Mercury

Jordan's version.




Carson's version.



As you know, we are currently in the first week of our solar system unit. Today the kids learned about Mercury. I showed them some pictures of the actual planet. I told them about the craters on Mercury. I thought they would be really excited about the idea of a planet full of holes. But, Carson was way more intrigued by the fact that a day is more than 200 Earth days. She was also sad when I explained that because of the extreme temperatures there is no life on Mercury. Her response, "But, there will be, Mama. There will." I didn't argue. She is smarter than me, and I would just end up being wrong!! Anyway, we made Mercury. We are making a paper plate solar system, so we used a paper plate again. If I had been thinking about it, I would have had them use a small plate. Mercury is the 2nd smallest planet--next to Pluto. So, you might want to use a small plate when completing this craft. This is also a fun color lesson. I mixed some black paint and some white paint together in front of them to create gray. Both of the kids were very excited watching the paint change colors. Then, I let the kids paint the paper plates with the gray paint. Then, I let Carson dip her thumb into the black paint to create thumbprint craters. I helped Jordan do his thumbprints. Jordan's thumbprints look really big because he got a ton of paint on his thumb. Carson's are smaller and more spread out. I want to warn any parent attempting this craft that it is very messy. Don't wear your favorite shirt!! Make sure to use washable tempura paints and add a little dish soap to the paint. Happy Crafting!!

Shabby chic butterfly

Carson and I spent most of our day at a Mommy & Me fancy dress brunch. It was so much fun. And, the decorations were done in such a fun shabby chic manner that I decided to let her make her very own shabby chic craft this afternoon. I took some old scrapbook paper and wrapped it around a toilet paper tube. Then, I let Carson pick another piece of scrapbook paper for her wings. She picked a pink and green pattern and wanted bright pink spots on the wings. She glued the bright pink dots onto the wings that I had cut out of the pink and green page that she picked. Then, She used some of the stickers that her Godmother gave her recently to decorate the wings. I stapled the wings to the toilet paper tube. We used tape to adhere the pipe cleaner antennae. And, she put the wiggle eyes on. And, voila, a shabby chic butterfly!! Happy crafting!

Sun!!

Today was a super fun craft day. We did a sun using a paper plate, yellow paint and pieces of yellow and orange construction paper. It was really fun to see even the youngest kids (Jordan, 20 months) painting and enjoying the craft. This is the start of our 3 week solar system unit, so there will be quite a few crafts. This one is fun because it includes the children's hand prints. I love any thing that has hand prints, foot prints or fingerprints. It is pretty self-explanatory, but I will go through the steps none-the-less.

Start with a large, white paper plate. Draw a yellow circle around the center of the plate. This is the boundary for the kids and helps them to follow directions and stay within the lines. Let them paint, using yellow tempura paint, the inside of the circle. Then trace the child's hand. I let the kids go off to play while the yellow circle dries. The parent should cut out the hand print over and over on the yellow and orange construction paper. I had about 24 hand prints. When the circle dries, glue the hand prints around the outside of the yellow circle. I did yellow all the way around, then staggered the orange, and then put yellow on again after that. It is a super fun, easy craft. And, it is a lovely keepsake. Have fun crafting!!!

Update on Life

I just wanted to make a quick update. I don't blog nearly enough, bit I do what I can. Anyway, things are going really well around here. In fact, I haven't been really sick in a couple of months. And, I have lost 33 pounds now!! I am so proud and happy. I can't believe it. I am attempting to become healthier in all things. We are spending a lot more time out of doors. We have been going to the park quite a lot. And, we are taking swimming lessons. I am still hitting the treadmill from home as well. I think that lifestyle change plus the Weight Watchers program is making a huge difference in my life. I am overjoyed.

Other than that, the kids are wonderful. I can't believe that Jordan will be 2 in 3 1/2 months. It is crazy how quickly life is flying by. I sure wish it would slow down every now and then, but what can you do? I am hoping that we will get the opportunity to slow down a bit this summer. David won't be going to school, so I hope to take it easy. Just spend the evening at the park or the pool together. No stress or strain. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Until next time...

