So, 3rd day back to my work outs... I know some of you made the lifestyle change years ago... and some of you have always been active so this is no big deal to you. I used to be big into Insanity, running, eating healthy, staying active after my third child was born. I was determined to get back in shape, which I did.  I got down to the lowest weight I had been since high school. I never thought in a million years I would let myself go again. Well, I did... we moved to the desert... I did a round of Turbo Fire and kept running. I only got up to about 6 miles a run when the scorching summer heat arrived. I gave up running when I could no longer get up early enough to escape the heat. I burnt out on Insanity and got busy with life.  My house was too small for a treadmill and I had a million excuses why I had better things to do. I thought I could keep the weight off by just eating healthy and drinking shakes.. I got tired of making shakes. I wanted REAL food!  The desert heat was depressing, I had no adventurous/outdoorsy friends to hang out with.  I was at a pity party and just plain old lazy. One excuse led to another.... until I had gained the most weight I had ever gained while not being pregnant. Last week I looked up a Shaun T. video on youtube. That's all it took, one breaking moment when I was reminded by him... that --I am the only person that can motivate me!-- NO ONE ELSE can help me!! I broke down on my living room floor and cried out to my savior. "Lord, I know I need to feel good about me, so that I can be the best wife and mom that I can be, HELP me!"  I was beginning to fail.  My energy levels could not keep up with the demands of being a housewife and a homeschool mom and a small business owner.  My house was a mess, I wasn't spending enough time with my kids or my husband, and the energy I did have was spent just getting by.  I couldn't keep up with anything. I had too many irons in the fire and I was waiting, waiting for what? Waiting for the weight to fall off on it's own!? I would think thoughts like this... "Maybe If I eat less, maybe if I stress enough, maybe if I ignore it.... no, maybe if I'm busy enough working, I'll just burn enough calories.. that's it.. I'll just stay busy" Did that work? Nope.. nothing happens on it's own. As much as we just wish that some problems didn't exist, they are real problems. Yes, gaining weight is a problem to me. If I can't successfully take care of my family and have energy to do the things I really want to do or keep up with the things my family want to do.... It's a problem!  One last thing... I went to pick up a couple summer shirts at Maurices. I tried on 2 tops and 2 pairs of pants that were sizes I should have fit in just months ago.... but they didn't.  Instead of grabbing yet a bigger size, I put all my items back and vowed not to buy a single piece of clothing until I lose my first 10 pounds! I have 13 to 15 pounds to lose.  (Yes, I know not all sizes are accurate, they are just a number but I know what I looked and felt like)  SO-----

LIFESTYLE-- that's it.. it HAS to be a lifestyle change.   I began to remember all the things that I had to do the last time, to get back in the routine.

1. Pick a work out

2. Make a grocery list

3. Hang my work out schedule on the wall

4. Take my measurements and make a goal

5. Download my Calorie Counting App "My Fitness Pal"

6. Find a work out buddy ( I found THREE)

7. Make sure I have comfortable work out clothes and shoes!

8. Vow to never give up!!

Life is too short to spend it moping around. Now I don't want to come off mean, I am sure there are a lot of people that are heavier than me that are perfectly happy! Don't take me wrong. You should be happy with the way God made you. But for me... I knew I could feel better and have more energy. I not only want to have energy but I want to be fit. My husband and I go hunting together. I don't want to be the one back at the truck because I can't keep up. (I'll never totally be able to keep up with him, he's a beast and can go forever!!!)   But I want to feel good while I'm at it! I finally have the mental strength again.  I knew once I started, I could do it. Getting started and talking myself into it, was seriously the hardest part! I was overwhelmed with the process, and my house, and my looks, and the way I felt. But once I made the decision, there was no turning back!  Three days later and I'm already feeling on top of the world. Because I have a goal and a plan. Seriously, the endorphins that are released from pushing to a high heart rate.. are like a high to me. I instantly have energy to clean and to be motivated about life!  I am so excited to start this journey once again! I hope and pray that this time, I can keep it going for good. I am still not sure why I quit the last time. 

I encourage you, if you're tired of the same old work out. Fined something new! Switch it up... find something you love and never give up! YOU CAN DO IT! Rock on!

