This week's assignment will have you sitting at the computer for a little while. Hope you can make time for that!
Give us some inspirational, funny, helpful, or informational websites regarding fitness. Remember, that can include health, eating, dressing well, spiritual health, etc. There are lots of parts of being fit.
I need some helpful, informational links.
I'm hoping for inspirational links.
I really want to see funny links. (Remember the Mom Jeans?)
Have fun! See you here on Friday!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Leaving Little Behind
Sweetheart is 9 years old. Actually, she is 9 1/2. She'll be 10 in August and will start 4th grade this year.
She isn't exactly little anymore.
She isn't exactly big yet.
She's very in the middle.
I know other 9 year olds who seem very mature and grown up compared to her. She's a "young 9" if that makes sense. Part of the reason she seems younger sometimes is her birth order. When she was in first grade, I was her Bible class teacher. All the other first grade girls in my Bible class were the youngest in their family and had much older siblings. Sweetheart was the oldest in her family and had a baby sister. Her friends LOVED coming to play at our house because we had a play kitchen and a home center and baby dolls and all this other "fun" stuff that had long since left their house. They had older siblings who sat around and played handheld games. There were precious few toys left in the house. I have decided not to do that to my youngest child no matter how ready I am for the toys to be out of the house! :)
Anyway, her world is a world of little kids. Her sister is little. The kids in our small group are little. There are not that many children her age at our church. She gets along very well with little kids. She still loves to play. She still loves to watch younger shows on TV. She's a happy kid.
Our concern comes with expectations. In our small group, we meet at people's homes. The adults sit in the living room and have a Bible study while the kiddos go to another room and have a short Bible lesson and then play or watch a movie. S and I think that she is getting too big to go play during the Bible study. We'd like for her to start joining the adults in Bible study. That will probably begin after her birthday because that just seems like a good time to make that transition.
I know she LIKES going to play. I also know she's capable of joining in the Bible study. And I know which one is more important. In other situations, she will be sent to be with "the children." She's kind of in the middle now.
I've watched other parents deal with their children at this age. I've seen parents who shoo their children away to "go play" or "go in there with the other kids" so they can visit with their adult friends. And certainly there is a time and place for children to be with children so the grown ups can talk. I've seen kids complain that "everyone else is younger than me" or "they aren't my age." I don't want my children to feel "too good" to go be in a room with younger children (and frankly, that's not much of an issue with homeschooled kids), but I can also see where there is a need for these middle-aged children, if you will, to be allowed to sit in with the grown-ups. How are they going to learn how to be adults if they are never even around adults?
In days past, children sat through dreadfully boring dinner parties or afternoon tea while the grown-ups visited and all they were allowed to do is use their good manners and not fidget. There is a time for our children to be included and invited in and not always segregated off with "the little ones." It's confusing for kids though. Am I a "little kid" in this situation or am I big? Yesterday you let me sit at the table while you talked with Mrs. Smith, now today you are sending me off to the playroom while you visit with Aunt. Which is it?
OK you experienced moms out there. Tell me about this transition from being a little kid to being a young lady or young man. This is new ground for me.
She isn't exactly little anymore.
She isn't exactly big yet.
She's very in the middle.
I know other 9 year olds who seem very mature and grown up compared to her. She's a "young 9" if that makes sense. Part of the reason she seems younger sometimes is her birth order. When she was in first grade, I was her Bible class teacher. All the other first grade girls in my Bible class were the youngest in their family and had much older siblings. Sweetheart was the oldest in her family and had a baby sister. Her friends LOVED coming to play at our house because we had a play kitchen and a home center and baby dolls and all this other "fun" stuff that had long since left their house. They had older siblings who sat around and played handheld games. There were precious few toys left in the house. I have decided not to do that to my youngest child no matter how ready I am for the toys to be out of the house! :)
Anyway, her world is a world of little kids. Her sister is little. The kids in our small group are little. There are not that many children her age at our church. She gets along very well with little kids. She still loves to play. She still loves to watch younger shows on TV. She's a happy kid.
Our concern comes with expectations. In our small group, we meet at people's homes. The adults sit in the living room and have a Bible study while the kiddos go to another room and have a short Bible lesson and then play or watch a movie. S and I think that she is getting too big to go play during the Bible study. We'd like for her to start joining the adults in Bible study. That will probably begin after her birthday because that just seems like a good time to make that transition.
