The Forgive Button

I had "one of those days" this week.  You know, where I wasn't the best Mama in the world.  I've felt the burnout coming on for a few days, and sure enough, it showed up ... on  Monday.

One of our snafooos has been that our garage sale was postponed because of weather and so we have "stuff" all over our dining room. It's a multi-family garage sale, so we have things lying about that the girls have never seen before ... and, well, they've been dragging stuff all over the house.

Well, Monday, I tripped over my final "breaking point" toy .... and ...well,  I yelled.  I sent Sister to her room and fussed at her and told her she couldn't come out until her room was picked up.  Oh, how my heart was broken when I saw the look in Sister's eyes.

There we were, both heavy-hearted.

The problem here  is ... I did this in anger.  Not in a teaching spirit.  Not in a loving spirit.   And, well, there are things I could have done to prevent me from getting so stressed in the first place.

I retreated to the kitchen.  Sister to her room.  I prayed and asked for guidance and forgiveness from my Savior.  

Eventually, Sister came into the kitchen, so sweetly, and said she was finished with her room. I knew what I needed to do ... ask her for forgiveness for getting so angry.


We've been talking about forgiveness ever since we've been using discipline.  Usually, it's about her saying she's sorry and us saying, "We forgive you.  Clean Slate!" 

But, Monday, I needed forgiveness from my girl.  She would have the opportunity to forgive me.

Sister appeared in an outift that only a preschooler could love.  And, she had her Barbie guitar strung across her shoulder.  I asked her to forgive me.  I explained I was wrong for yelling and we talked about how we can work like a team to keep things picked up. 

 She looked at me with a blank look, holding her guitar the whole time.  Then she pressed a button that made a silly heavy metal sound ... and she said, "Mama ... that's the forgive button."

And, that was that.  She was good.  She was happy.  It was over.  WE were good.

It reminded me so much of the grace and mercy that we are provided through Christ.  And, how Christ encourages us to come to him like little children.  Simply.  Purely.  And, then he just presses the "forgive button."  That's it.  We're done.  We're good.  We're redeemed.

I'm so thankful for Monday.  So, thankful for the lesson and reminders taught to me.  Thankful for fresh starts full of forgiveness from Christ!

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 

Colossions 3: 12 - 14

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  You can link back to Chatting At The Sky here!

Body for Life

I love this week's Show Us Your Life topic!  I've been working over the last few months to be healthier and get off about 10 pounds of leftover baby weight.  Well, actually, it's now toddler weight :)  I'm in a wedding in May, so that's really motivated me!

image: career owners

My goals really are to feel better, have more energy to keep up with my girls, and get in shape.   I tried Weight Watchers online, which is great, but it wasn't motivating me to get fit.  So, right before Thanksgiving, I started Body For Life and I love it!


I eased into the plan and did it about 60% before the holidays.  After New Year's, I'm now on board 100%.

Body for Life is completely different from any plan I've done before ... it's comprehensive, covering nutrition, physical and mental strength.  My friend finished it a couple of months ago and went lost 7% body fat in 12 weeks!  Her brother did it and lost 45 pounds on his challenge.


Here are a few basic things about it, but be sure to visit the Body For Life website or pick up the book for the best info. 

image: McCormick

You follow the plan for 3 months or a "12 week challenge"

You eat 6 small meals a day, balancing a protein and complex carb at each meal


ex. egg beaters and whole wheat toast
     chicken and brown rice and salad
     yogurt and cottage cheese
     protein shakes
     lots more options!


The diet looks pretty restrictive, but it's not!  You'd be surprised how many recipes can be modified for BFL.


There's no measuring of serving sizes.  Your portion size is individualized.  Protein portion = the palm of your hand.  Carb portion = the size of  your clenched fist

                                                          image: dicks sporting goods


You exercise 6 days a week - 3 cardio workouts - 20 minutes each, 3 strength training workouts (super easy to learn) ... you can do all of this at home or a gym.



You get one free day a week - no exercise and you eat whatever you want.  Really!


Now here's where the plan is different.  You'll drop inches before you'll see it on the scale. That took me a little while to understand.  


But, now that I'm starting to fit into a few pre-Bitty Baby clothes and develop muscle tone, I get it!   It changes your body from the inside out.  I really do feel so much better and stronger.  Also, I was picking up a cold just about every week this fall, but I haven't been sick at all since I started BFL.  Yay!  

Hands down, though, the best part is that Sister, who is  almost 5, has started asking me about healthy foods and exercise.  That really drove home that she's looking to me to learn the right things to eat and how to take care of herself.  Wow! 


You can see some before and after photos on the BFL website here.

Check back this week and I'll post some yummy recipes for Body For Life that I've been making!  Also, if you have questions about BFL, I'll try to answer them for you.  (I'll do it through the comments section).


Thanks for stopping by!  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's posts and picking up some more great healthy tips here!

Not so tough!

Whew!  I can't believe it's been almost a week since my last post.  Things have been a little helter skelter and we're slowly getting back into a normal, post-Christmas routine.  Routine = Bliss :)

We've had some super cold weather around here lately and, well, I found out I'm not as tough as I thought!   We dipped down into the teens, which is rare for the land of Little Mama and oh my, it was colder than cold.  The news said it hasn't been this cold here in over twenty years. We had night after night of hard freezes and all of the pretty Southern plants around here are just looking so sad. 


This Deep South girl did learn a few things about super cold weather:
 * Don't wear shorts to the gym when it's 18 degrees. 


* If you have ice on your windshield,
   chances are that your windshield wiper
   fluid is frozen, too.


* Driving with ice on your windshield only
   makes the ice more frozen.  One should
   probably scrape it off  before starting to
   drive.  (Um, yes, I learned this lesson in
   the dark).