If you want to follow my adventure again, follow my blog.  Also, let me know what helped YOU to get back on track!! I would love to know! <3 p="">

Sheila <><

Birthday Boys.... growing up!

Blogging has obviously taken the back burner. But here I am, almost a year later. Looks like my last post was Carley's last bday so since I DO have photos from the boy's small party I will go ahead and share.

Colton Travis- my 8 year old little man. Although not so little anymore he is still my little boy. He is in the 3rd grade this year.  Learning long division and all sorts of things that I just can't believe I'm already teaching him!  He is definitely growing up way too fast!  I am just in love with his little freckle face and blue eyes. He STILL hugs me and tells my he loves me every day without fail. Some times, as cute as he is.. he can drive this mama in sane.  He is a normal active boy that likes to pick on his younger siblings and rough house. Thank goodness for beautiful Arizona winters; he can spend lots of time outside.   He would rather be outside than do his school work.  He would rather be shooting his bb gun, riding his dirt bike or go hunting with his dad.  He does finally like to read, as long as it interests him. He loves to learn about the Titanic and if you ask him how long it was or how much it weighed, he can probably tell you. He also likes to read about baseball and football.   He is playing football again this year but this time it's with our church and the Upwards Sports program. He does a great job and is a very dedicated player.  I look forward to all the maturing he will do this year :) 

Stetson Travis- my baby, my cuddle bug.  I can't even believe he is the big 5!!!!  Where did time go??It seems like just yesterday he was a baby. He is doing Kindergarten at home this year and loves to learn! He is such a joy to teach.  Stetson loves to be in the house near Mom, even when the other two kids are outside. He loves to play in the mud when it rains, which doesn't happen very often.  He will tell you that he does NOT like the heat. If it's even 70 outside he wan'ts to come in the house.  He loves his cousin Will and Uncle Silas and Uncle Tom very much and looks forward to our next visit to Minnesota.   He also loves to play angrybirds on the PS3.  He still loves cars, dinosaurs and legos.  I look forward to teaching him new things but wish that time would just slow down and he could be 5 forever. He is such a ham and loves to make us laugh. He likes to be silly, goofy and sometimes gross. :p Gotta love boys!  

Since my kids don't like regular cake anyomore we settled for ice cream cake.. Pre-made! yay for mama.. I didn't have to do any baking this year! 

We enjoyed company with the Ellmans, the Ahart boys and the Baily family.  Also, our Tonopah Neighbor Bev came to visit.  The kids had fun riding the ATV and roasting marshmallows. Sean was awesome and did most of the work taking care of all the kiddos and entertaining them.  

 I took one of my favorite photos of Stetson this year on his birthday.  He and Kenai have been together since they were both babies. We got Kenai when Stetson was 9 months old.  I will cherish this photo forever.  

A recent photo of Colton with his Birthday present from Mom and Dad. 

He's quite the brave little rider. 

Carley turns 6!

My sweet little princess has just turned 6 years old on February 10th!  She is turning into such a lady!  She brings so much joy to our family and I can't even believe it's already been another year since her last birthday! 

 Before we were blessed with a daughter

  8 months along and didn't know what I was having!

Was a HUGE surprise! I kinda thought I couldn't have girls LOL

One week check up and the midwives house! 

2 weeks old

around 4 or 5 months

7 months

Our family of four!

She's had her share of fits :) 

 Her 1st Birthday!

At 18 months she became a big sister! 

I can hardly remember sometimes how little she once was. This next one she is 19 months old with her brother. This one reminds me how much they love each other. Colton absolutely loved having a baby sister. They are still best buddies! 

Such cuties!   

Anyway.. Here she is today! We had a small birthday party here at the house.  It was late... We had been sick and had to postpone twice.  It was worth the wait though.. she had a great time. I'm glad we actually got one done and didn't skip it!  WE just had a few of her girl friends and families over from homeschool group. 

Happy with my choice....

Watch this video!  http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/01/07/this-is-what-happens-when-a-kid-leaves-traditional-education/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h11u3vtcpaY

Now here is a smart young man! I love his approach to life.

