Stick With It Saturday!

Time for Stick With It Saturday with Sam's Noggin.

I am pretty happy with this week's progress.  After losing only 1.5 pounds in 3 weeks, this last week I was able to lose 2 pounds. I think the key has been eating breakfast & drinking water.  I did have a dinner of 2 pieces of pizza and salad. I was working off the theory that once in a while you need to give your body a calorie boost to stoke the fire of your metabolism.  This week it worked, but I wouldn't have done this unless I had been pretty much stuck for a few weeks.  It worked this week, but it is like playing with fire when you do this.  It can backfire on you.  Have I said 'fire' enough in this post? Geez!

Next week I start Phase 2 in Jillian Michael's Body Revolution.  All the workouts change this week and get harder, so I am expected encouraging results.  One thing I can say about this program is that I really feel like I am in better physical condition!  My endurance and strength have improved greatly. I can now do 15 REAL push-ups! In January I couldn't do even one!  

My goal is to lose 2 more pounds over the next 2 weeks.  Hubby & I are going to Vegas and I'd like to be at or pass the 30 pounds lost mark.  If I get there, I will be the thinnest I have been in 12 years.  All that time spent feeling bad about myself for being over weight. Why didn't I do this sooner? Hmmm....  That's a pretty profound question.  I will need to think about that.....

See you next Saturday!

Curriculum Clarity!!!

I have been doing that Spring thing again.  Thinking so much about what we will be doing next year for homeschool that I lose focus on finishing this year!  Luckily we are basically done.  La is finishing up one last project & most of her 3R's (reading, 'riting & 'rithmetic) are done for the year.

So my search began a few weeks ago.  Through prayer & reflection, I knew I needed to look for something different, something with a little more structure.  As I shared on the Homeschool Compass page, I want plans & structure, but I also need a curriculum that is flexible and uses natural methods where subjects are connected instead of compartmentalized.  Also it's important that it be engaging. There should be something fun to look forward to everyday.

I searched around and compiled a list of possibilities.  If you would like to see that list, you can see the Pintrest Board I compiled here.  After thoroughly comparing all these choices, I have come to a clear decision.  Next year we will be using (drumroooooollllllll)

Learn All About This Curriculum Here
Photo from http://www.home-school-curriculum.com/

We are so excited! I have already placed my order & the BIG BOX with all books & supplies arrives tomorrow!  For a few days now I have been saying it will be like Christmas morning when we open it!

I chose this curriculum basically because it checked all the boxes for me!  I simply think I will love everything about it!  If you identify with our Homeschool Compass, I highly suggest you download the samples and check it out!

Ah, the peace of making a decision and knowing it is right.

My First "Stick With it Saturday"

Today is my 1st Stick With it Saturday. I found this weekly linky party over at Sam's Noggin.  So here it goes.

I started my weight loss journey January 18th of this year. So far I have lost 26 pounds and 14 inches.

 I started out with P90X.  It was a little more old school weight lifting than I expected.  I bought it because my doctor recommended it.  I think I may go back to it when I get down to my last 20 pounds or so.

I few weeks ago I started Jillian Michael's Body Revolution. Now this I really like. It is hard, but the moves are efficient. What I mean by that is most of the time you are working upper body, lower body & getting cardio in all in one movement. The workouts are all about 30 minutes long which makes them very doable. P90X was an hour or more most days.  I just ended my 3rd week.

Here is a current progress picture. Please no mean comments about my before picture!

I haven't lost a lot on the scale these last 3 weeks, but I have lost inches & I can see my muscles toning up!

So here's my plan for this week.

Sunday: Work Out 3

Monday: Work Out 4

Tuesday: Cardio 1

Wednesday: Work Out 3

Thursday: Work Out 4

Friday: Cardio 1

Saturday: Rest

Nutrition Goals:

Eat Breakfast Every Day!

Drink 8 glasses of water daily

Eat 5+ servings of vegetables daily

Limit whole grain OR starchy veggie to once daily 

My husband are I are going to Las Vegas May 25th & I'd like to lose 5 more pounds by then. Check in next week to see how I do.

