Hello Again!

Hello World!
I have decided to dust off this blog and get at it again.  For awhile there, my life was way busy and too hard or busy to keep up with blogging.  I'm now at a point that I think I can add this back in to my life. 

My kids will be going by the names Lightning, Leo, and Lizzy.  We have all agreed on these names.  If you can believe it, deciding on a name with my youngest was the hardest!  My kids are 7, 6 and 3.  I am a stay a home mom and my kids are homeschooled.  We are in to a lot of "natural" stuff, we do lots of sports and try to get outside as much as possible.  We hope to own our own homestead someday.
This blog will probably go down the route of recipes, homeschool stuff, stay at home mom stuff, dreams, health, and, maybe, a little bit of "work" items.  I will just do as I feel led.

In the years I've been gone, a lot has happened.  Possibly the biggest change was when we moved back and forth from Idaho to Arizona and back to Idaho.  Additionally, my husband and I took up running for a while in 2014-2015.  I ended up running a 5K, 10K, 7K, 10K, 5K, 12K and Half Marathon.  I found that 10K's felt the best.  Half marathons...now those are a doozy!  I'm not sure I ever want to do that, again! Another change, is while training for my half marathon, I gained about 20 pounds and couldn't understand why.  It turns out my adrenals and thyroid were not function quite right and my hormones were out of balance.  I've just recently started to correct those.  So, I HOPE I am back to "normal" soon.
***Soap Box Moment: Moms~~~If you feel something may be wrong---gaining weight, feeling sluggish, HAVE to have coffee, etc.---please get your adrenals, thryoid, hormones checked by your doctor or naturopath or specialist.  This is too important to ignore!***
 As of now, I am back to running and following Couch to 10K (C210K) and following the app to build back up my running endurance.


I hope to be on here more in the future.  I am currently in the process of getting school stuff set up for next year, trying a few new things and doing the busy life of mom.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

 Lizzy

 Lightning

Leo

#1 Goal for the New Year

The New Year is a perfect time to make new goals.  A lot of people call them "resolutions," but I don't like the stigma attached to that wording.  Additionally, if you finish or reach a goal you can make a new one so that you keep making yourself better.  I wanted to share with you one of the goals I have made so far.  As I work on bettering myself, I will continue to make new goals which I hope to share with you.  As an aside, I have other goals that I just don't share such as reading more nonfiction, reading more scripture, etc. that I don't share because they are not as easy to get sidetracked as this goal I will be telling you about :o)

Last year, my main goal at the new year was to learn how to swim so I could overcome my fear of water.  Yes, I didn't really know how to swim, and I was afraid of deep water.  This is because I almost drowned in 5th grade.  I signed up for classes and learned through the month of January how to swim and overcame my fear of water.  In fact, my husband and I started to swim in the olympic size pool at our local community center where the greatest depth is 10 feet.  I had no problem doing this, and I was very proud of myself.  I hope to get back to swimming now that my bathing suit will fit, again.

This year one of my main goals is to get back in shape.  Yes, I know EVERYONE has the get back in shape goal.  I am seriously motivated due to complications I have developed over my last 2 pregnancies.  In my second pregnancy, I developed a diastasis recti that is now 3 fingers wide. This is where the ab muscles separate and don't go back together, which occurs in 98% of pregnancies.  Diastasis recti leaves mom's (this can happen in men too) with a "mummy tummy."  The "mummy tummy" is where women still look pregnant because the stomach sticks out due to the transverse abs not having enough strength.  I have been researching the internet and watching YouTube videos to find different ab exercises that work for diastasis recti because crunches are one of the worst things you can do as it makes the gap worse. I am also looking at ordering a Kindle book to give me more ideas as my abs get stronger.

Through my research I have found about 5 different exercises I can do that should help the condition.  I will be doing them 3 times a day.  Each of the groups of exercises I will be doing I estimate to take about 15 minutes, so this is not too long for my hubby to watch baby girl, if she is not sleeping.  Additionally, it is ideal if I remember to sit up straight, have good posture when standing, and draw my belly button to my back (which brings the transverse abdominis together) to let the abs learn how to stitch themselves back together. 

