Ashlyn Grace is our middle child. She is an expert negotiator, the family sibling peacemaker, hysterically funny, an exceptional artist, and really one of the sweetest children I have ever met. She loves to paint, and draw and color and basically do anything with art. She really seems to have a talent for it as well. She is also an amazing "cuddler," loves the Magic Treehouse books, and has a great interest in cupcakes. I can't believe she's 8, but I'm loving every stage. I'm excited to see what kind of girl she has yet to become. Ashlyn is very forthright and doesn't hold anything back, but like her dad, she has a way of telling you the blunt truth without hurting your feelings. Jay and I always laugh at how she can tell Quinn to stop doing something annoying and he will immediately stop and say, "ok Ashlyn." But, if anyone else tells him the same thing he puts up a fight. Ashlyn definitely has a charm about her that makes her irresistible.
Ashlyn, Age 8
Favorite TV Shows--Phineas and Ferb, Cupcake Wars, Wipeout
Favorite Toys--persons, legos, stuffed animals
Favorite Food--broccoli alfredo
Favorite Pastime--painting
Favorite School Subject--Math
Favorie Song--Home, Phillip Phillips
Dream Vacation--Paris, France
Career Ambition--Artist
So my baby boy Quinn Thomas turns 6 years old today. It's such a cliche to say how quickly time goes by, but it's so true. Quinn may have started off the first two weeks of his life in the NICU but he has certainly grown by leaps and bounds since his early arrival. Quinn is smart (freakishly so), funny, already a talented musician, an amazing little brother, and a sweet and kind son. I hope he never loses that sweetness about him, but I'm sure if he does, his charm and good looks will carry him through...hahahah.
Quinn's Favorites, Age 6
Favorite TV show---Busytown Mysteries (though, I have to say he rarely watches TV...it's odd. There have been times when I've begged him to watch television so I could get a break, but he prefers playing or reading over tv...I'm not complaining, I just find it strange.
Favorite Toys--persons (which are basically all of his character toys that don't belong to a particular group...squishy animals, fast food toys, robots all fall into that category), Legos, Matchbox cars.
Favorite Food--strawberries, chicken, and broccoli alfredo
Favorite Pastime--"screen time"...this kid loves time on the Ipad and computer. He plays Smurfs Village on the Ipad and some of his favorite websites are Webkinz, Club Penguin, and Animal Jam
Favorite School Subject---Science
Favorite Songs--Moon, Moon, Moon--The Laurie Berkner Band, Little Lion Man--Mumford and Sons, Movces Like Jagger--Maroon 5
Dream Vacation--Outer Banks...I asked him to pick a place he's never been, but would like to go, but he still insisted that the Outer Banks would always be his favorite...I couldn't agree more
Guilty Pleasure---eating paper
Career Ambition---Roller Coaster Designer...He is serious about this one as well as unwavering..
Other random things Quinn takes great interest in--Maps, Lighthouses, Combs
I started working on this quilt for my friends Katelyn and Drew a while ago. I've only ever made one quilt before and it was only a sample size (about the size of a crib blanket). This was my first "throw-sized" quilt...I think it turned out nicely. I love the fabrics I picked. I really have no idea how to quilt and I'm not lying when I say that if I can make a quilt ANYONE can. I took a basic quilting class about 8 years ago (WOW!) but I never even finished the course. So anyway, here's the finished product....
