Youth Camping Trip

Matt and I have started working with the youth at church. I lead the high school girl small group and Matt leads the middle school boys. We have been LOVING it. I really have a heart for this age and still feel like I am "young" enough to connect with them in a different way than their parents. (I think I may have like 1-2 more cool years, then I am just going to be OLD:(

We went with the youth group to Pisgah National Forest, NC. We camped out and it was 23 degrees the first nigh. I am not a seasoned camper and I thought I was going to surely freeze to death. I ended up getting in my car at 5 am and turned on the heat for like 2 hours. I know, I am pitiful. We went on a 8 mile hike on Saturday and just had a great time.

While we were FREEZING the girls were living it up in this cabin about 20 miles away with my parents. They had a blast exploring nature and eating whatever the wanted.

Family photo session

I have been doing a few photo shoots here and there, trying to keep my very amature photography skills from getting too rusty...

I loved how these two turned out:)

Camping with daddy...

A while ago Matt treated the girls with a special camping trip....to the BACKYARD. I know, we are wild and crazy. It was kinda spur of the moment and the girls that it was awesome. I made them smores and all:) Matt said the girls slept great and snuggled with him all night. I am not sure he slept all that well;) Love a daddy that wants to make great memories with our girls!

Makeover Monday (on Tues) 11-14-11

I had a pretty good week last week! I counted most my calories and ended up running 17 miles last week! That is my most weekly miles to date. However, my huge jump in weekly mileage has done something to my left knee. It started throbbing during my run on Friday and is still not feeling quite right. I have not run since Friday and it is making me super grumpy. (Super crazy to me that I am grumpy that I can NOT run:) It is quite comical to see how my attitude has changed over the last few months. Please pray that there is nothing serious going on with my knee and I can jump right back into my Half Marathon training in the next few days.

Weight 11-14-11: 147

I am good with that. I would love to weigh 144 when we (hopefully) go home for Thanksgiving next week. We shall see:)

**Read the new post below

Have a great week everyone!

Born to be....

This little one has on some pajamas that say "Born to be Cute."

And Yes, she sure is cute....

I mean seriously, look at her smile...

But she is also quite a stinker,

and a tad bit rotten:)

Makeover Monday 11-7-11

It has been too long. Sorry I took a 6 week hiatus from updating everyone on my weightloss journery. There really has been nothing to report for the last 6 weeks. I have eaten a few too many cookies:

No really, I have *maintained* my weight fairly well but have not been eating to well. It is just the darn sugar. It lures me in and I can't keep away. I am truly not tempted by the french fries, cheeseburgers, fat loaded pastas anymore...but the brownies, cookies, and chocolate cake, those are what I dream about. I also have found myeslf one again in the arms of my long time lover of the evil DIET COKE. Uggg. I can't help it. It is SO good. And oh so addiciting. I am convinced, diet coke = more sugar cravings.

I really really really need to jump back on the bandwagon as far my eating habits go because I don't want to gain weight during the holidays.

Here a few pictures for you....so see the progress from nearly a year ago...

Novemeber 2010 (I LOVE this picutre so much but now all I see is how huge my thighs look in this picture!)

June 2011 (10 lbs lost)

End of July/beginning of August (20 lbs lost!)

Oct 1st (over 30 lbs lost)...weighing 146.5 in this picture!!!! Wa-HOOOO!!!

So now for the numbers....

I have been completly honest thru this whole process so I don't want to stop now...

Oct 1st (ish)- 146.5

Today- 149 (Uggg...I about died when I got on the scale this morning considering I weighed myself on Saturday (2 days ago) and I weighed 145.8. I think my scale is possessed or crazy.) Who knows. I know I didn't eat 3 lbs of food in 2 days and I ran 6 miles on Sat. Go figure. But I DO NOT like being so close to the 150 mark at all. So back to the calorie counting I go.

I am also planning on running the Charleston Half Marathon on Jan 14. My training starts this week so I am hoping that will help me at least maintain my weight through the holidays. As far as running goes my furtherst distance to date is 8 miles. I feel pretty good about my endurance for the half but I would like to improve my time for my long runs. I can do under 9 if I am doing just 1.5 miles or less, if I do 2-4 I can maintain 9:25-9:45 pace, and anything beyond that I get really SLOW at about a 10:45/pace.

I still think I would like my GOAL weight to be right around 140. I feel like if I weighed 140 I could flucuate 3-4 lbs on either side and still feel good and be at a healthy weight for my height. These last 8-10 lbs are KILLING me. I think it is harder to eat healthy during the winter. Until next week!!!!

I've lost that bloggy feeling....OH that bloggy feeling....