In addition to this, I plan to lose 13 pounds in the next 3 months.  When I weighed myself yesterday, on the Wii, I was 153 pounds.  I hope to get down to 140, which leaves me some room for acquiring muscle.  To help accomplish this I am going to do about 20 minutes of Wii exercise/play each day.  My oldest son has gotten very excited about playing on the Wii and when he wants to take a break, he has an adult play.  So, this should not be too hard to add into the day.  I usually do the snowball fight, super hula hoop, step aerobics, and a few various yoga poses on the Wii Fit Plus.  When it gets warmer, I hope to take my "workouts" outside and do some bike riding, walking/running, hiking, etc.  I feel it's best to do activities and not really make it an "exercise routine," which I could probably NEVER stick to without my husband prodding me along to keep at it.

Finally, to help lose weight and tone up I plan on eating better.  I know what this looks like, I just have to do it.  Less eating out, less carby (yes I made that up) snacks, smaller portions and more "real food" instead of processed (which we already do a lot of at our house due to allergies).

Wish me well on my journey!

If you have New Year Goals you have created, I would love to hear them!

Back to it!

Hello Readers!

I know I have been VERY remiss in writing on my blog. VERY probably isn't even good enough for saying how bad I have been with this blog in the last 9 months.  Think about that a moment...9 months.  You got it!  I have been pregnant...and I still am for that matter.

Anywho...I found out I was pregnant in early March and my due date was around November 9th.

I found out at 20+ weeks that I was having a girl.

Summer finally came to North Idaho.  If you MUST know, you DO NOT ignore summer in my part of the country because it doesn't stay long.  Most of the summer we did the normal stuff went to the beach, played at the park A LOT, went to friends houses and rode bikes.  My husband and I both got new bikes, so we were very excited to use them.  Summer and the fall here were fantastic!  Usually fall (September and October) can get nasty, but they were beautiful until about the last week of October.  I cannot complain (too much) about how much time and sun we got this summer.

We started a few new things this fall.  My oldest, Lightening, is going doing some preschool homeschool stuff.  I have found so many wonderful printables online for his schooling.  I am so surprised at how much he already knows.  He loves to "do school" and he is amazing at mazes.  Regular mazes for his age level are way too easy, but I am looking for something harder but not too advanced.  Having a little trouble with that, at the moment.  I will start adding some homeschool stuff to my blog.  It will probably include links to printables as well as try my hand at a few printables for others to use.  They will probably be geared toward when I see missing in my travels on the internet for printables.  My biggest problem with homeschooling is keeping, Leo, my 2 1/2 year old happy while I am working with his brother.  Any ideas you would like to leave in contacts or email would be great!

Additionally, it is now November 17th and I am still pregnant.  Yep, I am a bit overdue.  I'm rather tired of the wait/weight, but I will endure.  I am very excited to meet my little girl.  I hope to keep my current schedule of getting up early so I can keep going with this blog and give out as much information as I can about things I am interested in and I know others are as well such as kiddos, homeschooling, menu planning, etc.

I hear one of my children needs me, so I will be back to blog in the near future!

Tuesdays with Tammy: Mom Radar

Sorry about the long blogging break, but I was on vacation and then we all got sick. It's been an interesting month, I tell ya! So, I hope to get back on bandwagon here and start writing more regularly. One of my wonderful friends, Tammy, has sent me another story that I would like to share today. Hope you like it!

Mom Radar

Spiderman has “Spidey Sense” that tingles when something is wrong. Superman has super hearing that allows him to know when someone is in distress. Some moms have “Mom Radar”. This amazing “super-sense” tells them when their children are doing (or thinking of doing) something they shouldn’t, having a bad dream, are ill in the middle of the night and need comforting, are injured, upset, or otherwise in need. Sometimes it goes off and we aren’t sure why—only that something is not right with one of our children. (Often, we aren’t sure which one either!)

