Sandra

10 Goals for the Week

May 21, 2014 by Sandra 2 Comments

I always shoot for getting this goals post up on Mondays.

But unless I spend the entire weekend at home, by the time Monday rolls around, there’s usually something else that more urgently needs to get done before this post.

This past Sunday, I spent around 6 hours at the NRA Show in Chicago. I know what you’re thinking. But this particular NRA Show would NOT be a show put on by the National Rifle Association. I don’t own a rifle or love guns, but I do enjoy cooking, which is why I attended the NRA Show — the National Restaurant Association Show. 😉

I had a great time, and it was nice to get away and just be alone. I don’t get to experience “alone time” often, but I did on Sunday. After it was over, my legs were killing me from all the walking, but I felt refreshed!

Anyway, here’s what I accomplished last week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. ~~Continue to work on memorizing two verses of scripture as a family — Ephesians 4:29 and now Exodus 20:7 (Third Commandment)~~

2. ~~Plan a Family Day~~

Personal Goals:

3. ~~Put cloth diapers for sale on ebay~~

4. ~~Drink water with lemon (or lime) and cayenne pepper 5x~~

5. ~~Read 20 pages of 52 Things Kids Need From a Mom by Angela Thomas~~

Home Management Goals:

6. ~~Fill one bag with items to donate — I need to keep this on my list for ongoing de-cluttering purposes!~~

7. ~~Unpack one box sitting in the basement~~

Business Goals:

8. ~~Order new business cards~~

9. ~~Research a new email service~~

10. Write 4 blog posts

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Continue to work on memorizing two verses of scripture as a family — Ephesians 4:29 and now Exodus 20:7 (Third Commandment)

2. Plan a Family Day

Personal Goals:

3. Read 20 pages of How to Monetize Your Food Blog by Kiersten Frase

4. Drink water with lemon (or lime) and cayenne pepper 5x

5. Read 20 pages of 52 Things Kids Need From a Mom by Angela Thomas

Home Management Goals:

6. Fill one bag with items to donate — I need to keep this on my list for ongoing de-cluttering purposes! UPDATE: Now, every single week, I actually look forward to filling a garbage bag full of things we don’t need. The basement is starting to look a little better, and we can actually find things! 🙂

7. Unpack one box sitting in the basement

Business Goals:

8. Take and edit photographs for a post to be published next week

9. Sign up for a new email service

10. Write 4 blog posts

What are your goals for this week?

5 More Potty Training Tips and an Update from the Trenches

May 16, 2014 by Sandra Leave a Comment

This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Pull-Ups® Training Pants and Latina Bloggers Connect.

Potty training my baby girl is going to take longer than I thought.

I mentioned in my last potty training tips post that I pretty much have all the time in the world when it comes to teaching her to use the potty, and she can take all the time she needs.

You know, because she’s baby number five, and we aren’t planning on having anymore children. I’ll never get to experience the joys of teaching a little one to use the bathroom again, so I’m totally fine with drawing this thing out. 😉

However, at the moment, Elisabeth is clearly demonstrating all the signs that she’s ready to use the big kid potty. She doesn’t want to wear diapers, and she doesn’t like the feeling of “going” in her diaper anymore. She loves her Pull-Ups Training Pants and talks about “going” in the potty.

But then she avoids it like crazy.

That’s okay, though.

Just like with nursing her longer than I did my other kids, I’m in no rush when it comes to potty training her. I actually have a feeling that one day she’s simply going to get the hang of it, and that’ll be it. Elisabeth will be potty trained.

In the meantime…

Here are 5 more potty training tips and things you can do to help your toddler achieve potty training success. 🙂

Tip #1: Set up a reward system to encourage your child to use the potty. I probably don’t have to tell you this, but rewards are incredibly motivating for little ones. Use stickers or a special treat to persuade your child to go to the bathroom on their own.

Tip #2: Even if a child is able to fairly quickly learn how to use the potty during the day, it may take a while for them to be fully trained at night. With boys, it could take a LONG while (just my experience), so it’s a great idea to continue to put Pull-Ups Training Pants on them before bedtime. Otherwise, you may be doing extra laundry in the morning.

Tip #3: Try to help your child overcome their potty fears with books. Stories are powerful. Find one or two books at your local library and see if they can help your toddler overcome any fears they might have.

Tip #4: Parents have been using Pull-Ups Training Pants to help with potty training little ones for a very long time. Visit the Pull-Ups website for encouragement, tools, and resources.

