The Blessed Life of a Single Mom

    Summer is now gone and fall is here. Chilly nights. Clear blue skies that are crisp and clear. And school has begun. For us, homeschooling has begun. The girls do an online school, so they have to be up, dressed, fed, and set up for their online classes by 8:15am. That means earlier mornings, earlier bedtimes, and SLEEPY CHILDREN BY 8pm!! YAY!!! *happy mama dance* They fall asleep quickly when put to bed at 9. I find this to be my dream come true. Now, the getting up part is not so easy. I'm not a morning person by nature. My goal is to be up by 7am. Reality has been more along the lines of 7:30 or *gasp* 7:45. Which makes for a rushed half an hour of dragging them out of bed, as they take after me in their hatred of mornings, and getting them to dress and eat NOW!     Another up side to this new routine is that school work can be finished, scanned, and submitted to the teachers by noon on average. On a rougher day it takes about an extra hour. Still, WHOLE afternoon of freedo

It has been a month to the day since my last post. I'M SORRY KYNNIE!!! It has been a crazy busy month. Trying to finish up the school year. Courtney has been reading everything she sees. . . which in some cases is not so great. Some, well most, magazine headlines in the checkout lanes are NOT appropriate for children. She has really taken hold of the counting money thing, and is now figuring up how much she "charges" for chores ($5 to set the table), and how much she would make A DAY to do her chores daily. I kindly, but firmly, informed her that she lives here for free, eats food for free, uses my electricity for free. She will not be paid to do normal chores. Or I will start charging her for doing her laundry, meals, and whatever else I can come up with. It all evens out in the end either way! Hahaha! Boot Camp is going great! After only 3 weeks I lost 3.2% body fat and 6 inches over all. Woohoo!!! And I have become a gym junkie. I love going. Some days are harder tha

Well, this week has been a new "adventure". My previous 6 week workout plan didn't work. It died pathetic and alone. I had nothing and no one to motivate me and keep me accountable. So, I started a 21 day fitness boot camp. Some lovely ladies from church are doing it as well. The kicker for me was that it was a great deal, and I could bring the girls and they play in a corner while I work out.     My anxiety leading up to it was hysterical. I would be fine, and then remember that "tomorrow is day 1" and then feel almost panicy about surviving just the first day. I don't know why I was so worried about it. I love working out. When I was younger and childless I was a firefighter and EMT. I was in shape. But after being a single mom for nearly 8 years of 2 girls, stress of that, the financial responsibility (especially without child support since my ex-"husband" - quotes for the lack of husband that he was - is a lazy non working bum that wants no re

I feel that life has taken some huge turns as of late. Some great, some. . . not so much. Some I can tell about, some. . . I'd just rather not. Some are yet to be decided.      First of all, I love my small group. I can't believe how great a fit we are! The personalities, the kids. We're so weird!! Last night I shared a recent issue I have to deal with. Most people would say "Is there anything we can do?" or "Can we help?". Passive offers. While there is nothing wrong with that, for someone like me, it is much more effective the way it was worded last night, "What do you need from us? What can we do? What do you need us to do?" Not asking if, but what. I put my independent "I can do this" self on a shelf, because really, I just keep getting so overwhelmed that I can't do it. I told them what I needed, they rallied behind me, made a plan, and encouraged me. This group is so tight knit, so there for each other. God really placed m

     So, I've been trying to think of something to blog about for days now. Nothing new or exciting really came to mind. Sad. I love to blog. I love to use it as my creative outlet. The squirrel is back. Old news. I'm still single. Old news. My kids are random and energetic. Old news. It's all the same pretty much. Then, today, I had something to blog about! I was at my parents, and thought of something that would be perfect!! Did I write my idea down? No. Do I remember what the heck it was? Not a chance!! It could be about interesting-nesses that have been taking place in my world. What those would be, I'm yet to know. It could have been about the primary election tomorrow, but I doubt it. Could it have been about some drama playing out around me. . . possibly. We'll just never know. So I'll just blog about other random things that come to mind.     As you read earlier, my squirrel is back. Skittering around in my walls. I keep meaning to borrow my brother

My motivation, as of late, has been practically non-existent. I have felt down, overwhelmed, exhausted, and just plain out of sorts. Today was not an exception. My day started out pretty good. I woke up with energy, was happy to get my day going. But by the end of my shift at work, I was pretty tired. I could blame my sopapilla and rice for a food coma. Such a good lunch!! Mmmmmm..... But whatever it was, I just became a zombie. Maybe it was the 2 fruit punch flavored dum-dum suckers I had on my way to get the girls from my parents. Anyways, by the time we headed home, I had a pretty big headache and was so tired that I just wanted to sleep. I finally gave in to my body's demand for sleep. I had the girls go in their room to watch a movie, laid down, and took a 30 minute nap. I felt a million times better! Then we had dinner. I felt even more better! (no corrections on my grammar, please. It's exactly how I felt). Ever since, I have been Ms. Motivation. I have been organizing,

I have decided that this year would be the year of new things. To step WAY out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. It's been my prayer, and God has been taking me up on it.   I was asked to be the Water Games Coordinator for W4 (our VBS. W4 stands for Wacky Wild Water Week). I was totally honored and surprised to be given this opportunity. To me, being put in a coordinator position for W4 is one of the top responsibilities. The coordinators help pretty much make up what the years theme and everything will be about, then they get their team. Being a part of this has been amazing!! In our first meeting we had the groundwork set! The last meeting I was a little, well, out of it I guess. I had driven to Cambridge that morning to see my grandma, who isn't doing well, and then we got back late afternoon. When the meeting time got there I was only able to give about half of my normal...ness. But anyways, I am LOVING this opportunity. At first I thought "Water games? Really?

So, I discovered the other day, that although my weight has not changed from what it was a few years ago, the muscle has been replaced with . . . FAT!! Now, I know those of you know know me are thinking "She's so tiny!!" Well. NOT TRUE. I was tiny before I had kids, I was even tinier after Courtney was born, but since I had Jenna, my weight and I have been battling it out. I get into an exercise routine, and something throws it off. Someone once said that you wont truly make a change until it makes you mad. Well, I'm mad. I'm tired of watching my face grow. I'm tired of trying on 10 different outfits because I look bigger. I'm tired of not fitting into the jeans that I wore just last year. Yesterday, this picture really made me mad. I look like I've gained a lot of weight in my face!! YUCK. So I made a goal. Now, I'm taking initiative. I'm going to do a 6 week challenge with. . . myself. My goal is to be down to 120 in 6 weeks. That's 7.

The year has begun. Can you believe it's 2012!? Courtney will be 8 this year. 8! When did that happen?! Jenna will be 7! I just cant wrap my brain around my kids being those ages. WARNING! THIS BLOG WILL BE EXTREMELY RANDOM.      I was recently asked "If 2011 was a chapter, what would you name it?". I decided on Refocusing. A lot of life got refocused, and this year, I believe, is about redirection. Changing things. I want this year to take me out of my comfort zone in church, I want to be more outgoing (you laugh, but when it comes to greeting time, I am not so much), I want to take on more and be challenged. I want God to MAKE me get past some hurdles and strong holds. Well, week one, He did just that. He placed a situation in my face, that I have not dealt with since it happened 6 years ago. Now I have to work on mercy, grace, forgiveness, and the art of letting it go. The more I step back to gain perspective on the situation, the more I see this as not only a test