WOW! I am falling off the blog bandwagon. I just can't keep up. I still have down time at the end of the night but I end up watching tv or doing something else mindless instead of catching up on my blog. I must recommit. I really like being able to go back and read through some of my old blog posts so it is time to get back in the business:)

I will be start back with my weekly Makeover Monday posts starting next week and update you all with everything weight loss, workouts, new recipes, and such. Right now I am just trying to will myself to stay away from the Halloween candy. Far far away.....

There really has been SO much going on lately, lots of blog worthy events, but I just must prioritize my time better. Between homeschooling, parenting, cleaning, driving, working with the youth at church, running, and leaving some time for the hubs, my head hurts by the end of the day. And I am tired. Soooo tired.

God really has been teaching me a lot lately. And I really feel like this next year is going to be a year that God really stretches me and Matt in our willingness to GO and DO what He says. I am excited and anxious about the opportunities that might arise. We have started working with the youth again at church and I am back with the high school girls. My heart is happy. I love me some high school girls and I just know it is where God wants me to pour my energy into right now. Matt is working with the middle school boys. Please pray for him:)

The three little ladies in our home are just growing and growing. I just love them SO much. My heart overflows.

Homeschooling is wonderful and crazy all at the same time. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to have TIME with my kids (which is another reason I chose to homeschool) but there are also LOTS of things to learn that go into teaching a child. It is not for the faint of heart! I am so very grateful for all of those who choose to teach for a living because if I think teaching 2 is hard, I can't even imagine 25ish or more. I still want to write my last two posts on why we homeschool...coming soon, or maybe later:)

My house is a mess all the time. I have decided that the MESS will NOT DEFINE me and I am just not going to fret it anymore. With homeschooling comes LOTS of time at home, add in multiple kids, crafts, cooking, and a not so neat minded husband = MESS. I see myself getting easily frustrated at the kids and always barking at them to clean up and I am just not going to do it anymore. Yes, they will still learn to be responsible and respectful of their things but I just don't want them to think back of their childhood and always remember a mean mommy who made them clean all the time.

Gabby won't talk to anyone that is not in our immediate family (me, Matt, Naomi, or Corin.) This has been going on for nearly a year. Any suggestions?? Her speech is completely normal but she just won't speak! :(

Corin is still NOT walking. Maybe in a month or two???

Naomi has been doing "better" with her seperation anxiety issues at church. She still cries and hides behind us but she is not being nearly as ugly or mean.

Ok, I think that is it for now.

Here is a cute picture until next time:)

Prayer Requests

Recently we have had a few families that we know that have dealt with horrible tragedies. One lost a husband/father of 5 to suicide. The children he left behind were 12, 10, 8, 6, and 3. The other was a girl I went to highschool with, her and her husband are the parents of three small children, 2 boys and a girl. The baby 6 month old girl died in her crib in the early evening last week,

Both are horribly tragic and so terribly sad. Please pray for these families, for peace, healing, and wisdom.

Secondly, pray for me. Things like these make me shudder in fear. It TERRIFIES me to the core that something could happen to my babies. I have not been sleeping well since I heard about the second family. I never used to be a worrier but since I birthed three precious daughters, I struggle daily with fear.

----DISNEY POST BELOW>>>>

Disney Sept 2011

I know, I have been a horrible blogger lately, but here are some pictures from Disney....

We had an AMAZING time at Disney. I want to do a little interview and ask the girls what their favorite parts were but I have not had time yet. Anyways, we had so much fun. We took our time and didn't rush to get everything done. Naomi is still our thrill seeker and LOVED the roller coasters. Her favorite rides are Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Expedition Everest. She also really took to the characters this time and wanted to spend ALL day with Pluto. Gabby went on Thunder Mountain twice but cried the entire time. She really loved the teacups and the Aladdin magic carpet ride. The highlight of her week though was seeing Snow White:) Corin's favorite part of the trip was all the yummy treats she got to enjoy! All the girls were such troopers and hardly complained at all. Corin was a champ at taking naps in the stroller. The girls are already ready to go back but I told them they needed to plant a money tree in the backyard! Ha.

iphone cuties

Took this picture of the big girls the other day in walmart and I just thought they looked so cute. Gabby is such a shortie compared to Naomi. I love watching the relationship between these two develop. They really are best friends and they have NO idea what life would be like without a constant playmate. Of course, like all sisters, tiffs do occur, but they really are few and far between (or at least only once an hour:)

I pray they will always be close.

Ok bloggy friends, I need some advice...

OK, so this is what blogs are for right? I need some advice.

When we moved here I quickly become friends with a certain girl. We had a mutual friend and we hit it off right away. We talked/texted nearly every day and sometimes multiple times a day and saw each other at least 2-4 times a week. We got very close very quickly. We had a lot in common and all of our kids got along very well. Over the course of 6 months or so, I considered her one of my closer friends, not only here but just in general. WE talked about nearly everything and I knew I could count on her for anything, and vice versa. Things were just peachy.

