A formal affair....

Tonight Lydia and I have been invited to go to a concert....her teacher called to say that she had been given several tickets, and would we like to go along with her and her husband? So we will be attending a fancy piano conert, which is supposed to be a black-tie affair....the last 'formal affair' I went to was my own wedding...LOL Do you think they would mind if I squeezed into my wedding dress, popped a few seams, and grandly swept into the balcony? Hmmmm.... Lydia is looking forward to it...I think the dressing-up part is probably the most exciting part :). I'll have to do her hair all fancy. I just hope my camera will work to get a picture of her...

On the mend!

So far so good....all appears to be well! I sure hope that it stays this way.... Everyone is now doing OK. Had a busy weekend working on our church building remodel of the back room. Decent progress was made, although they weren't planning on working as long as they did. Due to the nature of our weekend I didn't lose as much as I wanted (weight), but I am down to 128.2....anything is better than nothing. I had got down to 127 but didn't manage to stay there. :( Oh, well!

That's all for now....must get back to work!

Round #2...

I was awaked at 4:30 am to find that Jordan has the stomach bug! He had also woke me up at midnight with a nightmare! I am so thankful for my carpet steam cleaner! It was one of the best purchases I ever made....very thankful of the Lord's provision! Happily that is the only time he has puked although he still feels miserable.

Chicken Spaghetti casserole is on our menu for tonight....it is so simple, and we love it! Here's the recipe....

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

1 pkg Spaghetti noodles
2 cups cooked Chicken (chopped) approx.
2 cans of cream of chicken/mushroom/celery (your preferance - I don't care for celery!)
1 pkg frozen Broccoli florets (steamed) - optional
Cheese
-------------
Cook spaghetti noodles till tender. Drain, and throw back into pot. Add the next 3 ingredients and stir well. Put into a casserole dish and top with Cheese, and bake in a moderate oven till hot and bubbly and the cheese is golden! (approx. 30 mins or so)

Serve with garlic bread and a salad!

Anyway, due to the illnesses and trying to keep the house clean, my emails are running a little behind! Will try to have them all out soon!

Weight attack!

Now before I get stated here....I know I am not obese, and no, I don't want to be anorexic, and no I really don't obsess about my weight....but since I had Jazz I have not consistently lost any weight, in fact at times I have gained a few pounds....so I am going to try posting my war on here in hopes I'll do better! Now, I am sure that you are all wanting to read about it right? LOL Never mind you can skip over these posts...just knowing though that people can see how much of a piggy I've been...maybe it'll help. (I still haven't figured out why my current diet of snickers bars isn't working)

OK - here's my current weight: 130 lb, even. (Sorry fellow Aussies, you'll have to figure out the kg's/stones I've been out of it too long!

My final goal is somewhere around 105 to 110lbs....but at the moment, I'll be thrilled to break under 120....I've never managed that since I've had Jared....it's like there's a brick wall there! I'd love to reach my goal before this Spring (April), but knowing my sweet tooth, that may not happen!

Here's my hints for losing weight.

Keep track of everything you eat, and keep it on your fridge where everyone can see...

Be good all day, but allow yourself one treat in the evening (if I've done good all day, I am less likely to choose to "blow it" on a snack...but if I "blow it" in the morning, I'm toast!)

Anyone else have any hints they care to share?

Oh, and don't worry, I won't post about this everyday....only about once a week!

Getting back into it..

Sunday night Lydia came down with a stomach bug....thankfully it wasn't too terrible, although I am sure she might not think so. Thankfully after yesterday morning the worst was over although she still felt rough last night. Heath was home due to them being out of work for the day, so it worked out great. He took Jekkie to speech and although we were planning on spending the day out doing 'something' we hadn't mentioned it to the kids yet, so there wasn't dissappointment to deal with. We rented The Hiding Place and watched that together with loads of popcorn which seemed to sit well with Lydia's tummy. Now just hoping and praying that the others don't come down with it!

I still managed to get a lot of laundry washed, now I just have to get it all put away! I tried to get as much done as possible while Heath was home, just in case I had anymore casualties....so far so good.

