Books that I read for fun in January 2015

Last year, I spent the last half of the year documenting the books that I read for fun. I have decided that I need to continue that as reading is important part of how I relax.

So here are the books that I have read for fun in January.... (Disclaimer: if you click on the book picture, it takes you to the page on Amazon.)



Have you read any good books lately?

Rebecca...Jacob...then me and now Benjamin!

Last Thursday night, Rebecca came down with a fever and a headache and missed school on Friday. Thankfully, there was no school Monday as she was still fighting a fever, but was able to go back to school on Tuesday. Tuesday night, I got a text from Bill  that Jacob had a high fever and was sick. He has been home from school since then. He will go about 12 hours without a fever, then it will come back.

Then Wednesday night, I came home and had a bad headache come on all of a sudden. So I decided to take my temperature...and you guessed it....I am now sick. I have been achy all over, going from shivering from being cold to being hot. I am taking cold and flu meds and it is making it a little more bearable today, but this will be the second day I am off work. (Since I work in a school, I can't go into work with a fever, even if I have taken meds to control it). Uggh...I have no energy and I just feel like I have been run over by a semi truck or a salt truck!

Then this afternoon, Benjamin got cranky and we took his temperature and it was 100.7. Looks like he is now down for the count. UGHHH!!!

Weigh In Wednesday # 27 and another kid is sick

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 224.8 lbs

My weight this week is::: 224.6 lbs. 
Down 0.2 lbs! 


This past week I think I did okay. I was stressed a lot due to Rebecca being sick and now with Jacob being sick. And when I am stressed I eat. I have cut back somewhat on the sweets, but apparently not enough. Hubby has been bugging me to follow this diet program that he is on, somewhat like weight watchers but something he came up with where he doesn't have to pay weight watchers. Instead he has a a point system using calories and fat.... I don't know. Maybe I should. I don't know. 
 

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Weekly goals for week of January 26, 2015

Last week, I got some things done on my to do list but not a lot. I took on an adult tutoring student so that caused a wrinkle in my plans. Then Rebecca got sick. Add in work and I was just kind of overwhelmed. I did get a few things done that was NOT on my to do list--like deep cleaned Rebecca's bedroom which took a couple hours out of my Sunday. So what did I get done that was on my list.....

• dust upstairs (our room, Rebecca's room, the boys' room, and the bathroom)
• sweep all floors upstairs and mop the bathroom
• shred old bills and statements from 2014 that we don't need
• declutter 1 tote from the basement
• declutter tote upstairs in the hallway that has been there since before Christmas
• clean out downstairs bathroom cabinet

• 

  BEFORE

  
  

  

  AFTER

• 

  The trash I threw out from the cabinet

• continue  get back on ab/squat challenge  I decided to give up on this challenge for this month. 
• Laundry- one load at least a day, taking Sunday off Although I can't take credit, my dear hubby did all the laundry and got it all caught up.
• Post 2 book reviews
• Read to the kids at least 4 nights out of 7
• Figure out time for Benjamin's blood work
• Fill out and mail off HEAP application and Insurance renewal information
• date night with Bill 

This week, I hope to be more productive.....We shall see how things go....

• Dust and sweep upstairs (our room, Rebecca's bedroom, the boys' bedroom and the bathroom)
• declutter 1 tote from the basement
• declutter tote in upstairs hallway that has been there since before Christmas
• post 3 book reviews to get caught up
• Figure out time for Benjamin's blood work
• Fill out and mail HEAP application and insurance renewal information
• Tutor 3 days this week
• Rebecca's Reconciliation 
• Keep on top of everyday housework that comes with living with my husband and our 3 kids! 

So there you have it. My goals for this week. I think they are totally doable if I just actually do them. We will see.   I hope everyone has a great week! 

Gratitude Sunday

One of the things that I have been trying to work on is making sure that I am looking at the good things in life. Even when there are people that are sick, the weather is lousy, and life just seems like a mountain to climb straight up there are always things to be thankful for. So I have decided to *hopefully* come back every Sunday and say things that I am grateful for from the previous week.

This week, I am grateful for (in no particular order):

• A husband who has done most of the laundry for the week.
• Healthy kids. Rebecca has been fighting a fever the last couple days and is coughing today but her fever is gone. It makes me grateful for times that there are no sick kids in my house.
• Date night. Hubby brought home yummy Mexican food for him and I last night since we could not go out to eat due to Rebecca being sick. 
• Tutoring...I started tutoring an adult student this past week. It will be a little extra money.
• Summer vacation. Hubby and I nailed down our main summer vacation plans and now I just need to save up money to be able to pay for it completely.