Well about a year after we met we got into a little tiff over something very minor. It mainly was just a miscommunication error. I didn't think it was a big deal at all and really was petty on both of our parts that it even became an issue. (I couldn't imagine ANY thing taking me away from my friends, but especially something so very small.)

So anyways, after this little ordeal I could definitely feel a distance forming in our relationship. It was slow and subtle for the first month or so, but quickly turned into me getting the cold shoulder. I have repeatedly/continually/tiresomely tried to make every opportunity to see her and I get nothing. I honestly have not seen her in at least 4 months and have maybe talked to her once or twice on the phone in the last 2-3 months with maybe a text or two a month. It is totally and utterly baffling to me. Like, I just don't get it. At all. There was never any communication regarding the whole "tiff" being a bigger deal than maybe I thought it was...I am SO hurt by the whole situation. It would be one thing if were not very close before but we went from being like "best friends" to basically nothing. I do understand that things change in life and and I can understand us being busy and not being able to see each other as much, but that does not mean we can't EVER see each other or text/talk. The whole thing just is so confusing and eats away at me. I just feel like I was used to fill a "friend" need at the time and then just thrown out and replaced. It just cuts deep.

I guess my biggest issue is what to do....

I do think (ok, I know) my pride is hurt. I have never ever in my entire life had someone want to NOT be friends with me. I would like to think I am fairly likable. Maybe I just need eat some humble pie and get over it.

Part of me wants to confront her, to write a letter, or just go knock on her door and demand an explanation.

Part of me wants to just overwhelm her with "kindness." Send her gifts, ask her to do stuff over and over again until she is so annoyed by me that she either has to just tell me to leave her alone or give in to my insanity:)

Part of me wants to just sulk and pity over it, stalk her facebook page, and eat a gallon of mint chocolate chip ice-cream.

But, Ah, at the end of the day there is nagging thing inside my soul that won't let me do any of the above. The Holy Spirit sometimes gets in the way of my crazy fleshly ways. (Thank God for that!) And I truly want to respond to this situation with a Christ like attitude, with a heart that desires Him glorified over my ego boost.

So please, advise away.......

Birthday Luau!!!

Sweet Girl had a fabulous 1st birthday party.

We have SO many friends here and they are all such a blessing in the lives of our girls.

This little cutie had a fabulous birthday party...

Beach cupcakes

Hawaiian Ice cupcakes....(yes those are cupcakes!)

All the kids playing limbo

So excited for some CAKE!

Happy Girl!

Me and all my girls:) *Love them.*

So what miss Corin is up to these days in her super sweet one year old ways:

Corin loves her family so much but it still very much a mamma's girl.

She is a crazy fast crawler and is FINALLY cruising all over the furniture. Both her sisters walked around 14 months so she seems to be following closely in their footsteps.

She has 4 teeth with two more on the way. She has the bottom two middle teeth and the top incisor(?) teeth (the vampire looking ones.)

She is a good size girl and wears mainly 12-18 month clothes.

She still loves to eat but has been a little more picky lately. Her all time favorite food is bananas, with turkey, macaroni, string cheese, grapes, black beans, and avocado's being close seconds.

Things she can say: Ma, Dada, nana (banana) and Nana (Naomi), What's that?

She is becoming quite a toddler with her new fascination of throwing her food on the ground and her hatred for laying down to get her clothes or pajamas put on. Many fun times ahead:)

She is still a great sleeper and I hope that never changes.

Our sweet Corin. We love you so much. We can not imagine our life without our three little princesses. You are a true joy. You bring such a calm to our chaos. You smile takes up your whole face and truly makes all things right in the world. You are deeply and fully loved by your sisters and you mommy and daddy.

Happy 1st Birthday Corin.

PS. Please grow up slower this next year. My heart can't take it going much fast:(

Makeover Monday...

It is time to BUCKLE DOWN.....

OK, so truthfully, I have been a little off these last few weeks. I have not been super strict on my diet (way too much pizza this week) and have been slack on my workouts. I still have been getting in my runs but that is about it. I rarely make it to the gym (homeschooling is time consuming) and I get SO bored trying to weights and workout videos at home. I also think in addition to being a tad bit lax I am also nearing that dreaded PLATEAU stage. It was bound to happen eventually. I actually think I made it a lot farther than expected before the stage hit.

I keep getting on the scale and I weigh anywhere from 147-151. Uggg. So ANNOYING.

I just need to buckle down. I need to count every calorie. I have not been overeating, just not quite as healthy as I should be and I probably have been hanging out around the 1500 mark.

Any ideas to getting past this platuea? (Even though I am afraid I know the answer, more weights more, more cardio, more fuel foods before and after workouts, more water, more sleep, and so forth.)

***I actually have a secret to let you all in on. I never knew this until I actually staring running. And most runners would never admit this, but truthfully running is the lazy man or womans exercise. WHAT? Yes. I am serious. Yes, it is hard and exhausting and a big commitment but it is the fastest most efficient way to get results. Besides a good pair of shoes, it is free! And it is convenient, you just walk out the front door.

