The "Do Do Do" Verses

(Yes, that is crayon on my wall. Thank you, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!)

My son is realizing that when he disobeys mom and dad that he is sinning. We will say to him, "I will only tell you one time. When you do not do as mom says, you are disobeying. You will get a spanking for disobeying mom or dad." He does pretty well most of the time, but lately we've noticed that he really feels remorse for his sin (not all the time, he is only 3 years old). He will tell us, "I don't want to disobey. I want to obey mom."

That really has made me look at Romans 7:14-20 a lot more seriously. I always called it the "Do Do Do" verses because it can get a little confusing. But reading it as a mom who has a little boy that is now struggling with his sins, I see it in a fresh way.

Romans 7:14-20

(14) We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

(15) I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

(16) And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

(17) As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

(18) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

(19) For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

(20) Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

I know that he wants to do good, but he can't. And neither can I. I struggle with things that I know are wrong and I continue to do them. And it is the sin living in me. I can only, daily, surrender myself to the Lord. I can only ask for His grace and forgiveness when I inevitably screw up. Now, I don't read these verses and see a license to sin, I read them as an encouragement to submit myself to the Lord. That I need the Lord to carry out the good that I desire to do. That I need to rely on Him to do good and to obey.

I have a feeling that my children will lead me to ponder Scripture in different ways. Thanks to my son for clearing up the "Do Do Do" verses for me. ;)

Wednesday Weigh-In 7/1

**Update. Here's a great article from April about celebrating the small losses. We just need to remember to encourage each other through our gain weeks and our loss weeks!

It's been another rough week. Let's just say that June has been a rough month for weight loss. As of last night, we are home. So I can hopefully soon return to a normal routine with my sleeping, eating, and working out. Here are the weekly stats:

starting weight: 160.6
current weight: 160.4
loss: .2 lbs
original starting weight: 166.4
cumulative weight loss: 6 lbs.

I'm still not into the 150's yet, but I know I'm so close!! I haven't been able to work out regularly this week because I went to my parent's again while my husband was gone on a mission trip to an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. And then I joined up with the upper classmen for some evangelism training in the Twin Cities. It was so fun to be with them, but the lack of working out, the addition of eating out, and the strange sleep habits of teens on a mission trip have been wearing me down. I actually feel worse and I feel fatter more jigglier. I think my loss this week was loss of muscle tone. I'll take the loss, but I'd rather keep my muscles.

Now that I'm home and July is a fresh month, I will be getting my butt kicked inspired by Jillian to get back into shape...and preferably a more toned and well-balanced shape.

Current Goals:
1. Shred daily
2. Make healthy eating choices in the snack category
3. Only weigh on Wednesday
4. Get into the 150's!!

I Wish These Were In Print

Ken Jennings, famous for winning a lot of money on Jeopardy, painted the alphabet on his daughter's wall. Each letter has a famous book character to go with it. They're beautifully done and I wish they were in print. I would love to hang them in my boys' room. Really, check it out, they're amazingly well done. Not only does this guy have brains, he has talent too. ;)

Here are some samples:


Isn't that amazing!?! I couldn't believe they were painted! You can check out Take the Bull by the Horns to see all the paintings.

*I do not promote any other material on the blog Take the Bull by the Horns. I haven't read anything else. I just couldn't find all of Ken Jennings picture in one post on his blog and this other guy took care of it for me. Thanks!

Wednesday Weigh-In 6/22

Well, I lost this week despite my lack of working out and my poor eating habits. It's hard when the hubby isn't around to spur me on. Also, I'm having my thyroid checked this afternoon because I haven't been feeling...normal. I don't know if my thyroid was affected by my sudden workout regimen, but we will see.

Starting Weight: 162.0
Current Weight: 160.6
Loss: 1.4
Original Starting Weight: 166.4
Cumulative Weight Loss: 5.8

I didn't make it into the 150's like I would have liked to, but that's a goal for this week!! Excited to have lost again and make up my gain from last week.

This week's goals:
1. Shred daily
2. Make healthy eating choices in the snack category
3. Only weigh on Wednesday
4. Get into the 150's!!

Walking to the Pool

I didn't Shred today. I took the boys on a big trip to Wal-Mart with promises of treats at the end for good behavior. There were no treats.

