Let HEALTH Be Your Motivation

The past month I took a little "break" from exercise and eating right.  Why did I do this?  I attribute it to not having the right motivation and goals.  I became discouraged because my goal was to have the perfect body.  But, day after day of working out hard and eating right and not having that perfect body I became frustrated and tired.  The thing that I came to realize is, I will never have the body of the women in the videos. I am going to be brutally honest here and get a little personal, so bear with me.  I have carried and given birth to three beautiful children.  My body has changed.  I do not now and have never been well endowed, nor do I ever plan to go through the pain or the expense to be so.  My tummy skin has been stretched from pregnancy and may never completely be the same (which I consider a small expense to have children), though this may be the part of my body that genetics has been good to me.  It isn't my hardest part to loose.  My bun and thigh area is where the fat likes to camp out.  It seems to not matter how long or intense I exercise or how healthy I eat I will not have the firm, tight, lifted buttocks that you seem to see in the magazines and workout videos.  After this past month's hiatus I came to a realization.  I realized that my goals and motivation were all wrong.  I realized that what really matters, why I should exercise and eat right is to be HEALTHY.  I realized that every time I exercise I am making my heart, my lungs, and my body stronger.  I am not saying that all is lost with looking good, on the contrary.  As  I exercise and eat right for my health I will get the BONUS of my body shape improving.  It will not look like some other person's body, because it is my body.  But, it can through consistancy and having the right goals, improve and be the best it can be.  What matters is that I am going to take care of my body.  To exercise to be healthy.  To try to eat right because that is what my body needs to fuel it. (I must say that this is the hardest part for me, curse the person that invented candy and sweets.) So, now that I have the right Motivation of being Healthy, I need to keep that motivation in sight and not get blinded by comparison. When we compare ourselves to others we are not being fair to ourselves.  No single body is the same.  We all carry weight in different areas of our bodies.  We all have different metabolisms.  We have different emotions.  We have different body shapes, different genetics and different lifestyles.  As with everything about ourselves in this life, we should not strive to look or be just like somebody else.  We can not compare the way we look or anything about ourselves with others.  What we should do is: Try to be the BEST YOU, YOU CAN BE!  So with exercise, try your best, help your body be healthy and be the best it can be.  That is what my new outlook is going to be.  Good luck, BEING HEALTHY AND BEING THE BEST YOU!

Fabulous Find Friday - Preschool ideas

With all three of my kids I have had the opportunity to do preschool with them at home.  With my oldest I did one year at home with him and then sent him to a school district sponsored preschool which was only $25.00 a month.  When it came to thinking about sending my middle child I had checked around and could not believe how much it cost.  So, I already had all of the stuff from doing it with my oldest, I decided to just do preschool at home with my middle.  It was the best decision I could have made.   I was able to teach him  the things he needed to know and spend that special time with him.  When it came time for kindergarten, he was not behind at all, actually he was one of the top kids.  Now my youngest is that age. I was debating with him whether to do it at home or buck up and pay to send  him, because he is a little more active and a little stubborn. I decided to try doing it at home.  Again, I think I have made the right decision.  We bought him his own pencil pouch and filled it with supplies and he started his preschool the same day the other two started school.  He has been so excited and he has done so well.  So, I think if you schedule a time each day and are going to be consistent with it, I do not see anything wrong with doing preschool at home and not paying someone else to do it.  It gives you the opportunity to spend some one on one time together. To take that special responsibility of teaching your own child.  It really is so rewarding, to watch them progress and succeed.   Soon enough they will be going to kindergarten and grade school. They still get the social aspect also, with friends, siblings, and church.  Also, most county libraries have fee discovery times once a week.  There are so many wonderful preschool resources out there.  I have printed some stuff online.  Here are some of my favorite sites:

First-School.ws - This website is great.  They have so many different resources and they are all free.  All you have to do is print.

DLTK- Has some fun crafts to go along with the letters you will be teaching your preschooler.

Also, the dollar store usually has some preschool activity books and posters.  I purchased an "ABC" and number poster each from the dollar store and they work great.  I have them on the wall where I do preschool and every day we repeat the "abc"'s and the numbers together.  The activity books work great too.  They have them for letter writing, number writing, colors, shapes, sounds, etc.

Fabulous Find Friday - Cute Fall Decor

There is starting to be a lot of fall stuff coming out.  The air was a little cooler here and you can feel fall approaching. I love this time of year!  The colors, the excitement of the upcoming holidays, the smells of cinnamon and pumpkin, football games, and oh so much more.  Ther are so many fun fall decor ideas out there.  I love finding new, creative inexpensive ideas.

Here are some fun ones I've found:

The picture and the idea comes from Recaptured Charm.  I love these illuminated pumpkins that she did all from stuff purchased at the dollar store.




I love these foam pumpkins which have been cut in half.  I have found this picture many of places, here is the site I'm posting it from.

