Blessed 2b Home

And so it begins again. Two weeks ago I started another body for life round. No I have not officially entered the challange, but I took pictures and measurements in case I want to send them in later. I have been stressed and upset cause I have let myself go a little.. (well actually a lot) over the last year or so. .I have been running but not eating right or lifting weights and nothing on a consistant basis. Well. I am happy to say that I measured Sunday NIght and I have already lost 3.25 inches. and dropped 5 lbs in two weeks. I have been eating a lot better with one FREE day a week.. (no more blue bell everynight before bed).. and man does it feel good! I dont know why I ever stop lifting weights. It is the key to feeling better and burning those extra calories.
So.. the end of my twelve weeks is the first of Aug. I hope in another four weeks to be back in most of the clothes I havent worn in a year (and refuse to get rid of).. but most of all .. I hope to have tons of energy like I use to. If some of you havent heard of body for life.. they have site with great before and after pics. there is also a new book called body for life for women.. (I have it on hold at the library :)

We have also decided (A and I) to have a 5k race on July 4th. Its at 6:30 or so on the 4th and we decided to start a family tradition that doesnt involve frying, cooking, or buying. The first annual Swedlund 5k... we will run it here in my neighborhood, should be fun! A great way to celebrate. I am hoping to cut atleast 5 mins off my time from the first 5k. We'll see.

I am gearing up for my art camp that starts next Monday, I am thinking of adding another camp cause I have so many kids on wait lists.. (amazing)

The kids and pets are doing good. Yes the cat came home. Covered in stickers, silly cat.

My wrist is still bothering me.. so I guess I will go back to the doctor this week. (ugh)

OH.. we finished Caddie Woodlawn.. OH it made me cry.. Obidiah saved the day! such a great book! The next book I have started is called Homer Price.. its a short book.. about a boy who saves the day (one time with the help of his pet skunk). I am waiting on a book by Nesbit called the Treasure Seekers (Nesbit was CS Lewis' favorite fairy tale writer)..

Well the puppy is in my lap and wanting to go outside I guess.. ..

(Kids have started their chores.. I am off to do mine).. :)

b2bh

Ok.. are you ready for this? Yes I do mean a Life changing experience! Its probably going to shock all of you but here it is!
THE KIDS HAVE CHORES NOW! Ok.. well its nothing new really the kids have always worked in and around the house.. BUT.. I have now gotten organized and created a CHORE CHART! (wow!).. and can I tell you .. it has been like an extreeeeeem makeover in our house.
I am now able to do other things.. like sit and read a book, or take a long bath, or paint my nails (NOT REALLY)... other things like.. organized underneath the kitchen sink, and get caught up on ALLL the laundry, and spray the rose bushes with bugspray and miracle grow them.. it is amazing what I can get done when we all work together, in an organized fashion.

NO>. the answer is NO.. I know you are going to ask.. "do you pay for chores" .. the answer is NO.. (I never get paid for doing all the chores I do.. so they shouldnt either... plus... life is not about money.. and I think that is feeding into the materialism of this world. I think the kids should do chores because they are a part of this family, they have a role, and it is a great way to serves others.)..

On the homeschool front,, yes we are still doing school... the kids are enjoying their new books and I am really starting to work on Jo's reading confidence level.

I am gearing up for art camps so I don't know how much I will be able to post in the next month or so. Lots to do.. esp with all the watering and the gardening etc (we have thirty tomato plants)...

Yes, my wrist is still being weird. No I havent gone back to the doctor. Yes I am still running, no I havent run today (yet). Yes the dog is doing good. And NO the cat did not come home last night. (he did this last year and just worried me to death.. silly cat)...

