Spring Operation Weight Off

Jen over at One Mom's World is hosting a weigh loss challenge called Spring Operation Weight off for Mom's. We are blogging our current weight if comfortable and how much we desire to lose and then will be posting our weekly loss on Mondays. I'm so excited! I began a weight loss challenge 5 weeks ago and have currently loss 18 and I'm looking forward to taking off another 46!

My weight came of course with my pregnancies. After my second daughter I had gained 60 pounds. In 1998 I lost 60 pounds and I felt great. Two years after that I was blessed with another child and AFTER the pregnancy during nursing I gained it all back. I starved and didn't move and ate a lot of junk. Since then I haven't been able to commit long enough to lose it again. I want this year to be different.

So today my current weigh in is 181. My current goal is to lose 46 more pounds which will put me at 135. Visit Jen over at One Mom's World to join this challenge and to see other women who have stepped up to the plate to do something about their health! If you are participating please sign Mr. Linky!

Sunday

Since I didn't have a sitter Meadow and I went with the family to stay at the hotel but I didn't get to go to Battle Cry. I gave my ticket to one of Sky's friends and the four of them had a great time while Meadow and I lazed at the hotel. We had a good time too. It was a nice change of scenery, we don't have television here at home so Meadow watched cartoons, Hannah Montana and Suite life with Zach and Cody the whole time. I enjoyed watching the gang come in singing praise and worship and talking about what they had learned. They came back to the hotel Saturday and we had lunch together in the hotel's restaurant the called the "The Bistro". The food was delicious and I indulged in a few desserts! It was nice not having to leave the hotel for food! :) Tony reserved us seats for next year's Acquire the Fire so I'll experience it then!

I have had the worst stomach ache today and I missed church today because of it. I haven't been sick to my stomach just had a tummy ache. I'm not sure if this is the virus or not, it's so hard to tell. I wanted to let everyone know how things went so I drug myself out of bed to blog a little. I hope everything is well with all of you and I'll try to catch up tomorrow! God bless you all!

Shopping Day

My girlfriend Kim and I took my oldest daughter Heaven and her girlfriend shopping for Prom dresses this afternoon. It sure can be stressful. I learned a few things today that I didn't know before because I never had the opportunity to go to Prom. I learned that dresses do not look the same on as they do on the hanger. I learned that my daughter and I have completely different taste....how had I missed that before? I learned that dress shop owners are excellent sales people and that you should be better prepared before entering! And finally I learned not to schedule three hours for Prom dress hunting and make an appointment for dog training! What a hoot!

I had Roxy (my Shih Tzu) an appointment for grooming at 5. We dropped her off with all intentions of being back by 8 for our training class. We barely made it back before nine which is when they close!

Heaven and Kelley both found dresses! Yay! What a load off! Heaven also found shoes. So now all she'll need is a purse/bag/clutch thing, hair and nail appointments and a tan! Whew! I had to leave the dress there for alterations but I will post pictures sometime in April. Alterations take a little over two weeks. I'll post pictures of the dress alone and then I'll post pictures of the dress on Heaven. I can't believe the difference!

I wanted Heaven to go poofy but she had other ideas. The lady at the dress store whispered to me, "Mom, no she (meaning Heaven) needs to like dress." I knew then I need to back off a little and remain quiet. It was so hard for me! I do love the dress on her but it sure wasn't my style.

I can't believe she is going to be 18 in August and leaving for college soon. I have spent the better part of the last two years mourning over this but you know, I think I'm finally to the point that I'm happy for her. She knew how insecure I was and one day she nonchalantly mentioned just getting a job, staying home and going to the local community college. I was shocked. I asked her what brought that on and she replied, "I'm just a little worried about you mom." I knew then I was holding on too tight. Its just so hard to let go. I put my foot down and told her absolutely not, she would go and fulfill the call God has on her life. You should have seen her smile. So now it truly does bring me joy to know she is reaching for her goals...I do still shed a few tears though, especially late at night like now.

On the way home from the mall tonight Meadow started vomiting. I guess she has picked up the virus that Heaven had. We are suppose to be attending Battle Cry Recreate this weekend, like leaving early tomorrow and now the sitter I had lined up has backed out because she has small children. I understand but I'm lost at what to do now. I've thought of taking her with me. I know Tony will not have me staying here with her because its suppose to be a family thing and we've already spent the money on tickets and a hotel room. Please pray that she feels better tomorrow and that I do not catch this thing!

Have a blessed and wonderful Friday everyone!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that Jesus still heals today. My sister is better. She fought a huge battle that almost took her under but we banned together and we prayed for her and she is better! Praise God.

