21 days of Food days 4-9

Hello friends! So glad to be on here. Thanks for the encouraging comments. I am so glad that you all haven't given up on me.

So We are on day 11 and I have to say I see a dramatic improvement in my family.

Joslyn: My daughter's reaction to my meals was the main reason we started this so I will start with her progress.
When we started Joslyn would have a mini meltdown when I would announce what was for dinner and told her that she would have to eat it. Then she would proceed to refuse to try and if we got her to take a bite after an hour she would pretend she was throwing it up or would actually throw it up. Since then we have noticed huge changes. Now when I announce 'What's For Dinner" or lunch, I get an oh man, and then she proceeds with a sly smile to convince me to make her something she loves. We have obstained from having hotdogs and chicken nuggets, which was my go to food, when I haven't wanted to cook something, these are her favorites and she still asks for them but I have held out. She was having huge issues with meats and swallowing them. It would literally take  hours for her to swallow one small piece of meat. Now I have learned to chop them up much smaller than Jaxon's size pieces and we play beat the timer. Today every piece eaten was done under 3 minutes and most under two. She will now ask how many bites she has to eat of each thing and depeanding on the meal it is usually 3 to 5. If I don't put her too much she will take those bites, but she still wants me to feed her. Dinner isn't a fun time yet with Joslyn, but we are getting there and I am proud of her progress.

Jax:
This kid has always been a good eater and besides getting him to eat with a spoon and not to drop his food to the dogs for entertainment, we have no issues.

John: There has only been one dinner daddy didn't make it to. Eating as a family has really changed the dynamic of this family. Thank you to a wonderful shift change to his schedule. He has enjoyed making fresh rolls and biscuits. This we have enjoyed very much.

Me: Well I am always the problem child. Especially since i have food issues, but I have found positive changes in me too. During dinner and lunch I sit with the kids and the tv is off. Some breakfasts we sit together, but breakfast is my enemy. I had trouble with coming up with healthy breakfast ideas, (please share some if you have any). So besides the pancakes and occasional muffins, its normally cereal or pop tarts. John is the breakfast maker in the family. Thankfully we get good breakfast on the weekends.
Most dinners have some sort of vegetable like green beans, peas, corn or broccoli/cauliflower. We also have had carrots. Next paycheck I plan on including asparagus into the mix. This is a good thing since we rarely had vegetables  before with our meals. I plan on adding a new fruit to our breakfasts.
I have noticed that my daily schedule has changed for the better and I spend less time in the kitchen. My portion sizes have gone down we rarely go back for seconds. I have to give the credit where credit is due. This all comes from my provider  Jesus Christ. I am working hard on changing my spiritual habits and amazing how my daily habits change too. Things I still have to work on include: adding fruit to the menu, come up with breakfast plans, still need to make a menu beyond that day. continue to work on my eating habits and slowly cut down my portions more. We also need to explore more variety in our dinners. The pic is of our dinner last night, pot roast is a splurge for us, but oh it was good.


I have been trying to come up with our next 21 days topic and I would love help with ideas. It has to be a small change, some options are: read 2 books as a family every night, add teeth brushing to our nightly routine for the whole family, say something positive about each other everyday. Any other ideas? I will leave you with a pic of a canvas I did for a friend. This one isn't done in sequins but just paint.

Love you guys! TTYL!

Teresa

21 days

As a person in recovery, I hear so often the saying it takes 21 days. 21 days to incorporate a new habit into your daily routine. 21 days to quit an old habit. 21 days till something temporary gets a chance to become permenant. The blue chip in Celebrate Recovery is important, because if you never surrender the bad hang-up, habit or hurt you can't have recovery in it. But the RED CHIP! Now The Red chip is often the most longed for chip. It means 30 days. 30 days of sobriety. 30 days of not taking that drink. 30 days of not throwing up your food. 30 days of not people pleasing. 30 days of trying to take better care of you. Whatever it is, 30 days should be celebrated.

At my house we are working on food. As a family together working on our food issues. We are trying to make food a family event. Food as a family choice. Healthy food slowly becoming more the norm and hotdogs and chicken nuggets and french fries becoming less of a choice. Right now we are working on making sure the entire family eats one meal.

We are on day 3 of chaos and crying and torture in our house. Day 3 of tantrums and dissension and heartache. But its only day 3. 21 days! It takes 21 days as my mother gently reminded me after I called to her and complained of my woes.