So bummed...

I am so bummed. Jackie, the friend for whom I was throwing the shower, e-mailed me to let me know that her Mother-in-law is going to throw the shower instead. She said that the MIL wants me to help and to call her. I called her. She doesn't want me to help!! She doesn't want to do what Jackie wants to do either. I feel sad. Jackie was super excited, and so was I. Now, it is going to be in a tea room. No duckie punch. No bunny garden. Just cucumber sandwiches and fake flowers. Blech. We'll see what happens. At this point I am afraid they are going to move it to a Sunday, and I won't be able to attend at all. Am I just being selfish here? I should be thrilled that they are so excited to throw her a shower as well.

Other than that, I think the weight watchers thing is going really well this week. I still have two days before weigh in. I really hope this is working out. It is an expensive program. If I don't get healthy on this program then I don't know what I will do.

Long Time, No Write

I will be the first to admit that I am the world's most inconsistent blogger. And, that is not because I am not interested in blogs. I love reading blogs. I absolutely drool of crafty blogs likes TidyMom and Couture Parties. The ideas a re amazing. And, the pictures are so fun that it is like slipping into another world for awhile. It is like a temporary escape--not that I Really need one. I have to say that overall my life is pretty easy. But, it is fun none-the-less.

But, I am mostly writing to say that I have taken yet another positive step toward becoming healthy. I joined Weight Watchers last week. I LOVE their calculator. I love that I can calculate anything I eat anywhere I go. It is this little blue piece of heaven. I mean, let's face it, most of us have no idea how many calories we are actually shoveling into our mouths. We guesstimate and are often wrong. Now, this calculator actually uses a formula to determine the amount of PointsPlus Points in a food. It takes into account fiber, protein, fat and carbs. And, I have to admit, it is working. The program is perfect for me because they stress not eating preservatives and nitrates. It is a whole foods based diet, so it is perfect for my Lupus. It also stresses being active. Sadly, I fell on my bum last week, and my hip is green and blue and not up to activity. I am hoping that next week will be better. I pulled some muscles, so I don't want to push it too hard and make things worse.

On another note, my awesome friend, Jackie, is having her first baby in June. I get to throw her a girlie, fun shower since she is having a girl. She wants to focus on bunnies with her colors being pink and green. I am going to make a baby garden!! I am so excited!! This is going to be so much fun. And, I love that I get to do this for her. She is such a sweet, loving person. She is going to be a fabulous mom!! Madison Elizabeth is terribly lucky to have her. And, I am terribly lucky to get to create this celebration!! Not only do I get to throw one of my favorite people a shower, but I get to research all of the lovely crafting blogs that I so enjoy. I will post pictures of the big day!! Hopefully I will be better about blogging too!

Another Set Back

I spent my night coughing. I have this horrible pain in my side. It feels like my lung is cramping or something. Really painful. I have to go back to the doctor again. I get exhausted of being sick like this. It is disheartening. It seems like there should be a direct link between the work I am doing to live healthy and my health. I just haven't seen it. I know it will take time. This is not an overnight thing. But, I can't seem to get well. It is just hard to deal with from time to time. I will perk up in a little while.

In any case, I thought I would blog about something else--eating out. I have always thought that eating out at most places would be impossible if I want to be healthy. That is just not true. I can get fish at a lot of places. I have recently discovered that I can get a burger too!! Chili's has served a black bean patty for years. I am not a big black bean fan, so that wasn't especially helpful for me. But, Red Robin is now serving Boca, Garden or turkey burgers!! I love my Boca burgers so much. There isn't a price change and the burgers are huge!! I was very impressed. But, I have to say(to my fellow Eureka fans) I have found myself wishing for Cafe Diem. I want a place where I can go in and say, "Give me a piece of salmon the size of my palm and a couple of red potatoes sprinkled with olive oil and garlic." Aside from the impossibility of such a place existing, it sure sounds nice. I have also never seen anyone pay for anything at Cafe Diem. That would be awesome too!!

After the Plague!!

