IEP's according to Dr. Seuss

Do you like these IEPs?

I do not like these IEPs I do not like them,

Jeeze Louise

We test, we check we plan,

we meet but nothing ever seems complete.

Would you, could you like the form?

I do not like the form I see.

Not page 1, not 2, not 3.

Another change, a brand new box, I think we all Have lost our rocks.

Could you all meet here or there?

We could not all meet here or there.

We cannot all fit anywhere.

Not in a room Not in a hall

There seems to be no space at all.

Would you, could you meet again?

I cannot meet again next week

No lunch, no prep Please here me speak.

No, not at dusk and not at dawn

At 4 p.m. I should be gone.

Could you hear while all speak out?

Would you write the words they spout?

I could not hear, I would not write

This does not need to be a fight.

Sign here, date there, Mark this, check that, Beware the student’s ad-vo-cat(e).

You do not like them so you say

Try it again! Try it again! and then you may.

If you let me be, I’ll try again and you will see.

Say!

I almost like these IEPs

I think I’ll write 6,003.

And I will practice day and night

Until they say "You’ve got it right."

author unknown

It seems my little man has a new obsession-

4-wheelers.

What is it with little boys and things that go fast??

-thankfully-

He is cautious

He get's that from his Mama!

He has enjoyed riding his 4-wheeler around the yard---

-but after going to the 4-wheeler races @ Big Buck last weekend, he was hooked even more!

The Belly Fat Cure

If there's one thing I know that applies to any part of life, it's that you have to choose what works for you and stick with it! Whether it's disciplining your children, cleaning your house, or trying to be healthy, if it doesn't work with your lifestyle it's not going to work for you.
I could easily moonlight as a weight-loss expert of a new kind-the what-not-to-do hotline!! Over the years I've eaten cabbage soup, cleansed my colon, taken vitamins, taken prescription diet pills, over the counter diet pills, eaten only meat & cheese, choked down tuna & grapefruit, painfully limited my calories, I mean the list could go on and on and on---seriously ridiculous~!
After having Isaac my struggle became worse than ever as we begin to try to conceive once again and I faced spinal meningitis, persistent miagraines, gallbladder surgery, and liver surgery. In the midst of all the other craziness going on I wasdiagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome and found that one of the struggles that goes hand in hand with PCOS is the struggle with abdominal weight-Imagine That!! So, even when I tried-the scale never did anything but go up.
I'll be honest at this point and admit that I was always pretty easily frustrated and expected instant results-If the scale didn't move within a few days I was done!!
Then we found an article in First for Women, by some MAN who thought he had the Cure for Belly Fat. My immediate thought was that if I had a penny for every time I had read an article that claimed that, that I would be a rich woman! But, I did take the time to read it, thought, well maybe, and then got to the food list--And then I thought-okay so maybe we really could do this!
The basic principal of Jorge Cruise's The Belly Fat Cure is that sugar turns to fat, increases cortisol levels in our bodies, causing fat to be stored right in the belly (that's in a nut shell!). It was refreshing that the overarching goal was good health-not filling your body with fake chemical sweeteners, not eating only from certain food groups, not leaving out healthy vitamin rich foods, but really eating healthy balanced meals that were only missing one thing-SUGAR. What Jorge said made sense, was based on healthy nutrition, and had scientific research to back it up.

Check out the before and in-progress here

I'm definitely not a poster child, and I'm not "cured" for sure-but my belly is shrinking, I'm feeling better, and I don't crave sugar all the time.
So, if like every woman I know-you struggle with your weight and what to do-you may want to go to Amazon and check out The Belly Fat Cure .

Carla's recent post here about their new pet, made me realize that in my blogging absence I had failed to share about our new pet!

Hunter is 2 1/2 and is a Dalmation.

I know you are shocked to hear that we got a fire dog---lol!

I think my firefighters are in dog heaven.

And just so you know-Hunter is not dumb, deaf, or overly aggressive. All traits that can be present in Dalmations. We spent time with him before deciding to adopt him and he is a great fit for our family :)

Barbie Birthday Cake

I'm an amateur cake baker-I do it for fun and usually just for Isaac's birthday-but when Mackaylan requested I make her Barbie cake-I knew I had to try it!

She insisted that it be purple, even though she was having an "Ariel" party-so I obliged, even though I love adhering to theme parties!

Barbie was a hit-and I think pretty yummy :)

Happy Easter

We are so blessed to have most of our family very close-so the holiday's give us a great opportunity to gather and enjoy each other even more! This year my grandparents were able to join us from Charleston for the first time in a while. Everyone always come to our house-we cook and enjoy lots of egg hiding and playing :)

Seasons

As I lay in the grass the other day, looking at the sky and pondering the shade of blue that encompassed every inch of visible space, my mind wandered to how comfortable I was just stretched out laying in the grass. I couldn't help but think, how in just a few months it would be entirely too hot to lay anywhere without water. And then just a few months ago it was entirely too cold to lay anywhere without fire and a roof!! But now, and that day laying in the grass it's comfortable-it feels good and I love it! I feel that way about fall too. The light is perfect for pictures, the breeze keeps things just right, and the sun warms me to the soul. But I wonder if I would appreciate these changes in fall and spring as much, if we didn't have the bitter cold winter and the blazing hot and humid summer to contend with-If I were comfortable all the time I would wish for snow and hot summers, I wouldn't know how lucky I am.I couldn't help but turn my thoughts to life. Much like seasons of the year we have seasons in our lives. Sometimes things are cold, sometimes we are in the fire, and then other times everything is just right and we are comfortable. Sometimes the comfortable is short lived and other times we bump just right along. God guides through the seasons of our life-whether through comfort or through fire-and each season has its purpose-rest, renewal, molding, shaping-but the fact remains through it all that God is the Captain, the Chief, He is and will always be in control. It's easy to question the reasoning at times and even easy to resist His will at times, but even when we think we are at the reigns, we are very, very wrong. I am thankful that through every season and every trial the Lord is my guide and that I have nothing else to fear.So enjoy spring, if it every really comes to stay, and let it be our reminder of God's presence all around us.

Lake Bowen Park

Even though he has a great swing set @ home-nothing is more fun to Isaac than a trip to the park!

We were close to Lake Bowen this weekend and took the opportunity to let him get out and enjoy the great weather-and of course my camera was close by!!

Photo Fun with Mackaylan

I love my boys---

and I love taking photo's of them! They don't always cooperate, however, we almost always have fun-sometimes I have to bribe them, pay them off, or threaten them--but I get the memories!!

And sometimes it's fun to have a change of pace-and I had a blast shooting some fun shots of Mackaylan

this weekend! She is so much fun and such a ham-don't know where she get's it from???

Big Buck

We had the opportunity to spend a great day with our friends last weekend!

It was a beautiful, sunny day-perfect weather for a 4-wheeler race!

Mickey finished 10th-and while we did end up covered in dirt and dust-none of us were quite as dirty as he was!

We can't wait to get to see him race again! Isaac had such a good time that he dreamed about 4-wheelers and was talking about in his sleep lastnight :)

Oh My Goodness!

That's all I can say-
Oh My Goodness!
And that's what I thought when I saw this picture.
I was so thrilled that I actually thought to get my Dad to snap a quick pic-but later when I looked it was a very unwelcome reality check!

The Good news is. . . . .
That's not what I look like any more!!
Thanks to the support and encouragement from Lana, I am now over 1/2 way to my goal of losing 55 lbs by 5/20/2010!
I've lost 32 lbs since 1/1/2010-gone down 2 pants sizes-and don't have 2 chins or a pregnant looking belly anymore!
Now--Only 25 more to go!