Being a mother is hard. I mentioned this to a soon to be mother yesterday as she witnessed me staring down my 3 year old over a plate of untouched beef stew. No judgement on either part but gentle understanding flowed through our conversation. This soon to be mom, was only 24. But the whole time I have known her I have said how mature, how wise, and how in-tuned to the Holy Spirit she was. It's so true. Because yesterday, while I battled my child over whose strong will will win, we spoke of how children and husbands are God's way of sanctifying us. Gently molding us into who he wants us to be. My strong will that I battle with the Lord is often like my daughter's strong will that is battled against us.

But we are only on day 3. I don't expect that we will be completely healthy when 21 days is over. But I do think we will be a little bit healthier and a little bit closer to where God wants us.

Before we started: I would make unhealthy snacks for dinner or lunch when I didn't want to cook. We as a family would sometimes choose to go out to unhealthy places instead of cooking. Jaxon would eat most anything we would put on his tray but I would choose to op for easy convenient foods instead of choosing healthy. We had no menu, or always had unhealthy choices that I was comfortable cooking. Daddy worked nights so we ate lunch together some meals but most dinners we ate alone. Joslyn would only eat about 5 foods that she was comfortable with and wouldn't try or eat food we made. Joslyn would sit at the computer and eat her foods and daddy and I would watch a movie while eating.

My goals: Daddy and Mommy plan the menu together. Plenty of fruits and veggies at our meals. Joslyn and Jax eating fruits and veggies and the meals I make without too much complaining and eaten in a timely manner. Everyone sits at the table at dinner and the tv is off and we come up with a family dinner tradition. Daddy and mommy learn to cook healthier foods. Family meal time becomes a happier time.

Day 1-3
Joslyn and Mommy power struggle with food. Joslyn goes from not trying anything to being bribed or scolded into trying new foods. She now takes no less than 2 hours to eat a meal she does not like but she will reluctantly eat things she does not like. We do not have the tv on anymore. I will start eating at the table tonight with the whole family, even if I have to move the livingroom around to do it. (We don't have enough chairs at the table without pulling from other areas.) Daddy has been making more bread related things. We need to find better healthier carbs.

I will update you with the next few days. Please As a side note - If you have any advice about how to get children to eat meals, please don't tell me. We have a plan okayed by our doctor and we are sticking with that. Other encouraging words or healthy food ideas are welcomed and encouraged. I would love to take a healthy cooking course or have a friend come show me how to cook healthier.

As far as the issue of why I haven't been blogging lately. Dont ask! I''m still in DENIAL about the reason why and I like it there.

Thanks for not giving up on me friends.

Too long!

Wow, it's been too long since I have been on here. Life has been busy pecking away and we are still here. School started back yesterday for those in Moore, and although my daughter won't be in school till next year, my heart goes out to my friends who's kids and teachers had anxiety over their first day back. Speaking of. Here is a canvas I did for my friend Ranee, who lost her home, vehicles and much more in the tornados. They are still working in a damaged building for their business.

So many of my friends are just now starting the rebuilding process, while many many more are still in demolition phases. It has almost been 3 months and it still looks like a war zone down there. Moore hospital is completely gone now, it was demolished and they are still cleaning up the property. They will be rebuilding though! So if you are wondering if all is back to normal, it isn't and won't be for a long time. 

My daughter is starting gymnastics at the end of this month. God has blessed me with amazing friends. A friend of mine bought Joslyn a years worth of gymnastics so that her and her best friend could go together! Amazing! Expect many leotard pics to come. 

I am still working at the Tanning salon on Saturdays and for the most part I am enjoying it. It is so nice and quiet! I love the quiet. 

My business is going well. I am currently working on a classic minnie to match the mickey mouse done earlier. Here is a peek of what it looks like painted. 

I currently have an order for another Thunder canvas, a girlie horse pic, and a Kenya flag. I am excited to be hopeful to show you those soon. 

I picked out what my tattoo would look like if I get 100 followers. 

Inside the cross will be my kiddo's names and Jesus. 

ANYWHO!

