Our Week in Pictures

Some sweet girl fell asleep on the way home from lunch in Nana's sweater.

A style all her own.  =)

I think I did that once... a couple of decades ago.  

We've worked our way room to room.
Who says you have to stay in the classroom?
The view is much better here anyway!

Keeping it real.  This is what our dining room table looks like most days now.  LOL

Audrey's sun project for Science.  

Changes

I thought I'd check in to let everyone know I'm still here.  I've been looking into moving over to WordPress, so I haven't been around here much.  I'm not overly pleased with the Blogger changes.  And, in looking into WordPress, I came across another free website design site called wix.com.  I have had way too much fun playing with it.  Here's my new personal site that I'm playing with:

http://www.wix.com/kim4flags/kimmieblog

My other site relates to my new business with Usborne Books.  Let's face it, I'm a sucker for books.  My kids love them and so do I.  We use a lot of Usborne books for fun and for school.  So, when presented with the opportunity to rep for them without having to maintain a quota or inventory, I decided it was a win-win situation.  I get to buy my own books at the consultant discount.  And, if I do decide to host a few events, I'll earn that many more new books plus some extra cash.  Here's the site I'm working on for it that also connects to my official consultant site.  What do you think?

http://www.wix.com/kdnorton/usborne

Weekend Update

Shew, I need a weekend from my weekend.  We were nonstop for 3 days.  Saturday we took a beautiful hike up to Sawnee Mountain Indian Seats.  Maddie walked the whole thing without asking to be held.  (Yay!)  We followed that up by celebrating at a birthday party of our neighbor's.  Then we were off to do a little shopping at REI and The Container Store.  (Yay!)  Today Chosen sang at Rehoboth Baptist Church.  That was followed by a 3 hour rehearsal for our Children's Spring Musical.  I'm ready for bed!

My sweet girls taking a relaxing moment on the rocks.

Our Family

The beautiful view

So, I totally busted my diet this weekend.  It really is the worst I've done all month since I started.  On the positive side, I was very active this weekend.  I'm putting it all back together tomorrow.  

I have to brag on Audrey for a minute.  My wonderful neighbor tested her for me today.  She said at this point in the year, she should be reading at a level 13.  She's actually at a level 20!  What a relief!  Makes me feel good to know that she's learning something and ahead of the game.  :)  Also, we're working on 2nd grade math right now and should actually finish by the end of summer.  So, she should start 3rd grade math at the beginning of the new school year.  This is definitely one of the wonderful things about homeschooling.  Each child is different and we can work at her pace.  She doesn't have to be bored or held back.  We're just pushing forward regardless of her grade classification.  We're so blessed to have this freedom! 

And then there are days she wants to make a giant mustache with rulers.  LOL

Random Randomness

It's Friday night.  I'm tired.  But, I've had a super day.  I'm a wee bit fried - a little too much sun.  Today was Field Day with our Homeschool group.  We had 200+ kids there.  Had a blast!  This was my assignment for the year.  (Each parent has to help with one activity a year to be part of the organization.)  I helped set up and then was in charge of the Kindergarten kiddos.  PRECIOUS!  Seriously, they were so darn cute I could hardly stand it.  :)  We had them for 2 hours going through various obstacles, courses, and relays.  The only down side was that I couldn't watch my own kids.  I did have a sweet mom take pictures of Maddie for me since her son was in her class.  I can't wait to see them!  Anyhoo... I lathered my children up with sunscreen, but forgot to do the same for myself.  I look like a beet from the neck up.  Doesn't feel so good either.  Lesson learned!

So, I'm down 7 pounds now!  Slowly, but surely!!  It hasn't quite been 4 weeks, so I'm hoping to hit that 8 pound mark by Tuesday, so I can officially average 2 pounds a week.  :)   It's not the 5 pounds a week my doctor said I could lose.  Hmph!  But, honestly, I have not completely eliminated carbs. But, I'm still making wiser choices.  Baby steps!  I will share with you a couple of sweet treats that I've found I like.  They are quite yummy - and after the first two weeks, my sweet tooth kicked back in.  For lower carbs snacks, I'm loving the Atkins Treats - specifically the Endulge - Chocolate Coconut (tastes just like a Mound Bar) and Peanut Caramel Cluster (tastes just like a PayDay).  Yum!