I saw this blog come though this morning and it really touched my heart and spoke to me. In this article the female writer, a mother, talks about how she is this super-involved mom (like most of us are) but photographically speaking there is little evidence that she exists in her childrens' lives. I can completely and totally relate to that and in fact, was JUST talking to Jason about the same subject just last week. Why are we moms so busy documenting the lives of our kids that we don't take a minute or two to actually pose in pictures with them? I know my reason..insecurity. My children literally stretched, disfigured, and tore my body apart in the chaos that it takes in having them (again, and again and again in my case), using my body to feed them, and running around just trying to keep up with these little people who are waay smaller than us, but oh-so-much more crafty-- I just didn't have the time or energy to take care of myself. Heck, there were days when my kids were babies that I was lucky if I even had on clean clothes...much less combed hair and a matching outfit on. There was NO WAY I was going to pose for pictures with my kids when all I ever really wanted to do was blend into the background and go through life un-noticed in this stage of my existence. A nap would have been great...a mass-marathon photo session ala Jay's family????...a nightmare, people! Like the woman that wrote this blog, there are very few pictures of me with my kids when they were very little. I know this for a fact because:
The surgery to remove my thyroid was scheduled for early February 2009 (about one week before Valentines Day). As the surgery date got closer I panicked. Everyone told me how routine this surgery was and that I would be fine, but I was still scared. I decided to make these small Valentine's Day scrapbooks for each of the kids in case I died on the operating table (morbid, but true....I was freaking out). Now, those of you who know our family, know we take a TON of pictures...Surely, there would be lots of photos of me and the kids to sort through and choose for these little scrapbooks I was making for each one of them. Well, I started looking over the past year and I had a hard time finding pictures of me and individual kids. I found a TON of pictures of Jay and the kids, lots of photos of just the kids, quite a few pictures of my kids with my sister-in-law, but I was hard-pressed to find any pictures of me and Quinn, or me and Ashlyn, or me and Stella. And I freaked out. It made me sad and I decided on that day that if I made it through this surgery I would never let myself NOT be photographed again. I managed to assemble the scrapbooks for the kids with the few pictures I was able to find and my surgery came out fine and my life went on...I did make an effort to be in more family photos, but I started noticing when life wasn't going my way, when things got tough, when things were sad, hard, confusing, or just plain unfair, I avoided the camera. Despite the unfairness of life..well, life continues...birthday parties, anniversaries, holidays...they all continue..no matter where I am health wise, mood-wise, weight-wise, life goes on. BUT I don't want my kids looking back on their lives and not be able to find any photographic proof that they had a mother....Memories are nice, but photographs are physical proof that I exist. And I may be overweight, or disheveled, or weary eyed, or downright crazy looking, but everytime I pose for a picture with my kids I have to remember that it's not just about me...it's about physically preserving history. It's about giving my kids, and their kids to come, and all the generations that follow proof that I exist..And maybe one day, generations from now, my children's children's children will be looking through old family photos and someone will see a picture of me and say, "Wow! Who is this CRAZY woman?" and some other distant family member will respond, "Well that's Donna Doak...She sure was crazy." And the other person may reply..."Yeah, She looked it..." And everyone will have a laugh and if nothing better comes from a photo of me and my children than a laugh? Well, I'm ok with that.
Some of you know that Jay and I have been planning a trip to Disney with the kids for a few years now...We actually had a trip booked a couple years back and decided against going. Then RE-booked the trip the following year and yep, you guessed it, decided once again not to go. So this year we booked a trip and were committed and determined to making it happen. Our kids are at the perfect age for Disney and they are all old enough now to remember a trip...which is a good thing because as expensive as Disney is this will probably be the last time we go for a looooong time. So in February we booked a trip for September. Then the unthinkable happened and our good friends (ok amazing, fantastic, wonderful, awesome friends) Katelyn and Drew decided to plan their wedding on the literal day (September 29th) we had dinner reservations @ Cinderella's castle!!!! Arghhh...seriously??? I was so torn about what to do. Planning a Disney trip ONCE not to mention three previous times ain't easy people. I decided we just couldn't switch our plans and had to keep our trip in tact. I was going to have to miss what many people in my church are calling "THE EPIC WEDDING." We still had not told the kids about the trip and started planning on how we were going to let them know we were FINALLY going to Disney World....And then life got in the way and this summer we took a few major personal blows that had us evaluating whether or not going to Disney at the end of this month was a good idea. We made the decision to move the trip to February. I was thrilled with the thought of being able to go to Disney World with my kids AND attend the EPIC WEDDING. So this February the Doak family will load up the minivan and drive down to Orlando to visit the happiest place on earth..