Jax is 10 months, which means we only have 2 months left to plan the birthday party!!!!!We see the ENT doctor this week about Jax's ears. We can't seem to stay out of the doctor for those suckers. And there is rumor of my brother and sis and baby Selah possibly visiting in November. So I am super excited for that to come. Oh and I finally paid a big bill off, well big for us right now, so I will be able to get my piano out of storage!!!!! I can't wait to have a jam session at my apartment with all of my music buds. 

Jaxon is a climbing monkey and can now get on the couch and ottoman, so yeah thats fun. 

Here is some fun pics. Love y'all! Don't forget about us, we are still here!

Jax's favorite toy

Nickie and Jinger after their haircuts

Grandma Marcie with Jax

It's how early?

Mom, not another picture!

Jos sharing her crackers! She really is the best big sister!

What a wonderful God we have!

I cannot tell you how blessed I am right now. God is doing such amazing things in my life. He is so good to us. I so don't deserve it. I have amazing friends and family. I am seeing victories in my struggles. And I am seeing generosity in huge amounts I have never seen before. Let me share just a little about what is happening.


When I was young and my mom would take us shopping to the grocery store and she would spend an hour talking with someone in the store she just met. I would hate that.

And when we would not have money for food or money to pay the light bill, and the church would provide for us, I would say that is so irresponsible of us, I will never do that.

And when my mom's friends would take us to do fun things that we couldn't afford, I would be embarassed that we couldn't afford it ourselves.

I used to think that having others help you was a defect of character.
I used to think that having your friends do things for you meant you were lazy.
And I used to think that talking with everyone about your issues was just so silly.

I WAS WRONG!!!

My mom was and is so wise. She really did know what she was talking about. She did an amazing job with us, by herself.

Because now that I am grown and that I do the same things I get it.
I understand the value and specialness(is that a word), of being able to honestly speak to someone about who you are without fear of condemnation.
I understand the lesson in humility and God's blessing when he uses people to provide what you need, when you are trusting in Him.
I understand that not being able to do it all by yourself, is not a defeat in character, but a strength, because you are loosening the reins of control.

I GET IT!

I have had to make some tough choices lately and when I feel like I can't provide and let Him have the reins, He provides so much more than I ever could. I have done some hard work and He blesses me for taking the risk of putting myself out there. He blesses me when I choose to be still, or even more when I choose to stand up for myself and my future. And He blesses me with friends, amazing friends that love to help me. When I think I can't give anything to them back, they say they don't need anything. When I feel like I am a burden, God tells me I am not. That I need to not do it all. That I need to receive also along with giving. I feel blessed beyond words.

My business is doing good. I am not making lots of money yet. But I have sold a few pieces and traded for some. I am still doing some to get my name out there. So I am giving a lot away for free. And I will probably not make a profit for awhile. But that is okay. Remember when I wrote about trying to find joy? This brings me so much joy! Here are a few of my new creations.

$20.00 baby name room decor

$30.00 Stained Glass Cross

Classic Mickey $25.00

One of my biggest struggles is being financially responsible with my money. I can 5 and 10 dollar us to death. But my truest issue is not being able to say no to spending. My hubby is the same way. We are codependent towards each other about money. If I wanted it, I would just bat my little eyes and he would say yes. And he rarely asks for things so I would feel guilty saying no when he would ask for something. But God is making huge strides in this area of my recovery. First of all, I took over the budget, because I had to see it to change. I had to see the stress my honey was going through each time trying to balance. Also, I am the planner, I am naturally suited to plan the budget. But the biggest achievement for me is being able to say no, to myself and to my hubby. I now see the bigger picture. I can see where we could be if we say no to the little things we don't need now and see what we can have. Freedom for starters. A family vacation, I real one! Security for the kids future. These are things we can accomplish, with God's help, and responsibility on our part. Thank you God for opening my eyes. I have less stress taking over the budget than I did before.

Because of my hubby's schedule, I rarely find time to myself. And being a codependent for so long, I never valued moments of me time. Now me time is precious. And because of a great accountability partner, I am starting to schedule little bits of me time and I love it. The best thing is that I have amazing friends that offer to keep the kiddos so I can get things like sleep and long showers. Tonight is a total free night and I am using a little of it to write to you because I miss you! And I know that you think I have forgotten you, but I haven't. I can't stop blogging because it is my outlet. A praise to God for His blessings. Words from the Spirit bursting out of me, that are not my own.(Thank the Lord). Moments of sanity in a chaotic world. So thank you for being patient. Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you to my amazing friends that earn crowns in heaven for giving me peaceful moments. I hope to one day repay you all for your kindness. And thank you to my Lord and Savior, who trusts me with so much, and gives me grace when I can't do it all, and who loves me too much to let me stay in my mess. Thank you!!!
Now I will give you the dessert. The pics of my angels.