Fabulous Find Friday - Personalized Stamped Jewelry Spotlight

Today for my Fabulous Find Friday I wanted to spotlight some jewelry that one of my friends makes.  She has an etsy shop named Mickey Mae Creations. They are personalized and hand stamped.  They are really cute!  This is one of my favorites:

Photo and pendant by Mickey Mae Creations.

If you would like to see more of here custom made Jewelry click this link to her etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MickeyMaeCreations

Fabulous Find Friday - Lds.org

If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints then this find is probably not new to you.  If you are not a member or are and haven't visited lds.org, you need to.  The site is for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are so many amazing resources on this website.  If you have ever wondered what the beliefs of the church are your can find them on this site. If you have ever had a desire to read The Book of Mormon or any other church scriptures you can find it there.  The best part it is all free.  There are resources for any age.  For children there are videos , The Friend Magazine, Games and activities.  For teenagers there are things specifically for them, including the New Era Magazine.  One of my favorites for my children is you can view videos of scripture stories.  All of the Hymns and songs from the Children's song book can be found there.  Lesson Manuals, General Conference Talks, magazine articles, training videos and materials can allbe found  there. This site has so much to offer, so take a look.

Visit www.lds.org. You will not regret it!

Fabulous Find Friday - Bubble Necklace

I was at a craft fair today when I stumbled upon a booth, it was a booth selling jewelry. And let me just say it was crazy busy. One of the beloved items was the bubble necklace.  So I thought lets see if there are some DIY tutorials out there for this necklace, and there are.

- http://egyptomaniac57.blogspot.com/2011/02/craft-time-j-crew-bubble-necklace.html

-http://lizkantner.blogspot.com/2012/05/diy-jcrew-bubble-necklace.html

Check them out and give them a try.

Fabulous Friday - Spotlight post Dandilicious Design (Super Cute Earrings)

I love these earrings! What do I love about them? Well, they come in so many amazing colors and shapes and sizes.  They are really light for the size they are. And they are affordable.  Now where do you get these cute accessories?  You can find them at Dandilicious Design to visit the site click here.

* picture is from Dandilicious Design's blog

Fabulous Find Friday - DIY Summer Skirts

I love these light, fun summer skirts.  It gets so hot out these last two months of summer that its nice to have some fun skirts to wear to help keep cool. Click on the pictures below and they will take you to the links.

I found this maxi skirt tutorial over at Tip Junkie.  I love the ruffles and the pink color!

This pattern I found over at WKdesigner.

This cute skirt I found over at I Candy Handmade. So cute!!

This adorable ruffle skirt I found over at I Candy Handmade also.  I love the boots with it!!

Fabulous Find Friday - LDS Printables

The other day on Pinterest one of my friends had pinned to her board a website that had printables.  So I went on over to Mormon Mommy Printables and there found the cutest printables and even better all the ones I clicked on were free.  You need to go check this out!  There are some great ideas for Family Home Evenings and Primary! Just click below on her icon and it will take you to her home page.

Another website that has some Bible Characters is The Activity Mom you can link to her site here. She has a PDF file that could be printed and laminated.  These would be great for Family Night.

Fabulous Find Friday - 4th of July Treats/Food

Look at all of these yummy Red, White and Blue treats!

Yum! Chocolate covered strawberries, they are so cute too. I found this picture and these delicious little berries at Baking bites.

I love these red vines.  There is a cute tutorial over at Room to Inspire.

These are seriously pretty cool.  I know my boys would think they are pretty neat! You can find the tutorial over atShe knows.

Rice crispier squares are always great to have at a party. These ones are so fun with there red, white, and blue layers.  Check outtheinstructions to make these by clicking on this link.

Fabulous Find Friday - Last Minute Father's Day Gifts

Well, time is winding down, Father's day is in a couple days.  Here are some fun and easy ideas for Father's Day:

I found this cute candy bar covers over at Then She Made....  I love these, they are made from envelopes!  They are so cute and so easy. They would be a great gift to give grandpa's too.

I love the Reese's Pieces idea. I found this one over at Creatively Christy. I like the little tie, it just adds a little something special.

Cute idea if you have a dad or grandpa who likes to fish! I found this over at Busy Bee Kids Crafts.  This would be perfect for my dad.  Or instead of a tackle box, you could use the same idea, but make a tool box and place some kind of little tools that daddy's need to be daddy inside.

These are cute!  I love the antique look they have and aren't pictures just so precious.   We love looking at them and remembering the memories.  I found these blocks over at Storiesbymeblog. I helped my sister-in-law make something similar, where we turned the pictures sephia and mod podged them on to blocks to give to my mom for Mother's Day.  They turned out great and she loves them.

There are so many cute things out there that I could sit here all day.  But duties of being a mom and wife call, so I'll stop here. Happy Father's day to all of the wonderful dad's and grandpa's out there!!

