What I Wore to Relevant 11

I did it. I packed the suitcases for Relevant and we left Austin early Wednesday for Pennsylvania. Sweet Morgan hadn't ever flown, so the trip was exciting for her until we got to the hotel (where the babysitting of her tiny 8 month old brother commenced). She and my friend Jennifer's daughter, Maggie are GREAT babysitters and "will work for chocolate".

Until I have time to share with you a little of the amazing things we're learning and doing here at the conference, I thought I would share the rapture photos of all my flat outfits before I shoved them in the suitcase. Just in case you wondered what a person might wear to a blog conference. Because I know it was keeping you up at night.

Look closely there- those are blue jeans. And a sweatshirt. And a tank top. Pretty snazzy, right? Yeah, it's come as you are at Relevant. I love that everyone is just who they are and that everyone has so many things in common: namely, a love for Jesus and blogging.
 
That little patterned bag is my business card ditty bag that my aunt created for me with her mad sewing skills. The scarf was a fun addition since it got colder today. We had to do a Target run tonight for a few essentials and it was downright cold outside. Jennifer and I - gulf coast girls - nearly froze to death before we got back to the hotel and the baby didn't have his socks on (don't tell my mother).

As you will note, there's a skirt in this picture. I had high hopes for wearing pretty shoes, but two days of walking is making me re-think the clog and heeled boot theory I started with. Tomorrow, I'm going to scrap the fuzzy clogs and wear my black 'Wookie' boots again... with that striped grey sweater up there.



The 'Wookie' boots are flat on the bottom and ever so comfy. I might even wear them for the rest of the conference. If you can keep a secret, I got them at Payless a couple of years ago. AND, most of my jeans came from Good Will. I was thrilled that I could get in to the size 10's again after working on this diet and trying to avoid sugar more. Yay for having a stack of "new" jeans to pick from!

Remember to check out my give away for Dayspring and (In)Courage before October 31st... and stop by my @sprittibee tweet stream or follow the #Relevant11 hashtag on twitter to find out more about the conference and what I'm up to.

Tomorrow I'll be having breakfast and coffee with Sally Clarkson and attending the Homeschool Meet and Greet. There are so many homeschooling mama bloggers here! Our keynote tonight was Tsh of Simple Mom who has a great multi-fasceted site about everything from organizing, to homeschooling - simply, of course.



A little side note? We have all had quite an eventful weekend with the elevators at our hotel. Jamerrill and 8 other women were stuck on the elevator for over an hour yesterday. I brought along flat Kelly to the conference and took her photo in the service elevator tonight. I'm avoiding the guest elevators at all costs after Jenn and I got in one today and the door hessitated to open (and when it did, we had to step UP to get out). Stop over at Jam's site to hear more about #Relevator11 (the new twitter hash tag for Relevant 11's elevator mishaps).

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Faith, Hope & Love Give Away by (In)Courage

Remember that conference thing I did last year in fabulous (and chilly) Pennsylvania? Yes - the Relevant one. Well, it's happening AGAIN... and I think I might have mentioned to you that the people who made it all possible for me to go are listed in my sidebar ---> over there...

One of those people - well, peoples - is DAYSPRING's (In)Courage. Have you heard of them? They are only one of the most amazing and uplifting Christian women's blogs around. I heart their devotionals and adore their authors (even though I'm not quite cool enough to be one - probably not organized enough to be one, either -- seeing as how this give-away I'm about to introduce is LATE). Sorry, Lisa-Jo!

(in)courage and DaySpring are sponsoring giveaways on all the Relevant conference sponsored blogs leading up to the Relevant conference! That means me and the other 7 winners of their sponsorship tickets. I'm the photography winner... and am so thrilled that I get to go see my blog sisters in RL this week. My plane leaves town in two days! [and i'm not packed!!!]