I love you all!

Post pregnancy: 8 months

So, obviously I haven't updated in awhile. Life is still crazy, but not as crazy. My hubby and I are in the thralls of brokenness (of the financial variety). And although, we are getting into a little routine at home the being broke part makes most of our routine a little boring. But here is our update on the family.

ME wearing a wig for the Lupus Walk.

Momma:
Well I have been trying really hard to get my business started which is hard to do without moolah. Let's just say I love the Hobby Lobby coupon. I usually get to go in and buy one thing and if it weren't for the 40% off coupon, I wouldn't get to buy a thing. Slowly I have been coming up with new ideas on Canvas's that will sell. I figure it will take awhile to find my groove and figure out what people want to buy. My latest one, I am particularly proud of took me almost a month. This one would sell for $25.00 because of the amount of sequins it takes.

Made for my food sponsor who is a singer also!

So besides that, I am busy trying to work on my food journaling. I was doing so well and them I just stopped. So I have started up again. Today we discovered giving plasma, so I tried to do it and they couldn't find my veins. So I have been drinking water all day so I can try again tomorrow and it has really curbed my appetite. Maybe I will have to drink water so we don't starve, and it will finally get me to drink more water! Oh I can only hope! By the way have you seen me? I couldn't starve if I wanted to. Lol! Well let's see what else? Did you read my guest post last week on my dear friend Abby's blog? If you haven't checked it out please do, Abby writes about her adventures hiking. Otherwise I don't get much sleep still, but I have adapted to it better. Okay so on to the kiddos, the real stars of the blog!

The Princess:
Joslyn is her usual sassy self lately. She finished soccer with a opposite bang (meaning she didn't want to even play that day). I am seriously wondering if we should even try again in the fall. I really think Joslyn would do better at a sport where there are specific directions, instead of her having to figure it out. We were going to do baseball this summer, but the tornados changed all that. So maybe next year. Otherwise, she has learned how to spell her first name and we are working on her last name. Se can do some addition and daddy has been busy working on subtraction. She knows all of her shapes, colors, numbers(up to 30) and alphabet. She pretends not to know anything all the time. She is still a huge class clown without a class. She loves to run and play and I am anxious for the day she goes to school, because she is desperate for friends. It breaks my heart. We have recently had to work with her on lying  since some of her new "friends" (this girl will make friends with anyone), they told her that she didn't have to tell me about something and of course the sweet honest dear told me. Having new friends isn't an easy business.

Joslyn's new bunk bed!

We recently acquired a bunk bed from a great family member and we were all excited. Joslyn couldn't wait to sleep in it. But since then we have found a few quirks to having a bunk bed.

1. If the child falls asleep before she climbs up, then you have to break your back hefting the child up there. 

2. When it comes to changing the sheets, it is a harrowing feat. I have decided this is now daddy's job as it took me 15 minutes to change one sheet.

3. We used to snuggle in with her for a minute before bedtime or daddy would read her stories in the bed, but now we can barely reach her to cover her with the blankets. 

Otherwise, the bunk bed is a dream. instead of the bottom bunk right now all of her toys are underneath, and she has a sort of tent. Once brother is big enough to get rid of the crib we will put him on the bottom. 

The Prince:

Jaxon is changing daily before our eyes. He has 8 teeth now, but acts like he will get more any day. He weighs 21 pounds now and is almost half the height of Joslyn. He now crawls with ease and pulls up on everything. Of course, he is so brave so he let's go and falls about 100 times a day. Such is the hard life of a baby. He has a winning smile and uses it often.

He is a bubbler and a babbler. He can say lalalalalalala, as much as we try to contort those sylabols to mamamamama and daddadadadada, its not happening yet. So lalala and buckets full of brbrbrrrrbrbrbrbr drool and high pitched squeals is what we have on that front. 

We have been swimming a few times in my sisters pool and he is just like sister and loves the pool. Sister can actually doggie paddle in the pool with just her life jacket on, she used to need a noodle to float too.

Nana recently came to visit and we had a wonderful time with her!

