Kindergarten Tiny Talk

Tiny Talk Tuesday celebrates our children and their view of the world. They continually make us laugh and by recording their Tiny Talk we can focus on one of the many JOYS of parenting! If your kiddos made you laugh this week (don't they always), then feel free to share the humor! Check out more Tiny Talks with Mary.

Today was day 5 of kindergarten for That Other Kid and it started off rather shaky, but ended on a much better note. I love homeschooling for the flexibility it allows and the opportunity for me to watch my kids "get it"!! It is not for the wimpy, though! It is challenging and it does take time, but so does parenting...so you just have to decide what is best for you and your family.

As I said today started off shaky -- That Other Kid didn't want to do handwriting, but I have learned do the things that are most difficult first thing or it won't get done. He has learned to write all of his capital letters almost to perfection, just because he wanted to, but lower case is a real struggle for him so that is what we are working on. I handed him a handwriting paper and told him to copy the letters by following the dots and tracings offered. He looked at the paper (keep in mind it was the first assignment of the day) and promptly informed me that "I'm just too tired to do school today!" I knew this was his way of telling me "I don't want to do this", so I told him "Ok, I guess if you are too tired to do school today then you should go take a nap, instead of playing with your toys or doing school".

Amazingly he was energized enough to complete the assignment!! After doing his handwriting assignment we moved on to phonics worksheet. No problems there, when he paid attention! Next we moved onto math! Math is his favorite subject and he is really good at it (probably related, huh?). Kindergarten math was not going to be challenging enough for him so I bought 1st grade ABeka -- So I'm telling him how to do the assignment and he looks at it and says, "Oh, that's EASY PEASY!! Why is this (simple addition) so easy??" (In case you don't know "easy peasy" comes from Dragon Tales on PBS.) It cracked me up!

Next we moved onto Geography (he loves maps and identifying everything to where it is in relation to Texas). We got the US map out and the World Globe and I explained and named all the continents and oceans, then gave a little pop quiz! He is so intrigued by maps it's amazing! Everything relates back to traveling from Texas to "wherever" whether in car or by plane, so it was a fun exercise in distances!

Homeschooling at it's finest!! Gotta love learning!!

I Goofed Big Time....

When I first started this blog I wanted to use it as a place to vent my frustrations and have a place just for me to be me. Over the past couple of years that I've had the blog that's pretty much what I have done. But over the weekend it came to my attention that I was hurting someone with the words I was writing on some of my entries. So I will be looking back through my blog entries over the next couple of days and I will be deleting negative and hurtful things about my family. There may be times when the blog will be down or unaccessible during this time, don't worry I'm not shutting it down, just revamping it some.

The majority of my blog has been about me and the boys and the day to day life of raising 2 boys growing up in 2 different generations. I will continue discussing the challenges that come up with this and the things they do. I will continue to write about my weight loss and exercise routines, as a means of journaling and possibly helping someone else going through these same challenges. However, from this point on there will be things that I won't discuss -- personal stuff about dh, or the boys. I will also make an effort to leave the reader wanting to come back for more instead of leaving here and thinking I need therapy.

Hope ya'll have a good day!

This Month's Pictures

You may or may not remember but I have taking pictures of myself to watch the process of my weight loss in a visual format and today is picture takin' day. I have gotten to the point where I actually look forward to this bit of visual stimulation. It helps me SEE what I have done in the past month. For me this almost as important as seeing the numbers on the scale going down. So without further delay....

this is last month -- August 11














and this is today -- September 11













I can actually see these pants sagging at the b*tt and legs! And is it me or does my b*tt actually look smaller in today's picture?? When I first started working out I couldn't wear these pants comfortably. The shirt is still snug around the stomach but it's not as much as it was several months ago. I am amazed at the amount of stretch my clothes had to do just so I could wear them!

Anywho...I just thought I would show you the progress I've made...although I still have much more to go I'm seeing some real results! In other news, tonight was my "rest" night in the Wii Active 30 Day Challenge so I did the WiiFit Hula for the first time in about 2 weeks...boy did I lose a lot of momentum! I also have been working out using Jillian's 30 Day Shred and tonight was the first night of Level 2! Man that is a killer....I still struggle to keep up with some of the cardio workouts and I did a good part of tonight's workout following Anita (for beginners) but it felt good to push myself and sweat!! Now my muscles are sore and tired and I need to go take a shower and go to bed...maybe it'll only be 12:30 tonight instead of my "as of late" 1:00 a.m.!!

You Capture -- Something New

This week's challenge for the You Capture photo meme was to photograph something you have never photographed before.

I'm not real orignal when it comes to taking pictures so this was more challenging than I thought it would be. What is something that I haven't taken a picture of? Well most of my pictures are of my boys or something that they do. This one does fit that category, but I've never taken a picture of That Other Kid playing a computer game for KINDERGARTEN! So...here ya go!!




He is soaking up all the "learning" going on around here...as long as it's something he WANTS to do! Today we started working on some phonics and I got a bit of resistance, but it was pretty minor compared to what I dealt with with That Kid! I struggled a bit with getting him to sit for story time today so we just moved on to something else...MATH is his favorite subject and as I said on Facebook today, what is wrong with this kid?? I can't even imagine loving math the way he does and he is great at it, too, which probably helps considerably!

So....anywho...go back to Beth's site and check out all the other "different things" that people are taking pictures of!

