Logging the Miles...

We have been logging in the miles over here at the Goodwin house...

And guess who the newest Goodwin bike trail rider is?

Yes! She has mastered her little bike... well, mastered might be a tiny bit of an overstatement... but she has gotten the hang of it enough that Jeremy thought it was time to bring her bike on the trail with the family.

She road about a mile and then tuckered out and got back in the bike trailer. Jeremy very creatively hung her bike from the handle with some small bungee cords... with the wise words of caution, "Uh, Jen? Be careful when Abby gets out and you get off your bike... it could flip over because it is back-heavy." ok...

We continued on our little journey...

About 4 miles in, we found a small park with a pond. I pulled out our cooler and made some PB&Honey sandwiches.

At some point, the girls found a caterpillar which they named, "Bud."

Daddy threatened to feed it to the fish. We had been seeing some pretty nice sized fish jumping out of the water. The girls kept telling him no, he couldn't use their caterpillar as fish bait... Bud was their pet.

So, while the girls were happily eating their dinner and Bud was curiously crawling all over them, their food and the ground around them, Daddy quickly snapped him up and took off running... NO. JOKE.

The girls got up and rain after him yelling, "NO!!!"

He didn't listen. That caterpillar was flying through the air into the water before they could stop him.

The above picture is blurry (because I'm half laughing/half yelling for him to stop!) but do you see the grin on Jeremy's face?

They all stayed over there watching to see if a fish would eat Bud.

Then, the girls had an idea. The water was coming towards them because of the way the wind was blowing... Bud was slowly floating back to them.

Jeremy got bored of waiting for a fish to bite and headed into the woods to look for mushrooms. The girls patiently waited for Bud to float to them, using sticks and pieces of grass to try to catch him.

Guess what?

They DID catch Bud and rescue him from being fish bait.

Yes, people, this stuff happens on our bike rides... never dull, never without incident.

The girls took off running to show me how they had rescued their pet from Daddy and the water.

Safe and sound...

Saying goodbye... because Mommy said that Bud lived at the park and he should stay there. In the grass. Not in the water like Daddy thought.

A quick picture with Bud and we were off again...

For the last mile, Abby rode (and cried) on her bike back to the truck. She was tired and not happy about having to practice her bike riding. That girl LOVES her trailer.

At the end of our ride, we logged 8.25 miles!

Between our other bike rides, running and walking, we have logged a lot of miles this spring already!

Jeremy's total would be way higher than mine because he has been running 4-6 miles a few times a week on top of our bike rides.

But, I think I am at around 30 miles already. It is probably more than that... I should have been keeping track all along. I'm going to keep track from now on though and I'll try to keep an updated total on my side bar. If you feel like it, keep a total on your blog too! Let's see how many miles we can log this summer!

As Leslie Sansone says, "The more you sit, the more you want to sit. The more you move, the more you want to move!"

 

A Little Bit about Everything

I am feeling the after-holiday rush over here.

Get home from vacation. Unpack. Grocery shop. Do laundry. Clean. Return calls. Catch up on mail. Run errands. Go to appointments.

AH!

That has been my day today.

I just put the girls in bed and I wanted to take a few minutes to catch up on some emails from YOU!

Many of you are asking the same things so I'm posting my answers here.

I have to start with my good friend Diana. She had asked me about when I was baptized and I forgot to answer her in this post!

Well, Diana, I was baptized as a young girl. My dad was my pastor and so he was able to baptize my sister and I together. Our church had a baptismal service at a lake in northern Michigan. Because my dad baptized me, I was incredibly proud the day I saw my husband baptize my daughter!

Kris and a few others have asked about what curriculum I use for homeschooling. I wrote a little bit about that back in August, but in short answer, we use My Father's World. I LOVE their books! I was brand new to homeschooling and this curriculum kept me from being overwhelmed. It tells me exactly what to do each day and I am impressed with how much my girls learn in so little time! I plan to continue using it for as many years as I can. I have added in other things to keep us busy and mix up our days but the curriculum alone is great for beginning homeschool families.

Kristin and Kari have asked about my gluten free eating and what I thought about Elisabeth Hasslebeck's book "The G-Free Diet". Well... what a year 2010 was for me! I have so much to say about GF eating. It truly has been a huge life change.

