Driven.

I want to introduce you to Driven, a collaborative blog that launches on Monday April, 25, 2016.  The blog focuses on 6 women that share one common thread, they are DRIVEN.  They are driven to change into a better version of themselves.  The group is very diverse in their stages of life, background, objectives, motivation, and plans.  We invite all of you to follow these beautiful ladies on their journeys of transformation from the beginning for 60-90 days. The one goal that I KNOW we all have is to impact and inspire you!  We hope in turn you will impact and inspire us with your support.

How was Driven. born?  Fit n Fun is a huge reason for our success during our family health transformation.  The support, research, writing, and accountability, has all contributed to any woo-hoo moments that we have experienced.  I, however, am not experiencing the success I would like as an individual.  I wanted to figure out how I could do the same thing for myself, but a blog all about me?....BORING! So my brain started churning, what motivates me? I like fitness magazines, especially success stories.  I also like diaries that follow women for a period of time journaling their successes, failures, progress, and fitness/diet plans.  I wanted to reach a diverse audience, so I enlisted 5 women who have inspired me in some way during my life.  One blog + 6 inspirational women + an amazing audience = phenomenal change. 

How have these ladies inspired me during my life journey?  I will share a few reasons below, but I do not want to steal their thunder. 

Chanon- I have known Chanon since I was 5 years old.  She and I continue a friendship that we have had for 33 years.  She has inspired me many times through the years.  She is a prayer warrior, a wonderful mom, and we share many of the same values.

Abby-My sister is my best friend.  She is the one I go to with every single problem in my life.  There is not anything she does not know about me and she still loves me...that is pretty inspiring. :)  Really this is the most loyal, toughest, loving girl you will ever meet, ever.  I love her with all my heart!

Denise-This is most vivacious, beautiful, organic cousin I have ever had.  She is my cousin but she is also a mentor to me. She has a way of life that is loving, free of judgement, filled with forgiveness and understanding.  She inspires me every time I see her, which is not nearly enough. 

Donna-Donna is my Texas girl.  We were stationed together in Italy for 3 years.  We did everything together, everything!  I think most of the things falls under 'what happens in Italy, stays in Italy".  There is no closer bond than the sisterhood in the Navy, we were a family.  We still are!  She was there for me through lonely nights with out my family, difficult days after work, broken hearts, and she got me through it.  We also worked out together, inspired each other to work out and be in shape.

Amy-Amy is my newest/oldest friend.  Amy is the friend you just meet but you have known your whole life....you just click.  She takes on a tremendous amount of responsibility on any given day.   I respect her fortitude, could not live without her friendship (she would do anything for me), she is a selfless mom, wife, and friend. 

Libby-That's ME! 

As you can see these ladies are A-mazing, follow them, their journey, get to know them.  It is not easy letting people into your world.  It is a special calling to want to share, impact, and inspire.  Lets do this-TOGETHER! 

How does the blog work?  Each day will feature the same blogger, she will always blog on this day.  The initial post will describe their current situation, their future goals, and an introduction.  Future blogs will include an update on their progress, any goal changes, and a blog about their journey on a weekly basis.  The hope is that you will be inspired, laugh, cry, and enjoy success with these ladies as they write about them. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I think you will!  Look for Driven. on Monday at faithintheprocess.blogspot.com or Facebook.  Remember if you enjoy the blogs, share them. 

Mama Out.

Couch and Pillow...STAT!

Just like there is a promise of two scoops of raisins in Kellogg's Raisin Bran; my days also deliver a promise of two scoops, two scoops of Stress. I used to teach a career success class and I taught two types of stress: eustress, good stress and distress, bad stress.   My eustress was just at the tipping point at the end of the Lacrosse game today to distress.  If I did not hit a couch in the next 30 minutes for a much needed nap my distress was going to spill over onto innocent bystanders in the form of "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". 

My husband recognized the signs of my distress and reacted swiftly.  We were all on the couch in no time watching some kid-friendly TV and taking a much needed nappity-nap.  I woke up to a mowed yard (awwwwww honey) and my little Ava made me a cup of coffee (Keurig) with an apple slice garnish.  I am so glad I did not go into banshee mama mode on them before I got some rest in.

My weekend and a few days preceding up to it were the usual sports related running around obligations.  The new agenda item this week was my husband taking on the responsibility of organizing a father/son day at church.  It was called Soldiers for Christ.  The theme was putting on the full armor of the Lord to fight against the enemy's schemes.  He collaborated with our amazing event planner, Janet and they really did an amazing job.  There were a few of us behind the scenes taking directions and were happy to help in anyway.  I was super proud of him for taking on this leadership role and making it a successful day for God, the dads/grandpas, and the sons. 

