The crows are seriously taking over. I obviously need to get a smaller bird feeder that can't hold their weight. In the mean time, I occasionally run outside and scare them away, but that is only temporary. They are very sophisticated, and usually have one bird on lookout while the others are eating away. Here are they enjoying all my bird food. Thankfully it's home made and cheap. And here is their friend on lookout in a tree. He started sqwaking very loud when I walked outside. And all I really want is to watch my other little bird friends like this little guy while I'm cooking and doing dishes. Is it really too much to ask? I guess so. The battle continues, but I promise I will win against these crows . . .
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Almost 2 years ago I did a round of P90x with some fellow teachers, and I loved it. P90X is a very challenging workout, and I really enjoyed it. Part of what was great about my experience was doing it every day with friends because we motivated each other. It's really hard to slack off when there are 6 or 7 other people working out with you. And, since we did it after school in the gym, we had all the necessary equipment - lots of space, large varieties of weights, pull-up bars, chairs, etc. The excercises were good, I was constantly sore, and I was getting measurably stronger. I tried to do P90X at home by myself, and I found it really hard to stay motivated. Maybe because I'd already done it with friends, but a few other things came into play. First, the workouts are a minimum of 1 hour. The yoga routine is 90 minutes, so it is a very large daily commitment. As a Mom, it's hard for me to find that amount of time each day because I also need a few minutes to cool down (literally cool my body temperature) plus time to shower and get ready. And, I can't rely on myself to commit to that every day after the kids go to bed - there's too much other stuff to do (dishes, laundry, cleaning, relaxing) during that time. The other problem is equipment. P90X uses a larger range of weights plus pull-up bars. I know you can buy the kind that fit in doorways, but our doorways are extra tall (about 9ft), and so I would actually need a ladder to reach the bar. If you have the time to commit to P90X, I highly recommend it. I loved it, and the workouts really get all the muscle groups, plus cardio and yoga. I really enjoy the yoga DVD, and still do it occasionally if I have the time. You've read all the reasons why I like JMBR, but I will just add that there are several excercises she does that are also in P90X. So, I would say the routines are of similar difficulty and intensity, but Jillian takes less time to do it. She even mentions in one video that she doesn't have an hour a day to work out, so she packs it in to 30 minutes. I have not seen any of her other videos, but it seems that this workout is a little P90X inspired, unless these types of workouts are just the general trend right now. So, both are challenging and make you work hard. If you have time to do P90X, go for it! I've known some people to lose weight and really buff up on the program. But, if you are strapped for time, yet still want a pretty intense workout, go for Jillian MIchaels. I do wish she put a challenging yoga workout in there as that always felt very beneficial in P90X, but maybe she has one on the market already. Whatever you choose, make sure it's fun for you! Disclaimer - I do make a small amount of money from Amazon from products purchased on my blog. I only put products on that I have personally used and would recommend to friends and family. If you're considering purchasing the above product, I'd love if buy from the above link! Thanks!
One of the biggest things I hate about Texas is fire ants. They are evil and the bites are painful. My daughter was bit on her arm yesterday while sitting in the grass, even though there wasn't a visible nest nearby. Untreated, the bites look like this photo. I have found you can prevent the pimple like appearance if you pour straight bleach on the bites immediately and then rinse the bleach off ( bleach isn't harmful unless it gets into soft tissue). That obviously didn't happen yesterday.
If you are lucky enough to live somewhere where you can enjoy things like being outside and sitting in the grass, be thankful! Fire ants are just awful and totally impossible to get rid of. I continued in May with Jillian Michaels Body Revolution, but due to my 2 out of town trips, my workouts 5 and 6 took 3 weeks instead of 2. I missed a few due to being out of town, so I just did each a couple extra times instead of moving forward.
I started workouts 7 and 8 in June, and they are TOUGH, and I really feel it after each session! I missed the second half of last week, which ends up being one day of each workout. I hope to make that up this week. I continue to jog rather than doing her cardio workouts for a couple of workouts. First, I much prefer to be outside if I can, and surprisingly it has been decent enough in the evenings that I can still jog outside. And, it's really hard for me to do cardio indoors - it's just so boring for me, even though the workouts she has designed aren't boring because they are all 30 or 60 second sets. But, I'm an outside girl, so anytime I can be outside I will do that instead. Also, some of the moves have been hurting my left knee. I continue to really enjoy these workouts, and would definitely recommend them. They are extremely challenging, and while I can pretty much do all of the excercises (even if poorly), there is a great deal of room for me to improve and get better. I've discovered that my arms are just not very strong, and many of the excercises focus on upper body. So, while it is really challenging to me, it's good. The only problem I have is listening to the same banter on each video. Even though the videos are designed to be done only twice a week for two weeks (before moving on to the next ones), I get irritated listening to the same conversations between Jillian and her workout friends. But, it's not THAT bad. Jillian does have some great motivational things to say, and I just try to stay focused on why I"m doing it. We are heading out of town in less than two weeks and we'll be gone for probably 6 weeks. We'll be visiting so many different places that I don't think it will be feasible to bring all my weights and videos with me, but I always get as much excercise when on vacation as possible. We visit family in different places, so I have some favorite jogging spots in each place. I'll continue the workouts until we leave, and I'll probably start the whole thing over again when I return since there won't be any travel interruptions once school starts. The crows discovered my bird feeder and have now taken over. They love to sit and eat, and they even have a system where one bird sits on top and throws stuff down to his friends on the ground. They are smart, and obviousy communicate with each other through obnoxiously loud sqwaking, especially when I come outside to try to take a picture. All I really want is for my little bird friends like the blue jays, cardinals, woodpeckers and others to sit prettily on the birdfeeder while I drink my morning coffee. Is that really too much to ask? Apparently.