This is very handy when our children are young. It allows moms endowed with this wonderful ‘sixth sense’ to nip unsafe behavior in the bud before someone is seriously injured. (Like the time my older two boys tried to launch their baby brother, or the time they tried to feed the youngest one deer poop. They had him convinced it was chocolate covered raisins left by the Easter Bunny!) This amazing radar awakens us from a dead sleep to arrive in time to get a child to the bathroom when they are ill in the wee hours of the night, or to soothe a frightened youngster experiencing a bad dream.

As our youngsters grow, the radar goes off when they are telling a fib or plotting to do something they shouldn’t do. It goes off a lot when they are teenagers! We often don’t know why it is “pinging off the walls”, and we may not be sure which child is setting it off—but we know something is wrong and we are on high alert until the facts come to light. They always come to light—sometimes years later—but the truth always comes out. Many times, we figure it out, but allow our children to continue with their plans in order to allow them to learn the necessary lessons in life that will make them better people. Besides, sometimes it is nice to have some leverage—we might need it later for more important issues!

I am convinced this is how mothers got the reputation of ‘having eyes in the backs of their heads’. We simply know our own children so well, that we know when they are ‘off’—(or maybe it is that we know ourselves well enough to know what our children are likely up to at certain stages.) Whatever it is, it can drive our children crazy—a nice reversal for a change!

I always thought the ‘radar’ would diminish as our sons grew into adulthood---I was wrong. The other day, while sitting at a stop light on my way to work, I had the overwhelming sense that I needed to call my middle son (now 20 years old and in college in a different town) and wake him up so that he didn’t miss class. I ignored it, telling myself it was silly! The boy has been getting himself up to classes and work for several years without my assistance, there was no need for me to get my panties in a wad now! Later that day, he called and I asked how his day was.

“Ugh!” he responded.

“What happened?’ I asked, empathetically.

“I slept through my first class!” he groaned.

I should have listened to the ‘radar’. I called him the following day to make sure he didn’t miss class, though.

A few weeks later, I was awakened from a wonderful dream and a dead sleep with the overpowering sense that I needed to go to our office (in the basement), get on Skype, and talk to this same young man. I rolled over, looked at the clock, and groaned—it was 2:30 in the morning! I argued with myself telling myself this was stupid! If he was up at that hour on the computer, it was his problem, not mine! I attempted to go back to sleep, but the feeling was so persistent that I finally gave in. Grumbling to myself about my own idiocy, I tromped down the stairs, and clicked the Skype tab on my computer. Sure enough, there he was, online. I am not sure exactly what he ‘needed’ from me, but we talked via skype for quite awhile. Finally, he went to bed (or logged off at least), and I was able to snuggle back into my bed, safe and sound.

I should have known, or at least suspected this might happen. My mother’s “Mom Radar” is seldom wrong, and her mom (my grandmother) had such remarkable ‘radar’ that it worked with all of her children up until the time she died! I guess I should resign myself to the fact that I will seldom get a full night’s sleep--ever!

Tammy is a writer, storyteller, artist, crafter, and bellydancer who enjoys working with children of all ages. She lives in North Idaho with her wonderful husband, three sons, and a goofy dog. She teaches bellydancing, crochets, paints and sketches, and is trying to complete her first book when she isn’t at work or transporting her youngest son around town. She loves a good read, a good laugh, and life in general (especially when there are cookies involved!)

Meal Plan: Monday and Tuesday (2/20 and 2/21)

Hello, again! Hello, again, all!

I am going to give a meal plan for 2 days and an extra breakfast. This time it is NOT because I am slacking. We are taking a trip starting Wednesday REALLY early, so we don't have a meal plan for 2 weeks. I am sure by the end of this I will be happy to cook in my own kitchen, again...maybe. I'm not really a "cook" so I'm not fond of it. I love baking, though *sigh*

So, I will be doing some baking in the next two days getting ready for our trip. I'm SUPER excited to be on the move. We are going to AZ to see friends and soak up some warmth. I miss the sun and warmth up here in Idaho.

