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A Renaissance Woman

11/30/10

Church Doodles

I'm going to start a little series here on my blog about "church doodles." My son can be so creative during the sermons. Some of his drawings are what I consider scan worthy! This drawing in particular cracked me up because of his oven. He is so detailed that you can clearly see his oven is set for 350 degrees! That's Christmas cookie mode right there. lol



I have posted this one before but just for the sake of having it labeled I'm putting it up again. He clearly would like to have his own room. We are still working on this for him. I can't wait to share more of his "church doodles" with you!

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11/29/10

#Mamavation Monday - Vitamins are Good! M'Kay?

Mamavation


Official Challenges:
Movement Challenge--Get 100 minutes of sweaty cardio per week. Keep us updated in Mamavation Monday post by using form.

My Work Outs -
Monday - Back 2 Boot Camp! - Thank you God.
Wednesday - 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels
Friday - Back 2 Boot Camp - Dodge ball style


Scale Reading -
I'm on the verge of throwing the stupid thing in the trash. It gave me 3 different readings even though my hand weights were an accurate read. What the heck? According to the scale I maintained and then I gained a pound and then I gained 2 pounds! Let's go with I'm maintaining.

Measurements -
I still can't find that measuring tape. I'm gonna break down and buy one today.

Stress Level -
Off the charts!

My eldest refuses to be an honest person which makes for a very tumultuous relationship.
My son thinks he is an adult and can run his own agenda. His teacher disagrees.
My husband left at 5am for more travels and he gets to do it again next week too.
I'm STILL dealing with the pain of this injury. No jumping or running, still. 



The UP side -
Down the hatch! I'm following a vitamin routine. I'm currently taking a packet provided by VitaOne that was introduced to me by a couple that I work out with and it's been doing me wonders. I'm following this plan
I take more than what is in the packet because it doesn't provide me with everything on the list but it's the closest thing I have found.

I'm back at boot camp and even though I am modifying it is GOOD to be back. I want to be closer to 100% before I get back to crossfit. After all that is my ultimate goal! That an run a 5K without walking.

I didn't get to finish the Mama Guns challenge due to my injury. I'm not 100% but good enough to get back to the challenge. I'm going to start from scratch and just go for 8 weeks and see what should have happened. I have the 30 Day Shred and I'm going to give that a go to. The only thing I can't do are those jumping jacks. I have to find a modification for those. I'm gonna get back on track one way or another! Crossfit trainer Shaun McCrary has challenged us to get 25 workouts in before the end of December. No problem! Right?

Congrats to Sister of the week!  ()

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by @EarthFootwear. One winner of the carnival will win a pair of Earth Footwear.

I'm back with some inspiration for you ladies!
Go Ahead Get Your Groove on...no one is watching.




From RealAge.com

Secure Your Success
Charting your progress gets you there faster. Try these tools:

Track my weight loss.





Track my weight loss.

Watch my waist get smaller.
Watch my waist get smaller.


Track my walking.
Track my walking.
 
 


Need for fitness support? Join the "Sistahood".

  • The long term goal 50lbs. by the end of the year.
  • The short term goal 4 lbs. per month. 
    • January - 4 pounds lost = goal met. 191-4=187
    • February - 5 pounds lost = goal met. 187-5=182
    • March - +1 gain = goal NOT met. 182+1=183
    • April - 2 pounds lost = goal NOT met. 183-2=181
    • May - 3 pounds lost = goal NOT met. 181-3=178
    • June - 0 gain/loss = goal NOT met. 178
    • July  - +1 gain = goal NOT met. 178+1=179
    • August - 2 pounds lost = goal NOT met. 179-2=177
    • September - +1 gain = goal NOT met. 177+1=178
    • October - 1 loss = goal NOT met. 178-1=177
    • November - 1 loss = goal NOT met. 177-1=176
    • December


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11/28/10

5 Fingers of Thanks

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1.) Thankful that Thanksgiving is over and we can move on to Christmas.

2.) Thankful these vitamins are making me feel like a whole new person.

3.) Thankful that my husband has been rocking that Honey Do list.

4.) Thankful for my new Sony Bloggie toy!

5.) Thankful that there are so many people praying for the needs of my family.

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11/27/10

Bloggie Touch Camera By Sony

Check it out! It's my early Christmas gift. All I wanted was a Flip but husband went out and picked up this Sony Bloggie Touch in HD with four hours of recording instead.  This camera is so small that it's a lot like filming with an iPhone. I'm in love with the ease of use. I love the way you can rotate the camera and it automatically takes care of it. For a blogger it's awesome because it allows you to easily share still shots and videos easily. Here are a few samples of how the images and video look. I took it with us on our family trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival.
This footage is of Circa Paleo playing a little Led Zeppelin.