Pictures of Soldiers for Christ:

Castle Door with sconces and seal

Castle wall with chandeliers, sconces, flags, etc.

 

The last few days were amazing, productive, and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow at night.  I will tell you though, when I hit that wall today, I did not see it coming.  I was working the concession stand, getting dogs, slinging candy (against my better judgement), and taking money; talking people up...ya know just loving life.  Once I was done with concession stand duty, it was like I powered down like a video game console (key in power down sound).  Moral of the story is we make commitments, show-up for life, push through the tired...but when that wall pops up and you crash into it, get a couch and pillow...STAT!

 

 

Mama OUT





Sleepy Penguin Saturday!

Change. Inspire. Faith. Process. Success. Fail. Accountability.

These are words that stick in my mind throughout our family journey to get healthy.  I hear and say or write these words on a regular basis.  Friends (old and new), family (local and across all states), and people I have never met before have reached out to support our transformation  by sharing their stories, saying inspiring words like the ones in the title, and providing advice. All of their efforts are woven into the progress we are making.  All of this encouragement, as well as the hands-on support of grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, etc. have really made all of our efforts successful.  It is working. We are changing. Everyday.  I am not saying we are on easy street, not even close, but the proof is in the shift in attitudes. Old habits don't fit into our lifestyle anymore.  Healthy habits are ingrained.  We are seeing the fruits of our endeavors in our lives; not just physically but emotionally and spiritually.  This overhaul on health came with a benefit we didn't expect, an even closer family bond than we had before we started this.  

Just as an example of change; recently my girls THOUGHT they got some candy passed the ole mama radar, oh no, no, no ,no! They saw me, I saw them see me, and they saw me see the candy.  The jig was UP!  The finger was crooked in the come hither motion.  I said, "give me half of whatever  candy you have and you can have the rest for some other time."  "OK", they said, CHEERILY!  This was Saturday, it is now Wednesday, candy is still there.  I know what you are thinking and it is TRUE!  I remembered it was there on SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, and TODAY, but I did not eat it, pinky swear.  Attitudes changed. do-duh-do-do-doooo I'm lovin' it!

I have a bit of fun to share with you.  I had some long overdue girl time with my very close friend Lisa.  Lisa and I met a few years ago while our kids were on swim team.  We clicked and I started taking my kids to her home-based art classes. My girls absolutely loved and absorbed all of the art mediums, artists, and styles she was exposing them to.  

A sample display of their last art project is below:

Ava's is the kitty on the left and Bella's is the bunny on the right.

Back to our coffee date, well, to my super duper satisfaction it was a healthy, gourmet, breakfast date, with coffee.  I crossed Miss Lisa's threshold to her fabulously decorated home and it was like no time had passed, we quickly picked up where we left off. I have experienced this before with close friendships and it made me think what was it that made Lisa and I part of this club?  I came up with a few things that made us fall into the awkward moments?...what? what are those? category of friendship.  We both have really laid back personalities, we both seek out genuine friendships and people, and we share a common faith in God.  I think that if I asked her these things she would agree, at least I hope she would. Lisa text me if you agree...:)

One more thought on this topic, Lisa and I had not gotten together in some time, too long. I know busy schedules get in the way, good intentions turn into cancellations.  I have to tell you though, that when I make these dates a priority, I am never ever more encouraged or satisfied than after the times that I spend with my close friends and siblings.  Get that girl time on the books!  For guys...rekindle that bromance! 

John 15:12-13 "My command is this: Love each other as I have Loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friend."

Fabulous friendship date picture below:

Libby and Lisa

Wonderful not to mention Gorgeous breakfast with recipe:

Oatmeal Pancakes Recipe YUMMMMMMY

Speaking of girl power...I am starting a new collaboration project with 5 other ladies.  It is called Driven.  The web address is faithintheprocess.blogspot.com    I plan to share all of the details with you on Friday...You will not have to wait long!

Mama Out!

Flamingo Fun Wednesday

  

Roses and Thorns

I was in my kitchen this morning spouting off all of the healthy breakfast options there were for the kids to choose from.  I started swelling with pride at the homemade banana muffins made with greek yogurt, the upside down peach cake made with only eggs and almond meal(protein packed), and whole wheat bagels with turkey.  I was like who's awesome.  Oh yeah that's me, I'm awesome.  I had many reasons  other than food to celebrate but I started thinking am I giving credit it to where credit is due?  The sad truth was, for a minute, I was not.  When I got myself in check, I did a quiet "Thank You" to God and then looked around at my family.  I was gushing with pride for them and their commitment to our new lifestyle.  I am not doing this, I only provided the path, it was up to THEM to walk down it.  I have so much to share with you I am bursting at the seams...