I plan on making granola bars, cinnamon applesauce bread, oatmeal raisin cookies, and waffles. That's all I can think of at the moment. We also got plenty of stuff at Trader Joe's for our trip, so I think we are pretty much all set! We have to hit Costco and the local stores once more for fresh fruit and veggies, though. I think I will do that as well as other errands with the boys tomorrow.

Our two day (plus one breakfast) meal plan:

Monday:
Breakfast-Oatmeal and Spelt Toast (from Trader Joe's) with cranberry apple butter
Lunch-Hot Dogs and Veggie Chips
Dinner-Leftover Chicken (from Sunday crockpot) and Quinoa

Tuesday:
Breakfast-Cereal (last treat before we leave)
Lunch-Salmon Salad on rice cakes and leftover quinoa
Dinner-Wildtree flavored chicken breast and carrots (or any leftovers in the fridge)


Wednesday:
Breakfast-Cocktail pups, tator tots and eggs (for those who can have them)


To Bake:
Cinnamon Applesauce Bread
Granola Bars
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Waffles
Chocolate Chip Quinoa Cookies (maybe)
Muffins (maybe)

I am planning on blogging during our trip, but that is not for sure. It depends on internet access and how much running around and "stuff" we do. I can't wait to tell everyone how the trip goes. We have to drive 16 1/2 hours. Yes, we plan to stop overnight. We learned little boys don't do well straight through the hard way last summer. I can't wait to see all our friends and go hiking! It should be a fun trip.

I would surely appreciate anyone with ideas for food and travel ideas with little ones to chime in on this post.

Don't forget to like me on Facebook if you want to see new posts!

Recipe of the Week: Peanut Butter Granola

Quite by accident, I came up with a new granola recipe. My plan was to make peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars. This would be because I have really been craving Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Bad, huh? I’m training for a sprint triathlon and all I really want is sweets. *sigh*

Anyway…a few years ago (when my oldest son was an infant), I found this amazing granola bar recipe on the internet. I can’t remember where I found it, but I used it for ages. As soon as number boy number 2 came along, I wasn’t as motivated to use this recipe. A few weeks ago, I decided to pull it out and this week got to point of trying it with a few variations. The granola bars came out granola rocks, so I broke it up to use as granola cereal. Good idea, huh? It doesn’t taste quite like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but I was under no illusion that they would.

Here’s the recipe with my changes...

Ingredients:

Dry:

2 cups oats

¾ cup quinoa flakes

¾ cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup crushed almonds/peanuts

Wet:

2/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup honey

¼ cup all natural peanut butter

4 Tbsp butter

2 tsp vanilla

½ tsp salt

Extras:

½ cup raisins

½ cup chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and roast on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Combine wet ingredients and simmer in a saucepan until they are combined and melted. It looks really creamy and gooey (for lack of a better word).

Put the extras (raisins and chocolate chips) in the pan that you combined the dry ingredients in. After the dry ingredients are done roasting, put them back in the bowl with the extra ingredients and pour the melted, hot wet ingredients on top and stir everything together.

Press into a 13 x 9 inch pan that has butter wax paper in it and press down with more wax paper.

Let cool for a couple of hours. After it is cooled, crumble up to use for granola!

I hope you enjoy this, even if it doesn’t taste like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup!

This is a guest post at These Five of Mine Plus Two
I will also be linking up with A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Meal Plan: Monday and Tuesday

Last week was interesting. We were all sick. Everyone had a runny nose, some of us had a sore throat, and some of us you wouldn't be able to tell anything was wrong. Isn't it interesting how little boys can be sick, yet, you wouldn't be able to tell?

I have not been motivated to do anything except read a couple of really good books that I found on Inspired Books. It's a nice website where I have downloaded numerous free Kindle books. I don't have a Kindle, so I also downloaded the Kindle reader on my PC to read them. Nice to not get fines for not turning my books in on time!

