Sunday, May 22, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Girls afternoon
I love the time I get to spend with just Starla & me. It's so nice to have that time together, doing girly things. :)
Monday we went to Inspirations Tea House in Edmond. Our friend Lori was supposed to meet us for lunch, but her daughter got sick that morning so it was just us.
I love the tea house, from it's decorations to it's food, everything is so wonderful.
When you walk in, there's this giant hat tree full of old victorian hats, that they welcome you to wear during your visit. Starla loves this. She always picks out hats for us. :)
mmmmm, my favorite part of going there! Blueberry lemon scones with lemon curd. YUM! You get a complimentary one just for showing up. And you can buy them by the dozen and take them home!
starla loves getting the princess tea party tray, but she mostly just eats the sweet stuff, lol. One day I want to do the tea party tray that requires a 24 hour reservation, it's a larger version of this for adults. :)
I got the pear & walnut salad...it was yummy! I always get the "trio", you get your choice of entree, with either a side salad, soup or fruit, and your choice of tea and dessert. It comes with everything! I had French creme brulee tea this time. Starla had vanilla.
we shared my dessert.....
It was so much fun!
Monday we went to Inspirations Tea House in Edmond. Our friend Lori was supposed to meet us for lunch, but her daughter got sick that morning so it was just us.
I love the tea house, from it's decorations to it's food, everything is so wonderful.
When you walk in, there's this giant hat tree full of old victorian hats, that they welcome you to wear during your visit. Starla loves this. She always picks out hats for us. :)
mmmmm, my favorite part of going there! Blueberry lemon scones with lemon curd. YUM! You get a complimentary one just for showing up. And you can buy them by the dozen and take them home!
starla loves getting the princess tea party tray, but she mostly just eats the sweet stuff, lol. One day I want to do the tea party tray that requires a 24 hour reservation, it's a larger version of this for adults. :)
I got the pear & walnut salad...it was yummy! I always get the "trio", you get your choice of entree, with either a side salad, soup or fruit, and your choice of tea and dessert. It comes with everything! I had French creme brulee tea this time. Starla had vanilla.
we shared my dessert.....
It was so much fun!
Boys Night out
Last week, Alan & the boys went out to bricktown during a Thunder game. They went to Roosters for some fried chiken.....
then down to "thunder alley" where they have a ton of games & activities set up for people during the game. Who needs tickets when there's so much fun stuff going on outside?!
they have giant screens set up outside to watch the game.....
the boys all 3 had a blast, and there are plans in action to go back this weekend if Thunder wins and is playing at home this sunday. :)
What a fun daddy & boy night!
then down to "thunder alley" where they have a ton of games & activities set up for people during the game. Who needs tickets when there's so much fun stuff going on outside?!
they have giant screens set up outside to watch the game.....
the boys all 3 had a blast, and there are plans in action to go back this weekend if Thunder wins and is playing at home this sunday. :)
What a fun daddy & boy night!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Loser week 12
It was a tough week! I only lost .6 lbs, but I suppose a loss is a loss. I measured for the month as well and have lost another 8.5 inches. so little by litte, inch by inch. At least I didn't gain.
I worked out almost 6 hours this week too, I was working hard!! But I ate more than I needed, so it kinda cancelled it all out, lol. I am trying to change up my cardio too, I always do the elliptical, but I am trying to work on the stair stepper. I don't know why I can work on the elliptical for 45 mins, huffing & puffing and sweating, but I can do it fast and keep it up, but the stair stepper, like minutes after I step on it, I am dying and just feel like I can't keep it up, hy head starts pounding and I just can't do it!! It annoys me. So I am challenging myself to work up to staying on it 20 mins. We shall see how long that takes, lol. I started with 5, worked up to 7 and am now at 10 minutes, but it is hard.