I am thankful for forgiveness. So many times I allow my flesh to rule and my mouth to take over situations before taking the time to seek my Father and allow Him to show me how to handle things.

I am thankful that this week is a short week for us and Tony will be home tomorrow night. We have plans this week to attend Battle Cry~Recreate hosted by Ron Luce. Tony and I will have training and the girls will have separate classes in between the Praise and Worship. I'm so looking forward to this time with my family learning and basking together with the Lord.

I am thankful for home schooling and the opportunity to be a stay at home mother. I thank my husband for sacrificing so much to make this possible. It truly has made a difference in our family.

I am thankful for the call the Lord has put on my family's life. I so look forward to watching each of us fulfill that call.

I am thankful for each one of you reading my blogs, this one and our new ministry blog. It tickles my heart to know that the Lord leads so many by here. I pray that the Lord use me to lift each one of you up in some small way.

Happy Thankful Thursday! Have a blessed beyond measure day!
For more Thankful Thursdays visit Sting My Heart

Wordless Wednesday

For more Wordless Wednesdays visit WW HUB and 5 minutes for Mom.

I'm Behind

I have to apologize as I have forgotten to post my weigh in updates. I am still going strong with minimal struggles praise God! For those just happening by I am eating lower carb and smaller portions hoping to soon add in some real exercise. Up to this point I'm moving and stretching but thats about it. So far since my starting this loss journey I have lost a total of 16 lbs. I'm thrilled! I still have a good ways to go though. I will weigh in again this Friday and try my best to remember to post my losses! I continue to covet your prayers. This has been a stronghold for me and I want victory through Christ over my bad eating habits! I want those chains broken once and for all. I'm tired of being a slave to my stomach! Amen!

Our Easter

This is Nicoletta and Meadow. (Nikki is Meadow's friend from next door, she is just like a part of our family.)

They were my bakers for the day. They made chocolate oatmeal cookies rolled in confectioners sugar.

They both loved them!

I just love to see them smile!

They both got bored having to roll out so many cookies. They were patient only because they knew they were going to get to color eggs!

Look at these smiles....

And there were lots of giggles!

Ahh...here comes the color

How long do they have to stay in mom?

Let's not forget Sky!

This picture shows about half of our eggs and it was taken after hunting and eating a few!

The family, after church.

Tony and I

Tony made it home later Saturday evening. I was so glad to finally see him. Our Easter, our celebration of the Risen Savior was splendid. Definitely worth the wait. Thank-you for all of the prayers and support. I pray that each of your celebrations were also blessed!

Then Sings My Soul Saturdays

Well today has been a hard one. Tony was suppose to be in last night and we had plans to go to his mothers today for Easter. Instead he is still on the road even now as I type. Sometimes its so hard to not get down over my husband being gone so much of lives. Its harder today because its Easter weekend and I want us to be together so badly. I've gotten use to him being gone during the week and in a lot of ways that in itself is sad. Use to I could have never dealt with that. Weekends though, those are suppose to be ours. Family time. Prayerfully he will be in tonight. I'm trying to check my attitude because I feel cheated and if I'm not careful I'll allow myself to use today to destroy our weekend and the precious time we do have together. Sigh....

So today I listen to the song you hear playing on my play list and I sing to the Lord. Because He knows, I can't hide myself from Him.

Lord I pray that You filter through me today, enabling me to bring my flesh and soul into submission and that my spirit soar full of Christ and that I take my family into the spirit of celebration and thankfulness for all You have blessed us with and that I not teach them to focus on what is not. Dwell with us this day, right in the midst of us and teach us more in spite of me. Amen.

Psalm 139
You search me
You know me
You see my every move
There's nothing I could ever do
To hide myself from You
You know my thoughts
My fears and hurts
My weaknesses and pride
You know what I am going through
And how I feel inside
But even though You know
You will always love me
Even though You know
You'll never let me go
I don't deserve Your love
But you give it freely
You will always love me
Even though You know

By: Rebecca St. James

If you are playing today please sign Mr. Linky. Thank-you to Amy at Signs, Miracles and Wonders for creating this meme.

Good Friday

The Son of Man Must Suffer Many Things.....And Be Killed.

Rosetta Stone Giveaway!

In my blog travels the last two days I've visited many new blogs and had many new visitors! I'm having so much fun! On top of that I couldn't believe my eyes when I came across this Rosetta Stone Giveaway!

What?! Giveaway this awesome not to mention pricey program!

Well...yeppers! You got it! Say,"Yay for free stuff!" Yay! For free stuff! :)

I know you are just dying to know how to enter..........so here goes....
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Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!

Wishing you all the best!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for prayer, my very dedicated prayer warrior sisters online both in blog land and on my home school boards. I am thankful that you are each sensitive enough to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and that our precious Father is always, always, always faithful to hear our calls and answer!