My daughter played her best soccer game on Saturday.  She was filled with confidence.  She played offense the entire time because she had endurance.  She could keep up.  She was in shape.  I was so happy for her.

David is finding his footing in Lacrosse, he moved up to a new age group so he is the young guy on the team.  This held him back at first, but I growled at him a few times, yelled a few inspirational verses at him, oh and his daddy is the coach and now he is scoring again, playing like a champ.  Our nephews were also gun-shy when they started lacrosse and they are naturals.  Mitchell is picking up the game, getting aggressive and scoring multiple goals in a game.  Cool, huh!

In the evening Bella, soccer girl, and David, lacrosse boy, competed in a triathlon. They swam 50 meters, biked 6-8 laps, and ran 1/4-mile.  They did an amazing job. Their father and I helped them through it and they were so pumped after it was all over.  We were a small community that was there to participate, my neighbor and her girls were there and so was my sister and her boys.  It was a cool "bonding experience".  I have several pictures to share with you..

The participants and Cheerleaders from l to r: David, Conner, Bella, Mitchell, and Chase

 

Chase and his Mama

 

Ava cheering her BFF Jenjo

 

Bella, Eva, Jenjo, and Ava

 


David in the bike portion of the TRI

 

Bella after its done!

 

Chaser

 

D-money crosses the finish line

 

The three amigos: Chase, David, and Mitchell

 


Jenjo and Ava

 

Me and my Bestie BillieJo

 

 

Rocking Ritas after the TRI

 

David cooked the ENTIRE peach upside down almond flour cake with me!
Wait....What?... David?! Yes=Happy Mama

 

My Chef Bella cooking with her Daddy

I have shared with you my struggle of sticking to a fitness routine on my own.  In my head I think things like, "fitness, shmitness", or its 80% diet/20% fitness, or I'll start hardcore tomorrow.  They are ALL excuses, reasons to not get sweaty.  I KNOW I feel so GOOD when I do it.  I am making you a solid, not kidding you, it's going down promise....I am starting a consistent workout........tomorrow! :If I took an honest assessment of my fitness situation last week it was not that bad.  I swam on Tuesday, did a 10-mile bike ride on Thursday, and I watched a lot of sports this weekend, in person.  (that last one doesn't count does it?)

IF we ate out it was super healthy, like cheese, apples, and pretzels or a turkey and cheese sandwich. We ate all dinners at home and they were also of the healthy variety.  I made various protein enriched, au natural, low-sugar baked goodies.  We DID eat Rita's after the triathlon, but come on, it was a triathlon!!!

We do this ritual at dinner time, it is called roses and thorns.  We go around the dinner table and everyone gets an opportunity to tell their rose (best part of their day) and their thorn (worst part of their day).  I would like to share my rose and thorn of this past weekend with you.  There were lots and lots of roses but I will pick the brightest, biggest, and best bloom to tell you.  My daughter Bella, came up to me Saturday evening after the triathlon and said, "Mommy I Love You! and Thank You so much for signing me up for all of these fun things, I love it"! I said, "Oh Bella, it's my pleasure, I love that you love it".  Lotta love going on....pretty cool. As for my thorn, wellllllll that was when the guy yelled at me for David running into some expensive timing equipment, that was for the adult triathlon the following day.  Hello!...kids?, expensive equipment?, Me, not getting it!



                                                                      Mama OUT!

BlackWater Down!!

Well, well, well lots to tell.  We are back from our little anniversary getaway in Cambridge, MD.  Three days is the perfect amount of time to get some quality time with the hubs and just enough time for me to miss the kids, pack it up, and head home.  I can NOT report good news on the eating front.  We had wonderful intentions, oh I can't do it, I can't lie to all of you.  I personally knew in my heart I was not going to deny myself any food.  I had a sensible breakfast, ice cream for lunch, and dinner was usually shared appetizer, and a salad with a protein.  Desserts were the downfall.  I subscribe to the bliss point.  It is the perfect combination of sugar, salt, and fat to make our brains emit endorphins or feely goods.  I felt good after every dinner :). 

The food was not the health success of the getaway; the bicycle adventure that I am going to share with you was.  We scoped out nearby biking trails and found a really cool nature preserve only a few miles away.  It is called the Blackwater nature preserve.  Once we found out the name of the preserve, in my head I kept thinking BLACKWATER DOWN! BLACKWATER DOWN!  you know, like in the movie, Blackhawk down, I know weird.  We hit the trail at 1000 hours on Thursday.  There are two options, the 20 mile loop and the 25 mile loop. We decide to do the 20 mile loop.  At our first intersection, I realized I forgot the map, what???? Rookie mistake.  We just went with our gut and continued on...It was so beautiful.  My hubs and I were riding along, talking, sharing a beautiful moment...until...he turned into a 16-year old.  About mile 6 he just takes off, well I just let him go.  He shoots right past the turn we should have taken and we end up on this narrow road off of the bike path, he finally stopped and waited for me.  I was not happy.  We turn around, I show him the sign, stop at the car, and say, "We are at least riding 10 miles and ending on a good note".  We got back on the bike path and did just that.  What happened to 20 miles, I don't know.  I should definitely, always remember the map. 

