What We Were Doing

I know, I know...I took forever but here are the pictures!

Our school room needed a major overhaul so I jumped into it.  We didn't go for the "major" that it needed, but we did make some improvements.

I don't have the before (they are on my phone--it's dead!) but here is some of the after!

We need a new doorknob and the flooring will be updated soon (hopefully), but it's so much better than it was!

Can You Guess What We're Doing?

Chicken Update!

This is for you, Darlene :)

The chickens are doing great!  We moved them into their new house over the weekend (pics of that to come) and they are so happy!!! 

 We are having a great time with them and I love the responsibility that the kids have taken on with them!

So much fun!!!

Play Time!

We've started letting the chicks out to play in the yard for a short time (under close supervision!).

It's funny how much they love it, and now each afternoon they are waiting to get out!

 I still can't figure out what this one is...either Wyandotte or Americauna/Wyandotte mix

 Padme thinks she is the chicken-keeper...she watches them closely and helps round them up when it's time to go in!

 This is a Splash Silkie named....Splash

This is the cat who would like to eat the chicks!

Oh No!

It just hit me this morning--out of our 10 chicks we are only sure that two of them are females 

(the big black ones are Black Star and the males will have yellow spots on their heads--ours don't).

I had said we would keep one or two roosters at the most, and we'll keep all of our silkies.

I can't imagine giving any of them away at this point!!!!  

We love all of them--I know, they are just chickens but they are so cute and have funny little personalities.  Our neighbors are going to hate us.

Reminder!

Just a reminder that my info meeting is tomorrow night (Thursday). 

If you still aren't sure about Grace and Strength but want to get healthy, 

join us to learn more!!

Dreams

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I can often have some CrAzY dreams!

I have found that sleeping with my "magic sleeping machine" cuts back on the number of bizarre scenes that play out in my head each night, but for the past 4 nights I haven't used it.

On Monday night I was in an online meeting for 4 hours.  

That's a long time to be sitting in an uncomfy office chair.

*Note--get a decent office chair*

When I got up my body was so stiff and just plain hurt.

All.  Night.  Long I dreamed that I was at a rodeo and riding bulls, then playing some sort of crazy game in the fields in which everyone involved would throw themselves off of horses or 4-wheelers and into fence posts!  After a long time of doing this, someone offered to take me to the hospital b/c there was no doubt many things were broken.  Oh my goodness that was wild.

The next night I drove around for hours, totally lost in my hometown (if you know my hometown then this is hilarious in itself b/c it's not that big!).

I finally stopped at a gas station for directions, only to run over some guy's head.  

Once he got up and popped his head back into shape, he was fine--thank goodness!

I'm just glad that my mind doesn't work this way during the daytime!!!!

Camping!

We took our first camping trip of the season over the weekend!

I am so glad we finally got a camper--it makes camping so much more enjoyable!!

  It's nice to get away with a good book and no phone or internet!  

Natalie and her friend delivered Mother's Day Flowers to the campers around us!

 This is what Mason does the entire time we are there--plays in the rocks and dirt!  I love it because even though he stays filthy dirty the whole time, he is so happy and content!

 See?

 The kids also took the scooters that they got for Christmas--this was a lot of fun!

The boys heading off to go fishing in the stream behind us!

 

 

 The one fish that they brought  back!

Last year we went out on Mother's Day weekend to this same spot, and a super nice family was camping next to us.  Natalie and their daughter are the same age and played together all weekend.

How cool is it that they were there again this year?  Natalie was thrilled!  

Unfortunately they are moving away soon so we won't have the chance to run into them again next year :(

My Official Flyer!!

I did it!!

I am still in shock that I did it because I had no confidence that I would.

I was living a lifestyle that had become just that--my lifestyle.  

I was stuck in a vicious cycle of bad habits and emotional eating.

I was turning to food for comfort, and to be honest I just liked to eat.

A lot.

Through the Grace and Strength Program I have learned freedom from these strongholds,

 but my victory has  come only through the Grace and Strenth of Jesus.

I have had an amazing coach who walked with me through this journey.

She held my hand from afar and I am so thankful for her.

I had moments that I just knew I couldn't do this, didn't want to do it, and was ready to quit.

She encouraged me, prayed for me, and held me accountable.

I had a plan and knew that if I stuck to that plan the weight would come off, the inches would disappear, I would develop new eating habits, and my body would be clean!!

I won't lie, it's been hard.  It's also been so worth it.

For years I have known that I needed to lose weight and get healthy again.
I should have kept a list of my excuses not to...it would be comical to go back and read them all.

I often said that "I would just die if I couldn't have sugar"
or
"oh, that would never work for me".

But guess what?  I DID work for me...and it will work for you!!!!!!

If you're ready...if you're tired of the excuses...if you want to get healthy and fit and look great....

What Are You Waiting For??? 

 Stop saying that you could never do it, or you don't have the willpower...

those were on my list of excuses, too.  

Let me tell you--they're bad ones.

You CAN do this and you WILL do this if you just take the step!!!!

I am so excited to announce that I have been in training to coach for the Grace and Strength Program!
I am working on building my first small group--and can't wait to see how many women I get to walk alongside on their journey!!!!  So what are you waiting for??

Chick Count

We had 8 of our eggs hatch, 2 of those died.  

They both had deformities or something going on.

We ended up buying 3 Silkie chicks and 2 Black Star Pullets (the Black Star are hens).

We hatched one Silkie, 2 Buff Orpingtons, and 3 Americaunas or Wyandottes--not sure which!

The kids are having fun with them--and I am, too!  They are so fun to watch!!

Above is a Silkie named Blue.

I reached my goal!!!

 

Today I reached my goal of 50 pounds and I am so excited!

I'm even more excited to share more about my journey and

 make a huge announcement very soon!!!!!

