Wednesday, March 23, 2011

March Reading

This has been a slow read month for me. I have been just too danged busy with the twins turning 6, preparing for school carnival, Twins club events and state paper work.. that I have had no energy for my own reading.

This is what I have!

America's Cheapest Family- Steve and Annette Economides
Pretty self explainable.. plus they have been on TODAY enough times! The are well known for their frugal-ness and they are willing to share the info. Many of their ideas go way to frugal for me.. but I was able to gather some nifty info! Easy read!

The Coupon Mom's guide to cutting your grocery bills in half- Stephanie Nelson
This lady has made a name for herself for figuring out how to use coupons. Good guide for those who are coupon illiterate...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

More writing..

I was volunteering today and Madeline's teacher Mrs. Tobin handed me this paper to read. She had been absent on Monday after she fell and injured her knee over the weekend. She had the substitute give a writing assignment about a time the kids got hurt.

Madeline wrote.

I was walking home fome bob evins and I tript on a bump. I skekapt my ney and it starid to bled. My mom put a band aid on my ney.

I had to laugh because that happened on Sunday night so the *injury* was the fresh on her mind. The blood she was referring to was just the tiniest amount from the skin rubbing off.. But ointment and bandages were necessary to make her world better!

Tonights Homework...Handwriting

Madeline's

The assignment was write a story.. Start the story, "Spring is when..."

Spring is when the flouwers blom. It is when we go swimming. I can ride my bicke. You can ride your sckodor. You can ride your forweler.

Andrew's was to write about what you like to do on a rainy day!

On a rain day I stay in my hows. I lay in my bed. I lay on my wolo(wall) and do nuthing.


Saturday, February 26, 2011

What I am reading.. Finishing up February...

2/2/11- The Year My Son and I were Born by Kathryn Lynard Soper
Non fiction writing, Soper shares her pain, joy, and frustrations starting with the 10 week premature birth of her 7th child. Soper and her husband soon learned that their son carried an extra chromosome sending them into the world of Down Syndrome. Soper shares her emotions in dealing with the diagnosis, how to accept a child that will not be *Normal*, and how she feels she no longer fits in with her faith and those around her.

2/8/11 Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline
Scottoline is an award winning author who also writes a column for her local paper in thePittsburgarea. This book is a compilation of her newspaper columns.. She shares stories about living alone, divorce, being a single mother, dealing with her elderly mother and all her daily chaos! Easy to read short chapters, en lightning and entertaining.

2/13/11 After all these years...by Susan Isaacs
Fictional story... Rose wakes up in the middle of the night and heads to the kitchen for a snack. When she shuffles into the kitchen she stumbles into a lump on the floor. Initially she fears she has stepped on the dog.. but quickly remembers the dog dies a few weeks ago. She flips on the lights to see her husband, lying on the kitchen floor with a knife in his chest. Her soon to be Ex husband... who moved out of the house months ago... and in with his new lover....
The story follows Rose as she is quickly named the suspect, how she outsmarts the police and escapes her house the evening before they plan to arrest her for murder, and how she goes onthe lam trying to find the real murderer and the reasons why...

2/19/11 Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Non Fictional writing.. The best synopsis comes from the cover of the book...
"This is a story about a mother, two daughters and two dogs. This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids then Western ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a 13 year old."

Chua writes about her attempt to raise perfect Chinese daughters, even though they are not really *Chinese* daughters....They are American daughters, born and bred and not as easily molded by control and manipulation...

The last two books I had never heard of. They were on the New Release Shelf at the Library and well worth the time it took to read them!

2/25/11 The Good Sister by Drusilla Campbell
Roxanne has spent her entire life caring for and protecting her younger, weaker, *fragile* sister Simone. In the end there is nothing she can do to help her... Story looks at three generations of women, Ellen, her daughters Roxanne and Simone, and Simone's daughter Merell, Valli, Victoria, Olivia and Claire... and the secrecy, the violence and lies that surround them.
Book discusses physical abuse as well as Postpartum Psychosis Disorder.

