And the Rest of the Month!

Well we got home from graduation and we all got terribly sick! It's like the stress that was pent-up for 5 plus months finally took it's toll...and it was BAD! The baby got it the worst with a 105 degree fever and she didn't eat for a week. No sleeping for anyone, and no one escaped it (even our dog had a minor kennel cough spell)! The only upside: we spent lots of quality time together curled up on the bed watching movies. Even the baby would just lay on our chest and cuddle for hours. And, no one was hungry so I didn't have to cook for close to 10 days! See, aren't I the eternal optimist! :) We are all fully recovered and back on our game, thankfully!

We finally took Emma to the zoo! She loves animals of all kinds, except she still calls all of them doggies. She ran around the zoo barking at every animal, even the big tortoise. We're working on that!

Savanna is our aspiring gymnast. Her new thing: she wants to try out for a competitive cheer team. She has been working hard and has even taught herself (with the help of YouTube) how to do a front flip! She has been continuing with our Turbo Fire DVDs and sometimes exercise 2 to 3 hours per day! It's fine by me! I am seeing so much positive change in her body. She used to be super skinny and frail. She is now becoming firm and toned, and very healthy looking. It makes her happier and gives her confidence and focus...sounds like a win-win to me!

I need to take a new picture- she is almost all the way to the ground now!

Our Emma is a feisty little thing! She is a chatterbox...and she pretty much chatters every minute she is awake! She toddles around the house all day and every few minutes she will say, "Hi Mom" or "Hi Dad" or "Hi Na-Na." Despite my efforts she has learned the word "NO!" and shouts it often, especially at bedtime or when you take something from her. She is still quite the drama queen and can turn on the water works instantly (and it works WAY to frequently for her, especially with the men in the house)!

Oh, but she is so sweet! She loves to give kisses and hugs. She is a monkey and climbs on everything!

And IN everything!

And her favorite past time...putting on other people's shoes or "shews" as she calls them. The many "shews" of Emma Leigh:

Benjamin is our little artist. He has been excited about painting lately. And he paints and paints and paints! He also recently has gotten very excited about reading. He read 15 books tonight (With a little encouragement from In-N-Out Burger....they have a program through our library where they will give you a gift certificate for a free burger if you read 15 books...the exact number he wanted to read tonight...hmmm)! He is getting very excited about his birthday also, and is trying to decide what he wants to do to celebrate.

Bradley is still loving scouts! He had his first awards night and he earned his first badge and two belt loops (one for chess and one for astronomy)! Since that night he has earned another badge and 3 more belt loops. He will be getting those the first week in April. The scouting program has really given him focus and has helped him set simple goals and feel the confidence that comes when he achieves them. He is really blossoming intellectually and has moved smoothly into the Love of Learning phase. This is the phase in Leadership Education where a child embraces and tastes all different types of learning. It is also the phase where they begin learning a myriad of life skills. This dovetails beautifully with his scouting objectives and also with the church's Faith in God program. It is up to the child to determine what phase he is in, and Bradley has declared that he is in Love of Learning. He even asked me to get him a planner so he can start recording his goals daily like I do. He's a remarkable kid.

All of the kids are so happy to have their Daddy home, but Emma seems to be the happiest of all. She follows Dad around all day long, and hops in his lap every chance she gets. She goes over to the couch and pats the cushion and yells, "Dad!" and he will obediently go and sit down. She brings him book after book and they will read and cuddle. It's extremely sweet.

We made it out to Morro Bay this month too. They have a place in the park with tables set up to play chess. There were guys from a local chess team who gave the boys mini lessons. Benjamin got some serious help and even beat James at a game!

The girls were not as excited about spending a day in the park playing chess- well, you can't please them all!

They even set up a lifesize chess set and the boys battled it out. It was a good workout for them hauling those pieces around! Benjamin won...again!!

