New Fitness Gadget :)

I have been researching the Body Bugg for a long time and recently decided it was time to try it out. Luckily Christmas was coming up = great early present from my awesome husband. I have been wearing my bugg for one week and it is amazing!

You wear it on your arm and it keeps track of the calories you burn throughout the day (with 90% accuracy). There is also a computer aspect to the program. You enter the foods you eat and it tells you total calories consumed. If you want to maintain your current weight the calories consumed and burned should be about the same. If your goal is to lose weight you need a deficit. Pretty easy!

There is also a watch that you can get with the Bugg that I think is essential. It keeps track of your calories burned and shows them in real time. I don't have to wait until the end of the day or even hook my bugg up to the computer to see my progress. You can also set the watch to record the calories burned from one point to the next. I now know how many calories each workout normally burns. How cool is that!!!

But the coolest part about it is the nutrition graphs and pie charts it makes based on what you have eaten. I can glance at the graphs and see how much calcium, cholesterol, carbs, protein, and fat I have taken in for the day. If there is a problem (not enough calcium) I can tweak my menu to fix the problem. I LOVE this! I'm a fitness nut and I enjoy learning about nutrition. So this Christmas present was perfect for me :) And I get to use it everyday!!!

I should also add that there is a sale going on right now (ends today) that lowers the price drastically. I have been watching the price for about a year and I have never seen it this low. If your interested google Body Bugg and check out the prices at Apex or 24 hour Fitness.

Love this one!!!

Dancing in the kitchen...

while eating a banana :)

Memories from my childhood

I remember standing behind my mom with scissors in hand. She asked me to trim her hair and I felt honored to be trusted with the task. Slowly and carefully I trimmed the ends and and made sure it all looked even.

This morning I decided it was time to cut Elliana's hair. As I stood behind her scissors in hand, I was instantly reminded of the trust that was given me by my mother. I knew Elliana was also trusting me. I love the sweet memories that linger over the years.

Before-

After-

There are good homeschool days...

..and then there are bad homeschool days..

it's not always smiles and laughs, but it is always worth it :)

Love it! So True!

A lot of people would be happier if they didn't expect more from people than they are able to give.

Fitness Goal #999 reached :)

When I started P90X I couldn't do a pull-up or a chin up. Twelve days into the program I was ecstatic to be able to do a few chin ups. But the pull-ups still eluded me.

During the week I would use a chair to help me do over 100 pull-ups/chin ups. Yesterday I decided to try an unassisted close grip pull up. No dice. I could get my chin just under the bar but not over it. This morning I decided to give it another try. This was after my weights workout; so my arms and back were pretty tired. And the result- I did two!!! Two close grip pull-ups!! What a great way to start the day!!!!

The van, chalk, and a tape measure = MATH!

The math problem-

Use the diameter of the van tire to determine how far down the road the van will travel if the tire makes one full turn? (Use 3.14 for pie and round your answer to the nearest inch)

His answer 80 inches...

.... and he was correct!

Tiananmen Square Massacre

Joshua is studying China in his Eastern Hemispheres history class. We found this great video about the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Elliana is doing really well in her reading. I snapped these pictures while she was doing her lesson. Notice that she wrote mom and dad on her paper. She is really into adding her own words to her reading list. Love that girl!

:) So True!

Great Work Out!

In case you were wondering I am in my last few weeks of 90X (it takes three months to complete). I have been really enjoying lifting weights on a regular basis. In the past two and a half months I have gained a ton of muscle but the scale has not gone up. So all this muscle is burning up unwanted squishy stuff :) Gotta love that! I am looking forward to round two !

I have also been running, biking, and swimming when time allows. Did you think I wouldn't??

Besides my normal craziness I have been really enjoying Bob Harper's Cardio Conditioning. This workout is killer! I always end up a sweaty mess at the end and I feel completely exhausted :) And it's Bob; he has a great personality and is very encouraging and not at all annoying. This is a great at home workout and the cost is even better- 10 bucks!!!

Cookies & Milk

I hosted a Cookies & Milk baby shower this past weekend. This theme was new to me but when I found it online I was excited to see how it would turn out. I decided I wanted to have a personalized invitation; rather than one that was fill in the blanks. I researched Etsy and ended up making my own.

I found the perfect cookie jars. I searched and found some scrapbook paper and ribbon that matched the color scheme (pale green and chocolate brown) to decorate them.

Each cookie jar was labeled with a certain kind of cookie.

The milk jars were also labeled with the different kinds of milk.

I found the cutest bucket to hold ice and the milk jars during the shower. I added a brown ribbon bow to each handle to make it extra adorable. To spruce up the chocolate brown cups I added the word "Yummy" in cursive print; I also added a chocolate chip cookie picture to the plain white plates.

Decorating the house was going to take a lot of brainstorming and trial and error. Twelve years ago I gave a baby shower for my niece and at the time I used tulle. I dug all that tulle out of a box and used it to decorate the main party area.

To hide the fan I made tissue paper poms. I used this tutorial-

I used the poms to decorate the foyer as well.

The table cloth is made from 2 yards of fabric (pale green with chocolate brown dots). I just cut it into an even rectangle and hemmed the edges.

I think it turned out well! I hope all these instructions will help anyone who wants to throw a cookie and milk party :)