Right Now

Outside my window... it is sunny, but chilly.

I am thinking... we should be doing spelling, but I would love to get his post done first.

I am thankful for... the fact it is Thursday, which means tomorrow is the start of another three day weekend with my love.

From the kitchen... my crock pot is my friend. Tonight it's making split pea soup for us. I believe it is the third time it has been used this week.

I am wearing... my new favorite pants. Black cotton yoga pants with a built in skirt and wide legs. I could seriously live in these pants.

I am creating... nothing at the moment. I'm between knitting projects (recently finished a beautiful shawl). I have had the urge to scrapbook lately. Perhaps that will happen soon??

I am going... to be taking the youngsters to dance class in a couple short hours.

I am reading... just finished The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. A fun and fast read.

I am hoping... the events in front of us this weekend go smoothly. (Perhaps more information on this in an upcoming post?)

I am hearing... Zachary practice piano. Both he and Emma started lessons last month with our favorite science/piano teacher. They both seem to be enjoying it, and I love to hear practice going on in the house.

Around the house... cars, Legos, books, dolls, school, and lots of dust... need I say more?

One of my favorite things... time spent with my hubby on Wednesday nights at a new class we are taking.

A few plans for the rest of the week... taking things one day at a time, as much as I can. Butler taxes on Friday, desert property on Saturday, and visiting the "Mouse" on Sunday. Time with my family.

This Kid

Need I say more?

Camping, Riding, Shooting... Oh my!

We rung in the New Year this year at Joshua Tree Dry Lake. It was the first time we had been to this campground, but I doubt it will be the last. Any place our family can camp with a gorgeous view, where we can let the kids ride their quads, where we can have dark skies for telescoping, where we can take the van out in 4-wheel drive, AND where we can shoot.... well let's just say we will be going back.

Here are a few highlights from the trip...

Seems both the boys enjoy riding!

Playing with the glider on the dry lake.

Looking for meteorites.

The sky was beautiful! Cold, but beautiful.

One tired boy, one happy mama.

Lukey getting his first shooting lesson with sissy's bb gun.

Zachary using his new pellet gun.

Girls RULE!

Fun for the whole family :)

Ecosystems

My kids are absolutely loving their astronomy class this year, and so am I. Science is one of the subjects that seems to get left behind when our days are full. Sad, but true. I will get the reading done, but not always all the experiments that go along with the reading that makes science so fun (and memorable). So the class has been a lifesaver for this mama. Lectures, quizzes, fun labs, fun with friends, and an excellent teacher who loves to show the Lord in science. Win Win WIN!!

While the kids were learning about Mars they had to create an ecosystem for people to live on the planet. They could use whatever medium they wanted and they were to bring it to share with the class. We had a lot of fun (and learning going on too) talking about what would be needed to survive on another planet. This is what the kids came up with:

Emma decided to draw her ecosystem. It includes a large area of closets for clothes, a farm to raise animals for food, trees for oxygen, an apartment building to live in, a wash room for laundry, a huge water tank and a rocket that could go back to earth for more water. Oh, and two dance rooms; one for ballet and one for tap :).

Zachary decided to use Legos for his ecosystem.

He had a building to live in, lots of trees for oxygen, a recycling waterfall and stream for water and recreation, and a garden to grow food.

He let me help with the garden. I had fun.

We also recently wrapped up a study of France. Zachary was elated when I told him he was done with school for the day expect for one thing. I wanted him to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower to his room and create it out of Legos :).

Yes, when Legos are involved with school, it's a good day.

A New Sport

Danny's interest in paddle boarding has been increasing lately. His interest really is in prone paddle boarding, which is laying down on your stomach and using your hands/arms to paddle. He purchased a board on Craigslist and used it a couple times, but it really wasn't the right board for him. So he went back to Craigslist and found a used board from a guy named Mike in Carlsbad. To make a long story short, Mike said he would sell it to Dan if Dan signed up for a race in January in Mission Bay. Seems he really loves the sport and wants to make sure that there are enough people to keep the racing going. Danny agreed and brought another huge 'board' home.

He had not found a lot of time to practice, but to my surprise decided he was going to stick to his commitment and register for the race. It was last week, and he did great!! It was a beautiful day, and it was so much fun to go out as a family and root him on. Nana joined us too. He did great considering his lack of preparation. He finished the race with a smile, and we were so proud of him. Mike, the guy that sold the board to him, had finished much earlier, but went back to cheer Dan on to finish the race. 4.75 miles! Way to go Danny!!!

This Saturday Dan is doing his second race, and we are looking forward to cheering him on again.

Truly a gorgeous day on Mission Bay

This is Dan (on the left) and Mike paddling out to the starting line.

Danny crossing the finish line and checking in at the pontoon boat. He did it!!

Celebrating our Daddy and his 1st race!