Therefore, I only have 2 days of meal plans ready. I will give you those, and, then, I will figure out the rest tomorrow. This should help get you started, though. I have to admit some are pretty processed, though.

Monday:
Breakfast-Cereal (I gave in and bought some Natures Path Granola)
Lunch-Salmon Salad Sandwiches on Rice Cakes, Carrots, Cuties
Dinner-Porcupine Meatballs (yes, we still didn't make them), Broccoli

Tuesday:
Breakfast-Cereal (there should be some left)
Lunch-ABJ (Almond Butter and Jelly) on Rice Cakes and Smoothies
Dinner-Brined Chicken Thighs, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

That's it, so far, ladies and gentlemen. I hope to have more later in the week. I'm kind of excited for the dinners as they sound pretty good!

Have a good week, all, and God Bless!

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Tuesdays with Tammy: Baby Brain

Here is another wonderful post by my friend (and monthly contributor), Tammy. She has a wonderful way with words, and she is a great story teller!

BABY BRAIN

As we watched our darling children grow, we were often amazed at their capacity to absorb ALL knowledge and information (including those things we wished they wouldn’t). Everything they saw heard, or did was sucked up into their inquisitive minds and retained to be spit out at the most inopportune times. Nevertheless, it was comforting to see that they were intelligent beings with the capability to learn and grow.

Imagine our confusion then as these bright young boys entered the beginning stages of puberty (somewhere around the ages of 11 to 13), and appeared to lose the capacity to recall valuable information, let alone retain anything new! Our once-intelligent sons would suddenly forget that soap was a vital part of the shower process; or that it was indeed necessary to put food out for the dog when reminded to FEED THE DOG! Simple daily information was lost completely—information they had known for a VERY LONG TIME! New information had to be given in one or two word commands—and these words MUST NOT have too many syllables! (Monosyllables appeared to work best). Any more than that, and they simply blinked at us in confusion—or worse; they would mumble “K” and wander off aimlessly.

After observing this phenomenon in our own young sons, and in the children of our friends, my husband developed a theory that I call “The Baby Brain.” (This is NOT a scientific theory, so don’t go getting all worked up! It is simply a theory of observation!) It goes something like this: Brains appear to be much like teeth. As young children develop, their Baby Brains develop and grow. Once the child enters the early stages of puberty, the Baby Brain falls out (we actually had occasion to see this happen in our youngest, but I will save that story for another time). During the teen years, the adult brain (much like adult teeth) begins to push through, then retreat over and over again. Sometimes it actually makes great gains, but it is still not fully developed and often retreats completely again (kind of like wisdom teeth).

According to this theory, our teenagers are not only operating without a fully-functioning brain (a fact observed often enough), but they are often operating without any brain at all! It appears that the fully-functioning adult brain surfaces sometime in the twenties, but, for some, it may take even longer. I have seen it take into the forties before an individual has full use of an adult brain.

Since this is not the fault of our poor teens and tweens, we must be patient and treat them with kindness and sympathy, resisting the urge to strangle them as we remind them for the fifteenth time that YES, they must change their underwear EVERY DAY and DEODORANT is NOT AN OPTION! (It is just good hygiene!) :)

Tammy is a writer, storyteller, artist, crafter, and bellydancer who enjoys working with children of all ages. She lives in North Idaho with her wonderful husband, three sons, and a goofy dog. She teaches bellydancing, crochets, paints and sketches, and is trying to complete her first book when she isn’t at work or transporting her youngest son around town. She loves a good read, a good laugh, and life in general (especially when there are cookies involved!)

Weekly Meal Plan (2/6/2012-2/12/2012)

I hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday. We are not really watching the Super Bowl as we don't get NBC. My hubby may be watching it on his computer, though.

You may notice on my menu for the week I have porcupine meatballs, again. That is because I haven't made them the prior two weeks I had them on the menu. By the time they were on their, I just didn't have the energy to get to them. Oh well. I hope we will be able to remedy that this week and
try them next Sunday evening.

