Whole 30 for 2017

I'm doing it again. 

I've done something called the Whole Life Challenge once before, and Whole 30 before once, and loved it. Let me rephrase that. I didn't "love" it. I thoroughly, deeply appreciated it. I lost weight, felt awesome, slept like a big, hairy bear in deep hibernation every night, and cooked every single day. That was the part I didn't love, come to think about it. The cooking.

But that was almost two years ago, and now I am ready to do it again. The things I learned from Whole Life and Whole 30 helped me to improve my lifestyle and diet by leaps and bounds both times. Since I feel I have slipped back quite a bit in the latter half of this year, I am going to take it on again, recenter myself, and reclaim those healthy habits.

This time my whole family, including the kids, are doing it with me. We each have our own reasons for doing it. Glen's and my reasons have much to do with weight loss and self-discipline when it comes to eating, as well as the reduction of inflammation which causes me in particular joint pain and fatigue. Molly is 11 and facing the normal physical and hormonal changes that every kid goes through, and she is hoping to start developing good eating habits and figure out what her ideal body composition should look like. Matt is hoping to eat healthy and get "cut" and strong. My sister and BFF are also jumping in with their families this time! I'm excited, because we have a group of families that have big reasons for wanting to do this and can support each other in the process.

Today is January 1, 2017, and I'm using this as a transition day. We have eaten up most of the off-plan foods and done some preparatory cooking. I have cleaned the pantry (hallelujah!) and gone through my arsenal of hip cookbooks in order to plan menus for the month. Tomorrow I will start on plan. While I like the new Whole 30 cookbook, I really think that Danielle Walker of Against All Grain is the queen of grain-free cooking, and I can find so many appealing recipes for meals that will be Whole 30 compliant that I hardly feel that this is going to be a sacrifice!

So far I have made a huge pot of vegetable soup that includes no grains, or legumes (I usually have beans, corn and peas in the soup, but these are not part of the Whole 30 protocol). Glen has made a couple of jars of clarified butter, or ghee, and I have a stockpile of hard boiled eggs, almonds, apples, and cooked chicken for quick meals, salads, and snacks.

While on Whole 30 I hope to also reset my fitness goals and get back into the gym. I have been out for a while as my shoulder is rehabbing from an injury, but I am excited to get moving again. I feel a bit like a slug.

Please follow along! I plan to post what meals I am preparing, how the journey is going, and offer some encouragement and help to anyone else who thinks they are ready to take the Whole 30 plunge!

Happy New Year, 2017!

Happy New Year 2017!

I'm ready for this new year. 

Many are saying 2016 was the "worst year ever" It wasn't. It was a tad stressful, mainly because of the election, but the drama-babies that feed on social media and media in general are way overblowing things. I had some personal challenges, indeed. One of the biggest I've ever faced, to be honest, but it's past and time to move on.

Our family had some beautiful, unforgettable moments in 2016. Taking the kids on two different SCUBA diving trips to Roatan and Bonaire were some of the best times we have ever had together. 

Molly started horse-back riding and found a new happy place this year. It has been so good to see her in an activity that is all her own. It has grown her confidence, and she loves demonstrating her skills and teaching us about the things she is learning.

School has been a brand-new challenge so far. For the first time I am not Matt's primary teacher, but have taken more of a role of "coach." This is a very good step for him. The time had come for me to let him stretch his wings and see what it's like to not have Mom or a friend of Mom teaching him. He is doing very well and maintaining all As, but his classes are quite tough. Well Trained Mind Academy is not for sissies! The teachers are very qualified, their teaching is thorough, and their grading is fair. At the same time that Matt has been taking on this new challenge, Glen has been attending graduate school to earn his MBA. The timing could not be more perfect, as Matt has had the opportunity to see how to study effectively, see what a heavy course load actually demands of a student, and also to learn how to manage his time and resources effectively. 

Molly's co-op with her friend continues, and is a highlight of our weeks. We do science, geography, art, logic and ASL together every Wednesday.

We enjoyed some lovely time with family in Florida for Thanksgiving, which has become an annual tradition, complete with gambling lessons.