Before I head out on a jet plane, I'd like to thank you - my readers (all twenty of you - shhh, don't tell Dayspring) and deck your walls with this FREE canvas wall art set:




Aren't these so cute? They would look fantastic right in the middle of my new chocolate brown dining room wall between the white book cases we use for homeschooling. And they say (those who are decoratively inclined like the Nester), that you should group things in threes... and well, there are THREE of them. Faith, Hope and LOVE -- a great reminder of some very important things that every family needs for great (In)RL relationships to flourish.

Have you heard of (in)RL?  The amazing (in)courage folks have created a way to get us all out from behind the screen and in real life, face-to-face meetings on April 27-28, 2012!  You can host an (in)RL meet up or find one in your hometown. Click here to register!

To Enter:

• Leave a comment about something you find (In)Couraging. [I could use a little encouraging right now after our whole family was sick last week and mama's still got lingering sinus pressure and a little bit of a cough.]

Extra Entries [leave a comment for each of the below to have them count for one entry - 9 total]:

• Follow @DaySpringCards or @incourage on Twitter
• Like DaySpringFans or incourage on Facebook
• Register for {in}RL – to host or attend.
• Follow Sprittibee on Google Connect, @sprittibee on Twitter, or share this post on Facebook.
• Add this post to your Pinterest account and pin this lovely Dayspring canvas trio
• Tweet this post!

I'll pick a random (NON-Relevant attendee) winner on Monday, October 31st!

Here are the other giveaways going on now:  Kristen’s giveaway, Jennifer’s giveaway, Mandy’s giveaway, Michelle’s giveway, Mary’s giveaway, Myra's giveaway, and Cara’s giveaway!

Dayspring is giving away a lot of awesome prizes on each of these blogs this week -- be sure to visit each of them! If you can't come to hang out with us in RL at Relevant, at least you could get some awesome "swag".

My 4 AM Argument For Co-Sleeping

There are these little things called children that disrupt your sleep patterns in adulthood. They disrupt quite a bit, actually... But for the purposes of this post, let's stick to sleeping. After all, if I'm typing this out at 4:42 AM in the dark of my bedroom, unable to experience sleep first hand... At least I could wax poetic about it. 

Often I get asked why I co-sleep by well meaning homeschool friends who are younger and have fewer children. (My husband says that people who have less than three children are merely babysitters.) I had my first set in my 20s and followed most of the parenting rules, too, back then; so I can understand where they are coming from.

This last set of kids... well, they are my last set (four is how many times I ever want a reason for an epidural)... And since I have teenagers in the house at the SAME TIME as little ones, I know how short the time passes from snuggly toddler to terrible tude. It is next to impossible to imagine a child that towers over you and drives your car to the mall when you are 20. I may not be handing my keys over yet, but I'm close enough to have the conversation with my auto insurance agent. Don't get me started on the importance of cherishing the moments you have with your babies. I'm supposed to be talking about sleep.



I snagged a funny picture on Pinterest (Pinterest is another sleep bandit) of a baby making "sleep angels" between his parents as they both hugged the edge of the mattress. That's kind of what it looks like in my life right now... Only make it a king sized bed and add a stray 2 year old that likes to snooze on your arm or spread out sideways with his feet in your back after he wiggles enough to be 'out'. Usually he's on my husbands side of the bed. If Kevin gets really put out with the foot jabbing, though, he might take his pillow and stumble in the dark through the game room back to the bed in our nursery - where the toddler should be sleeping. We put him to bed each night in his queen mattress on the floor of his room hoping that "this will be the night" he sleeps in there until morning... but that morning hasn't come very many times.

Sure, we might feel more rested if we let the baby cry it out and weaned him from night nursing. We'd probably get more shuteye if we worked on keeping the two year old in his bed, too. However, I would argue with you that: there are more important things than sleep... things that don't stay little very long.

In the grand scheme of life, I'll look back fondly on my nights of "sleep angel" dodging, snuggling against warm little love bugs and listening to their breathing, nursing in the dark and sweet bedtime chatter (last night my 2 year old told me through a sleepy smile as he pressed himself up against my back that I was his favorite mommy). I won't remember the fog or ache of sleep lost. I'll remember the closeness of my babies, the love I shared with them in their fleeting childhood, the presence that I provided for them that only a mama can. 