Our First Baby!

Because I know all four of my readers are waiting in suspense....

We have our first baby!!

This other little one is still hanging on in the shell.   

Still Hanging On...

No baby chicks yet!!

Overheard...

At any point in the day you may hear this in our house...

"Get your hands OUT of your pants!!!

Yep, we've switched Mason to underwear.

We Have Movement!

Here is a picture of our eggs today (Day 20 of 21).

We took them out of the turner on Sunday morning and now we just wait.

  I marked them so that I can make sure they stay in the same position if we pick them up (which we try not to do!).

 

The kids and I sat and did a unit study on eggs, then we read a chapter from 

Apologia's Flying Creatures that teaches how God created the hen to take care of her eggs, how He created the chicks to know how to get out and when.  

It's pretty neat!!

 

Afterward we opened the incubator to check them out and sure enough two of them keep rocking back and forth, and we even heard one chirping!!!!

 

So exciting!!!!

 

The Look

I just came across this picture and laughed!  

This is Wyatt at 2 years old...and Mason makes that same face quite often!

It made me laugh!

New Family Members

Bunny, Bunny Skywalker, and Brooke 

These 3 joined us on Easter!

Grace and Strength, Month 3

On the 8th of April I hit 3 months on the

Grace and Strength Lifestyle.

I was so excited to reach that mark, and even more excited about my stats!

I was down 41 pounds and 25 inches!!!!  

I feel so good and can't wait to share some wonderful news with all of you (keep watching the blog!).

Here are my pictures.  The first one was taken in MS last September and I like to use that as my "before".  It was a picture that brought me to tears and made me realize just how unhealthy I had become.   I will never, ever be like that again thanks to Grace and Strength!!

Chickens and More!

For the past few years we've been throwing around the idea of having chickens.

Actually, I've been throwing it around and Ben just shakes his head and mumbles something.

The kids and I borrowed and incubator a few weeks ago and bought 32 chicken eggs off of craigslist!

We're on our way and are so excited!!!  

We are on day 9 of  21 and are seeing the tiny little chicks move inside the eggs!

We will have Silkies, Buff Orpingtons, Wyandottes, and Americaunas!

We're excited to have backyard chickens soon!!!

Wordless Wednesday!

Chickens

We went to my mom's for Easter weekend, and there are LOTS of birds and rabbits that live there.

Wyatt has always been so intrigued by the birds and will just sit and watch them for the longest time.

I love this picture of him!

Wyatt

Wyatt was part of the Palm Sunday celebration at church this past weekend (children's choir) and they had to wear pastel colors.  I picked up this purple combo, expecting him to not wear it.

He won't even consider any clothing that might be a shade of pink, so I wasn't sure about the purple.

He wore it, and looked so handsome!

Of course, the only pictures I have of him are afterward and he was so ready to get that tie off!

It's so hard to believe that he is 10 and getting so grown up. 

 I look at Mason and remember Wyatt being that age, just like it was yesterday. 

 It's a great reminder for me to treasure these moments while I have them!

Creamy Asparagus Soup

I have found myself getting a bit bored with the same foods lately.

I have plenty of choices but I just keep going back to the same thing.

I'm trying to step out of my box and come up with some other options!

This is Grace and Strength (Phase 2) approved!

This soup sounds yucky but it was SO good--I wanted to lick the bowl!!

Creamy Asparagus Soup

*Place 3.5 ounces raw asparagus (I used the tops from about halfway up)

in a sauce pan and add enough water to cover well.

*Dice small piece of onion (or use onion powder) and add to pan.

*Sprinkle Mrs. Dash or other seasoning on asparagus then boil really well until asparagus is tender.

*Place 1/2 cup of fat-free cottage cheese in blender.

*Add a clove of fresh garlic (pressed) 

*Pour asparagus and liquid from sauce pan into blender.

Blend until desired consistency.  Top with salt (I use Celtic Sea Salt) and pepper.

Enjoy with a grissini bread stick or melba toast!

This is an HCG Phase 2 approved recipe!

Fat

So far (not quite 3 months) on Grace and Strength I have lost 37 pounds.  

That's almost 8 of these plates of fat!!!  YUCK!!!!

I am still feeling so good--and have some amazing new opportunities coming my way.

I can't wait to share about them!!!

Mason's Third Birthday!

I had no idea I was so behind on things---I just transferred pictures from my camera and they go back to Feb!!!

Our sweet Mason turned 3 on Feb 10th! 

 We had a nice quiet day at home.  This was the first year that he understood what a birthday is, and I had lots of small gifts (cheap toys!) for him to open throughout the day.  

We saved his big gift for when Ben was home :)

I made a yummy chocolate cake (of which I didn't have one bite!) and he loved his day!

A bit of a Milestone

I know...this has become so much about my weight loss but I just love sharing my progress!

Yesterday I hit a milestone...I am officially down 35lbs.

A few summers ago (3) I did WW with a friend.  It took me all summer to lose 15lbs, and when I stopped I was the weight I am now.  From here on out I will be smaller than I have been since before Natalie was born!

I am still feeling great and I'm finding it so much easier to eat whole, GOOD foods!!

I am relying on God to get me through each day, and I feel so blessed to have my wonderful coach guiding me through this process.

Grace and Strength has changed my life in so many ways--I want to shout it from the rooftops!!!

Worms!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day, so I decided we needed to be outside!

It was the perfect day to start our earthworm unit!

We sat in the sunshine and read facts about earthworms, took a quiz,

then dove right into making our worm farms!

We'll be able to watch them tunnel through the dirt and sand, and in a few weeks we'll dig around and see if any of them have had babies!  We do have the bowls covered to keep it dark, but for the picture we uncovered them!

We got the idea for the worm farm here.