I am also starting the couch to 5K program with my momma friends this week, which trains you, from being a couch potato to running 5k in like 3 months or something like that. I hate running, but I am going to give it a try. I am just uncoordinated, and am just really uncomfortable when running, but I figure thats a good reason to challenge myself to do it. It starts out really slow, so I figure it won't be that hard to begin with, it's sticking with it that might get tricky. :)
But you have to change up your excercise every few weeks in order to keep it being effective. once your body gets accustomed to something, it doesn't work as hard any longer. So I gotta find way to change it up and work differently. Which is why I love getting different DVD's from the library, from yoga to pilates to different dance and cardio workouts, it keeps it fresh and fun.
This week on monday I pigged out at the all you can eat buffet at the Cowboy Museum & Hall of fame for our Teacher appreciation day, it was supper yummy. :) Then on tuesday, I indulged in one of my co-workers birthday cakes, then wed. was staff breakfast ( I actually cooked 3 different kind of waffles for everyone; buttermilk, chocolate & strawberry) but was good and didn't eat any of it, but I did eat the mexican staff lunch. After that the rest of the week I was pretty good, but I'm sure it was just getting off what damage I had done all week, and then losing just the .6 lbs. But since I am looking at this as a lifestyle, and not just a diet, I want to learn how to be able to partake in the fun events of life thatg include foods that may not be healthy, and still maintain a healthy lifestyle. So i am glad to know that at least I could do all of that and still have a loss, even as little as it is. better than a gain.
This week won't be much better. Starla & I had lunch out today (there will be a post about that later when i get a chance!), and then Wed. we are taking my daddy out for all you can eat crab legs (which I plan on eating all I can, since we don't get crab legs very often!) and the cake I am preparing for him is crazy fattening, and I want a peice! But then I will have thur-mon to try to get it back on track and still have some kind of loss, even if it is small. I am going to try really hard.
This is my 12 week, or 3 month mark, and I really wanted to be at the 20lbs lost goal, but oh well, I am just under 2 lbs away from it, so hopefully I will get there soon.
Alan has started doing his P90X program, and getting the boys involved with it as well. They enjoy working out with daddy. He is doing really well on his program, and has quit smoking and is getting in shape. He's taking vitamins and drinking protein shakes and just doing a wonderful job at it! We are all going to get healthy! The boys are slowly (and painfully sometimes) learning how to eat healthy and working out. Sometimes they complain quite loudly, and sometimes they seem to enjoy it. But as a family we are taking action and trying to be healthier and have an active lifestyle. I am proud of us! And I am proud of Alan for quitting smoking! Yeah for him!! :)
here's to another week!
I worked out almost 6 hours this week too, I was working hard!! But I ate more than I needed, so it kinda cancelled it all out, lol. I am trying to change up my cardio too, I always do the elliptical, but I am trying to work on the stair stepper. I don't know why I can work on the elliptical for 45 mins, huffing & puffing and sweating, but I can do it fast and keep it up, but the stair stepper, like minutes after I step on it, I am dying and just feel like I can't keep it up, hy head starts pounding and I just can't do it!! It annoys me. So I am challenging myself to work up to staying on it 20 mins. We shall see how long that takes, lol. I started with 5, worked up to 7 and am now at 10 minutes, but it is hard.
I am also starting the couch to 5K program with my momma friends this week, which trains you, from being a couch potato to running 5k in like 3 months or something like that. I hate running, but I am going to give it a try. I am just uncoordinated, and am just really uncomfortable when running, but I figure thats a good reason to challenge myself to do it. It starts out really slow, so I figure it won't be that hard to begin with, it's sticking with it that might get tricky. :)
But you have to change up your excercise every few weeks in order to keep it being effective. once your body gets accustomed to something, it doesn't work as hard any longer. So I gotta find way to change it up and work differently. Which is why I love getting different DVD's from the library, from yoga to pilates to different dance and cardio workouts, it keeps it fresh and fun.
This week on monday I pigged out at the all you can eat buffet at the Cowboy Museum & Hall of fame for our Teacher appreciation day, it was supper yummy. :) Then on tuesday, I indulged in one of my co-workers birthday cakes, then wed. was staff breakfast ( I actually cooked 3 different kind of waffles for everyone; buttermilk, chocolate & strawberry) but was good and didn't eat any of it, but I did eat the mexican staff lunch. After that the rest of the week I was pretty good, but I'm sure it was just getting off what damage I had done all week, and then losing just the .6 lbs. But since I am looking at this as a lifestyle, and not just a diet, I want to learn how to be able to partake in the fun events of life thatg include foods that may not be healthy, and still maintain a healthy lifestyle. So i am glad to know that at least I could do all of that and still have a loss, even as little as it is. better than a gain.
