Last Children's Choir Performance

After the rousing Thursday and Friday and Saturday, there was still yet two more "end of the year" projects to finish. Sunday morning the Children's Choir sang their rendition of Joshua and the Wall. Enjoy the video!

Piano Recital

So Thursday I went West, Friday I went East, and Saturday after the bible drill I went West again to go home. Home we might be, but busy we were. We were home for about 2 hours just in time for us to unpack, clean up, iron some clothes, and eat a bit and out the door we went for the piano recital for Sarah and Isabella. Enjoy the videos.

The Other Way

After our long field trip to the east, the very next day we packed and headed west to State Bible Drill. Sarah had earned the opportunity to attend the State bible drill, however none of us had any idea what we were in for. Sarah and another girl in our church worked so very hard over the last year drilling and memorizing. They went to regional and were awarded Superiors and a chance to attend state. None of us, including their teachers, knew what to expect or anything. So, we booked a hotel, and off we went. We made it to our destination in time and signed the girls up to drill at 9:00 am! After that drove back to the hotel, got in with a courier from the hotel to take us to eat (downtown area and parking is always hard). After eating Mexican food at a very overrated, overpriced downtown area restaurant, we went walking and tried to enjoy the ambiance. We walked all the way back to the hotel where the kids promptly got changed in their bathing suits and went for a swim on an upper deck hotel pool. Looking out over all the tall buildings and just relaxing it was very nice. The other couple whose girl we brought with us arrived later and then Grandma and Papa Roberson joined us very late that night too. After what seemed a very long night and not too much sleep we enjoyed a good breakfast and then off we went. The girls teachers met us there and they practiced. Both girls were very nervous but did very well. The youth bible drill is intense and at the State level even more so. They all have to find verses they had memorized, books of the bible, and random verses in 8 seconds and under. Not only that but those who stepped across the line first, didn't fidget, concentrated on the judge only, and more were awarded those extra bonus points. Sarah was able to step across the line each time however one of those she realized as the scripture was being said that she had the wrong one. They are instructed to be honest and raise their hands for the judges to see and step back across the line. Honesty is rated very high! Other than that she was perfect on all the calls. Her partner had 2 missed calls. Basically we figured out at the point that out of 35 contestants and only 8 get moved up you have to be perfect and no mistakes and try and receive as many bonus points as possible to move up. We learned a lot that day about the next time going to state. Sarah and Zech will be in Youth Bible Drill next year, so we will see. All in all we were very, very proud of our Sarah for advancing. My prayer is for her to apply all that wonderful knowledge she gained in this experience.

Been a little Busy!

I'll try and catalog a few days in a row or a few weeks I should say in a few days posting. Today I would like to post a great field trip to Frontier Texas. Wow, what a great museum to attend and learn all about the beginnings of Texas and how hard it was to make a start of it. They were all surrounded by Indians, wildlife (wolves, mountain lions, buffalo, bears, etc), the harsh weather, and a vast domain of places to travel and abide. The museum is very interactive for this computer age group of kids. All of the stops had either live 360 degree theatre to sit in and listen to the many tales and watch the firefly's or hologram images of Indians, cowboys, women, and children and their lives that took us to many different scenes among Texas' birth. One lady actually buried 4 husbands, all 12 children, and grandchildren. How horrible that must have been. The pics contain mainly my girls because Zech was in a different group than us (wanted to go with his buddies!). We had a great time and then a wonderful visit with an old friend. Reunited on Facebook we learned we weren't that far apart and we were able to visit and have dinner before I headed back. Long day but totally worth the trip.

I DID IT!

Today was day 30 and I finished! and I'm not dead! Gain and losses? I gained discipline and a well exercised body. I lost several inches, down by at least 1 size, maybe more. Enough said! I'm stinky and sweaty and ready to relax in a bath! Woohoo! Thanks to all who encouraged me, and yes, I have new videos waiting for me starting Monday!

