Archive for January, 2010

Photo Friday #9

Published January 29, 2010 Family , Photo Friday 4 Comments

Before I start with the daily pics, I want to share this:

 

My word, where have the last four years gone? When Chelsea was 8 months old, I introduced her to Elmo, and she fell wildly in love with him. I think her first word was Elmo. After about a year her fascination with Elmo faded, and Elmo was buried behind a toy bin, rarely to be seen again. TODAY, Chelsea asked me to get Elmo. (Maybe it was because she saw this picture of Elmo and baby Chelsea yesterday.) She danced and giggled and jumped in amazement of Elmo. It was very cute. Then after five minutes, she banished him to the dark corner again. How I miss those sweet baby days. Chelsea’s first year seemed to go by so much faster than Caleb’s.

January 23, 2010–Caleb’s birthday wish came true early, well…sort of. He really wanted a DS, but we discouraged that because we thought it would keep him from playing with Chelsea. We opted for the Wii so the whole family could play, although Chelsea hasn’t quite figured out the controller yet.

January 24, 2010–Christmas continues at our house. When I removed the small trees from the kids’ rooms, Caleb said his room was too dark, and he asked me to put the Christmas lights back up. As usual, Chelsea mimicked Caleb and asked for her lights too. Out of the closet they came.

January 25, 2010–Ballet day! Last week Chelsea said, “When I grow up I want to be a ballerina, then a cheerleader, then a mommy, and then a school teacher.”

January 26, 2010–The 100th day of school! I can’t believe there are only 80 days left. Yay!

January 27, 2010–Caleb’s Special Day. He requested Arthur mac and cheese and his favorite veggie: broccoli. Disclaimer: We DO NOT watch the Arthur show. I cannot stand it. But we do eat Arthur organic mac and cheese!

January 28, 2010–Does this happen at your house? Don’t lie. This drives Kevin crazy. Don’t bother giving me organizing tips. I won’t use them. I’ve tried lots of different de-cluttering strategies. I haven’t stuck with any of them. Basically, I let all the junk accumulate, and then when I can’t stand it anymore or when people are coming over, I sort, throw away, and hide the left-overs until company leaves.

January 29, 2010–First page of Project Life 2010 Scrapbook. I slipped the pics into the page protector, wrote a few words on each note card, and popped them into the page protector. Easy, peasy, shampoo-squeezy (quote stolen from Caleb). Today is also a very special day: it is the second anniversary of the day Caleb became a Christian. Click here to read the story.

Have a great weekend friends and strangers!

And Two Shall Become One

Published January 26, 2010 Blog Renovation , Health Leave a Comment

More renovating going on around here. I decided to merge my two blogs into one. Destination: Better Health will now be part of Fulfilling My Purpose. It seemed like too much work to keep up with two blogs, and I kept neglecting Destination. So I hope you will be seeing more health-related posts here soon.

Now if I could just work on that custom header…

Kicking the McDonald’s Habit–For Good

Published January 26, 2010 Food , Health 4 Comments

I am one of those moms who said my kids would never eat at McDonald’s. (I also said I would never use TV as a babysitter, but that’s another story.) It didn’t help matters that the biggest McDonald’s in our entire city was 2 miles from our house. You know, the one with the mother-of-all playgrounds.

When my son was two years old, I rationalized and said, “Caleb would love that playground. It won’t hurt if he goes. He probably won’t even like the food.” I couldn’t have been more right and wrong. He loved the playground, but he loved the food more. Those fries were like a narcotic to him. He was hooked after one time. It turns my stomach to admit that we were going there at least once a week, sometimes more. Ugh.

Thankfully, when Caleb was three years old, we moved about 10 miles away from that evil temptation. But, wouldn’t you know, there was another McDonald’s about 1 mile from our new house. Every time I picked Caleb up from preschool, he begged me to take him to McD’s. I tried to be strong, and most times I did not give in, but he was wearing me down.

I talked to a friend about Caleb’s nagging, and she suggested picking one special day per month that would be McD day. That way, every time Caleb pestered me, I could just say, “It’s not McD day today.” My son was born on the 4th, so I decided the 4th day of every month would be the one day that he could eat at McD’s. I stopped taking him to the playground, but he was always interested in getting the toy in the Happy Meal.

