only 3 dr peppers in 7 days

so it occurred to me that maybe some of you out there doing this project 31:17 are people who have been convicted to only listen to christian music. so... i put together a lovely workout playlist for you!

1. so long self by mercy me
2. your grace is enough by matt maher
3. our God by chris tomlin
4. i wanna be in the light by dc talk
5. i am free by ross parsley
6. until the whole world hears by casting crowns
7. o lord your love by caedmon's call
8. lose it all by rush of fools
9. must have done something right by reliant k
10. 412 by switchfoot

things have been going well here. lots of veggies being eaten... by me! shocking! and i've worked out 6 out of 7 days. it's a record, sad to say.
the hubs has lost 17 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks! i am so proud of him. i have not weighed myself yet but i will keep you posted!!!

i've been really excited watching all the ways in which God has provided for me during this lifestyle change. i have not had many cravings for dr. pepper and i have been finding time in my day to workout without having to get up at 5am (i am a morning person, but not THAT early). during my workout i've found God will lay people on my heart to pray for, which really takes my mind off the aching and fatigue. it's only been a week, but i really hope that i can keep this as a continuous process.

if you're out there and working on this project with us, keep up the good work and do not lose heart! if you haven't started yet but want to, join us!!!

project 31:17 update

so it's day three and i'm goin' strong!

i've been working out each day and eating healthier.

here's a few things i've been snacking on:
celery and peanut butter
light yogurt
bananas!
fiber one cereal (which is quite yummy!)
and i'm going to try to make a shrimp stir fry dish...yum!


i've been doing power 90 over the last three days, but i already know that when i'm traveling i'll have to figure out something else for exercise.

before i give you a list of my favorite songs to sweat to, please know that not all are kosher. not all are free of dirty words. so please use your own discretion when deciding if you want to download MARGE'S TOP 10 SWEATIN' TUNES (that's what i'd call it if i were in the music biz)

1. american girls by counting crows
2. you lifted me out by chris tomlin
3. sexy back by justin timberlake (radio edit)
4. beverly hills by weezer
5. raise your glass by pink (radio edit)
6. search my heart by hillsong united
7. strip me by natasha bedingfield
8. i gotta feeling by the black eyed peas
9. when the saints by sara groves
10. just the way you are by bruno mars

i'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to know your favorite songs to jam out to.
would you be willing to blog or comment your top 10 or even your top 5???? pretty pretty please?

one hot mama

so i went to get allergy shots last week and they weighed me at the doctor's office.

bad. news.

i'm overweight. it's not really a shocker. i like bad food and dr. pepper...a lot.
so instead of complaining about it, i'm going to try to do something about it.

my friend leanna and i were riding in a car together for about 3.5 hours and decided we should have a name for this project of getting healthier. my first idea was to call it "the ohm project" --which stands for 'the one hot mama project.' but since leanna's not a mama, we decided that might not be the best name for it.

i've realized that things go better when you do them for God's glory and put God at the center of it all, so we looked at proverbs 31 together.

proverbs 31:17 says "she dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong" and so we are calling it project 31:17.

here's what i'm doing:
*drinking mostly (if not all) water
*eating lots of fiber and whole grain, fruits, veggies
*trying to stay away from fatty foods like cheese and desserts and bread and dr. pepper and other delicious things that are not good for me at all. but i am NOT cutting them out completely, because then i become negative about the whole thing.
*spending more time getting fit and being more active
in general, i'm trying to be a better steward of my body. i don't want to do this to look good in a bikini (ha. that makes me laugh) or lose a certain amount of weight. i want to do this to BE healthier. i belong to God, my body belongs to God, so i'm trying to honor Him in what i do with it.

join with us if you'd like. we literally came up with this in about 30 minutes in the car. it would be awesome if we had some ladies join us from all over and we can keep each other updated on our progress.

go get 'em tiger!

a new plan

i read the retro housewife today, which was about spending time with your children and enjoying it. she had some really good points in there. you should check it out.
i DO enjoy my children and spending time with them. don't panic. i do love my children but...
with four under 5 1/2 years old, i am a bit overwhelmed at times with laundry, dishes, making beds, etc, and i often look back over a whole day and wonder, "where did it go?"

i've gotta be more intentional about my time. if i want my kids to know a specific thing or experience certain events or learn about something in particular, i am gonna have to step it up a notch.

this evening i made up a schedule of our day. it goes in 30 minute increments. i won't bore you with the whole thing, but my hope is that i'll follow this schedule (loosely) and maybe get in more teaching moments and new experiences for the boys.

i want to watch plants grow and bake brownies and watch bugs move around and dress up like sad firemen (see above). i want to seize more moments with them instead of being bogged down with chores.
--this is not to say that dishes will go unwashed and laundry undone for longer periods of time, but hopefully a schedule with specific times to do chores will help me to focus a bit more.

i've even made a chore chart so the boys can help me during the week with the little things.
i'll keep you posted if you want and let you know how this goes. if nothing else, it will hopefully make me more aware of how we're spending our time.

here goes...

gabe gabs

welcome to our segment: gabe gabs

gabe has been saying some insightful and fun things lately.

early today our conversation went like this:
gabe: mom, when i grow up, i'm gonna drive a cool car.
me: oh yeah?
gabe: yeah. wanna know what it'll look like?
me: yes!
gabe: you'll have to wait and see. it's a surprise....
me: that's mean!
gabe: no it's not. you say when you get me a present, "you'll have to wait and see..." so it's not mean.
me: i guess you're right
gabe: when i grow up and you go somewhere, i'll meet you where you are, and then you can see my cool car.

--thanks for including me son.

he's also been repeating things i say to him over and over to his brothers.
like "how do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?" and "the faster you do it, the faster you're done."
now if only he'd put those things into practice in his own life, we'd be getting somewhere.

we've been discussing the fact that if it doesn't have a brain, it can't be bad. for instance, if the ball is frustrating you, you really shouldn't say "bad ball!" because it's not bad or good. it's just a ball. (mainly this is because i'm sick to death of gabe blaming inanimate objects for his frustrations). the following situation ensued:

we drove by sonic (don't judge me) and in the meal was a tater tot toy...promoting childhood obesity? quite possibly.

judah: is tater tot mean?
me: nope.
gabe: mom, does tater tot have a brain?
me: nope.
gabe: he looks like he has a brain, but he doesn't? mom, he DOES look like he has a brain.

maybe he's trying to rationalize that the tater tot is, in fact, bad. i like to blame yummy food for my problems, too. ;)

hope

on a day like today, i realize once again that i am blessed beyond measure.
i have four beautiful boys that call me mommy.

and as i read lots of blogs and have many friends who are dealing with how God will bring children into their families, i am hopeful.

God had a plan for our family that we had no idea about. one day we are not parents, and 4 days later we are. God brought our children into our family with short notice and crazy stories. --God had a bigger plan for us than we had for ourselves.

i am thankful for God's hand in our lives.
i am thankful for birth mothers who choose LIFE
i am thankful for...can you believe it...caseworkers and casemanagers...i know...shocking... who work hard (and some who work not-so-hard) to help create forever families
i am thankful for hugs and kisses
i am thankful for weeds picked in my honor: "here mommy, this flower is for you!"
i am thankful for dirty dishes and poopy diapers
i am thankful for a husband who loves his children
i am thankful i'm not in this alone
i am thankful for wrestling and boogers and stinky feet
because all these things make us a family

i am thankful for the opportunity to have these children in our family through physical adoption
and i am thankful for the opportunity to cry out "Abba, Father" through our spiritual adoption

God creates families, and i am so thankful He created mine.