Jay's mom and sister had just gotten back from their own trip to Disney World this past Saturday. We decided to include Grams in the surprise. We told the kids Grams was on her way over to visit to tell us all about her trip to Disney. When she arrived she told the kids someone had followed her all the way back from Florida and with a little Disney magic she brought the kids outside and showed them who it was: Mickey Mouse. Mickey gave the kids a letter which told them we would all be going to Disney World in February...Here is some video of how we told the kids:
Jason borrowed a projector from work and set it up in the backyard for movie night last night. We had so much fun cuddling up in our blankets, munching on popcorn and watching The Lorax. We had a great family fun night. And then this evening we busted open the kettle grill and lit a fire for S'mores, or as our friend Meghan calls them---SCH'mores...I love the fall season so much. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend...
Ashlyn loves to draw, and paint, and color, and sculpt, and create these crazy mixed media pictures. She has a wonderful eye for design and she definitely has a talent for anything artsy. But most importantly, she has a passion for it. She's taken a few art classes here and there from a couple of different teachers, but most of her stuff is self guided/taught. Her art (as well as Stella's and Quinn's) decorates the walls of our home. Ashlyn says she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up, OR live in Paris. I don't think she understands that she can probably do both, but she better be prepared for her Mom to tag along for that ride.
One of Ashlyn's favorite subjects in school is handwriting and mostly because of the handwriting program we use. It's called Draw, Write, Now and it's a combination handwriting/drawing program. The books are really sweet. Each book focuses on a different topic. For example, Book 7 in the series is an animal drawing book that features animals from various forests. There are a few sentences about the animals and then a numbered step-by-step instructional on how to draw the animal. Other books included historical periods. All of my kids have used these books at some point in their handwriting "careers." Quinn couldn't wait to start using them this year for 1st grade. . It's definitely one of the highlights of Ahlyn and Quinn's homeschool day.
I think science and childhood go hand and hand. Children are naturally curious, always questioning, and often open to new discoveries. All great qualities to have as a scientist. Some of you may know this, but Stella loves science. It's been her favorite subject in school since 1st grade. She likes to ask questions, test things out, figure out why something didn't work and test again. And I'm not just saying this because she's my daughter, but she's actually pretty good at science as well. Her career ambition right now at age 10 is to be a vet, so I suppose it's a good thing she loves science as much as she does.
Her first science experiment this year involved creating a circuit and getting a small light bulb to light up. Her tools were a light bulb, D sized battery,aluminum foil and tape. After a couple of phone calls back and forth with Jason to clarify a few finer points (me not Stella) we were able to start. Stella did a great job on her own figuring out how to get that little bulb lit. I gave her some basic instructions and let her figure out the rest herself. Here are some pictures from her experiment.
Set To Go
Hard At Work
This configuration didn't work, but it looked pretty
So a lot of you know I've been on this "get fit" journey for quite a while. Things started quite slowly for me eight weeks following my thyroid surgery in February 2009. Jason had decided he was going to run an 8K that June and started training. I reluctantly agreed to run it with him, mainly because the race benefited a cause close to my family, the Children's Hospital in Norfolk. I told Jason in March I would run it with him, but I didn't get serious until I was challenged. The challenge came in the form of my sister-in-law's look of pure shock when I told her I was going to run an actual race. I'm still not sure to this day if she thought I was crazy because running is ridiculous or she thought I was crazy because the idea of ME running was ridiculous. I definitely took it as the latter and quietly accepted her challenge with a vengeance. I started jogging..nearly quitting every day, but in June 2009 I ran my first 8k. My time was dismal, people nearly triple my age were passing me (very slight exaggeration), and the race organizers were literally tearing down the race finish line as I crossed exhausted, but proud of my achievement. discovered that I actually enjoyed running...a lot. And even though I completely sucked at it, it became my go-to when I needed to burn some extra calories, escape life's stresses, or simply get some fresh air.