Now it is your turn. What are you grateful for this week? 

Fever.....

This little girl should be at school right now taking a spelling test and doing all of her 2nd grade work. But she is not. She is laying on the couch, watching cartoons not feeling too well. When I brought her home last night after I got off work, she was running a fever of 103. Ughh. This morning it was at 103.3, after not having any Tylenol or Motrin overnight. When I called her school to tell them that she would not be in, the secretary asked if she had a fever and then told me that there were at least 2 other girls in Rebecca's class that were out today with high fevers, all of whom got them late yesterday afternoon/evening. So I am pretty sure it is something that she got from school. Now just to keep anyone else in the house from getting it.

Evening Prayers: For Every Day of the Year

DESCRIPTION:

We want to turn to God at the close of each day, but often don’t find the words to express our deepest feelings. This collection of prayers is one of the few daily devotionals especially intended for use in the evening.

Blumhardt’s words bespeak a certainty in God’s nearness. The peace that flows from them comes from a firm conviction that God’s kingdom is indeed on the way. In challenging times like our own, this reassurance can bring us serenity each evening of the year.

MY THOUGHTS:

I will admit that I have been thinking that I need to add more prayer into my life. I admire those people who can spend an hour each morning going over their Bibles and devotionals. Unfortunately, I know that that route is NOT for me, as I am not a morning person. That is why I was looking forward to reviewing Evening Prayers: For Every Day of the Year by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt. 

The book has an evening devotional for each day, starting with January 1. Each day has a short scripture passage, followed by a prayer based on that scripture passage. The prayers are the same prayers that were spoken over 100 years ago and were gathered after Blumhardt's death. 

There is a sense of serenity in knowing that these prayers have stood the test of time. I found that each day I could read them and still understand what he was saying because they were generic of the everyday. That is a blessing and fault with this type of book. If you are looking for a specific devotional for a specific time in your life, I would not recommend this. However, if you are looking for a devotional to help you stay on track with your spiritual life then I would recommend it. 

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free from Handlebar Marketing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (book review)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). 

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

MY THOUGHTS: 

It seems like I am in a constant battle of decluttering and having too much stuff in our house. I have read a lot of books on decluttering and getting rid of stuff, so I was intrigued enough to read Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. I was intrigued because maybe there was something new in this book that would help me finally.

What I found was a book that really didn't have anything new to say, however said what I already knew in a different way. Kondo begins her book by discussing why we seem to live in a world of clutter and untidiness--it is because we were never taught, or we were taught the wrong way. That leads to Kondo's big belief that we must change our way of thinking about tidying and do a big all at once declutterization versus a little at a time. She argues that we should declutter our homes by categories, not by rooms necessarily. Kondo offers the order that one should declutter: clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, and sentimental items. Once you have decluttered by only keeping things that bring you joy, then she offers suggestions on how to decorate and place things in your living space that work for your life.

There were several ideas that I liked that Kondo offers. I liked how she would take each thing and ask if it brings joy to your life and if it does you keep, if it does not you get rid of. I like how to she recommends doing one category at a time and I like how she gives tips on how to store the items that you do keep. I do agree that if you surround yourself with things that you love that you will be happier.

There was, however, times that I rolled my eyes and couldn't use some of her advice. First of all, many of her ideas seem to work for a single person or someone who lives with other adults. I did not see much, if any, advice on how to deal with kids' toys and the many things that children may have. I also got the impression that this type of organization would be better suited to someone with a tiny house or apartment, and not a 3 bedroom family home with 3 young children and 2 adults.

I would suggest this book to those with no children or older adult children and who want a simpler, easier lifestyle with not many things. For someone like myself, I like the concept of it, but am finding it hard to put it into practice. 

DISCLOSURE: I received this book free from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Weigh in Wednesday #26-- Finally moving in the right direction

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 226.4 lbs

My weight this week is::: 224.8 lbs. 
Down 1.6 lbs! Yahoo!  


