Here we are again......

I just keep trying this blogging thing but it's just doesn't catch.. I am going to try again... lol  I have been homeschooling for 7 years and don't have alot of documentation (pictures) and such for us to look back on. I HATE pictures of myself. I am OBESE and that does not sit well with me and pictures. I want to lose weight but It's sooo very hard. I try and give up, try and give up.. Not good.. I need to give 100% otherwise I will end up in surgery like my mom. I already need 2 knee replacements and won't be able to walk soon. It's not fair to my Husband, my kids, myself! So, my church is offering PRISM.. A weightloss program with bible readings and prayer. I joined. There are only 6 of us but, I am determined to overcome my addiction with fast food!! 

Also, this is my son's last year of homeschooling.. I can't believe he will be a Senior this year. My baby boy is growing too fast (tears in my eyes as I type) I don't want to miss the documentation of this year. My Daughter A is in college and doing great, as A ALWAY'S does great academically but socially, it's another thing.. :(  She is 20 and we are in the process of testing her for Aspergers.. Thursday she will be going in for a 4.5 hour testing. Hopefully we will get some answers from this. She has panic attacks and a social anxiety disorder, we KNOW this.... but there is something MORE going on. Hopefully we will finally know so we can help her to succeed in life.. 

My littlest baby boy C is 9 years old!! WOW, 9!!! I can't believe how the time flies! We are kind of switching up this year on schooling. He had such a hard time reading but is finally catching up to where he needs to be.. He still HATES writing but that is the fine motor issues.. We will be doing alot on the computer (he is definately a computer/techie kid!! ) We found a FREE curriculum called Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool and it's been a great fit.. This woman Lee put all her school planning on a blog with links from pre-k to highschool and it's all free!! We do add in some stuff but all the links, games, videos C just LOVES this kind of learning!!! I hope to be documenting it this year.. Don't want to miss a thing.. 

So, off to take my measurements today for PRISM.. (I have never done measurements) and weighing in tomorrow morning for my first meeting tomorrow night!! 

I had my first weight in today on my Low Carb Journey.. I started on September 24th 2012.. I weighed in at the 1 week mark and weighed in at 290 lbs.. Yeah.. 5.5 lb loss in 1 week! I am super excited about that.. I found this really awsome forum/message board called Low Carb Friends.. www.lowcarbfriends.com It's a great place to get support! Love it!! So much information!

On another note, I had my first out to eat test today.. I took my son to Old Country Buffet as it's closing and that used to be our favorite place! So, we went and I actually stayed on program.. Big salad with blue cheese and had baked chicken and broccoli and cheese... I drank water and for dessert I chose a sugar free orange cream cake and only had 4 bites.. I am so proud of that..

Wow has it been along time....

Well, I started on a Low Carb Journey so decided to blog about it, then I remembered that I still had this blog so here I am..

First a homeschooling update. We are still homeschooling. It's been 7 years since we started this journey. I have since graduated 1, have another in 11th grade and my youngest is doing 2/3rd grade work.. My oldest is in Community College and excelling there.. My middle son is doing great homeschooling. He has lots of friends and does lots of activities and just is an all around GREAT young man.. My youngest (the baby) is still struggling a little with his schooling. He's alway's had a hard time with reading and fine motor. Still there but getting better.. I have found some great curriculum items this year that has helped ! (Teaching Textbooks has been a life savor)

Now for the diet update.. I haven't alway's had an issue with my weight. Growing up I was "just right" as my mom put it.. Not skinny but not big either.  I think in highschool I was a size 7/9 and up until my first child that's about where I stayed.. Then came my baby girl.. I had gestational diabetes with her and gained almost 80 lbs during that pregnancy.. (nobody told me how hard it would be to lose it  :(   2.5 years later I was probably about 170 when I got pregnant with my 2nd baby.. Big Nick!! lol... He weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 15 oz.. YIKES!! I gained another 65 with him... I struggled and struggled to get the weight off.. It was just sooo tough.. By the time my 3rd came around 8 YEARS later I was weighing in at 230!!! UGGGG!  I was lucky with him.. I only gained about 30 lbs.. I was diabetic with all of them but with him they finally had to put me on insulin shots.. (probably why I only gained 30 lbs) Well, that baby is now 8 YEARS OLD!! and I am at my highest weight ever!!! I weighed in at a whopping 295.5 last monday!! I want to just die!!!! Obesity runs in my family. My great grandmother was 400lbs.. My mom had WLS at 365 lbs 8 years ago.. My cousin, 2 brothers and more are obese!! It's tough when most of your family is FAT!! My dear husband just doesn't understand. He comes from a family of SKINNY MINNIES!! lol.. When I married him he was 6foot tall and weighed 155.. Now 20 years later he only weighs 183!! LUCKY HIM!!

