Pictures!

Since my last post with a picture worked so well, I thought I'd share some more pictures of the kiddos.

First is Stephanie,12, sitting on the porch of our new beach house. A little irked at Dad for taking her photo.

Next is Eric, always willing and open for a pose. Taken at 6 1/2 years of age.

Cassie, posing in her Mario Bro's outfit, is 3 1/2 in this picture.


And this is Adam - our 18 yo wild haired hippy musician. Looks like he's recording something. Whatever it is he's certainly intent and doesn't notice the camera!

How's the fat journey going

I thought you might like to know how the weight loss is coming along. Well, it's not. I don't know. I think I just have a slow (very slow) metabolism. I don't over eat. I limit myself to one plate of food at fiestas and buffets - and not even an overflowing one at that. I eat salads and fruits. I try to drink only diet sodas. I only use 1/4 tsp of sugar in my coffee. But still the weight stays there.

I did join Curves about 2 years ago. The first year I was consistent and really felt an improvement in my body - lost some inches and a few pounds. But then I got pregnant and any improvements I had made were instantly negated. After the loss of my baby girl, Maggie (see http://tropicalmom.zoomshare.com for her story) I vowed to really work on my weight issues. Alas, I let all kinds of things get in my way to accomplish this.

A few weeks ago I finally started back at Curves again. I really like the program. It's the only exercise program I have ever done that I've enjoyed. But after two weeks, I'm so sore and my knees hurt so much that I've become discouraged again.

But I have two reasons to continue this regime: Cassie and Eric - AKA the Mario Brothers.
These two precious ones deserve to have a mom who can run with them, push them on swings, teach them how to ride a bicycle, and enjoy the fun stuff of kids.

So each day I try a little harder to lose weight and improve my health so that I can be around to see these two grow up.

It took 20 years to get to this point in my life. Here's hoping that it takes much less to lose it!

Time for an update

Ah...as you can see I'm not a very consistent blogger. Blame it on the kids, business, work, or whatever. But I've been encouraged by reading my friend's blog to start doing this more. Also, since I'm an unschooler, this blog can be a great place for me to record some of the things my children do...to prove to the world that they really do learn!

So let's see what's happened recently. Aside from all the children growing older that is! LOL. Adam is now 18 and "officially" graduated. We presented him with his diploma on his 18th birthday in September. This doesn't mean he ceases to learn or further his education. It just means, in the eyes of his parents he is an adult and responsible for his own education. Which means he continues to pursue his music skills, practicing his guitar, composing music and downloading french operas...

I don't know where my children get their taste in music from! Dad and I are die hard rockers from the 70's and 80's, though our Christian faith lends us to listen to more Christian oriented music now. In the past year Adam and Stephanie have listened to and fallen in love with Les Miserables (we actually got to see a wonderful performance of this put on by St. John's school on Guam last week!), The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and more recently The Little Prince - the latter two operas in French no less!

Stephanie, now12 so officially a "pre-teen" continues to teach herself French, as well as a form of anime drawing (something from Neo-pets?). She's actually quite a talented drawer/copier. She's also finally taking piano lessons from a fellow homeschooler and is advancing along at a great rate. And last week she participated in her first Academic Challenge Bowl (see http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Guam).

Eric, now 7, has learned to read via "The Calvin and Hobbes Curriculum". Honestly there is such a curriculum out there...whenever I get around to writing it! Reading is such a big part of our lifestyle that it was just a matter of time before he caught on. He's been having me read him Calvin and Hobbes comics since he was about 4. He may not have understood some of the deeper philosophical commentary but he appreciated the artwork, expressions, and the way Calvin's mind works. You see Eric has the most vivid imagination of all our children. Previous posts have shown some of the characters he has been over the years. Now he's settled down as either Calvin or Hobbes (depending on his mood) and devours the comics, vowing to some day write his own to continue Bill Watterson's tradition. (I might have to write to Bill and ask his permission...). We found him a stuffed tiger for his birthday so now he has an actual "Hobbes" to carry around. Just this morning I was attacked by Hobbes while emerging from the bathroom.

Cassandra (Cassie) is 4yo and still cute & cuddly but with her own moods. All of our children have had their own way of calling for help in the bathroom. Cassie's tends to be a whiney, crying, "I'm going to die if I don't get the t.p." kind of cry. She has become an accomplished artist, copying her big brother's art work for the past year. Aside from her recent addiction to My Little Pony, she is quite content to follow Eric's lead in her imaginings and play.

Well, that pretty much catches you up with the kids...oh except for the big one, Kevin. At 21 he has just joined the Air Force and is waiting on his orders to be sent for basic training. In the meantime he lives at our office once again and depends on us for financial backing, but trades in kind by running errands for us and occasionally watching the driving school for us.

More on what Les and I are up to in another post.