Five!!

Today my first born turns 5. I thought that I was going to be super emotional and sad. And while I did cry a tiny bit that she is going to college soon, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Instead, the place that I thought would be filled with sadness is over come with joy and pride. 

My sweet, not so baby any more, is growing up but she has grown into a little girl that any mommy would be proud of. 

This little five year old knows The Lord and shows Him daily with her kindness and loving nature.

I am such a proud mama today. Happy birthday Rhiannon!!!

Weight Loss "Secrets"

Many of you have been asking how I am losing weight. Today I thought I would share exactly what I have done to shed the pounds that I have lost. Really it hasn't been too much and it's completely doable.

First thing I want to point out, I just had a baby. So the massive weight loss is partially an illusion. The big belly that disappears literally over night plays a little bit of a trick on your eyes. The instant 15 lb. weight loss is a little bit of a cheat.

From that point on, I have done the work on my own, no magical instant tummy disappearance.

To begin, we cut back on red meats and added in a lot more salads. Cut back on sodas and juices and replaced that with water. Oh, and as most of you know, I {heart} Starbucks. Like big pink puffy heart LOVE Starbucks. In order to cling on to that relationship, I cut out all the yummy sauces, no more extra caramel or chocolate drizzle. In fact, I nixed the sugar all together. It's all non-fat sugar free goodness now. Simple changes that made a huge difference.

Those alterations got me down to my pre-Corbin weight. Once those pounds were gone, I was a little stuck for a couple weeks.

To lose the pounds that my body was clinging onto, I started the Body.Mind.Spirit Challenge with April over at April Kennedy..My Life + My Style. This is the forth week of the challenge and my body is slowly losing the weight that I wasn't able to.

Since being on the challenge we have been eating healthier options. Basic changes. More veggies, less carbs. MORE water than anything. Just good healthy changes. Plus some exercising.

Work outs for me are simple. I warm up with general yoga poses. Do a small tiny amount of running. And focus on my problem areas with LOTS of crunches and lunges. Nothing major but I am starting to see a difference in inches.

The last thing that I have been doing, our most recent change, is green smoothies. Hubby bought me a NutriBullet and the whole family has replaced breakfast on most days with green smoothies. Making sure to get all the key elements into the smoothies so the kids and nursing baby are getting everything they need.

And okay, if we want to be honest, my green smoothies are purple because they are sooooo loaded with fruits but hey, they are delicious and the kids are getting more greens than they ever would eat on their own.

So that's it. That is how I have lost the weight I gained with Corbin. My next goal is to get back to my pre-any baby weight. My end goal is to be back to almost my wedding weight. I gave myself 5lb leeway because I have delivered three babies, my body has changed...and well I don't wanna be greedy. Haha.

The secret to my weight loss has been basic but if I come across any secrets, I'll share them with you. I will definitely be sharing some recipes soon.

What goals are you working towards?

Date Night Style

It's not often that my husband and I get to have a real date night. We get the occasional quick bite to eat thanks to having my mother in law and mama close by. But a full blown, get dolled up date night is rare.

Recently, we got a chance to have one. It is was so fun to do my hair and make-up and change out of my usual mom wear.

Even more fun is that hubby surprised me with a dress he knew I would love. When the package arrived, I was impressed to say the least. He sure does know me.

Because I didn't want to be to formal, I funk-ied (I make up my own words, don't hate) it up a bit with my jewelry. I absolutely loved the overall look. 

  

Dress- Nordstrom

Necklace- Stylefox

Bracelet- Relics by Tami

Shoes- Anchor Blue

Choc Walk

Last month I told you about sweet Luke. For those of you who weren't reading along, Luke is one of my friend's son. He just turned three and is battling AML Leukemia.

Luke recently finished up his second round of chemo. All though Luke and his family have faced some tough challenges along the way, Luke is still smiling through it. This sweet boy is truly a little hero.

On October 13th, I have the honor of walking for Luke's team in the Choc Walk. To be able to walk along side his family and friends to show our support. To raise money to give back to a hospital that has helped Luke so much. I am really excited to be there.



I would be so grateful if you would consider donating towards my walk. Every dollar helps. You can do so by clicking here.

Thank you so much to all of you who have been following Luke's Journey Through Leukemia on Facebook and praying along side us.

Donate to my walk with the Luke Loves CHOC team

HomeSchool Week: School Photos

Today we are wrapping up HomeSchool Week with our school photos. I have had a lot of fun sharing with you and even more fun with the e-mailed questions and conversations that the posts have inspired.