I am excited to try a totally new breakfast cookie recipe this week. This one is one off the top of my head that combines the oatmeal raisin cookie recipe with other stuff to hopefully make some delicious and somewhat nutritious breakfast cookies. If they turn out well, we will have them up on the blog!

Here's the menu for the week!

Monday (2/6/12):
Breakfast-Cereal or Oatmeal and Spelt Toast
Lunch-Nachos w/LO roast
Dinner-Rib Steaks and Quinoa w/veggies

Tuesday (2/7/12):
Breakfast-Cinnamon Applesauce Bread
Lunch-Almond Butter and Jelly Sandwiches w/nacho chips and carrots
Dinner-LO Rib Steaks and Wild Rice

Wednesday (2/8/12):
Breakfast-Breakfast Cookies (hopefully…and if they turn out well I will put the recipe up)
Lunch-Salmon Salad on Rice Cakes or Spelt bread
Dinner-Chick Thighs and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Thursday (2/9/12):
Breakfast-Oatmeal and Spelt Toast
Lunch-LOs
Dinner-Mom Soup

Friday (2/10/12):
Breakfast-Muffins (haven't decided what kind, yet)
Lunch-Pizza
Dinner-LOs

Saturday (2/11/12):
Breakfast-LO muffins
Lunch-Tator Tots w/LOs or eggs
Dinner-McDonald's (friends birthday party)

Sunday (2/12/12):
Breakfast-Oatmeal and Spelt Toast
Lunch-LOs
Dinner-Porcupine Meatballs

To Bake: Spelt Bread
Cinnamon Applesauce Bread
Breakfast Cookies
Muffins

Blog Help

You have heard of self help books, right? They are a big industry with people wanting to make themselves better whether it is financially, physically or spiritually. I find that I don’t need to go and buy a book for self help. If I really need one to tangibly hold, I can go to the library and see if I like it. On the other hand, I find many homemaking blogs and friends putting up Bible verses on Facebook for the day help me tremendously.

For some years in my 20’s, I was slacking pretty bad in my Christian walk. Some of that had to do with “time,” inability to find a church I wanted to attend and having it pretty easy, I think. Times were good! Money was coming in, we were clearing debt, and my husband I were having a great time being married. Then, I got pregnant and I realized that was going to change. I had no doubt my hubby could take care of us on his income, but I didn’t know how HARD it would be to be a mom.

The first few months after having my oldest son, Philip, were the hardest I can remember. He couldn’t nurse correctly, at first, he wanted to nurse for an hour on end, and sleep was hard to come by. When he was nursing for half an hour, some days, I would get out my Bible and start reading trying to find encouragement. After about 3 months, things settled into a routine and I got lazy, again. It’s easy to get lazy when you can’t find a church you enjoy and like in your area to get into and people to rely on to keep you a bit “accountable.” Life gets hectic and you forget about praying and God like he is a friend in another state you mean to “get in touch with” but they days go on without contact.

In the last 4 months, with urging from the Holy Spirit, blogs, my boys getting older, and me trying to make myself better, I have been digging in to the scripture a bit more. I’m not perfect with Bible study, by no means. On the other hand, I would have to say other blogs have really helped me be more accountable and take a moment out here and there in the day to read, check my heart, and try to be the better mother the Lord asks of me. It’s like a little dose of “God’s here, ask for His help. Duh!” I want to send a big THANK YOU to all those blogs out there that have been helping me out!

Two of my favorite verses that I had forgotten I memorized long ago and now think on:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”---John 3:16

Wow…just wow! How many of us would be able to do that for others? Thank God we don’t have to even think of it because it was done for us.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lead not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”---Proverbs 3:5-6

Ahhh…my favorite “power” verse of all time. If you’re lost, there is One you can cry out to who will direct your paths. I have to remember this when I am sinking in babies, housework, fear, anger, and listlessness. He will direct my paths if I just look to Him.

God Bless!

This post if a guest post at These Five of Mine Plus Two
Linked up with Heavenly Homemakers and A Wise Woman Builds Her Home