Tuesday, March 4, 2014

A 30-day Challenge




For those of you who do not want to read to the end ----
Join me in a 30-day challenge of a daily routine.... Pick something you want to achieve, Pick something you want to change; Pick Something you aspire to be--- Just pick something - Keep a Journal of your thoughts and challenges and share along the way at 10-day intervals.   Support my son as he begins his challenge with your own challenge.  Come.... we begin now
This is a rather long post so hang in there with me and read to the end as I promise it will be worth ........ My son called and his doctor informed him that he MUST quit smoking. He has been smoking since he was 13.   This request was not an option and he has embarked on a quest to giving up this habit.   His doctor told him that if he could just make it 21 days he would build the muscles of memory to be able to quit. 

Interesting concept and one I thought about for a few days and contemplated how could I be in this journey with him and support him not only with his challenge but with one of my own.   A friend stopped by the other day and shared with me her 30 day Challenge of an Ab workout. I wanted in.  Today was the first day and a 10 second plank is extremely hard!   Shaking after 10 seconds--- really?
But then I started thinking of how my life was off-track.  Today it hit hard that I am
not where I want to be or doing the things I want to do and spent most of the day doing some serious pondering of my life. These seem to be really hard conversations to have with yourself but at the end of the day I felt like I had a plan and it began with the  30-day Ab Challenge and a small list of other things to accomplish each day.   As I stepped away from my list  I felt really good and for the first time in months could see  a clear path instead of one that was twisty and winding and hidden from view. 
Tomorrow night at Young Women’s our activity is creating  an “Intent Poster.”  This is where you write down, draw, or depict with pictures things you want to accomplish for the year.  In thinking of this exercise for the past week I was drawing a blank until today. 
So at 5:00 p.m. blasting from the TV was the music from  Despicable Me “Happy" and I did my Ab Challenge and wrote my list of a daily routine.    It is a Happy Life and sometimes we get off track and it takes a while to get back on board but when you do-  JEEPERS   it  feels right and empowering.

So, in support of my courageous son who has tried several times to quit smoking, I take on my own challenge of getting my life back on track with (1) Ab Challenge (2) Journal Writing (3) Daily Scripture Study – someone great said (cannot remember who at the moment) when we wonder why our life is not going the way we want it; ask yourself if you have drawn away from the Lord (4) Walking and and some other things that are too close to the heart to share.  Don't wish me luck - instead join with me in your own challenge one step at a time with a daily routine.  In 10 days I hope to hear from you as well as sharing my own thoughts. 


 


 


 


 




Thursday, February 13, 2014

Keys to my heart and two weeks of valentines


Happy Valentine's Day
 
Tonight David will come home to
"Keys to My Heart"
We wrote what we love about him on
the back of the hearts
 
 
 
 
For the past two weeks we have been busy with Valentine
Crafts and hosted our Annual Valentine Party
All captured in pictures below

Valentine wreath
repurposed a wire frame -  grey yarn and cut out
pink and red felt hearts





Easy and Fun craft to make
David cut out all the hearts for me
On the back of one of his hearts is "I love you because you
help me with all my crafts and never complain"
Baby Food Jars and chalk spray paint
add a tea light and bakers twine - quick and easy

annual valentine party


Best game ever - paper plates/popsicle sticks
and one balloon.  Balloon Paddle Ball
 We played this for Family Home Evening the next day and
discovered that a balloon filled with helium and a day old (this is the key)
 works the best
 
 
Heart Mailbox Chair Backer
Pottery Barn - love this store!
 


The girls
 
 
 

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Chilly weather calls for Snowman Soup






Tonight our weather calls for the low 20's which means we will be sipping on snowman soup.  Make some extras and deliver to a friend


For tags: http://simplykierste.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/snowman-soup-big.pdf


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

A little dash of Christmas


Our very own Merry Christmas....... in pictures





My one and only Christmas Craft - yarn trees







Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Texas Thanksgiving


A Thanksgiving  with cows, fireworks, s'mores on an open fire, and the beach -- only in Texas where the weather is gorgeous!  Our Thanksgiving started on Grandpa's Ranch with a great visit with family.  Next stop --- Galveston for a stroll on the beach and later a visit to the Rain Forest and Festival of Lights at Mary Moody Gardens.  Many memories from this trip... Hope you had a memorable Thanksgiving. 


 

The beach was empty - our own little paradise
 
sunset - almost time for fireworks


The Light n' go bonfire logs are the best.  Portable and inexpensive


fireworks on the fence line - great for staging
 
 

Fish made out of plastic water bottles

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Falling leaf pancakes for Thanksgiving morning

I saw a picture of these pancakes somewhere
and wanted to give it a try.... here we go 
 
start with your favorite pancake batter and a squeeze bottle




 using squeeze bottle draw an outline of a leaf on your pan
cook until edges are brown
 
 fill in the spaces with pancake batter and flip immediately



 beautiful fall leaf pancake
 
 
 serve with butter and syrup
 
Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours

Pumpkins in the mist

After a rain shower we visited our local pumpkin patch and corn maze.  The corn maze was tricky to maneuver and very slippery.   The fog and mist on the camera lens  produced some interesting pictures. 





hiding from her daddy

scoping out the maze

we only took a couple of wrong turns


a tired little girl