Plarn Tutorial

I decided to try my hand at making plarn today. Plarn = plastic bag yarn.  I took some picture as I went along. You can make several yards with one trip to the grocery store!

First you need grocery bags or other plastic bags and a pair of scissors. I decided to make 2 stranded plarn because the grocery bags I used are very thin. If you have thicker bags you could make some one stranded plarn following the method for T-shirt yarn in this Video Here.

Step One.  Lay your bag out flat. Right side out and side pleats tucked in.

Step Two. Fold in half top to bottom and and then fold in half again. But off the handles & bottom and toss those. 

Step Three. Now you will have a folded -up tube of plastic. Cut this tube in strips. My strips are approximately 3/4 inch. I wouldn't go any thinner than 1/2 inch. Exact measurements are not crucial.

Step Four. Unfold all your strips. they will be circular strips.

Step Five. Now you need to link up all your strips. Lay one strip down pulled out into an oval shape. Lay another strip down on top overlapping the end. Like this.

Reach under the end of the left hand strip and grab the end on the right hand strip. Pull this end under the left hand strip until a knot forms. Continue to link the rest of your strips this way. 

Pull the grabbed strip through to the right.

From one grocery bag I was able to get just over 9 yards. I thought I might make a sun hat out of it, but I didin't like the way it was working up.  However, I do think it would make a great reusable bag. If you have made something useful with plarn please share! 

Cutting My Own Hair - WHAT???

Yes that's what I said! I cut my own hair. I have been thinking about giving it a go for a while now & finally did it. The hardest part was the first cut. I didn't cut much, but next time I will be braver. Here is the basics of what I did.

First, I followed Feye's Hair Trimming Instructions HERE.
I followed the V-shape method and planned to take it one more step to the U-shape method, but I liked the V-shape. On me, it really came out more like a U-shape anyhow.

The I did the layers and front with the ponytail method. This video HERE is basically what I followed. I watched MANY videos on how to do this before I tried it & no one ruined their hair, so I figured I could do it to. Here are the results.

I am at least as happy with it as when I get it cut professionally. Also I found this great tool to help out next time I cut it. It's called a Creaclip and looks like this.

You can check out this product at http://creaclip.com/ .  I am very excited to try cutting my hair with this tool. I will write a review after I give it a try. I figured it was worth a try for $30. We'll see.....
Do you have any adventurous DIY stories. If so, I'd love to hear about them in the comments! Till next time!

Paying It Forward ~ The Crochet Way!

When I was going through my google reader yesterday, looking through all the posts at the awesome blogs I follow, I found Create Bella Create doing something really fun!She is playing a game of sorts, by crocheting surprise gifts for her followers.  I love to crochet gifts and thought this would be so fun, so here at Oodles 4 Noodles we are going to play too! Here are the rules if you want to play!
1.  I will send a surprise gift to the first three commenters on this post. The gift will be handmade by me.  It will be sent sometime in the next 365 days. It will be a surprise.  We all love getting surprises in the mail, right?


2. To sign up and receive a gift, you must play along, too. Pay it Forward on your blog, by promising to make a surprise for the first three people who comment on the post. 

3. You must have a blog (that is updated, as I will blog stalk you to find the right gift for you). Include your blog address in your comment. 

4. After commenting here, you must repost this or something similar to your blog in 48 hours.  If not, I will chose the next person who comments…Its that simple!! :)

I am looking forward to playing this fun game with my fellow bloggers and making something special and handmade just for them.  

Oh and check out  Create Bella Create , and show her some love!

Pixie Bonnet Tutorial

Hope you enjoy this tutorial on making a basic Pixie Bonnet. With this tutorial you can use any yarn, hook, stitches or stitch pattern you like.  Have fun and please share what you create!! Just click the little cloud Icon at the bottom of the window to download! This pattern can also be downloaded from Ravelry Here.Pixie Bonnet Tutorial