2/17/11 Mothers and Other Liars by Amy Bourret
Ruby was 19 when she was stopped at a rest area for a break on her drive cross country. When she went to toss her candy wrapper in the trash she was shocked to see an infant carrier with a baby in the can. Assuming that the child was abandoned by her parents Ruby takes her and raises her as her own. Lark was 9 years old when Ruby happened to read a story in a tabloid about a woman who admits she was part of a duo who stole the vehicle that held a newborn when the driver stepped away at the gas station. The photo accompanying the article looks exactly like the first photo Ruby took of Lark all those years ago... Ruby struggles with what to do.. and in the end decided on telling the truth.. no matter what pain that may cause....

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tonights Homework...

What sport would you participate in at the Olympics? Why would you choose that sport?

Madeline wrote...

I like volleyball. You can play in your bathing suit. You can play on the sand. It is a fun sport. You can hit the ball over the net.

(granted she only had any idea about volleyball after I had her watch a youtube video of Kerri Walsh and Misty May Trenner! )


Andrew had the same assignment and he wrote his paper out all by himself and brought it to me to read...

If I had a trofey I will put it under my bed and hide it. If I had inoer(another) trofey now I will put it in a nuer plac i will put it on my shelf..

Nice try.. but not on topic son!

Monday, February 21, 2011

See what it feels like???

This afternoon Madeline was on the kids computer trying to play one of the educational games Michael installed. Andrew was sitting on the couch behind her trying to tell her what to do next, which way to go, what she did wrong and how to fix it. This went on for almost 10 minutes. No arguing.. just a back and forth banter with Andrew getting more and more frustrated with her lack of compliance with him.
Finally, whatever game she was playing, she lost. Andrew gets up off the couch and walks away saying, " See! You never listen to anything I say Ma-de-lin!"

I looked over at Michael and turns away from them and to me and we just start to laugh...

See what it feels like kids?

Saturday, February 19, 2011

February Reading...cont...

2/2/11- The Year My Son and I were Born by Kathryn Lynard Soper
Non fiction writing, Soper shares her pain, joy, and frustrations starting with the 10 week premature birth of her 7th child. Soper and her husband soon learned that their son carried an extra chromosome sending them into the world of Down Syndrome. Soper shares her emotions in dealing with the diagnosis, how to accept a child that will not be *Normal*, and how she feels she no longer fits in with her faith and those around her.

2/8/11 Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline
Scottoline is an award winning author who also writes a column for her local paper in the Pittsburgarea. This book is a compilation of her newspaper columns.. She shares stories about living alone, divorce, being a single mother, dealing with her elderly mother and all her daily chaos! Easy to read short chapters, en lightning and entertaining.

2/13/11 After all these years...by Susan Isaacs
Fictional story... Rose wakes up in the middle of the night and heads to the kitchen for a snack. When she shuffles into the kitchen she stumbles into a lump on the floor. Initially she fears she has stepped on the dog.. but quickly remembers the dog dies a few weeks ago. She flips on the lights to see her husband, lying on the kitchen floor with a knife in his chest. Her soon to be Ex husband... who moved out of the house months ago... and in with his new lover....
The story follows Rose as she is quickly named the suspect, how she outsmarts the police and escapes her house the evening before they plan to arrest her for murder, and how she goes on the lam trying to find the real murderer and the reasons why...

2/19/11 Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Non Fictional writing.. The best synopsis comes from the cover of the book...
"This is a story about a mother, two daughters and two dogs. This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids then Western ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a 13 year old."

Chua writes about her attempt to raise perfect Chinese daughters, even though they are not really *Chinese* daughters....They are American daughters, born and bred and not as easily molded by control and manipulation...

Monday, February 14, 2011

Hacky Valentines Day.

Yes, Hacky.... as in Cough, cough, choke cough...As in Influenza!

