Mommy of Many®

As a parent, one of our biggest and often toughest jobs is teaching our kiddos the lessons they need to lead a successful, happy and productive life. It would all be so much “easier” and “peaceful” if we could just take the hands-off approach and give in to every whim, want and fit. But that wouldn’t be parenting. That would simply be existing. Sometimes I’m tempted to exist because I’ve taught the same lessons over and over with each child.

Lately I’ve had a morning issue with one of my younger kiddos who’s learning (or needing to learn) some time management skills. Every morning he drags behind in the routine and often forgets to put things into his backpack or to brush his teeth. This means I’m constantly reminding and rushing him. Often times all the other kids will be in the car and he’ll still have no shoes on, no backpack ready and his teeth are unbrushed. It makes me want to pull my hair! I’m trying different ideas to keep him on task, but so far none have worked. I’m getting ready to make him a check list that he can carry with him in the mornings.

This morning when everyone was in the car and I had to come back into the house to move him along, I handed him his backpack and he started complaining that he was cold and needed a sweatshirt and was thirsty and needed water. I decided to teach a lesson about being uncomfortable because of your own actions. I told him that he’d just have to get a drink at school and that he’d have to feel a little cold today because he didn’t get his uniform together in a timely manner and that every time he feels cold today that he will have a chance to remember that if he had gotten things together on time that he’d be warm.

Harsh? Maybe! But I’m betting he’ll think about it. And for all of you who are thinking what a mean M.O.M. I am……we live in San Diego for goodness sake! It’s not like he’s in Pittsburgh fighting snow in a tee shirt!

So, lesson #8 is that as a parent, we must remember that it’s our job to continually guide our kids through the tough lessons of life. Ultimately we will be building a stronger future for our little ones.

Have a great day~

This morning Gabi and Max decided they’d put together a play for us. They practiced, set up the playroom, put on costumes and kept trying to recruit Lex as a traveling partner for Max. I overheard them trying to coax him into playing the part-

“If you are part of the play, Mom’s probably going to video tape it and that increases your chances of being on the blog and being seen WORLD WIDE!”

He declined the part of the traveler, but agreed to join in shaking some bells during the singing of “Jingle Bells”.

Gotta love their enthusiasm!

Doing the Dance of the Children WORLD WIDE~

Yesterday was such a beautiful and relaxed day! I took many little pieces of it and tucked them into my Heart Envelope. That little envelope is becoming full and cushiony and I love to place things into it and revisit what’s in there. I believe everyone should be conscience of their Heart Envelope and fill it up bit by bit. You know, that little place inside your heart where you store the bits of Good Stuff that you draw from in the times of life when nothing seems to be going right. Deciding to grab those good things and save them has been a key tool for me.

Yesterday I put in a relaxed conversation with friendly companions, the smell of the ocean (though this one was already in there. I like to have some duplicates), the feel of the ocean breeze (another duplicate), a bike ride with one of my daughters and a laugh over a silly one-liner. From time to time I go open that envelope and check on the contents-A rock thrown at a window from an admirer when I was a teenager, the zing of holding a crushes’ hand for the first time, a drive near the water in a convertible, a ride on the back of a motorcycle, standing on an overlook with the kids and watching Clay vertrep, riding a bike with no hands, being at a Rod Stewart concert, doing an interview, holding my newborn babies, the pure joy of my lil one when he wakes up to my voice, listening to and watching the pure joy of the St. Greg’s guys after graduation while they sang their hearts out, spending the night alone in a hotel room, etc. etc.

These are the important pieces that keep me from sinking low in the times when life gets hard. I’m always able to peek inside that envelope and remember that the tough times are just mere snippets in this life that’s been cushioned with the contents of that Heart Envelope.

Don’t forget to grab your moments and tuck them away. I promise you’ll find a reason to smile whenever you open your Heart Envelope up!

