Easter Shows!

I pack my holiday books away with my holiday decorations. So when they come out for each holiday, the kids are always excited to read them. I also pack away our favorite holiday shows and pull them out for the season. Thought I would share some of our favorites with you!

Yesterday we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Here is my favorite scene from that movie.

I love the message from the Ompa's!

We also love the Easter Carol Veggie Tales.  I love the songs on this DVD.  My favorite is called Hope's Song. 















Here is the clip of Hope's Song

My kids always yell for me when this part of the show comes on.  They know I love it.

Of course we love Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Original TV Classic [Remastered]




My daughter loves Max & Ruby - Easter With Max & Ruby

Do you have a favorite Easter Show?

Moo... It's Monday

Here comes another Monday! Another good week of clean eating and killer exercise.
Diet:
You saw that I blogged here about the cooking class I went to. If you didn't get a chance to read my post and visit the links I shared there, you should now. It is full of great ideas.

Did well with eating healthy this week. The drinking healthy part was the hard part this week. I have been off of diet soda for over two months and this week I kept seeing my hubby's Diet Coke in the frig, It was telling me to open it up and for the first time in two months, I really wanted to enjoy a soda with my hummus and carrot stick snack... but, I opened up a water instead. Then I took my daughter to a birthday party and was offered soda and almost said yes; but I stopped myself. Still, I could go for a nice cold Diet Coke and really dislike the healthy me that tells the unhealthy me, "You will never drink soda again, so get over it and grab a water!'

This week I need to focus on my calories in over the holidays. I am going to a big fancy brunch on Sunday. Wish me luck!

Click to read more reason why soda is bad:

The Truth About Diet Soda

Diet Soda Drinkers Gain Weight

Diet Soda will make and Keep you FAT!

Exercise:

Still running good! Wondering if I should get a SPIbelt? I was thinking I could use it on my 10 mile race to hold my baby (Blackberry)... Do you have one? What is the best one?

Monday - Run 3 miles
Tuesday - Boot camp
Wed. - Run 4 Miles
Thurs. - Boot camp
Fri. - Run 5 miles
Sat. - Ran my VERY hilly neighborhood 4 1/2 miles - This killed my legs. They still hurt and it is Monday.
Sun - Rest!!!

My running playlist is below. I need some new tunes. Any suggestions???

Let's be Inspired

Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, “Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?” - Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

Obviously you can't change your genes, but you can give them a damn good run for their money.




 

Practice Those Facts!!!

Many parents and teachers email me asking ways I suggest you practice addition and subtraction facts with your kiddos.  You can click here and read some of my ideas. 

Below is an idea I gave to my second grade parents.  Teachers you can print this letter from here and hand it out. 

Help Your Child Practice Their Facts


PARENTS: Fact Mastery is very important and is something every first grader should master before the end of the year. Having the facts memorized will help your student when we go on to more complex problems that involve borrowing and carrying. Here is a great way to help your child learn their facts. You may use this suggestion to complete their nightly practice of facts or you may just make flash cards to practice. I suggest this strategy.

Need: 3 envelopes

Index cards

Pen

On one envelope write mastered. On the second envelope write practice. On the last envelope write future.

Write one fact on each index card. On the back of the card write the answer. Facts that equal 18 and below are the facts you will need.

Place all of the index cards in the future envelope.

Pick seven cards to place in the practice envelope.

Students, every night for five minutes…

Have an adult show you a card from the practice envelope. If you get the answer correct in three seconds, the adult may place an x on the back of that given fact. Go on to another fact in the practice envelope and repeat until you have gone through all seven facts once.

When you have three X on the fact it may go in the mastered envelope. If you place a fact in the mastered envelope you will need to pick another fact from the future envelope to place in the practice envelope. You always have seven facts in the practice envelope. (Repeat this nightly until all facts are in the mastered envelope) Every so often practice your facts in the mastered envelope.

April Showers Bring Rainbows and Flowers!

April is coming and you know the saying...  April showers bring May Flowers.  Hopefully the April showers will bring a rainbow too. 

Here are a few ideas for learning with Rainbows!!!

A free printable from Teaching Heart - Have a Rainbow Race!!!  Click here to print the printable!
You supply a dice with six colors (you can buy a wooden cube at a craft store and color each side).
Your students roll the dice and place an x in the correct column. They play till a color wins.