Saturday we decided to go out to dinner. We did not even leave the house until at least 530pm. Everyone was fine. In the amount of time it took us to drive into Belden and go to CiCi's Andrew was pale with flushed cheeks and obviously fevered. He went back and forth from shaking and wearing a coat to fine. We ran our errands and headed home. I popped some Tylenol in him and sent him to bed. At midnight I took him to the bathroom and dosed him with Advil.

Sunday morning I woke up coughing, Michael woke up coughing and Andrew was still a Hot Mess.. Literally..I decided I needed to get food in the house before I was full blown sick.. Good choice on my part. Michael ended up making dinner and I ended up napping from 630pm until 9pm. I got up long enough to have a cup of hot, sodium free, chicken broth ( AKA- nasty).

This morning Madeline and Ben were healthy still so they were shipped off to school. I called the Dr office and was told to come on in since the Dr was already in. I LOVE it when that happens. Of course Andrew decided at THAT moment to start puking in the bathroom sink. Yeah for being tall enough to make in into the sink! (as a mom I have learned to appreciate the small blessings thrown my way)

We see the Dr. She checks him out. She asks if anyone else is sick. I nod.. "Michael and I are too" She asks for our symptoms. I tell her all about our joys.. She diagnoses us all with influenza. Tells me to keep doing what we are doing, Tylenol and motrin swap, fluids, and lots of rest. She advises me to not bother going to the Dr for myself, Tami flu is not all that it is cracked up to be. Will only help shorted the duration of the illness minimally, we are otherwise healthy, the cost is $$ and the side effects are nasty! Good enough for me!

So my second blessing of the day was only 1 office visit co-pay!

Since everything comes in threes I consider that Ben and Madeline got off the bus still healthy my third blessing.

Fingers crossed that I do not have to edit that last line...

Happy Valentines Day!

I bought my husband a card for Valentines Day, the same as I do every year. The same as I do for Sweetest Day, every year. He forgot to get me a card. He said he thought we did not do that.

That is O.K. though. Instead he did the dishes.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Weighing in on things that matter...

I can officially say that I am MOST definitely under the weight I was when I got pregnant with the twins!! WOOHOO!

No.. I did not say that I LOOK like I did when I had the twins.. Just under that weight.

I only gained 21lbs with them. Within 2 weeks I was easily fitting into my pre pregnancy pants.. Then reality hit.... I spent the next year sitting on the couch nursing 2 babies.

And the next few years chasing toddlers and preschoolers.

Personal exercise was never a priority of my time or financially affordable.

But things have changed and Michael and I are both intently focused on food choices, caloric intake and portion control.

AND IT IS WORKING!

Now to find a place that is affordable to start to work this mass back into some sort of shape...

After that..

To see if I can find a loophole in the insurance plans that will pay for a body that has been wrecked by an overstretched pregnancy! lol

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Andrews writing Homework...

The assignment tonight was to ~Write a letter to your Valentine~ Madeline chose to write a note to her friend Caroline. Andrew chose himself. This is is what he wrote...

Dear Andrew

I like my self

And my smily.

I like my bad.(dad)

I like my mom.

I like my famley.

Too cute!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

February Reading...

2/2/11- The Year My Son and I were Born by Kathryn Lynard Soper
Non fiction writing, Soper shares her pain, joy, and frustrations starting with the 10 week premature birth of her 7th child. Soper and her husband soon learned that their son carried an extra chromosome sending them into the world of Down Syndrome. Soper shares her emotions in dealing with the diagnosis, how to accept a child that will not be *Normal*, and how she feels she no longer fits in with her faith and those around her.

2/8/11 Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline
Scottoline is an award winning author who also writes a column for her local paper in the Pittsburg area. This book is a compilation of her newspaper columns.. She shares stories about living alone, divorce, being a single mother, dealing with her elderly mother and all her daily chaos! Easy to read short chapters, en lightning and entertaining.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

More Reading

I want to see how many *adult* books I read this year.. So I figured if I list them here then I will know! Also then if I want to share good reads then I will actually remember what I read!

