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Project 365, Works for Me Wednesday

WFMW – Sleeping Away the Night

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WFMWAfter a rather serious (controversial?) parenting tip on tv viewing and a silly post on Socktoberfest, I thought it was time to get practical. How handy that Works for Me Wednesday has arrived.

I am a night owl, no question about it. It not that I don’t like to sleep, but I have sleep apnea for which I am using a CPAP machine, so sleeping is quite difficult. I’ve found, however, that I can’t efficiently run my household or homeschool the children without starting a little earlier in the day. Sigh. These are the great tragedies of life. :)

Needless to say, sleep is VERY important to me.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Tim and I have been blessed with children who are fairly good sleepers, and we do our best to train them to that end. Over the years we stumbled upon a little secret that has helped the entire family sleep better.

A small table fan. Amazon.com and Bed, Bath & Beyond both sell a version for $10 to $15. These little appliances have turned out to be real treasures.

joshua's fan

Don’t look too closely or you will see the dust gathering on the edges of Joshua’s fan.

We originally bought these fans to help with the summer heat. Western Washington doesn’t dole out the kind of summer temps that other parts of the country face, but we do occasionally have warm (even, dare I say it, mildly hot) summers. We quickly discovered that the fans provided an additional benefit — sound proofing. This was especially nice with a baby in the family, whose naps we were usually desperate to safeguard. We immediately rushed out to buy one for each bedroom.

rachel/sarah's room

The girls have a cute, brightly colored fan from Wal-Mart.

Now Tim and I can enjoy a movie in the evening, have a “grown up” conversation, or just play our music loudly without worrying we are disturbing the children’s sleep. Even more significantly, on the rare opportunity we have to sleep in (the occasional Saturday or holiday) we can do so peacefully with the white noise of our fan muffling the scampering feet of happy children.

I heartily recommend these table fans as a compliment to any room’s decor.

hooray for fans

The girls mime a little fan dance for the camera.

Pop by Works for Me Wednesday for other tips and ideas.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 289

Duckabush Blog Works for Me Wednesday entries.

Several weeks of Tuesday Parenting Tips.

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Events, Project 365, Silliness

Socktoberfest

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October is an important month in our family. Tim and Joshua both have birthdays as does my sister in law, Elizabeth. Several of my dear friends also celebrate their birthdays in October. With all of these gala events, there’s hardly room for other parties or festivals. Or so I thought.

I may change my mind.

A new cyber friend of mine, Cindy from Still His Girl, hosts an annual Chocotoberfest. If you click on this link she gives specific details on how to throw your very own Chocotoberfest. There are contests and prizes and chocolate desserts galore. It looks like an amazing, fun night full of deliciousness. I wonder if Cindy had one of these little treasures at her party.

chocolately goodness

This is a must at any Chocotoberfest.

Sadly, I am currently living a no sugar life. Since most chocolate is usually found paired with sugar of some form, a chocotoberfest might not be the best choice for me. Cindy’s husband, Tim’s new pencil pal, has a different idea; instead of chocolate, how about a Cheesetoberfest.

Truly the mind boggles.

Again, I find myself in a bit of a dilemma. I’m in the middle of a very intense Reunion Countdown where I am limiting my calories and increasing my work outs. Cheese, it turns out, is often paired with calories, lots of calories. While calories are, in and of themselves not bad (they turn up in EVERYTHING), I have an aversion to eating my entire day’s worth in one sitting.

Today I stumbled on my very own October celebration – Socktoberfest.

gather ye socks

To hold your own Socktoberfest, invite friends and family to bring all their unmatched socks to your home (only clean socks allowed). Decorate the rooms with famous sock quotes such as:

“Never put a sock in a toaster.”
“I washed a sock. Then I put it in the dryer. When I took it out, it was gone.”

hold up your socks

Decorum is strictly followed at Socktoberfest, proper manners and all that.

Offer prizes for the person most dressed like a sock, the best missing sock story, and the most creative sock puppet.

