Summer Time Fun

Summer break is a good time for dental and doctor appointments! 

Here is Lydia getting her six month check up.  She is always such a trooper and actually looks forward to the dentist.  She had to have x-rays this time. She said, "It only hurt the roof of my mouth a little bit, Mommy."  What a trooper!  She was given chocolate toothpaste which she said was good.  Best news - no cavities!  Her back teeth are starting to touch now, though, so it is time to learn to floss!  She loved the cool shades.  When the dental hygienist asked, "Would you like to give me the sunglasses, now?" I think Lydia almost said, "No." :)  She was pleased though with her Princess Bell toothbrush, Dora sticker, and ladybug (her favorite insect) bouncy-ball.

While we were waiting for the dentist to come and look at her teeth, she was reading a book from my kindle.  This book is one on counting/adding which was free at amazon.  The hygienist had asked Lydia if she would be starting K this year when she saw she was 5.  Lydia just giggled and shook her head.  I explained that we home school and she would be starting 1st grade.  I don't think she believed me until she heard Lydia reading to me! :)   Lydia didn't know I was taking a picture until she looked up.  She was in the middle of saying one of the words.  She asked if she could leave her sunglasses on to read the book. LOL  She cracks me up.

Hannah has started a special summer project.  She is painting the panes in a window for a decoration on Grandmom Short's wall.  She is doing a different theme for each of the six panes.  If you are wondering where she is painting, it is our unfinished portion of the basement.  She has the window resting on the washing machine.  (The cat is asleep on the pile of dirty clothes. LOL Btw, the pile is not waist high to Hannah.  It is stacked on other tubs.)


Because of drips and accidents she is only allowed to paint in here or out on the deck.  Since Daddy was smoking the ribs for dinner Hannah chose to paint down here.  The lighting is very good right there so she was pretty happy with the set up!  The first scene she painted is the branches of a dogwood tree.  She was looking at the journal you see in the picture, but she did her own version of it!

Oops, I think my camera was upside down when I took this photo!  Oh well, Grandmom, you get the idea here in this sneak preview! :)








The younger girls were looking for something to do and decided on a princess tea party!  Mary used her princess invitations to request the presence of the other princesses.  Sarah was in charge refreshments and like any smart princess, called up the best caterer she knew, Memaw Rose!  The table was set, music arranged, and guests warmly welcomed promptly at 1PM. (They had been kindly turned away at 12:30 for coming too early!)

The night ended with a movie, snack with Daddy, and a "sleep over" in the downstairs bedroom.  Oh the fun of summer time freedom!  We are all looking forward to free time tomorrow!

With All My Heart~

Biggest Loser Year Update: Week 19 or so :)

Well, I am still moving right along on my Biggest Loser year.  When I went to the gym tonight I realized I had reached another milestone!  Woohoo!


Since I started this year, I have lost 30 pounds! That is about 1.5 pounds per week.  To look at the weekly accomplishment seems like so little, but it really does add up!  I feel really good about my new eating lifestyle and I feel I can keep this going for the rest of my life!  That is what is the most wonderful feeling!


I don't seem to feel or see the weight loss as much as I think I should, but something helped me really see it.  I have a lovely blue jacket that I wore in January to an interview at school.  I was a bit self conscious about how it looked because it was pretty tight.  Early this month, one chilly day, I pulled out the coat to wear.  Not only did it fit easily to zip but I could wrap it past itself.  It actually felt a bit large.  That was thrilling.

Here are some before pictures.

Christmas 2011

This was Resurrection Sunday 2011

Here is 2012

I don't know if you can really tell or not.  I certainly have much farther to go, but I feel so much better already!  If I can keep this up I will be down 60 pounds by my wedding anniversary in October!


Thank you again, dear friends for encouraging me and praying for me.  I am still praying for you too!