In 2006, I went to a health presentation at a friend’s house, and she pulled out a Happy Meal that had been sitting in her house for six months. It looked petrified. I was shocked! She explained how the trans fat in the food keeps mold and bacteria from eating the food. If mold and bacteria won’t eat that stuff, why do we?

You would think that seeing the petrified Happy Meal would have kept me from going back, but we continued to go once a month. I kept rationalizing that once a month wouldn’t hurt us too badly, but deep down I had this unsettling feeling that even once a month was too much.

In March 2009, I decided to do my own McD’s experiment, and I purchased a cheeseburger, nuggets, and fries. They have been sitting in my laundry room unwrapped and out of the bag. Here is what they look like now (picture taken 9-18-09):

013

The white stuff is part of the bun that stuck to the cheese. No bugs have tried to eat it, and there is no mold on it.

And here are the receipts for the food:

 

A few months ago, my kids started getting very picky about the toys they were getting in their Happy Meals. They would pout and have fits if they didn’t get the toy they wanted. When we went to McD’s in the beginning of September, they weren’t happy with the toy they received. I couldn’t stand the ungratefulness any longer. I told them we weren’t going anymore. What is the sense in listening to them whine and complain and then filling their little bodies with trans fat? So September 4, 2009, was the last time we set foot in McDonald’s. My kids were a little disappointed, but they are over it now. They want to be healthy, and they understand that McDonald’s is not good for them. Good-bye McDonald’s!

Photo Friday #8

Published January 22, 2010 Chiropractic , Family , Photo Friday 4 Comments

This was one of those trying-to-catch-up-but-getting-more-behind weeks. Can anybody relate? It’s hard to sum up a blur. Even so, it was a good blur.

January 16, 2010–Meet Sleemo. He’s an orange caterpillar that Chelsea adopted from the Treasure Box at pre-school. Can you see him? Chelsea made a home sweet home for Sleemo out of a tissue box. Caleb created a box house as well. Don’t you love when you spend hundreds of dollars on toys for your kids, and then they spend HOURS playing with tissue boxes!? I’m never buying another toy.

January 17, 2010–Christmas ornaments camping out in our living room as they waited to return to their closet dwelling. I’ll remember this year as the year the Christmas decorations would not go away.

January 18, 2010–Just returned from my most favorite place. I wanted to take a picture of the store, but I kept forgetting to take my camera. This is a whole week’s worth of groceries, and I cook dinner every night. True story.

January 19, 2010–Chelsea was begging me for a winter scarf, so we went to the mall in search of one. Justice was the first store we tried. They had one winter scarf left. While we were there we saw Zhu Zhu pets. Of course, Chelsea fell in love with one. I was curious to see what all the Zhu Zhu hype was about. We left Justice with the scarf and Scoodles the hamster. He’s cute, but I’m not convinced all the hype was justified.

January 20, 2010–Wednesday was our first Special Day, and Kevin was the honoree. The kids made cards for Daddy, and I left this love note on the driveway for him. Homemade mac and cheese was his dinner request.

  

January 21, 2010–Since I showed my subluxations last week, I thought I might as well show Kevin’s, Caleb’s, and Chelsea’s. Kevin has four, Caleb has three, and Chelsea has two. I thought it was interesting that my kids have never been in a car accident, they have never taken any trips to the E.R., and yet they have misalignments in their spines. It proved to me that subluxations occur from normal, everyday experiences.

Before Caleb and Chelsea started chiropractic, they were taking Claritin and Zyrtec every day, 365 days a year, for allergies. After only four chiropractic adjustments, they went off all allergy medicine, and they have been off of it for five months straight.

January 22, 2010–I love bees. Burt’s Bees that is. I feel like I’m doing an ad campaign. I should be getting endorsement money. Seriously love these products.

Have a great weekend blog readers!

One Extra

Published January 15, 2010 Family , Photo Friday 1 Comment

Just couldn’t resist this one. Have a great weekend, everybody!

