Ballerina/Astrophysicist?

Valentine has always wanted to run into a store, ask the date, and shout "Yes! My time machine works!!!" (Something she once heard was on another person's list of "things to do before I die.")

So here she is, dressed for her ballet photo shoot today, and she finally had her chance at a local drug store. Goof ball. She came in after me and ran out with glee in her heels.

Easter Dressed Up

All the cousins together at Grampa and Grama's.

Hot Cross Buns

Good Friday...

Home Alone-Catching the Moment

Oh man. I am the only one in the house right now. The last time this happened must have been...I don't know. I remember a moment while in labor with Charles, who will be 10 in July, when my midwife told everyone to go on an outing and leave me to labor in peace...

I'm not even sure what to do with myself; I could clean up the school/playroom, or make dinner or finish the Easter egg I've been working on. Never mind, I see one of them coming up the driveway now...he's turning, leaving...gone!

Someday I will miss them all, but just now, I think I will turn on something 19th century-ish on Netflix and work on my egg.

School During Holy Week

There is so much to look forward to and to prepare this week, and the weather, if super-cold, is at least mostly sunny...well, if we don't count the snowstorm on Monday...and we don't, except as a phenomenal display of nature's beauty, and nothing stayed on the ground. The bunny will get through.

New day, new hopes, new plans. This morning; handwriting and math, an outing to see The Lego Movie and pysanky egg dying this afternoon. If only someone had not dumped the yellow dye down the sink, sigh. We'll have to make do with orange, turquoise and green this year. The application of wax was begun last week, but it has been so busy that we did not get far. 

Yesterday was our weekly math class with the most amazing teacher. She comes with her daughter and works with my girls and one more; 4 different levels, sometimes all doing the same thing, sometimes working on their own with supervision and help. I had tried to keep up when they had a 6-week unit on principles of trigonometry and some triangle work...that's about all I could tell you on the topic. I tried, I did. I want to be an inspiration to my children, but they are, and always will be, a better version of humanity; smarter, stronger...and more importantly; younger!

My brain knows its own mind too well. It likes to read history, philosophy, knit, appreciate art and music, and take long walks. It has discovered an interest in physics and botany, but this, sadly, does not extend to linear equations.

In homeschooling, being authentic is vital. Anyone can teach the rudiments of what children need to become educated, but living one's passions takes guts and confidence. I have learned to do what I love and seek help for my weaker subjects. In any case, it makes living with me nicer, a non-negligible point, non?

Mama Fitness: Advice from Down in the Thick of Things

1) DO NOT ask friends for dieting advice. Or at least not in a public, social network sort of place...like a blog or FB, where what ever dumb idea you may have briefly had will forever brand you a crazy person. Be private in your inquiries, very private. Or take the risk of regretting it for all eternity. The person responsible for your health is you. A healthcare professional and one best friend is about all you need...and a way to make calorie-free, gluten-free, sugar-free donuts that taste the same as any normal, cake donut with chocolate frosting...or powdered sugar...

2) FORGET fad dieting. Common sense, statistics and all of my friends on FB will tell you; there is no better way to set yourself up for a re-gain of even more weight. I do not know if pursuing a low-calorie diet for a few weeks is a fad or a necessity. More research required.

3) HAVE A PLAN and stick with it. Premeditating the joy you will get from the food you have planned for each day IS a good thing, and allows for portion control, as you have just obtained all the pleasure you were expecting to get from that little bowl of yogurt. More would just be redundant. Go have a glass of water. Or something.

4) DO have someone with whom you can talk this over. If I blog, it is partially to encourage myself. My husband has incredible self-discipline when it comes to food. He also loves to eat. He is a great sympathizer for me in this journey. (Even though he has never been even 10lbs. overweight in his life.) You need girl friends too!

5) WINE, a word; I find that using this teeny tiny, two-ounce glass for a portion of wine makes life beautiful. If wine should be a forbidden item on my menu, then this little jewel is a treat. That might work for chocolate cake too; I'll have to dig up the kids' old tea set and try.

Mama Fitness; Check-Up Day

So...I am in great shape. My doctor is very pleased; my glucose levels are down, the good cholesterol is up, my blood pressure is perfect. Yaaa me. Yet, I still weigh in 20lbs.heavier than 3 years ago. It is discouraging. It is ridiculous. It is perfectly vexatious. 

When I began this series on shaping up again post-baby years, post-40ish, I did not expect the initial weight-loss phase to last so long or be so difficult. I have a healthy lifestyle; fresh produce, lean, healthy proteins, hardly any grains, exercise 5-6 times a week. I think some weight-loss should naturally follow. 'Snot. I AM toned, strong, healthy. I am grateful. I do not want to put this good health in jeopardy for a smaller skirt size. I love working out, the buzz exercise gives you is better than chocolate...um, a fresh hair cut and a glass of wine. I not only take the stairs, I walk to the bakery and bike to the grocery store. My lifestyle is better. I am not essentially thinner.

I am considering a short-term, super low-calorie diet to kick start things. This is not my first choice, and it may not even end up being a choice at all, but two health-care providers; both a midwife and an MD, have suggested it may be an option I should look into.

Any experience with the HCG injection and very low-calorie diet? Here is the new protocol, post-Simmeons version of it: http://www.dremma.com/.
There is good and bad all over the internet, as usual, but I know none of the participants personally. It would be one course, with a doctor and a plan; for food, for supervision, for long-term weight-loss.