Like our printables? Buy some at http://www.teachingheart.net/primaryteachertimesaver.html \

Make a Milk Rainbow...
Provide every child with a shallow container of milk.
Place a couple drops of different food coloring in the milk.
Next have the child dip a toothpick into a little dish soap and then dip it into the milk.
What happens? Try it again!
Watch this how to video!

Also Check out Make and Takes for Rainbow Milk!

A Favorite Rainbow Song
If you want to see a rainbow
(sung to If your happy and you know it)

If you want to see a rainbow, check the sky.
Just as its raining, look up high.
With the sun behind your back,
you will see the colors stacked.
Oh, I love to see a rainbow in the sky!

Make a rainbow cake.  Rebecca shows you how, here!

Want more?  Check out all our great rainbow ideas here!
http://www.teachingheart.net/rainbows.html

Healthy Foods!

I feel so lucky! I had the opportunity to attend a cooking class (offered through my AWESOME boot camp). Janet McKee, a certified Holistic Health Counselor, led the class. Janet is part of the Cancer Project. The Cancer Project promotes cancer prevention and survival through a better understanding of cancer causes, particularly the link between nutrition and cancer. Janet believes; “Food is a key component to good health and having good health is important to live a happy and fulfilling life. For most of us, you need to enjoy the food you are eating to enjoy life. The key is to understand that there are so many fabulous, delicious and satisfying foods that are extremely good for you too. Once someone is given the opportunity to learn and experience positive changes, they become improvements that they enjoy for the rest of their lives.” You can watch one of Janet’s cooking shows on her website at http://www.janetmckee.com/videos3-25-09.php  .

Janet’s Title for this particular presentation I saw was, Foods for Energy and Balanced Weight. Janet is a wonderful speaker. Once you see how excited she gets about the benefits of good food, you want to hear and learn more and more from her. Her positive attitude and love of good clean foods is contagious. Our presentation was about two hours. She made us five yummy recipes. While she cooked, she answered questions and shared great information on the benefits of clean foods for balancing your weight.

I learned so much in just two hours and loved all the yummy dishes she made. I am excited to try making some at home. I also learned about some new clean foods to try or add to my diet. I will touch on some of the things I learned and followed up on when I returned from her presentation. The links I supply are just ones I Googled, based on the information she presented.

Hemps seeds –  Janet told us how hemp is full of protein. She added these to a wonderful smoothie she made. Her smoothie had frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, apple concentrate, hemp seeds, rice milk, and vanilla. It was great.

I thought this article was a great write up on the benefits of adding Hemp seeds to your diet.

Garlic – This article gives a good description of the benefits of adding real garlic to your diet. Janet mentioned, in order to get the most health benefits from garlic, that you should press the garlic and then let it sit for ten minutes before adding it your food.

Garbanzo Beans – I have always loved these. Add them to my salad often. Janet made delicious Hummus with these. She also mentioned that research has shown a study where the beans have been linked to a reduction in Belly Fat. HELLO!!! She shared the canned Eden brand with us.
This article explains Garbanzo Bean Health Benefits

Organic Cacao Powder. - This is a low-fat way to experience the health and zing of chocolate. Perfect for blending into recipes or smoothies. Add nut milk and a natural sweetener for an amazing hot chocolate. Janet shared a wonderful recipe with us. She has a similar recipe, Chocolate Banana Frozen Dessert, on her website here. Mmmmmm!!! I did buy some Cacao Powder. It was yummy!

Hopefully these few things I learned from her presentation will be helpful to you too.  Be sure to check out Janet's site for more great resources. 

Moo... It's Monday!

Jumping into week 11ish of a new me!  It was a great week.  The weather has me happy with lots of sunshine and the opportunity to exercise outside.  It's been a good week all around with diet and exercise.  I love weeks like this one! 

I got my measurements taken this weekend by my Boot Camp Coach... 
I lost a total of about seven inches around my body in various areas.

DIET

My Boot Camp Coach reminded me that one pound = 4 sticks of butter...  So this AM, the scale says, I am down 15 pounds from where I started.  So that's 60 sticks of butter off my body.  Wow, check that all out over there.  YUCK!  I've got many more sticks to shed, but I feel like I can do this.  My main goal is to be down 10 more pounds (40 more sticks) in the next five weeks.  Cross those fingers for me, would ya???  That will make me lighter for race day!!   Sometimes at Boot Camp (sounds like... one time at Band Camp), we have to run with weights at our side.  I use 8 pound weights and man is it hard to run with 16 extra pounds.  I can imagine the more weight I loose, the easier running will become.   So when I loose all this weight, running will become my main way to maintain!  That's my long term goal...  Speaking of exercise... 