I really wish I bought the bb gun I was going to buy when we had the raccoon problem because I have no problem shooting annoying birds. I learned to shoot a gun at an early age since we visited my Grandparents on their farm every summer. There were lots of annoying birds that ate the crops, so, we shot them. Once, my brother shot 99 of the pesky little buggers while we were there. He wanted to get an even 100, so as we packed up the car with our suitcases he desperately tried to find just one, but there were none to be flying around. Anyway, I would shoot the crows if I could. They are annoying, and maybe if I got 1 or 2 of their friends they would get the message. But, do not worry, my animal loving friends. I do not have a gun of any kind, so I will have to be happy with running out every once an a while and trying to scare them. It will not work and I will continue to have to fill my bird feeder more often than necessary (those damn crows eat A LOT!). But, it just adds to our little adventure in the semi-wild kingdom. I just picked these beautiful tomatoes! There are few things in this world that I love more than homegrown tomatoes, and I'm lucky my kids love them as well. I have trained them well - the first thing my son asked for when he saw all of these was tomatoes and cheese (caprese)! Oh my heart is happy :-)
The Texas gulf coast summer has arrived with all of it's breath-taking (and not in a good way) heat, humidity, and mosquito infestations. The last couple weeks before school was out, the weather charmed us with southern-california-like temperatures and pleasantness, but alas, it showed its true self on the very last day of school. I walked with my son and his class to the park while the mosquitos bounced around our ankles and all the moms were dripping while doing nothing more than sitting on a bench. Imagine how pleasant the smell must have been as the entire kindergarten moseyed back to school after having run around for an entire hour.
Anyway, I look forward to summer because there are no schedules, no need to turn on an alarm, and the possibility of amazing adventure hangs in the air. But, I think even all that possibility gets tired of the thick summer air and melts along with the make-up on my face. And my main goal becomes to stay cool and keep the kids from destroying the inside of the house because going outside runs the risk of getting heat stroke or dehydration. That is no easy feat. I've signed them up for about 3 weeks of camps (except 1 week for my son only) leaving lots of time we need to fill. I could do lots of stuff with the older 2, but the baby throws all plans for a loop. She definitely still needs a nap, and she's just not old enough for fun summer stuff like movies and pools. Going to a pool with all 3 is totally out of the question - none know how to swim well enough to trust them. Managing 3 by myself at a pool would land me in the hospital due to cardiac arrest. And, I would have left the baby in daycare for the summer if I wanted to get a babysitter all the time. Lastly, the half day camps make it difficult to squeeze anything else in for the day, but in reality it's too hot for some of the stuff I'd like to do like visit the zoo. We are having some remodeling done on a fireplace that was a fire hazard at one point, so they were hammering and sawing all day yesterday leaving me to flee with the baby during her nap time (no nap for baby = bad choice) while the kids were at camp. We went to michaels to try to buy some crafty stuff for the kids to do since despite having 4 million toys each, there is NOTHING to do in the house. Ever. And, if it were up to them they would play x-box or watch tv all day long, and I really don't want to have to feel guilty later in life when they have creativity or thinking problems because their brains turned to mush while sitting on the couch. Three and a half more weeks and we get to go on vacation, which I'm really looking forward to. The kids will get to see their cousins, all 4 grandparents, both great-grandmothers, and some new friends. But, until then, we continue to trudge through June with lots of popsicles, camp and art projects. In an attempt to create prevent temper tantrums and other unpleasantries of parenthood, my husband and I came up with three 'rules' that, in theory, should create a smoothly-running family. They also serve to humor us, since if you can't laugh a little when you have 3 kids, you will surely self-destruct during some terrible moment like a triple-tantrum. So, the rules are as follows:
1. Don't Make a Mess 2. Always listen to Mommy & Daddy 3. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit We most often refer to the first rule. For example, when eating in a restaurant and waiting for food, the kids might decide that it's fun to color on plates, play with the straws in their drinks or make confetti out of napkins. That's when we put a quick stop to it and say 'What's the First Rule?'. And they will answer 'Don't Make a Mess.'