MomMye
 Today, I have two reasons to be really happy...

 


My daughter Sam's exam results were all given today. Out of three subjects, one is perfect and the other have just very minimal mistakes. It's her first time to attend school that's why I'm so excited and so very happy because she didn't disappoint me. Kuddos to my girl! 












Another reason is, I was able to cook nice tasting food!  I could say it's nice because my kids loved it, i could tell because if they like the food.. they eat more than the usual serving. And it'a already an achievement for me whose not a great cook.

When I was still single, Kitchen is my most hated part of the house but since I got married I've been forced to like the Kitchen because I need to prepare nutritious foods for the kids. Especially now that I'm the one personally handling this. Thank God I do have a PC/internet and recipe sites (with video) are available on the net to view and  that I can follow.  Just sharing my happiness..

The Best 30-Minute RecipeRachael Ray 365: No Repeats--A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook)The South Beach Diet Cookbook
MomMye
While we were walking as we go home after school, my son announced that two of his exam result was released already! I was so excited and rushing to open the door.. after getting in and check his papers, I was so shocked and couldn't speak because he got only half correct answers in English. During our lunch, my tears could't help but fall and my children saw it, especially him because he was sitting in front of me. I told him that I was so disappointed and that was the very first time I experienced total sadness.

My son is an intelligent boy and this was the lowest exam rating that he got since he started schooling, and I find it so hard accept it. Actually, it's only a matter of following directions, putting punctuations and sentence capitalization that made him wrong. There's no problem with his ability to understand the lessons, just following what is being told to do so and focus that is needed.

One of the reasons why I decided to stop working is to have more time on tutoring him. I noticed that when the lesson is repeatedly told to him and when he committed mistakes (except in Math) , he learns... he learns from his mistakes. I just hope he learned his lesson in this exam.

After so much thought, I think I should be partially be blamed for this. For the last 3months before my resignation, my focus was only on my work turn over.. to finish all my pending projects for the company before I leave. Maybe my time for my family especially to my schooling kids was sacrified. And I think what happened is just a consequence of having a wrong priority and poor time management.

My other lesson learned here is that, prayer is not enough ... I should really act, and again have a refurbished daily schedule that includes more time for him to study his lessons in advance.

The Pray! Prayer Journal: Daily Steps toward Praying God's Heart
Labels: 0 comments | | edit post
MomMye
Like most moms who had three children, I also have  a problem in having a bulging belly. Oh if only I could have enough money now to finance procedures like lisposuction, I think I would do just to get rid of this the fastest way.

Just last weekend my husband joked that my belt bag is getting bigger.. I just smiled but deep inside I said to myself "hmmm, on Monday I'll begin to search for ways on how to diminish".

Since I can't buy those expensive excercise equipments, I am forced to just search the internet. And so, here's the Top 3 Stomach Flattening Exercises that I found and now sharing to those stay at home mom like me.


#1 The Bicycle Crunch


Start by doing 5-10 reps and build up to a maximum of 20 reps in any one set. You can also work to time in circuits (i.e. 20 seconds exercise, 30 seconds rest).

  1. Lie on your back on an exercise mat, hands by your ears (elbows pointed to the sides), hips and knees bent at 90 degree angles (feet off the floor).
  2. Straighten your left knee whilst bending your right knee further up. Use your abs to lift and turn your upper body to bring your left elbow towards your right knee (don't cheat by bending at your shoulder!).
  3. Then slowly come back down and repeat with the opposite knee and elbow to create a bicycle kicking action and simultaneous body rotation.
  4. Repeat until you complete your reps.

Tips:
  • Breathe steadily, try and get into a rhythm.
  • Keep your core muscles braced throughout, this will ensure your lower back stays pressed against the mat.
  • Focus on making your abdominal muscles do the work.
  • Don't push your head forward with your hands, this will put pressure on your neck. Lightly support your head with your fingers behind your ears.
  • Your elbows don't need to touch your knees.
  • Don't lose form just to complete the set. If you're struggling then stop and rest.
captains chair abs exercise

#2 Captain's Chair Abdominal Exercises

A very effective routine for getting six pack abs and exercising the obliques. I like this one most because I can do it all the time.
  • Starting position: Sit on a comfortable chair with your back vertical and feet flat on the ground. Hold the edges of the chair just at the position of your hips. Rest your palms on the chair and keep your elbow slightly bent.
  • The exercise: Exhale while you lift your knees towards your upper body and hold the position for 2 seconds while keeping your back straight. Lower your legs to the starting position and inhale.
Tips: Keep the motion controlled as you raise and lower your knees. Don't swing or use momentum to raise the legs. You can do the captains chair exercise beginning with 2 sets of 10 reps and work your way to holding the position for longer and increasing the sets and reps.

Vertical Leg Crunch

#3 Vertical Leg Crunch

Another very effectuve stomach flatenning exercise which can be performed at home is the vertical leg crunch. This ABS exercise focuses on the rectus abdominis and obliques.

