Respect

Guitar Hero was given an essay to write about the person he respects the most. Here is his paper:

“My Mom”
By Guitar Hero


If I could pick one person that I respect most it would be my mom. I would pick my mom because she is good at cooking, sewing, and spending.

She is amazing at cooking. She could cook anything as long as you gave her the recipe for it.

She is also good at sewing. She has sewed just about every costume that we have had. That is good because Halloween is coming up soon. It is also good because she can fix a lot of our clothes back together, which is helpful if our uniform breaks.

She is also good at spending. You have to know a lot about prices to be a good spender. Being a good spender means we get a lot more money.

She is also good at other things like caring, loving and being healthy. My mom is great and I hope you think she is too. Maybe if you get to know her you would like her just as much.

I've made another goal!!

The main reason that I started this weight loss journey was to get healthy. I was taking a handful of medications every day and hated that! I wanted to be off of the medicines that I could get off of. And now I officially have.



I went off of blood pressure medication immediately after surgery and haven't needed it since. (My BP today at the doctor was 119/80) The next medication I was able to quit was Singulair - for allergies/breathing. The last medication I wanted off of was for high cholesterol. I was retested last week and got those results back today. I've never heard of anyone's cholesterol being this low!! I'm free from another pill! Yay!







My results compared to a year ago (both on the same medication):

Cholesterol 9/07 (185) now (85) (ideal is <200)

LDL (bad cholesterol) 9/07 (102) now (39) (ideal is <130)

Triglycerides 9/07 (252) now (63) (ideal is <150)



Wooo-hooooo!! Here is my picture from last week. I'll be taking a new one this week since it will be my 3 month anniversary!





Now if I can just get rid of this laryngitis!

We should just call it "Sick Break"

CandyMan was sick for Spring Break. Now I am sick for Fall Break. No fun!

I've been fighting a cold all week. On Wednesday I went to the doctor to have my cholesterol rechecked and was offered a flu shot. Well, sure! Let's go ahead with that while I'm here. I was planning on taking the kids to the health department when I got home to get all of our shots there anyway.

When I arrived home CandyMan had a low grade fever and wasn't feeling well. I realized that he shouldn't have the flu shot since he wasn't feeling well. That was when I realized that maybe I shouldn't have had the shot either, since I hadn't been feeling great. Too late. I was sick by that evening.

Last night, I got to go sit in the hot tub with Lisa for a couple hours! It seems like so long since we've gotten to talk. It was so good to see her! I was hoping the steam effect would help my sinuses too. I think it did. And the whole experience enabled me to have a good night sleep.

But this morning I woke up completely unable to talk. And I do mean completely. I can whisper. But that is all. It is pitiful. I also have felt terrible. I get dizzy when I stand up. No fever though (thankfully!). So I've pretty much laid around on the couch watching TV all day. If you know me at all, you know that this is very rare for me - and that I have NOT enjoyed it. TV is so stupid (that is probably why I get dizzy when I stand up! ha!).

Well, I'm going to tough it out and go to The Well tonight anyway. I'm just going to go armed with plenty of liquids and maybe a sign that says "I can't talk, but I do love you". I'll just be a good listener tonight...

Hopefully I'll be feeling a lot better tomorrow! We have some fun plans for the next 2 days and I want to enjoy them! CandyMan has a football game in the morning. We are going to Lisa's family's annual Haunted Forest Party tomorrow night. I'm leading Daughters of the King small group on Sunday morning, church, then a birthday party for a special lady Sunday night. Fun stuff! I hope...

I know something you don't know!

Since Monday I've been telling my kids, "I know something you don't know!" Princess' teacher shared with me on Sunday that she was going to receive an award this week at school. The award is given every 9 weeks to one child in each class and she'd chosen Kennedy. It is called "Pastor's Partners". It is given to the child who shows outstanding Christian character. I was so excited for my little one to receive this award - since she's always seeing her brothers do things (inevitable for the youngest, I suppose).