So to start the year:

1/7/11 Losing It- Valerie Bertanelli
Interesting read.. not life shattering but interesting and not too heavy
1/13/11 Without Pity- Ann Rule
This only took me 3.75 years to read.. Granted 3.5 of that the book was lodged in the bottom of the basement couch and we only just found it a few weeks back. Since I already paid the library for this lost book I figured I might as well read it.. Ann Rule writes real life crime stories... I devoured her books when I was still a kid in school.. Now I need to see if she has any current writing...
1/18/11- Eat Pray Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
I have heard great things about this book and of course the movie is supposed to be good. I really wanted to read the book before I saw the film. The book is really good. It makes you wonder if you would have the gumption to throw it all to the wind to really truly find yourself... Will definitely have to look at what other writings she has done.
1/20/11- I'm a Stranger Here myself- Bill Bryson
This book bored me to tears about half way through. This guy is an American and lived in England 20+ years.. Brings his family back to USA and writes a column pretty much about what he observes.. I bet this was much more interesting say... back in 1999 when it was newer..
1/22/11 Look Again- Lisa Scottoline
I seriously started this book at bedtime on a Friday night and woke up to finish it the next morning. MUST check out her other writings.. Single woman adopts an ill child abandoned at local hospital. 2+ years later she swears that the child on the *have you seen me* flier in the mail is HER child.. She puts her newspaper reporter skills to work and figures out her child WAS kidnapped and abandoned... Many twist and turns in this story! Worth the read

And to finish out the month...

1/28/11 Mennonite in a little black dress- Rhoda Janzen
This is a memoir of a woman who has left her family's Mennonite lifestyle and lived a *secular* life for many years.. After back to back health crisis and her husband leaving her she goes home to be with her parents for an extended visit.

1/30/11 Still Missing- Chevy Stevens
OH MY GOODNESS! Thank you to the random lady at the library who suggested this book.. I hope she likes the one I forwarded her way.. Another book I started one night and finished the next day.. This is the authors first novel.. I will definitely be on the look out for more of her writing.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Ups and the Downs

Yesterday I weighed myself to have a Monday to Monday comparison... *Officially* in that 7 day span I lost 2.4 lbs. Not the 4lbs+ that Saturday tried to convince me but still a justifiable and healthy loss.

I will take it!

Last night was CMOMC meeting and my goal was to not eat the dessert. Which is actually pretty easy.. I have everyone get food and then I start the meeting! The problem is after the meeting it is so easy to go pick at the snacks and chat.. A few things helped.. I do not like cream chicken sammies so NO worry there! I don't like snack meatballs so much either so easy there.

Thank you to Lori and David who unknowingly helped me avoid the table!

This morning I weighed myself.. I know it is not the best habi to weigh in everyday but I prefer to see the little changes for self motivation..

This morning shows a 1.6 drop from yesterday.. To believe or not believe.....That is the question..

I will check daily for my own personal interest but only count the Monday numbers across the board for actual loss...


SO the Funny......

This morning we are on the way to the bus and I ask Maddie if she remembered the shoes to change into from her boots.. She did not of course.. So I go to run back to the house...
Holding my scrubby track pants waistband the entire time.. Then I realize.. my underwear are falling down and that was making it really hard to keep going.. I had to lift my coat, dig in grab my skivvies and pull them up to keep on running!

Good thing these pants are falling apart.. I hate waste and will not feel guilt at all when I finally toss these aside!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

And reality is.....lol

Today I am right back to where I was on Friday.. Obviously yesterdays scale was off..Oh well... It was a nice thought.

And still a motivator!!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Sooooo excited!!!

SO this morning as my usual I went to the bathroom when I woke and then went to the kitchen to weigh myself. When I glanced down to see the number I laughed because I KNEW I must have fidgeted too much.. That number was just too low compared to yesterday..
I flipped on the light, reset the scale and stepped on again and did not move.... and I waited..