One day in the not so distant future I'll be losing sleep because the house is empty of little warm bodies as they all go out to make their way in this world. Right now I just want to hold them close.



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The Blessing of a Strong Will

The absolute fact is, a strong-willed child is exactly what we should want. Strong enough to fend off peer pressure. Strong enough to set good goals and work toward accomplishment. Strong enough to put off current, brief pleasures for better, long-lasting rewards. - Bette Dowdell

Do you remember back in your teenage days? I do. I was one of those kids that tested all the limits. Actually, I didn't just test them. I pushed past them like a record breaking Olympic runner through the finish-line ribbon... leaving them all in the dust with everyone's mouth hanging open.

I was a rule breaker. A grey hair maker. The one you don't bring home to mama.

And God took the wild in me and bridled it gently with His grace and forgiveness. He covered all the ugly with His selfless love. Because believe me, there's a lot of ugly left over when you buck and bruise yourself and others. A lot of wounds needing healing. A lot of stories that are better left untold.

Part of me was hoping that homeschooling was going to keep the teen troubles away. I guess that's a little naive to think you can go from sweet little baby to capable adult without the slightest battle of wills. Anyone who has ever fought with a toddler about leaving the train table at Barnes & Nobles knows that there's bound to be a few tears and tantrums - no matter how good of a parent you are.

Jesus said that the one who had committed the worst sin was often the one who loved God the most - because they knew the price of His forgiveness in a deeper way. This concept was something he talked about with the racy woman who poured perfume on his feet. He implies in the verses about the sinful woman who anoints his feet with oil that the one who loves Him more is the one who has the largest amount of sin forgiven them (Luke 7:43).

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." ~ Luke 7:47

I know that God loves my children more than I do. I was that woman. I pray that they don't have to learn the power of forgiveness through the greatest sin, but whatever the path laid out before them, I pray that they DO come to know the power of forgiveness and salvation. Whatever it takes and where-ever it leads them. May I never step in-between God's discipleship to prevent them from learning His truth for their life.

We all want our children to become exceptional adults... to fly like eagles. The tricky part of parenting is learning how to let go as they begin to test the air under their new-found wings.

Lord, help me to cheer them on from the edge of the nest and allow you to guide them on the breeze. Show me when and how to lead, because heaven knows I want them following YOU and not me.



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Losing Weight: 17 Day Diet and Meal Ideas

1. Day 2 lunch... Fruit and bacon. Pretty sure I'm breakin' some rules. Sue me. #4eu, 2. Day 1 - Lunch... 17 Day Diet #4EU (4ever Unfrumpy), 3. Last night's dinner: day 1, 17day diet. #4eu, 4. Day 2 breakfast, 17 day diet, cheating with the refried beans. #4eu, 5. Day 3 - 17 day diet, chicken sausage with peas, jalapeño sour kraut and a beet. #4eu ... lost 5 lbs so far!, 6. Day 4 #4eu sausage, egg scramble with cheese, onion and pico. Served w/ blackberries & yoghurt, 7. Grilled Tuna and chopped egg salad #4eu #incourage, 8. Day 8 #4eu cheating at @chickfila with sugary dressing and breaded spicy chicken #oops #lost6lbs #incourage, 9. Day 8 #4eu #17daydiet Chicken & veggies never tasted so good., 10. Asian Salad with Pan Fried Rotisserie #incourage #17daydiet #4eu, 11. Day 9 of #17daydiet #4eu : Chicken Satay, 12. Mt. St. Helens Cake #incourage #whateverworks

A friend of mine started the 17 Day Diet a few months ago and I didn't think anything of it. She had more weight to lose than I did, and I have always been one of those people who believed what I had heard from some health care professionals: "dieting doesn't work - you gain it all back - just change what you eat as a lifestyle and you'll be able to keep it off". Changing what I ate meant giving up chocolate and cookies... and I wasn't ever going to do that.

