condition of your body."  It is amazing how often these little devotions completely match what is going on in my head...even if I'm a few days behind.  God is awesome!!  He knows exactly what I need when I need it.  This is not a coincidence.  I am encouraged by the verses that went along with this as well.  2 Corinthians 13:4, "For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God.  For we also are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you."  Jeremiah 31:25, "For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes."  I have the power of God within me.  He gives me rest, He satisfies me.  He refreshes me.  He is all I need.

I finally took some ibuprofen.  As I continued to pace the living room, I was noticing how the pain in my hip was affecting my entire body.  I felt sickish, allergies seemed to be worse, and I'm sure I'm tired from such a restless night.  But, now that the ibuprofen is kicking in, the hip is starting to feel better.  I will make it through today with the power of God.

*verses are quoted from the NASB

God is good all the time

Since returning home from our trip to Iowa, we have been on a rollercoaster of emotions.  So much has happened I'm afraid I'm going to forget something but here we go...

At the family reunion, my sister announced that she was expecting baby #3.  Notice the shirts on 2 of the kids in the above picture.  It was a surprise to everyone.  We were all a bit worried to see how next summer's bride was going to take it.  Her response, "You're the one that has to wear the dress."  We already have our bridesmaid dresses so we're stuck with the size that we bought.  Nearly 2 weeks later, I received a text that things were not going well with the pregnancy.  She was able to see the heartbeat a couple of times but was labeled as a high-risk pregnancy.  Then the next day there was no heartbeat.  I had lost a baby 9 years ago so we compared notes on our losses and we can find comfort in that common bond.

About a week after our Iowa trip, my uncle on my mom's side was in an accident at work.  He shattered his 12th vertabra.  He was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery on his back.  They cleaned out bone fragments from his spinal cord but cannot guarantee that he will walk again.  While in the ICU, the nurses nicknamed him "Pain" which fits him quite well.  If you knew my uncle, you would totally understand.  He is a comedian, not afraid to give people a hard time, and can make anything funny.  He is currently in a rehab center and we're all praying that he will walk.  The last I heard he could move his knees but not his ankles and toes.

Here is my uncle with his family last Christmas.

Just before our trip to Iowa, I volunteered myself to help teach a new Sunday School class at church.  I am very excited about it.  After we came home, we had a Sunday School meeting and could figure out exactly how to go about the new class.  I will be teaching with a good guy friend and we will get to teach the high school seniors and a couple of recent grads.  Everyone is so excited to see what the Lord will do with this class.  One little hiccup....ok, a major hiccup.  My co-teacher is in the hospital with a possible blood clot in his brain.  He has been suffering through some severe headaches for over a month.  I would like to go visit him but I'm not sure if I want to bring the kids so we'll see what happens.  As for our class, someone has offered to sit in with me until he is out of the hospital and ready to come back.  We're praying that God will heal him quickly and he'll be back on his feet soon.

Every Sunday for the past few months, we have brought some neighborhood kids to Sunday School with us.  The first Sunday after we came home, we picked up one kid who told us his niece and nephew had moved to Texas.  With all the emotions already stirred up with my uncle's accident, this news just caused me to overflow.  I cried the entire way to church and through part of Sunday School hour.  And it wasn't just a normal Sunday at church.  We were hosting a young adult conference so there were many many many people there visiting, some I knew but hadn't seen in about a year.  I had to wipe away the tears and move on.  Some people did notice that I was upset and came to comfort me.  God can reach people in Texas.  However, we received some confusing news yesterday as we dropped off the same kid.  His niece and nephew were visiting because his niece's birthday is this week.  I asked if I could get their address.  The boy ran over to get the address and came back with just a house number and street address.  His niece followed him back to our van.  I asked what city and she didn't know.  She just knew she was staying with some sort of relative.  So I just repeated the address and said, "in some town in Texas."  The niece looked at her uncle (who is 9) and said, "We don't live in Texas."  So I looked at her and asked if she was still in Wichita.  She said she was.  Well, if that's the case, then they can certainly rejoin us at Sunday School if they want.  We do miss them.

Wichita has set a record for being the hottest summer recorded.  We had 52 days in triple digits.  Some of those days breaking or tying records as well.  104, 106, 111....yeah, that's hot.  And to have them for 52 days in one summer is miserable.  But to keep some perspective, the record we broke was set in 1936.  They endured 50 days in the triple digits and most people did not have air conditioning in their homes back then.  We are spoiled 70 some years later.  I usually stayed inside with the kids.  If the kids played outside, they weren't out there for long.  Seth was beside himself with misery.  As a plumber, he works hard and often times in the heat.  I'm pretty sure crawl spaces aren't too air-conditioned.  I grew up in Iowa where not only are summers hot, they're also really humid.  The heat didn't seem to phase me too much.  Seth grew up in Idaho where it can snow in June.  A few summers ago, they actually had a heat wave with temps into the 100s while we were visiting.  No one was used to the heat.  It was not a common thing to have an air conditioner.  That summer, there were lines across the stores to buy air conditioners.  Seth has not out grown his Idahoan weather tolerance - or intolerance as the case may be, even though he hasn't lived there in over 13 years.  He was always looking at the forecast and Saturday when we went to bed, he was just giddy.  The high for Sunday was to be 79.  The highs for the rest of this week are in the low 80s.  The lows are down into the 50s.  Yes, it is super nice weather!!  Thank you Lord for bringing us relief from that heat!

Last Sunday we had our annual Sunday School picnic.  It's always tons of fun and I look forward to it every year.  Good food, good fellowship, fun games.  I won a box of ice cream cones which I may open up today.  I played some volleyball and our group game was 4 on a couch.  What fun!  And I truly enjoyed the devotion.  Do all for the glory of God and give it your all.  Quit making excuses and put God first.

A guessing game at the picnic.

Here is my grandma last Christmas with most of her great grandchildren.  One is missing from this photo.  A new one has since been born and another one is on the way.  She has 7 more in heaven with her twin sister who was a blue baby.  She turned 80 years old yesterday.  She is one amazing and blessed woman.

This weekend, my family celebrated my grandma's 80th birthday in Iowa.  We were unable to go partly because Seth has to work today.  They trade off holidays and it's been a while since Seth has worked a holiday.  So yesterday, we had our own Labor Day celebration.  We went to the theater and watched Zookeeper.  Soooooo funny!!!  The audience was in hysterics through some scenes.  It is definitely a movie I will see again.  Kevin James is always funny.  We love his movies.  After the movie we ate out at our favorite restaurant - HuHot.  It's a Mongolian grill where you pick out your meats, pastas, veggies, and sauces and they cook it for you.  My kids go through multiple times.

Tomorrow we start school.  We tried out our new routine last week.  J did great.  The girls not so much.  And I did horribly.  Perhaps we'll do better this week, and with schooling to do, we'll have more things to keep us busy.  I am looking forward to starting this year.  We are using a new language curriculum so I'm anticipating how well it will work for us.

One last hurrah before school starts.  I let the kids sleep in the living room last night.

Just in the last couple of weeks we have been up and down.  But God remains the same.  He holds us all in His hands and causes all things to work for good to those who love Him.  His plan is perfect, even when we don't always understand it.  He knows the big picture and He has a purpose.  I completely rest in Him.  God is good all the time.