THE SAME NUMBER POPPED UP!!!!!!!!!!!

I did the math(which was easy) and realized I supposedly lost 4.2 pounds since yesterday.. HUH?

Is that even possible?

Yesterday I ate a new cereal for breakfast.. All Bran.., I ate what felt like a HUGE lunch... I shoveled the entire driveway of the snow that was out there already... I ate a good dinner with the kids.. I even ate a big enough helping of dessert I felt sick... ( sugar free pudding, banana, vanilla wafer and real freshly made whipped cream)

How does this compute? I was just hoping to not gain...

Oh well I figure I will enjoy that loss today and tomorrow when I show a gain of 3lbs I will get a good laugh...

Later on after kids were settled playing I got bundled up and headed out to shovel the new accumulation of snow.. While I was shoveling I realized today was January 8. That caused me to stop and pause for a moment...

December 8th was when we made the choice to make all these changes... December 8th was the day we decided to work together to fight this battle, lower portions, eat less carb, to better ourselves..

It has been 1 month.. It has been 1 month and with todays starting weight...

I HAVE LOST TWENTY POUNDS!!!!!!!

What an awesome feeling that was.. Sure, I realistically expect to see this to be untrue in the morning.. But for today... For today I have lost 20lbs!

WOO-HOO.. that is such a motivator.. That is such a milestone number.. Sure maybe on some people it is a HUGE obvious change.. It is not that obvious (in my opinion) for me.. Unless you really knew what my boobs looked like.. because unfortunately.. The Boobs have left the building....

To be continued...

Friday, January 7, 2011

What I am reading this year...

I want to see how many *adult* books I read this year.. So I figured if I list them here then I will know! Also then if I want to share good reads then I will actually remember what I read!

So to start the year:

1/7/11 Losing It- Valerie Bertanelli
Interesting read.. not life shattering but interesting and not too heavy
1/13/11 Without Pity- Ann Rule
This only took me 3.75 years to read.. Granted 3.5 of that the book was lodged in the bottom of the basement couch and we only just found it a few weeks back. Since I already paid the library for this lost book I figured I might as well read it.. Ann Rule writes real life crime stories... I devoured her books when I was still a kid in school.. Now I need to see if she has any current writing...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

My Madeline.. the Hypochondriac

We started back to school on Monday..
So far this week my daughter has complained -

"My hip hurts!... Both of them do..."

"My tongue hurts.. there is a bump on it"

"My throat hurts!"

"My head hurts here.. and here..."

"My tummy hurts"

If this is how K goes.. I will be so doomed once she hits the teen years...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Exciting!

Getting dressed for church this morning has proven to be an uplifting experience. This particular pair of pants fits looser then the last time I wore them!!! Up until now I have not noticed any change in my lower body.. Being able to button and zip these and have a little extra room is very exciting! The shirt I picked to go with it fits a little looser too.. but only b/c my boobs have shrunk!
Not excited about loosing the girls but I will take the small victories where ever they come!! WOOHOO!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Resolving to Reduce...in 2011

I never make resolutions, why would I, I would just ignore them like everyone else does theirs!
So this year I have one simple goal.. A very attainable goal..

Simply to Reduce....

A simple plan that can be achieved in many different areas..

Reduce my weight...
Reduce my stress...( LOL.. still not sure how to do THAT!)
Reduce clutter in this house
Reduce debt
Reduce(hopefully) costs... more careful spending to help with that debt reduction...

Mentally I am already cleaning the basement! I have piles sorted down there and I know which will go to the donation center at church(clothing with life still left )..
which items I will take to the Crisis Pregnancy Center(crib mattress, mattress covers, crib sheets),
which items I can drop at the local Head Start Center( some educational toys, lots of books etc)

Now if only I could reduce that Mini Van..... Need to keep posting that on Craigslist!