Here’s to the beauty that life gives us and to holding onto and drawing from it~

On this day, where things seem all outta whack, I’m choosing to find something that lifts my spirits and reminds me to focus on all things good. I’m thinking of the fact that my son is traveling safely and enjoying this time in his life. I’m thinking that the schools my children have been attending are filled with a solid education, faith and many beautiful people. I’m thinking that I have running vehicles and 2 refrigerators full of food. I thinking that my loved ones are alive and safe. I’m thinking that I’ve been able to live near the ocean for many years and have gotten to smell the ocean air and feel the ocean breeze while watching it’s vast and untamed waters. I’m thinking that even on crazy days, life really is good.

While I focus on all these thoughts I’m going to fill my house with music that I love, roll up my sleeves and clean.

Always take a moment to breathe deeply and find your blessings.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Believing in all my Blessings~

2 weeks ago my second session of Kraze Boot Camps ended. In that time, my 3 high school age girls started back to school and my morning schedule no longer allowed for me to make it to the classes. The days have been filled with running back and forth to the school, entertaining the 4 younger kiddos, (who are still on summer break) getting all the school shopping done for those 4 and trying to get this house in order in preparation for me to start back to work on Tuesday. This means I’ve worked out exactly twice in those 2 weeks. Ugh! Have I ever felt the difference! My energy is down and my fuse is short.

Being able to see the drastic difference in how I feel has made me commit to getting to the gym, each day when I get off work and before I have to pick all the kiddos up from school. I’m honestly shocked at the difference those daily work outs were making in my attitude and my energy. But tomorrow I don’t have to go to the gym and put any sort of work out together for myself because Boot Camp is not taking the day off and no school means I can get myself over to the 6 am class and start the day and week off right!

I’m ridiculously excited!

Let’s see how taking 2 weeks off actually feels once I’m there. Yikes!

Here’s to starting Monday off right!

“No candles? But don’t those cost, like, 2 bucks?” Yeah, well so does a loaf of bread. Guess where my last $2 went.

Ah, the budget. Forever in the forefront of my mind. Always being reworked, borrowed from, stretched and sometimes broken.

Back to school and Christmas are the hardest times on the ol’ budget and I’m neck-deep in back to school prep right now. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still very real things that need to be celebrated and done, like birthdays. 2 days ago, we had just such an event. When the budget for the 15th was written, I requested an extra $100 for the upcoming bday. My request was fulfilled. However, I had NOT accounted for some uniform items that the girls starting their Frosh year needed. So, the bday $ went to buy 2 new, white, button-down shirts and 2 pair of black flats for Dress Day Uniform requirements. *Think, think, think* What was I gonna do about the bday? I kept being asked for a Birthday Party. My blanket answer was, “well, that’ll be a tough one, but let’s talk about it”.  And talk we did. He asked if he could, “please, please, please have friends down to the beach for a beach day”. Hmmm…the beach is free. I can do that! But what to do about the food and favors? *think, think, think*. Well, we’ll forget “favors” altogether. If they really need something to take home, they can roam the beach for shells, right? Which by-the-way, 10 & 11 yr old boys really don’t care about. Now food-*think, think, think*. Well, I earned $27 from a book I sold on Amazon.com. So, $20 for a cake at Costco and $7 for a 40-pack of CapriSun juice pouches. I’m GOLDEN! I knew I had a huge bag of carrots, and plenty of celery and peppers to cut up and ranch dressing in the fridge (had to attempt to add something healthy to the mix) and there was plenty of PB&J and bread. Another mom donated bags of popcorn and pudding cups.

And we had ourselves a party!

Now, the agreement was that if I did give him a party, that would be his present. Since I got off so inexpensively I told him I’d take him to ToysRUs to spend a gift card he received and if he needs a little help with whatever item he chooses, I’ll pitch in…but not until after payday.

I’m proud of our $27 party!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Staying on this Tightrope of a Budget~

Here it is, the last day of Kraze Boot Camps class for M.O.M. This is the last day of the session, then it’s a week off and when the new camp starts up, I’ll be knee-deep in back to school schedules. This means no more 6 am classes for me.