Over the last three and a half years I have struggled with getting my thyroid medicine dosage correct. My energy level was all over the place...but mostly I was exhausted and weak. I hated my doctor who literally told me I was overweight and sluggish because I had bad genes and that I needed to "quit eating potato chips and switch to carrot sticks" in order to drop a few lbs. Encouraging, right? Actually it was devastating. My self-esteem plummeted as I struggled to find the energy to work out, finally grasp said elusive energy, workout like a mad-woman, only to see the scale stay the exact same. I finally got the nerve to tell Jason that my doctor was a loser. Then I mentioned what the doctor had said to a few friends who were as appalled as I was by my loser doctor. I knew it was time for a switch.
2012 has been a year of many changes for me. I made a conscious decision that I was going to do everything in MY power to lose weight, eat healthy, and take care of myself. Yes, I will forever need to have my thyroid (or lack thereof) levels monitored and yes,I will always need to take medicine to keep me alive...Scary stuff, and both out of my control, however, I did have control over exercise and diet. I started doing research on "real" food and that research scared me. The amount of preservatives, chemicals, and other crap in most of the food we buy and consume is outright ludicrous. The rise in cancers (such as thyroid) and autoimmune diseases have increased in ridiculous numbers over the past few decades. Are the two linked? I don't know but it was enough to start me thinking.. I also started to realize just how much sugar is in the average American diet...Sugar is in EVERYTHING...sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup...CORN which is converted by the body into SUGAR is IN literally EVERY processed food we eat...It FREAKED me OUT.
I decided to make some switches in the way our family ate. I followed the old cliche of "shop the grocery store's perimeter" and avoided nearly all packaged/processed foods...If we wanted it..I made it from scratch..seriously. It was an adventure. We switched from white flour products of whole wheat...including bread, pasta, rice....everything. I even started making my own bread, tortillas, and granola. We stopped buying hormone injected milk and switched to a home delivery service and I watched the sugar levels in everything we ate like a hawk...Truth is IT WAS EXHAUSTING. I was in the kitchen all the time! I felt like I never got to spend any time with my family and by the time something was finally ready to eat, I was so exhausted from standing up and cooking it that I wasn't even hungry, BUT I did notice a huge difference in my energy levels, and albeit slowly, I was dropping a few pounds.
I was encouraged so I kicked my workout routine up a notch. This was in April. I started working out about an hour a day six days a week. I switched to a female doctor whom I love and was sympathetic to my weight loss struggle. She adjusted medications for me and encouraged me to keep up the hard work. The pounds started coming off. Since the beginning of the year I have lost nearly 40 lbs. I'm proud to say that I have worked out six days a week consistently (and when I say consistently I mean I've only had two weeks where I didn't work out six days and in those week I worked out for five). I dragged my workout DVD on vacation and road trips. I've made the time when there was NO time.
And in July, Jason told me he was going to start the Insanity workout program. For those of you not familiar with Insanity, well...it's INSANE...and hard, and long (the program is two months, some of the actually workouts are one hour), and intense. I watched the videos. This was a program for athletes, not people like me. Even though I had been working out consistently three months prior to starting Insanity I was in NO WAY ready for the physical toll it would take on my body. I once again grudgingly agreed to to the program with Jason...I'm pretty sure I cried after the first workout, and the second, and the third. On day 4 I did the workout and nothing else...for the REST OF THE DAY. I started dreading waking up in the morning, but when I did I would throw on my workout clothes and get the "Insanity" over with..otherwise I would sit around and stress about having to do it. I was exhausted and felt defeated. I started week 2 telling myself that if this didn't get better I was quitting. But guess, what?? It DID get better.