OK, so I really need to some prayer. I need to buckle down. I really really really want to get to my goal weight of 142-145 by Oct 1st and maybe a few pounds less than that by Thanksgiving. I know these last few pounds are going to be HARD to get off but I know when I get there it will give me a little wiggle room once I get to my weight.

I also need some new food ideas. I have carrots, spinach leaves, and turkey growing out of my ears. I want some FOOD! :) I am really not feeling cooking right now either.

Oh and I weighed 149 this morning. So lame, I am up a pound from last week. Boo-Hoo.

Someone is ONE!

I really do have a birthday post coming but I just never have time anymore! (This whole homeschool and laundry thing...put a cramp in my blogging style:)))

Well this cutie is officially ONE and just loving life. She is 22 lbs and 29 1/2 inches (67% tile for both)and is a crazy fast crawler. She still won't even really cruise (which the doctors are not concerned about). She still loves all food that we give her but really really LOVED the yummy cupcake she had at her birthday party. She thought she was big stuff.

She still loves to sleep and giggles every time she gets to lay in her bed. (Love her heart!) She truly is such a joy. We love our sweet Little C.

Maybe by her second birthday I will have time to update my blog more frequently!!!

And for the Makeover Monday weigh in:

147.4 (slow but steady)

And did my 5k two weekends ago in under 30 mins!!!!

Corin's Bday Announcements!

Here is what Corin's birthday announcements looked like....

The Back:

The Front:

A full birthday post is COMING SOON!

Check out the two new posts below...........

A typical interaction between

Our 2nd and 3rd daughters.....

C: "Look at me mama!"

G: Always within 3 inches of little C, playing "nicely."

C: "This is so much fun, playing under this chair."

G: "Can Corin have a raisin?"

Mommy: "Gabby, I said NO, Corin can not have a raisin.

G: "Oh. Ok I will get it out."

C: "Wait, I really wanted that raisin."
C: "I want that raisin:("
C: "I am so mistreated. I don't why these people won't let me have any raisin."

Makeover Monday...

(On the way to our anniversary date last weekend!)

And yes it is ALMOST Wednesday! (Sorry to let you down Skylar, but if you come move in with me and homeschool my children I promise to update my blog on time:)))

I feel like I am running out of things to say. I am starting to eat a little more and not be quite as "strict" with my diet while still maintaing good habits. I found myself licking the cupcake batter while making cupcakes for Corin's party this past weekend. (Oops:)

I honestly don't want to be of one those crazy health people that can't even enjoy a good brownie. That really was not my goal in all of this. (Because honestly, life with NO chocolate would be sad:( I want to be healthy. I want to be someone that consistently makes good food choices and stays active so that when I do occasionally want to splurge that I can do it guilt free!

I weighed yesterday and I was

....148

Down 1 lb from last week! My weight loss is definitely slowing down. It is ok though. I know that with these last 8-10 pounds (or maybe less) the weight will be a LOT harder to get off. I honestly can't remember the last time I was in the 140's (seriously, maybe like 7th grade???) so this is not "extra" weight that I have put on with babies, this is that serious STUBBORN fat.

ON a good note, I ventured into GAP yesterday. I have had to buy a few new things here and there but I have been wanting to try on some Gap jeans for a "true size test." I am definitely a size 6 in Gap! Which is seriously amazing!!! I honestly might even be a 4 if I drop 8-10 more pounds. For real. Craziness. Pure insanity.

Later peeps.

Makeover Monday #15

Consistency.

That is the key. A lot of people have asked me recently what I did to lose the weight....

It is all about consistency. I consistently counted calories, ate 80-90% of healthy foods, and exercised. Thats it! I am not going to lie, the donuts, cheetos, and chinese food were calling my name.....many times, but I resisted. I had to deliberately plan out what I was going to eat on many occasions. It was tedious. But it was worth it.

That is my advice. Stick to something. No excuses. It doesn't matter if you travel, have 3 parties to go to, have baseball season for your son, go on a cruise...whatever the circumstance may be, you have to stick to your plan! It will work if you are truly consistent.

I am so sorry my posts are kinda lame now. I am SOOOO busy right now and I just don't have time to sit down and blog.

May 5th -176.8
May 16th- 172
May 23rd- 170.2
May 31st- 169.4
June 6th- 167.4
June 13th- 165.9
June 20th- 163.6
June 27th- 161.6
July 4th- 160.2 (on different scale)
July 11th- 160.2 (on different scale)
July 18th- 157.2
July 25th- 156.2
August 1st- 153.8
August 8th - 151.8
August 15th - 151.8

August 23rd- 149

YEAH! Down 2.8! For a total of 27.8 pounds!