Fabulous Find Friday - Fun Summer Hair Tutorials

I love having my hair up and away from my face during the summer.  I also love experimenting with new ways to have it up.  Here are some fun tutorials I have found out there.

There are so many amazing tutorials and websites out there!  You have to visit Cinthia over at ebeautyblog.com!  She has so many amazing tutorials

Here is a link to here site ebeautyblog.com

This girl over at Luxy Hair does some beautiful tutorials.  I love her tutorial for the 5 strand braid, so gorgeous.  Here are samples of what you'll find...

Here is a link to all of their YouTube tutorial Luxy hair.

I am going to stop here, because just in those two sites I think there are enough tutorials to keep us all busy for a while.

Fabulous Find Friday- Fun Father's Day ideas & a Cute girl idea

So cute!!!  If only I had a little girl.  I found these over at Disney Family. These would be so fun for a little summer tea party.

Such a cute idea for a Father's Day gift!!  A great way to wrap their favorite drink, for my dad it would probably be Dr Pepper.  I found this at  In Your Back Pocket.

Ha ha, love this!!! What a fun idea.  I found this at The Blue Basket.

Fabulous Find Fridays- Gardens

'Tis the season for gardening. Something I really want this year is to get a vegetable garden.  As I have been looking at different design options I've come upon these amazing gardens.  If you have any others you would like to share please leave a link in the comments.

Amazing!!

Love the walkway & fence

Garden boxes with barked pathways

Block garden beds

Rocked pathways

Raised wood boxes

All these pictures were found at this link.

Fabulous Finds Friday- Teacher Gifts

With the end of school quickly approaching I thought I would post some more cute teacher gifts ice found on some fun sites:

these would be so cute to sit on your favorite teacher's desk.  They are dry erase boards.  I couldn't find the original page they came from.  I found them here on pinterest.

 

This little sang would be so cute with even a store bough box of donuts.  There is a free printable here.

Here are a couple other ideas:

A container of strawberries or raspberries or blueberries, with a tag that says, "I couldn't have picked a better teacher"

A container or bag of nuts that say, "I'm nuts about you."

A big pack of gum that says, "You are an extra special teacher,  thanks for all you do!"

For my kid's teachers I am going to fill a cup with kisses and hugs and then make some paper flowers with candy centers.  I'll attach something that says, "Thank you for helping us grow throughout the year!"  I'll have to post a picture when I get them done.

Fabulous Finds Friday-Summer crafts

I just stumbled upon Dumpaday.com, this website has some fun repurposing ideas.  Here are a couple I loved:

What a great idea!! It is water proof too.  I want to try this.  I made a beach pillow once using a vinyl table cloth, batting and a bath towel.

I thought these were so clever!

Ok so I am just going to link to this pinterest page, because there are so many cute ideas!!!

Fabulous Finds Friday- Teacher Appreciation Door Signs

So I missed posting yesterday, because I have been super busy making the door decorations for Teacher Appreciation week.  I think I was a little ambitious.  I signed up to do two classrooms.  After about 9 hours and a couple glitches, here are the end products.

 This poor teacher's door is broken and will not stay open, so it was kind of a chore to get it hung up.  Plus I hadn't accounted for the hinge at the top of the door.  So there were some slight modifications that had to be made. Like moving of the sign.  It all worked out though.

Here again I didn't account for the hinge, so some cars had to be moved.  Let's just hope it all stays put, until Monday.

Here are some other fun finds:

This is home made fondant. To get the instructions visit this link How She Does?  I really want to try this.  I learned a little bit about fondant once, but have never really used it.  Hmm.. maybe Mother's day...

What a cute Mother's day gift.  I think maybe I might try it for Grandmas.  I found this at An Interesting Mix.

She also has a cute questioner  I found one on another site, that we might modifying a bit and having our kiddos at church do for their Mom's.  Love to here the kids answers some of them are so funny, so some are super sweet!

Fabulous Find Friday

I've decided that every Friday I am going to post some things I have found that I think are FABULOUS. So here are my first finds:

I found this craft at Lilluna as I was looking for ideas to give my visit teaching sisters (since this months message is about the temple). I didn't end up making them, but I still like the idea and may even make a larger one with different lettering to put on my wall.  This would be a great Activity Days craft or Young Women's crafts.

How incredibly cute are these!!  I found these at Crissy's Crafts.  These would be a great spring craft or a fun Mother's Day craft.  The best part is it is extremely inexpensive, the flowers are made out of recycled water bottles.

Teacher Appreciation week is coming up quickly! This is a cute little ABC Bucket gift from Fairy Tales & Fun.  She had all the parents in the class be involved.  I think you could do a smaller version by yourself if you wanted to.  But what a cute idea.

Door decorating is another fun joy of Teacher Appreciation week.  I think this one is very cute I found it at Room Mom 101,

I love this one and I think I will be doing it for my son's kindergarten teacher. Here's the Link.