Exercise

Monday - Boot Camp (60 Minutes)
Tuesday - Boot Camp (60 Minutes) - I love it so much, I went back for more - Another 60 Minutes of Boot Camp!  Plus I walked two miles later in the day with the kids.
Wed. - 3 mile run
Thurs. - 2 mile run + walked 2 miles with the kids
Fri - Seven Mile Run
Sat. - Five Mile Run with my son leading the way on his bike. 
Sun - Rest!

Ugh, It really is painful running with my jogger stroller...  My daughter weighs 34 pounds and the stroller probably weighs 15 pounds.  That is the only thing I need to break through this week - getting use to running with that dreaded jogger.  To add to that, the thing is broken and does not fold.  Poor me! 

You know me, I had to Google and this is my healthy Googles for the week, starting with jogger stroller tips.

Links of good fitness!!!

Jogger Stroller Tips and another and another!!!

Tips for Running Your a 10 miler! and some more tips

Use this calculator to figure out how much water you should drink!. 

Love Reading Blogs by Runners! Check out  Running Diva Mom and/or Chubby Chicks Run Too and or Meg Runs

Three of my favorite goodies below!!!

Lucky Stops Over!

St. Patrick's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. It's fun being green for a day! Plus I am 80% Irish... actually more Irish than my husband who gave me the Irish last name to go along with my Irish first name! This year I was feeling extra festive and dyed my hair red to go with my green Irish eyes. My husband called it orange and one of my friends admitted, that I looked much better as a blonde!!! It will fade it time!

As a teacher I loved when Lucky would visit my classroom and make a mess and leave the kids clues they had to read to find a treasure that Lucky left for them. We always made magic pudding. It was so much fun seeing the kiddos eyes light up when they mixed up the pudding and it turned from white to green.  Awwww, so much magic!

At home, Lucky makes his appearance every year. Each year he spices things up and does something different. I posted last year about his visit, here!

This year he first appeared the night before St. Patrick's Day. He left the kiddos a craft project (that he borrowed from here).   He left them a letter that explained that he needed them to make him rainbows with the fruit loops he supplied.

As you can see they had a blast making the rainbows. Even better, my four year old got to practice her fine motor skills while sharpening up her color words. Sneaky Leprechaun made some learning fun for her and she didn't even know she was learning!

When the kids woke on St. Patrick’s Day this year, they found this...

O, my the Leprechaun left their favorite cereal... The kind Mommy always says no to! Mmmmm.... The kids were so happy!

That Leprechaun wasn't done yet. When my son arrived from school he found directions for a scavenger hunt that led the kids to their own pot of gold. Lego gold for my son and Strawberry Shortcake Gold for my daughter.

Lucky was nice to mommy and made all the snow melt before St. Pat's Day.  Two years in a row of beautiful weather on St. Patrick's Day. What more could I ask for???  Oh my, look...  He bought me a bottle of Trax green wine to enjoy this weekend with my favorite Irish guy.  Thanks Lucky The Leprechaun.  Isn't this the cutest label???  It tastes super yummy too!  If you are local you should get yourself some of this green yumminess!  It green...  It should be on my diet, right?  Under 9 dollars a bottle - what a steal!

I hope you had a fun St. Patrick's Day and had some Silly Leprechaun business going on at your house. Great Green Memories are made on the 17th of March! Go get yourself a few! Even if you missed the 17th, the week is for celebrating the Irish!
Cheers!

PS.  Need Spring Ideas?  Click Here

 

Moooooo.... It's Monday!

Happy Monday!  It's been about 10 weeks since I started my work-out craziness / clean eating experiment.  I feel great.  I am seeing results and I am so much stronger than 10 weeks ago.  Yeah, me! 

Exercise:
I am going to be running the SOLD OUT GW Parkway Classic 10 miles in 40 days.  ME?  Oh, my!  Craziness!  I haven't run a race since college and that was a 5K.  I didn't even train for the thing - I just ran it.  I was also 40 pounds lighter.  So here I am, somewhat lighter than 10 weeks ago when I started training...  but still carrying quite a lot and hoping to loose more before race day to make it easier on the knees. 

