Kaiden's birthday party

                                                           Jason in Kaiden's new ball.

My brother, Kevin, bought this ball for Kaiden for his birthday,

    my boys loved it. Kaiden was in there getting rolled around. He loved it too.

                                          Kaiden blowing out his 2 candle (it has Elmo on it.)

I love this picture. I got 11 pairs of used Elmo shoes for Kaiden the other day. He spent the entire day lining them up and trying them on, he was so happy.

Josh got in on the excitement too.

-Becky

Jason horseback riding

This is Jason horseback riding. He has been riding in a theraputic riding program for over a year. He really enjoys it. The program runs all year for 8 weeks on and 2 weeks off (except 4 weeks off at the end of summer and I think at Christmas.) It is an amazing program, and I am so grateful he gets to participate.

-Becky

Fun Uncle

My brother, Kevin on the trampoline with my boys. I think this is the first time (and possibly the last) that he has ever jumped with them.

-Becky

Sauerkraut

When I got home from my trip my sauerkraut was ruined. As per this post I was making some homemade sauerkraut, which I have made before. But this batch got mold on the top (the cabbage came above the water.) I was thinking of just scrapping off the mold, but I didn't want to get sick. Last time I made it I checked daily to keep the cabbage underwater, but not checking it while I was away ruined it. At least my cabbage was less than a dollar, but I still hate to waste.

-Becky

My trip days 4-6

I came home from my trip May 6th and started blogging about it, but never actually finished. Each day was amazing. I have never felt so relaxed. In the end my car ended up needing a new water pump and hose. It was to be about $500-$600 to fix. I didn't have that. God already had a way. Two people wanted to pay for my repair. These were strangers, but because of Christ they were concerned about me. He even cares about busted water pumps.

I ended up exercising every day on my trip and on the last day I won an award for Athlete of the Week. That is so not me, but this week taught me I can do exercise. I am completely capable. I did a rock wall three times (not all the way up, but about 3/4 of the way.) I also did a big swing (you go up and get dropped down like a rubber band being snapped.) I did Pilate's, water aerobics, strength training, and dance class. In addition to walking 10,000 or more steps a day. I was so proud of myself.

The ladies in my small group were so encouraging and amazing each in their own way. I felt so blessed to be among them.

This was such an awesome opportunity. I am so grateful to have been there. If you have never heard of First Place 4 Health or Body for Life, check them out. They are both Christ centered. First Place 4 Health focuses on the whole person in regards to weight struggles, teaching you to put God first in all areas of your health. Body for Life run aerobics classes with Christian songs. They are so cool.

I also enjoyed the fellowship with my cousin during the trip. We have different schedules at home so getting together tends to be hard. We got to talk, and talk, and talk. It was great.

I am praying that I can make it back next year.

-Becky

My sweet baby

Nine years ago

Present

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY JOSH!

Financial Update

I finally paid off the dentist ($127.00) plus my online bill pay. My current debt is:

$150 Kohl's charge (I had paid this is full, but used it again recently)
$117,000 (about) my mortgage

I also will be about $700 a month behind on May bills, and I need new tires $400.

I need to get back to making enough each month to pay all my bills and then need to figure out a way to come up with the extra $1,100 I need to get current on bills and get new tires.

Usually in the summer I watch school age children, but the one child's mom is not working right now and the other child's dad is going to work from home for the summer.

So I will try and get some additional cleaning jobs, if I get an extra $100 a week (once I am making enough to pay all regular bills) then I can be all caught up by the end of summer (if I have no emergencies.)

How are you finances?

-Becky

Budget Update

All April bills are paid in full (yes, I know it is May.) Also May mortgage and taxes are paid. Praise the Lord! Now to focus on May's bills.

Wellness Week Day Three

I will admit I did not make breakfast, but I had taken an extra hard boiled egg from the previous day. I slept in until about 9:00am.

I called to check on my car, which I was sure was dead, but it turned out it was a water pump and some belt. It would be $530.00 to fix it. I didn't know what to do. I asked them if I could call them back.

At 10:00am we had our second team meeting. Carole asked the question, "If I knew I couldn't fail, I would..." As some of the other woman shared their answers, at first I thought I am so consumed with survival that I don't even have time for dreaming, but I did come up with somethings I would like to do:

-lose the weight and keep it off
-have joy daily
-write a book, perhaps about my life, or the miracles God has performed for me
-get some Biblical nutrition training
-get some Biblical holistic training in regards to health and treatment of illness and ailments
-use these trainings to serve the Lord

It was really cool to think about me.

Then we had a session on proper workout shoes, which made me realize I do need new sneakers (mine hurt even when I am only walking in them.) I learned stuff I never knew about (like why your foot arch matters) and what type of sneakers (not any particular brand) were good for each foot type and activity being done.

Next was a group photo and then lunch.

After lunch I went for a walk, rested, and then did Pilates. It was really challenging for me, but I discovered, I can do, and I liked it.

Another quick shower, and then dinner.

After dinner we heard another success story from Carol Watson. She had another amazing story.