Day 24

I think I'm starting to loose count of actually how many days I've done this, but I think I'm on day 24. For the first time since I started this I missed 2 days in a row. We had state bible drill in Dallas and had to get up, checked out of the hotel, breakfast ate, and arrive at the Baptist Building by 8 am. So I decided since it was a road trip and I don't sleep well ever, but certainly never in a hotel room, I would forgo the exercising for that day. Obviously Sunday didn't do it either because it is the Lord's Day and a day of rest. Today I was worried that it would be hard to get back up and do this thing, but it wasn't hard at all. I did it! I did day 24 and I made it all the way through. Getting stronger and being able to stay up with Natalie and Jillian instead of Amita. They are becoming my video friends now. They do keep showing up in the same workout outfits and Jillian continues to stop through her exercises to talk, however if I had her body I would be the one on the video being able to stop because she probably exercises about 2 hours everyday and never puts anything junky in her stomach as I do occasionally.

Well I guess I really like this because after I post here I'm about to order 2 more videos by Jillian Michaels and continue this madness after all! I'll post more on exercise on my 30th day but the next couple of days I'm going to post some things going on in the family!

What started all the shredding?

Do you remember at the beginning 22 days ago why I started this shredding business? I had just told hubby that my abs will never be the same and the next day a weekly blog that I subscribe to came to me in my email with a challenge. She had just started the shredding process and her son had commented on her abs. I thought if she can do it, I can too! (again wrong thoughts lead to wrong actions). There were over 150 ladies who have accepted her challenge and I enjoy getting the updates each week of the people. There comments are sincere and they are all so motivated. In reading some of their comments though I was doubled over in laughter at some of them, so I copied and pasted and you can read below:

Except for the last set of abs - by the end of that hellish Circuit 3 I can no longer get in the dreaded plank position, so I just do the bicycles like in Level 1. I'm kind of getting sick of Jillian taking a break and talking the whole time - yet she dares tell me I'm not allowed to take a break!

Things that have improved~ I can get out of an armchair without using my arms; ~ I can kick my butt; very important skill to have~ Definitely dropped a size although cant weigh myself as the scales were baptised by my baby boys in the bathtub~ Am eating less by choice.... go figure??!!~ Using less heating [it's winter here] as we make our own heat in the mornings~ Can see parts of my body I only ever saw in the mirror; after ten children never thought that 'extra' skin would tighten up

First two days were awful!! They should be required to put a warning that fastening your own bra may become impossible due to arm pain!

I did Jillian's online program for awhile, but it literally almost killed me! I almost passed out a couple of times, and wished I had a few other times! :)

I am on day 8... sort of.I did it once, it took me 7 days to recover- I attributed it to bad tennis shoes. So I bought some new ones and started over. But now I am on day 8 for real!

I too am getting a little tired of seeing my workout partners in the same outfits every day, but I wear the same two outfits myself, so I can't really complain. And at least I can't smell them like I can sometimes smell myself! I talk to Jillian as we work out and some days I'm not very nice.

This is only a few of the several comments made, but it encourages me to know I'm not alone in my thoughts of hating Jillian (in a good way), arm pain when doing anything that involves my arms (putting and taking off the shirt or bra, blow drying my hair, or applying my makeup), sweating like a hog and smelling like one too, feelings of passing out or wishing I had, and more.

However they have all said the same that they haven't lost a whole lot of weight but most of us are losing inches and loving it. They are also actually starting to get excited about bathing suit season and we are all keeping it up after the 30 days is finished. In fact I googled more videos by her and there are two more that I will order next pay day to continue with my exercising long after the 30 days! Amazing things happen when you start to exercise. However one thing I still don't have is more energy. I keep reading how people and these beautiful ladies who are doing it with me have more energy. I feel just as tired if not more. Exercise has always done that to me, but I will keep it up or at least try to. How many of you are going to join me?