And Christmas, just the four of us was quiet and delightful. Through the course of the month we all managed to spend one week with a cold, starting with Matt, then Molly, then myself, then Glen. Par for the course. We all managed to be well for Christmas eve service and day, though! 

 

The 2015-16 School Year - Here We Go

With one warm-up week under our belts, it's time for the traditional start of the academic year. Every year on the first day back to school social media is flooded with photos of all the kids in their new stuff headed out, holding signs "Some Grade" or scowling with displeasure because they are really to old for this and mom won't let go of the tradition.

I always feel a little strange on that day because we're doing the same thing we always do, and in fact, I have tried to minimize the notion that school and the life we live are separate entities. It doesn't keep me from getting very worked up about having everything cleaned up and prepped and some new system in place for keeping us organized every fall. There is still a necessary return to a routine that we inevitably lose over the summer.

But there are things this year that are different. I no longer have a child in grammar level studies. I have one middle-school girl and one high-school boy, and it seems strange even to call him a boy because he is such a young man. I have been going through books and find that toys and children's books that we have held on to and cherished have fallen into disuse and are no longer needed. I have a LOT of old curricula to sell. I figure it's a project I'll work on gradually this year, but it's time. 

Matt has exchanged legos for computer parts

The thing that has changed the most is that Matt will no longer be my student. I have entrusted him to the capable folks at The Well-Trained Mind Academy, established by Susan Wise Bauer, author of the Well-Trained Mind. 

Matt's coursework will be:

Chemistry

Rhetoric I

US History

World Literature

Math through Mr. D Math 

Latin II through Dwane Thomas (who was the creator of Visual Latin, a video-based curriculum that we enjoyed and learned of through Compass Classroom.)

CrossFit / PE

This big change leaves Molly and me on our own, and we are both excited about the possibility. Without the co-op situation we have had for so long, we have decided to deviate from Tapestry of Grace this year, while staying on course with the same time period schedule we have been on so as not to backtrack, repeat, or leave holes. We are going back to our roots and will be using Well-Trained Mind (WTM) methods for her work as well. Her workload will increase by virtue of the fact that she can't slip through the cracks, not to mention I know just how capable she is of doing more! I don't know if she's excited about that. We will still be meeting with a friend once a week for science, logic, art and lunch. 

Molly's course work will be:

Math - Math U See, Epsilon, Zeta

Grammar - Analytical Grammar

Writing - The Complete Writer and beginning Writing With Skill, writing across the curricula, some creative writing.

French - Duolingo 

History - Story of the World, beginning with the early American Republic and French Revolution through Modern Times.

Science - Apologia Anatomy

Logic - Fallacy Detective

Art - Coursework designed by Mom from various resources

Violin

And so it begins. Again. 

When you Know Someone Famous...

The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer was a bedrock foundation for me when I first started homeschooling. I have now purchased my third edition of this, the fourth that has been published.

The Story of the World, also by Susan Wise Bauer, was without question my favorite history series, a foundation and spine for our study of history. Even when I began using Tapestry of Grace, we still used the SOTW selections that corresponded with the unit we were on.

We listened to Story of the World read by Jim Weiss over and over.

We grew very accustomed to his voice. We bought many, many of his CDs. We liked that he and Susan Wise Bauer worked together.

Lately I've gotten to know a friend at church, and naturally I wanted to know her kids who are grown and on their own a bit better. Started following them on Instagram. One day I'm on and I see this:

hmmmm...I know that story. As Written by Jim W.... must be Jim Weiss. SO I put two and two together and realize that my friend's daughter is illustrating for Jim Weiss and Well Trained Mind Press, and she confirmed that, not fully understanding the magnitude of what she was doing. As far as I could tell. I think she does now. At least she'd better, or I'll tell her mom.

She's basically a rock star in our world. She has become the illustrator to one of the other rock stars in our life. We met Jim Weiss, we went to hear him tell stories live. He signed our CDs. Okay, so he might not be the BIGGEST of stars, not like Kim Kardashian or Taylor Swift or Zac Efron or Sean Connery, but in our childhood world of homeschooling and stories and history and things that we like...it's a big deal. And getting bigger apparently.

