Every Hour...Thursday

 I hadn't done an "Every Hour" for a Thursday yet so here goes...at 6:30 am I was at the gym.  I should note here that I do not go to the gym every day although every time I've done the "Every Hour" I have gone to the gym...I'm just showing off for my blog.  :0)   7:30...a healthy breakfast, it's good that I started my day off with such a good, low carb breakfast because I didn't do so well the rest of the day.

 By 8:30 I had started a load of laundry, gone to Publix for powdered sugar and started a pan of lemon bars.

 9:30...Bible and read aloud time...Joe was hula hooping while I was reading The Lemonade War.  Hula hooping is a big deal at our house right now.

 10:30...both girls are hard at work on Virtual School and I'm working with Joe.

 11:30...after my healthy breakfast I'm starving so I decided to make a hot lunch...steak-umm sandwiches and broccoli slaw stir fry.  I also boiled some eggs for dinner later.

 12:30...putting my feet up and starting a new book but I only had about 10 minutes before it was time for PE.  The next 15 minutes were crazy b/c I thought PE was at the pool and had the kids in their bathing suits.  Then I had second thoughts sent a text and as we were driving up the road found out it wasn't at the pool.  We turned around so everyone could do a quick change.  Except Hannah who sat in the car b/c we forgot to tell her that it was definitely not at the pool.  Oops.

 1:30...Today at PE I actually was productive and made our weekly assignment sheets.  Now I just need to get some copies made and we're all set and I don't have to write it all down every day.

 2:30...We have a basket FULL of educational kids' magazines but nobody reads them so I'm bribing them to read them now.  Once they've read three of them, we can go get custard downtown.  Yesterday was chocolate peanut butter...yum!

 3:30...I have an hour before taking Grace to swimming, I'd rather take a nap but instead I dye my hair a lovely shade of "Roasted Coffee."  I didn't know roasted coffee was red.

 4:30...dropping Grace off at swimming, she is really enjoying this sport!

 5:30...Hannah makes dinner on Thursdays now and usually comes up with something fancy to make but today we had limited time and I didn't want to go to the store (again) so I taught her the fine art of how to make Tuna Mac.  Here she is cutting up the eggs.

 6:30...I ate my Tuna Mac and then ate one of these beautiful persimmons for dessert.  We have a persimmon tree in the front yard and we get the best fruit!

 7:30...Before Opening Night of a new Main Stage show at our theatre, they have a final dress rehearsal that friends and family are invited to.  Julie and I sell concessions to benefit the kids' theatre.  That's where we were at 7:30 last night.

 8:30 and 9:30...I was watching the show.  It was soooo good!!  If you are local you should go and see it.  When I do an "Every Hour" post I set alarms on my phone for every hour all day.  Did you know that even if you turn your ringer off, your alarm still goes off?  Yep, I found that out twice last night during the show.  Embarrassing.  I took one pic during the show but of course it didn't turn out at all.  The pic below is one that was on FB and I just took a picture of the computer screen.  That is what I was doing at 11:30.  I didn't get pics of 10:30...I was driving home.

I didn't get to bed until midnight so I'm dragging today...if i did an "Every Hour" post today it wouldn't include the gym or a hot lunch but would probably show lots of coffee and lazing around.  We have Season 2 Disc 2 of The Middle...can't wait until school is done for the day!

Random Photos...

 Grace on her way to swim team...she is loving it!

 Joe had to have a big ol' tooth pulled last Friday...it had a crack and was decaying.  It was pretty rough, poor guy!

 We had a fun night with the youth girls last weekend--we did a "What to Wear" night.  We had a Bible study on modesty and how we dress and then the girls got to shop for free among each other's hand me downs.  All the girls went home with a bagful of "new" clothes and had a lot of fun too!

 Did you know that there is a machine that will copy keys for you?  I lost my housekey and decided to make three and then later found my house key.  Below is my new favorite snack...goat cheese on small peppers baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  YUM!

 Some Facetime silliness with my sis and a sweet smiling baby.

Daybook Style...

Outside my window...it's sunny and humid, really humid.  I'm ready for a taste of fall weather but it's not here yet.  It's a little cooler but still hot.

On my mind...I got up early and went to the gym this morning, first time in almost a week I think.  When I go to the gym I get super motivated and usually keep going for another day or two but as soon as I take a few days off I struggle to get motivated again.  So, trying to take less days off and remember that it's worth it to go even when I don't feel like it.  I really, really want to lose 10 pounds before December.  I keep losing and finding the same 6 pounds...I want those to stay away plus 10 more.  In my 40 year old body this means not just dieting but being more extreme.  I'm eating almost no carbs at all.  I'm trying to cut back on sugar too except for coffee drinks...maybe I'd drop those 10 pounds if I gave up my coffee or just drank it black or without sugar...yeah...no.  This prompt (on my mind...) could go on and on but I'm going to try to break it up into a few other categories.