Then I got older. I'll be 39 not long from now, and my metabolism hasn't been keeping his end of the bargain lately. Maybe it is the 3 pregnancies in the past 4 years? I don't know. I have felt more like the Stay Puff Man than myself for a long time, though. I felt fat enough for long enough that I decided to really DO something about it this time. I gave up the usual culprits: Cokes and excessive fries. That usually did the trick before - at least 5 lbs. worth, right? Nothing this time. Maybe I really was getting old.

Then my friend started looking thinner. She started sharing about her diet with me and told me she and her husband both had lost 20 lbs. in just a month and a half. I decided to buy the book.

The 17 Day Diet is more of a lifestyle cycle of eating. There are three cycles... Activate, Accelerate, and Achieve.

Activate is really strict and more like a "diet". You eat very little carbs (all in the form of vegetable and fruits), no sugary fruits like banana or watermelon, only eat your fruits before 2pm, eat as much chicken or fish as you want, eat eggs for breakfast (this is the one tip that really works to set your daily metabolism - no carb-filled breakfasts), drink green tea (which is said to help people lose weight) and water only, use no sugar - besides Stevia, use very little oil besides flax seed or olive oil, and exercise 17 minutes a day.

It is designed to give you fast results so you won't quit dieting and give up... and it works. It helps cleanse your body, improves your digestion, cleans the sugar from your blood so you start burning fat, and helps you pay attention to how much you eat and move your body. I couldn't make it through the first 17 days. I lost 7 lbs that first week and quit the cycle at about day 12.

I moved on to the next cycle for a little bit and lost another 3 lbs. The next cycle adds whole grains, red meat, more fruits and veggies... and sweet potatoes back in to the diet - and increases your exercise. You also add probiotics to your diet to keep your gut healthy : which can be in the form of Yogurt, Kefir, or vegetables in probiotic liquid (think brine pickles - yum). Part of the inability for some folks to lose weight is just an imbalance of bacteria in the digestive tract.

Good thing? Hormonal women (for whatever reason - be it periods, pregnant, nursing, or just cranky) can have a handful of dark chocolate chips every day. You better believe I took advantage of that rule!

After a while I fell off the bandwagon because of life circumstances and not enough money for organic produce. We have 4 kids and it gets busy around here, so we tend to eat out more than we should if we have to go places. Two of my kids got braces, too - and we resorted to chocolate Atkins shakes and soft foods that weren't on the diet for a while. Then we had one or two weeks in there where there was ice cream, pizza, burgers, and more. All the while, though - we tried to eat more responsibly (maybe not eating the 4th piece of pizza, skipping the chocolate sauce, having oatmeal cookies instead of chocolate pie, and not pouring the sugar in our tea...).

I have to be honest, though... it was sometimes hard to come up with food ideas that weren't already sort of burned out. My friend and I shared some recipes and ideas with each other. It is always better to diet with support. I was encouraged that she was sticking to it. She and her husband have lost about 26 lbs each now. I'm amazingly still at 10 - even with about a month totally OFF the diet. Which means - I really did reset my metabolism and plateau at this weight - which is what they say will happen when you reach the last phase of the diet - you stay at that weight and then can "cheat" on weekends and not regain the pounds.

You might not be able to stay on a burger and fry diet and keep your weight off, but if you are willing to make some changes to how you eat and only have the "bad" stuff on the weekends, you really can change your metabolism and lose the weight. It can be done. I never exercised when I was on the diet last time, so I'm looking forward (hoping) to losing more the next time I do cycle 1. Right now we're back at the "I can't afford all that produce" stage.

Check out some of my photos to help you get ideas on what you might be eating. This diet is really similar to the gestational diabetic diet that I was on during the last few months of my pregnancy (on which I lost a lot of weight - managed to not gain any weight for 3 months while pregnant!).

10 lbs down for me, another 15 or so to go! I look forward to getting back on the 17 Day Diet soon.

Have any questions? I'd love to encourage you on your journey to a thinner and HEALTHIER you!