One of my favorite photos is this one but you can view more here.
Once I got home I registered and installed the bloggie software. I love that the manual is a pdf file! I haven't really needed it though. The software is so user friendly! I can trim video. The only draw back is that I can't link the videos together. To do further editing I have to use other software but I don't mind. This is an amazing camera! What an upgrade. Check out what I was using until a tape got stuck in it. Isn't it huge? lol

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11/26/10

Honey Do Part 2

No really, he's on a roll! My husband has managed to do all but one thing on the "Honey Do" list. Today he replaced pickets in the backyard and he tackled the kitchen faucet. We had a Kohler faucet but it started breaking apart after 3 years. There was a leak that was drastically increasing our water bill. He replaced it with a Delta Bellini Stainless Steel kitchen faucet available at Lowes. Sweet! That sprayer has some serious power. I've had to adjust to it after completely soaking myself (on accident of course). After all he has done, you can see all the other stuff on my list over here, he brought me home an early Christmas gift! 


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Freebie Friday - Link Up #contests and prizes every Friday

Are you hosting a #contest? Great! Post it here on Freebie Friday. What better time to search and enter contests than on the weekend? Sign in so that others can find your giveaway. I will be hosting Freebie Friday each week from now on so be sure to drop back by. Now go grab your tasty beverage, sit back and relax and contest hop with me! Don't forget to check out these hosted contest links too.
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Aloha Friday #241 - Honey Do!!!

My husband has been on a roll the last two days. All he needed was a little time off to completely catch up on my Honey Do list!
 The kids broke the handle on the faucet and this took him about 5 minutes to replace it. He also switched the water lines so that the direction of hot really does release the hot water and not the cold. Whoot!
The motor burned out in the kids ceiling fan so we pick up this $35 one at Lowes and he replaced it! This took about 20 minutes. He replaced a board under the kids bed too but I can't lift the mattresses and take a photo too.

He hung up these two broom and mop holders up in the laundry room for me! They are $7 each at Lowes. Talk about handy! No more chaos for me. I'm getting this place all organized! He also fixed our side gate but it's raining right now so I can't get a shot of that either.
If you were on Facebook you might have seen the before photo of my cabinet, it was a spice MESS! He hung up these two racks for me and now I have a whole new system. The racks are $20 each at Lowes. For a little over $100 we got a lot of stuff crossed of the Honey Do list. I'm super happy that he got all of this stuff done. I don't know how or why this happened but I'm truly thankful and am much happier!

My question for you is.....

How is your "Honey Do List" going?

Kailani at An Island Life has created this really fun idea. If you are interested in joining in, please visit her site for more details. Share with your friends and click on those "Like" and Retweet buttons. Before you go, don't forget to link up! I'm sure we are in some of the same circles. Have a look around the side bars and don't forget to check the "Add Me" tab.

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11/25/10

It's All About The Pie! - Happy Thanksgiving

Special thanks to the Deer Park United Methodist Youth Group for making these yummy pies! Our contribution to the Thanksgiving feast were these cherry and apple pies along with a ham. There was so much food. I'm thankful that our families were able to come together, join in prayer and eat. Also, I'm thankful that my husband has spent the day killing that honey do list! He has done such an awesome job tackling things around the house. I'm super happy about it.
Look at Toni, you would think she had some turkey but she didn't. I caught her this morning snoozing on the couch. Since she is the last dog standing I had to cut her a break. It's Thanksgiving after all and well, I'm thankful to have her still around. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


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11/24/10

Wordless Wednesday - Frosty

He's already in the holiday spirit. I let him go crazy with the sugar cookie dough. He made this super cool snowman. He's got some modeling skills don't you think?






For more WW participants head to:

Mom Blogs


To view other Wordful Wednesday blogs head over to:



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11/23/10

Tackle It Tuesday - Giving Time

Tackle It Tuesday Meme

The bathroom closet took me about 4 days because I had to start and stop and start and stop but everything is organized once again. I just finished it this morning and I'm pretty proud of it. Now to keep it this way. I use lots of little storage boxes and storage drawers to help me keep everything in it's place. It was a great time to throw out all sorts of expired medications.
Now for the fun stuff to tackle! Our church is involved with all sorts of giving projects for the holidays. These are my favorite things to do. We are going to fill two stockings one for a boy and one for a girl. We are also going to work on filling a Seafarers Box. If you would like to find out more about the filling stockings or seafarers box program please click here.


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11/21/10

5 Fingers of Thanks

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1.)Thankful that my little guy is going to make his future mate very happy! He already knows how to change diapers. He put diapers on his monkeys. 

2.) Thankful to be researching vitamins and what my body needs. I'm on a mission.

3.) Thankful that my Caught Being Good can is working.