I feel mixed emotions! I’m SO excited and proud that I did it! I DID it! I stopped making excuses and left some old, bad habits behind. I gained so much from these 8 weeks of classes. Seriously, I’m totally surprised! I gained confidence, better eating knowledge, lost weight/inches and showed my kiddos that it’s important to take care of our bodies. But I’m also feeling scared that I’ll lose my motivation! It’s now up to me to keep going. I have to go find a time that’s going to fit into my back to school/work schedule and commit myself to a daily workout that’s challenging and keep myself at it. I knew that going to Kraze Boot Camps was a good fit for me because of the daily motivation of a group. I feel like a baby bird that’s being pushed from the nest. I have to decide to fly!

I want to say thank you to Aaron Escobedo, for putting together such a great program with awesome people! Your dedication to your people is great and we all feel it! You let us know that we are part of something that you care about and not just a nameless body showing up to your classes. You keep the classes moving quickly and you mix it up EVERY day! I was NEVER bored with the routine, was ALWAYS challenged and learned to let go of not knowing what was coming. In the end I have to say that it was better to not know because I couldn’t dread, I could just move to the next thing. Thanks to your insistence that we could all do it, I have gained more stamina and a greater confidence for what my body can do. I no longer feel like the number of children I’ve given birth to has anything at all to do with where my fitness ability should or can be. Thank you!

So, to sum it up, in 8 weeks I’ve lost about 8 lbs, 2 1/2 inches from my chest/back, 3 inches from my waist and 3 inches from my hips. Not bad! I can run…well it really doesn’t matter how far I can run, the fact is that I can ACTUALLY run. This in and of itself is a feat! I can tackle a great number of stairs, remembered that I know how to jump rope, can do lunges and squats in a great variety of ways, found out that there are still muscles in my abs and core and no longer have to tie a sweatshirt around my waist if doing jumping jacks (this took a little knowledge of when and how much to drink and a quick trip to the bathroom before each morning’s workout ). Yea!

I may not be able join the next session, but YOU CAN! New locations are being opened up and you can take advantage of some great discounts. Message Aaron, let him know you want to get out there to give a class a try and tell him I sent you! All you have to lose is your fear, bad habits and extra weight!

A big thank you to everyone who followed along through this journey and encouraged me in so many ways! Don’t leave! I’m gonna need your encouragement through my next journey!

Somedays I feel so overwhelmed that I can’t move past the mountainous list of To-Do’s. Now that sports have started and the 3 girls are gearing up for school, there’s a constant flow to my inbox and I simply can’t keep up with the little kiddos, who are still enjoying summer vacation and the bigger kiddos whose heads are in school mode and keep handing me papers to sign and lists of needs/wants/must-haves. I end up feeling like I’m in a dark tunnel with nothing to look at or think about except the next “must do” task. AND I’m trying to do it all on a teeny-tiny-super tight budget. ~breathe~

To keep sane and somewhat on-budget today, I loaded up the 4 lil kiddos when I had to take Arianna to her tennis practice at the school, which is 15 miles away. I decided that to save gas, we would stay by the school and explore the parks available to us there. So I packed snacks and off we went. We had a little more than 2 hours to kill and ended up visiting 2 parks. One without a bathroom and one with (note to all city park planners-BUILD BATHROOMS in ALL parks!).

I also used my free drink that I’d earned at Chauo Chocolatier, that just happens to be in that area. I don’t know about you, but I try to keep *free* coupons and earned items on hand for when the budget has been emptied out. This way I always have little perks to look forward to, even when I’m out of cash. Do you guys do that too? Come on, we all belong to groups and clubs that keep us earning free items. Do you save them up for the lean times?

So there I was, sipping my spicy, mayan mocha, in a beautiful park, watching my kids run around, play games and enjoy the summer day and I realized I needed to count the good things that were going on instead of mope around about my overwhelming schedule, looming to-do list and dwindling budget. Come on! I live in a fabulous place, my kids are in great schools, I had a free drink in my hand and the gorgeous park was open to my kiddos. ~sigh~ All good! I closed my eyes, said a silent, “thank you” and soaked up a little sun.

