Kids' Trip 2015

The big kids are on the East Coast and yesterday they were able to get into the cold Atlantic Ocean. 

They saw a couple of headlights (lighthouses) in Maine. 

They are staying with Alaskan friends who moved back east last year. Reunion time with life long friends. 

Cold water

The crew

Meanwhile, back in Alaska...

... we got snow last week then it warmed up and rained for three days and last night the temperature dropped and we got another wet snow. Good for snowmen and odd for us Alaskans. 

Too Quiet

The oldest three Blessings headed off to parts unknown for a trip with their leadership team. Sigh, they grow up so quickly. 

Here is their group on the plane with their chaperone. 

The house was so quiet all day long. I do believe this house has not been this quiet in fifteen years. Benjamin is sick and cannot speak above a whisper. All three of the pictures below were all from the same day. He slept on and off all day long. 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Judith Rae!!!!

Snow in September??

Heavy, wet snow fell here today. Snowman and snowball snow. That rarely happens here so the kiddos enjoy snowman building.  

Our yard now has a snowman.  

Going Back

Y'all, I let myself second guess myself a couple of years ago and we stepped away from a math curriculum. This year two of my kids are going back and who knows I may take everyone back. 

Home Education

So many wonderful things going on in this collage. Everything from THM ice cream to a science volcano. Oh, and an old, sleeping dog. I love that dog. 

Where Am I?

I began my journey on plan with Trim Healthy Mama on January 5, 2015. THM was not a New Year's Resolution, THM was a life change for me. 

God has given me really great friends throughout my life. Tonight I hosted our Mom's Night Out in our home. There are many ladies that ebb and flow through the MNO group but there is the core and that core of women is becoming such an integral part of my life. You see, these are friends I have made all on my own, I began with paths crossing with one of the group and going to Mom's Night Out all by myself, a very big deal for me. You see these are now my people, we share the common bond of loving God, family and home educating our blessings. I have prayed and waited for years for these ladies, I knew they were out there I just had to wait until God brought us all together, in His time. 

Tonight we lingered longer than the other attendees and we got to talk about life and THM. Which brings me to the reason for this post. I was asked how I stay on plan. That was a difficult question to answer. The short answer is that I stay on plan because on plan works, the weight goes away and I feel energetic, I feel human. 

The question also made me realize that I need to share more about my journey with THM on this old blog. So here goes: 

I journaled this on January 15, 2015. Ten days on plan. Journal entry in italics.

On December 28, 2015 I had had enough. I was ready to make a change-to take control of the weight that has controlled me far too long. 

I had known about THM for quite a while now. I had done a little research but never read the book. I dismissed THM as too restrictive for me. Over moths and years I kept seeing the occasional success story on Facebook. All the while I started gaining weight. Something I really had not done for quite a while. 

I guess I had to hit my rock bottom, which would really be a weight high, when I decided to get serious, buy the book and give this a go. 

I ordered my book the night of December 28 and waited. Also, the night I decided to go for this I texted a friend who had the book but had not started yet and told her I was ready. She and another friend had just been talking of this book that day and thus began my journey with THM with a support system from the start. 

Oh, yeah, I gave up sugar. I cannot believe that at all. 

This picture is from July 2014 while in Ohio with two of my besties, I am the one in the black shirt. The bottom picture is me in August trying on jeans  at Old Navy. 

I did something out of my element for Benjamin this school year, I ordered Sonlight science for him. He loves science and especially science experiments. While Sonlight isn't heavy on experiments there are enough optional activities to keep my little guy happy in the area of science. 

I almost have my eyes closed here but let's keep life real here. Benjamin is outside in short sleeves and I am all layered up. Alaskan kid vs. Mom. He wins. 

Sonlight science does use the Usborne Children's Encyclopedia which makes me thankful for all of the Answers in Genesis materials we have purchased over the years. 

Collage

We are finally settling into a learning schedule, I think. 

Last week we had our back to school ice cream social and Benjamin enjoyed a few hours on the playground and eating ice cream. 

Emmy and I enjoyed some time outside in the sunshine on Saturday morning. 

I take a Sunday selfie and post on Instagram so I added that to our collage as well. 

E is for Effort

Yes, I said effort. I must make an effort to play games with my six year old. Movies and screen games are easy because they do not require Mom involvement. There I said it, I mentioned the elephant in the room. Now that I upgraded to a new phone we reset my old phone so Benjamin could have a mobile device for a couple of games for fun. We also have movies and internet access for movies and games, ya know, typical American home kind of stuff. Only, we are not typical Americans. Well, we weren't. I honestly enjoy my smartphone for the sheer convenience of checking email and social media and communication with other humans and music and so on. But, I notice that more times than not we sit around viewing screens way too much. 

Today I choose games on a Sunday afternoon between church services instead of knitting or a nap. I know I made a good choice.