 


The girls and I went to see the production of Into the Woods, Jr. tonight.  This is the same group that did Alice in Wonderland last year that I helped with.  This year I helped, but not nearly as much.  I did the 3 group choreography numbers, but that's it.  I was really looking forward to seeing the whole production tonight.  It was amazing!!  Truly.  The talent of those kids took my breath away in a couple of places.  I laughed so hard in some places.  Knowing most of the kids personally, having worked with them the some the past two years, I felt like a proud mama watching them tonight.  Just beautiful!

That's it for now.  I'm worn completely out.  I think we're all going hiking tomorrow - then off to a birthday party.  My sweet friend and neighbor, Amy, who teaches 2nd grade (1st grade last year) is going to test Audrey for me this weekend to make sure we're where we need to be.  Also, Sunday Chosen will be singing at Rehoboth Baptist Church.  We have to leave at (gulp) 6:45am to get there in time for sound checks.  Immediately afterwards, I have to go back to our church for a 3 hour rehearsal for our spring musical.  It is a full weekend!  Full speed ahead!

Fun Pics of the Day

Someone has to have their mornin' cup o' joe to get going.
No worries - it's just a spoonful of coffee in a cup of sweetened milk.

The girls having "recess" in the backyard.  For the record, Audrey is wearing her dad's jacket and mom's high heels.

Tootsie has suddenly developed a fear of the back deck.  She's stand at the door, but won't come out.

Love watching my kiddo "read for fun".
My girls call this "reading in the brain".  LOL

Ahhh.... coffee has bee consumed.  It's time for a little abcmouse(dot)com

Deliverance

I started this post a few days ago, but wasn't sure where it was going.  I just knew I needed to share.  Been writing on it a few days.  A lot of my posts have been on homeschooling, my family, and my weight loss journey lately.  Sometimes I feel the need to dig a little deeper and share some of my personal thoughts.  Thanks for letting me be transparent with you today.

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Today was a productive day.  I finally conquered the master closet!  I put away all the fall/winter clothes.  I condensed it to 2 containers and donated 5 bags of clothes/shoes.  :)  Feels good to purge!  I had planned to do the same in the girls' rooms, but while cleaning, I found my old journals.  I got a little side tracked and read them all.  Shew!

Let me just say, first off, I was one very confused college student.  So insecure.  Today I found myself reading and wanting to yell at the naive girl that was trying to figure it all out.  I wanted to tell her to keep listening to her gut and believe in herself!  Several times I wrote in my journal what I thought God was revealing me to do, yet I went the other way.  ARGH!  Boy, did I have a lot to learn!

After I read through the college journal, I went on to the next phase of life journal.  I forgot what a dark place I had been in after losing the babies and then through my divorce.  All the insecurities and pain I felt - for lack of a better word, sucked.  I was in a very unhappy place.  I was not myself for a long time.  I said and did things that I'm not proud of.

Instead of turning to God to work through my feelings of rejection and inadequacy, I sought acceptance in other places and people.  I drank.  I smoked.  I jumped out of an airplane (ok, that was kinda cool).  I did all kinds of things to fill the void.  I was angry.  There were moments where all I could do was say, "God, I'm mad.  I'm mad at you.  Why did this have to happen to me?  What did I do to deserve this?"

You know what, even when I thought God had forgotten about me, He was there.  When I finally woke up from my nightmare, I heard Him say, "It's not about you, Kim.  It's about Me."

I wasn't a bad person, but I was making bad choices while trying to cope with the circumstances.  In college, while I was seeking God, I was still trying to do it my way.