Tip #5: Speak to other moms and find out what worked for them. There are so many different ways to potty train. If your current method isn’t working, it’s always a great idea to talk to another mom. You’ll probably laugh as you swap stories, and it’s possible that what worked for her son or daughter may work for your little one, too.

Do you have any potty training tips to share? I’d love to hear them!

10 Goals for the Week

May 14, 2014 by Sandra 2 Comments

I wrote my goals out on Monday, and I’ve been carrying them around with me.

You know…until I had the time to sit down and type them out like I’m doing right now — on Wednesday. 😉

Here’s what I accomplished last week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. ~~Continue to work on memorizing two verses of scripture as a family — Ephesians 4:29 and Exodus 20:4~~

2. ~~Plan a Family Day~~

Personal Goals:

3. ~~Shampoo and clean my makeup brushes~~

4. ~~Drink water with lemon (or lime) and cayenne pepper 5x~~

5. Finish reading Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom by Tricia Goyer

Home Management Goals:

6. ~~Fill one bag with items to donate — I need to keep this on my list for ongoing de-cluttering purposes!~~

7. ~~Unpack one box sitting in the basement~~

Business Goals:

8. Get caught up on work — I made progress in this area, and I’m almost finished catching up.

9. Return emails — Only one more that I’m behind on to go!

~~10. Write 4 blog posts~~

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Continue to work on memorizing two verses of scripture as a family — Ephesians 4:29 and now Exodus 20:7 (Third Commandment)

2. Plan a Family Day

Personal Goals:

3. Put cloth diapers for sale on ebay

4. Drink water with lemon (or lime) and cayenne pepper 5x

5. Read 20 pages of 52 Things Kids Need From a Mom by Angela Thomas

Home Management Goals:

6. Fill one bag with items to donate — I need to keep this on my list for ongoing de-cluttering purposes!

7. ~~Unpack one box sitting in the basement~~ — Done today

Business Goals:

8. ~~Order new business cards~~ — I ended up getting this done on Tuesday. 🙂

9. Research a new email service

10. Write 4 blog posts

What are your goals for this week?

Losing the Baby Fat Weight Loss Update: I lost another 2.4 pounds

May 11, 2014 by Sandra 3 Comments

When I stepped on the scale this morning, it read 187 lbs. exactly.

I promptly praised the Lord!

And then added my weight to the weight loss tracker app on my phone. Since my last update, I’ve lost another 2.4 lbs. for a total weight loss of 6 lbs. in 4 weeks.

That’s what I’m talking about! 🙂

I’m so excited because I’m losing weight without dieting or counting calories. I’m eating delicious meals, and I feel good. At this rate, I should definitely be able to hit my goal weight of 168 pounds this year. I haven’t been 168 pounds since I was pregnant with Nathan.

Nathan will be turning 14-years-old this month. So, it’s been awhile, and hence the reason I’m so excited.

What I’m Eating

For the past two weeks, I’ve been eating more sweet potatoes. I love to eat them simply mashed or mashed with a little maple syrup. Delicious. I also made potato leek soup last week, and when I invited my dad over for a visit, I prepared tortilla soup and a healthier-for-you chocolate cake. I’ll share both of those recipes on the blog soon.

Oh, and I ate a good amount of whole wheat pasta. People who know my family in real life know that we eat A LOT of pasta. Spaghetti and rotini are staples in our home. It’s safe to say that when you come over, if we’re not eating pasta, I’m probably cleaning it up. 😉

As for snacks, I’m a huge eater of popcorn. But I know that microwaveable bagged popcorn isn’t the healthiest for me, even the organic version, which we almost always had on hand.

I had a Target gift card that I’d been waiting to use on something I actually wanted, and I recently decided to use it to buy a hot air popcorn popper. To be honest, the air hot popcorn isn’t as tasty as the other kind, but it’s healthier.

So I’ll keep popping my own.

Here’s what my weight loss progress looks like so far:

Beginning 2014 weight: 193 lbs.

Current Weight: 187.0 lbs.

Goal Weight for 2014: 168 lbs.

# of total pounds I want to lose in 2014: 25 lbs.

# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 19 lbs.

Total # of pounds lost to date: 6 lbs.

How is your weight loss progress coming along?

Sandra

In the meantime…

What I’m Eating

Here’s what my weight loss progress looks like so far:

Footer

Categories