To look back at what was shared, click these links:

What she is Learning

Our Schedule

A Sneak Peek at our Classroom

Now onto the pictures.

The idea behind her pictures came from her love of reading. I thought it would be fun to have a librarian inspired shoot for her school photos this year. So we headed to our library and did just that. Here are some of our favorites:

I am torn on which one should be used as her official Kindergarten picture. What do you think? Help me chose by commenting your favorite photo.

HomeSchool Week: A Peek in our Classroom

I daydream of a class room with chalkboard walls, a dozen globes and vintage educational posters. Right now, that Is not a part of our reality.

We don't have a room dedicated to school. We don't have spare rooms right now. In a few years we will be in a new home with extra space...if we don't have any surprise adoptions ;)

Right now we are blessed to have a bedroom that is bigger than anyone would ever need. We use half of it as our offices and home school room.

This is Rhiannon's portion of the room. On her desk we have any textbooks or activity books we are currently using, her chalk board and white board and her globe.

In her drawers you can find her paper, crayons, pencils and anything else an average kindergartner would need (except her scissors of course. Those are required to be in a locked cabinet...foster parent problem haha)

Hanging on her wall she has her alphabet pennant banner we made last year and clipboards to show of her good work. Soon enough we will have my chalkboard up, we are just trying to find the right place.



In my section of the room, I have my desk which is loaded with everything from invoices and orders to foster and home school paper work. This is my main hub. I blog here, I manage our home here,I teach from here.

On the desk you will always find my bibles, home school calendar, chrome book, the cute little props and most likely a mess that has exploded out of my creative mind moving to fast for its own good.

Choosing Joy Scripture from Thorns of Grace

In the drawers, lots and lots of paper work and handbooks and records. It's a chaotic mess that only I can navigate.

The white drawers next to me, all of our activity books and craft supplies.  We also have learning games and stuff like that in there. It's my type Z personality trying to be a Type A.

Hanging on the walls: a reminder board, another calendar (because the day planner, phone and google calendar aren't enough) and daily or weekly to do list.


This is our space. It's not perfect but we love it.

Where do you spend most of your days?

HomeSchool Week: Our Schedule

One of the biggest perks of homeschooling has got to be the ability to make your own schedule. From the time you wake up and do school to the days you take vacation, it is all up to you.

This year we went with a traditional school year vs. year round scheduling. We added in a few vacation weeks and played around with holiday breaks. Any vacations we decide to take that are not on our calendar, we will simply bring school along with us and make it a little more fun while still educating.

Our school year will look something like this:

First Day of School was September 3rd.

In School: Sept 3rd - October 11th

Mini Vacation: October 14th- Oct 18th (yep, baby girl gets a week off for her birthday. Spoiled)

In School: October 21st-November 22th

Thanksgiving Break: November 25th - November 30th

In School: December 1st - December 15th

Christmas Break: December 16th-January 3rd

In School: January 6th- February 28th

Mini Break: March 1st-March 6th

In School: March 10th-April 20th

Easter Break: April 21st- May 3rd

In School: May 5th-June 10th

Our weekly Schedule changes a little bit from time to time Most weeks we do school at home on Monday Wednesday and Friday with classes at Integrity on Tuesdays and Art Co-Op on Thursday. On occasions where we have field trips or holidays during the week, we will do that days work on Thursdays.

Our at home school days start anywhere from 8:30am - 10:30am depending on wake up time and fussy babies. Curriculum has been broken up based on the number of days in our school year and how units or topics in the books flow together. Most days go something like this:

• Begin with prayer and a devotion.
• 1-2 letters in Handwriting without tears. 
• Start with workbook then play with manipulatives and finish by writing on whiteboard or chalk
• Units are broken up into 5-15 sections. We do anywhere from 2-4 sections a day with the activities that go along with them.
• Start with text book plans and hands on work, finish with activity book
• Play with pattern blocks or base 10s for 10-20 minutes
• 3-5 pages from Explode the Code books
• Read from books we have brought home from the library
• 1 page of geography and any mapping activities that go with it.
• A portion of homework for History and Science

Depending on holidays and fun things happening around us we will also throw in little crafts, cooking or other fun stuff.

It is enough work to keep us busy but not enough that it is not doable in a day. We have fun together and Rhiannon is not only being educated but she is being trained up in the Word and learning to love to learn...tongue twister.