Took a little bloggin break!

I'm back! I needed to take a little break from the blogging world. With the things that were and are going on in the Johnson family, I was feeling just a little too negative and yucky about things and after re-reading some of the previous posts, realized that my posts had started to become negative too and I NEVER wanted that to be the case. Honest, true to life, and factual and real... definitely but not negative and depressing. So, I took a little break, but I have missed it and its good to be back at writing. It's such therapy for me.

I'll take the time this post to catch up on my weight loss - healthier lifestyle and what we have been doing. I'll post later on about some blessings that have come our way!

I stopped doing weekly blog/check ins. Why you ask? Well, glad that you asked! I took a break from weighing in. I was becoming obsessed by it and watched my emotions run around like a roller coaster ride. I was happy when I was losing lots and miserable when staying the same and even had a gain one week. This was not what I was doing this for. I lost focus and became frustrated when people wouldn't notice the hard work and dedication that this was taking for me. I also got too caught up in comparing myself to others, like I said not at all what I started this program for at all. So, I regrouped and continued to work on my own without blogging or even really telling Frank what was going on. He is so good to notice the littlest things about me and I am blessed to have him to be my encourager (more about this in a later, Bountiful Blessings post). All this being said... I weighed in this morning after my standing apt with my Wii and I am at a grand total of 28.5 lbs.!!! BUT even better than that is... I have lost over 9 inches all over my body!!! SWEET!!! I am so happy with this part of it! I wanted to see the 30lbs but not quite and that's just ok. The inches was really exciting as I started writing the numbers down as I measured, what a treat for me to add it all up! So, I have the encouragement to keep going at MY pace and know that this is doing much better good than not :)

The Johnsons' are tired of this rain and gray! It has effected all of us. We are tired, pale, (well 5 of us are, the other one heads to get some artificial sun 2-3X a week, hehehe) cranky, and bored. Sports have been cancelled one after the other and there isn't much to do around here in good ole Waterville indoors that doesn't cost a small fortune for us to do. We did get the chance to get outdoors yesterday to celebrate Father's Day with Frank and even though the sun only poked its little rays out here and there, we had a great time! Just what we needed and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do it. This morning we will collect our gopher wood and my dear friend Laurie is collecting the animals 2X2 so we will work together and see where this takes us, lol!

Regardless of what is going on in all our lives, remember that you are an important part of my life and I am so glad that you stopped by to check in! Happy Monday!

Sibling Lovin'

Conversation I overheard last night at Austin's baseball game:

Alex (older boy that the twins play with during games): What number is your brother?

Cam: 12. Do you know him?

Alex: Yeah, is he fun?

Cam: Yeah, he is fun..... no I lied.. he is the funnest brother ever. I bet you wish that your brother was that much fun!

Treasure!!!

Bountiful Blessings~

The week went by with more lows than highs but I made it out to the other side, by the grace of God! Blessings still came and while it was hard to see them in the moment, looking back they were still there!

~ A wonderful surprise gift certificate to go out to dinner with Frank! We still haven't been able to go "out" to celebrate our 15 years of loving!!! Such is the life when you have kids involved in sports. But what a nice surprising gift to be able to go out and enjoy ourselves together without the kids :)

~ Friends! I am so very thankful for my best friend! Devon walks beside me through the good and the bad, and lately more of this than good, I'm afraid. She truly is one of my biggest blessings in this lifetime and I am so grateful for her. Love you Dev!

~ Shopping bargains! I was able to get some really discounted, almost so cheap you wouldn't believe it bargains this past weekend :) Anyone who knows me knows, I LOVE a bargain and with a family of 6, with four kids we have to look for bargains! We did well, and the kids are looking all set for summer clothes for awhile.

~ Learning new things about myself. Not always painless, but good to know just the same!

~ Sunday afternoon walks with my family. We have, as weather permits, been getting out on Sunday afternoons to walk/hike to explore the area around us. We have great walking trails around the Waterville/Oakland/Belgrade/Rome areas. The kids love exploring new places and they are learning as we do it too {{bonus}}! I enjoy this family time so much after a really busy morning at church and this is our time to reconnect. I really relish this time!