4.) Thankful that I programmed that Universal remote all by myself. I don't like being technologically challenged.

5.) Thankful I finally have answers after the infamous MRI. 12 more weeks of healing ahead?


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11/20/10

HERRICANE SILLY - Strikes Again!

She is way too big for this car seat but she likes to hang out in it and put her babies in and buckle them up. She found my phone and decided to call her "Nah Nah." She was having an important conversation. No big deal right? I went back to my desk to hunt for some papers. The she popped up out of the seat and said "I go potty!" I'm thinking...this is progress and off she went. She was taking a little too long and I went to check on her. 
You could smell that minty freshness from several feet away. She wasn't going potty, this is what she was REALLY doing. I'm not sure if she thought it was finger paint time or what? It's great to do crafts and stuff with your kids but some times they can't seem to decipher the difference between the art supplies and say....a tube of toothpaste!
Don't let this cute face fool you! She'll be back and ready to strike again at a moments notice. Until next time...stay tuned for further destruction from HERRICANE SILLY.


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11/19/10

Freebie Friday - Link Up #contests and prizes every Friday

Are you hosting a #contest? Great! Post it here on Freebie Friday. What better time to search and enter contests than on the weekend? Sign in so that others can find your giveaway. I will be hosting Freebie Friday each week from now on so be sure to drop back by. Now go grab your tasty beverage, sit back and relax and contest hop with me! Don't forget to check out these hosted contest links too.
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Share with your friends and click on those "Like" and Retweet buttons. Before you go, don't forget to link up! I'm sure we are in some of the same circles. Have a look around the side bars and don't forget to check the "Add Me" tab.

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Aloha Friday #240 - Fill In The Blank

Kailani at An Island Life has created this really fun idea. If you are interested in joining in, please visit her site for more details.


I wish I could get into the holiday spirit! I'm trying really I am. How about this fill in the blank....

Thanksgiving to me means ___________.

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11/18/10

Take The Good with The Bad

This is my follow up to the "$1.00 Fine Can." My boys hate that can. lol - It's got about $6 in it so far. Rather than focus on negative behaviors I want them to know that I do notice when they engage in positive behaviors too.

For example:
Our oldest fixed breakfast for the little ones yesterday morning without being asked. He just took care of them. The evening before he played a game of Mouse Trap with his little brother and even though he won, he told him that it was a tie! That is progress because normally he will gloat.

Our four year old takes a lot from that Herricane Silly on a daily basis. Yesterday he got into the game closet and pulled out a Perfection for him and Connect Four for her to play with. How sweet is that?

My plan is to put these things on slips of paper with rewards and put them in the can. On Saturdays we will open the can up and see what happens. So I'm looking for suggestions on rewards. I'm thinking about stuff like getting to stay up an extra 15 minutes after bed time or an extra 15 minutes of computer or Wii time. If you have some more ideas just throw them in the comment section! Thanks.


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11/17/10

Wordless Wednesday - Strike A Pose!


Really I don't know what got into this boy on this day! He wanted to model his pajamas. Are you loving that hip action or what? He's my little funny guy. He keeps me laughing daily. Do you have a little ham in your house?




For more WW participants head to:


Mom Blogs



To view other Wordful Wednesday blogs head over to:




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11/15/10

#Mamavation Monday - MRI Time!

Mamavation


Official Challenges:
Movement Challenge--Get 100 minutes of sweaty cardio per week. Keep us updated in Mamavation Monday post by using form.

The Mama Guns Challenge-Strength Training--getting strength training 3-4 days per week for 30-45 minutes. Using #mamaguns hashtag to talk about it on twitter. This is week 7 of the challenge and have been out for 3 weeks. I'm still hoping to get back to it this coming week.


My Work Outs -
Tuesday -1.5 mile walk
Wednesday - Crossfit


Days I'm not working out I'm getting my house really organized! I'm not sitting around but I'm not hitting it hard either. See below.


Scale Reading -
In the midst of all my cleaning I can't find anything. I'm pretty sure that compared to last week I'm just maintaining. No gain, No loss.

Measurements -
I still can't find that measuring tape. I'm gonna hunt some more today.

Stress Level -
Week 7 on the injured list and still having issues with my leg. Saturday I broke down and bought one of these! Sunday I started wearing "the boot" and my leg swelled and it hurt more to hobble around in the thing than to walk on my own. I spoke with the Dr. this morning and apparently that's NOT suppose to be happening!!! So now they are scheduling me for an MRI. After the Spartan Race the paramedic told me to go straight to the ER to have it looked at just to be on the safe side. That statement to me, translated into a choice so the last thing I was going to do was spend the rest of the day in an ER. I should have went! It's 7 weeks later and I'm not better. My workouts are very limited. The treatments aren't working, the boot is not working and now I'm back to doing what I should have done in the very 1st place. BAD PATIENT!