Exciting Side Note: My mom has been bitten by love of stand-up paddle boarding after trying it with my sister in St. Thomas. She rented them for us to use at Lake Havasu last summer, which was a blast. Last week she bought her own and took it right out to the lagoon in Carlsbad to get it wet. My dad got a kayak too so they will soon be grazing through the water together :-). LOVE IT!!

Getting Slim and Trim

The Standard Process cleanse is officially over, and all in all I would have to say it was a success. We completed the 21 day cleanse and decided to go back and repeat the first 7 days. We are both feeling great, and have both lost weight. Dan has lost about 25 pounds, and I have lost a little over 15. It's a great start, and done in a healthy way. We hope to continue eating healthier, but I can honestly say I can't wait to have a slice of pizza, the cheesier the better!!!

On the subject of getting slim and trim, we have decided to take it one step further and slim down our expenses. It is time to get in control of our eating AND our money. We decided to look into Dave Ramsey, so I checked out an audio book from the library and Danny and I really liked what he had to say. I won't get all preachy here, but after a few days I was moved to check out Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University on-line and see what the classes where about. Lo and behold there was a introduction to the class at our local church the next morning AND there was childcare. (ahem... okay God, we're listening) So we went, we loved it, and we bought the t-shirt (meaning we are now signed up for the 13-week class). Our first class was last night and it was great. This is not going to be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.

By the way, while we are going to the class the kids get to go to Adventure Club, which is a weekly Bible Study that they have attended in the past and loved. Unfortunately our youngest has never gotten through a Church service in the nursery without someone having to come get us. He cries and screams and just wont be consoled. Surprisingly the first night he got through the whole class, he did a craft, played on the playground, he went to music and the teacher said he loved it! He was even sitting at the table with the other kids praying when we picked him up. And last night when we picked him up it was again a success, he was excited to show us the Valentines he made in class with his Bible verse on it. All thanks goes directly to God for this!!! His work is being shown in this place and so, as a family, we have decided to pursue the Grove as our families church.

So here we go on another adventure together. I'm so blessed to walk it with my hand in my husbands and Christ in my heart (and all three of my kiddos HAPPY at church!).

Standard Process Day 20

Okay, so much for blogging our cleanse. I did take notes throughout the past few weeks, but I have not been sharing them here. Blogging kind of takes back seat to taking care of my family, schooling, preparing food, and just the general upkeep of life.

Saying all that, things have gone very well. I thought the beginning of the cleanse would have been much harder. I think my body was asking for it. I really didn't crave foods, I didn't have the headaches I had heard about, and my emotions seemed to just get better and better as the days went by. Yes, I was tired. What homeschooling mama of three isn't. But things where just easier to deal with. I didn't seem to have the highs and lows thorough the day.

Probably the most difficult thing on the cleanse was making sure there was foods to eat ready to go. I did great getting up with Danny and getting him out the door to work the first week. After that I slacked off and just tried to have food in the refrigerator for him to grab and take. I found it very simple to make a shake for breakfast every morning. My kids eat a ton in the morning, and by the time they are full and ready for the day it's nice to be able to just whip up a shake for myself that satisfies me and is good for me too. We balanced out the fruit in the shakes with lots of carrot juice and frozen spinach. Neither are detectable in the shakes. I also would have a lentil dish in the refrigerator at all times to simply heat up and eat. I made a thick lentil stew with a ton of vegetables. I also made a curried lentil dish that was a nice change. I made huge amounts of these so they would last several days. We could pull out a half a cup or so and have something warm and satisfying right away.

Something else that helped was flavor. Since we were limited on what we could add to food I used lots of fresh herbs: thyme, oregano, basil, along with tons of garlic and good old sea salt and cracked pepper.

As far as weight results, Dan has lost about 21 pounds. He lost pretty steady the whole three weeks. I have lost about 12 pounds. I seemed to quit loosing last week after trying to eat even less. I started thinking that my body may have been going into some sort of starvation mode and holding onto my weight. Once I started eating more again, the weight started coming back off.

We did have a cheat day. We made it through Dan's birthday with no problem, but going to Disneyland pushed us over the top. We had planned a fancy sit down meal with our cousins that was price fixed, meaning no matter what we'd ordered it would cost the same. Danny and I broke down and both had tri tip and mashed potatoes. I also had two glasses of wine and he had a long island ice tea. See, when we cheat, we cheat! Fortunately it was easy to get right back on the wagon.

So tomorrow is the last day of the official cleanse. I am hoping we stick to some of these new ways of eating. I will be adding back in meats and cheeses as well as carbs, but I think we can make wiser choices and continue portion control. I would like to continue the shakes for breakfast and maybe lunch too. It would be nice if I could continue to lose some more weight.

All in all, this was a great experience and I will do it again in the future.