So Basically what I'm saying is you need to go to her website and look at her awesome work and then follow her on Instagram @christinianarva on Instagram. I feel like I kinda know someone famous. Well...she will be someday. You can get to know her better here in this article / interview with her.

I would post it all here, but I don't want to violate copyrights...so just go follow her stuff, and look for more of her work in all your Well Trained Mind publications.

Summer 2016

I am writing this after a lengthy hiatus from blogging. 

It has been a very full school year with very little time to spare. In spite of the fact that I so often find myself longing to process things in writing, I seldom have the time and energy. Sitting down for any amount of time usually results in me thinking "wow, I want to go to bed," and so I do.

Today, both of my children are down in our basement culling through their toys. Molly is now 11, Matt is nearly 15. The day has finally come when he is willing to pack and store away his legos. He is finally admitting to himself that he doesn't play with them anymore, and the train table that eventually became his lego workshop and now only comes up to about his knees, can finally be relinquished. What mixed emotions we are all experiencing. Molly is doing a good job of evaluating her toys as well, though she isn't as close to being "done" with them. Even so, she is most certainly changing in her interests and activities. I can't help but feel nostalgic. These changes have opened so many new doors, and we have made wonderful memories.

We have traveled this year, and it has been unforgettable.

This past weekend my husband, son and I traveled to Austin, TX for the USAW Junior National Championship. Matt qualified for the meet in April and competed in the 62 kg weight class. He finished 10th in his weight class of 14 competitors.

In May our family took a one-week diving trip to Bonaire.

In March we took a 10-day diving trip to Roatan, Honduras.

In November 2015 we took a week-long trip to Florida to visit family.

In October 2015 we took a three-day trip to Historic Williamsburg and Jamestown.

We studied, we grew. It was full and wonderful.

But now, the inevitable cleaning and re-organizing and preparation for the next season is upon us.

This time, it feels different. 

It has come about that the friends that we have traveled this path with for the past 8 years have changed course. I know this happens. Not all who educate from home have the desire to stay the course through high school, but now it has come to land rather unexpectedly on our doorstep. It caused me to feel shaken, uncertain, worried that I wouldn't be able to do this on my own. The simple fact is that I am overwhelmed by the prospect, but the Lord knew this. In seeking His guidance on the matter, we are ready to persevere in high school for yet another year. I have sought some outside help this time, though, and have enrolled my rising sophomore in The Well Trained Mind Academy online courses for Chemistry, History and Literature, and in Dwane Thomas's Lingua Latina 2 and Mr. D Math (for Geometry). Incidentally, the mom of one of his favorite friends from our long-standing co-op looked into what we are doing and felt that it was a great fit for her son, too! We signed them both up and it works out that they will do more things "together" than they would have if they had continued in co-op.

What God knows and I am becoming increasingly aware of is that a young man needs to be accountable to someone other than his mom. Matt was trying to tell me this in ways that I'm not sure he even knew, but the relief that he feels knowing that he will have outside instruction and accountability shows me that this is a healthy change for both of us. This situation will hopefully provide the right amount of academic challenge and still afford us greater flexibility than a conventional school would.

As I write this post I am filled with bittersweet memories and thoughts of the future. As we loosen the reins on my son's education to some extent, I will have time to focus on my girl and the greater needs that she will have in this her first of the middle school year. Maybe I'll find the time to write again. I hope.

Week 6: Six Reps of Anything...

It might have been mentioned here before that the kids, my husband and I all do CrossFit together. In any warmup, workout, or set of any kind, six reps is manageable. Six pushups are fine, six pull-ups, six kettle bell swings, six cleans...after that is where the struggle begins.

I'm pretty proud to say that I did 100 burpees today. Ten sets of 10. Every single set that number 7 rep felt pretty old. But I did it, and I am still walking. In fact I was a little winded, but I walked away from that workout feeling good. Good? After burpees?

We are on week six of school. Everything has felt good up to this. We now have weeks 7, 8 and 9 to go before we get a bit of a break, at which point we will go to Williamsburg to see what we see there.

I will look forward to the break and push through as though these weeks are the next few reps of a set of 10.