  • Start position: Lie down on the floor (or exercise mat) face up and lift your legs to a vertical position.
  • The exercise: Slowly lift your hips from the floor towards the ceiling and hold for 5 second. Lower your hips slowly back to the starting position.
  • Repeat for 2 sets of 10-12 reps. With more experience increase to 3 sets and 12 to 15 reps.
Tips: Remember to use your abdominal muscles and not your hip muscles.
  • An alternative vertical leg crunch is to perform the exercise with your knees crossed (from the same start position).
  • Now suck in the abs and lift your shoulder blades from the floor (instead of the hips) moving your chest towards your feet. This should cause your belly button to move towards the spine.
  • Important: Maintain a vertical leg position throughout the exercise.
These are just an alternative, but in case you want to spend and speed it up you may click below to search for the right equipment for you.

Search Amazon.com for exercise equipment for home

Drive Medical Pedal Exerciser with Attractive Silver Vein Finish, Silver Vein (Knock down)
Sunny Health & Fitness Mini Cycle
The Bean Elite Kit Ultimate Abdominal Exerciser, Including Guide and Pump


Barry's Bootcamp Complete Workout System
Resistance Chair Exercise System
The Bean Elite Combo and Flex 10 Ultimate Abdominal Exerciser


Happy exercising!
MomMye
Whenever my husband feels so stressed at work, he would usually open the computer and sing all the songs of Elton John. That's how he loved Elton and his songs! I think he would never get tired of listening to it, anyway I've heard all his music already and it's all nice. That's including those songs that for me is not that popular just as the song Daniel ;-)

Last night, when we were about to start our dinner, my husband said "I'm so tired today". Upon hearing this, my eldest son rushed into the computer and opened the Karafun -- a videoke software that I downloaded from the internet..then shouted C'mon Father, let's do the Karafun! Oh how I'm so touched by his gestures, he's so caring. If there is one thing that they enjoy doing both, it's singing! And it's always the song "Your Song" by Elton John of course to start off. Here's the video link from youtube that we never get tired of listening -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTa8U0Wa0q8  Just sharing...

So, right after our dinner they started to sing.That's including my two younger children whose just humming. That's so nice to look at, seeing that alone is already a stress reliever for me. I also joined them after washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen.

I always thank God for being so blessed to have children that really cares for me and my husband well, they make my career transition smooth and easy. Whenever I feel tired, I tell it to them. And one by one, they do make things that would make me happy and would later ask, Mom do you still feel tired? And of course, even if I'm still tired, because of their relentless effort (I think no Mother would say NO to this, agree?) I would definitely say a Big YES!

MomMye
Six months ago, the whole family started sleeping in just one room -- our room for we only have two rooms in the house. This is to accomodate my mother who will be staying with us to help me on taking care of kids while I'm working. Honestly I did feel a special bonding with the kids with this setup because normally we do lots of hugging and cuddling before we go to sleep. And besides I think that I need to do this to take full advantage of them while they were still young. Sooner or later they will request to sleep on their own room, have their own likes and dislikes and many things will change.. They will no longer be mamas boys and girl.

And now that I'm already a full-time mom and my mother no longer lives with us, my husband decided that the kids will sleep on their room. His explanation was, he just wanted them to grow up and start to learn how to be independent. I feel happy about that but sad somehow because I will miss them. It's different that I know they're just beside me while sleeping.

This morning when my youngest son woke up, he sad mom.. I feel sad last night and can't sleep.. I want to be beside you but afraid to go out for fear that dad might get mad at me. Oh I just hugged him tight and assurred him that things it's okay... everything will be alright, maybe we have the same feeling last night that's why we both can't sleep well.

Tonight after praying the rosary at their room, we will let them sleep first before we will go to our room..
MomMye
It's been a week since I started on being a stay-home-mom, and i feel so happy now that I was able to do one of my dreams--that is to personally take care of my three growing up kids. One adjustment for me is sleep... I'm no longer used to rise early as 5:15am to prepare breakfast. For how many years there was always somebody to do this for us. But even i do lack of sleep i'm so proud because i was able to manage those days well and peaceful.

One of the things that i feared before in having this career is that i might not be patient enough to handle them well. It's not easy to be with three kids aged 7, 4 and 3! But as of my self evaluation, i usually get short-tempered when I'm tired. So for my first week, i did not push myself hard to do all the things that i wanna do like cleaning etc. According to some of my friend's experiences, i should avoid becoming too tired of the household chores to stay in good shape..not just for the body but also for the mind. At this point I want to establish a daily routine, schedule or plan for everything (to become more effective!) and imply what i have learned while working - Time Management.

On the coming week, I'm planning to change a bit... and be more serious about my new responsibilities. I will now start the day by praying and reading the bible for more blessings to come our way.