After the boys napped and I cleaned/packed/folded laundry I thought we needed to get out of the house because the boys were really squirrely. So I got out the sunscreen and the swimming suits. At first I thought I would drive the 8 blocks to the pool and thought that was ridiculous. Besides the gas, I needed the exercise since there was no one Shredding at my house this morning. I grabbed some water, towels and snacks (for the walk home) and put the boys in the wagon.

I think walking was a mistake. It was about 94 degrees out and the heat index was 103 degrees. Yuck!! It was so humid that the grass I walked on (cutting through an empty lot) got my flip-flops all wet. First I thought my feet were sweating profusely, but it was just the dewy grass...at 3:30 in the afternoon.

We made it to the pool (after two breaks for mom) and had a glorious time splashing in the water. I was dreading the walk home but it went way better than the way there. Partly because it's downhill and partly because we were wet. The pool is so refreshing. I think we may venture there tomorrow, but I'd rather not walk the 8 blocks. ;)

PS. Current temperature (10:30pm) 88 degrees and the heat index is 99 degrees. At 10:30pm!! Yuck. Iowa is such a crummy great place to live with the summer heat index and the winter wind chill. ;)

Mother's Day Bouquet

I know it's way past Mother's Day, but I'm just getting around to posting about the gift we gave to my mother-in-law. I saw this idea somewhere and thought it would be perfect for my MIL. She loves flowers but doesn't really enjoy the idea of a bouquet of flowers dying on her dining room table. We've gotten her a plants before, but she has a hard time keeping them alive. I thought it would be great to give her a bouquet where the flowers won't die.

I emailed my sister-in-laws and they all said they were in. Each family made their own flowers and sent them to the sister-in-law that would see our mother-in-law on Mother's Day. She arranged the flowers when she received them and delivered the gift. It turned out really cute and our mother-in-law really enjoyed them!

Here's what you need if you want to make a picture bouquet:
pictures of your family members
flower templates
Popsicle sticks OR long skewers
green paint
pencil
scissors
round object for tracing circles (I used a baby bottle lid)
ribbon (optional)
buttons (optional)
green foam (the kind you use for flower arrangements)
a small pot
artificial moss
hot glue gun
school glue
Start by painting your wooden sticks (skewers or Popsicle sticks) green. Don't forget to paint both sides.
Cut out your flower templates. I just used clip-art flowers from Microsoft Office. Trace them onto some colorful paper. I used scraps of paper from scrapbooking.
Trace circles around your pictures and cut out.
Glue your pictures onto your colorful flowers. Glue your flowers onto your painted sticks. You can add some ribbon to your flowers or even cut out leaves to glue on. (Pictures of me and my dear husband.)
After my sister-in-law received all the flowers she placed the green foam into the pot and arranged all the flowers. She placed the moss over the green foam for it's finishing touch. We made a few extra flowers for the front of the pot as filler. They were just small flowers with buttons for the center.

Wedding in the Backyard

Here are some pictures from my sister's wedding. My parents' backyard looked beautiful. And after having rain all week, we just prayed for some sunshine, and praise God we got it. ;) Enjoy the pictures. (I hope to post more pictures later from the wedding photographer).

Cooking for Wedding Week

My baby sister got married on Saturday, June 13th at my parent's farm. I'll be posting more about the wedding later, but I told my mom that I would cook the week of the wedding. She had enough stuff going on. Plus, my sister's family (4) and my family (4) would be staying on the farm. I knew that would be a lot of people to cook for and it sounded like fun to me. So, here's the menu from the week:

Sunday dinner: tacos

Monday lunch: leftovers
Monday dinner: frozen lasagna

Tuesday lunch: empenadas with guacamole and cilantro lime sour cream
Tuesday dinner: BBQ sandwiches, baked sweet potatoes, and Cajun coleslaw

Wednesday lunch: leftovers
Wednesday dinner: leftovers (husbands and children); Dad, Mom and my sisters out for pizza

Thursday lunch: taquitos, Southwestern salad
Thursday dinner: leftovers (husbands, children and my dad); girls night out

Friday lunch: chicken club brunch ring and BLT dip
Friday dinner: rehearsal dinner at the farm - smoked, grilled or baked turkey (that my brother-in-law shot), fruit, potato salad, tea rolls

I also made Cowboy Caviar and Brownie Bites. Delicious.

I didn't have anything to do with Sunday or Monday's cooking or Friday's dinner. But the others were all me. I had my family helping me in the kitchen - rolling out dough, chopping veggies, shredding meat. It was a lot of fun.