This week won't be much better. Starla & I had lunch out today (there will be a post about that later when i get a chance!), and then Wed. we are taking my daddy out for all you can eat crab legs (which I plan on eating all I can, since we don't get crab legs very often!) and the cake I am preparing for him is crazy fattening, and I want a peice! But then I will have thur-mon to try to get it back on track and still have some kind of loss, even if it is small. I am going to try really hard.
This is my 12 week, or 3 month mark, and I really wanted to be at the 20lbs lost goal, but oh well, I am just under 2 lbs away from it, so hopefully I will get there soon.
Alan has started doing his P90X program, and getting the boys involved with it as well. They enjoy working out with daddy. He is doing really well on his program, and has quit smoking and is getting in shape. He's taking vitamins and drinking protein shakes and just doing a wonderful job at it! We are all going to get healthy! The boys are slowly (and painfully sometimes) learning how to eat healthy and working out. Sometimes they complain quite loudly, and sometimes they seem to enjoy it. But as a family we are taking action and trying to be healthier and have an active lifestyle. I am proud of us! And I am proud of Alan for quitting smoking! Yeah for him!! :)
here's to another week!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Pillsbury Bake off
So I entered 12 recipes into the bake-off this year:
Sweet corn cakes with corny salsa
Cheddar garlic beer biscuits
Bourbon pecan pumpkin pie inside out cake (a pumpkin pie inside of a cake!)
cheddar chicken sweetpotato stuffed crescent rolls
Lemon Berry shortcake
chocolate banana bread pudding
Peanut butter banana brownie trifle
Olive stuffed french bread
Ham pineapple & cheese stuffed french bread
Lemon blueberry pie inside out cake
Goat cheese & strawberry crustini
and for some reason at this moment I can't remember the last one,lol. I'll have to look it up in my pillsubry account sometime.
Anyways. 90 of them are picked to participate in the bake-off next year by a panel of judges, then there are 20 recipes picked to participate in an online voting process, with 10 of them making it to the bake-off. if you are one of these 20, the voting starts in mid-may, so we should know very soon. If you are one of the 90 others, you get to find out in September. Then the bake-off is next May in Florida. There is the grand prize winner of one million dollars ($50,000 a year for 20 years) and then various other prizes for the runners up.
Maybe I could win something! That would be lots of fun! :)
Sweet corn cakes with corny salsa
Cheddar garlic beer biscuits
Bourbon pecan pumpkin pie inside out cake (a pumpkin pie inside of a cake!)
cheddar chicken sweetpotato stuffed crescent rolls
Lemon Berry shortcake
chocolate banana bread pudding
Peanut butter banana brownie trifle
Olive stuffed french bread
Ham pineapple & cheese stuffed french bread
Lemon blueberry pie inside out cake
Goat cheese & strawberry crustini
and for some reason at this moment I can't remember the last one,lol. I'll have to look it up in my pillsubry account sometime.
Anyways. 90 of them are picked to participate in the bake-off next year by a panel of judges, then there are 20 recipes picked to participate in an online voting process, with 10 of them making it to the bake-off. if you are one of these 20, the voting starts in mid-may, so we should know very soon. If you are one of the 90 others, you get to find out in September. Then the bake-off is next May in Florida. There is the grand prize winner of one million dollars ($50,000 a year for 20 years) and then various other prizes for the runners up.