My husband has left the country again for a week. In the first morning that I'm alone I find that I'm going to have to do the MRI. The boys woke up not feeling well. I personally thought they were just trying to ditch school. Then the 4yo started puking so yeah, now I feel terrible for not believing them. lol - Geez! 


The UP side -
I'm gonna get the MRI and get this issue resolved once and for all! My house is getting cleaner and cleaner every day. Congrats to Sister of the week! Scarlett of @

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by Patricia Friberg. Two winners of the blogging carnival get a copy of Belly Beautiful Workout.


I'm having a hard time staying inspired ladies! 



From RealAge.com

Secure Your Success
Charting your progress gets you there faster. Try these tools:

Track my weight loss.




Track my weight loss.

Watch my waist get smaller.
Watch my waist get smaller.


Track my walking.
Track my walking.
 
 


Need for fitness support? Join the "Sistahood".

  • The long term goal 50lbs. by the end of the year.
  • The short term goal 4 lbs. per month. 
    • January - 4 pounds lost = goal met. 191-4=187
    • February - 5 pounds lost = goal met. 187-5=182
    • March - +1 gain = goal NOT met. 182+1=183
    • April - 2 pounds lost = goal NOT met. 183-2=181
    • May - 3 pounds lost = goal NOT met. 181-3=178
    • June - 0 gain/loss = goal NOT met. 178
    • July  - +1 gain = goal NOT met. 178+1=179
    • August - 2 pounds lost = goal NOT met. 179-2=177
    • September - +1 gain = goal NOT met. 177+1=178
    • October - 1 loss = goal NOT met. 178-1=177



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11/14/10

5 Fingers of Thanks

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1.)Thankful I finally broke down and am wearing the boot. I'm hoping this is my cure all!

2.) Thankful that family is helping me out while my husband is in Brazil for the week.

3.) Thankful that my son rocked the goalie position during his last soccer game.

4.) Thankful for all the good friends that came to Parent's Night Out for our monthly dinner.

5.) Thankful that by removing our businesses out of our home that it's becoming a much more relaxing place to be.

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A Little Twist on The Swear Jar!

My boys have been fighting like crazy lately. It's become a daily thing and everything I'm trying isn't working. They will do things just to mess with each other. Since our oldest boy is 10 we expect that he can set a better example than resorting to two year old tactics. It started out with the two of them calling each other names. Then it became, "he hit me!" The list just kept growing with new and improved ways to annoy each other.

To keep some peace in the house I threatened them with $1.00 fines when they called each other names. They both kept asking things like, "who gets the money?" "Where is the jar?" "How many jars are we going to have?" Well, clever Mom that I think I am remembered that we save our empty coffee cans in the garage!

I pulled one out of the garage and set up a Word document to print out labels for my new "Fine Can." Oh yes.....I did. My labels are:
Name Calling
Being Rude or Back Talk
Taking or Touching other people's things without asking
Touching in a NON loving way - includes but NOT limited to kicking, punching, hitting, slapping etc...you get the idea.

It's a huge can so I can add more labels if I need too. I think it's genius! What do we do with the money? Maybe we give it to their baby sister? Maybe we donate it to a charity. I'm sure we will find some use for it. I just hope the thought of parting with a $1.00 every time will decrease these behaviors. The dollars will come from their piggy banks. It always seems to hurt when you have to part with your cash. I'll let you know if this works or not.


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11/13/10

The Boot - It Screams Sexy!

 After 6 long weeks I'm still not healing properly. In the meantime I get to hobble around in this awesome contraption called "the boot." After wearing it for three hours I'm having more swelling in my leg than before. I'm not sure if that is suppose to happen or not. I'm going to call the Dr. on Monday and inquire. I can see how someone would develop hip problems after walking around in this device for several weeks. It's completely awkward and I'm not a fan. Hopefully this is going to help. I'm crossing my fingers.

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11/12/10

The Baby Grands II

We had so much fun gathering the kids to have a listening party for The Baby Grands second album. After looking at all the video footage there is a clear winner among these songs. It's Robot! I couldn't believe how serious these boys were about their robots. It was hard to keep from cracking up! These kids are all heart and they really did enjoy the entire cd.
The songs are fun and the lyrics are easy for kids to repeat. I think they have another successful album on their hands. Today our 4 year old took the cd with him for show and tell. I'm sure they are all going to have a great time listening to Robot. Can you imagine a classroom full of four year olds acting like robots?

Special thanks to Kimberly Rowell co-director from Back Space Records for allowing our family to review this new release.

Share with your friends and click on those "Like" and Retweet buttons. Before you go, don't forget to link up! I'm sure we are in some of the same circles. Have a look around the side bars and don't forget to check the "Add Me" tab.

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