Well.. better go get those clothes finished.. (the kids have finished their school work for the day and are now watching Jason and the Argonauts... one of my favorites when I was a kid)..

b2bh

May 18th, 2005. I cant believe it has been 6 years since Jo was born! My baby is growing up! This morning he decided he wanted coco puffs for breakfast. I have never bought coco puffs before so I am not sure why he decided he wanted that.. but since you can have anything you want for breakfast on your birthday .. coco puffs it is.:) I know.. I cant believe it either. .. but I just didnt read the ingredients to find out really how bad the stuff is for you... I figure once a year cant hurt. (Please tell me once a year wont hurt)

I know you must be wondering.. How is that silk worm of yours doing? ... well .. GREAT! About four days ago it started spinning and it took less than 24 hours for it to make its cocoon all around itself. What was really fun was holding the box it was in up to the light and we could see through the cocoon and watch the caterpillar working on the inside.. it was COOL..

Last night when I got home from my homeschool meeting I checked on another caterpillar we have. This on I found in the back yard on a weed.. I have been feeding it since Saturday and yesterday morning it hung itself upside down ... Motionless.. I knew then it was going to either be a moth or a butterfly but I wasn't sure.. WELL.. last night.. while I was GONE.. it formed its chrysalis! We will have a butterfly in a few weeks! I am so excited.. What a great learning experience.. On our little science table we have two caterpillars in the middle of metamorphosis [Latin metamorphsis, from Greek, from metamorphoun, to transform : meta-, meta- + morph, form.]!
So if your in town.. come on by I know you would just LOVE to see them and we can learn a little Greek while we are at it!..! :)

I know I should have some cute and important things to write about the kids and what they have said.. but lately I havent written them down so I cant remember.. BUT
I do think it is interesting the conversations that take place in the car.. from "God says..(whatever)" to .. " how do the lights change" to.. .. really silly songs (which I wont type out). And all this takes place in about 30 seconds.

The kids and I have really been loving the puppy. Trixy is doing great, already sitting for me when I ask. We went on a walk yesterday and I guess it as a little too long cause right before we got home Trixy laid down in the middle of the road.. poor puppy!

Well, the day is short and I have to water the lawn, do some laundry, go to the library, go for walk, and get some school work done.. and Make a birthday cake!

b2bh

I thought I would write a few lines about the curriculum I chose for the kids while at the homeschool bookfair.

Math: Math-u-see. (for Jo and Cat) I debated back and forth, and was really going to switch to a different, more colorful math program, but after all was said and done, Catherine has learned a lot from Math-u-see. She passed her placement test to move to the next level, but I am requiring her to finish her book before she starts her new one. She was happy to see the next Math-u-see book come out of the bag when I got home.

Science: I got a book called "The Body Book". It is a coloring type book but you photo copy the pages and connect all the bones and organs ect and when you are finished you have a large full size paper model of the body. Pretty cool.

grammar: I got a workbook and text from Rod and Staff Publishing. It is a Christian based grammar program. It is neat to have sentences she will diagram that are facts from the Bible. One example, the first lesson is to alphabetize a group of names, all people from the Bible.

Spelling: Spelling Work-out. This is the spelling that The Well-Trained Mind author recommends, but I had never seen it until we went to Mardels (love that store!). I asked Cat yesterday if she felt like she really had a spelling workout after she was done. .. she said.. OH Yeah! (Jo likes his too!)

handwriting: All the kids got handwriting without Tears. They love it. Catherine is on her final cursive book, and enjoys cursive a lot more than print. Jo is happy to have a book cause he has been finished with his first print book in Feb. He loves to just do lots and lots of pages at a time.

Reading- Oh.. the library.

Bible: I was happy to finally buy the Your Story Hour tapes. They are radio plays from years ago. I think the 1950s. The kids love them, and so do I. Of course we love to read the stories from the Bible before or after the tapes. The company also has lots of other tapes and radio dramas-from American History to Fairy Tales. They are great. (These tapes would be a great birthday or Christmas gift for any kid. I only have this one set but plan to share with other homeschooling friends who have some of the other tapes.)

History: I am still using "The Story of Our World" ... Love love love this history. I am hoping to be finished with the first book "The Ancients" by Aug. so I can start the next book, : the Middle Ages, in the fall. (we got stuck in Egypt and Greece this year and didn't want to leave!.. but this week we are heading to Rome! FUN)

Oh and I cant forget Latin! English from the Roots up is actually a text that focuses on Latin and Greek roots. I also got Rummy Roots, which is a card game with Latin and Greek roots.. WE will all learn a root of the week. Should be great!