I know she LIKES going to play. I also know she's capable of joining in the Bible study. And I know which one is more important. In other situations, she will be sent to be with "the children." She's kind of in the middle now.
I've watched other parents deal with their children at this age. I've seen parents who shoo their children away to "go play" or "go in there with the other kids" so they can visit with their adult friends. And certainly there is a time and place for children to be with children so the grown ups can talk. I've seen kids complain that "everyone else is younger than me" or "they aren't my age." I don't want my children to feel "too good" to go be in a room with younger children (and frankly, that's not much of an issue with homeschooled kids), but I can also see where there is a need for these middle-aged children, if you will, to be allowed to sit in with the grown-ups. How are they going to learn how to be adults if they are never even around adults?
In days past, children sat through dreadfully boring dinner parties or afternoon tea while the grown-ups visited and all they were allowed to do is use their good manners and not fidget. There is a time for our children to be included and invited in and not always segregated off with "the little ones." It's confusing for kids though. Am I a "little kid" in this situation or am I big? Yesterday you let me sit at the table while you talked with Mrs. Smith, now today you are sending me off to the playroom while you visit with Aunt. Which is it?
OK you experienced moms out there. Tell me about this transition from being a little kid to being a young lady or young man. This is new ground for me.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Fitness Friday: The Keepin' Kool in the Kitchen Edition
Oh. My. Word. It is so hot and I have been thinking all week about getting your great suggestions for ways that I do NOT have to turn on the oven. For some reason, our laundry/sewing room that is right off the kitchen does not have an air vent. So, we added a little window unit out there. That helps, but when I turn on the oven, the kitchen is hot for 2 hours and that window unit is killing itself trying to help cool off that half of the house and I suspect that does not help our electric bill.
Plus, the oven is really near S's chair where he would like to relax after supper and not sweat.
We have pretty compact house. The oven does not help.
I loved JulieMom's idea of using the crock pot. Honestly, I think of the crock pot as a winter thing. I don't know why? I guess I only know how to make soups and roast and stuff in there.
And I'd really like to share a bunch of recipes where you don't even have to use the stove, but I don't know any.
Except hot dogs. And other microwave food.
And I'm not really sure that qualifies as a "recipe" for "cooking."
So, you will have to use the stove for this one. But that's better than the oven, right?
When I got married, my college roommate's cousin was recovering from surgery and sat in her bed and wrote out their family recipes for me. It was one of my favorite wedding gifts. I knew her whole family so it really was a treasure to have her Mama's, and Granny's, and Aunt Shirley's recipes.
Italian Chicken Cutlets (her cousin's recipe)
4-6 chicken breast halves
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup flour
1 (80z) envelope light Italian salad dressing mix
2 teaspoons dried whole Oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola though)
Combine breadcrumbs and next 5 ingredients. Dip chicken in eggs and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. (or use a Ziploc baggie) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown, adding extra oil if necessary. Drain on paper towels.
Yes, it's kind of fried chicken, but it's healthier---I promise! My family LOVES these "chicken strips" as they call them. They really are good.
In the summer, I would serve this with fruit salad (chopped up and mixed with vanilla yogurt or Cool Whip), or a green salad (also no cooking). And then I would zap a veggie in the microwave.
And of course tea. That went without saying, right?
I sure wish I had more cool recipes for you, but JulieMom added that pesky little word "healthy" in there so that excludes my Pink Pie recipe---EVEN THOUGH there is no cooking involved. (If you want the recipe, I'll give it to you! Shh!)
Now head over the JulieMom's place today or tomorrow or even Sunday if you need to....and share your cool recipes with us. My husband and our electric bill will thank you. (Thanks for hosting JulieMom!!!!!)
Plus, the oven is really near S's chair where he would like to relax after supper and not sweat.
We have pretty compact house. The oven does not help.
I loved JulieMom's idea of using the crock pot. Honestly, I think of the crock pot as a winter thing. I don't know why? I guess I only know how to make soups and roast and stuff in there.
And I'd really like to share a bunch of recipes where you don't even have to use the stove, but I don't know any.
Except hot dogs. And other microwave food.