I still wonder sometimes if Homeschooling was the right choice for us but I have been reminded so many times this year that it was in fact the right choice for us! Sometimes I think that sending them to school would be the easy way out. It's not easy and it's not always fun being with them 24/7 ... it takes discipline, patients, time and lots of energy and all of those things test me daily. The best part about it for me though,  is that we can be flexible. I try to look at homeschooling as a lifestyle... not a learning from 8-2 pm each day.   We get our book work done and then we continue to learn throughout the day, playing games, nature walks, animal science, building, field trips, etc.

 I love how this boy talks about nature. My children are following in their Father's footsteps it seems. They LOVE the outdoors. Sometimes my son says to people "I hate school!!" I'm like wow... way to show people how fun homeschooling is!  Truth of the matter though is that he just LOVE'S being outside! Just like his Dad. I've realized that if he was in school.. he would get VERY little outside time and he would probably hate it even more.  If that is in his heart and soul... why on earth would I want to take that away from him! He reminds me a lot of Sean. It's amazing to me how smart my husband is and how looking back, he tells me he hated school!  Colton does it and he does it well, but he doesn't enjoy it. I've realized that, that is OK.  He doesn't have to enjoy every bit of it as long as he gets it's done and he's learning. As he matures he seems to show me what he enjoys about it. It also seems that the less I push him to read, the more he enjoys reading! He recently started picking up Magazines and reading on his own time. This is one of the areas where I meant we could be flexible. I can pick, or he can pick whatever he wants to read! It doesn't have to be the book from his grade level. I also like being able to go on trips and just taking work sheets with us.  I don't have to pull him out of class. Also, if we want to take extra days off for field trips.. or if Sean wants to take them on a hike.... I feel confident that they are learning the whole entire time! My kids ask Sean so many scientific questions about everything in and out of this world that I KNOW it's a better experience than they would get in most classrooms. I mean 'com, the ratio is usually 1:1 or at most 1:3.   My children interact with a lot of adults.. some may thing TOO much... but they also get plenty of time with their homeschool friends and church friends.  I feel they are learning to interact with all age levels.  Colton, Carley and Stetson do have their moments of course but most of the time, they do everything together. I can hardly separate the three sometimes cause they love each other so much!

Anyway. I love'd this boy's outlook on life and I wanted to share it.  I will be ecstatic If my kids grow up to be happy and Love God and Love people.  I aim to teach them that we are not perfect nor will we ever be!  Jesus love's them unconditionally. I don't want them growing up thinking they are never good enough or that they have to be or do what society says they need to be or do! All that matters is that they learn to Love and they learn to be happy and content with the simple things in life.

Deuteronomy 6:7 - And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Working with Daddy!

Today we took the day off from school to go on sort of a field trip. Colton is learning about operating heavy equipment and we will be going on a hike.   For now Carley, Stetson and I are just watching and getting eaten up by Bugs! Ouch !!!

Our first Light Sussex chicks!

We incubated eggs from our own hens! I put 21 eggs in and only 4 hatched! We'll do better next time though. I am thinking a few of them just weren't fertile as our hens were really young! Anyway.. these four little guys are thriving! I guess they can't stay in the bathroom forever, so hopefully we will get something built for outside soon!

The kids are loving this new excitement! Can you tell?

Homeschool Day

Today we had our first day of PE, with a certified PE instructor! The kids had a blast and wore off a ton of energy. 

The highlight of the day seemed to be the "King Snake" that Colton brought for show and tell.   The kids crowded around him to touch it and Colton loved answering all their questions. 

Then Stetson found a cricket and was letting it crawl all over his shirt and thought it was so funny!  Can you see it??

Happy 4th Birthday Stetson!

I seriously can't believe my baby is four!!  Can I say we are out of the toddler stage?  I think it's safe to say now that ALL THREE of my kids can wipe their own butts! We had been talking to Stetson about this issue for weeks before his birthday and so the morning he woke up the first thing he told me was  "Now I am four, so today I'm going to wipe myself"  and HE DID!  Praise the Lord, he finally grew up! :)

This baby photo is probably the chubbiest photo I have of him at around 5 months. I don't hardly remember him being that chubby as he wasn't THAT chubby for very long. I'll post one of him underneath that doesn't even look like the same baby! lol

Here's a little collage of the happenings from yesterday!  You can see how excited he was to be four and to have his best friend's over to play. They were all still talking about it in church this morning :)

                                                               (click images to enlarge)

The bottom middle photo he was explaining "this is the best birthday I ever saw!"