In the planning stages...this year's Christmas pageant at church.  It was such a blessing to so many last year and we managed it despite me breaking my leg 2 weeks before the pageant.  It was the first time we had done anything like that at our church and everyone loved it.  We'll be doing the same pageant this year, just tweaking it a little and changing up the kids' parts.

Today...is busy, Orthodontist in an hour, school, PE, Landon and Dawson for a long stretch (3:30 to 8:30ish), Grace to swimming, Hannah to FTC (Florida Theatre Conference) rehearsal, and of course laundry and meals and school and more school.  A friend posted on FB this morning about how crazy her Tuesdays are but she's going to try to enjoy every minute because in 10 years she'll miss this stage of life with her kids.  I'll be remembering that today too.

In the Theatre world...kids are well into rehearsals for Captain Louie and already talking about the next show (a Christmas Follies show).  I sat in on rehearsal the other night and it's going to be a really fun show.  They will also be taking this show to the Florida Theatre Conference the weekend after they perform it here.

From the kitchen...I bought Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar with the "Mother" yesterday and am starting my ACV regimen today.  Supposedly drinking a couple of tsp. of ACV a few times a day helps with all sorts of ailments including arthritis.  We'll see...it didn't taste as bad as I thought it would.  I diluted it in a cup of water.  It might be easier to have less water and just down it fast.  I caved on my "only real food" decision and bought a freezer full (exaggerating...) of crap for the kids for lunches.  The Birds Eye Voila meals were BOGO this week and they love those for lunch.  I also bought corn dogs and frozen pancakes.  We eat mostly real food and these little conveniences are just too convenient for me to give up right now.

On my iPod...nothing new but I did make a playlist that I'm enjoying of a variety of my favorites.  Right now I'm listening to a kids song that I've always loved..."Every Move I Make."  I want to get a Jason Castro song or two and some other new ones but haven't taken the time to get on the computer.

Looking forward to...this weekend!  My sister is coming and I really can't wait!!  We're going to go to the beach, to a play, to church, Disney, and who knows what else.  I'm sure there will be lots of laughing happening, some great talks, and lasting memories.  We'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

What I'm reading...I just finished a Young Adult novel called, How to Save a Life.  I got it for Hannah a few weeks ago and she hadn't picked it up yet so I decided to read it because I thought it looked good.  It was good but it talked about some subjects that I don't think she's ready for--namely sexual abuse by a stepfather, a one night stand, and a teen pregnancy.  I am not in favor of censoring in general but I don't think she's ready for the Young Adult section yet.  Practically every novel I've read has some questionable content.  She's got plenty of teen years ahead of her to read these books, many of which I think will be good for her to read, including the one I just read.  Just not yet.  Next up for me is Objects of my Affection and then Defending Jacob.  I'm excited about both of them.  I'm actually happy that Grace has an ortho appt this morning b/c I'll get some reading time in.

From the schoolroom....we are in our 5th week of schooling and definitely getting into a groove.  Most days are going fairly well with some cruddy, stressful moments thrown in.  Hannah and Joe tend to get freaky when they don't understand something and I wish I could say that I'm always so nice and calm...but I'm not.  I get stressed and often react badly.  Overall though....I'm pleased.

Well, I need to wrap this up so that I can get Hannah and Joe going on school before going to the ortho.  Peace out my peeps!

Art Projects

 One of my big goals for this school year is to incorporate art into our schedule.  All three of my kids love art and every year I say that I'm going to make time for it and then I don't.  It is now a priority and my goal is to do an art project every other week.  I found our first project on the website Art Projects for Kids.  I love this site and have done some of her other projects in the past.  I couldn't believe how easy this project was and what great results we got.  In the past I haven't really sat down with them to do art.  I usually give them instructions and then go do something else but the plan is for me to do each project with them.  It's been so satisfying and rewarding to work together and I think having me at the table making something to is making them take it more seriously and try harder.  We listen to great music--Adele and Mamma Mia so far--and chat and work and I try not to think about all of the academics we could be doing during the hours it takes to complete a project.  :0)

 For this project, the first thing you do is make a background in pencil and then trace over it with Sharpie marker.  The idea is to make it fun and whimsical and colorful.  Grace and I pretty much copied the example given online.  Joe didn't really "get" it and made this--

 He ended up creating more of a sculpture because he ended up bending his paper to make it 3-D.  He was very frustrated and difficult because he didn't "get" what he was supposed to do.  He got over it though and as you will see below ended up doing the original project, just a bit differently.  I said over and over again that everyone could take the idea and make it their own and that different is totally fine.  It took him a while to accept that though.  Below is Grace's background.  I especially love her random bat in the sky.  :0)

 After you trace the background with Sharpie, you color in the small bits with crayon, pressing hard to make it really dark.  Then you use watercolors for the bigger parts--sky and grass.  I'm pretty sure Hannah used watercolors for the whole background.  I should note that we did use watercolor paper that I bought at Target.  After the background is done, you take half a piece of watercolor paper and make a big self portrait--taking up the whole half page.  You color in all but the skin color with crayons and then do the skin with watercolors.  Then, you cut out the face and glue it right on the background.  Mine and Grace's ended up looking very similar because we look a lot alike and we both pretty much copied the example.