And I'm not really sure that qualifies as a "recipe" for "cooking."
So, you will have to use the stove for this one. But that's better than the oven, right?
When I got married, my college roommate's cousin was recovering from surgery and sat in her bed and wrote out their family recipes for me. It was one of my favorite wedding gifts. I knew her whole family so it really was a treasure to have her Mama's, and Granny's, and Aunt Shirley's recipes.
Italian Chicken Cutlets (her cousin's recipe)
4-6 chicken breast halves
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup flour
1 (80z) envelope light Italian salad dressing mix
2 teaspoons dried whole Oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola though)
Combine breadcrumbs and next 5 ingredients. Dip chicken in eggs and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. (or use a Ziploc baggie) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown, adding extra oil if necessary. Drain on paper towels.
Yes, it's kind of fried chicken, but it's healthier---I promise! My family LOVES these "chicken strips" as they call them. They really are good.
In the summer, I would serve this with fruit salad (chopped up and mixed with vanilla yogurt or Cool Whip), or a green salad (also no cooking). And then I would zap a veggie in the microwave.
And of course tea. That went without saying, right?
I sure wish I had more cool recipes for you, but JulieMom added that pesky little word "healthy" in there so that excludes my Pink Pie recipe---EVEN THOUGH there is no cooking involved. (If you want the recipe, I'll give it to you! Shh!)
Now head over the JulieMom's place today or tomorrow or even Sunday if you need to....and share your cool recipes with us. My husband and our electric bill will thank you. (Thanks for hosting JulieMom!!!!!)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Whatever the Opposite of Zen Is....This Is Your Daily Dose
Seriously? This was our living room at 2:30 today.What can I say? We live here. I mean we REALLY live here!!!
But about 30 minutes later......with the promise of swimming (or the threat of NOT swimming):
Ah. Much better.
Tomorrow, we'll lather. Rinse. Repeat.
The Heat Is Keeping Me Busy
First of all, judging from our electric bill, our home is probably not the most energy-efficient home out there. We have to work really hard to make sure our electric bill is not astronomical by August. It's already doubled. We have ceiling fans on, we try to keep the air at 78 or 79 degrees, we keep the blinds and curtains closed (which I hate), we added lined drapes to the sliding glass door this year, I shut off lights constantly.....it's a battle and I don't think we ever really win it. But just imagine what our bill would be if I DIDN'T do those things!
Also there is the bunny house. We moved that big honkin' thing across the yard--just S and I--so that it would be by our house and get shade in the afternoon. We have a system set up in which we put an ice chest in their house with them along with a frozen bottle of water. They love laying in that ice chest by the ice bottle. But lately I've been having to give them the ice earlier and earlier in the day. Now I'm putting it in there by 8:30AM! AND we're having to replace the ice in the afternoon. And I go out and hose down the roof of their house too. It is just SO hot.
Today we have some errands to run and I'm wanting to leave to get them done within the hour. I don't even want to be out later when it's 104 degrees, OK? It is infathomable to me that people lived in this town in the 1800s without A/C. And wore huge dresses with long sleeves and petticoats. And worked outside. Whew!
Well, I better get to cooking breakfast before the heat hits. Even plugging in that waffle iron is going to raise things a few degrees more than I want it to!
I think my great-grandmother would be shaking her head right now. Wimps.
Also there is the bunny house. We moved that big honkin' thing across the yard--just S and I--so that it would be by our house and get shade in the afternoon. We have a system set up in which we put an ice chest in their house with them along with a frozen bottle of water. They love laying in that ice chest by the ice bottle. But lately I've been having to give them the ice earlier and earlier in the day. Now I'm putting it in there by 8:30AM! AND we're having to replace the ice in the afternoon. And I go out and hose down the roof of their house too. It is just SO hot.
Today we have some errands to run and I'm wanting to leave to get them done within the hour. I don't even want to be out later when it's 104 degrees, OK? It is infathomable to me that people lived in this town in the 1800s without A/C. And wore huge dresses with long sleeves and petticoats. And worked outside. Whew!
Well, I better get to cooking breakfast before the heat hits. Even plugging in that waffle iron is going to raise things a few degrees more than I want it to!
I think my great-grandmother would be shaking her head right now. Wimps.
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