I am seriously so excited. I feel like my hard work has paid off. I still have about 7-9 pounds to reach my goal weight but I seriously feel SO great. I have so much more energy.

Have a great week!!!

Makeover Monday # 14

I don't have any super insightful information for this week. It was kinda a off week. Matt has been on swings (which is my least favorite shift) where he works from 1 pm (ish) to midnight. It is just really hard to eat well because I don't like to make big meals at lunch time and then by dinner without him here, I am tired!!

So anyways, I ran 4.4 miles this past Saturday so I feel like I am finally out of my slump. Thank the LORD!!! It was rough there for a while. And I did finally reach 100 MILES. I am so super proud of this accomplishment. I have wanted to be a runner for SUCH A LONG TIME....and I finally feel like I can call myself one. Super pumped!!!

As far as weight loss goes....here is what I got......
May 5th -176.8
May 16th- 172
May 23rd- 170.2
May 31st- 169.4
June 6th- 167.4
June 13th- 165.9
June 20th- 163.6
June 27th- 161.6
July 4th- 160.2 (on different scale)
July 11th- 160.2 (on different scale)
July 18th- 157.2
July 25th- 156.2
August 1st- 153.8
August 8th - 151.8

August 15th - 151.8

Well it was bound to happen eventually. The scale did not move this week. I actually was not that surprised nor that upset. For a few reasons....

1.) I have had very few "low number" weeks through this whole journey. I knew coming in that there would be low weeks and I am ok with that.

2.) The time of the month hit again. Bloated. Tired. Blah. So lame.

3.) I ate pizza twice this weekend (only 2 slices each time) and a small piece of cake. I counted it and I ran 4.4 mile for that cake.

4.) I weighed after I ran last week (which is usually a little lower) and this morning it was the right out of bed weight.

Well I am off to bed. Have a great week!!!

It is kinda ridiculous how many pushups Naomi can do. Seriously she amazes me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/494allie#p/a/u/0/TETR41BR_XE

She waited ever SO patiently....

to FINALLY start BALLET!!!

Gabs has been wanting to take dance for years now! She has been such a patient girl waiting for her turn. And on her first day of class she was BEYOND excited. She wore her dance clothes ALL day in anticipation. (She also got something all over them 2 hours before class and I had to wash them fast!)

This is her posing outside the dance studio before her first class!

She was a little timid when she first walked in but after I sat with her for about 5 minutes she decided it was everything she imagined it to be and didn't need me anymore:(
Before we walked into her second class she turned around and said "mom do you want to take my picture?" I said of course:) I guess this will be a weekly occurrence. On the day of her second class I had to walk her in but then she asked for a hug and kiss and was good to go. We have definitely found her calling:) It is SOOOO cute.
**Yes, homegirl is wearing flip flops with her tights. She is a mess and it is not worth the fight since she changes right into ballet shoes when we get in!

And now that we have started ballet for Gabs, Naomi keeps asking when horse back riding starts back up. I just tell her it is too hot to wear pants right now and we will have to wait til fall. I really am just a nervous wreck thinking about her getting back on a horse.

Makeover Monday # 13 (on Tuesday;)

Sorry I never got around to posting yesterday. Things are getting crazy busy around here. I am trying to get so much done before we start school next week. I am sure it is going to be a huge adjustment for all of us with me dedicating a lot more of my daily time to teaching. Ok so anyways....

Last week was one of those weeks that I just wanted to EAT. I was just hungry. I know because I have been busy I have had to eat a lot more convenience foods and to stay within my daily calorie range it usually meant I could eat a lot less:( I also went on a mini girls weekend with my friend Tiffany and we went out to eat and I definitely let myself "splurge" just a little. (I still tried to make healthier choices like chicken instead of some rich pasta or eggs instead of biscuits and gravy. ) It felt good to really enjoy some good food but also feel like I was still in control of what I was eating. I don't feel like I went overboard and I am pretty sure I stayed close to my calorie range.

Running. Well it hates me right now. I guess it is what runners refer to as a SLUMP. I run 1.5-2 miles and feel like I might die. Since being back from Kentucky, I have not been able to get past 3.5 miles. It is seriously frustrating but I try to look at the big picture. 3 months ago I could not run to the mail box and I am still a "relatively" new runner. I know I will get through this slump I just wish it would happen sooner than later. I am also sure a heat index of 110 (for real) has something to do with not being able to breathe.
Any suggestion on getting through the slump???

In other news, my trainer comes every Monday and she started coming around June 15th (about a month after I officially started.) When she first weighed and measured me, here is what she got.

Weight- 165.5
Body Fat Percentage- 38% (disgusting. her numbers tend to be higher than what you would get on one of those hand held fat percentage machines)
lbs of lean mass- 103.5 lbs of lean muscle
lbs of fat- 62 lbs (gross)

As of last Monday on August 1st (about 6 weeks later) here were my results...