Here are a few pictures of the Blackwater Wildlife Preserve:

There were many different bird species just hanging out.

 

The bike path was like an island, one false move...

 

Hubs

 

Whoa hair!

That was definitely outside of our comfort zone but something we will do again.  This is definitely worth the drive.  It is about 2 hours away and only costs $1 per bike, crazy awesome.  Just do it!

The first day the kids were here without us, it was supposed to go like this...They were to take the bus home, meet the sitter at the stop, come to the house, do homework, and whoever had practice, get ready for practice.  It was picture week so their forms were all filled out, ready to go. 

3:25 I get a phone call, Bella took the wrong bus...WHAT?  She has taken the same bus for 4 years!!! Initiate mom fix it from Maryland mode.

3:35 I get a call from the sitter,"I cant find the kids I missed them coming off of the bus".  I told the sitter, "don't worry, they are down at the house".  Nope not at the house, hit panic button!!  Calling all neighbors...Where are my children?Yep at the neighbors!  Whew, ok fast forward to 5:00pm.  My mom picks up the kids, one of them heads to practice and remember it's picture day.  5:35 I get a phone call, "David left his picture form at home".  Ummm clearly these children hatched some sort of evil plan to stress their parents out on their STRESS FREE vacation, yeah it worked. (Key in My Kid's Evil Laughter)

I almost did not write this post today.  Residual consequences from bad decisions that my husband and I made when we were going through our rough time last year surfaced.  It was a heavy blow and we are both sighing a little heavier today and feeling regret.  There was a time, it was very short, that my husband and I were very self-centered.  We always tried our best to stay focused on our family and each other and well the world got the better of us.  We turned our backs on the ocean and boy did a tidal wave come and rock our world.  We turned our eyes quickly back to God and focused on our family.  WE are doing amazing but we have to deal with the small waves that come after the tidal wave until our ocean is calm again.  I want this blog to represent a genuine life not a highlight reel in the hopes that if any of you are going through a difficult time you are not alone, not even a little bit. 

Life Happened, Fell Hard, Help!

OMGoodness!  Life just got real!  We have fallen off the bandwagon folks and trying to hoist ourselves back on.  There are several reasons why we are in this predicament; but mainly because we lost focus, tasted some success, and got complacent.  I think that in this journey there are bumps in the road and this is one of them but it feels like a mountain.  Did it completely undo all of the progress we made, thank goodness, no. However, it was a hit and I feel defeat and embarrassed to publicize my failures; but decided facing it was the only way to overcome the hopefully TEMPORARY setback.  So, what threw us off our game?

1.  My husband being gone-This is my support partner. When I am weak, he is strong and vice versa.  When we are both weak, well, we just eat cake.  :)  His absence also limited me because I had to do the job of two people leaving me tired, less resilient, and downright vulnerable. 
2.  Sickness-Whenever a serious, stay-at-home, I need my mama, sickness rocks our house, stand by for nothing to get done.  This really got me, I had to make up for lost time and house work so meal prep, monitoring the kids' activities and food choices fell low on my list of priorities.
3.  Stress-Our routine was so out of whack that I started to feel off kilter.  I knew my choices were leaning more toward our old lifestyle and I started to panic making me want to eat bad foods, NOT work out, zone out on TV, basically de-stress in all the wrong ways.  Once I fall into this rut it takes me a little while to get out of it. 
4. Busy-Since I was unprepared for the weekend food-wise, we did not eat well.  We ate out at Mission Bar-B-Q.  I did not behave and I did not really enforce any of our good eating habits either.  We pretty much ate out all weekend, old habits were back in play.  I felt miserable and defeated.  I had several opportunities to work out and I did not take advantage of any of them. 
Fitness-Bella and Ava had plenty of activity.  They did not sit around the house watching TV except for Saturday morning because of the weather.  One thing that has taken root is playing more and having more energy.   David had several lacrosse games and he played hard. Miguel and I did not do well with fitness except for housework and running kids everywhere they needed to go.  The hubs did not work out while he was away.  He looks back on his time and determined the slices of time where he could have fit in his workouts.  I also need to rededicate myself to fitness, this seems to be my biggest struggle as of late.