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iLove my iPhone

Do you camera phone? ALL of my camera phone pics up to this far have been with a 3G iPhone. Not even a 3Gs! My iPhone camera also takes pretty blurry shots and is unable to tag a barcode - so don't think that photographer-people (of which I'm the least) are better at taking pictures with their fancy DSLRs. Sure, someone else might take a great shot with a DSLR - but I'll say it until I'm blue in the face: "The best camera is the one you have with you." Images are for you to love - not to compare. It's not a contest, it's your life - so click it up and stock up in digital memories! I'd be lost without my camera phone.



1. Today's #roadtrip ... Brought to you by #Ford and #McDonalds ;), 2. Sonic Ice Cream Run. So much for not keeping sweets around., 3. #Chipotle has brown rice! #incourage, 4. Grubby little piano fingers.... #incourage #music, 5. Advertisement in Better Homes and Gardens. Kids asked how they got a picture of me. LOL, 6. My nest. The decoy pillow., 7. Prayer Journal Owl (Target) #incourage, 8. Gummy smiles #incourage, 9. Little fluffy sleeper. #incourage #angelbaby, 10. Nursing station. Dining room. #Homeschool table. #whateverworks #incourage, 11. 7 months and cruising already. #littlelegs, 12. Mommy's sleepy boy #incourage



Remember my little "31 days of being unplugged" project? Sadly, unplugging is harder than it appears. Hosting a Homeschool Blog Awards requires a heinous amount of email... and other such burn-eyes-into-the-wee-hours-staring-at-laptop-monitor type detail work.

But lets recount the GOOD part of last week, shall we? Instead of focusing on our pitfalls? Yes...

Mama made a conscious effort to love on the kids more. She did her bible study ONE day last week (don't throw any tomatoes please). There was this short span of about 30 minutes when the laundry wasn't on the floor in any room of the house; then the dryer finished and another clean load got dumped at the foot of my bed. Such is life.

I planned ahead to have a friend visit with her kids - and we had a play date right in the middle of a school day: because we could... all in the name of socialization. The big kids enjoyed their 6 new playmates, but the two year olds (hers and mine) spent the time suspiciously eying each other and making ugly faces over toys. I guess socialization only works on older kids.

I mailed my package to Tiffany. The SUV seems different now that "the box" is no longer riding around with us behind the third row seat. After three weeks back there, we were getting sort of attached to it. So glad to get her sweet text when it made its way to her happy home.



I did manage to sync my Outlook tasks with my iPhone through an app called ToDo. So far so good. I'll post about it later if anyone is interested. It's pretty self explanatory after you download the program on your phone, though. I have been really tired of the multiple paper lists with duplicate tasks in various places floating around and getting lost when I need them. It was time to get serious about the to-do list, so I entered all of my list in to Outlook - which so far has been the best looking to-do list program I have seen. I love that I can check off something now on my phone when I am out.... and when I get home it syncs to the laptop on our home wireless network - like magic through the air. Rainbow list-checking magic.

I managed to stay at 10lbs lost this week despite my daughter making carrot cake for her grandma. Oops went the diet. And then oatmeal cookies tonight. I'll start fresh on Monday! Another 15 lbs or so to go.

I've also taken more instagram photos. Especially this past couple of days. We got a bit of rain today and the two year old looked cute under the red lady-bug umbrella.



Couldn't help myself... I pre-ordered a 4S iPhone so I can have a video camera and a better camera and faster processor speed for the trip to Relevant 11 this month. So excited to get that in the mail. No - really. Like I almost cried when they told me it would be up to three weeks in the mail before I got it. In fact, I might cry still. {iLove mi some iPhone} The two teeniboppers in my house are arguing over who gets mama's old iPhone now. Any ideas on how to figure out which big kid should get it - besides the proverbial coin toss?

How was your week? How is school going at your house? We're still dragging our feet after a good 4 weeks on... and a smattering of trying to get back in the routine after my big kids got braces within 2 weeks. Hoping next week is the 'charm'.