My Sweet and Crazy Husband

As most of you know my hubby is an over the road truck driver. Before leaving last week he borrowed my camera and took these pictures. He called and told me to check the pictures on it later. How surprised I was to see these. I didn't blog them all, as there were many many more! My three daughters are always taking pictures of themselves with crazy facial expressions and Tony thought he'd try it! Hilarious! You gotta love him!

Roxy is growing so fast!

Isn't she gorgeous?!
Roxy is like a new baby in our home.

She is obeying the command, Down.

I love to see Roxy running. She just floats across the ground.

Standing still.

All in all Roxy is doing great. She likes to play and sometimes nips you and she becomes very excited when company arrives. I am taking her to training once a week and having her groomed while there. I know the more time I spend teaching her the more obedient she will be. Its funny because right now at home I can get her to do every one of her tricks but when there are distractions she completely ignores me. I'm hoping as she outgrows the puppy stage this will change.

Moving Right Along

I am into week three of changing my eating habits and trying to move more. The weather has been beautiful the last few days and I have been taking Roxy out for nice walks enjoying the Lord's creations. Weigh ins are on Fridays and I don't have a scale in the house. Before I started changing my way of eating I had gone to the doctor with Tony and while we were there we discussed our weight problems. I weighed while there and I decided upon leaving her office to make some changes as I had gained 9 pounds since December. So every Friday I have been driving back to the doctor's office and asking to use their scale to weigh on. ;) How kewel is that? It keeps me from weighing everyday which use to discourage me especially if I had done well and stepped on the scale only to see I'd gained a pound! Then I'd just give up. So I like weighing in once a week and I know if I had a scale here I would give in and get on it...so no scales right now!!

I decided to eat low carb because its what has worked the best for me in the past. It clears my skin and curbs my appetite. I couldn't make it on weight watchers because I always went over my points. When I am eating more carbs than I set for myself each day I make sure that they are in fruits, whole wheats and healthy foods. Healthy carbs and not junk food. My portions have naturally cut way back and I feel so energized. I know I'm losing because my jeans are already getting baggy. I'll post my total weight loss this Friday.

I'm just so happy to be doing something about it! It has taken me so long to just care. I appreciate any and all prayers that you all could offer me! Thanks!

Drama

We first seen this drama on You Tube. It was called Everything by Life House. In this first picture you see my daughter Heaven who is playing someone who meets Jesus. Jesus is played by our dear friend Mel he is in the purple.

Jesus dances with her and shows her many beauties that He has created.

Jesus knows her every move and never leaves her.

I love the expression on her face here.

Notice how they move together.

It's joy spending time with Jesus.

But then satan steps in.

Mimicking Jesus, offering lies.

You think its the same but deep inside you know it isn't.

Pretending to love but abandoning you leaving you broken and alone.

Here the temptation of greed and money step in.
This part is played by Austin our pastor's son.

Teasing you always being within your reach...

Yet never close enough for you to grasp.

It's a horrible struggle searching after riches.

And in steps alcohol.
Played by one of our youth Balei.

Pretending to be your friend.

Now this is vanity. She is making you feel like you aren't pretty enough.
Vanity is played by my middle daughter Sky.

Vanity focuses you on your body and how you compare.

Vanity leads to anorexia and bulimia.
I missed the picture that shows Heaven pretending to throw up.

So many of our girls deal with this on a daily basis.

This demon is played by Tommy. Suicide is his name.
He offers a knife and tempts her to cut.

Giving in she cuts.

He doesn't give up and eventually cutting isn't enough.
He offers the gun.

She wrestles within herself not wanting to give in.
She remembers the Jesus she once knew.

But how could she ever get back to him?

She throws the gun to the floor and plunges the demons trying to reach Jesus.

You know satan never wants to give up what you've given him.

She is determined to fight to find her way back to her Lord.
The picture doesn't show that Jesus is standing on the side intercessing for her.

They battle courageously against her.

This is war!!!

We fight this spiritual battle daily but its not always as plain to see.

Jesus steps in. Can you see the look of relief on her face?

She praises Him thanking Him for winning this battle.
Just remember she had to call on Him!!!
She had to choose Him!

And just like our loving God...

All is forgiven.

All is forgotten.

This drama in person is so powerful. There is a black light running during the battle to get back to Jesus and its very intense. Sometimes our daily struggles are just as intense as satan wars with us to tempt us and get us as far away from Christ as he can. Jesus is always there though, waiting for us to repent and turn our hearts back to Him! He never leaves nor forsakes us.
Where are you? Are you as close as you should be or have you wandered away?
Don't wait. Return to Him now.