~ My summer morning routine! My slow wake up, my time with God, my workout and my l-o-n-g snuggles with the twins! Now that school is out, we have more time for taking things a little less hurried! I love summer with my kids!

Hoping your feeling blessed among your trials too!!!

Hugs!

Approval Addiction = Bondage

So, I am really struggling with something that I have had all my life as far back as I can remember. I thought that I had dealt with it but it is very apparent that I have not and still suffer with this as much today as I did as a child, actually probably more so most days. It's called approval addiction and I have it bad. I have found myself too often living my life to seek the approval of others. I constantly compare myself to what others are doing and think that if their lives "appear" perfect, and I don't do things the way that they do them, that I must be wrong and therefore must change what I am doing to be just like them and get their approval. How awful is that? Now before anyone gets on me about seeking only God's approval, I will save you the trip... I know this and in fact find that some days that stresses me out too. I know that I fall short of His approval most days and that simply adds to my distress and discouragement. I also know that this is causing me great bondage in my life and I am trying so hard to give this to God to release me from this bondage. For whatever reason, I am still hanging on to it and it really is causing me emotional, spiritual, and physical pain. I constantly seek everyone's approval, the need for people around me to be happy and to fix things so that people aren't judging me or comparing myself to others is exhausting and I am so weary of this way of life. I try so hard to be everything to everyone all the time... the perfect wife, most patient and understanding mother, the sensitive and caring friend, the most entertaining, organized and God-lead children's ministry director. I try to have a perfect life all the time and when I fall short of that or people point out my downfalls, my world crumbles and I realize that I have failed yet again and so the road goes.....

So, I ask for your prayers in helping me to leave this way of life behind me and get on with the real journey that Christ has for me.

In His grip!

Bountiful weekly blessings!

I have so much blogging that I want to do and just trying to find the time to do it! So, in light of that I am going to just do a quick list of blessings from this week and hopefully find the time to get more writing done next week since I am on summer break (see previous post)!!

~ A successful ending to a great school year! Our second year of homeschooling is completed and we are ready to enjoy our summer!

~ Friends that are willing to uphold me in prayer and take the time to share words and thoughts of encouragement when I have reached out to them in need!

~ Sitting with the boys and having them take turns reading to ME! All four of the kids are really great readers and it is fun to watch them develop a love for books! If you know me at all, this is a dream come true since I love to read!

~ New blogging friends! I have "met" some really great ladies that have come beside me in my blogging and chatting to walk beside me in my spiritual journey and my weight loss journey! What an encouragement these ladies have become to me!

~ Hugs and loves from my kids! Nothing can pick me up faster or make my heart more full than when I get I love you's,  hugs, and kisses from these special people! They have such great hearts and God has gifted them with such sensitivity and I am so glad that I am their mom.

~ The healthy body that God has given to me! I am able to walk, work out, play with my kids, be a wife to my wonderful husband, and do all the things required of me. The healthier that we get as a family and I get as an individual, the more I am able to do! Sometimes I take that for granted and had the opportunity this week to stop and be grateful that my body allows me to do all these things!

Think about what you take for granted and realize that you are blessed. it can change your whole outlook on things, believe me!

Hugs!

Another successful year of homeschooling is done!

Yea, we did it... another year of school has ended here at the Johnson home :) We are so excited to be finished and ready to have a summer of fun! 

