Artiste in Residence

Joey has been carrying his little notebook around and writing notes to all of us. Most of them are pretty normal: Dear Mom You are a good Mom, but his one to Ben was worth sharing. I never knew he read matt.

Deer Ben.

I

thot

you

Wer

a

good

dror

But

you

are

a

sckriBl

r.

He is really quite astonished that Ben would want to just color something rather than write or make something that is describable.

He also let us know that he likes going to the "Librier" and that he misses his pigeon "Joe-Joe."

Drumroll Please

We had the boys' conferences this afternoon. Ben was first. His teacher went over the stuff he knows first- letters, shapes, colors, etc. He knows all his colors, some shapes, a few letters, and no numbers. I'm not really concerned because he has 2 more years before kindergarten. I really just wanted to know about his behavior. Good news! He is decidedly not the naughty kid, and he got an "always" for keeping his hands to himself. He has his moments where he needs reminders, but nothing unmanagable. That is all I can ask for at this point. I am so happy with his progress.

Joey next. We walked in, sat down, his teacher showed us several papers with stars on them, said he is doing great in reading, great in math, hard worker, great listener, she has no concerns. The only thing I asked about was social and she said even there he is doing well- seems to play with other kids when he has a chance. Also a very happy conference.

Not that I expected differently, but it was a good day at school today. I am so proud of my boys.

Today's Workout

Elliptical, 40 minutes, 325 calories

Total for week, 95 minutes, 965 calories

Who Would Google Me?

I have this thing on my blog so I can keep track of where people come from and how often they visit...Well, one of the features shows what people google to come to my blog. Sometimes it's funny, irrelevent things, but today someone googled my name. That's kinda creepy to me. I know I have this blog out there for the public to see, but I have no idea who would come looking for me. Was it you? Was it an old friend? Doo-doo doo-doo (That's supposed to be creepy music)
I just don't know, and I am totally curious. I don't like secrets. I like to know everything.

Today's Workout

Tae bo II Advanced, 55 minutes, 641 calories

Bet you're getting tired of only seeing workout updates :)
I'll try to put something else up tonight.

Today's Workout

Tae bo Amped Full Throttle, 54 minutes, 619 calories

Total for week, 229 minutes, 2355 calories

Today's Workout

Tae bo Rockin Abs and Rockin Buns, 62 minutes, 518 calories

Total for week, 175 minutes, 1736 calories

Crazy Day

So this morning had to be one of the most stressful days at work ever. And I can't even talk about it. I can only say it involved police and orders of protection. And the kids seemed to sense my vulnerability because they were beyond wild and crazy. That's all. Feel sorry for me. I'll be okay tomorrow. Thanks.

Today's Workout

Tae bo II Advanced 2, 56 minutes, 594 calories

Total for week, 113 minutes, 1218 calories

Not counting the heavy lifting and manual labor out in the yard, but it's almost done! (insert happy squeal)

I Wish Someone Else Took Pictures At My House...

'Cause you sure would have gotten a treat tonight. I was soaked, dirty, tired and wrastling with 4x4's in the rain this morning.

But let me start at the beginning. Daddy took Friday through Monday off work with the grand idea that he could install our entire privacy fence in that time. Do you see where I am going with this? Oh, and the boys really wanted to help. They even got their own work gloves.Well, with some help from his brother, Michael and friend, Jim (this was one of their short breaks)Friday he got a bunch of the posts cemented in, Saturday got panels up on two sides of the yard, and by Sunday night was still only halfway done cementing the third side. Here is before and after on the back. It looks so great.
And here is that nasty third side. The ground slopes so it has been difficult lining up the posts, plus the people who installed the original cut the old posts off at the ground rather than remove them so we had to dig some of those out.
Then when things seem to be going well, we hit a rock the size of a mountain. This sucker took a couple hours to get out.After that, it was pretty much the end of the day, and the end of Daddy's extra helpers. We decided that rather than have my planning time at school this morning I would stay home and help try to get this done. Of course it started raining the exact minute we started working, rained for a solid 3 hours, then quit when we stopped for lunch. We had piles of dirt all around the yard which turned into piles of mud that I kept slipping in. My gloves got so soaked that I had to wring them out. But I am very proud of myself. The panels you see in this next picture I installed.
And these are some of the old posts that I literally yanked from the ground with my own hands.

The boys? This is how they stayed busy Saturday afternoon. "Helping" got real boring after a while.

So, yeah, I wish someone would have taken a picture of me wet and filthy so I could have a memento of my contribution to this project, but I just have to satisfy myself with writing about it and taking pictures of everyone else.

Today's Workout

Tae bo II Advanced, 57 minutes, 624 calories

Good workout.

Update coming on the fence. Suffice it to say for now that it has been a looong weekend.

Today's Workout

Tae bo Amped Core Express and Live in LA, 50 minutes, 509 calories

Total for week, 246 minutes, 2375 calories

Last week, 267 minutes, 2589 calories
2 weeks ago: 240 minutes, 2372 calories
23 weeks ago: 175 minutes, 1915 calories

Today's Workout

Tae bo Energy, 40 minutes, 317 calories
It was boooring. Not doing that one again.

