I’m sure you’ve seen these around blogland. I’ve seen several and finally made my own!

I went to the Dollar Tree and bought 2 vases & 2 tapper candle holders

Grabbed some Super Glue (only to be used during nap time!)

Flip the vase over, and glue the candle stick on the bottom. Easy Peasy.

Flip it back over and viola! A simple & frugal way to make your own hurricane lamp.

Oh, how I CANNOT wait for fall! Not only to get away from the 100+ heat we’re having in Middle Tennessee, but to start decorating with fall stuff!

$4.00! Not too bad, huh? (Filler is from Michael’s)

I’m scared. I have no idea what I am doing. I know, I know, it’s “just 18-24 month babies” – but y’all – this is when they get their first taste of formal learning. I want to do a good job – I want these children to be excited about learning, I want them to be excited about preschool. I know the first day will be mostly crying. I’m trying to prepare myself for that. Hopefully it’s not my tears(!), but I hope these little ones don’t cry either. I’m not a “cry it out” kind of person. I especially do not like for little ones who are not mine to cry.

I’ve been working on my lesson plans, what we’ll do for the week of Marvelous Me, what will we do for the grandparents for Grandparents Day? I’m trying to cram so much into short days. Our days are 8:30-2. From 8:30-9:00 we’ll have centers, or free play while we’re waiting for all our friends to get there. Then, we’ll have from 9-12 to pack in all the things we want to do, including lunch. Then rest/nap from 12-2. I hope we can do everything we want to do.

I have found some fabulous resources and wanted to share a few with you – I do know some of you are homeschoolers. So, I would LOVE to see some of the things that you guys use!

Totally Tots – ABC’s – great ideas for each letter

Totally Tots – ABC’s – CRAFTS – ’cause I’m a crafty girl at heart

Brown Bear – playdough mats

Home Grown Hearts – shape viewers

Totally Tots & Home Grown Hearts are my two faves right now. There is just so.much.I.want.to.do!

I love traceables, and anything with playdough, anything hands on with textures and colors and fun.

6 days til “Meet the Teacher Day”!

THREE friends at church are pregnant and all due in January/February/March. Oh, AND I just found out that one friend is pregnant with TWINS! How amazingly awesome is that?!

A bunco friend is due in March.

Who else??

Oh, Kelly from KellysKornerblog.com just announced they are pregnant and due in March.

The old husband and I have not come to any conclusions on what we’ll do. You see, it’s hard. We have two beautiful, healthy, adorable, loud, almost in big-school, daughters. They are wonderful (99.9% of the time-ha!) and why wouldn’t we want to multiply that?

With that, though, comes multiplying the funds. We’re a one income family. We really believe that we’re doing what’s best for our family by my not working outside of the  home. Our income will go up with raises, but would that be enough? Some days it seems hard as is to do the things we’d like to do for our family.

Also – I do not do well with newborns. Postpartum depression is a downer. It takes me a while to get out of that fog.

Plus – did I mention our girls will be 5 & 3 over the next few months. Big Sister will be 5 at the end of this month! Little Sister,3, in October! We’re out of diapers, done with breastfeeding, done with huge diaper bags to tote around. We can buckle ourselves into our carseats! Oh, life is a little (lot!) easier than it was with little bitties.

But (oh, I hate buts), my heart’s desire is to have a large family with craziness and chaos, huge Friday Night Family Nights – HUGE Christmas get togethers when our children have their own families.

I just don’t know what we’ll do. I imagine we’ll be praying more and more about it. Don’t worry – you’ll  be in the loop after we figure things out!

And who knows? Maybe God’s plan is to cherish what we have and not to bless us with more biological children. Maybe He has other plans to multiply our brood. I’m excited to see what God’s Plan is for us. I’m in prayer over our family daily, hourly. Minute by minute some days!Whatever God has in store for us, I know I will praise Him.

The Lord has done great things for us and we will shout with JOY!

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Every Wednesday in September – there will be a link-up at her site with tons of new fall ideas.

I’m trying to think of some fun things I’ve done in the past. Fall is my favorite time of year. The colors in the leaves are amazing, it’s my birthday time! And Little Sister’s!! It seems like the decorations go from festive-fall to glorious Christmas! And I.LOVE.THAT!

So join up and start thinking FALL (eventhough it’s hard to do when it’s still in the 90′s!) But my Door Bucket will be filled with Sunflowers then will slowly turn into more fall-ish goodies.

I cannot wait for a little shopping at Michael’s & Hobby Lobby!!

I can walk down the stairs painlessly. This is amazing. I can get on and off the potty without the help of the wall. Also amazing.

I think I’m right on target with where I should be. The 20 minute workout can be shoved in at any point in the day – though I prefer during the evenings or early morning time. Hopefully I can keep this up. No, I know that I will keep this up.

Til tomorrow”s shred..

But then…  while on the computer – JILLIAN popped up on my screen. I kid you not, it was scary. I looked around the room. It was a pop up ad for her new tv show. Jeepers Creepers.

So, tonight, after dinner, after the dishes, and after making the bed I did my Day Three.