So I've been telling the kids that one of them had been chose as a "Pastor's Partner". They've begged me to tell them which one it was. I wanted to make sure that Princess knew what the award was so that when she received it, she'd know what an honor it was!

The awards were given out at chapel this afternoon. Sure enough, Princess' name was called for the kindergarten class and she went forward to accept her award and stand with the pastor. All three of my children were beaming smiles at me!

Well!! I did know something that they didn't know - that she was getting the award - but I didn't know ALL of it! The surprise was on me! When they announced that the second grade award went to CandyMan my eyeballs about popped out of their sockets! He smiled so big - it was so cute to see him so proud of himself!!

And then... you guessed it! The sixth grade award went to GuitarHero. By this point I was crying! Many teachers were turning to look at me to see my reaction. I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open quite widely.

I am amazed at how blessed I am. I have three of the most wonderful children. I am so proud of them! I know I've said it before, but we are so blessed to be at this school where they pray and learn about Jesus and the Bible every day. I am so thankful! Despite having no (earthly) father in their lives right now, God is filling their needs. My children are overcoming their difficult circumstances. It is all because of God's grace and amazing love!

Two Months

My friend and accountability partner Kendra has been on me wanting me to post my two month picture. I'm doing really good - feeling great! I have more energy than I did before. I'm walking at least 3 days a week - almost 3 miles each day. On the other days, I'm lifting weights - doing resistance training to try to fill that excess skin. I had a personal goal that I hoped to lose by Christmas and I've already lost that (in 2 1/2 months).

On Saturday, I bagged up all of my clothes that previously fit - 4 lawn trash bags full!! I'm going to donate them to a homeless ministry. I am not ready to buy a new wardrobe, since I plan to lose even more. I've been so blessed to have a couple friends who've given and loaned me some of their clothes to wear during this transition period. Otherwise, I'd really have NOTHING to wear!!

The coolest (and strangest - for me) part is that I really don't enjoy food anymore. Frequently it is an inconvienence to have to eat. I know I have to eat to get some protein and nutrition - and that is the only reason I eat now. I sure wouldn't have thought that God could work this change in my heart and lifestyle! Of course, He can do anything!!

I want to recommend a book to you. It is the book that began this change in my heart. It isn't a diet. It is a change of heart. Go here and check it out.

Okay, so here is my "before" picture that was taken at the end of July this year:

And here is the picture that was taken 2 months later:

In just 2 more weeks I'll be taking another picture and I'll post it then - that will be my 3 month anniversary on the "Loser's Bench"!

Welcome Kendra and Essie!

I'm so excited to introduce you to two of my sweet sisters in Daughters of the King. They've jumped on the blog-wagon. Go see them and welcome Kendra and Essie!

I'll try to blog more later today, sweet Essie! I love you two!

Life's Themes

I haven't updated lately. Sorry. I've just been living life. That was my goal this year - to live. Last year's theme was "survive". I did that...even though there were days when it felt like I wouldn't. This year I wanted to do more than survive. I wanted to LIVE! Last year, life was running me. This year, I wanted to be more aware and be able to make choices about my life - to let God run my life, but be okay with that. Does that make sense? I just wanted to enjoy this year more! And I am!

My days are very, very full. Some days I don't even get any work done. Sometimes that worries me, since I'm already on a very low income! But I've been determined to do exactly and only what God wants me to be doing each day. And I am. And He is providing everything we need. Some months it is so very close, but it is all there. I trust Him. I have every reason to. He is faithful.

And it isn't all about finances. As a single mother, it has been hard not to make money my primary focus for providing for my kids. Once I was able to put that aside and trust God for that I was able to provide so much more for them! They needed me in so many other ways. I am so thankful that I can focus on their spiritual and emotional needs and not ALL on their physical needs. It allows me to really feel like their mom again (and not just their caretaker). I can meet thier needs of providing a home, clothes, meals, etc... But I can also spend my time raising them and teaching them and playing with them.

I'm amazed at what God has done in my family. He has been so good to me.

I wonder what next year's theme will be? Maybe LOVE! Crazy Love!