* The heater in my car takes a very long 5
   minutes to get going.


* I rode in my friend's car during the cold
   weather and holy cow ... heated seats
   rock.


* This one's from my Mama : "I totally get
   snow birds now."


* Shea butter is my best friend.


* Scarves aren't just for cuteness.  They
  keep you warm, too. :)


Speaking of scarves, Sister snagged one off of one of her stuffed animals to help keep her warm.  She loves to accessorize!

Last week, the girls only went to preschool one day because of the weather.  So, I didn't quite get as much done around the house as I had hoped.  My Christmas decorations almost outwore their welcome!

Thankfully, I finally got everything packed up and ready for the attic.  Yay!!!

I spent most of the week getting ready for our upcoming garage sale.  That's no easy feat considering that we've turned a corner and Bitty Baby is into everything, everywhere! 

While I was working (in the same room), I found her putting her snack in the fireplace!

And, throwing toys out of the doggie door.  She loves to do this!

                            

She is starting to play better on her own, though, which is so fun to see.  This girl is crazy about Little People!

                            

I had the craziest thing happen this week ... a total, happy surprise!  I won this pretty Dayspring bag from ... The Nester!   I left a comment about the Christmas Tour of Homes and didn't even realize I entered the drawing.  So fun!  Winning the bag just made my week.

                               

This time of year down here always brings the prettiest sunsets.  This week was one of the most brilliant I've seen in a long time.  Sister and I watched as the sky turned from peach to pink to orange.  I ran and got my camera and played around with the settings until the colors came through. 

                              

I needed a tripod with the slower shutter speed, but this was a completely spontaneous pic! I'm having so much fun learning to take pictures, but oh, I have so much to learn. That's the best part!

Hope you had a great week. The weekend's almost here. Yay!

Read and Run for 2010

Please forgive the formatting ... I have no idea how to fix this!  It looks normal in the preview and compose mode, but a mess in the post.  Does anyone have any tips?

One of my favorite things is a clean slate.  So, I always get excited about making changes for the New Year.  I have to admit that I've never been very good about keeping New Year's resolutions.  But, this year will be different!

I've made a few for this year that hopefully I'll be able to keep.  I think if I can accomplish the first one ... maybe I'll be able to get to the others ... :)  .

Changes for 2010

1.  Get more organized.

I love things in order and organized, but oh my, 

things have gotten a little out of control lately! I spend

way too much time looking for things around here

or doing the same work over and over. 

The #1 reason this is at the top of my list is that I want to spend more fun time with my little family.  I love the saying

"Behind every good mom is a pile of dirty laundry."

But, gee, it doesn't have to be 6 piles that take all day to

finish :).

Last summer I bought this book,

The Family Manager Takes Charge and it has tons

of good tips on getting organized room by room ....even

down to the linen closet.  It also has a "Daily Hit List" to help organize to dos.  Linen closet .... here I come!

                        

2.  Read and Run

I once saw an interview with a successful exec and he

said the key to his success was that he reads and

runs every day.  That really stuck with me!

I really, really want to finish a 5K this year without

stopping.  Or throwing up ... ha!  There's a race in

March around here, so I think I might shoot for that one! 

Also, I've always loved to read and used to read a ton

of books.  But, after college, grad school, work and now staying home with our two girls, it's been a loooong time since I've picked a book for fun.  I'm really excited about this one and hope I can stick to it.  I got a little fired up at the library and picked up not one, but these three books to start. 

                                  

                                    

 

                                  

   

 Maybe I should simmer down a little!  :)

3. Marriage vows

Last but not least ... Big Daddy and I made 5 resolutions

for our marriage.  We've been married 8 years and

never done this!  I think my favorite one is to have

date night at least once a month. 

   

Between Big Daddy's work schedule and having two

little ones, we've never been very good at doing this. 

We have our babysitter booked and plans for

Saturday night and I'm SOOO excited!

Out of all the hopes for 2010, I really want to look back

and see that we kept everyone of the resolutions we made together!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  What are your resolutions for the New Year?

To link back to Kelly, click here.

Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year! We've been out of town visiting Big Daddy's family and really enjoyed our visit.   I haven't posted in awhile and have a bunch of pics saved up, so I thought I would share a little holiday randomness :)

Bitty Baby is feeling so much better.  She's finally back to her old self.

   

Her appetite was really down, so she didn't eat much for about a week.  But, oh my, she has made up for lost time!  One day she spent just about the whole day either in her high chair or asking to get in it!

 

Before we left to go out of town, I met my nemesis ....

Laundry!  I get so behind on our clothes.  Maybe in 2010, I'll finally get caught up ... ha!

We headed north to Big Daddy's hometown for New Year's.

                      

(Yep. I got the new do.  Still learning how to fix it ... right now it takes me longer to fix than it did before I got it cut "curly."  But, I think it's because it's been SO dry and cold these days.)

On the way up, we always stop at "Pickle Barrel" as Sister calls it.  You probably know it as ...

       

They had their Christmas decorations 70% off and I picked up a few ornaments ... yay!

The girls did really well on the trip, but on the last leg, they started to get the sillies!

                  

 Bitty Baby thought she would mix it up a bit with a game of peek-a-boo!  She loves to be the straight man :)

    

       

It was great to visit familly and the girls had a ton of fun! 

                 

We found out that Bitty Baby loves blueberry turnovers.  Her bedhead just cracks me up here!

                

Our niece gave Sister this ring that she "bought" at school.  She even wrapped it herself ... so sweet!

                 

On the way home, the girls were such good travelers.  They are really starting to play together and I hope they will always be close!  Sister and Bitty Baby were watching a movie during the trip home and I looked back to check on them and saw this ... to me, this is the best Christmas present in the world!