I can finally understand why people get addicted to running.  I have noticed that I get a little crazy about getting my three training runs in a week.  Now I am looking more at my time for each mile rather than thinking about how many miles I have left to go.  I enjoy seeing how fast I can go and how can long I can last.  I use to want to puke thinking about running, let alone running 10 miles, but now I am getting excited and curious about the race.  Through training I have shown myself that with hard work, I will make progress.  I now know after running seven miles last week that I can get to ten miles, no problem.  Still anxious about my first real race (not that I will be racing against anyone...  just want to finish without walking or puking or killing-over). 

So, what makes me feel better about something I am wondering about???  A good old GOOGLE search which made me surf these fine websites/blogs about the race.   I found these two great reviews of the race.

http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com/2008/04/gw-parkway-10-miler-report-aka-mother.html

http://browneyedmaris.blogspot.com/2009/04/gw-parkway-10-miler.html

This week:
Monday - Boot camp + 2 mile run
Tues. Boot Camp
Wed. 7 Mile Run
Thurs. Boot Camp
Fri - 4 Mile Run - 1 mile walk
Sat. - Boot Camp

I won a free boot camp this weekend... so I have six more weeks of camp.  YEAH!!!  This is working for me... 

Weight Loss -


Yes, I realize I did not report a total weight loss that last few Mondays. I am planning on doing that once a month rather than weekly. Next week I will share inches lost as well as weight.

Check out these inspirational women who have lost the pounds... I love reading these stories..

http://creativehomemakers.blogspot.com/2010/03/jill-gives-me-hope.html

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/running-to-lose-weight

More Great Links I Surfed Upon This Week!

Running for Weight Loss - 5 top eating tips

Graphing For Green!!!

Graphing the Green


What color comes to mind when you think of St. Patrick's Day? Green of course! So celebrate the holiday and the color by completing the activity below.

YOU WILL NEED -Large sheet of bulleting board paper -A 1/2 sheet of shamrock stickers for each student

PREPARE THE LARGE SHEET OF B-BOARD: -draw a line down the middle -make nine columns going across -on the left side of the line write the following questions in each box.

1. I am wearing green.

2. The house I live in is green.

3. My favorite color is green.

4. I like green beans.

5. My family has a green car.

6. I have a green pencil.

7. My winter coat is green.

8. I like green Jell-O.

9. I have used a green crayon.

10. I know a word that rimes with green.

HOW IT WORKS:


1.) Have a volunteer read #1.

2.) Invite students up to place a sticker in the column next to #1 if it applies.

3.) Repeat 1-2 for all the questions.

4.) Have students use the graph to answer questions during a class discussion

Graphing the St. Patrick's Way- (1-2)
Your students cut out various St. Patrick's Day Pictures. They then place those pictures on their graph. After the pictures are on the graph, they answer questions about the graph.
This is found in our St. Patty Pack - Click here to print for free!!!


For more fun St. Patrick's Day Ideas, click here!

I have to share this craft.  I found it here... and loved it!  I have to try it with my daughter this week once I get the cereal.  Look at how pretty!!!

Facebook "FREE" for Lent Update!!!

Well, I have been Facebook free since Lent started.  I miss it, but not as much as I thought I would.  Yes, It’s been hard, especially in the beginning...  During the first days of Lent, I will admit that I had to stop myself from typing the site’s Web address nearly every time I checked my e-mail.  Often I would find myself staring at the login page at http://www.facebook.com/ .  I didn't even realize I typed in the address, I was just there and was hearing the facebook page talk to me...  "Log In, come on... no one will know.  You can just lurk like the 100's of other who are on Facebook do (but would never admit)!"  Still, I stayed strong and directed my browser away from the login page. 

I do realize Jesus didn’t die so that I could be facebook-less. But giving something up (that you actually like) is a great way to have a constant reminder of the huge sacrifice Jesus made for our sins. In Scripture we read about the devil tempting the famished Jesus by daring him to turn a rock into a food. For me, that temptation has been the little green flashing light that blinks on my “CrackBerry” whenever I have a new FB message.

The Good Things About Being Facebook Free

I'm much more productive around the house. The laundry is getting done now. 

I'm sleeping more vs. staying up late after the kids go to bed to catch up on work I missed while I logged into facebook after lunch and in the AM.  Not logging in to facebook in the am and after lunch, has changed my life....  ha-ha!  Seriously, I get MORE stuff done and therefore I am done with my work and do not need to stay up past midnight working. 