So we are moving into summer nicely and we hope you are too!

Adventure 20: Hiking With Abby!

Today I am guest posting my Adventure at 1000 Miles on My Own Two Feet! My friend Abby Austin took all of today's pictures, and it was a blast doing this adventure together!


I wasn’t worried when we filled the packs. I wasn’t even worried when I kissed the kids goodbye. After all, we were completing an adventure. It wasn’t until we stepped out of the car that my heart stopped. Can I do this? Can I keep up? What if I can’t?

I’ve always been like that. I don’t get nervous about singing until I step up on that stage. It’s in that moment of truth that the Devil causes doubt. But he won’t win. Not this day. I was ready.

Please read the rest of my exciting adventure here.
Blessing to all and keep on adventuring!

Teresa

Moore Tornado May 20th Disaster

This was a hospital. This was the exact hospital where I had my sweet baby boy at. This hospital was right down the street from this place.

This is the Warren Theater. John and I had a date night there a couple of weeks ago. If you can see the top of the entrance is gone.

There is a void here where my friend Kristi owned her hair cutting business. It was her livelihood and now it is gone. Joslyn and I both get our hair cuts there. Well we did anyways.

Today was the first time we were able to see the damage. I spent days away trying not see the destruction of my home town. We live in South OKC, but Moore is 10 minutes away. My church is in Moore. Some of my family is in Moore. We rent books from the library in Moore. We go to Moore to eat and watch movies. I grew up in Moore and went to Moore High school. It is shocking and disheartening to see it in shambles. I remember being in college at SWOSU which is about 45 minutes from Moore and hearing the news of the May 3, 1999 tornado that was headed straight for Moore. I called my younger brother and sister every 5 minutes until I got them. 30 minutes before it was to hit, my brother finally answered and said he was going to drive out of Moore. I convinced him to stay and hide in the closet. Luckily, that tornado was about 7 to 8 blocks away. So they were fine. But, coming home to see the destroyed area was so shocking. It brings back horrible memories and makes me cry to see the landmarks that we used to go to destroyed. But God is so good. The lives lost and the damage is not beyond God's power to heal and restore. God is using His people to do that. When we drove around today on every corner, at every business was help for the victims and support. Signs of free water and food here. Cleaning Supplies. Boots and work gloves. Insurance help. Baby items. Even those who didn't lose their house, but can't get into their neighborhoods can get help. God is using His people to rebuild what the Devil tears down. And there is just something about Oklahoma. We are strong and we are a family. We take care of each other. Nothing that stands in the way can't be moved by our God and our friends.
If you want to see a video please go to my Facebook page. Blogger isn't letting me upload any videos.
Keep those prayers a coming please!

We are safe

For those of you wondering! We live in South Oklahoma city and have many, many friends and family in Moore. We are safe and my family is safe but 4 of our friends have lost their homes, so far that we know and many more that can't even get into their neighborhoods to check on their homes. Please pray for Moore, Oklahoma. We are devastated at the lives lost so far and the children and families from the schools that were destroyed. I truly believe that God will bring glory from this tragedy. Please love on your children and family tonight and tell them about Jesus, you may not have tomorrow.

Help name my Home business!

So I have been looking for a long time on what I can do to make money and still stay a home with my kiddos. I have considered many of the normal things women do to make money from home.
LIKE:

HOME DAYCARE

But my life is crazy enough already.

                              

PHONE SALES

Nah, I can get cancer from being on the phone too much.

PYRAMID BUSINESSES

Somethings are just plain wrong. 

But then I found my calling. In high school I made a few sequin mosaics and love it. I loved it so much that I kept the supplies around for over 16 years.

 I also used to paint and have kept up with that too. So when I decided to build a business of something I make, I just brought my two loves together. Now granted I am very green in this still and I am still figuring out processes and ideas. This is my first new canvas.

Now this one needs a lot of improvement, because the lettering isn't straight. So I have been working on that. This next one I did is for the kids Dr. Seuss room. Jaxon will be getting one too. I am going to hang each on their individual closets. 

I have many ideas on what to make next. After Jaxon's name, but my difficultly right now is coming up with a name for the business. I wanted to call it Creative Canvas but that is already taken. So if you have an idea for a name please let me know. But keep looking forward to the posts of the new canvas I come up with. I am looking forward to your name ideas!