We have an upcoming anniversary vacation so the trial is not over. There is something I AM excited to tell you.  For the first time, Miguel and I are including fitness in our vacation schedule.  We are taking our bikes to ride on the nature preserve.  This is exciting and I think this is something we never would have done before. 

Nana is onboard with the healthy eating and has lots of yummy, good for you foods, stocked in her fridge for the kiddos.  She is ALL about it, the kids will be super sad.  I have to say the grandparents are really supportive, I could not do this with out them, it takes a village, people.  What I am really saying here is that I have no control and am relying on other wonderful people to continue what we are doing until the end of the week.  Once we are back on our normal schedule I want to focus on cleaning up my eating and getting back on my workout track.  The one  thing I notice is when mama is motivated so is everyone else.  Realizing that I am responsible for these little human beings' welfare escapes me sometimes. When I regain my perspective, pull myself out of my rut, and grab a hold of that passion again I feel like I can do anything, oh wait, I can! 

The one thing I KNOW I am doing wrong is taking this on by myself.  I talk a big game about praying and the power of prayer but I am not doing that in this area. I think I am setting myself up for failure not inviting God to give me a hand on this journey.  I know you all are shaking your head like, you know that's right! 

I know the pics are lacking as of late, but I will have PLENTY of sharing to do when we get back from our little Vacay. 

Until then I need LOTS of prayers and support to get us back on track, WE are having lots of success and I do NOT want to go back.  I can NOT let this negative experience become a U-turn. 

Summing it up:

1. LOTS of prayer
2. Regular workouts
3. Clean-up eating
4. Family workouts/outings
5. Allow some grace when error occurs
6. Reestablish moderation/portion control
7. Regain passion about those healthy recipes/new foods
8. Incite passion in the kids
9. Don't give in so easily
10. U-TURNS are not an option..EVER!

If you think of anything you have experienced throw it out there, we sure could use the advice/support right about now. 

Prayer: Please Lord help me remember Matthew 7:7 in my journey.  I need your help and guidance to be successful and will fail with out you.  I am so thankful for my wonderful family and friends that support me and I would ask that you please help me to follow your path to health and happiness in my home.  In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

I will check in with you in a few days, until then...

Mama Out!

Three Strand Rope

As I write this post I am reviewing all of the emotional and physical struggles of the past week.  Until this week my posts were, for the most part, filled with all of the great steps we were taking towards our goal.  We had a few downturns but nothing fall out of your seat, earthshattering.  This week it wasn't one BIG event that caught us off guard, it was lots of little disturbances to our normal routine that derailed our health/fitness train.  I am not going to lie to you I am feeling deflated at the moment, slightly bummed.  However, there were wins and I am focusing on those to get me over this hump. Enough with the intro, lets get to the details of the happenings of the week. 

As I write this, the lyrics "You don't know what you got till it's gone", seems appropriate.  My hubby left to NYC for a four day off-site and a meeting on Friday in Bryn Mawr.  The first time I really was able to see him was Friday at noon.  We had a trial in our marriage a little while ago and since then we prescribe to the "three-strand" theory.  Instead of each of us climbing through life using one rope, we combine our ropes together with God's rope to create a three strand rope, making our climb stronger, steadier, and not easily broken. He is more consistent with this than I am. I am a work in progress.  I still revert to my stubborn ways once in a while and think I can do everything on my own.  But this week made me realize how much I NEED to rely on this ALL the time.  His absence was felt.  It was 3 to my 1, the odds were stacked against me from the start. Let's add sickness to the mix, no sleep, bad weather, one less person to get folks to and from practice, cooking dinner, you get the idea.  I really needed my BFF but I survived the week and managed to NOT eat dinner out (pat on the back), make all dentist appointments (Happy Dentists), work out once (NOT awesome!).  When my husband returned home, I did put him to work, like, immediately, but there was some hero appreciation for all that he does. 

Bella's sickness and snuggle needs kept me from being proactive with food preparation, new recipes, house cleaning (this is LOL for me, because this is always last on my list anyway), and my volunteer commitments.  I realize these moments with Bella are an absolute blessing and they provide her comfort. I don't want to that for granted, ever!   I know many Moms do not have this opportunity and would switch places with me in a heartbeat.  I would not change this for the world, but I still felt that conflict to do more, like I mentioned in my previous post.  On a great note I took Bella to the doctor.  They took her stats and she is now in the normal BMI range vice obese.  This significantly lowers her risk of hypertension and diabetes.  She was already flagged borderline high blood pressure, the possibility of medicine to manage her blood pressure was discussed that is scary at 8 years old.  We do not ever focus on weight or scale or numbers, only a "healthy lifestyle", the rest is falling into place naturally. That is one of the main reasons we took on this healthy lifestyle to give our kids a healthy advantage in life. 