With All My Heart~

Eva's Biggest Loser Year: Week 7

So last weeks goals were:

• drink 80 oz of water each day  (It was more like 50 oz)
• record food daily to stay within nutrition goals  (I did stay within my goals! )
• walk/run 1 15min. mile; bike 5 mi.; and walk 2 mi in 25 min.or less  (After walking biking the 5 mi in 15 min. and walk/running 1 mi. in 15 min. I was way too tired to walk another 2 mi!  I did walk 1/2 mi to cool down.  I was able to do this three times this week and I did the Jillian 30-day shred today for the first time.  Very pleased my ankle was able to handle the jumping exercises. ) 
• go to bed at no later than 11:30PM and get up at 6:30AM  (Half success and half fail.  Boy I am just so out of practice at getting up early.)

I had a good week.  Since avoiding bread and other starchy vegetables for the last couple of weeks, I am really enjoying not feeling hungry all the time.  There has been a delicious sugar filled dessert in our fridge since Sunday and I have not thought about it for days.  As a matter of fact, I only thought about it tonight because I made dinner (not my jurisdiction any more) since Rose was gone to a class! ;)  Now, you might be thinking, well, she doesn't cook anymore so she wouldn't be tempted.  Oh yes I would.  When I am eating bread and starchy veggies like potatoes and corn, I am constantly thinking about eating again.  I could have just eaten an hour before and start thinking about what other items I could eat.  Now, I go much longer without even thinking about food and because I feel better (not bloated and not as tired) so I am keeping this up!  The few times when I am tempted, I have immediately prayed for strength and God has answered!

I am pleased to say that I lost 1 pound which makes my total lost 10 pounds! :)
It doesn't sound like much, but after not losing for two weeks, I was just happy to see a move in the right direction.  I look forward to a greater loss next week as I continue to increase the intensity of workouts. 

I am going to keep the same goals with minor adjustments:

• drink 60 oz of water daily
• continue to record nutrition goals
• for exercise I plan to do the gym plan from before 3 times per week and also the Jillian Shred 2 times a week.  I don't think I can handle it daily right now.
• bed at 11:30PM and waking up at 7:30AM

Thanks again for praying for me dear friends and sending encouraging messages.  This accountability really does help.  Is there anyone else that wants me to be praying for you?  Any other suggestions about losing weight?  A dear friend was telling me about Dr. Stork (from the Drs. show) who suggests drinking water at certain intervals through the day.  I kind of already did that but I have tried more diligenly to follow the guidelines she mentioned and it has really helped!  Has anyone read his new book?  I am wondering if it would be worth buying.

  I also have two friends that both lost weight this week and am so glad for them!  Are you losing?  Share with me so I can celebrate with you!

With All My Heart~

Milestones

When you have children you often measure time by months, years and milestones.  As the baby of the family, Lydia is always striving to reach those goals as soon as possible.  She loves to do whatever her big sisters do, and she has the added advantage (or disadvantage) of a lack of fear.  Most of the time it is wonderful that she is so eager to try new and difficult things.  One goal she has had her sights on is to learn to swim well enough to ride the slide at our local pool.

Let me just say that I feel a bit scared to ride this slide.   It must look gigantic to her!  But is she scared away from her goal? No.  She sees her sisters do it and we have told her she can too, as soon as she swims well enough to pop back up and paddle over to our waiting arms.  She has been practicing with Memaw and has met the required distance.  So now we were just waiting for a day with Daddy!

Here is Lydia another day practicing her jumping

You know milestones must be reached with family around to help celebrate!  So today, January 5, two months before her 5th birthday, she accomplished her goal.  As we all watched, she placed her trust in our faith in her and Daddy's waiting arms!  When she popped up, we all cheered!  Her first ride was a bit scary.  I forgot to remind her to stay in a sitting position.  She got turned over on her belly coming feet first down.  She was brave though, and gave it another shot.  She went a total of 6 times.  She wanted to go more, and she will on future PE visits! :)

At bedtime, when she was giving Daddy a good night kiss, they were playing a little guessing game they sometimes play.  Daddy pretends not to recognize her and guesses who she is with funny little clues.  Lydia, anticipating where the conversation was going, decided to give Daddy some clues.  He said, "Now, who is this again?" And Lydia replied, "I am 4.  I am Lydia.  I went down the slide!"


