Up for Bid

One almost 8 year old boy. Special skills include cabinet organizing and dishwasher loading . . .

Also up for bid, three rowdy kitchen cabinet washers . . .

Not Me Monday Say Yes to the Dress Version

I do not watch the TLC show Say Yes to the Dress. I do not  watch it a lot. I do not check the Cable On Demand if I  miss a new episode. Well, Laura never watches with me and she has never dressed up her little sister. She has definitely not alsodressed up her little buzz-cut hairdoo brother (sorry, no photos of that).

Fortunately Megan is a willful participant:

Here Laura is layering two dresses onto Megan, who is standing on a stepstool. Laura has also added a decorative sash, and is arranging the dress to allow for the proper flow of the skirts.

I would never allow my girls to participate in such a vain activity, nope, not me.

Megan's Goose Egg

Megan fell down the (13) stairs onto the (hardwood) floor, and got a big 'ole goose egg bump on her head. We took her to the ER and THEN took a picture of her. Amazingly, it looks a lot better here than it did at first.

I brought along one of her new dolls, and it was a good thing because the doctor would first examine the baby, and then examine Megan, it worked out well. The baby got a bandaid, and so did Megan.

Afterwards Megan took good care of her baby, let her lay down, and put both siderails up on the gurney . . .very important for patient safety!

She was diagnosed with a concussion, but promptly discharged with precautions. We have been learning about Anatomy in homeschool-land, and discovering the amazing way that God made us. I think it is awesome that the part of the head the kids hit the most (the front) is also the strongest part of the skull (good thing). Praise God she was all right after such a fall!

Laura's Sewing Lessons

Laura has been taking sewing lessons, and here is link to the blog her teacher keeps. It has photos of her hard at work . . .or posing with her projects, whatever you want to call it.

http://icansewkids.blogspot.com/p/2011-scrapbook.html

Jamie Eason's 12 week Training . . .WO 2

So on Saturday I did the first day of my 12 weeks of training with Jamie Eason, a workout published on Bodybuilding.com. That day left me so sore in the arms that today . . .two days later . . .I was on the floor with the kids during homeschool and I wasn't all too sure that I would be able to get up off the floor. But I did, and then I got myself to the gym to kill my lower body.

Here is what I did . . . (as always, a little different from what Jamie tells me to do, but in a good (more challenging) way.

Warm Up . . .hauling the fire hose at our gym up and down the stairs a few times

Pile Dumbell Squats with 30lb dumbell 3 sets of 12
Cleans using silver bar plus 10lb each side 3 sets of 10
Barbell Side Split Squats (same bar as above) 3 sets of 10
Leg Press (with a set of calves 10 in 3 different positions) 50 lbs each side 3 sets 12
(that is such a whimpy weight for me, but that is what was on the machine, and as I mentioned my upper body is so sore I didn't want to add more weight . . . shame on me)
Leg Extension 60 lbs 3 sets of 10-12
Seated Leg Curl 55 lbs 3 sets 10
Seated Calf Raise 45 lb plate 3 sets of 12 (I can up this too, this was my first time doing this and I was unsure of which weight to use)

For cardio I ran/walked alternate laps on the track for 15 minutes. I started feeling heel pain so I stopped. This is my first major cardio since feeling like I am healing from the plantar faciitis.

45 minutes, avg heart rate 157, cals burned 434
And  am 3 for 3 on days drinking 1 gallon of water

Not Me Monday: Giving the Dog Water

I still have plenty of moments in our files of pictures to share for Not Me Monday! It is a fun time to show what I would never, ever do (or let me kids do) being the stellar super mom that I am.

One of our favorite things in our Georgia house was the water dispenser on the fridge. It was nice that the kiddos could get a fresh glass of filtered water whenever they needed it.

Even James at the age of 2 could easily reach the dispenser

And if he wasn't particularly thirsty, he could usually find someone who was. Lucky dog.

Mini Books for Homeschooling

I found a fantastic link that I would like to share . . .it is for Minibooks. I like mini books because they give you a hands on visual for your homeschool projects, but they don't require as much time and dedication as lapbooks do. I guess if you make enough minibooks, you could lapbook them, but I am just going to stick with some mini books for a while. I found a pin on pinterest for a grammar minibook. I have noticed that the kids could use a little reinforcement in the grammar area, so this is a perfect opportunity! I will post results when we complete our first minibook!

12 Weeks With Jamie Eason

I found this picture on Pinterest, I don't know where it came from, but I love it!

It's October 1st. I am starting my 12 Weeks With Jamie Eason program today. That should carry me up until Christmas. (Christmas is like 12 weeks away everyone!!!)

Here is a link to her program on bodybuilding.com.

I right now pledge that I will not be perfect with this program, I will mess up, I will add exercises and take away exercises, but I will do my best.

Today's workout:

(adapted from her day one program)

warm up 3 sets of 12 wide pushups
Dumbell Bench Press 25 lb 3 sets of 12
Overhead Dumbell Tricep Extension 15 lb 3 sets of 12
Tricep Cable push down 25 lb 3 sets of 12
Standing alternate hammer curl 20 lb 3 sets of 12
Narrow push ups 3 sets of 12 (1st half plan, sencond half on knees)
Sets of abdominal exercises
sledge hammer (16lb?) 3 sets of 10 on each side

Then just about 10 mins on the treadmill with an incline

And my arms are tired, even as I type this now!

VistaPrint Freebies

There are some great gift options that are free (just pay reasonable shipping). There are actually 6 choices in all, click on the link below to go to the blog that I found out about it on.

http://raisingolives.com/2011/09/free-photo-calendar/

And some of you may see some of these presents under your Christmas Tree.

Happy 9th Birthday Laura

Laura got to pick her birthday breakfast . . .Pop Tarts on the couch!

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday has returned (Woo Hoo) and since I have a backlog of photos from my non-blogging months, I have plenty of stories to tell.

I would never stick my little girl on one of her first amusement park rides, and then think it is cute when she is clinging to her big sister, and then snap a picture of it to post on my blog. Nope, not me. (Taken at Knoebles, PA)

Grandma Transue and the Grandkids

Grandma Transue loves to get pictures taken with her precious grandchildren. Aren't they so cute? Such angelic creatures.

Unfortunately, the more common grandchildren pictures rarely get published. . . but they do display their personalities rather well.

Beacuse My Kids Love These Videos

Dad's Life Video

Mommy Rhapsody

Anita Renfroe: William Tell Mom

This Is More For Me Than Any Of You

Not to be rude, but I want to organize some of the fun sites that I have stumbled across (or stole from friends) that will help me get the toddlers into school mode. I am thinking we'll start with some letters, and here are two great websites for that goal:

Letter of the Week

Totally Tots

And for Scripture Memory work with the alphabet:

Impress Your Kids

Now . . . to search for some number and color resources . . .

Thank You Megan!

Megan loves Sharpie Markers. When I woke her up from her nap she looked like this. I have nothing else to say except, "Thank you, Megan, for striking a modest pose while in the bathtub. This enables me to share this with my friends and family now, and with you years from now."

Technical Difficulties . . . having trouble making things post. . . help!

While the Toddlers are Napping

The toddlers are napping and I have been printing off ideas for some Bible lessons. I found this lapbook template for a 10 Commandments lapbook. We have not done any lapbooks this far in our homeschooling, but they look like fun, so I thought I'd start with something easy. Here is the link if you are interested

If you have fun with that, be sure to click the link below with the 10 plagues story sticks!

I'm (Coming) Back

Hi All,

I have been gone for a while, but I am coming back. I have a few exciting things to share, so stay tuned.