I know who my real friends are. The ones who email or call me now vs. using facebook. Those other people that are on my friend list are just acquaintances that I see here and there... True friends are those that are in your life at least once a month. Sure it's fun seeing what your acquaintances are up to, but years ago I could have cared less... It's a job being a friend on facebook (often I feel I need to comment on a picture of someone I haven't talked to in 2 years or hit like in a status of a friend I never thought I would see again until Facebook changed all that)... Really, I only need a few great friends rather than 100's of Facebook friends.

But I miss it because....


Sometimes I will think of a status that I really want to post.... Like today, I wanted the word to know I won a free boot camp!!!  A $179 value!!!!  Or maybe I want to brag a little and let the world know that I am moving closer to hitting a 10-mile run after running seven miles. 

I miss seeing some of my family members status updates...  Sometimes our only contact (like with my cousins) is via Facebook.

I miss a good laugh that Facebook can provide... Like becoming friends with an old ex-boyfriend and reading about his silly life and laughing because you are so happy you married the right guy and not him.  Or listening to people get political on Facebook.  It makes me laugh to see what some people post. 


How are the rest of you Facebook Giver-Uppers doing???

I liked reading these bloggers facebook-less stories.

Why I Gave Up Facebook

She Swallowed a Chick?

 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick

We love all the old lady book, from There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bell! to There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!. Each "old lady" book is similar in text pattern, but each story is loved and adored by kids ages three to eight. They are always wondering what in the world the old lady will swallow next and why in the world would she swallow the things she does. In this book, the hungry old lady swallows a chick, some straw, an egg, some candy, a basket, and a bow! The patterns of the text makes it easy for a non-reader to follow along and it is easy enough for an early reader to read. This would make a great addition to a child's Easter Basket or a fabulous gift from a classroom teacher to their students before spring break.

One of my favorite activities to use with these books is to create an old lady with some free printables and an apron.  Like the one I made below.

Above is one I created using a child's apron found at Michael's Craft store. The printables come from KizClub. Click here for the link to the printable. I printed, laminated, and then hot glued the lady to the apron. I would suggest you make a few of these and have your students retell the story using the vests.


To print the image below that match the The Old Who Swallowed a Chick, click here. Print and cut out the graphics to use with the old lady above after reading the story! You child can wear the old lady and retell the story. 

Moo... It's Monday

Here is a picture of the trail today (Sunday)!!!! 

It might not look like great weather...  But, the weather this weekend was awesome compared to what Feb. and early March put us through!!!  Fourty-six degrees today and a few patches like this on our local trail.   I managed to run/skate about six miles outside.  Took me about 68 minutes and it was GGGGRRRREEEEAAAATTTTT to be outside.  I felt so much stronger than when I last hit the trail (back in early Nov.).   I definetly feel that my running and exercise routine is paying off.  Six miles down and if I would have run four more I would have made my goal for race day. 

Here's my treadmill from Friday...

It is fun to see that an hour run can burn 754 calories and get you half way to 10 miles.  Now if I can add another five miles in the same amount of time, I will be o-so-happy! 

Links to check out on Mooooooooo  Monday!

I liked this article.  It discusses treadmill running vs. outdoor running.  It also discuss the benefits of theWII Fit Running program.

How To Lose Weight With Running

Here is a recipe that I tried last week and it was super yummy!  Clean Eating Portobello Mushroom Stroganoff.  My hubby would not eat it because he saw me make it and could not stomach the tofu.  Leftovers!!!

Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. - Mark Twain

Good luck with your healthy week!

Moo... It's Monday

There's lots of snow on ground and it looks like it will be here for some time.  I just want to do some runs outside.  Will that ever happen?

Diet:
Ugh, not a single pound lost this week....  O, well...  moving on!!!  I ate well this week.  Kept it clean.  I ate clean this weekend, but my calories were too high (too much hummus and avacados) and that may explain the no loss this week.  This week I was so hungry!

15 Best Diet Tips Ever

Exercise:
Got my three runs in. 
3 miles
3 miles and 1 mile walk
2 miles and 1 mile walk  (On track with training for 10 miles!!!)
Got three boot camps in!

Run Your Best 10-Miles

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired...You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going."


- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General and 1912 Olympian