Yep, I’m back at home, where the ever-present work is waiting, but it’s ok. I can’t change the demands of this life, but I CAN try to change the focus.

Boy do I ever do a lot of self-talk. Gets me through though. Share your tips and tricks for remembering to count your blessings and face the sun.

Doing the Dance of the Children~

Today’s lesson-
Sometimes life gets in the way of your best intentions and well-laid plans.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make this morning’s 6am Kraze Boot Camps class, so I had let Aaron know I’d be trying out the evening class. By 1pm, everything had changed. Mariah got called into work and Arianna needed a ride home from tryouts. So, M.O.M. had to put my plans on hold and make sure that everyone got to and from where they needed.

But the lesson in it is to not get discouraged and to start right back into it again tomorrow. Starting this program meant breaking old habits and starting new/healthier ones and in the past, if I got out of a routine, it was always hard for me to jump back into it. I’d feel like I might as well expect for things to come up and just not plan time for myself. So, in keeping with my better/healthier attitude, I need to wake up tomorrow morning and jump right back in.

Tomorrow, I do believe it’s abs/core & cardio. Gettin’ ready!

The focus of today’s Kraze Boot Camp class was upper body.

Kristi guided today’s class, while Aaron walked amongst us, checking form and encouraging us through the exercises. Her style is definitely different than his, but it kept it interesting and new, which seems to keep us going. I felt like we ran more than usual, but I could be wrong. What I know for sure is that I was beginning to feel stubborn and was gearing up for some foot-stomping if I had to run one more lap! My inner child likes to let me know when it’s feeling challenged.

My arms aren’t feeling sore, which I’m grateful for. We’ll see how they feel in the morn. Though, my body’s surprising me in little ways over these last few weeks. After last week’s leg work out, I didn’t feel any soreness! I was happy about it, but then wondered if I’d worked hard enough. Hmmm…

So, this was day 2 of drinking the after work out shake. I can’t say that I can FEEL anything different, but maybe it’s not about a feeling as much as what it’s doing for my body. So I’ll continue to drink it and trust that it’s doing it’s job.

I’m still looking forward to being remeasured at the end of this week. I’m being diligent about writing down my foods and even the shorts I bought 3 weeks ago are feeling looser in the waist. Now THAT is a good FEELING!

I’ll take it!

It’s the last week of this session and the thing I was most looking forward to today was FINALLY trying out my post workout shake! I went to the Kraze Boot Camps/GNC Happy Hour event on Friday and finally found out exactly what I needed AND got a great discount on it! If you missed out on this great event, there’s another Happy Hour tomorrow evening.

Today was a total body work out, complete with running zig zags up and down the Convention Center back stairs, jumping rope (hey Dawn-I counted my jumps, but I really didn’t get very far before having to start over again. I can’t jump like I could when I was 8!), an obstacle course, lunges, push-ups, burpies, inch worms (Yea for me, I can actually do these now!) and several other exercises that I either don’t remember or have blocked out

I’m actually really excited for this week to be over because I want to be remeasured. Yep! I WANT to be remeasured! Can’t wait! But even with my enthusiasm to see what my results are, I had a tough time getting out the door this morn. I sure had a million excuses for why I couldn’t possibly go. I bickered with myself over each excuse and found a solution for each “reason”. I hope I don’t have to fight with myself tomorrow!

Whoo hoo! Session 2 is almost done. I’m feeling proud!

Today marked the end of week 3. I’m super excited about the end of this week because it means that tomorrow is the special event at GNC for all Kraze Boot Camp-ers and those who are thinking of becoming Kraze Boot Camp-ers. I’m finally going to get the RIGHT protein powder so that I can start making those post-work out shakes! And the BEST part is that I’ll be getting a great discount on it!

If you want to find out what products to use and how to use them or if you already have a favorite product, come out tomorrow from 10-12, do a little sampling, meet other Boot Campers and let the GNC staff know you’re part of Kraze Boot Camps (even if you’re thinking about trying a class out) to get in on this great deal!

I’m going to repost Aaron‘s invite so that you can have all the correct info!