I tried to handle all of this in stride, and when my husband traveled regularly I could do all of this like a champ.  What I realized was that I have come to rely on him and I am glad because that means that he is HOME! He is a part of all we do now..coaching sporting events, dinner, coffee in the morning, working out together, slipping away for lunches, midafternoon movies (shhhhh), and being a part of the community.  So what am I about to confess?, I don't want to tell you...but I promised an honest representation* of a family going through a transformation.  Here it is...I. Ate. (at) Five. Guys.  I KNOW!!!! It was a burger with BACON...NO!!! and some fries...Oh the fat, sodium, calories!...but it was gooood.    That is not the worst part, Ava was with me...Oh I felt awful!...but it did taste goooood.  It was goooood but then it wasn't, after a little while I had enough, it was greasy and salty.  I never noticed that before, but I think because I am eating a LOT less food like that the taste of fat and overly salted food is very recognizable.  Ava also said, "Mommy these fries are salty"and we threw them away.  That would never have happened before. 

It happened. It's done. Start new week.  I can completely fall off the wagon or show my kids how to bounce back with even more fervor than before.  Take that bull by the horns... or eat cake.  Wait...we can eat cake (see post "mom who cried dog")! :)

* I can not divulge all secrets, I must maintain some mystery to keep you coming back for more! :)

Mama Out!

Martha/Mary Conflict

I have not been out of the house in two days.  My daughter Bella is sick with a wicked cough.  She gets this barking cough a few times a year and misses school.  It almost always coincides with something important, this times it is the father/daughter retreat in Chambersburg. I had to cancel....I know, bummer! When one of the kids gets sick, I feel bad for them and oh yeah I am FORCED to cancel any and all appointments; I MUST stay home, oh man.  I think ok, I'll  catch up on laundry, clean bathrooms, maybe some DVR in between taking care of a sickie kid.  You know throw together a sick bed, get some medicine in their system, monitor them, good to go, right?  Why?, Why?, Why? do these thoughts ever, ever enter my mind?  This NEVER happens, not even once, not ever.  The reality of the situation is more like this,  "okay honey are you okay for a few while I run upstairs and put laundry away?"  Bella says, "OHHHHHHHHHHH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, Mommy can you snuggle me?"  "Sure sweetie", I say.  I know at this point I am lost in snuggle land with my sick little Bella for the better part of the day watching an entire season of cupcake wars.  How do you justify saying no to your child to clean the house when they actually WANT to snuggle you, spend time with you, and they ADMIT that they NEED you.  I read somewhere that they outgrow this?  Oh right I was that kid!

I will be honest with you when I am housebound I see areas of the house that need cleaning attention and I feel a tug to give it priority because I am home and I think I should do it. When I feel this nagging I call it the Martha/Mary conflict and it always brings me back to a story in Luke chapter 10. It goes a little like this...(Straight out of the NIV bible) ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  To me this means do not sacrifice moments for busy work.  I take this to heart and try to remember this when I have guests at the house, my children ask for my time, or my husband wants to catch up at the end of the day.  I can get sidetracked, tired and this does not always happen, I am human after all.

Alright so my poor husband is on his way home from a long work week in NY and I already warned him I am stir crazy.  I told him we need some things at the grocery store, I may go workout at the gym.  I will NOT be waiting impatiently by the door, coat on, purse in hand, car warming up...hey babe, kissy, kissy, dinners on the stove, Bella's all ready to snuggle.  Love You.  No, never!

I should get out of my pajamas, yep I am still in my PJs.  You know you all do it too! :)  Back to Snuggling.


Mama Out!

  

The Mom Who Cried Dog

You are now entering the judgement free zone.  There are no judgey judgertons allowed.   "Why?", you ask??...Oh, you're about to find out!  Remember the last post I mentioned a cake I made?  Do you also remember someone asking if they could have it for breakfast the next day?  Yep, that would be today, this morning, cake was for breakfast.  Now, hear me out on this, before you get all...WHAT? CAKE for breakfast?  They were going for the thin cinnamon raisin bagels with light cream cheese, when they saw the cake and asked for it.  I was about to say no, when I realized, the cake has greek yogurt (protein), ancient grains (must be good for you), bananas (loaded with goodness), all natural cake mix, and I would be the awesome mom.  "Ok, sure", I said.  The kids were happy, the day started off great, that cake rocks. 