I completed my Turbo Fire program with some pretty amazing results! Another 11 lbs and 12 1/2 inches GONE! That brings my grand total to 66 lbs lost!!

I didn't quite hit my goal for James' graduation, but overall I'm feeling pretty good about my efforts. I have one more dress size and approximately 10 more lbs to lose. I took one recovery week, started P90X, got sick, and then re-started P90X last week! I forgot how amazing those workouts are. There is no way, if I can keep my diet in-check, that I won't have far surpassed my fitness goal by the end of these next 90 days. Either way, I plan on bringing it! It's just about 90 days until summer...let me know if I can help any of YOU achieve your health and fitness goals!

And, I tried out the new Shakeology flavor- tropical strawberry. It's awesome. I love it. 'Nuff Said. :)

Lastly, our family has decided to devote the next several weeks to getting our house back in order. Many things- financial, physical, emotional, and otherwise- were put on the back burner to help James through the academy. Now that he is home, we are focusing a lot of our time on our family. We have decided to do a "Purge." We are going through every room, closet, drawer, and our entire garage and getting rid of anything and everything that we don't need. We have written a family mission statement and anything that does not move us towards our family mission is outta here! We got rid of half a driveway full of stuff just yesterday! And I can't tell you how freeing it is to get rid of clutter. Even the boxes sitting in our garage untouched are taking up space that we could use and space in the back of our minds. I have been told by many who do these purges regularly that when you free up space and energy you make room for and attract the things that you truly need. The children have been really great about getting rid of toys and clothes that they don't need. We are going to turn our garage into a really awesome gym and play room. I'm documenting the progress and will share soon!

March 1 - 25, 2011

The Mom Behind the Camera :)

Okay, this post is for my bestie Jackie who is always asking to see pictures of me on this blog! Here I am! About a size and a half left to lose, but looking SO much better. :) It's funny because I have been thin practically my whole life, and I totally took it for granted. Since struggling with my weight, I am so much more excited about getting thin than I ever was when I was thin. I am actually stronger and healthier now than I have ever been even when I was much smaller. I feel like I need an entire make-over to celebrate! I have spent so many years buying clothing and accessories based on the price tag or comfort (or just taking what others give me). I think I have finally found my "style," and I can't wait to get these last few pounds off and start investing in a quality, hip, "new" look!

I also got my hair cut this week- trying the bangs again. I think I like them!

The lady also layered my hair in the back- makes it look so nice and full! I love having curly hair. Who would have EVER thought I would have naturally curly hair? It was fine and straight as an arrow the first 30 years of my life! Sometimes those hormonal changes can be good. :)

If anyone needs some motivation or wants to know more about what I am doing health and fitness-wise, click on my Beachbody and Shakeology links on the right hand-side. I would love to help you feel as good as I do!! XOXO

January 17, 2012

Stories & Successes

A couple Benjamin stories: I have to try to remember to write more of what this kid says. Really, he is so incredibly funny. He has two common phrases he says a lot. One is that he says "guess what?" in between every sentence. So his stories will go something like: "Hi Mom. Guess what? I was riding my bike, and guess what? I was pedaling so fast and the bike was shaking, and guess what? I didn't even fall off!" The other thing he says is "Well..." in kind of a slow, Southern drawl. The thing about a Benjamin "Well..." is that you never know what is coming after the "Well..."

For instance, I have a rule for the boys when they are riding their scooters in the front yard. If no one is out there to supervise them, they have to come in every 5 minutes or so and check in with me. Bradley agreed immediately to this stipulation. I turned to Ben who responded, "Well...I'm not going to check in because I'm just going to forget. So when Bradley checks in, he's checking in for both of us!" At least he's up front about it.

Or if I ask how the kids like dinner and it's not their "thing," Savanna will usually reply, "It's not my favorite." Bradley will usually say something like, "It's not my favorite either, but I'll eat it because we don't waste food, right Mom?" (My little teacher's pet). Ben: "Well...it's disgusting and I'm not eating that!"