Oh well, so, last monday I decided I needed to go back to Low Carb! I have done almost everything over the last 19 years. I would lose some and then gain right back!! I even did low carb before! I did lose, but didn't stick to it for long! This time, I am determined.. When I couldn't get on the bumper cars this summer that was it!! I knew it was time to really do something!!

So, I will be posting my low carb journey here along with our home school journey! Hopefully someone will get something out of it! (hopefully ME)... lol..

We are trying WORKBOXES this year...

I have heard alot of talk about Sue Patrick's Workbox System.. I have read almost every blog and also joined the Yahoo Group for workboxes.. We have decided to try it with our 3 children.. Allie who is going into 11th grade this year, Nick who is going into 8th and Cristian who is just going to be starting kindergarten this year. I am just getting organized with it but wanted to post a few pictures of our setup. We do have a school room in the basement but in the winter we do our schooling in the dining room as we heat our house with a pellet stove and there is no heat down in the basement in the winter.. We decided to buy the Ikea Trofast system and set it up in our dining room.. Each child will have 9 boxes and we use a schedule grid instead of the schedule strip that Sue Patrick uses in her book... Here are a few pics.. I will keep posting on how it's going...

Back on the blog...

Well,
Thought I was gonna get into a blogging routine but havn't.. We have had some family issues. My aunt has been really sick since October and was hospitalized. We now have her dog (one of my dog's sister).. So now we have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 3 children and 2 adults in our small cape cod... it's crowded but we don't mind as we are helping her out!

So,
As far as schooling we have been doing ok.. Allie has kept up and is doing really well with her Marine Biology and Japanese.. She loves her world history also. She already finished her LLATL Gold. She has chosen to do some Smarr lit guides in addition to what she has already done.

Nick had to be switched in Language Arts and Math. I just didn't feel he was retaining any of it.. So, we stopped Easy Grammar and BJU Math and started him in CLE LA and Math. So far, so good... We also added some lifepacs for history. We are studying American History so we added some of those. We also got the Drive Thru History series for homeschoolers that had the american history in it.. Nick loves them.. I wish there were more...

Cristian has Started BJU Math K5. He really has showed an interest in math. Loves doing it so we decided to try it and so far so good. He still does some of the Rod and Staff books and other workbooks but not as much as the BJU (he really loves it!!) I am not pushing him with the phonics and such and just hoping that when he is ready he will want to learn...

Trying to get in a routine..

Ok,
So I know it's been a while since I posted. It's been crazy busy here and I really have just felt unmotivated in everything.. I have decided it's time to get out of my rut. I need to focus on my health (losing weight) my kids (spending quality time with them) my husband (also spending quality time with him) and my house... I started taking my Zoloft regularly again and that has helped. I joined weight watchers online and borrowed my moms treadmill (it's not working right but it will do...)I need to just do this and do it now!!! My friend is going in today for weightloss surgery and I just don't want to go to that process... I am happy for her and sad for me. It will be so much easier for her to lose the weight. I know she will be sick and all but she won't have to struggle as much... Ok, well hopefully I will get into a routine of blogging more also..

The kids are really doing well homeschooling.. This is the 1 thing I did stay consistent with.. We joined a co-op this year and A and N are loving it!! They love being around other kids at least 1 day a week.. I asked them if the loved it so much do they want to go back to public school and they both said "No way Mom!!! We love homeschooling!!" Good, because I don't want them to go back!!

Debi

Our Summer and Vacation

We schooled part time during the summer. We finished math and english and are finishing up with Science. We will start up school full time again on August 26th.

Nick played tennis 3 day's a week this summer.. He really enjoy's this. It was his 3rd year and he is getting quite good. They had a tournament at the end and he won 2nd place but the best part was he won the Good Sportsmanship Award.. He recieved a trophy and a certificate! He was a little disappointed but we all told him we were soooo proud that he won that award for Good Sportsmanship.. This was a much better award than winning first place...



We went to New Jersey this year for vacation. We rented a condo for a week. It was right across the street from the ocean. The boardwalk with all the rides was about 2 blocks up form us. The children and my husband went to New York City with my inlaws (I stayed at the condo as I was not feeling too well that day).. We went to the boardwalk almost everyday and we also went to six flags new jersey. They have a wonderful drive through safari!! We had a wonderful Vacation!! It cost a fortune and we probably won't be able to do something like this again for a long time but we made some wonderful memories... I hope you enjoy the pictures!!