This past week went a little better. I was feeling better mostly and I tried to make better choices when eating. We did eat out twice. Bill brought home Subway one day for lunch (I had half and then half the next day for lunch) and we went out as a family for lunch on Saturday. I did have a hamburger and fries, but I tried to eat healthier when I was home. I cut back on snacking, probably because I am tired of the chocolate and things I have here at home. I have been trying to cut back on carbs as I think that that might be one of my weaknesses. We shall see if that makes a difference. I was just glad to be heading in to the world of weight loss again! 

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Contraptions A to Z

On Saturday, Bill and I took advantage of the nicer weather to get the kids out of the house. We went to lunch and then headed to the CA&C Depot here in town to explore the art and science exhibit "Contraptions A to Z" with the kids. "Contraptions A to Z" is an interactive science and art exhibit designed by Clifford Wagner Science Interactives and it was being exhibited here in our town until next weekend.

It was a really neat exhibit and the kids had a blast! (And it was completely FREE to go to!)

D is for the drum machine

K is for kitchen clutter

B is for berserko ball bouncer-- this was Jacob's favorite

C is for cuckoo cuckoo clock-- this was Benjamin's favorite

G is for Gizmo Gears

K is for Kitchen Clutter

R is for Rope Thrower-- this was one of Rebecca's favorites

W is for Watchdog

The kids at the drum machine

N is for Nervous Nellie

Overall, the kids had a blast. Rebecca was really interested in how the different exhibits worked. Jacob like pushing the buttons and moving the gears, etc. I like that they had a good time and that it was free, fun family entertainment. I am trying to be more diligent about finding things like this for our family to do. I will say that if this exhibit ever comes to a place near you, you should go and see it. It is really neat.

Weekly goals for week of January 19

The week before last I did SO well with my to do list. I was hoping to keep that momentum going......HOWEVER, this past week has been pretty much a write off. Being back to work, no energy, being sick for 2.5 days and just feeling depressed and down meant that not very much got done on the to do list.

• cut all the kids' fingernails and toenails
• declutter tote upstairs in the hallway that has been there since before Christmas
• dust upstairs (our room, Rebecca's room, the boys' room, and the bathroom)
• sweep all floors upstairs and mop the bathroom
• shred old bills and statements from 2014 that we don't need
• declutter 1 tote from the basement
• clean out downstairs bathroom cabinet
• continue to follow ab/squat challenge
• Laundry- one load at least a day, taking Sunday off
• Post 2 book reviews
• Read to the kids at least 4 nights out of 7
• Figure out time for Benjamin's blood work
• Ben speech appt.
• Fill out and mail off HEAP application and Insurance renewal information
• date night with Bill
• Complete 4 chapters in Rebecca's First Reconciliation book with her
• Grocery store 1 time for produce and milk and bread. 

Therefore, my goals for this week will look pretty similar...Maybe I can be more productive....

• dust upstairs (our room, Rebecca's room, the boys' room, and the bathroom)
• sweep all floors upstairs and mop the bathroom
• shred old bills and statements from 2014 that we don't need
• declutter 1 tote from the basement
• declutter tote upstairs in the hallway that has been there since before Christmas
• clean out downstairs bathroom cabinet
• continue  get back on ab/squat challenge
• Laundry- one load at least a day, taking Sunday off
• Post 2 book reviews
• Read to the kids at least 4 nights out of 7
• Figure out time for Benjamin's blood work
• Fill out and mail off HEAP application and Insurance renewal information
• date night with Bill

So there you have it. My goals for this week. I think they are totally doable if I just actually do them. We will see.   I hope everyone has a great week! 

Weigh In Wednesday # 25-- (on Thursday)

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 226.4 lbs

My weight this week is::: 226.4 lbs. 
I didn't lose and I didn't gain. 


This past week was okay. I didn't lose. I didn't gain. And I know why. I tried eating better. I cut down on the snack consumption. However, there were 2 factors that I believe led to the no gain, no loss....One is that this was the week for "Aunt Flo" to be here with me for the month. And reason number 2 is that we ate out 3 different times and I did not make good choices for those times.. Friday night, we used a gift card and got Donatos pizza for dinner, as Rebecca was there for a birthday party so I decided to get dinner from there. Pepperoni pizza and cheese bread later....and you know what it really wasn't all that great. Sunday after church, we were invited out to brunch with my parents at Bob Evans. I ordered a farmer's market omelet, hash browns and cherry bread. Not the best choice but very good. Monday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing in the college football national championship game and my husband had to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for a work assignment and so we decided to get food from there for dinner again using a gift card. I got a chicken wrap which came with chips and salsa and we shared fries with cheese on top of them. Again not the greatest choices. So I know what I did wrong and now I just have to make different choices next time.   

