And I'm starting to get a picture for what I can do. Part of my paralysis is that all three of my kids do the same grade but have different hmm, how can I say this, different degrees of giftedness in responsibility and motivation. My daughter, no problem. My youngest son can be molded but my eldest son . . . well let's just say skateboarding and biking rank much, much higher that anything involving pen and paper. He's bright and articulate just needs some maturing. And I need to figure out how to encourage this.

This started because my running partner works until 4 so we usually meet at 4:30. I get dinner completely ready, head out the door for about 45 minutes. When I return, dinner's ready and we're usually eating within half an hour of my return. This time really works well for me. Occasionally we go out at 6 a.m. but it's not my favourite time to exercise. However, doing it in the morning completely frees up the rest of the day. Exercising at 4:30 gives me a little energy boost for the rest of the evening.

I'll check out some of the links. I guess I'm more worried about my boys. My dd 12 is fine. She can practically do everything independent because that's her nature but my boys need a lot of hand holding still. Thanks for your help.

I get dinner all ready, head out the door to meet my running partner at 4:30. We usually run 35 - 45 minutes. When I get home I sometimes have to have a quick rinse in the shower (if it's particularly warm out or if I've worked really hard). Then we eat and clean up and my evening is free. I always bath at night before bed. But I did this before I started exercising too.

5 km route 1km uphill. Good run today.

I'm thinking of succumbing to the addiction! (In fact I'm feeling kind of desperate to get some of those notebook things . . .)

,

I am in planning mode the next couple of days because we leave for vacation in 10 days and I need to be set to start when we return. Now, it could be that I have some weird hormonal imbalance thing happening today ;) but I'm having a minor anxiety attack when it comes to TOG scheduling. This is my problem. I do everything for my kids and don't require a lot of independent work. They are starting Grade 7 (although the youngest ds is 10 turning 11 in November). So I read all the threads about independent learning and some comments about people getting their kids to schedule their own TOG work and it's causing me to freak out. What does it look like for the student to schedule their TOG work each week? Apologies if this subject has been hashed to death.

Do you meet in your home? We meet in one of the families homes, yes. Do you meet in the living room? Do you put out chairs in rows? Is there a stand like a pulpit? Yes in the livingroom. No we don't put chairs in a row . . . just where ever they fit, as necessary. (We have a lot of children and they often have to sit on the floor.) Do you invite the neighbors? (One of the reasons we want to do this). We do invite people for sure. Do you have the kids with you or do they have a Sunday school? (Not an issue for my kids but might be for neighbor kids) The kids stick with us. At this point we don't have SS but we do a children's segment for them during the worship time.

I pm'd you with what we do. Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

I work casual, more in the summer. That's probably why I was tired. Tomorrow I don't work and plan a longer run at my favourite time 4:30 p.m.

I was tired and just plain worn out but I'm glad I did it and I do feel better now.

:party::party:

Sadly, it's the different time zone that accounts for the time. I walked one hour.

Welcome to the world little boy.

.

Just returned. It was nice and relaxing and I hope to incorporate some weight training into my day, later this afternoon.

Then I read this thread and the cyber-peer pressure kicked in and I got my shoes on and went on my normal 5 km run. I might add that you completely impress me with your mileage. As I was huffing and puffing I wondered to myself if I will ever be able to add mileage to my runs. The most I've done is 8 km and I hope to achieve 10 km soon. Thanks for the push.

All the best Aubrey.

It's a new route so I'm going to clock the mileage later today. This run included a 1 km hill which is getting easier to run as I get stronger. On a side note, I've lost 65 pounds in the last 1.5 years. Yesterday I went bathing suit shopping and you know no matter how much weight I've lost all I could see was the fat that I still need to loose. I felt a bit discouraged that with all my running and healthy eating I still have jiggly flesh. It's such a mind game. But I did have a small personal victory. I had convinced myself that I deserved a burger and onion rings because I've had a tough week and the bathing suits looked ugly anyways. But by the end of the shopping trip I refrained and went home to a healthy snack. Slowly but surely I'm changing life long bad habits. So some good, some struggles.

I started slow (it's hard for me in the morning) but then the dog and I got in a groove. It's kind of nice to start the day with a burst of energy.

It hit the spot. I probably only drink this type of drink a couple of times a year. I'm more fond of dry drinks -- i.e. wine or beer. But today was spiraling rapidly out of control. So, I ordered pizza, bought the drinks and took the kids and treats over to my friend's house where I commiserated about the trials of parenting. By the time we left, the kids all loved each other again and I felt good enough to drive to the grocery store, on the way home, and pick up a night cap of Cap'tn Crunch cereal. (My kids eyed me strangely since we are healthy eaters here. They didn't complain however when I offered them a bowl.) Oh well, tomorrow it's back on the wagon.

And miss them. Our Sassy was our first born (quite literally). I used to tell people I'd have to shoot her if she was able to talk and give away all the things I used vent to her (okay I sound like a nut cake but there's something about those floppy ears and droopy eyes that make them so loveable). She helped me survive infertility. And Harley and Sabrina were just bonus dogs -- friendly, lovable hounds. Enjoy your hound. I hope one year we'll get another.

I'm asking because my friend's dd 8 suffers from B.O. related to sweating. She's tried deodorant but it's not enough. So we were discussing whether or not all the fear surrounding antiperspirant is valid or not. Any thoughts?

I'm taking my kids to the lake later this morning so I got myself and my dog out early, before the heat rises.