Time
Tomorrow · 10:00am – 12:00pm
Location GNC in Hillcrest,
658 University Ave SD, CA 92103
San Diego, CA

“I am PROUD to announce that KRAZE Boot Camps has officially partnered up with 7, GNC (General Nutrition Center) stores throughout San Diego!

That being said, we will be having our FIRST, promotional event with the store off of University Ave, THIS Saturday, August 14th, from 10am-12pm, IMMEDIATELY following Beach Boot Camp!!!

Please come and support your BOOTCAMP Program, and stop by for some FREE samples of products, and the opportunity to LEARN about the benefits of proper supplementation! TAKE ADVANTAGE!!!”

So, there you have it! Come on out! Hope to see you there!

Only one more day left in Week 3 of this session of Kraze Boot Camps classes.

I was thinking back to the first session and that around this time, my body was really fighting with me to give up. It’s good to look back, know I pushed through it and that I’m not having the same problem this time around.

Last session the changes I noticed were that my energy level went up. I had less desire or “need” for coffee or caffeine and that I gained a stamina for the exercises. This session I’m starting to notice the physical changes. Suddenly my stomach is changing. My waist is smaller. My pants are all fitting better. I don’t feel the need to hide my arms. Yea!

I know that it’s the combination of becoming more aware of what I’m eating and when I’m eating it, in conjunction with the exercise, that’s bringing on the noticeable changes. I know I have to develop healthier eating habits and not just eat better but have the desire to eat better. I’m learning a lot! The stand out thing I learned today is that I should be eating protein before I go to bed. I’ve always believed I shouldn’t eat ANYTHING before I go to bed. So tonight I’m choosing edamame.

Alright, time to grab my snack and read a little before bed.

Wanna join me in learning how to better care for our bodies? How to gain energy and not be so reliant on caffeine? Wanna look and feel better? Message Aaron and tell him you’d like to give a class a try! Become part of the fastest growing outdoor fitness Kraze in San Diego!

It’s Thursday of another summer’s week gone by. There are only a few weeks left and I have a mountain of housework/school prep/paperwork to get through. There are kid’s physicals, sports tryouts, school shopping and the last of the summer house guests to keep me Doing the Dance. But I wanna play! The beach is RIGHT THERE and it’s screaming to me and the kids. The pools are sending out invites and wondering why we’re not lying in the San Diego sunshine in lounge chairs by their clear, blue sides. The parks are whispering of shady trees and picnics. I’m so torn!

For today I’m working in the house for a little while longer and then packing up my bickering brood and heading for the pool, book in hand. But I know I’ll come home this afternoon, look around at all that’s waiting and wonder what magical thing is going to happen to make it possible for me to get it all done.

Why, oh why are there only 24 hours in each day? This M.O.M. needs more. More of everything! More time. More help. More solutions to my inner tugging between work and play!

Grab some time on these fleeting, summer days and try to enjoy it before it’s gone. The work, well, it’ll still be there. I promise

Doing the Dance of the Children and trying to keep my balance~

3 things about today-

1) Upper body/shaky arms/sore shoulder/new kinds of push-ups that I would NEVER have thought of!

2) My notebook is missing! This can only mean that the kiddos took it for lack of coloring paper. I will be purchasing a new notebook tomorrow. Seriously-I can’t find it!

3) Kraze Boot Camps and GNC! That’s right! Kraze Boot Camps has partnered with 7 local GNC locations to bring all Boot Campers some GREAT deals! To get it all rockin’ they’re hosting a “Happy Hour” at the Hillcrest location on Saturday from 10-12. Wanna learn about and sample great products? Come on out, join the Kraze Boot Campers and enjoy some great discounts! Congrats to Aaron on this awesome, new partnership! We will all be benefiting by learning what products to look for.

Whoo Hoo! Kraze Boot Camp just keeps getting better and better! Good Stuff all around! Come join the fastest growing outdoor boot camp in San Diego! Wanna try a class? Send Aaron a message and let him know you’re coming. I hope to see you there!