For a girl who has never had an allergy or thought about the food she is eating, this has been a challenge! Gluten is in everything and I now have to think about absolutely everything I put in my mouth. This is tricky because I am the only one in the house eating this way. The holidays were hard because I am still so new to this and our families are new to it as well.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck's book is incredible. I recommend it to ANYONE who needs to eat GF or has a family member who is GF. While I do not have the "classic" symptoms for Celiac Disease, I do have some of the more rare symptoms she talks about in her book. What she says about neurological problems and gluten intolerance really lines up with what the Cleveland Clinic doctor told me. Her book is full of helpful tips, time savers, food choices and resources. I'm reading it again because there is just SO much to learn!

I have been researching more about the connection between gluten and neurological symptoms. More and more doctors are finding that eating a GF diet is helping patients with nerve damage or nerve/autoimmune diseases heal faster and experience less symptoms. Most of these studies are saying that it can take months or years to see improvement but that continuing to eat gluten can be very harmful so staying on the diet is important.

I have noticed that the numbness/tingling is much better since going GF. I am still weak and get tired really quickly. I'm wondering if this is partly because I'm still learning what to eat and how to get everything I need without eating gluten. My ears are still not well and I have headaches/dizziness often. I did go to a chiropractor this morning for the very first time. I am hoping that he can help if there is any nerve damage but also help with my nutrition and hopefully, find what is off-balance in my body right now!

But, God is my strength. I am learning complete dependence on Him He holds the answers and the future in the palm of His hands. I can rest in that!

Something fun is happening in blogging for me this week. I've been asked to be a Team Member for the Seeds of Faith blog! If you've never been over there, hop on over for some great posts about Christian parenting, life, marriage and much more! I will post there the first Friday of every month. I'll be sure to let you know here when I'm blogging there!

Please pray with me for one of the other Team Members at Seeds. Penny Franklin lost her husband on December 30th in a hunting accident. His Celebration of Life service in on Wednesday. Her and I connected through email and on facebook and I have been burdened for her since I heard the news. She is a pastor's wife and mom to two small kids. Will you pray with me?

Now, I'm going to open my google reader and catch up on lots of blog reading!

Don't forget, we are back to our regular Wednesday's Walk this week! I can't wait to read your memory posts!

My New Favorite Salads

While we were in Turkey, I tried a few new foods.

Some yummy desserts... fresh Turkish Delight straight from the bakery is the best EVER... the natural version made with real Turkish honey? seriously to die for. I'll never eat the tourist stuff from the box again.

Some fish... it was huge, roasted in tin foil over a fire and tasted like steak... no joke.

Some new fruit... small green plums? delicious.

Cheese bread cooked on a cast iron stove in a hut by the beach... we waited an hour to try it and it was worth the wait.

And, some salad dressing... but wait... they did not have salad dressing in Turkey as we know it here in the US. For them, salad dressings are a few different kinds of oil, vinegar, pomegranate juice, and lemon juice. There are always fresh lemon and orange slices as well.

The salad dressings would be in separate containers above the salad bar and you could put your very own creative mix of dressings on your salad.

The pomegranate juice and lemon juice with a small bit of olive oil? So good.

Well, in coming home from our amazing trip to Turkey, I was craving lemons. Lemon juice on my salad and lemon slices in my diet coke.

I missed Turkey.

I have kept up with lemons in the 4 months that we have been at home. I buy them, slice them and squeeze them over my salad or drop them in my diet coke. (When I'm done, they go down in the disposal and my sink smells super fresh!)

Who knew lemons were so wonderful?

Well, over the last year and especially since going to Turkey, my eating habits have changed for many reasons. The newest reason is it being necessary to go gluten free.

Salads are a big part of my life now. Thankfully, I am not limited to our versions of dressings!

Another big salad favorite of mine right now is basically the same ingredients: lettuce, spinach, green pepper, tomato, lemon juice but then I add brown rice, corn, salsa, black beans and corn chips. Can we all say, "SO GOOD!"

Now, go buy yourself some lemons and make some salads!

*and yes, it is a two post day. I am allowing myself to be distracted from my study of the book of ACTS as I get ready for yet another class next weekend... now back to the books!

Nutella and the Elliptical Machine

How do those two go together?