Ok, so lets fast forward to school pick up.  I have something to tell the kids, and I am unsure how they are going to react.  Let me fill you in on the back story...A few years ago, I told a small fib, it was actually quite ridiculous, but they believed me....for about a minute.  It was Halloween, and it was the second year their candy came up missing, a few days after trick or treat night.  They asked me what happened to it.  Remember, I had to come up with a super quick explanation so it is not my best work.  I said, "Well Teddy (our yellow lab) can actually walk on two legs like a human after you go to bed at night."  Stunned, they said, "What?, No Way!"  I said, "Yes he does and he knows how bad all that candy is for you and he throws it all away!"  To the best of my memory, I got  "TEDDY",  "That's not true Mommy", and "I know you threw it away".  I have stuck true to this story since I told it a few years ago, for every Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.  I know it's kind of silly, but whatever, it's our thing...Teddy did it! 

Teddy is the one on the left.

Teddy is on the right.

Now we are back at present day.  I dropped the kiddos off at the bus in the morning.   I came home to find our chocolate lab, Cori nose deep in the leftover cake from breakfast!!!! I knew when I picked up the kids and I told them Cori ate the cake, they would not believe me!  Here were their reactions when I broke the news.  David said, "Mommy I know you ate the rest of that cake!" (Nice)  Bella said, "Stinkin' Cori!"(She believed me)  and Ava said, "Mommy it was healthy cake!"(meaning, why would I throw it away?)  I cried dog too many times that when it actually happened only one of my kids believed me.  Would I lie to them again?...Absolutely! 

Cake half eaten by Cori

Cori licking his lips

It is Tuesday so it is swim night!  I want to share a few really exciting milestones that occurred this evening.  Last year Ava tried out for the swim team, she tried her hardest but she needed more practice.  Just to give you an idea of how much this girl wanted to be on the team, the coach, lifeguard, and myself were ready to jump in and save her every time she swam from one end of the pool to the other.  She must have swallowed a gallon of water but she got out of that pool with the biggest smile on her face and said, "Mommy, I did it".  When I told her she didn't make the team,  I promised her I would get her lessons so she could try out again next year.  Well, my girl  swam at least 400 meters tonight doing freestyle all on her own.  Ava is the newest Hempfield Stingray! 

Confession, I had a weak moment!  I let Ava get one of those ice cream cookies after she did her swim lesson.  She asked.  I said yes.  She pinky promised not to tell her brother and sister.  It is like it never happened.  We should definitely move on from this.

I was caught up in the moment.

I did something today I have never done! I swam like a real swimmer.  Not like a seal, ya know with my head above water.  I did freestyle with my head underwater and rolling to the side to breathe.  Remember how I told you I stopped doing the whole facebook thing during Ava's swim practice?  Instead I paid attention to the instructor and bada bing bada boom, I am really swimming!  Oh by the way...goggles are NOT optional...they are necessary...found that out real quick!

Promise, last thing...Remember yesterday I talked about ghosts?  I decided recently that I could not get rid of these guys on my own.  I realized that I was powerless and accepted God's power to get rid of these bad boys once and for all.  I know I need to institute some tools to help me on a daily basis; one is connecting with God's word (the Bible) and the other is prayer.   I always thought I had prayer all figured out but what if I don't?  I think I need to look at some prayer strategies like the book below, really talk to God, make it a conversation not a checklist.  I don't want to get too deep into this but I realized that the peace I am seeking can only be provided by God; not people, things or
distractions. 

Mama Out!

Not Today Freddy Krueger!

Warning: It's about to get DEEP!! Today was a day of introspection!  I think it was a combination of things that made me slip into this mood.  The weather was definitely a factor, my husband's upcoming busy work week, and I actually COMPLETED a bible study from start to finish!  Once I turned the last page of the AHA bible study I thought I would feel different somehow, accomplished, transformed even.  I said to my husband, "wow that's cool, I finally finished a bible study", and that was it.  I started checking my facebook, Instagram, calendar for the day, business as usual.  I saw my husband off to work, ran my kids to the bus stop, and came home to an empty house that needed some serious attention.  I felt deflated, so I poured another cup of coffee, sat down on the couch and I  watched one of my favorite shows, Banshee (Hey, No Judgement!)...Oh yes I did.  I finally gave my house some attention and worked through my nagging emotions and this is what I came up with.  I.Have.Ghosts  (vices, past issues, regrets, mistakes, etc.)! 
These ghosts haunt me from time to time.  Some of my ghosts are the Casper variety, easily handled and dismissed.  Other ghosts are like Freddy Krueger, scary, way too many sequels, and well you get the idea.  That is when I realized something I already knew but was not living; my ghosts no longer have power over me.  I am protected by something much more powerful...God.  When I am powerless, he is all powerful.  When I feel down, he lifts me up.  When I am in dark, he shows me light.  When I am happy, he is responsible.  When I feel shame, he already forgave me.  Luke 1:37, Philippians 4:13, Matthew 7:7...These are memorizers...go to verses that remind me there is nothing we can not do without God's help.   That is how I was transformed by the bible study, I was able to work through my emotions in a healthy manner. I applied the principles and applications the study taught me; using belief, prayer, and scripture: powerful...transformation made!