I took him out on a date today and I asked him if he wanted to get a burger or go to Subway. He says, "I'm trying to eat healthy these days because I want my body to be strong so we should probably go to Subway." I agreed that that sounded like a good plan. "Do you want to know why I need to be strong?" he continued in a very serious, straight-forward tone. "Well...I need to be strong because I'm going to be a spy and super hero when I grow up."

I am excited that he is health-conscious...whatever the reason! Speaking of health, I received my first promotion from Beachbody this past week! And, I am pushing through our Power 90 program and continuing with my running. I've dropped several pounds, and even had to get rid of some clothes that were too big- now that is FUN! I am going to start a little blog about my fitness and health journey (because I need something else to do, right?). No really, it will be brief updates and it is already attached to my Beachbody profile so it will be easy to access and share. I'll keep you all posted when I figure it out! In the mean time, let me know if any of you (or your friends or family) are interested in my free coaching services. It's been really fun to help and encourage others. James has signed up to be a coach as well for any of the men out there that want some support from another guy. He is trying to get as fit as possible in case he goes to the Academy in October. So join us as we get in shape together! Leave me a comment if you want to know more, or check out our websites on the right-hand panel. :)

P.S.

After our date at Subway, Ben and I took Emma to the park. She loved playing in the sand and watching the other kids. Ben recently learned to swing all by himself and swung for over 30 minutes. I think that might have helped me in my decision about getting a small swing set for our yard. :)

September 14, 2011

Power 90 In Home Boot Camp

Here is our next workout program- Power 90- a 90 Day In-Home Boot Camp! We actually officially began the program this past Saturday, and absolutely love it! It has two different levels with two DVDs in each level. So we are starting with lower level and we alternate one day of cardio with one day of strength training 6 days per week with one rest day. The workouts are short (about 30 to 40 mins), but they really work us out. We will do this initial phase for several weeks or until the DVDs become too easy for us, and then we will graduate to the last phase which has harder cardio and strength DVDs.

I really love how when you order a program from Beachbody they send you everything you need. We received the DVDs, a calendar to plan out our workouts, a complete nutrition guide, the workout bands, and even a measuring tape to check our results! It makes it very organized and simple to "keep pushing play." We are 5 days in, and I have lost a couple of pounds and already look thinner!!

For my complete transformation story, you can view my Beachbody profile at:

http://www.teambeachbody.com/holliwyett. I will be updating our progress there regularly.

I am also still running, and just hit my target "time goal." Now I just need to pick up the pace and be running 3.2 miles within this amount of time. I'm up to 2.5 miles...getting there, slowly but surely!!

August 27, 2011

Children...Where's the Manual?

It's interesting that you can do something for a long time and still feel like a complete novice. James and I have been parents for awhile now. Our oldest will be 14 this coming October, and we have begun to realize lately that we still have no idea what we are doing here! There has been a lot of introspection going on in our home as we have been seeking to objectively look at our character defects (and the defects of our children), and find ways to do better.

Another realization: In the past when I didn't know how to do something (such as gardening or canning or sewing), I have searched out books, watched videos, and talked to people who are good at these skills until I felt confident in trying them out myself. I have practiced (often failing the first time), and refined my skill until my results were better and better each time. In our new business endeavor we have been doing that as well. We have been spending time learning about the company, copying successful mentors, asking lots of questions, and being thoughtful and prayerful about our strategies. Why would all of these tactics not apply to our parenting as well? If I am struggling as a parent, shouldn't I figure out the problem and what I need to do, and then keep trying until improvement is made?

This thought gave me a chance to sit down and write out my priorities on paper. In doing so, I figured out that I do not waste a lot of time. We are actively involved in many GOOD things! However as I wrote my list of priorities and took a good, hard look at them, I very quickly saw that I was spending a lot more time on priorities 7 and 8, than priorities I had listed as 1 and 2! So I am doing some adjusting here with my time management to make sure that I am spending the time I do have in the right areas and in the right increments.