. I'm not saying it always stops the mess, but it does work quite a bit of the time. And, if we can prevent the mess, we can prevent the crying and/or wailing associated with the excruciatingly back-breaking work of cleaning up the mess they created, which by all of their accounts is the most difficult, impossible, boring job ever in the whole wide world. We are having our fireplace area fixed, and the guys were in removing some drywall and had made a pretty decent mess. My son and I walked in and were looking at it all, and the first thing he said to me was 'Mommy, they are breaking the first rule'. I laughed, and explained that it's OK for them to make a mess and that they are going to clean it up. At least one of the kids listens to us . . . We don't usually refer to the other two rules by number, but certainly encourage them to follow them. The 2nd rule is most important when we are out in public and need to keep everyone together and safe, but it's important at home as well when we are trying to create a little bit of order out of the generally consistent chaotic state of our house. For example, if they are chasing each other around the house or playing on the stairs and we ask them to stop, but they don't, we usually have to remind them that they need to listen to Mommy and Daddy. This is also where the dreaded 'Because I said so' comes in. We remind them of safety issues, etc. and that sometimes they just have to do what we ask without arguing. I'm not really holding my breath since I'm sure we'll turn blue over the next 15 years trying to get them to follow that one. But hey, at least we're trying. Lastly, we stole 'you get what you get . . . ' from one of their old daycares. This usually comes in when they've gotten a treat or something and they decide to complain. Maybe I gave them popsicles and they wanted red instead of green. So, I must remind them 'You get what you get and you don't throw a fit'. I also sometimes remind them that there are children in the world who don't have food, so they better be happy for any popsicle. Yep, eventually your children will push you to use the 'starving children in Africa' line (or some variation thereof) if you haven't used it already, but every parent of small children do what they must to make it through the day without tantrums, complaining, etc. Those are our 'rules'. We are really just trying to see if we can achieve just one day without any crying or tantrums, and it continually eludes us. For us, these three things seem to cover nearly all scenarios that cause stress, and they keep my husband and I consist when we are not together. And, we can laugh about it all, too, which may be the most important benefit of all. Wow. May flew by so fast! It turned out to be a crazy month for us, so I apologize for being gone for so long. Our daughter turned 5 and had a party, we registered her for kindergarten, I went to visit family for my cousin's high school graduation (all by myself!), then the husband was out of town, back for a day and out of town again for a week, and then I took the middle daughter to a family wedding in Milwaukee. It was a little like we were ships passing in the night for a while.
The five days my husband was gone was just crazy. I had a baby shower, Pre-K graduation, a home repair estimate at our rental property, Kindergarten graduation, swimming show-offs/awards, a karate belt test, and two unexpected doctor appointments, one of which turned out to be a budding ear infection in my middle daughter. And, we also decided to put our rental home on the market, so I had some paperwork at walk-throughs to do. The day my daughter and I traveled to Wisconsin, the baby had a terrible cough and some minor breathing troubles, so my husband had to take her to the ER in the middle of the night. Thankfully it was just croup and a round of steroids helped get rid of the cough. She always seems to get sick on Friday nights - We've had to take her to the ER on at least 2 friday nights. Well, with three kids, it's always something. So, that was our May and I'm pretty glad all the craziness is over. School is out, so I'm breathing a little easier now - no homework, no getting to the bus stop by 7:. The Houston weather has turned hot and muggy, and I keep seeing air quality alerts, which surely explains the allergies and coughs in this house. We've got some camps and vacation coming up, so I'm looking forward to a somewhat relaxing summer (nothing is truly relaxing with a 6, 5 and 2 year old!)! Happy Summer Everyone! I've had so many conversations with many different women who all say they wish they could cut their hair short. Some say their husbands wouldn't like it or they are not brave enough. For many women, hair is like a security blanket. It's comforting as it falls over shoulders or the neck. It can be wispy and draw attention away from a blemish. Some people are blessed with talent to do their own hair flawlessly every day and always looke good. Not me. I am talentless in the doing-long-hair department and the frizz suffocates any hint of confidence that may have existed. So, I decided to go short. Not pixie-cut short, but pretty short. I've gotten several unsolicited compliments from strangers, so it must look half-way decent.
While you can't just put it back in a ponytail if you're short on time or having a bad hair day, it's great for many other reasons. First, it has a little bit more tailored look - you have no choice but to do it. Second, since there aren't many options for different styles once you have your cut (you can't do an up-do, ponytail, braid, etc. like with long hair), it leaves open the opportunity to have fun with cute earrings (there's no hair hiding your ears!) and different make-up. I've been having fun wearing earrings that previously couldn't be seen with my long, dark hair. Lastly, short hair is a great way to wear hair jewelry like cute barretes, etc. Short hair can be sexy, sassy and cute - it's truly all in your attitude. Plus, it needs to be cut usually every 6 weeks, and who doesn't love going to the salon for a shampoo and haircut? It's a great excuse for a little mini-relaxation session! Try it - you might like it! (If not, it will always grow back) :-) |
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