Then we heard from Vicki Heath. She also did yesterdays intro to First Place 4 Health. Once again her amazing personality was inspiring.

On day three I did over 10,000 steps plus Pilates.

Stay tuned for day four.

                       Group photo, I am to the right (about 4 from right), behind the glare (my glasses.)

-Becky

Wellness Week Day Two

Monday I woke up at 8:10am, so I could make breakfast by 8:30am. Breakfast was a hard boiled egg and fresh fruit (yum.)

From 9:00am-9:45am was set up for quiet time doing the Bible study provided for us.

Then at 9:45am we all did fitness assessments to see where we were. We tested Muscle Strength & Endurance (upper and lower body); Flexibility; and Back Reach. These numbers are just starting points, and hopefully soon I will increase my abilities.

After testing we had our first team meeting. All 46 participants were divided up into 6 groups this week (the men made up one group.)

We all had a team leader as well. My team leader was the director of First Place 4 Health (who ran this Wellness week with Sandy Cove.) Words will never begin to describe how lovely this woman is. But more than lovely she is walking the walk, and she is overflowing with Christ.

We all got to introduce ourselves. I defined myself by being a single, homeschooling mom, with a special needs child. I wish at first thought I said daughter of the King. That is who I should be first, above all else.

As all 10 woman (the leader and myself included) in our group talked I wrote down their name and a little about them and I tried to glean a prayer request that I could pray for them during the week. From what they said I was able to write something down for everyone except Dorothy. I just wrote a general weight, since we were all there with weight issues.

I will talk more about Dorothy in later days, but I will say that once again Satan tried to ruin my week as he brought a judgemental thought to me about her, for no particular reason (or so I thought at the time.)

After session we all went to lunch. My heart's desire was satisfied as in addition to the meal each lunch and dinner we had a salad bar. I LOVE salad.

EVERY SINGLE DAY FROM 1:00pm-6:00pm WAS FREE TIME. This was amazing.

During free time we could do nothing or some of the activities available. At 1:00pm this day I went to a First Place 4 Health Basics with Vicki Heath. Vicki Heath is a dynamic speaker. I was excited to learn more about First Place 4 Health.

Next, I took a rest. I had a small headache (that was lingering since day before.)

Then, at 4:00pm-5:00pm I did a Dance Blast exercise class. It was fun, even though I didn't quiet get all the steps.

After a shower, I went down to dinner at 6:00pm.

In addition to the salad bar, I really enjoyed the fellowship. I sat with Charlene each meal, but we also sat at different tables and chatted with different people each meal. It was so refreshing from the talks that happen around our tables (with two growing boys even bathroom topics come up at the table-eww.)

After dinner we had another session together. We heard a success story from, Helen Baratta, who has lost 116 pounds and kept it off for more than 3 years. She was positively glowing as she shared her story and how First Place 4 Health had a part in it.

Then Carole Lewis spoke as well. She is soft spoken, yet so powerful. We concluded in prayer.

At some point in week we were taught about striving for 10,000 steps a day (which I had started doing back in Oct.) Each day we were to track our steps. Sunday I did 7,652. Monday I did 12,100 (I was wearing it during dance blast.) This was exciting as this was a high for me.

Stay tuned for day three.

-Becky

Home again / Wellness Week Day One

We are just taking it easy today (while still watching Kaiden, who is napping.)

I arrived home yesterday from my Wellness Week. It was amazing, inspiring, and empowering. The leaders were so kind and showed the love of Christ to us all week long.

Sunday morning I dropped my boys off at my mom's and picked up my cousin, Charlene, who also went to Wellness Week. We were so happy to be free of responsibility. We had a great conversation while driving.

About an hour and a half into the two and a half hour drive my car started overheating. We pulled over and discovered the radiator fluid steaming out of the radiator. We let the car cool and added more coolant, and checked all the other fluids. We tried to drive again, but the car was still overheating. We stopped again had a nice leisurely lunch, and walk. All the while praying to get to Wellness Week. But the car was not able to move on so we called AAA. We also called conference center to get an idea if we could catch a train, bus, or cab there. Once AAA arrived I took it on faith to tow the car to the shop of the tow truck, since the tow truck driver's name was Eric. Then two of the girls at the conference center offered to come pick us up. This was way above and beyond their job description, by the way.

So eight hours after dropping the kids off we arrived at Sandy Cove in Maryland. The staff had even saved us dinner (which was my favorite meal of the week) and we made the first session of Wellness Week.

Satan tried to keep us from attending, but God had other plans. Praise the Lord!

The first session we began with standing and singing while doing movements. Get moving was a big part of this week's theme.

We were then given an intro of the leaders, and what to expect for the week. Of course their was prayer.

After the session which was until about 8:30pm, I went up to my room. The rooms were awesome, so clean, relaxing, and quiet. They were also tv free, so we could really focus on the Lord. I got to read over all the materials, and I took a nice hot bath with Epsom salt I had brought. Then fell asleep about 10:30pm.

Stay tuned to hear about the rest of the week.

-Becky

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