Week2 Weigh In 30 Day Challenge

Today is weigh in day and I'd like to say I had a great week with lot's of weight loss, but I would be lying.
Last week I was at 199.9! I was so happy to see that number under 200! This week I weighed in at 202.10 how did that happen?
How can I gain 3 pounds in 1 week while still exercising and eating well? I don't get it! I'm very bummed, but I know it's not going to keep me down! It's a process and I will get where I want to be!
So I will start watching what I'm eating, drinking, and how I'm working out. I need to make sure my workouts are intense enough and maybe even longer!

I am loving the challenge with the Wii Active. I like how it changes every day and it gives me days off occasionally! I also love how it motivates me, although the trainer does get annoying by the end of the workout.

What I HATE about the workout is the RUNNIng, but that's because I HATE running and I'm slow so they criticize me every time.

Anyway, today starts a new week and better determination to get this weight off!

1st Day of Kindergarten - Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday celebrates our children and their view of the world. They continually make us laugh and by recording their Tiny Talk we can focus on one of the many JOYS of parenting! If your kiddos made you laugh this week (don't they always), then feel free to share the humor! Check out more Tiny Talks with Mary.


Today was the first day of Kindergarten in our homeschool! It was a very exciting time for both That Other Kid and I. I'm not sure who was more excited -- but I would guess it was him! Yesterday while we were eating dinner as a "complete" family (meaning That Kid was home for the weekend) we started talking about "stuff" happening since he's been gone. I mentioned that after That Kid got up and left for school Tuesday morning, that we would be starting Kindergarten. That Other Kid got so excited he was literally bouncing up and down in his chair! That's what I call enthusiastic!

I didn't really get a chance to prepare for school the way I had intended but I knew pretty much what I wanted to accomplish. This morning we got up and did our normal stuff and I had planned to start school about 11 a.m. and work till 1, then go to the park for a couple of hours to burn off some of his energy and get in his "PE" and "socialization" for the day.

About 10:30 That Other Kid was finished with breakfast, dressed and "rearin' to go". He said, "When are we EVER going to start school! I need to "get smart"! So I finished my breakfast and at 10:45 a.m. this morning we "officially" started kindergarten! It was a great day and it was fun to "start over" with an enthusiastic student.

He is a visual, kinestetic learner, so about half way through the "school day" (which was about 2 hours today) I sent him for a little run down the block! Then we sat on the couch and I read a couple of readings from William Bennett's Children's Book of Virtues. It was nice to have a little "snuggle time" in the midst of our school time.

He loves maps, so I had him color a map of Texas while coloring in some of the major rivers. He informed me that there are "28" rivers in Texas. "Wow! That's a lot of rivers, huh, Mom? and did you know there is a river in Texas that looks like a "beavers dam" because it cuts off part of the state?" Tomorrow we will continue our study of Texas with the state bird, flower, flag, etc. I can't wait to see what WE learn tomorrow!

Phonics will be our "struggling" area but I love the ABEKA reading/phonics program so we will work with that and get through it. Today our letter/sound of the day was "I" (the short vowel) and the symbol of the "i" was an indian. He wasn't sure what an "indian" was so I got to explain what an indian is in simple kindergarten type vocabulary. He had to find all the capital "I's" and the lower case "i's" in a word find puzzle. The letter "I" was formed with capital "I" and the lower case "i" was formed with lower case "i's" in the puzzle, too!

He thought that was the "funniest" part of school.

Hey, whatever it takes to make it FUN...that's what I'm all about!

30 Day Challenge --- Wii Active

Yesterday started another new challenge with the Sisters. I'm excited about all these challenges because they will keep me moving in the right direction -- DOWN!! I will be continuing on my track of good health and I will be helping others at the same time with the Weight Watchers Lose For Good Challenge. I'm also going to start the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred tonight. This will be the third time I have done it, so let's see how many of the routines I can do with "hard-core Natalie"?!! Anyone want to join me in the torture??!

Anyhooo...last night I was running behind my "normal" workout schedule and didn't get started till VERY late. I was already extremely tired and my quadricepts were sore from the practice routine I did SATURDAY night. What's up with that?? With all that in mind I figured I better set my challenge up for "easy routine". Plus everyone else that I had heard from earlier in the day said it "kicked their butts" and if it kicked their butts being at least 10 years younger and way less weight I better just start off slow, ya know? So, I did the easy setting and other than all that freakin' running I did well and wasn't really all that sweaty and tired! So I guess I'm in better physical condition than I thought I was! I absolutely HATE RUNNING, though and they kept telling me I was going "too slow"! It was awful! and my "girls" were bouncing around like they were unsupported! So time to double up the support system, I guess!

So, bottom line is I'm going to LOVE this new challenge and I'm excited that they give me "assigned" days of rest! So that will allow me to do some different routines or even take an occasional night off from the Wii. I will continue to do the 30 Day Shred DVD because I know myself too well. If I take time off from everything I will just sit on the couch, blog, watch tv, and EAT! Not a good combination for a girl who still has 60 pounds to lose!

So all in all, I say I'm looking forward to this challenge and all that it will mean for my overall health! And get this....last night dh was watching me do the Wii Active and he said that it actually looked like something he might enjoy. What a great way to be healthy together!


Edited** Wow I just noticed that this is my 400th post! Wow have I been doing this that long?? Um, maybe I need to celebrate, huh??