1-13-10

Photo Friday #7

Published January 15, 2010 Chiropractic , Family , Photo Friday 3 Comments

If you’re new here, Photo Friday is all about Becky Higgins’ Project Life. Click here to read my take on it.

We’ve had an abnormal week here: colds, ear aches, tummy aches, and back aches. I’m looking forward to getting back to normal. 

January 9, 2010–Real men fold laundry! Kevin has folded almost every load of laundry for the past six months. I cannot explain what a blessing this has been to me–a huge help since I started my back therapy. Doesn’t Kevin look GREAT in his Upward coach’s shirt!?

January 10, 2010–These are the good manners reward jars. Anytime Caleb and Chelsea say please, thank you, yes ma’am, etc., they take a bead out of my jar and put it into their jars. When they fill them up to the top, they will get an inexpensive prize. We used to put pennies in the jars, but it was a pain to roll up all those pennies.

January 11, 2010–I have had this plate for about 10 years, and we have used it two or three times. It has been sitting in my china cabinet in the dining room–a room we rarely go in, so I moved it to the kitchen. (It’s amazing how moving old stuff around makes it seem new.) We decided to start a new family tradition. Every Wednesday will be a Special Day. The person of the week will get to pick what he/she wants for dinner, and the rest of us will make cards and do special things for the person. We’ll also talk about the qualities that make the person unique. Thanks to DeAnna T for the idea!

January 12, 2010–An anatomy lesson: Your brain, spinal cord, and nerves control everything in your body. All nerves flow through your spinal cord. A subluxation is a misalignment of your vertebrae, and subluxations cause friction on nerves and pinching of nerves. This friction and pinching prevents organs and muscles from performing properly, which can cause many problems including a weakened immune system, allergies, and disease. Did you know only about 10% of nerves register pain? So you could have subluxations and not even know it. I have 10 subluxations (circled above). Most of mine were caused by scoliosis, but stress, accidents, poor posture, and even birth can cause subluxations. Has a doctor of chiropractic ever checked your spine for subluxations?

January 13, 2010–Sick day Sorry game. Caleb missed his first day of school this year because of a stomach bug. It was a quick one. He was back to school the next day.

January 14, 2010–My Project Life kit arrived. Let the scrapbooking begin! Thanks to Caleb for taking this picture. I think this was the first time he used my camera.

January 15, 2010–Woohoo! Project Life 2010 title page complete. No cutting or adhesives–gotta love it.

Goals Revisited and New Year’s Theme

Published January 12, 2010 Books , Faith , God Lessons , Holidays 2 Comments

Looking back…

What’s the point of having goals if you don’t evaluate how well you met them? Here’s how I did:

My Goals For This Christmas Season

I will NOT…

1. stay up until 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve wrapping presents. I finished all my wrapping by 9:30 and spent the rest of the night reading and blogging. Woohoo!

2. spend over my budget. I overspent by $34. This is a huge improvement for me. In the past I overspent by hundreds each year, so yay me. Next year, I need to get it down to zero or less.

3. pull out every decoration I own. I only put out about 50% of my decorations and about 75% of my ornaments. It was much quicker and much less overwhelming.

I will…

1. watch the Nativity Story (great movie!). I watched it on Christmas night after the kiddos went to bed. I am so amazed by Mary. That woman rocks. I can’t wait to meet her one day.

2. read Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blase. I read half of it. Great book. I looked at many Christmas books this year. I didn’t want one about Five Ways to have a Better Christmas. I wanted one about the incarnation. Just give me Jesus. This book did that. The only reason I didn’t finish it is was because I was reading another book at the same time and couldn’t put it down. I finished “Same Kind of Different as Me” on Christmas Eve–a Christmas gift from God:

This incredible book deserves a post of its own, but for now…If you have a heart for the poor and homeless, read this book. If you struggle with stereotyping, prejudice, or favoritism (like me), read this book. If you love a true story, read this book. If you want to see how God uses ordinary people to do amazing things, read this book. You’ll thank me.

3. spend time daily in the Word (especially in Matthew and Luke) looking for new nuggets of truth about Christmas. Check.

4. spend lots of time snuggling on the couch under a warm blanket with my two little munchkins reading Christmas books. Lots and lots of time. Wonderful memories. Thank you, Jesus.