Happy first full weekend in October. I heart fall. Also: don't forget that Monday is the opening for nominations at the Homeschool Blog Awards. And just in case you didn't know - this blog can't be nominated.

Off to stuff my face full of oatmeal cookies... and did I mention that iCan't wait until iGet my new iPhone?




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31 Days of Being Unplugged (almost)

Life goes by really fast.

Take this little guy for instance. He was someone new this February 1st... someone I had never met.

He was a tiny bundle of needs - and now he's an adventuresome tot with busy pinching fingers, wobbly legs, grabbing hands and a smile that can light up the whole universe.

But let's not stop there. I also have a two year old that knows all his letters and numbers. He draws and colors all day if you'll let him (and can manage to hide the books and anything else important that you don't want to become part of his artwork). My little Picaso knows how to work the iPad, too. He often asks me to "come play with him" - and how can I say no?

There's the twelve year old, too. She seems pretty independent now that she can cook a full meal (heavy on the dessert) and play some amazing piano... but I know that she would rather play board games with mama than be by herself in her room.

The fourteen year old enjoys Star Trek with daddy and any sort of documentary about science or history - his latest favorites are World War I and II. My eyes might gloss over a bit when he tells me all about submarine parts, but I love that he's excited about learning. He's a smart cookie. And 14 years is not far away from.... driving... (and then you blink - and he's leaving for college).

These are the people that I don't want to miss out on. So instead of doing just another thing on the internet for the next 31 days ... (which I admit looked pretty fun at first glance)... I am vowing to do a few other things with my 31 days in October.

Here's my 31 list (yeah, I know the month already started, but I'm OK with just jumping in and letting the goodness spill over in to November)...

31 DAYS OF BEING UNPLUGGED


1. exercise every day & drink 6-8 glasses of water
2. start my 17 Day Diet back up (today went great!)
3. limit my blog time to 31 minutes a day this month (until I leave for Relevant)


**note: I can't unplug entirely because I'm helping to run the Homeschool Blog Awards and it takes me at least 31 minutes a day just to check emails -- so when I say 31 minutes a day for blogging, I mean I'll be watching the clock when I get online to minimize every second and get my tasks done quickly.

4. Spend 31 minutes a day with each kid - without interruption
5. Spend 31 minutes a day in prayer and Bible study
6. Spend 31 minutes a day with my husband - with both of us unplugged and doing something we enjoy
7. Spend 31 minutes a day being a better homemaker - which might even include hanging my husband's shirts up even though he's entirely capable of doing it himself
8. Spend 31 minutes a day preparing for the next homeschool day
9. Take walks
10. read before bed (which means going to bed on time!)
11. spend more time with my mother
12. un-procrastinate a few projects
13. mail a package to a friend just because
14. ask someone over for a play date
15. take the kids on a field trip
16. get down on the floor and play trains with my 2yo
17. paint something
18. do some deep cleaning
19. draw
20. do a craft
21. start preparing our Christmas letter early
22. organize my CDs and upload some music to my computer
23. laugh more
24. smile more
25. keep my voice as soft as possible so people have to listen better in our noisy house
26. download a song for my 14 year old he really wants
27. throw away the unmatched socks
28. catch up on my school to-do list
29. sync my Outlook task list on my iPhone
30. sync my iPad
31. use Instagram more and take more photos


What are you doing for your 31 days? An awesome blog series?

Don't feel bad if you are unable to keep up online. The things that really matter in life are not things at all.

I'm sure there are people you live with who might enjoy spending time with you a lot more than reading your blog!

Hypnotized

Look in to my eyes.

Yes. You.

You are feeling very sleepy. You will do as I say.

You will not blog. Or cook. Or clean. Or do schoolwork. Or shower. Or pay bills. Or do paperwork. Or email. Or pet the cat. Or put on make-up.

You will only play with me.

When you wake up, you'll forget that I said all of this... but you'll still obey me every time you look in to my blue eyes.

You are useless to resist me.