Maybe I could win something! That would be lots of fun! :)
Monday, May 2, 2011
Homeschooling & other options
So I went to the Oklahoma Christian Homeschool Conference last week. They had a grant that allowed people who had never been to the conference, to go for free. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there, it was a huge deal. LOTS of long hair and long skirt families, lol, of all the places I go in life, this was one place that I stood out like a sore thumb the most. :) But that's ok, I never mind being the odd one (I'm sure this is where roman gets it....) :)
They had 5 different workshops every hour, so it was hard picking and choosing which ones to go to. Thankfully I have a friend that also went, that purchased them all on MP3's and has offered to give me copies of them all so that I can listen to all the ones I missed, and so alan can listen to them as well. Her & her husband were so concerned with what curriculum to purchase, that they didn't want to spend the conference in workshops, instead they spent the entire 2 days out on the vendor floor, sampling the dozens and dozens of curriculum vendors there so they could make a decision.
So Tuesday I went to "What is Education?", "Choosing Curriculum" & "Scheduling & Planning" workshops, which were very informative and helpful. It helps put homeschooling into perspective and to see what that could look like. One thing I find fascinating and an exciting option, is that you can plan the day around your own schedule, and the entire school year however you want. You get to choose, just like public schools do, to go on a daily or hourly count. You must have 180 days of school, or 1,080 hours. You can pick wether you want to go by hours or days. So I would do days, that makes it much simpler. So then you have your 180 days, you can now take a traditional 5 day a week for 36 weeks, broken up any which way you like. Or you can do 45 weeks of 4 days a week, or 3 months on and one month off all year, or whatever works for you!!I love that idea.
I had already learned this in my teaching classes, but studies show that during an hour at public school, only approx 25 mins is used for instruction/learning time. The rest is passing out papers, collecting papers, sharpening pencils, grading, bathrooms breaks, etc. So with homeschool, even though traditional school, may be 6 hours a day, you really don't have to teach that much with homeschool to still get the same amount of learning in.
And I LOVE the idea of planning out what they learn. I would not buy a curriculum, they are expensive and not too different from public schools textbooks and worksheets. Some are better than others, but it's the same concept. I know I can lesson plan and create the cirriculum with just supplemental stuff, like a math book and free worksheets from online. (There are MASSIVE amounts of free lesson plans and worksheets available for educators onlne, or anyone who wants to use them really). I love that I could take the kids interests and create units on them. In college we were taught that the best way for kids to learn was to create fun, interactive and exciting themed units for them, that would include all of the subjects. Like a medieval unit, or a space unit, or a greek mythology unit. I would love to do that for the boys, take things that they are interested in and teach all the subject related to that unit. And I know how to look up the Oklahoma PASS skills (what each child needs to know at each level) which is how teachers create lesson plans, with the objectives of what that grade needs to know thaat year, and I can make sure the boys are on track for their grade level, and possibly beyond, because I am sure they are capapble of doing that. I love that we could have hands on projects, building and problem solving and creating. I love that every day we could have a bible lesson, and I could make sure they know God's word and have the time to really dig in and study it at their own level. I love that we could do character development, and values, and community projects that would teach them how to be productive citizen and a good person. I love that I could spend all this time investing into my children and their lives and that they could actually learn much more than they are in public school. It excites me.
so Wed. I went to the "Who's walking the wall? How to prepare Godly children for an ungodly world." and "Raise them up, don't crush them down." which were amazing and wonderful parenting workshops that just made me feel even more empowered and supported to be a good parent and do what's right for my children. They really had nothing to do with homeschooling, it was all just about how to prepare your kids for the world, and how to nurture them.
There were a ton more great workshops, I am looking forward to getting the others from my friend and listening to them.
I know homeschool wouldn't be easy, or free of problems. But I really think it is the best choise available at the moment. The boys are both struggling right now in school, not because they aren't smart, but because they are bored and just don't care. i want to challenge them, and make them care about what they are learning. I want to see them thrive. I want to spend more time with them and help make sure they know how to make good choices. I want to raise my children in the way I see fit, not let the public schools raise them, or the world raise them. I really want to do it.
But just in case we decide it's not going to work, Starla has been enrolled into pre-k at Traub, just to make sure she has a spot since it is first come first serve. Our options for next year are; she can go to traub with roman, either from 9a-11:45pm, or from 1p-3:45p and I can get a tutoring job those 2 1/2 hours a day. Or she can go to smallworld again and stay there for 3 days a week and I can keep working there, or we can homeschool and I won't work. Alan & I haven't worked through it all yet ad decided what we are going to do, but hopefully we will figure it out soon.