I haven't really blogged lately because I have been dealing with sickness, but things are back on track now. The kids still have some lingering issues, and my cough is still ever-present. But, we are moving closer to wellness. David is the amazing immunity man!! He never gets sick. It is a good thing too. He ends up being our rescuer!!

Anyway, through the sickness I have kept up with my new eating regiment. I am still loving it. It is amazing how the exact right foods make your body feel a million times better. No headaches. No muscle cramps. Little bits of aching, but nothing like before. Amazing. I am so grateful for the research that allowed me to know how to feel this way.

The one thing I couldn't keep up with during the sickness was the exercise. It is a bummer because I had gotten off to a good start. I start back tomorrow morning. I have 5 days to make up. The sadist who teaches the boot camp loves torturing me so much that she is letting me make up all of the days that I missed. I feel so lucky!! ha ha!! Actually, it is very kind of her. I really didn't want to eat it on the money. And, honestly, I know it is really good for me to participate in the class. It is really hard and the music is ridiculously bad, but I always feel accomplished and proud afterward. I am sort of looking forward to tomorrow, but I am also scared out of my mind!! The pain!! Oh well. No pain--no gain.

On the craft front, we have been pretty lackluster due to the illness thing. Carson made a construction paper dove for MLK. We also made a construction paper horse. I used my Cut And Create book for the horse. When we finished, I asked Carson, "What letter does horse start with?" She said, "It is an H. But, Mama, I love you. That is a cow--not a horse." She's not wrong. The thing came out looking like a cow. I guess I should be happy that she knows the difference. And, she got the point behind the craft--the letter H. I need to find a better H craft though.

The Quandry is Solved

Well, it has been decided. I will eat what I eat, and the kids and David will eat something else. The kids just don't like the food. Brown rice is apparently and acquired taste. I refuse to give up my new regiment to eat mac-n-cheese every night. I want my brown rice. I want my fish!! My body feels so different already. Tonight, I ate a baked potato and a really small Filet Mignon. I knew when to stop eating it. My body told me, "You have had enough." That is perfect!! That is what I want for myself. So, I ate my yummy dinner and they ate hamburgers and french fries. Everyone was happy at the end of the night. Frankly, it doesn't take to much to make their food. Mine is way more intense. I can do both without a problem. It is about being healthy. Things won't always be convenient. I mean, it would have been awesome if everyone had liked the food, but life isn't perfect. So, I am going to stretch, do my Scripture study and go to bed. I want to be well-rested for boot camp tomorrow!!

The Food Quandary

My kids hate my food. That is the bottom line. They hate my food. They won't eat the whole wheat pasta, the fish or anything else I have made for dinner. I am loving this new food, and they are starving because they don't. I have no clue what to do. I can't stop eating my new food regiment, but I can't let my babies starve either. I don't want to be like a short-order cook--making something for each member of the family. Who has the time? So, I am stuck in a quandary. Will the kids adjust? Who knows?

On top of the quandary, I seem to be suffering from some awful allergy thing. I sneezed around 50 times in a 30 minute period earlier today. No fun. Jordan has had the same problem. I think that is why he hasn't been sleeping. He is so stopped up that he can't get comfortable. But, Jordan has the luxury of taking it easy. I have a boot camp class tomorrow morning. I have to make up my class from Saturday since I couldn't attend due to Carson's game. So, I am trying to rest today. We rested yesterday too. I keep hoping that if I get enough rest I will feel better. Anyway, I am going to do just that now--rest. I took some Benadryl to stop the sneezing, and it has made me all loopy. The food question will have to be answered another day.