The workouts got more manageable (they NEVER got easier). I was starting to see a difference in the way my body looked. I was 2/3s of the way through one of the workouts one day when I realized I was doing REAL push-ups people!!! Not the knee ones!! As my body grew stronger so did my spirit (I'm pretty sure because I prayed constantly during those workouts). A side benefit to the Insanity workouts was that Jason and I were doing it together. He would workout early in the morning before me, but we would would compare notes later in the day. It was encouraging to have someone who held me accountable and told me I could do it. I was so proud of him and he was proud (possibly shocked) of me. People started noticing..The word "skinny" came from family and friend's mouths and they were actually talking about ME and not in an ironic way...Though I will say I'm hardly skinny. According to the BMI calculator I'm still technically in the "overweight" category...WTH???? But I would take the compliments, mostly because I was working and working HARD for the results I was getting.
I'm not proud to say this, but life got in the way and two weeks before the end of the Insanity program I stopped. I let personal issues derail my intense drive to finish..I was 8 workouts away from completing Insanity and I.didn't.finish. So where am I now?? Well, the past three weeks have been hard...I'm coming off Insanity, but I continued to workout...I've thrown in some Insanity workouts into the mix, but I've also gone back to my original personal trainer, Jillian Michaels (awww Jillian you're not so tough following Shaun T.), and I've kicked my running up a notch. So in the past three weeks, though I may have abandoned the Insanity schedule, I've run my first 10 minute mile, run a personal best time of 34.47 on my 5K, and set a new goal to run the Shamrock Half Marathon in March with Jason (who has graciously agreed to slow down his African-like running pace and run alongside me so we can cross the finish line together).
I'm also not proud to say that my eating has gotten off track again...mainly because my husband who is trying to woo me has taken me out to fantastic restaurants and I've indulged, and indulged, and indulged. I have not gained any of my weight back. And honestly, I don't think I will. It's definitely been a process and some days are better than others, but overall for the first time I feel like I have a plan in place to keep me focused and on track. I have a husband that's helping me come up with (ridiculously hard) goals and has been encouraging the entire time. When I slip and eat a bowl of ice cream and then go back for another (yep...did that the other night..remember Jay??) he doesn't call me out, but asks what I'm doing the next day to make up for it. It's a balance and for those of you who've followed my blog at all the past few years, you know that finding balance in my life has been an unceasing challenge for me. It ain't easy being a mom, and teacher, and homemaker, and event planner/coordinator, and half marathon runner(!), but I'm trying....and for the first time ever, I can honestly say that and not hear a little voice in the back of my head telling me, "but you really could be doing more."
Soooo..If you've read this far I'd love to know what you think I should add to my goals list??? I'd love your suggestions...Here is my fitness plan for the next several months...let me know what you think...
1. lose 10 more lbs---I'm so close to being out of that overweight category and I know that calculator is ridiculous, but I want to be "NORMAL" and have a 5lb cushion.
2. run the Wicked 10K in October
3. workout with Allyson Heyen (IN SAN DIEGO in November!!!!! wooo hoo!!!)
4. run the Shamrock Half Marathon with my husband in March 2013.
I'd also like to start training for a triathlon. My swimming is dismal though so it will definitely be a challenge. And Jason has mentioned some craziness about doing the Tough Mudder in VB next year...we'll see about that one, but so far I've not turned down any challenge he's thrown my way yet....
ok so that's it... Give me your thoughts on new goals, your best fitness tips, or even your best juggling tips...they're all needed and appreciated!!!
I honestly can't believe I'm a mom to a 1st, a 2nd, and a 5th grader! Time goes by way too fast which is one of the reasons I'm so happy that I homeschool. I love seeing my kids "get" something for the first time, or even see them struggle forever and then finally figure out the reason. It's such a blessing to be able to teach these three sweet kids, even though the pressure I put on myself is immense.
Stella's Desk
Ashlyn's Desk
Quinn's Desk--ie. the antique sewing table.
Stella's Waffle Lady...1st Day of school breakfast tradition
Ashlyn's
Quinn's
Note from Jason I found this morning on my desk...