Tonight was easier! It felt pretty good. I didn’t feel like I wanted to throw up, which was lovely. My muscles were achy, but in that good way I was hoping to feel.

Now, tomorrow morning when I wake up, I may not be able to get out of bed. But no worries, I’ll have one of the girls bring the laptop to me.

Also – good news! I have a sweet friend you invited me to start working out with her at Curves. We’ve had a membership to another local gym, but honestly, I haven’t been in about a year. It’s time to have motivation and a great way to get that is through a friend.

Happy weight-loss, y’all!

Today was MUCH more difficult! Just getting on and off the potty was difficult. Today, after I got my girls settled (ie snack in front of the tv, hello bad habits), I turned on the DVD. It wasn’t just a minute or two until they joined me in my bedroom to help motivate and encourage and to make me laugh hysterically as they did what Jillian was doing!

• Push ups when you have jelly for arms? Well, not the easiest thing in the world. I’m sure if Jillian had been in my bedroom, she would have yelled that I was doing them  right.
• Jumping jacks when your arms are jelly? Again, I felt like a dork, I’m sure I looked like one too.
• I love for the ab workout – I think, actually, I should do more ab workout because I’m not as sore as I’d like to be in that area. Everything else? Sore enough.
• I have never been so thankful to live in a mostly one story house. When I need to go to the bonus room or office – those stairs- oh man. I curse. I swear. I say things I hope my children cannot hear. I dislike Jillian when I have to go up the steps. Or down. Or even look at them.

But do you know what’s great about being sore? It means that I’m using muscles. Which means I’m burning calories. Which means, I am getting healthy.

Oh and check this

I’ll weigh in weekly & post daily for the 30 Day Shred. You can find all the posts in the right column!

Let me tell you a few things about day one.

It hurts.  If you are as out of shape as I am, then you will be in pain. You just will.  And you’ll hurt. You’ll sweat and you’ll want to quit. Because, ya know, if you were used to this – you wouldn’t have that muffin top you’re sporting.

* The “you” in this dialog is me -  not you, sweet reader.

It’s 20 minutes of intense work out. She bases her workout on the 3-2-1 method: 3 mins strength, 2 mins cardio, 1 min abs.

You will long for the ab workout just to lay down!

I know that if I work hard – I can do this. I just hope I keep with the motivation of this!

Also, I’ve written down all my measurements and plan to post the differences in 30 days!

Little Sister was running in the living room and slipped on a notebook we had bought that day. She hit her lip on our coffee table and we thought her tooth went through her lip. After 4 hours at our hospital, she was released with a grape popsicle and some neosporin.

She had three lacerations on the inside of her lip, but the outer cut was superficial enough to not need any stitches or skin glue.

And let me tell you – I don’t care how amazing the city or town is that you live in – you will find the most interesting and bizarre people inside the Emergency Room on a Friday Night!

Yep. I made it about a week, then ordered a Papa Johns pizza and breadsticks. I then sat in carb heaven and gained the 6 pounds I lost.

Yep. I failed.

The thing is, I don’t diet well. I am not good at depriving myself from something I LOVE. Such as sugary, starchy foods. And, y’all, I couldn’t eat watermelon. Watermelon. That’s craziness.

Over the past 16 months I’ve gained a substantial amount of weight. I’ve tracked my calories, I’ve exercised, I’ve stopped eating sweets, but I’ve still GAINED weight. I’ve tried to figure out when my weight gain started and I’ve pin pointed it to when I got the IUD Mirena. I don’t know if it was specifically the Mirena or just birth control in general that helped with the weight gain – or even if that was it at all. But when I went for my (late) yearly exam, I had it removed. My OB/GYN suggested I do the South Beach Diet (I laughed just a tiny bit). Yesterday  I had four vials of blood taken and should hear back tomorrow if it’s anything to do with my thyroid, etc.

Today, 8 days after having it removed, I’ve lost 8 pounds. This could be a number of things. 1) I’ve been sick as can be with my period 2)The mirena is evil and I’m losing weight fast (which is what I’m keeping my fingers crossed for!) or 3) a slight combination of both.

I’ve decided to not go on any type of birth control. I’ve been on a hormonal roller coaster for six years. First we were pregnant, we miscarried, then pregnant again, new baby, nursed, pregnant & still nursing, just pregnant, new baby & nursing, then the mirena! That’s 6 years of craziness. craziness.

My body is adjusting & my family is scared. ha! It’s going to take a few weeks, months, to get things to level out – but I’m EXCITED about finally not having anything extra pumping through my body.

I’d really like to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. That was a long, long time ago and many pounds ago! I started (again) Jillian Michael’s  30 Day Shred. She’s pretty much evil. But I did it – with a little motivation from Big & Little – who were cracking me up and making me feel like a total wimp. We’re also going for more evening walks now that it’s not 107 degrees at 8pm.

My real reason for wanting to lose this weight fast? Well, I’d really like to make our sweet family of four into a sweet family of five.

We’re not 100% certain (and by we I mean James), but it’s my hearts desire to grow our family and to have a million children running around and add to the chaos we already have.

I just have to get my body ready for it.

And now you know too much information about me:) ha!