The Wall

I think it is fair to say I hit my wall this morning. I believe the combination of getting up at 5:30 in the morning most of the week along with pushing my body to its physical limit has finally taken its toll. I just couldn't do anything this morning. I mean nothing. My whole body is in pain. My brain is exhausted. I'm done. And, you would think that the weekend would be my saving grace, but it isn't. I have to get up early for Carson's first soccer game on Saturday. And, I have Church at 9 on Sunday. In other words there is no rest for the weary. I will have to get up at around 5:30 every day but Wednesday next week, so I can make up my boot camp class from Saturday. I know that these are just growing pains. I know that my body is just having a hard time adjusting to this new schedule and all of the work it is having to do. I just wish I was better with change. You know, it is a funny thing. My New Year's goals were to get healthy physically and to find the Spirit in everything I do, but I haven't even tried to combine the two. The fact is that getting physically healthy has everything to do with the Spirit. I know that my new diet is really what I should have been eating all along. I mean, it is a little more specific than the Word of Wisdom, but it is very close to what is outlined in the Scriptures. More than that I know that the Lord gave me a temple to live with here on Earth. It is my job to take care of it, so I can receive the promised blessings. And, of course this isn't easy. The right thing is almost never easy. But, beautiful blessing are promised to those who choose the right things. So, as much as I would just love to throw in the towel, I am going to do the right thing and keep pressing forward. I am looking forward to the day when I will run and not be weary!!

Boot Camp part deux

What are the two most terrifying words in the English language? I will tell you, "pulse it"!! Alright, I might be slightly exaggerating, but they are the most terrifying words in my life right now. In fact, when the alarm went off this morning at 5:30 the fear of those words almost made me ignore it altogether. But, I didn't. And, when I arrived I thought I had been rewarded. There were no resistance bands out. I was so relieved. I saw some white bars on the mats instead. I went to grab my stuff and noticed there were numbers written on one side of the white plastic bar. That's right, folks, the numbers referred to the weight in the bar. But, I figured anything was better than those bands. I was so wrong!! The bar weighed 10 pounds. That was the lightest available. To warm up she had us do 25 squats while holding the the thing over our heads. Then we had to run suicides, come back, and sit on the wall with the thing over our heads. That was one of the many torture scenarios she cooked up for today's boot camp class. And, it was awful. It really was. But, the worst part was the music. She has 80's crap rock playing in the background the whole time. I had to listen to Foreigner!! It was almost too much. I need that music to take my mind off of the pain. The Foreigner and Styx was just making the pain worse. It was like being physically and mentally tortured. So wrong!! In any case, I made it through. And, if we ever catch Osama I now know of the ideal punishment!! ha ha!!

Diet Success

This is going to sound crazy or made-up, but I am loving this new diet. My body feels so much better. My headaches are gone already!! I haven't had a headache all week. I can't remember the last time I could say that. And, even better, I should be unable to move today after yesterday's killer boot camp. I am sore, but I am fine. I am not swollen. My hands don't hurt. I have been able to open lids!! This is amazing. It could just be a good week. It could have nothing to do with the diet, but I am not craving my old diet. That has to mean something!! I haven't even been craving Sprite(my favorite thing). I am almost 2 weeks dry, and I am not craving it. Next week might be totally different. But, today I am feeling great. I thought it would be a good idea to write this down tonight. I figured this way I could look back on my hard days and know that there are good days too. Thanks to all my sweet friends who are encouraging me. Your kind words help more than you know!!

Every "Body" Boot Camp

So, I went to my first boot camp class this morning. I was SO nervous. I was mostly concerned about getting up early. The class is at 6, so I had to get up at 5:30. I didn't think anything could be as bad as getting up that early. Man, was I ever wrong. That woman has been reading out of the Josef Mengele handbook. One of the women actually threw up. It was horrible. I know I am going to be in so much pain tomorrow. My shoulder blades hurt!! Can you imagine that? My shoulder blades. She had us running stairs, and we must have done 100 squats. And, we did things to our arms that no one should have to do!! The worst was the resistance band. That thing is scary painful!! But, with all of that said, I feel great about myself today. I got up and did the work. I got through it even though it was hard. I am very proud of myself. I look forward to seeing where I am 10 weeks from now. It would be awesome if, on the last day, I ran those stairs and did those squats and it didn't kill me the next day!! Well, after this class I should be able to run around the park with my kids with no problem. And, this will certainly help my cardiovascular system and my endurance. I really didn't like the trainer this morning, but I bet I will be a big fan at the end of the class session. She is brutal though.