STRESS RELIEF!

I am going through one of the busiest and most stressful seasons of my life.

Everything seems to be coming to a head in the next few weeks...

Homeschooling, speaking, leading (for the time being) girls ministries at church, starting the process of taking classes to get my credentials, traveling, planning events...

Our calendar is filling and I'm trying to stay calm and organized.

Homeschooling tops the list. Getting ready to teach a first grader and two preschoolers seems pretty overwhelming. I know for some of you who teach more children and more grades, what I'm doing probably seems like a breeze and I'm sure I'll get there one day too. But, right now? AHHHH!!!

I have everything sorted but I'm anxious to start and actually give it a try and see how our homeschooling adventure will work out. I know it will work out but the process might be a little tough to start.

Then, this morning, the school bus drove by the house. Elayna's elementary school started today so all of the kids in the neighborhood are beginning their new school year. Amazingly enough, Elayna didn't even notice the bus or comment on it's passing. I thought she would.

We are going to start on Thursday. I was going to wait, but I think I will do better if I just get going.

I found this great preschool website that gives an A-Z Weekly Preschool Schedule. We will be doing some of that as well as pages from Starfall for the younger two girls.

Can you see where the Nutella comes in? Now, I had never even heard of Nutella before I started blogging. My blogging friends frequently talk about Nutella so I had to buy some and try it. It now hangs out in my cupboard waiting for me and a spoon to visit. Yum.

But, I try not to get carried away with the Nutella because I am working out faithfully with Jeremy at the gym. I have lost 7lbs and he has lost 8lbs! Go Jeremy!

I will leave with you what I read in my devotions this morning.

Matthew 11:25-30 "At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

I love this portion of the chapter. God reveals himself to everyone, not just the wise and educated, but to the simple and to the young! Children can learn and understand about the Lord of heaven and earth. It is his good pleasure to be known to us! What a great goal for my homeschooling year. To let God be known to them and to teach them that they can know God!

We are off to a great start because this was our bedtime conversation last night...

Mommy: Why do we not have to be nervous or scared when we face new things? (this was the lesson for the night in our children's devotional)

Annalise: Because God is everywhere and he lives in our hearts.

Mommy: Annalise, have you asked Jesus to live in your heart?

Annalise: No. I want to!

So, for the very first time, I was able to lead Annalise in the sinner's prayer as she asked Jesus to live in her heart and be with her always. It was SOOO precious! God is so good. I had the same experience with Elayna when she was almost 3 and it was just as amazing.

The next part of that passage in Matthew 11 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In this season of busyness, I need to remember to trust God and not get overwhelmed and feel burdened. I need to trust that God is bigger than it all and He can give me the strength to do all of it through Him! His burden is light because He helps us carry it.

He does live in our hearts after all which is way better than Nutella and the Elliptical machine at the gym.

Wednesday's Walk - Homeschool Planning

I haven't participated in Wednesday's Walk for a few weeks but I'm happy to say that I'm back!

I am in the midst of homeschool planning. Now, I've never done this before and I'm learning that I have way more ideas and "plans" then are actually necessary to homeschool my girls.

I'm trying to weed through things that I'd like to do, things that I need to do and things that I should do.

I'm a little stuck on grading.

How do I grade Elayna's work and record it?

Any tips?

I have printed off some forms from a website online that I think will help but I'm a little nervous about the record keeping aspect of homeschooling.

But, while I was in Iowa, I went to a thrift store called "Stuff". They were having some great sales on books!

50-80% off!

Here are a few of the books I picked up for our family.

I'm really excited about the poetry book. It describes different kinds of poems and then gives you easy to read examples of each kind of poem! My mind is running with all of the things we can do with that .30 book. And, the "Bake, Build, Sing and Scrub" comes with a CD of preschool activity songs to go with the lessons in the book - .85! Can't beat that when it comes to homeschool books.

Then, when we arrived home, I had two boxes of homeschooling curriculum/supplies in my garage from my good friend Marianne!

Looks fun, right?

I am excited to get started although I know it is going to be one of the biggest challenges of my life.

Biggest challenge but it will produce big rewards for our family.

On another note...