Some people probably think homeschooling is expensive. All the things I bought this year for my kids was under $300.00. That is way less than I would spend on clothes, supplies, and gas if they went to school. (public or private). Of course Homeschooling is not for every family, and I believe each Family makes the choices they think are appropriate for their kids. I must say, homeschooling has been such a blessing to our family, and to so many others (as seen at the homeschool book fair in Arlington this last weekend.. Hundreds of homeschooling families WOW!) if you ever consider homeschooling as an option for your family I would love to answer any questions you might have.

Hope you have a blessed day at home.. time to go check on the silk worm and wash the puppies crate out.

b2bh

Trixy has taught me many a new thing.. here are a few:

1. My children have been out of diapers for so long i had forgotten how with babies you stop whatever you are doing and change, or in Trixys case take her out, or clean it up, or both.

2. Play hard with a great attitude then you can sleep the rest of the time.

3. The kitchen floor I thought think is clean, is a snack bar for Trixy.

4. Be Happy to see everyone, and they will be happy to see you.

5. Be happy to see the cat, and eventually the cat will be happy to see you. Do give up on the 20th time trying to make freinds, even if you get slapped and hissed at, stay happy, keep that tail a waggin, and some day that old grouchy cat will come around and be your friend.

6. You are only as big as you think you are.

I know.. its been a while since I posted. Sorry. I have been busy. I just got home a few hours ago from the book fair. OH it was great! I got all the kids stuff (grammar, Math, Spelling, Latin, Science, etc).. but I will go into that on a later post. I did come home with a silk worm, (thanks M), and hope it is as fun and interesting as the website I just looked at said it would be. Thanks to Nana and PawPaw who have a Mulberry tree in their backyard I can get leaves from, as that is the only thing silk worms eat. Should be interesting. (Did you know the thread that the silkworm spins its cocoon with is over a MILE long!) .. WOW!

Sad news on the baby bird front. The birds were doing so well, BUT, three turned into two and then a few weeks later the two were on the ground, dead :(. The only thing we can figure is the cold front that came through, with all the rain, was just too much for them.

The kids are in the bath, and I am needing to go get things in order for Sunday Church, so I really should go.

But here is what has been going on with the kids

Nate: He has recently become accident prone, running into things, cutting his fingures by accident, stuff like that.. He is also getting so tall! my baby isnt a baby anymore.

Jo: Big news, He lost a tooth a few days ago (his first), and was so proud ,.. he said : " I am the only person in my family to pull my own tooth out!" ..we all say, "Way to go Joseph!" .. got home from the book fair today and he had lost his other tooth, Daddy said Jo pulled it this morning! (Oh I am so sad I missed it!)

Cat: She has been enjoying the puppy, and LOVED the horses coloring book I got her at the bookfair. She is also excited about her new books for school and thought it was funny that the spelling book is called "spelling workout". She was happy to see the "English from the Roots Up" book and the "Rummy Roots" card game. Latin should be fun!

I am hoping to get time tonight to read some articles by Renee Ellison, a person that lectured at the fair. She is great. I will share more about her later I suppose.

Well I am off to get some sleep. (yeah right!)

I cant believe it! The 5k was great. A and C and I ran it in 39.30 mins! One thing I am really happy about is that we ran the whole thing! Didnt walk once! (although I said on many occasions "OH I think I am going to die! I have to STOP!" But A and C kept saying " we can do this!" and WE did! WOOO HOO! It is so interesting how most of running is a mind thing, I mean, you do have to be conditioned some what but, your body can do so much more than what most people give it credit for. Now we didnt get a t-shirt or anything. See we took the smart way out. We ran our OWN 5k. We decided we could save the $45.00 and run our own 5k in the subdivision where C and A live. Who needs a crowd cheering you on anyway, we cheered each other on. The next Swedlund invitational 5k will be in July at my house (the morning before the parade). You are all invited.

We are in Houston this morning and will leave to go back home today, and pick up our puppy!
Hopefully the med. we got for jo will work and he wont throw up the whole way home. Wish us luck!

B2bh