 Mine is above and Grace's below...

 Hannah really went crazy with hers and it turned out great!  We've laughed and laughed over how she looks very "ethnic."  Joe's is below--love his self portrait.  He colored in his hair with yellow crayon but had made a lot of Sharpie hair so it ends up looking black.

 I love them all and have them displayed on our art yarn for now.  I may frame them though.

We enjoyed that art project so much that we've decided to do a few more in the same style for the upcoming holidays--Halloween, Fall/Thanksgiving, and Christmas.   Yesterday we made Halloween pictures.  Again, they were all so unique and different...I had checked out some books at the library about how to draw Halloween stuff and that was helpful.

 Mine above and Grace's below...

 Hannah's above and Joe's below.  Again, his had to be a little different--we had to make his witch hang off the page because there wasn't anything on his background that he wanted to cover up.

Next up is a Fall picture...I already have some ideas.

Every Hour...Tuesday

 I set alarms for every hour yesterday and took pictures of what I was doing at each hour of the day yesterday starting at 7:30.  I got up at about 7 yesterday morning and decided to make pumpkin donuts for breakfast.  I had made them the day before and they were soooo good.  I even feel like they are healthy because I use coconut oil, true whole wheat flour that I (well, actually Julie..) grinds, and I cut the sugar.  The first morning I made them I added chocolate chips.  I was out of chocolate chips yesterday so used these cacao nibs I had and they were nothing like chocolate chips.  They didn't melt and Hannah thought they tasted like nuts.  Everybody ate the donuts anyway though.  They were especially good after I shook them in cinnamon sugar.

 By 8:30 the kids were up and we were starting Bible time and breakfast (pics above and below).  We are continuing in our Who is God? book, and reading about Courageous Christians for Bible time.  Then, after Bible time we read other fiction books.  We started The Shoes that Love Made about the life of Paul Brand, a missionary/doctor in the 1950s who made huge discoveries about leprosy and treating lepers.  And, for fun we are reading The Lemonade War.

 Below--9:30--time to tackle school...the school table is always a mess and it drives me crazy but it is what it is...At 9:30 I got everyone started on school and specifically helped Hannah get moving with the science project she was so stressed about.  School was going well and so I felt like I could leave for an hour for the gym while the kids worked on the things they could do independently.

 At 10:30 I was at the gym ready for Bodyflow.  It was a crazy hard class and if I wasn't working so hard I might have thought to take a picture of Julie's butt in front of me during one of the moves.  Oh well...instead you get a blurry pic of random sweaty people.

 At 11:30 I left the gym and decided I could finally take 15 minutes and get my hairy eyebrows waxed...another blurry picture of my eyebrow lady's back...It took her multiple waxings to clear up my eyebrow area.  I don't think I've had them waxed for months.

 At 12:30 I was back home, had taken care of school questions, made sure everyone had lunch and did the dishes before we headed out for PE.

 1:30--PE!  The kids did relay races and the mommas sat and chatted.

 2:30--On the way home from PE we stopped at Walgreen's to buy Hannah some light foundation.  She has been begging to get to wear foundation for about 6 months and I have continually said no.  Then she bought some awful, dark, loose powder and that looked worse than any foundation ever could and I finally relented and picked a very light color and am monitoring her usage.

 3:30--Back home and back to school...time to read science with Grace and Joe and answer some questions.  We read all about dogs and other canines.  I also had some iced chai tea...

 4:30--Grace had swimming and I stayed because she had to leave after only 40 minutes or so instead of the usual hour and a half.  A bonus to getting to stay today was that I got to hang out with my friend, Leisa, who I almost never see or talk to.  Her daughter, Olivia, came by to show off her crutches and casted foot--she broke the top of her foot doing a cartwheel the day before.  She was pretty proud of her new duds.  :0)

 5:30--Time for a birthday party at a local restaurant.

 6:30--Eating yummy Mexican food at the birthday party.

 7:30--Still at the birthday party...but leaving soon!

 8:30--Relaxing and catching up on FB...I'm still checking once in the morning and once at night.

 9:30--Making a photo book, it was free as long as I made it before Wednesday.  I am way behind on scrapbooking but I have been slowly going through pictures in the free time that I used to waste on FB.  I am now caught up to January 2012.

 10:30--Bedtime!  Ollie had some great music playing through a docking station on his iPod and I read for about 15 minutes before falling sound asleep...another jam packed but blessed day!