Remember this post? Well, today I went to use my 6 months free membership to a ladies gym. (Jeremy is using the other 6 months at a co-ed location) After my tour of the facility, a cardio workout on an elliptical machine, a circuit on the weight machines, I was given a 1/2 hour sales pitch on their different memberships.

I was caught off-guard because I didn't expect that until the 6 months were OVER. I knew they would try to get me to buy something but, wow... it was not easy to walk out of there without purchasing a membership for the next 5 years! Yes, they were trying to sell me 5 years!

Even explaining that I will be living in a 3rd world country somewhere on the Continent of AFRICA didn't deter them!

To make it even funnier, the manager said she would give me 12 months plus 6 months free if I paid today. When I asked about the 6 months free she told me that I was already getting 6 months free.

"Wait. You are enticing me to buy 12 months with 6 months free but you are going to use my Gift Certificate that I WON for the 6 free months? I'm not actually getting 6 months more?"

"No."

Yeah. Funny. Needless to say, I didn't purchase a membership today. I loved the gym though. Everything looked great. I can take fun classes, use a personal trainer... Now, hopefully, I will get myself to the gym and loose a few pounds. I'll have to update you on that later.

Finally, a picture of my adorable husband and my twin nephews catching a catfish early Sunday morning.

Aren't they cute?

Walk, Walk, Walk!

I have blogged about it before but I have to blog about it again! I love my Walk at Home DVDs! My mom came to visit last weekend and brought me one of the new 4 mile DVDs and it is a great workout! I challenge you to give it a try!

To watch a clip of this video click here

On to other news...

Abby did better last night at sleeping in her own bed.

Thank you all for your insight on the "baby in the bed." It was so fun to read your responses!

Now off to the doctor with 2 kids!

Yes Me!

I have to add a Yes Me! version...

I DID walk 20 miles so far in 2009 and I have lost 6 pounds towards my "skinnier by my sister's wedding" goal!

Woo Hoo!

The last post of 2008...

2008 - Our first full year...

• living in Dayton, Ohio
  
• owning our own home


• with only one kid in diapers


• having a child attend school every day, all day

In 2009, I will be the mother of a 6, 4 and 3 year old.

That is amazing...

I feel like I've been in toddlerhood FOREVER! Which I was if you remember that Elayna had just turned 3 when I gave birth to Abby... 3 babies at one time!

Now, we are moving on to elementary and preschool. New experiences on the way!

As I grow older, I have learned that every season of life has good and bad, things we like and things we don't... For example, when they are babies, they don't sleep at night, but they don't crawl around, argue or get into things they shouldn't during the day. Toddlers sleep all night and eat real food (no baby food or bottles!) but they get into everything and cry about nothing! Preschoolers are fun to watch. They say and do the greatest things... but everything is a learning experience and discipline is so difficult. Elementary school has brought outside experiences into our home. Each one is a teaching moment to bring our faith into real life. During Elayna's last week of school before Christmas break, she learned from her friend that if you cross your fingers, you can tell a lie. We gave her the truth about that one and she learned that when she feels something isn't quite right, she can always come to us. I've learned that God is with us through every season and He gives us wisdom to make it through each situation. He is so faithful.

This morning I made yummy cinnamon rolls (I only had one, yeah for me!) and then I worked out to my friend Leslie Sansone and her Walk-Away the Pounds DVD. Love that! If you want a great at home workout, this is it. I want to walk many miles in 2009. My new friend, Jenn, ran 750 miles in 2008. I am not a runner, maybe I'll give it a try, but I want to walk and keep a total for the year. How fun would that be?

I also am going to be reading my Bible through in chronological order. I've never read it that way and I'm so excited to get started! Read with me by following this schedule.

So, as I celebrate the last day of 2008 at home with my family, the Goodwin's wish you a Happy New Year!

God Bless!

My Personal Challenge...

In 2007, I lost 30lbs. I lost most of the "baby" weight. I have gained just a few back, but I would still like to loose the rest of the "baby" weight.

The Challenge: loose ??lbs

The Goal: fit into my wedding dress and buy a new dress

for my sister's wedding in May

The Start Date: December 17, 2008

The End Date: May 1, 2009

The Committment: making right food choices and getting exercise

I'm sure you will be hearing a lot about this in the coming months as I use this blog to hold myself accountable.

If you would like to join me, check out http://www.fitday.com/