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Weekly Goals for week of January 12, 2015

Last week I decided to start making out my weekly to do lists again to see if it would help me to be more productive. I am happy to say that it did make me more productive last week. Here is how I did...

• Mail Rebecca's pen pal letter
• Exercise following the ab/squat plan that I am following
• Dollar Tree trip for napkins, large envelopes and gifts for Rebecca's friend's birthday party (they wanted dog toys and treats to donate to the pet shelter instead of birthday gift)
• Grocery store 1 time!
• Post 3 book reviews (I am so far behind in posting reviews...I have 5 to do I believe to be caught up)--I posted 1.
• Laundry - get caught up and stay caught up
• Balance checkbook 
• Hang up Bill's man cave sign that I made him for Christmas
• Go through 2 totes of stuff in the basement and declutter--I went through 1 tote in the basement, but I also cleaned off and decluttered the top of the dryer
• Take donations to Goodwill (I have 2 trash bags and 2 boxes of things full of stuff to donate that I have decluttered since Jan 1)
• Make list for grocery store and stick to it! 
• Read to the kids each night.--I did not do this and I really need to make this a priority
• Figure out time to go get Benjamin's blood work done--Nope, didn't even think about it.
• Ben's speech appt.
• Jacob has an eye doc appt.
• Ben has an ENT appt.

This week, I hope to be as productive if not more so....Here are my goals for this week: 

• cut all the kids' fingernails and toenails
• declutter tote upstairs in the hallway that has been there since before Christmas
• dust upstairs (our room, Rebecca's room, the boys' room, and the bathroom)
• sweep all floors upstairs and mop the bathroom
• shred old bills and statements from 2014 that we don't need
• declutter 1 tote from the basement
• clean out downstairs bathroom cabinet
• continue to follow ab/squat challenge
• Laundry- one load at least a day, taking Sunday off
• Post 2 book reviews
• Read to the kids at least 4 nights out of 7
• Figure out time for Benjamin's blood work
• Ben speech appt.
• Fill out and mail off HEAP application and Insurance renewal information
• date night with Bill
• Complete 4 chapters in Rebecca's First Reconciliation book with her
• Grocery store 1 time for produce and milk and bread. 

So there you have it. My goals for this week. I think they are totally doable.  I hope everyone has a great week! 

Gratitude Sunday

One of the things that I have been trying to work on is making sure that I am looking at the good things in life. Even when there are people that are sick, the weather is lousy, and life just seems like a mountain to climb straight up there are always things to be thankful for. So I have decided to *hopefully* come back every Sunday and say things that I am grateful for from the previous week.

This week, I am grateful for (in no particular order):

• A warm house. It has been very cold, with temperatures in the negatives (-30 wind chill), and yet we have been mostly comfortable in our house. We have heat and blankets and warm clothes. I would say we are blessed.
• Kids toys. The kids had 3 extra days off this week from school and if it weren't for new toys and things from Christmas they would have gone nuts not having anything to do while they were at home.
• A working bathroom sink upstairs. Our bathroom sink has been out of commission for a week. It would not drain, so we had to call our landlord. He was finally able to come out on Thursday and got it fixed. It is so nice to have a drain that drains completely and to be able to brush our teeth upstairs.
• My sister. She confessed something to me this week that I know was incredibly hard for her to share. I am glad that she is not hiding it anymore and I hope that she can live who she is now without worry.
• My husband. He let me nap Saturday afternoon for 2.5 hours upstairs without any kid interruptions. I admit I was going a little stir crazy only being around the kids the last couple days and not being able to go outside or have any other adult conversation. He also took Rebecca to her birthday party Friday night and brought home pizza for dinner so that I would not have to go out in the cold.
• My kids. Yes they have been nuts this week, but who wouldn't be when they are cooped up in the house because it has been way to cold to go outside and play. They had their moments when they were fighting and arguing but then they had their moments where they were getting along and life was peachy. 

  

  I came upstairs from doing laundry and found them all three snuggled on the couch watching cartoons! See they do love each other and can get along.
  
  

  Now it is your turn. What are YOU grateful for this week? 

Another snow day.....