They had 5 different workshops every hour, so it was hard picking and choosing which ones to go to. Thankfully I have a friend that also went, that purchased them all on MP3's and has offered to give me copies of them all so that I can listen to all the ones I missed, and so alan can listen to them as well. Her & her husband were so concerned with what curriculum to purchase, that they didn't want to spend the conference in workshops, instead they spent the entire 2 days out on the vendor floor, sampling the dozens and dozens of curriculum vendors there so they could make a decision.
So Tuesday I went to "What is Education?", "Choosing Curriculum" & "Scheduling & Planning" workshops, which were very informative and helpful. It helps put homeschooling into perspective and to see what that could look like. One thing I find fascinating and an exciting option, is that you can plan the day around your own schedule, and the entire school year however you want. You get to choose, just like public schools do, to go on a daily or hourly count. You must have 180 days of school, or 1,080 hours. You can pick wether you want to go by hours or days. So I would do days, that makes it much simpler. So then you have your 180 days, you can now take a traditional 5 day a week for 36 weeks, broken up any which way you like. Or you can do 45 weeks of 4 days a week, or 3 months on and one month off all year, or whatever works for you!!I love that idea.
I had already learned this in my teaching classes, but studies show that during an hour at public school, only approx 25 mins is used for instruction/learning time. The rest is passing out papers, collecting papers, sharpening pencils, grading, bathrooms breaks, etc. So with homeschool, even though traditional school, may be 6 hours a day, you really don't have to teach that much with homeschool to still get the same amount of learning in.
And I LOVE the idea of planning out what they learn. I would not buy a curriculum, they are expensive and not too different from public schools textbooks and worksheets. Some are better than others, but it's the same concept. I know I can lesson plan and create the cirriculum with just supplemental stuff, like a math book and free worksheets from online. (There are MASSIVE amounts of free lesson plans and worksheets available for educators onlne, or anyone who wants to use them really). I love that I could take the kids interests and create units on them. In college we were taught that the best way for kids to learn was to create fun, interactive and exciting themed units for them, that would include all of the subjects. Like a medieval unit, or a space unit, or a greek mythology unit. I would love to do that for the boys, take things that they are interested in and teach all the subject related to that unit. And I know how to look up the Oklahoma PASS skills (what each child needs to know at each level) which is how teachers create lesson plans, with the objectives of what that grade needs to know thaat year, and I can make sure the boys are on track for their grade level, and possibly beyond, because I am sure they are capapble of doing that. I love that we could have hands on projects, building and problem solving and creating. I love that every day we could have a bible lesson, and I could make sure they know God's word and have the time to really dig in and study it at their own level. I love that we could do character development, and values, and community projects that would teach them how to be productive citizen and a good person. I love that I could spend all this time investing into my children and their lives and that they could actually learn much more than they are in public school. It excites me.
so Wed. I went to the "Who's walking the wall? How to prepare Godly children for an ungodly world." and "Raise them up, don't crush them down." which were amazing and wonderful parenting workshops that just made me feel even more empowered and supported to be a good parent and do what's right for my children. They really had nothing to do with homeschooling, it was all just about how to prepare your kids for the world, and how to nurture them.
There were a ton more great workshops, I am looking forward to getting the others from my friend and listening to them.
I know homeschool wouldn't be easy, or free of problems. But I really think it is the best choise available at the moment. The boys are both struggling right now in school, not because they aren't smart, but because they are bored and just don't care. i want to challenge them, and make them care about what they are learning. I want to see them thrive. I want to spend more time with them and help make sure they know how to make good choices. I want to raise my children in the way I see fit, not let the public schools raise them, or the world raise them. I really want to do it.