Weight- 154.5 (I weigh in the afternoon so it is a little more than my morning weight and on a different scale)
Body Fat Percentage- 28% (woo hoo...I think she was even shocked it dropped this much!!)
Lbs of lean mass-112
lbs of fat- 42.5 (Awesome!)

She was very very excited. Not only did I lose weight but I gained muscle. I lost 20 lbs of fat, which is so very exciting.

Also from our first visit I was down 14 INCHES!!! Whoa momma. I lost 5 1/2 around my stomach and 2 1/2 around my boobs:(


I weighed myself yesterday after I ran so my number might be a tad bit lower than it normally would.

August 8th- 151.8,

25 pounds LOST!!!

See you all next week!!

School # 2

If you have not read my first post on school....then scroll down past this post and read that one first.


Early in our marriage, I used to daydream of what of what our children would be like. I doodled their hypothetical names (none of which we used) on paper, I contrived the perfect birth order of boys and girls in my little plan (that boy plan worked real well for us) and I even had thought way beyond their births on what schooling we would choose for these un-concieved babies. I just KNEW our kids would go to public school. It was the ONLY option. I grew up from preschool - 9th grade in a private Christian school and I just could not foresee spending that much money on an comparable education that they could get for free. Secondly, how in the world could I claim Christ and the great commission if I plucked my littles in some fancy smancy school where they weren't really exposed to the world. Desicion made. (Or so I thought:))

***Sidenote- I just love looking back over my life and my "plans" that I made. I know God must get a true kick out of watching us believe we have any real control over our lives. It must also be somewhat painful as our Heavenly Father wants so desperately for us to truly relinquish that grip that we cling so tightly to.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

Fast forward 6 years. Our oldest (who was supposed to be a boy and named Ryland according to my plan) will start school in just a few short weeks. Our sweet Naomi. Kind, gentle, loving, little Naomi. She rocks my faith to its core because I see so much of Christ in her at such a young age. She breaths compassion. She loves deeply and loyally protects her family. As I started to consider the local public school early this year I felt a twinge of pain in my soul. I pushed it away quickly going on about my week/month. For the next few months and as early registration for school grew closer I just kept getting those funny feelings in my gut. I could not figure out what in the world God was trying to tell me. A few girls at our church had started home schooling and were trying to talk me into it. I told them they were crazy and that I just felt that if we pulled all the "good" kids out of the schools how were we ever going to reach "those" kids??? I was confident and set in my ways, my kids were going to public school. As more weeks went by, sleeping troubles set in (I have never been a great sleeper but this was more like I was up for HOURS during the night). I was stressed ALL the time (I am also usually pretty low key.) I finally let my guard down and started questioning a few people about public vs private vs (the dreaded:) home school. I prayed fervently about it for God to reveal Himself to me and Matt and to give us confidence that HIS ways are best. After MONTHS of stress we finally decided to check out the twilight zone or aka a home school convention. It really was a plethora of information.

The THREE biggest things I took away from this convention were:

1.) Just because we home school does not mean we don't have a passion for the lost and sometimes is quite the contrary
2.) We want to teach our children about glorifying God and not glorifying self. Even if unintentionally, you are measured in school by your success. You get an A, you are good. You get an F, you are bad. You sing great you are good, you can't play basketball you are bad. So on and so forth. I want my children to know that NO MATTER WHAT the circumstances they are worthy because HE IS WORTHY. All they do should be done for the glory of GOD.
3.) We want our kids to LOVE learning. I understand that is this is VERY possible in a public or private school setting. But we also think that home school allows a lot of flexibility in what we teach or do. We might even have the opportunity to go overseas when Matt is on his new boat. Talk about an awesome field trip.


***There have been very times in my life where I truly felt a HEAVY push by the Holy Spirit. I know He is always at work in me and I constantly aware of how faithful God has been to be, but this time was different. I literally can look back and SEE how much God had to change about me and my perspective to get me to this point. It has just taught me a lot about my faith. One, I am convinced that this home school journey has about as much to do with me that it does our kids. God has some serious molding to do in my heart and I have no doubt I might throw a few temper tantrums along the way. Two, and so so important, in everything we do in this world we must be vigilant in ALLOWING Him to move. We must be WILLING to open our eyes to what may seem crazy, or radical, or "stupid" to this world and allow our lives to truly be transformed. I think it is so easy to caught up in this world, in this culture, and to not even consider an option B because of it. Let us not be deceived by the devil's plan to distract us from Christ, he will lure us in, tempt us, and we must cling to cross.

Get ready for # 3!!

School

I have attempted to blog about school for sometime now but every time I start I get distracted and can't finish my thoughts. Well, since it is August I guess it is time we get cracking on our school plans. There is WAY too much information for just one post so I think I am going to break it down into 4 posts! Yep, 4 big ones. I know, it might seem like there really is not that much to discuss regarding school but for us this has been a HUGE decision and definitely not an easy one.