Four hours later and she is recognizing that this event helps to identify who she is!  This was a big deal for her.  She was proud.  So were we, and very amused!  :)

So yes, I am the only member of the family who hasn't ridden the slide!  Oh wait, neither has Memaw!  Stay posted.  Maybe we will be as brave as Lydia one day.

With All My Heart~

Hannah's 12th Birthday

On the girls' birthdays we try to do everything (within reason) that the person would like to do.  First of all, Hannah wanted to have the day off from school.  No problem since I have a lot of pull with her teacher and principal! LOL 

We started the morning with getting up late and having biscuits and gravy with hot chocolate for breakfast. (missed getting a picture)  Then Hannah requested family worship this morning.  We sang two of her favorite hymns before reading scripture and praying.  Now that is a great way to start a birthday!  As I recall, there was a lot of praying going on the day she was born! :)



Sarah and Hannah will be sharing their birthday party, as usual, and they wanted to make and decorate their own cake.  So Wednesday night they made the cake and this morning they decorated it.



Hannah cracking the eggs.

<> 

Sarah greasing the pan.





Hannah, Sarah, and Mary getting the candy ready.

Icing is on!



Best Friends!  I always tease that they are as close as I will get to having twins.  I am so thankful that all my girls love each other, but these two are definitely close in many ways.   It is hard to see, but they have m&m's around the edges and those are candycane hershey kisses and sprinkles on top.

  



Here is Hannah with the traditional Happy Birthday banner hung across her door.  She also rummaged through the birthday box and found one last balloon. 

*******************************************

After lunch, we went to Granddad and Grandmom Short's house for the birthday party! 

We have celebrated most of their birthdays with their cousin, Ariana.  She always makes special cards and finds the perfect gift! 

Ariana knew Hannah would love this island-themed calendar!

I have a feeling Sarah will be painting this pretty rose suncatcher tomorrow in her free time!

Two happy birthday girls!

They were so please with many thoughtful gifts and some birthday money as well.  I know Hannah is saving up for her own camera.  Sarah is still exploring her options. :)

The rest of the day was spent playing the Wii and enjoying time spent with family.  The adults of course played Mexican train! ;) Here is a picture of all of us squeezed into the kitchen!  It was actually nice and cozy.  :)

With All My Heart~



Present Participles

This precious girl has been the cause of a bit of anxiety. In this case it has been for her lack of language. She has been a bit on the slow side for pronouncing words. For the last year or so she has mostly spoken in one syllable words and usually she left off the initial consonant sound. For example: cup was spoken as "up"; Hannah was Ana and Sarah was Ara.

At her doctor's visit in September I was reassured of my own opinion that she was not really impeded but just slow in actually speaking. It certainly wasn't her hearing, and it wasn't that she couldn't speak anything. Some words were clear; "No" was a disctinctly clear word as was Mama and Dada. Around July she did begin to string together two or three syllables to make a sentence, though they were still hard to understand. Ex: ink peas mama aka Drink please Mommy. This was also usually accompanied by the sign for eating, just in case fuzzy brained mommy wasn't correct in interpretation.

When our Florida grandparents came up recently, we could see a big improvement in just the week they were here. Lydia was definitely saying more of the initial consonants and more multi-syllable words were understood.

Today she did a new skill! She spoke in the present participle form.

Mommy: "Lydia, are you finished?

Lydia: "No, I not done. I am poopooing."

Okay, so it seems a disgusting example, but it is the first that I heard from her that I recall. Also, other writers, including reporters at Reuter's have used this term with a different conotation. (I know because I googled it to check the spelling! LOL)

Seriously, I am so thankful and excited that she is blossoming in her language skills. We pray for many things for our children and sometimes later is seems silly, but I truly am thankful for each answered prayer, no matter how small.

In Him, Eva

Picture taken by Mary when we were at dinner in Macado's.