But just in case we decide it's not going to work, Starla has been enrolled into pre-k at Traub, just to make sure she has a spot since it is first come first serve. Our options for next year are; she can go to traub with roman, either from 9a-11:45pm, or from 1p-3:45p and I can get a tutoring job those 2 1/2 hours a day. Or she can go to smallworld again and stay there for 3 days a week and I can keep working there, or we can homeschool and I won't work. Alan & I haven't worked through it all yet ad decided what we are going to do, but hopefully we will figure it out soon.
Loser week 11
11 weeks. Crazy how time flies I tell ya!
So weigh in day, I lost 3.4 lbs this week!! Woo hoo! I had one really bad splurge day, but I managed to do so well on all the rest of the days, that it didn't even make much of an impact overall.
I did 295 mins of excercise over 6 days which is 4.92 hours. This is what it looks like:
Monday: 30 minutes Biggest Loser bootcamp dvd
Tuesday: 40 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of stretching, lunges & squats
Wednesday: 60 minutes of walking (broken up into a 30 min walk, a 20 min walk & a 10 min walk throughout the day)
Thursday: 30 min walking with hand weights, 45 mins Biggest Loser bootcamp dvd
Friday: 20 minutes Jillian Michaels yoga, 10 mins walking
Saturday: 30 mins elliptical machine, 20 mins strength training for legs (at the gym)
Sunday: day of rest
Every little bit helps! It takes time, effort and planning to fit in excercise, but it is so worth it in the long run. I actually enjoy it.
I also learned that a way to avoid the dreaded dieters plateau, is to switch up your caloric intake from day to day. Let's say you've figured out what your daily calories should be (one way the experts suggest is to take your weight times 7, and that it how many calories you need to lose weight), then you figure out what that looks like for the week. So I am shooting for a 1500 daily goal, which is 10,500 for the week. Then you can break that up differently each day, like 1200 one day, 1700 the next, 1400 the next, etc, etc until you have your goal. Which means you get days where you get to "splurge" a bit more than normal but still stay within your goal. And your metabolism can't get adjusted to a regular number, which keeps it up and active, and not slowing down which is what causes a dieters plateau. After several weeks on a daiet, your body has adjusted the metabolism to the daily calories and you stop losing weight for a week or so, but this is how you can attempt to beat that!
I am at 17.6 lbs lost in 11 weeks. I am 2.4 lbs away from 20 lbs lost. So I am going to try really hard to lose that this week!
So weigh in day, I lost 3.4 lbs this week!! Woo hoo! I had one really bad splurge day, but I managed to do so well on all the rest of the days, that it didn't even make much of an impact overall.
I did 295 mins of excercise over 6 days which is 4.92 hours. This is what it looks like:
Monday: 30 minutes Biggest Loser bootcamp dvd
Tuesday: 40 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of stretching, lunges & squats
Wednesday: 60 minutes of walking (broken up into a 30 min walk, a 20 min walk & a 10 min walk throughout the day)
Thursday: 30 min walking with hand weights, 45 mins Biggest Loser bootcamp dvd
Friday: 20 minutes Jillian Michaels yoga, 10 mins walking
Saturday: 30 mins elliptical machine, 20 mins strength training for legs (at the gym)
Sunday: day of rest
Every little bit helps! It takes time, effort and planning to fit in excercise, but it is so worth it in the long run. I actually enjoy it.
I also learned that a way to avoid the dreaded dieters plateau, is to switch up your caloric intake from day to day. Let's say you've figured out what your daily calories should be (one way the experts suggest is to take your weight times 7, and that it how many calories you need to lose weight), then you figure out what that looks like for the week. So I am shooting for a 1500 daily goal, which is 10,500 for the week. Then you can break that up differently each day, like 1200 one day, 1700 the next, 1400 the next, etc, etc until you have your goal. Which means you get days where you get to "splurge" a bit more than normal but still stay within your goal. And your metabolism can't get adjusted to a regular number, which keeps it up and active, and not slowing down which is what causes a dieters plateau. After several weeks on a daiet, your body has adjusted the metabolism to the daily calories and you stop losing weight for a week or so, but this is how you can attempt to beat that!
I am at 17.6 lbs lost in 11 weeks. I am 2.4 lbs away from 20 lbs lost. So I am going to try really hard to lose that this week!
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