5. be like Jesus’ friend Mary and sit at Jesus’ feet listening to Him. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41 I’m becoming more and more acquainted with Mary’s ways and less and less with Martha’s. Spent lots of time sitting, reading, and listening to Jesus.

Looking ahead…

I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. I have tried in the past, and I never kept them. A long list is too much to keep up with. Instead, I ask God what He wants the theme of my year to be–something that He wants to teach me. I got this idea from my friend Jenny F a few years ago.

This year’s theme is breaking my approval addiction. You know…the obsession with what people think of me instead of total dependence on and security in God. My self-esteem is also tied up in this addiction, so that needs an overhaul too. I’ve struggled with this for several years. I distinctly remember it in college, but it probably started before that. I’ve tried and tried to overcome it in the past, but it keeps sneaking back up to the surface. It’s been particularly ugly in the past six months, so I wasn’t surprised when God said, “We’re going to put an end to this in 2010.”

So that’s it. I’ll meet you back here at the end of 2010 and let you know how it went.

And I’d love to hear your goals and themes (or resolutions) too. If you want to share, leave a comment.

Photo Friday #6

Published January 8, 2010 Family , Photo Friday 4 Comments

Whew. Finally caught up. Thanks to my friend Beverly for letting me know about the distorted pics in the previous posts. She would probably tell me if I had broccoli stuck in my teeth too. I appreciate friends like her.

The pics were BIG before, but they never looked distorted on my computer. I had to reduce the size to overcome the problem. Feel free to go back and admire all the pics again now that we don’t look like people in fun-house mirrors.

And thanks for stopping by. I have had a ton of fun keeping in contact with you through my blog.

January 2, 2010–We’ve had some unusually cold weather here. Good reason to snuggle up with a warm blanket.

January 3, 2010–Two people I love very much.

January 4, 2010–Grown-ups need to play too! I had fun playing with Caleb’s Treetop Connectagons from Hearthsong. I used all 242 pieces, and it took me about an hour to build.

January 5, 2010–Changing the window clings from Nativity to snowmen.

January 6, 2010–It was a book Christmas (for the most part). If you think we are nerds for giving each other books for Christmas, so be it. I’m proud to be a book nerd!

January 7, 2010–This playdate was a gift from God. Chelsea and her friend played for two straight hours with no bickering, arguing, fighting, or tears. I was so thankful for the quiet time for me!

January 8, 2010–My little artist girl.

Photo Friday #5

Published January 7, 2010 Family , Photo Friday 4 Comments

Sometimes it’s hard to pick just one photo per day!

December 26, 2009–I use cookie cutters to make Christmas pb and j sandwiches.

December 27, 2009–Gramma and Papa V are here! (I fudged a little. This pic was actually taken on another day.)

December 28, 2009–One of her favorite gifts: fiber optic night-light.

December 29, 2009–Another favorite gift. It’s so nice to get something they can play with together.

December 30, 2009–Butterflies!

December 31, 2009–A favorite activity when Gramma comes to visit.

January 1, 2010–Happy Birthday to Papa! I didn’t have the appropriate numbers, so I did a little addition improvisation. He’s 58.

Photo Friday #4

Published January 7, 2010 Family , Photo Friday 2 Comments

Time to catch up with posting these pics!

December 19, 2009–Caleb praying before lunch.

December 20, 2009–Caleb came to “big church” with us for the first time today. He was excited to take notes on the bulletin. We were so proud of him–he sang all the songs, drew a picture of our pastor in his notebook, and quietly listened to the message.

December 21, 2009–Caleb received this gift from a friend.

December 22, 2009–Our betta fish Blueford (named by Caleb). He is 16 months old.

December 23, 2009–3-D glasses courtesy of Lego Magazine.

December 24, 2009–The four of us drove through a local light display. Fun!

December 25, 2009–Reading the Christmas story before opening gifts.

Next Page »

Follow Me on Twitter

Contact

I would love to hear from you! You can reach me at lisakellywrites (at) gmail (dot) com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 6 other followers

2009 and 2010

Since Sept 2009

  • 11,716 hits
All content and original photographs on Fulfilling My Purpose are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without written consent.
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.