Overwhelmed At First

Last week kind of exploded with activities. Don't even remember all we did. I'll have to be more careful in the future not to overschedule like that! Some things we did do were registering for Spring semester at our homeschool co-op. We are supposed to teach one semester per year, so my turn was coming. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to teach. So I told our coordinator to put me where I was needed and ended up the teacher of the Crime Scene Investigation science class. I have no clue(and really no interest. LOL). Overwhelmed even more when it turned out to be THE class that everyone wanted to participate in. Was not expecting that. So I've been on a mission reading everything I can and preparing lessons and activities, trying to schedule a field trip to the crime lab and playing phone tag with the county sheriff(married to one of the moms in the co-op) about getting a detective or two to come speak in my class of 30 kids. What did I get myself into? LOL I think it's going to be fun though. I'm finding that if I stay on top of the lesson planning, I feel much better about it :)

We went rollerskating for the homeschool skate, I should say Abby went rollerskating. I just don't do it much anymore, maybe when I'm in better shape. My fear is falling and breaking something therefore putting me out of commission, which is something I just don't have time for. Had our monthly homeschool support group meeting. Our speaker spoke on character training and it was excellent! At first I was feeling like I hadn't done a good job, but towards the end she had me feeling better! And I did pick up a couple of tips to help Jacob with being around or rather talking with adults. He gets so shy and comes off as rude, it's something I've really been wanting to work with him on.

Speaking of Jacob. He is filling out the volunteer paperwork to work at the humane society. Because he's not 16 yet he needs a parent to be there too. I'm not the best around animals. Paul's going to look into trying to get a Friday morning slot so he can go with him. I think it will be a great thing for Jacob!

Last friday we went and saw the second Alvin and the Chipmunk movie with a group from church. We also had lunch out with them as well. The movie was really cute and it was nice to meet some more moms and more homeschoolers :)

Sunday afternoon was the first youth meeting directed towards the 6th-8th graders only. Both Jacob and Abby went. (Abby's first time for youth group). They both really liked it. And Abby tells us that Jacob even participated in a skit!(YES, Jacob got up in front of his peers!) That right there tells you how comfortable he is at our church. It's been a long time for him! He has just been growing in leaps and bounds, well emotionally and spiritually. His actual physical growth has slowed quite a bit! LOL

Abby started guitar lessons earlier this month. She is doing wonderful. I've yet to have to remind her to practice. She pays extreme attention to her teacher in her lesson and has been eager each week to come home and get to practicing. She's already putting chords together and some really beautiful music is being played. Yesterday I heard her singing here and there and she said she's writing a song....

Well, this is getting long. I know it's all over the place, but well, oh well. LOL! I've got to get off and go get dinner made before church tonight.

Be blessed!

Weigh In Day

Only one pound this last week. A bit discouraging, but I also know that I didn't do as much as I could. It was a busy week, and that made it hard to stay on track. Just an excuse I know, but it was learning week for me, so now I can be more prepared for the busy ones. Paul thinks I may have lost inches though, as my clothes are feeling and looking looser. I didn't take any starting measurements there, maybe I should go ahead and do that. I'm going to try and post a family update post in a little while.

Be blessed!

Today's Weigh In

Look at that, 2 more pounds gone! My exercise wasn't as consistant this last week. I did do well with my eating though and I'm ending the day NOT feeling hungry. I don't have quite all the soda taken out, but I did only drink it away from home, which was one dinner out and I had a cup at our book club meeting. I had some headaches, I think due to so much less caffeine, but that is working through as well I think. So I'm thinking if I can get my exercise back on track it should be a good week :) Thanks for helping me to be accountable!

Be blessed!

Sowing Servant Hearts - Chore Training

Sowing Servant Hearts - Chore Training

Four Pounds LOST!

Figured out how to update the weight loss ticker. Did you see that number move? FOUR pounds lost! Wooohoooo am I excited!

Be blessed!

He's home :)

Paul had to go to California for 4 days. It was a trip sprung on him last minute..anyways they were meeting to plan out their Annual Training for June. I really missed him this time around. It was hard to stay motivated around here. I always miss him, but it just seemed worse this time. Not sure why. Thursday and Friday we did school. We normally don't school on Friday, but Paul had taken Wednesday off, so we just did some minimum work that morning and then spent the day with him. So since he was gone on Friday, we took the opportunity to catch up. Worked pretty well, and the kids were okay with it. I thought they might protest, but I told them that this week would already be short because of co-op.

Abby had her last match for Bible Quiz on Saturday. She did so well! She was determined to place in the top 10 for an individual ribbon. She worked really hard at her memorization(to the point I had to have her put it away a couple of times because she was getting frustrated). She ended up in 9th place! She quizzes on a "B" team and they combined them with "A" teams because there weren't enough teams in either category. So she was quizzing against the best! Next year she will quiz with Teen Bible Quiz. She's nervous about it being harder, but I think she can do it!

Abby also starts guitar lessons again this afternoon. She is quite excited. This was one of her Christmas presents. She took a few lessons when she was about 8. She enjoyed the music but the teacher and class set up really didn't work for her. She needed more one on one teaching and we just didn't have the money to fund those type of lessons. I've been looking for awhile for something affordable and finally came across a teacher who was looking to fill some daytime lesson spots and offered them to homeschoolers for a discount. He comes with high recommendations from quite a few people in our support group.

Jacob has been reading(he got so many books for Christmas!) and working on some models. He's trying to finish one up so he can start building his engine. He's hoping the weather will hold okay for awhile as he wants to get in a bike ride with his dad on Friday. Abby and I are going to go to homeschool swim at the Y, Jacob wanted to do something with dad and picked a bike ride. I think he's been missing his bike with all the cold weather, snow, etc.

Well, I need to get off for now and get some other things done. I did my weigh in and now have to go figure out how to move my ticker at the top :) You'll have to watch it to know what my number was :)

Be blessed!

Hamburger Soup

Tried a new soup recipe today. Jacob helped me put it all together, I would not be surprised if he ended up being a cook. He really likes to be in the kitchen! Soup was so yummy, even Jacob, my non soup eating kid, liked it so much he had a second bowl! SCORE! Heehee!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 pound extra lean ground beef(or use ground turkey)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
3 cups hot water
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 TBSP. low sodium soy sauce
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup macaroni, cooked
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef. Combine all ingredients except macaroni and Parmesan cheese in slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Turn to high. Add macaroni and Parmesan cheese. Cook for another 15-20 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

New Endeavor

So I've never been a fan of New Year's Resolutions. This year though, I've been looking through some recent pictures and realizing that my waistbands are beginning to feel a bit tight. I went through a huge weight gain a few years back due to some medical issues. Weight up until then, was never a challenge for me, I've never been considered too thin, but I was never overweight either. So, I decided that this year I was going to concentrate on upping my activity level and watching what I eat. Not necessarily how much I eat, but what is going in. Mainly, I want it to be healthy. The first order of business is cutting out the soda, this I think will be the hardest. Anyways, I've added a ticker to the top of the blog and hope to see it move each week. I figured if I say something, I'll be held accountable!

Be blessed!