It is freezing here....it can't make up it's mind though...3 or 4 days ago I was outside thinking "it's so warm out here I could get a tan", and now it's icy and literally freezing, fires have been lit to keep us warm, and I want lots of comfort food....only I am trying to make myself diet....and I don't think hot chocolate, hot baked good, warm bread etc...is very helpful when you are dieting!

Tearing it up!

Today Heath and the boys (read Hayden and Jordan) started tearing up the carpet from the back rooms of our church building!!! Yay! We use the rooms for a "kitchen" and a fellowship room for eating together on Sundays. Neither which are very kind on carpet, or those who try to clean up the spills! It was time for it to go!

We are also planning on putting in a double-duty baptistry that can be covered with a counter-top and used for serving food/eating at. We also hope to put in a sink in our 'kitchen' so we can wash dishes and clean up easier. In place of the carpet we will hopefully have tile or vinyl 'wood floors'.

I am excited....we love eating together and this will just make it that much easier, and user friendly.

Due to the fact that we had hard-working *men* around we had a totally-terrible-for-you-loaded-with-calories-but-sure-tastes-great lunch of Chili Cheese Fries, with cream-cheese Danish swirls for dessert washed down with with cokes (ie - anything carbonated) I am all about blocking arteries....not! I'll be sure to serve broccoli soon....to counter any blockages.

I may post a couple of pics of their work....but my camera is in hospice right now....barely hanging in there...I get about one decent picture for about every 8 I take....HP camera's are not the way to go.....so be thankful for all I post! They are after much trial, and trial, and trial, and trial, and trial, and trial, and trial....but I am thankful for having a camera at least, but I must admit that I look forward to when I can get a new one (with 300x optical zoom, OK, at least 10x optical zoom! LOL) I do enjoy taking pictures, and even more so when my camera actually decides to work.

Oh, and I bought pomegranates today - 2/$1 that is an awesome price. Have y'all ever eaten a pomegranate? They are good. Bit of a pain in the rear, but good! They are Heath's favourite fruit right now. Maybe I'll do a post of him and the kids eating them, if my camera will take the pics for me.

Who needs words?

After yesterday's post...I thought y'all might get a laugh out of a little *moment* that Jekkie and I had. I was feeling lazy and she loves to play with lotion...so, she decided she wanted to moisturize Mommy's legs...after she was done, her eyes lit up and got real big... I asked her "are they all soft now?"...thinking I was reading her mind. She shook her head, and her eyes got even bigger...she held her hands far apart...

I'll leave the rest to your imagination....

Methinks I should get back to my diet...what do you say?

Apraxia...

Well it's been a little longer than I had planned, but I figured that I would post on Jekkie's speech problem. She has been diagnosed with Apraxia.....the excerpt below is from http://www.apraxia-kids.org/

Verbal apraxia indicates that the child has difficulty with volitional movement for the production of speech. This can be at the level of sounds, syllables, words, or even phrases (connected speech). The motor struggle is most typically seen with sounds sequencing.

Often oral apraxia accompanies verbal apraxia, but that is not always the case. Speech and language pathologists have mentioned that it is very rare and fairly unheard of for a child to have oral apraxia without verbal apraxia/dyspraxia.

Volitional -- What does it Mean?
In the course of discussing apraxia, as we have above, you will note the use of the word "volitional". The meaning of this word in relationship to apraxia/dyspraxia of speech means that the child is experiencing the difficulty in nonspeech and speech movement when they are very consciously aware of trying to make movements or they are attempting movements when requested by others.

Those same movements, sounds, etc. may be heard while the child is busy playing or he/she just seems to blurt out when no one is really paying attention or trying too hard. As an example, the child may be playing happily and parents may hear sounds being made - almost without thought - "ma, ma, ba, ma,da". However, when the parents attempt to get the child to use those sounds - "Say Mama!"- the child is unable to do so. In many cases one can see the struggle on the child's face. They may grope with their lips or silently posture their lips as if searching for the position they need. One minute they could do it (when not thinking about it or attempting the task) and the next minute it is an intense struggle (they are now aware of the request and are trying to will their mouths to make those movements - volitional control).

That pretty much describes our Jekkie....here is a picture of her at speech therapy! (sorry if it's a little blurry, I took it with my phone)