One of our prophets, David O. McKay, once said, "No other success can compensate for failure in the home," and I have to agree. When I lay down at night I may have a fat bank account, a stocked pantry, and a beautifully decorated home, but if my relationships with my spouse and children are not healthy and happy, am I truly successful?

Don't get me wrong, our home life is going okay. There hasn't been anything major that has provoked these thoughts. Sometimes improving in one area of your life sparks a renewed interest to do better in other areas. We have recently taken back the ownership of our health, fitness, and finances, and I think that has encouraged us and given us more energy to now see other areas that need to improve as well. We haven't been beating ourselves up for our previous parenting mistakes, but we are aware that many are still continuing and we want to do better... we want to do our best.

The biggest realization that has occurred to me lately is that time is fleeting. I only have these children in my home for a short time. Then I have to let them go, and hope that I have in some way prepared them to take on the world and face it with integrity, courage, and confidence. That is a HUGE responsibility! And, what does this really look like and HOW do I do this?? I found myself going to my resources this past week- I watched videos, read articles and websites, found myself in the library and checked out a dozen books on parenting, talked with other parents and James at length, prayed, prayed, and then prayed some more. In a very short time, I think I have the answer!

In our recent colloquium, we discussed Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." He talks about how we all start out being dependent (some of us never leave this phase and that is why we have a whole bunch of grown babies running around pointing fingers and wanting others to solve their problems). Most of us grow out of this dependence phase though and mature to the phase of independence. Here we learn to do things for ourselves and build confidence in our abilities. We are much better off than we were when we were dependent, but Covey says that there is an even better choice than being independent, and that is mastering the phase of being interdependent. An interdependent person acknowledges their own strengths and talents, but recognizes that if they put their efforts with another's efforts the result is always bigger and better. They understand that they can capitalize on others' unique talents that would compliment their own and that together they can be more successful than they could have ever been on their own. Isn't that really the purpose of our lives? We were put here in family units to learn to love one another, serve one another, and work well with each other. The eternal goal is be with your FAMILY forever, not to be hanging out alone in Heaven because you could do it all yourself...who would want that??

That was my answer. I want to raise my children to be interdependent. Now that I had my goal, I had to read through all the information I had found (I have barely scratched the surface, but have gleaned a lot so far) and find out HOW to accomplish this goal. Most of the advice I have been reading explains that discipline is the key to raising a healthy, obedient, happy, interdependent child. I began reflecting on our disciplinary tactics. We have used a lot of quick fixes to get quick results. Time outs, grounding, threats, and rewards (which are really just bribes) to get them to stop a negative behavior or to start a positive behavior. But this does not teach them to be either independent or interdependent. This is not the kind of discipline these books and sites are talking about. Discipline is not about exercising control over our children, and getting them to do what WE want. Discipline is about helping our children learn to control themselves, and do what is RIGHT.

Just like our government has grown way too involved and as a result is stifling freedoms, as parents I think we impose too many of our beliefs, opinions, and desires on our children and stifle their free agency. The bottom line is that we need to teach our children self-government, to govern themselves. They will eventually govern themselves, whether we like it or not, so now is the time to teach them the proper, righteous way to govern themselves so that they can make choices that will bless their lives and the lives of all those around them.

Self-government- basically teaching our children to control and understand their thoughts, behaviors, words, and actions, and accept the consequences that occur from all of these with dignity, confidence, and a desire to always improve. It gets rid of the nagging, reminding, punishing, and elaborate reward systems to get children to do what they are supposed to do! They learn that they can choose their actions, but they can not choose their consequences, and that making mistakes may not be a goal, but it is OK. Most lessons are learned by messing up first. As parents, letting our children choose for themselves and then experience the consequences of their choices (good or bad) is a big part of them learning self-government. Obviously we have to safe-guard them from experiences that are not age-appropriate, dangerous, unhealthy, etc. but there is some great information about the benefits and the love and respect that grow in families that focus on this principle alone!