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That is me today....we have ANOTHER snow day. Not because of a huge snowfall, not because of dangerously low wind chill, but I believe it is because there is so much blowing and drifting snow on the roads and ice that it is not safe to travel. We did get about another inch or 2 of snow overnight last night, but when I looked out at 3 am our road looked surprisingly clear. Then I got a call near 6 this morning that we were on a 2 hour delay. Okay. Then I got a text around 7 that the Sheriff's office had put our county under a level 1 snow emergency, which means that Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads may also be icy. Motorists are urged to drive very cautiously. Then about 10 minutes later, I got a call that our school was closed. Looks like most, if not all, the schools in our area are closed again today. This is seriously getting old. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids dearly and I love being with them. However, they are going stir crazy because they can't go to school. It is too cold to go outside and they have played with all there toys over and over again. 


As for me, I have been able to do a few things on my to do list this week which is good, but it is not bringing in any money. I have lost 3 days of work this week due to the snow days. It stinks, but what are you going to do? 
Today, I have already made a batch of blueberry muffins. I have 1 more load of laundry to do and I will be completely caught up! Go Me! I think today will be the day that I face the budget and balancing the checkbook and pay bills. I need to set up the new sheets for 2015 for our bill paying. So I think I will do that. All I really want to do is go lay on the couch and read and do nothing but that wouldn't be making the most of the day. So off I go to do laundry and maybe get something done. Hope everyone has a great day! 

No school due to the extreme cold

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Today is another snow day....well actually school is closed due to the extreme cold. To be honest I was kind of surprised that we closed. I left work last night thinking we would have a delay this morning, but that we would still have school. But last night, I realized when I got home that the public schools around here had already called off for today and this was around 7 pm last night. As Bill and I were eating our chinese dinner for date night, we got the automated call from the kids' school that there would be no school today due to the extreme cold. It got down to -30 wind chill overnight. As it is right now, the heater has not turned off at all and it is still struggling to stay around 67 in the house. It is a balmy 0 outside right now, but wind chills are still at -20. We have a wind chill warning going on until 4 pm today. And when I checked the weather we are supposed to get 1-2 more inches of snow overnight. Just great. It is January and we are in the middle of winter. I am not looking forward to getting our next heating bill. Oh well, what will be, will be.

This morning, I was awoken by Benjamin crying. He had pooped in his diaper overnight, so I got him up, changed him and then we cuddled in my bed and he went back to sleep. It was a nice gift to be able to cuddle with him before the older 2 got up. Right now the kids are playing and getting along mostly. We will see how long this lasts.

As for me, I have gotten a couple of things done today. I started a load of laundry--still have a ton more to do to get caught up. Hung up the new smoke detector in the basement, as the other one we had fell off and broke. I have had the new one for 3 weeks and just now got around to hanging it up. I hung up Bill's man cave sign that I made him for Christmas. I have done the dishes that were left from last night that needed hand washed...pots and pans and a colander. I also answered the door to let our landlord in to fix our upstairs sink that wouldn't drain, and to show me where the water supply is for our boiler heating system. I still should take advantage of it being a sweatpants and sweatshirt kind of a day and get some things done.

Weigh In Wednesday #24

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 224.6 lbs

My weight this week is::: 226.4 lbs. 
I am up 1.8 lbs. :( 


This past week was okay. I know I gained, but I think I also know the reason. 

This past week was not too bad on the exercise front. I have followed the ab/squat challenge each day! So Go ME for that! 

Eating has been my problem! Eating wise, I have been eating way too many sweets that we have around the house. One of my goals for January is NOT to buy any junk food at the store and only eat what is here if I want junk. Well so far I have succeeded in NOT buying any junk. I was looking at coupons to load to my Kroger card yesterday and I almost loaded a $1 off Ben and Jerry's ice cream coupon on thinking that it would be good to share with Bill. Then I stopped myself, deleted the coupon and reminded myself that we have ice cream in the freezer if they want it. So YAY me!

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I still have been eating too much junk food....particulary chocolate though. I finished off the last bag of candy cane hershey kisses (I LOVE them frozen!) but we still have so much chocolate in the freezer that we were gifted for Christmas. I just need to moderate what I eat. Now that I am back to work, hopefully that will help cut down on the snacking. I also think that it has become a habit to go in the kitchen and get a piece or 10 of chocolate at many points during the day. This is something that HAS to change and change NOW.