Come next month our oldest daughter will start school at HOME!!! For one, I can't believe my little girl will be in kindergarten. I am totally not ok with that and am in complete denial that she is even old enough to be in school. But no really, she is super pumped and I am getting there:)

When I started thinking about schooling options back in early spring it about made me a nervous wreck. Seriously, I lost so many hours of sleep over stressing about what to do for school. I spent many hours in prayer and questioned a lot of friends on their school experiences and opinions.

Matt and I had MANY conversations about school. It finally came down to ONE major point (well kinda two). Where did we feel GOD was leading US? And the second question was "at the end of the day what is the single most important thing we want to engrain into our daughters?" After we said the answers out loud, we realized that we already knew the answer. We KNEW God was leading us to homeschool Naomi this upcoming year. WE felt that tug at our hearts and could not run away from it. We want our girls to know Jesus. Deeply. Fully. Forever. We know that schooling them at home in no way guarantees their salvation but we do FEEL is gives them a great advantage. We want to soak our girls in the word and blessing of Jesus while they are young and impressionable. We want everything they breathe to be of Him while their precious hearts are being formed. WE don't want to hold anything back in the name of carrying the cross. We want to give them every advantage of choosing Him as their savior. We feel that this environment best enhances the chances of them having a personal relationship with Jesus. We know that God calls us to be lights to this dark fallen world and we feel that by choosing to keep our wee ones home while they are young (and still dim) that we can cultivate hearts for Jesus, and create huge flames for Him. We desperately want our girls to shout the name of Jesus from the streets but we want to make sure they are not devoured up by the wolves in the process.

We want to take this verse out of Proverbs to heart. We want to protect their souls from the thorns and snares of this world, especially while their faith is weak and defenseless. We feel scripture is VERY intentional about the parents being the primary influence in the life of a child.

Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:5-6

Please understand this was a very TOUGH decision. WE know that this is very counter cultural (although homeschooling is growing rapidly.) We also know that God won't lead everyone to the same place and we promise to respect others decisions with regards to where you send your children to school .

Keep my commands and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 7:2-4

Stay tuned for post #2!!!

Makeover Monday #12

I am definitely getting to the point that people have started asking me, "what is my secret?" or "what are doing?" and so forth.

I hate to break it to them that I just worked really really hard. NO magic pills, shakes, or crazy exercises. No starving myself or going on a banana diet. Just straight up using the "secret" method of Calories in < Calories out. I put a HUGE HUGE HUGE emphasis on what I am eating. I can't stress enough how important I think nutrition is to weight loss. You have to know how many calories you are consuming (and from what foods) to know how many you need to burn to have those numbers on the scale shrinking. So if you are looking to shed some pounds. Start here. Write everything you eat down. Add it up and you might be surprised at how many calories you are consuming on daily basis. Secondly, get OFF the couch. You have to get moving and you have to make it a part of your daily life. You just can't make excuses for it. For me, I always run every other day, meet with my personal trainer (who comes to my house) one day a week, and try to get in at least one (hopefully two) strength sessions and one or two more cardios. As for running, I stay motivated by signing up for races and really knowing how AWFUL it was when I first started and I NEVER EVER want to have to put myself through that much pain again! If anyone lives in the area and needs an incentive to make running a priority I am doing a few upcoming races in the Charleston area.

August 27th -Race for the Ark (downtown Summerville)
September 25th- Tanger Outlet 5K (North Charleston)
Cooper River Bridge Run- March 31st 2012

--And a side note on running. I think the one thing that I never really understood until now is running is HARD. It is not meant to be easy. I promise that every time I run it is ROUGH. I want to quit at least 10 times. It is supposed to be challenging, that is why you burn so many calories. Once it starts to get a little easier you just pick up your pace. I have been trying to run 1 mile as fast as I can and this week I did one in 9:25 (and then I almost puked.) I also try to do some intervals of 1-2 mins of sprinting. They other day I did 1 min 30 seconds at a 7:20/mile pace. I really was running as fast as I could I can not even believe people can keep that up for any extended period of time. Let alone any faster. Seriously.

So now for the weight!

May 5th -176.6
May 16th- 172
May 23rd- 170.2
May 31st- 169.4
June 6th- 167.4
June 13th- 165.9
June 20th- 163.6
June 27th- 161.6
July 4th- 160.2 (on different scale)
July 11th- 160.2 (on different scale)
July 18th- 157.2
July 25th- 156.2

August 1st- 153.8 (how in the world is it August already???)

Down 2.4. I don't know. I weighed myself like 8 times this morning. Seriously, I have no idea why I am losing weight like this still. It is baffiling really. I honestly think my body is in the best shape it is has been in for a really long time and it is just SO much more efficient at burning calories. I can't remember the last time I was in the 140's. I know I was at some point but truly have no memory of it.