Play games such as: Trail of Socks, Hide and Sock, Pin the Sock on the Dryer, and Bobbing for Socks.

tossing socks

grab a sock

The kids practice their sock throwing for the Sock Toss

This idea may take off and become a huge phenomena, just remember you heard it first on the Duckabush Blog. I’m still searching for some appropriate sock-based culinary delights to serve at the party and a theme song, so I need your input and suggestions.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 287

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Do All Children Long for a Dog

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Or cat or guinea pig? What is the origin of this deep seated desire for a pet?

joshua's got a puppy

Notice how Joshua keeps one hand on the mouse while holding a dog on his lap. That’s my boy! :)

My good friend and neighbor, Julee, recently (as in yesterday) acquired a dog. It was unexpected and a complete gift – food, accessories, dog carrier, dog all free. My kids have been writhing in jealous envy ever since.

Tonight the kids had an opportunity to dog sit little Mia while Julee and her family were at church. What a thrill. We’re probably the only family on the planet who would go around offering to pay for the opportunity to pet sit.

joshua, Mia and the girls

Joshua is not as dog crazy as the rest of the children but he was in the comfy chair and Mia was looking for a cozy resting place. Up into his lap the dog climbed. The main responsibility of this evening’s pet sitting job was to keep the dog awake. This picture looks mighty suspicious.

Joshua, is that little dog sleeping?

We did our best. She obviously found Joshua too relaxing to resist.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 286

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Dishes Anyone?

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What would you do with a young man, about to turn 14, who FORGOT to do the dinner dishes? Yes, Joshua, my oldest son, was so engrossed in his Carcassonne game with his father that he forgot to wash the dishes. He didn’t even appear to give the job a second thought. I came home from a baby shower and was sure to remind him of his responsibilities.

I mean, isn’t this why we have children, so they will wash the dishes and do the laundry?

joshua takes his turn

Maybe Joshua and Tim had a little wager on the ole Carcassonne game and the loser was responsible for the kitchen clean up. Yes, that must be it. That would explain that smile on Joshua’s face. He’s sure he’s about to win.

So how come it’s after midnight, everyone is bed and I’m up washing dishes? I guess I lost.

And yet with a husband who initiates Special Days with his children and a teenager who WANTS to spend time with his father, I think it’s far more fitting to say I won. Those dishes suddenly look a little sweeter.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 284

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Heading to Work Out

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This Reunion Count Down is a killer. All the working out is seriously cutting in to my busy social life (ie blogging time). I don’t know how people fit consistent, regular exercise into their schedules. Maybe if I were a morning person it would be easier. I would get up early, while the children were still tucked quietly in their beds, and enjoy an invigorating, brisk work out. Hmmm. That so isn’t going to happen.

gotta go exercise!

Heading off to the Y with trainer Julee.

In the meantime, I steal away an hour here and there every day to exercise. Today I did some weight training in the morning and then went BACK to the Y in the evening for an hour of cardio. Whew! Don’t I sound energetic and motivated. Or is it desperate and obsessed?

Only a couple more weeks until reunion time. I figure I can remain committed for that long. If nothing else, this has certainly been quite the experience. I’m logging in my food (calories, fat, carbs, proteins) and exercise (time and calories burned) daily on an Excel spreadsheet (gotta love Excel). I don’t think I’ve ever been this serious about high exercise and low calories. I’m certainly learning a lot.

  1. Beef (even lean) has a lot of calories. It’s often a better “bang for my buck” to stick with chicken or fish. I had tofu tonight and it was delicious and low calorie.
  2. Vegetables are amazingly satisfying when you are hungry.
  3. Striving for a goal on the treadmill or elliptical (calories burned, time spent) is very motivating. It brings out a competitive side in me that I didn’t realize I had and I find myself working harder and pushing myself to the next level.
  4. Losing weight and getting fit just plain takes time. I’m still losing weight that I’ve already lost before. Or rather, I’m losing the weight I gained over the summer. It will be another week or two until I hit “fresh” pounds.
  5. Some condiments are so NOT worth the calories and fat – salad dressing, cheese, oil, butter. I’d rather save the calories for something else and stick to spices, mustard, and vinegar to season my food.

Interesting how keeping track of things changes your perspective and focus. Well, I don’t mean to turn this into a weight loss blog so I’ll stop rambling on. If you have a great tip on eating healthy and fitting exercise into your life, PLEASE share!! I am so encouraged by other people’s life experiences. Leave a comment!!

I’m sure the weight will start melting off at any minute now. Until then it’s:

Another day another work out. :)

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 283

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