Total for week, 196 minutes, 1866 calories

Life Is Good

Nothing really exciting going on, just been feeling like things are going well in many areas or our life right now:
*Ben has shown dramatic improvement in attitude and anger the last few weeks. All of his teachers report that he is doing really well and I have witnessed some great moments, like interacting with unfamiliar people and being purposefully nice to his Daddy and friends.
*We've gotten back into our routine which I apparently was really missing. I just feel so calm when I know whats happening next and what to expect of myself. I get up at the same time every day, go to bed at the same time, workout, watch some new shows, do a small amount of housework, read with the kids, read by myself,...it's just great. Sounds boring, but it is all I want out of life.
*Speaking of working out, I've been a beast on that front. I'm getting stronger and more confident, even though the scale isn't being my friend yet. With as much as I've been doing, there should be some results any day now.
*I finished reading the book of Matthew in the Bible last night and now will be going on to Proverbs, per Jacque's recomendation. I don't think I understand it all, but it is giving me a sense of peace to be doing something productive in that area.
*Daddy has been working hard at getting our new privacy fence installed. There is something about seeing your man work hard to improve your home that is just heartwarming.
*The only negative going on right now is the lack of a paycheck. I finally get my first paycheck next week, pretty much been broke since August. I try not to stress about it too much, I know it will be fine, but I'd sure like to have some money in the bank right about now.

*Oh, and Joey's pigeon died. Apparently we bought a sick bird and we couldn't make him well. Joey is not too traumatized, which is good since this will happen again (and again) with all the birds we will have.

Today's Workout

Tae bo Rockin Buns, 43 minutes, 416 calories

Total for week, 156 minutes, 1549 calories

Getting ready to watch Biggest Loser now.

Today's Workout

Tae bo Amped Full Throttle, 55 minutes, 600 calories

Total for week, 133 minutes, 1133 calories

Faith

I have been really thinking about my faith lately and what my beliefs are, what it means to me and my family, and what I can do about it. It really started when I got this job at a Christian preschool. Although I've gone to church (off and on at times) all my life, I don't feel like I was really applying the message. Then I started working with one of the most faithful (without being pushy) women I've met, Carol. Then Carol was dying and the faith that her family showed was truly an inspiration.
Yesterday our Pastor gave a sermon on understanding and studying God's word. He asked those of us who were willing to commit to reading the bible to stand up so he could pray over us. I decided that this is the time to learn more and I stood up. Last night I pulled out my confirmation bible and decided to start with the Gospel of Matthew. I'm easing my way in, since the Gospels are pretty familiar to me. The one verse I read that made me think was "Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one."Matthew 5.33-37
So, why do we swear on a Bible in court still? Why did we ever? This goes against the whole idea. It kind of makes me think of all the things we hear that don't actually come from the Bible, that aren't actually His Word. I have some reading to do.

After I'm done with those, I'm going to find a "read the whole Bible" study guide. I'm sure there is something like that out there. Or I'll just go back to the beginning and work my way through it. I don't know. But I shall be reading the entire Bible in the next few months. Join me if you wish.

Today's Workouts

2.25 mile walk with the boys in honor of matt, liz, and madeline. 50 minutes, 225 calories

Jillian 30 day shred, 28 minutes, 308 calories

Today's Workout

Biggest Loser, 60 minutes, 532 calories

Week total, 267 minutes, 2589 calories

Last week: 240 minutes, 2372 calories

2 weeks ago: 175 minutes, 1915 calories

Lots To Share

First of all to my scrappin' girls: Hooby Lobby ad for Sunday has many things 50% off including stamps, paper and embellishments.


Second I have some before pictures of our fence and pigeon loft remodel:
This is inside the back of the garage, where the loft will be.

This is outside the back of the garage. Daddy just put up the gutter. He also plans to replace the bottom of the siding and put windows in.
The fence is going to be 6 foot wood privacy fence. Right now he's working on digging up tree roots and old fence posts.
These are some of those heavy panels I carried the other day.
Ben really loves helping his Daddy. He fetched the pieces for the gutter in between playing in the loft area.

Third: You should be so proud of me. Yesterday I had an irate parent and I handled it so calmly and professionally. I was able to calm her down without getting defensive or upset. I was so awesome.

Fourth: I wanted to document the boys prayers. Tonight they were thankful for friends, food, walls, beds, stars, toys, stores (Ben); movies, Mrs Johnson (we still think about her alot), bats (apparently they eat bugs), Jesus and God, and please help Jesus' birthday come soon (Joey).

Fifth: I haven't done a gratitude list lately. I am thankful for good friends, Billy Blanks, cereal, string cheese, my husband's hard work, the new season of television, inter-library loan, part-time jobs, Johnny Appleseed, cooler weather, hugs and kisses.

Sixth: Joey has been writing again. I just found a piece of paper that says "I love my mom." His favorite ice cream is vunlu (vanilla), show is chootr (chowder), and suoprman. He has also read almost an entire Junie B Jones book over the last 3 nights. He got his first progress report today: all satisfactories, and the teacher said he is a hard worker and listens well. He warms my heart.

I think that's all for now. Have a good weekend.