The verse below was given to me 18 years ago when I was a lost young lady in the Navy, at the time you would have thought it was wasted on me.  This verse was the "mustard seed" that grew in my heart and helped me be a very imperfect follower of Jesus Christ and God.  It took me a while to get here  and I am still messing up but I am growing into my purpose for God one imperfect day at a time. 

On a lighter note, figuratively and literally, I made a fabulous cake that slashed serious fat and calories substituting many ingredients.  The cake mix was an all natural variety I had never seen before. I thought, why not,  let's give it a whirl.  I included a picture of the box below.  For the cake mix I substituted unsweetened applesauce for oil. This does make the cake more dense but it was still delicious.  I had a few super ripe bananas so I threw them in the mix to moisten the cake up a bit.  The frosting recipe was the most interesting: I cup of light cream cheese, 1/2 cup of vanilla Greek yogurt, dash of vanilla, and 4 tablespoons of stevia in the raw. 

Click Here for the Greek Yogurt Frosting Recipe

The kids ate this up...I quote, "SO GOOD"!  "Yummy".  "Can we have this for breakfast?"  I am not sure if it was really that awesome or if it was the lack of dessert choices.  Either way they EMBRACED THE CAKE!

The reason I decided to research making a cake that was tasty but lighter for our family was because earlier in the evening we had a serious meltdown at the grocery store.  I did video it and my son David gave me permission to use it.  I am glad he did because it is raw and gritty, it is a kid struggling with sugar deprivation and a healthy lifestyle makeover.  See for yourself:

I like to keep this blog light and fun, but it is also about spiritual growth and there is ALOT of that going on around here too, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't!

Mama OUT!

Muffin Tops to Peacocks

The scale is slooooooooooooooooooooooooowly moving in the down direction.  However, my jeans are fitting better and my "muffin top" is shrinking.  When this happens, I am excited to get dressed; I usually only have to try on ONE outfit and am satisfied.  I do not have to try on several until I find one that hides my indiscretions.  YAY for progress!

On the family front it was an extremely busy weekend.  We had our first weekend of games, games, games, lacrosse and soccer.  The weather was bearable but not ideal, winter coats were in order.  My girlfriend, Chanon and I even broke out comforters on the sidelines, yeah comforters.   The spring sports kick-off weekend is a sign that warmer weather is on the way.  I do look forward to that but a part of me will miss snuggling up on the couch on those cold wintry afternoons with my babies and my hubby watching movies.  Wait...smack my hand, that is NOT active at all. :)



Lacrosse action shot of David #3



It was our 11th wedding anniversary and we celebrated by taking our family to Disney on Ice!  We had ice front row seats and it was REALLY GOOD.  I remember seeing icecapades, anyone else?  From what I can remember, Sesame Street on ice, Muppets on ice, I think they meant well, buuuuut, yeah....no comparison. 


Ice Capades...Jogging any memories?


 I am not sure who liked it more me or the kids.  I think I jumped out of my seat when Minnie came out!  Do NOT get me started on Snow White...Favorite! 



Minnie...she looks so good!





Snow White...Love her!





Famity Bamity


After the LAST game on Sunday, I had to make an emergency grocery store run.  We needed dog food and some other items.  Everyone requested my bacon wrapped, asparagus and cheese stuffed chicken.  I was unsure of this dish because we were a little naughty this weekend, I won't bore you with the details but it may have included ice cream and baked goods.  So while I was at the grocery store without kids, I REPEAT without KIDS, I decided on a healthier dinner option.  I picked up some pineapple, peppers, chicken, and skewer sticks for kabobs.  I included a selfie.  Now, I was a little embarrassed to take a selfie at the grocery store so I found an empty aisle and snapped it.  I have my coffee (heavenly) and notice the pineapple behind me (next to the Ziploc bags), proof of our healthy dinner.

Loving some alone time!

The blog would NOT be complete without an AVA story.  Last week Ava and Bella got their ears pierced.  Ava is repeatedly expressing her desire for peacock earrings.  I am totally onboard with this and am happy to oblige.  She is one happy little girl.  See picture below of my idea of peacock earrings:

Mommy's idea of peacock earrings

I asked Ava, "what do these earrings look like?"  "Oh Mommy", she says.  "They are beautiful, long feathers that hang far down."  "Ohhhhhhhh", I said.  Immediately I foresee many safety issues with these earrings, not to mention, why did I not see this coming?  Ava's idea of peacock earrings below:

Ava's idea of peacock earrings

Slight misinterpretation on my part...I will deal with it another day!