So, why am I sharing all this?  Because I am so thankful for God's deliverance!  It hit me today as I reminisced the good and the bad times through the years, what a wonderful place I'm in now.  All that I truly wanted in my life, I have now.  Every once in a while, I have to go back in time and relive some of the hurt to remind me of the blessings I have today.  I never want to take those things for granted, but I do.

Even in my darkest days, He was working on me.  Had I listened to God and followed His guidance from the beginning, would I be where I am now?  I'll never know, but I'm grateful for the lessons I learned in the process.  I didn't care for it at the time, but looking back - going through what I went through made me who I am today.  I am a very different person today than I was ten years ago, twenty years ago.

Even with all my mistakes, God can and does use me.  I struggled a lot - and honestly still do - with how He could use a sinner like me.  Truth is, no one is perfect.  No one!  We all have a past.  We all have our dark days.  But, we have to remember that it is He who delivers us.  We all need a Savior!

I Burned How Many Calories?

Reality, my friends!  There's a really cool site that I've been using - www.dailymile.com to monitor my workouts.  It's free.  I love it!  It's also a big ole reality check.  Now, I've been doing pretty well with my diet.  I'm not completely "carb free".  I mean, come on, my body needs them if I'm working out, right?  But, I have drastically changed the amount that I allow. I've pretty much cut out sweets completely.  I had my first roll and mashed potatoes today simply because I went to a luncheon and there was NO other choice!  (But, I did walk 3 miles before I went.)  Anyhoo... I'm making much better choices.  I've also been working out 4 times a week.  Now, I know that there are different ways to measure how many calories you burn, but I'm not sure exactly which way is correct.  For example, the Greenway has signs posted that basically says for every mile you walk, you burn 100 calories.  Yay!  However, when I factor in the time it takes to do those 3 miles (thanks to the above link), it may only say 230 because of the time it took me.  Bummer.  Which brings me to my next thought:  It DOES matter what you eat!  I looked at my stats from last week.  I worked out 4 days, a total of 4 hours and burned 1650.  Not too shabby, huh?  The week before, I worked out 3 days and only burned 504 calories.  When I think about the amount of time I put into the exercise I do, I do NOT want to waste my calories (or carbs) on junk.  Really makes you think about what you eat!  At least, I do.

Here's to consistency - my greatest problem, EVER.  But, I'm finishing up week #3.  I'm down 6 pounds.  I'll take it!

Spring Break Fun

This week is Spring Break - and even though I hadn't planned on actually taking the whole week off, we pretty much have.  :)  D had to go out of town for the week, so we packed up and went to TN for a few days.  My parents just moved from east TN to middle TN, so we went for a short visit.  I got to see my college roommate for the first time in a couple of years.  I love how we just pick up right where we left off.  That is a true friend!

Today we went to the Y, then out to lunch, then to the park, followed by a trip to Bruesters for ice cream, and then home to play.  We spent the entire afternoon outside.  The weather was absolutely perfect!!  I could definitely get use to this.  =)  I'm hoping the weather holds out all weekend.  I'd really LOVE to take the Trikes out for a nice ride on Saturday.  (Are you reading this, D?!)  =)

Speaking of the Greenway and parks, I just need to say how incredibly grateful I am for the place we live.  We are surrounded by beautiful Greenways and amazing parks.  We went to the new facilities at Fowler today.  It is amazing!  What a great blessing it is to just run over to a nice, clean, fully equipped park to play or miles of paths to walk on.  Good stuff!  And, everyone in the area should be taking advantage of it!

So, looks like I'll be going on my first ever mission trip this summer.  It is not out of the country - it will be in North Carolina through Families on Missions.  I think I may take Audrey with me.  I'd love for both of my girls to start young and hopefully grow a heart for missions early.  I never really knew much about missions except that other people went and we helped raise money and pray.  Honestly, I never even thought I'd be one to go into missions.  Granted, one trip to NC doesn't necessarily make me a missionary.  But, I have been surrounded by some awesome ladies who do have a heart for missions - and it seems to be contagious.  =)  Please pray for my family as we know that God is calling us for greater things.  We just need to be faithful and take the step to go where He leads.