Thankful Thursday-Chakanooga

I'm so excited for tomorrow. Jenna and I are going to meet my Mom in "Chakanooga". That's the way she says it. It's so cute. We're going to the aquarium then on to Kentucky on Friday, Kentucky Derby breakfast on Saturday, and my niece's graduation from the University of Kentucky on Sunday! Melanie was 5 when she was the flower girl in our wedding-Jenna's age-yuck! How time flies. I hope to post a picture of her at our wedding when I get back. Mom is bringing us back on Monday for a very busy birthday/Mother's Day week.

Thank you Jesus for family and for the opportunity to spend time with my Mom and beautiful daughter!

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” ~ Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV)

Cinco The Tree

Since Jenna was born on May 5th the doctor commented she was a Cinco De Mayo baby. I had no idea what that was. Yesterday Jenna called me to say she had planted a tree (crepe myrtle) with her Daddy and named it Cinco. How cute! Our Cinco baby turns 5 this year on 5/5. What a cute idea! It will be fun each year to take her picture by Cinco.

ScreamFree Facilitator Training

Friday we wrapped up our 2 days of training. It was totally not what I expected but in a good way. The 2 days focused on the participants as a leader of ScreamFree parenting. We didn't really go over the book or DVD's or even HOW to lead a group. It was about us and the skills we needed to be a coach/faciliator. It's so hard to explain something like this when I was the one experiencing it. All I can say is that I will be forever changed. I am so pumped to get the word out and my eyes are opened to wherever the Lord leads me with this. One thing is I will do for sure is partner with ScreamFree Living to get the word out that there is also a Christian version of the book. I will be starting my own blog/website where the books can be purchased. This is all in the works and may take a while but I am so excited about it. For now, head on over to ScreamFree Living and check it out. If you would like a Chritian version of the book just leave me a comment and I will help you out!

O M G!!!!

That is all I can say about my day today. Only 8 people were there today for this training with Hal Runkel, founder of ScreamFree Living. I also did not know that his wife joined the team in June. We had some great talks today. So, we had 8 hours to listen to Hal, very casual, all of us sitting in chairs (even Hal), very personal. I LOVED every minute! There is a man (Jonathan) there from GHANA! I couldn't believe he came this far for this training. Margaret is from California. The Lord is doing amazing things all over the world with this book. It would take me forever to put into words all that I learned but here are a few things:

1. We are not responsible FOR our children, we ae responsible TO them.

2. It is ALWAYS, ALWAYS easier to complain than to change.

3. The unmotivated are netoriously impervious to insight (from "Freedman's Fables")

4. Give up the need to make other people feel comfortable and focus on being comfortable with yourself.

5. Children need a shoulder to shoulder guide. Go along beside them not toe to toe.

6. We can't set up a system that's asking parents or kids to give up their integrity.

There is so much more but hard to explain. You can get the book and everthing is explained in there! Check out the link below. I am so excited to go back tomorrow.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am headed to a ScreamFree Parenting certification class. This means I will be certified to facilitate this class for groups of all kinds in our community!

About 4 years ago I first read the book and I knew then the Lord had something in store for me. It changed the way I looked at parenting and has changed my life. This book takes the approach that we must focus on ourselves first and not just getting good behavior out of our children. I don't know about you, but I really struggle with yelling. Sometimes, it seems the only way to get our point across. I am the last person on earth that should facilitate this class. Isn't it great that God uses our weaknesses too?

I am also so thankful to my church home. They are paying for me to go and there is no way I could have gone otherwise. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store. Take a few minutes to go to theri web site!

ScreamFree Parenting: Calming the world one relationship at a time. Start with yours.

Happy Birthday Melody!

Wednesday is my friend Melody's birthday. Melody is a dear "new" friend of mine who I have known for a long time. I am so thankful we have had time to get to know each other (and her precious family) more lately. There are many things I have learned about Melody but here are a few:

1. She LOVES the beach!

2. I call her miss Know-it-all because she knows everything-ha.

3. She loves the Lord.

4. She loves her family.

5. She loves her Blessings Unlimited business.

6. Do not call her Melanie! Ha

7. She loves Starbucks. I'm sending her the bill for my favorite sugar-free
breve mocha.

8. I can't call her if I am in a hurry. It takes us at least 45 minutes to get off the phone.

Happy Birthday Friend!

I'm Gonna Show You!

It's been a long time since I blogged about my weight. I started this blog about a year ago to help keep me accountable on exercise and losing weight and got very bored with it quickly! Last year I went for my one year check up a complete mess. Hormones crazy, that-time-of-the-month wasn't normal, etc... What followed at my doctor appointment shocked me. She wanted to put me back on the pill. Did not asked what I was eating, drinking, if I was exercising, nothing! She told me I had probably hit my "adult body". What? My adult body? I'll show you, I thought to myself. Well, I did lose about 9 lbs and gained it back. I started again in January trying to lose and exercise. I was talking to my friend Jodi about the South Beach Diet and decided to give it a try again. I can't wait for this 2 weeks to be over but I really like it. I wanted to get off of so many carbs and reduce my cravings. Oh, I also did not go on the pill but went on over-the-counter estroven and it has helped so much! So, here are the results from my doctor visit this week:

4 pounds lost
mood swings better
regular cycles again
overall feeling much beter

My goals are:

lose 6 more pounds
continue exercising
continue with vitamins and supplements
continue good meals for my family
laugh more
play more
don't sweat the small stuff
find another doctor-ha