In other good news, I have not been missing pop as much as I thought I would. I think that I am sleeping a little better and I have more energy and I really think that is because I am drinking lots more water and no pop. I can't say that I will give pop up for good, but I think this is definitely evidence I need to cut it out as much as possible. 

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Miracles of Jesus (kids book review)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Miracles of Jesus is a level two I Can Read! based on the NIV Adventure Bible, the number one Bible for kids. Through engaging illustrations and age-appropriate vocabulary, young readers will follow Jesus on his travels as he heals the sick and spreads the Good News of his Father’s love. Written for the newly independent reader, this series is appropriate for children almost ready for their first chapter books.

MY THOUGHTS:

We are a Christian family. As such, I have been blessed to receive to review several Adventure Bible I Can Read! books to share with my young children. The latest is Miracles of Jesus with pictures by David Miles. 

Miracles of Jesus centers on Jesus's journeys teaching and specifically is centered on his healing the woman who touched his cloak, healing Jairus' sick daughter that everyone thought had died, and the multiplication of the loaves and fishes to feed the crown of 5000. 

I liked how they didn't take away from the Biblical stories but rather the illustrator made the pictures in a way that children could connect to the story and understand the awesomeness behind the miracles. 

Miracles of Jesus is recommended for ages 4-8 and is a level 2 reader. My 8 year old read it with no problems, only asking how to pronounce the name of Jarius. My 5 year old liked the pictures and the story.

I think this is a great book for teaching children the Biblical stories of Jesus' miracles without using an actual Bible. 

DISCLAIMER:

The publisher, Zondervan, provided me a free copy of this book through Booklook Bloggers program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Snow Day!

Source

Overnight last night we were supposed to get some snow. Depending on which weather forecast you followed, they were predicting anywhere from 1-8 inches in our area. So I went to bed thinking, we would at least have a delay this morning for school. I woke up around 4:30 and the ground and streets were covered in snow. We live on one of the main roads in our town and it was absolutely snow covered. Lovely. I checked my phone. No messages about delays, etc. Checked online. Nothing, although there were already tons of closing in surrounding counties. I could not go back to a deep sleep. Finally, around 5:45, I got an automated phone call from the school, saying we were on a 2 hour delay. Looked outside and the roads still did not look like they had been plowed or anything. I changed my alarm and went back to sleep. Right as I was finally getting back to a deep sleep, I get another phone automated message at 7:15 that school has been closed for the day. Then Bill texted me from work and said he had cleaned off the van for me for nothing. LOL

I finally got up thinking that I still need to shower and get ready for Benjamin's in home therapy appointment that he was supposed to have at 10:30. Well around 9, I get a phone call from his therapist's supervisor. His therapist was in a skiing accident and had broken her leg and required surgery and would not be coming. They were supposed to meet later with the team to see what could be done for Ben's therapy and how they could manage his therapist's case loads. So no therapy today either.

So we are having a snow day here. It is too cold to go out to play so am not sure what we are going to do.
I know that I should get off of here and get something accomplished....like laundry, balance checkbook, make grocery list, etc. Maybe I should at least go figure out what is for dinner.....or maybe I could go lay on the couch and read..... Not sure yet, what I am going to do.

Weekly Goals for week of January 5

As I was sitting here this morning thinking about everything I want to get accomplished this week, I decided that I needed to start writing out my weekly to do lists again. I did this at the beginning part of 2014 and they really helped me to get things accomplished. So I am going to try again.

This week, the 2 older kids are back in school and I am back to work after having 2 weeks off for Christmas break. I am more than ready for them to be back to school. I love my children, however they have been driving me nuts the last couple of days. I think after a week, they are ready to be back to school.
Anyhow, so this is the week that we get back to normal with a schedule (hopefully) and time to get some things done.

And I have a LOT of things that I would like to get done.....so without further ado here are my goals for this week:

• Mail Rebecca's pen pal letter
• Exercise following the ab/squat plan that I am following
• Dollar Tree trip for napkins, large envelopes and gifts for Rebecca's friend's birthday party (they wanted dog toys and treats to donate to the pet shelter instead of birthday gift)
• Grocery store 1 time!
• Post 3 book reviews (I am so far behind in posting reviews...I have 5 to do I believe to be caught up)
• Laundry - get caught up and stay caught up
• Balance checkbook 
• Hang up Bill's man cave sign that I made him for Christmas
• Go through 2 totes of stuff in the basement and declutter
• Take donations to Goodwill (I have 2 trash bags and 2 boxes of things full of stuff to donate that I have decluttered since Jan 1)
• Make list for grocery store and stick to it! 
• Read to the kids each night.
• Figure out time to go get Benjamin's blood work done
• Ben's speech appt.
• Jacob has an eye doc appt.
• Ben has an ENT appt.