The kids did a great job this year. Kendra did an amazing job completing her freshman year of high school. She is mostly an independent learner, with little help from me. I oversee her projects and tests and keep track of her grades. She really is growing up and it is fun to watch her learn and grow in her studies. Next year she has plans to attend the local high school to take biology and Spanish and possibly another elective. Since she has plans to be a nurse, she needs to take her science labs at the high school. The issues that we had with the public school still exist but she is a stronger more mature person now and she feels ready to deal with all that public school has to offer. She will continue to do her math, language arts, and history here at home. She continues to play sports for the high school and really enjoys the interaction that she gets with some of her old friends. We are so very proud of her! Austin finished his sixth grade year with flying colors! I can't believe he is in seventh grade, wow! He really excelled in math and language arts this year. He developed a new love for reading this year, and that made for a really excited mom :) His studies began preparing him for more independent learning next year and so I see him becoming more and more independent in his studies. He is ready and I am sure that he will be successful as he presses on. He too continues to play local sports and will start playing sports for the local jr. high. It should be a really exciting year for him. He continues to show maturity and responsibility and we are proud of the young man that he is becoming! Colby finished up second grade with flying colors! Colby made leaps and bounds in his reading and really loved learning multiplication :) A teacher once told me that the best class to teach is 1st grade into 2nd... she was so right! Colby is like a little sponge and watching him soak everything up and applying rules to reading and spelling was so fun to be a part of! He is already started on his second grade curriculum and ready to continue in his quest for the next part of the puzzle! Colby is the "class clown" in our house and simply blesses us with his sweetness, sensitivity and sense of humor! Cameron also finished first grade with a bang! He is a wonderful reader and reads everything that he can get his eyes on. Sometimes I forget what a good reader he is and find out when he is reading an email or paper over my shoulder ;) He never liked math, but really excelled at it this year and really found that he liked multiplication. This was a really exciting time for me, because previously math brought lots of tears and discouragement so this made me really happy to see him succeed at this. Art projects were also a favorite of Cam's and he is so ready for second grade. Cam is my schedule keeper and makes sure that we stay on task to get things done. I so love and appreciate his organization of our time!

So, on to our third year we go! We make mistakes and learn something new every year. The kids are given the option yearly whether or not this is what they want to keep doing and I get a resounding "Yes!!!" every year so far! God continues to bless us to allow me to stay at home to teach them and for this I am daily grateful of. 

Thank you all for your support and encouragement in this journey! We are off for a summer of fun and hope we have lots of adventures to share with you all! Happy Summer 2009!!!!

Bursting heart overflowing with blessings!

I have so much blogging I want to do that I am not sure how to keep it all separate, making sense and the time to get it all down! Therefore, there just might be more posts from me than usual, so check back more often this week, you might just be surprised to see more from me!!

Per my usual recap of my blessings from the week, this blog will be the first that I write since I like to begin my week with a sense of gratitude for the MANY blessings that God bestows upon this greatly undeserving woman. I wanted to wait until the whole, long, holiday weekend was finished since I knew that there were plenty of blessings headed my way!

~ My sweet man who celebrated fifteen years of bliss with me this past week (see previous post)! I am so very blessed to be loved by a man such as Frank!

~ Watching my children grow up! While this is a bitter sweet time for me, realizing that my time with them under my care is growing ever so closer to ending, they are becoming such amazing people! They all love God with their whole hearts, have great friends, are socially adaptable (even though we homeschool, imagine that, LOL!), intelligent, sensitive, sweet and all around really a pleasure to be around. The changes that they are making into becoming responsible adults one day is simply amazing to me to watch!

~ Christian Music and the radio stations that bring that to my life! We spent the day enjoying some really awesome Christian music and meeting up with some new friends that we are making at our local Worship Radio station! What a treat for us! I am so glad to live in a country that allows me to bring that music into my home and car!

~ Being the Children's Ministry Director at FEFC! It truly is a position that I LOVE and really enjoy being with the kids in our program. The hugs, and smiles. The tears and the tantrums all make it what it is and I love praising God and teaching these little ones about Jesus!

~ Meeting new friends! What a pleasure and a blessing to meet new friends that Frank and I BOTH like! We were invited to spend Memorial Day with a newer family at Faith on their boat (thanks again Katie and Todd!) We had an amazing time and really relaxed and enjoyed ourselves! We look forward to more of these moments in the future :)

~ Learning new things about myself! I am constantly learning new things about myself and while sometimes it is painful, God is teaching me some things that are making me look at situations in my life and people in general differently. I am so glad to know that God certainly isn't finished with me yet!

That covers a lot of them! Hope you are feeling blessed this morning as well! Check back later on, I might get the chance to write again! Right now, math time is calling :)

Hugs!