Well after that incredible news, I must admit there has been one true tragedy of this whole journey. It is very very sad. And if you are a boy you can stop reading now. For real.


My boobs. Yep, they are shrinking. Well more like shriveling up to these little deflated balloons. It is tragic I tell you. I have never in my life given a thought to plastic surgery, I might be reconsidering:) Maybe just a little lift and I tummy tuck. Ok not really, but not because I am above it. If someone would pay for it, I would get them lifted in a heartbeat. So So sad.

Ok peeps. Baby is wanting to play. Have a great week!

11 MONTHS!!!

How in the WORLD is this sweet girl 11 months OLD???

Sleeps: Still a ridiculous sleeper...12 hours at night and 2 big naps during the day.

Eats: Everything. She loves turkey, beans, spaghetti, yogurt, broccoli, strawberries, and cheerios. She also still takes a bottle 4 times a day. She does not really like sippy cups. Not sure what to do about that???

Things to do: Patty cake, reading books, bath time, playing with Naomi and Gabby, and trying to get around the baby gates!

Moving: Corin is a crazy fast crawler and is all of over the place. She will pull up to her knees and to her feet if I am holding her hands. She is an extremely timid and cautious baby. Naomi and Gabby didn't walk until 14 months and I imagine Corin will be even later. (I am ok with that..:)

Favorite Toys: Anything that makes noise or books. She loves this load alphabet toy that we have.

Teeth: Little C finally got her first tooth about a week ago. It had not popped thru in the above picture. She might have another one through before her 1st birthday. (Naomi and Gabby also got teeth late.)

Favorite People: Little C is very much a mommy's girl:)

Personality: She is still a very calm and happy girl but is definitely showing a little more separation anxiety and is starting to voice her discontent with things when she wants something different. And poor girl has the most pitiful sad face ever. It literally breaks my heart:(

Happy 11 MONTHS Corin. We love you. Now stop growing...mama is not ready for you to be ONE!!!

Happy Birthday Papoo

In the last few months our Gabs has decided that she wants to become a mute around anyone except our immediate family. Seriously. We went to Kentucky and she barely spoke. She talked to my dad one afternoon while playing computer games and she said the word "watermelon" to Matt's mom. That is pretty much it for 2 weeks. She would not talk to her teachers at school last year and she won't speak in public to anyone. It is quite strange but I am not really sure how to make her speak. Any suggestions??? Well anyways I finally talked to her to singing a few words that I could video her talking to papoo for his birthday. It is not much but is something!! Such a crazy kid!

Makeover Monday #11

Took this picture this morning. (I look SOOOO much like my sister...crazy!!)

So I am wondering who is really still reading these posts??? :)

I have to be honest, this has been a HARD week. It is just SO stinkin HOT that it really gets me down when I run 2.75 miles and feel like I am going to PASS OUT. Seriously. I am just so ready for it not to feel like I am running through a tub of jello. I also still can't seem to get back into the weights. I don't know what my deal is....

I also have been STARVING all week (and NO I am not preggo). This has been the first week since I started this whole journey that I felt like I just could not get full. I have had to find things that are low cal but I can still eat a lot of them to curb my "munchies." I am really digging carrots and hummus this week. Although I might have eaten a little too much hummus:)

I think this week also has me looking ahead to "when I reach my goal weight, what is next?" I am confident I will get to my goal weight and I think that is going to be where the true challenge begins. I know that the scale is not as important as my the changes going on in my body but lets be honest, the number is what motivates me:) I find it funny that is is always naturally skinny people telling "fat" people to not worry about the scale. It just ain't happening sister. So that is why I have a little concern when I know that the scale won't be changing much. I know when I started this I had the goal of Oct 1st to reach my goal weight and my second goal was for a full year. I want by May 5th of next year to not only be at my goal weight but to also have definition to my frame. I feel this is something that can motivate me. I will have 7 months after Oct to work on shaping my muscles.

And I officially have NO clothes that fit. I really don't want to buy all new clothes for at least 10 more pounds but I am swimming in my large size shirts:)

And my wedding/engagement rings are huge. I guess I will have to get them resized, which is mildly annoying.

So for the numbers.... (my computer won't let me paste for some reason...so you just get the new number)

July 25-156.2

-Down 1 lb from last week. It is a little less than my normal weekly numbers but I am happy with it. I have had some great weeks so I am sure that the last 10-15 pounds will come off a little slower.

But in other news I have last 20.4 pounds!!!! So excited. Now I need to do some crunches:)

See you next Monday!!

Rotten

The big girls have scooters that we pretty much keep inside. I am a wimp and won't let them ride them outside. They don't seem to mind much! Anyways...little miss LOVES the scooter and is always on the move heading right towards them. We have had a few tumbles over the past week or two with her trying to climb on. Such a stinker...