So there you have it...My goals for the week. I hope I can accomplish them all. The weather here is FRIGID cold and we are supposed to have snow overnight. For now I just want to hibernate and stay warm, but I must get some things done! I hope everyone has a great week! 

Yuletide Ice Cube Fair By Karen Poth

Yuletide Ice Cube Fair (Big Idea Books / VeggieTales)

BOOK DESCRIPTION::

It’s that wonderful time of year again—the Yuletide Ice Cube Fair! It’s a time of festivity and fun as Veggies gather to eat snow cones, slurp slushies, and ice skate on the frozen pond. But the greatest part of all is the Ice Cube Carving Contest! The Veggies are trying to outdo each other in an effort to win the grand prize. But the smallest of all these ice entries is truly the most grand—a carving done by Junior Asparagus. It is a tiny stable with a shepherd on one knee. Young readers discover that it’s not what’s biggest or best that’s most important on Christmas—it’s Jesus.

MY THOUGHTS::

Yuletide Ice Cube Fair by Karen Poth is a very cute Christmas story featuring the Veggie Tales characters that aims to remind children what Christmas is really about. The story begins with the children humming with delight at the upcoming Yuletide Ice Cube Fair. All the Veggies looked forward to the ice carving contest to see what each person was going to carve. This year's theme was what Christmas meant to each participant. This year, they had ice carved as a Christmas feast, a shopping mall, and a dozen angels among others. Each one seemed to be bigger than the rest, until they came to Junior's work which was very tiny but very meaningful. It was a stable with a Shepard. The judges reminded the crowd that Junior's work was what Christmas was all about, as it was representative of Jesus' love for all. 

I read this book to my 5 year old and 8 year old. They both enjoyed the illustrations and they both said that they liked Junior's work the best. I liked how the story starts and ends with a piece of Scripture. During the month of December, my kids re-read this book over and over and it has been added to our stack of Christmas books to continue to enjoy for years to come. 

DISCLAIMER:  I was sent this book for free from booklook bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Happy 2015 and my resolutions

First of all...I would like to say a Happy 2015 to all of you who dare to read this little slice of the blogging world. I hope that everyone has a wonderful 2015!

Now as for me...

As for looking forward to 2015, I thought about New Years past and how I would make grand resolutions which in turn would be broken 2 weeks later. It never fails. So I decided that instead of making yearly resolutions, I need to break any resolutions that I would like to achieve into smaller goals. But even that did not give me narrow direction....so I decided that I might try to break the smaller goals into monthly goals. I learned by following the Blogmas 2014 meme that I could do something for at least 25 days, why can't I take that idea and follow something similar for each month.

So I decided to take a look at what my BIG goals for ME are for 2015. They include:

• Losing weight (In order to meet my goal of losing 40 lbs by July 28 2015, then I need to still lose 29 lbs).
• Find some sort of stress relief method that works for me
• Read 50 books
• Find a way to make more money for our family finances

What I have decided is to break these down into monthly challenges. I don't have all 12 months planned out yet, but I do have January planned out. 

For the month of January to help with losing weight I will NOT be drinking any pop at all. I have been drinking it almost exclusively and I KNOW that it is not healthy for me. I will be replacing this with water and decaf tea without added sugar. 

For the month of January to help with losing weight and with helping our family finances, I will NOT eat any fast food. We are doing this as a family challenge for the month. I will also NOT be buying any junk/ snack food at the store, with the exception of tortilla chips and graham crackers for the kids. We can eat what we have here and when that is gone I have things that I could make. This will help with weight loss as well as our finances. 

For the month of January to help with losing weight and with stress relief I will exercise everyday. I have decided to do an exercise challenge each month. For January, I will take on the Ab and Squat Challenge seen here. I will also reward myself with a bubble bath at least once a week.

For the month of January to help with my 50 books goal, I will read at least 2 books for review purposes and at least 2 books for fun!

I know that I can do this, it is just a matter of doing it!

Do you make New Year's resolutions? Any advice on any of mine?