Our favorite find: Nicholeen Peck's book, Parenting A House United: Changing Children's Hearts and Behaviors by Teaching Self-Government

http://teachingselfgovernment.com

I HIGHLY recommend this site. There are videos, articles, on-line parenting courses- all surrounding this idea of teaching your children self-government. We are very excited to get some help in this area, and to give our children the encouragement, support, and love they need to grow into competent, happy, interdependent adults. As with everything else, we must learn to self-govern OURSELVES first before we can hope to teach it to our children or anyone else (YOU, NOT THEM strikes again!). We are ready...I think :).

Here are some other books that I have learned about, and am working my way through:

How to Talk so Kids Will Listen, and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber

Kids Are Worth It by Barbara Coloroso

The Family Guide to Virtues by Popov

How to Hug a Porcupine by Dr. Lund

The Anatomy of Peace by The Arbinger Institue

Have a New Kid by Friday by Kevin Leman

Connected Parenting: Transform Your Challenging Child and Build Loving Bonds for Life

Sorry for the long post- it helps me to write out my thoughts- hope some of it was helpful!!

August 14, 2011

Family Business

Well, James and I finished our current workout program today! We have one recovery week, and then we are going to start a program called Power 90. It is a 90 day program that mixes cardio and weight training. It is with our favorite trainer, Tony Horton, and will be our warm up before we conquer P90X again at the end of the year!

Already we are feeling so much stronger than we were 4 weeks ago. The scale has not shown much difference for me, but we will be re-taking our measurements next week and that is much more accurate at illustrating success than the ol' scale! I will post my results then. :)

James and I also both started health and fitness accountability groups on Facebook this week to help us share our goals and get feedback from others (see the link on the right under My Other Websites). If you aren't added, let me know and I will add you. Sharing your goals in any sort of public forum makes you much more likely to stick with them! I know I have been talking up the working out and eating right, so I best be getting HOT very soon or people will be wondering (and asking me about it)!

We are enjoying our Beachbody coaching endeavor so far. I haven't had as much time to devote to it as I would like, but it has been fun helping people get excited about taking care of themselves and finding programs that work for their level of fitness and lifestyle. We can all get hot together. :)

I did have a chance to post a few new recipes on my food blog! Check them out. Here are the boys' breakfast fruit kabobs. It's interesting that if you make eating fun, kids will eat just about anything.

Update on our little Emma: Emma will be one in less than 2 weeks! She is growing so fast, and seems to learn something new every day. She is saying several new words including: Wow, Hi, No (well, she shakes her head No), and Mmmm (not technically a word, but if you ask her if she wants food, she says Mmmm). She stands pretty good and even let go yesterday and took one step before grabbing for something else to hang on to! She just got really good at crawling, and rarely falls on this silly floor anymore, so I am not really looking forward to her learning to walk and falling down a lot again!

She is eating more and more each day, and is now up to 3 meals a day in addition to her milk. I still have her just eating fresh fruits, greens, and juices. I have a couple more fruits and greens to introduce, and then I will start with some lightly steamed veggies and possible homemade brown cereal. Just taking it slow and letting her get the hang of it all!

She is still sleeping through the night! And, I have finally made it back to church on Sunday. It was pretty rough having her miss her morning nap, but she survived and slept great in the afternoon and all night long that night. We are still very much enjoying having a baby around again. I can't really get much done during her awake hours- she is INTO EVERYTHING- but she is so sweet, and so darn cute!!

I love how she holds her pretend phone upside down every time we tell her "hi."

The boys are getting pretty suave on their scooters. They can do all sorts of tricks. Their knees look like they've been beaten, but they are improving their mad skills! They have really been enjoying playing with all the neighborhood kids this summer.