Patriotic nails

Having my kids home for summer break has its pro's and cons. I do like having  all this extra time I get  with them and I enjoy that  life slows down a little. Sometimes I just love to stand back and watch them when they are all playing together and getting along so well. It is these moments that make me so happy and remind me how much I love being a mom. I also love that we can make fun plans on the fly because we are not on a strict schedule. However there is also a lot more sibling  fights and I always having a messy house. I haven't gotten a lot of projects done lately so I was excited to do my nails and it got me way excited for the upcoming holiday. One of our favorites!

             I am completely addicted to these nail plates!

                                                                            


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18 mile hike

This weekend I went on an 18 mile hike with some of the youth in our church. In my church I am one of the youth leaders to our 14-15 yr old girls. Each year this hike is part of a requirement to pass off some of their certification for girls camp that they attend from 12-17 yrs old. This is the 3rd time I have done this crazy long hike.  However it is quite an awesome experience. You really get to find out what you are made of! Its really amazing  to see these girls overcome their fears and challenges. I always love to see how they come together and support each other. I also admire how determined these girls always  are to never give up and finish the hike. Seriously it is a huge accomplishment and a major character builder.
   So the first year I did this hike it was really tough for me. I don't hike much and my cardio training consisted of maybe running a mile and half a day. I was determined the 2nd year to be a little more prepared and add more cardio/running into my training programs because I felt like I lacked endurance. I think it helped. This 3rd year my training had changed to lifting heavier and  I would randomly mix things up with my programs by doing cross fit type training for endurance. However I have been running/doing  less cardio and averaging about a mile run a day.  I seriously hate running and doing cardio in general. Just can't find the love for it!! I know shocking, me being a girl all about fitness.  I know so many people including my husband and blogs I read about how running  is their passion and I really admire it. I wished I could find that passion. For me running for distance is not fun and its uncomfortable.At what point does it become enjoyable?? However it is funny how I will have people share these same types of feelings to me about weight training. Haha.  Anyway I have found the very best way to prepare for a long hike is truly just to hike as it is really the altitude that kills you. I have told my husband that I would love to start doing hikes with our boys. There is really nothing like being outdoors in the mountains and enjoying the peace and beauty that surrounds you.

           
                          Our view at the top of the mountain!
                     

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Achieving my fitness goals

    So if you were to see me in the mornings or afternoon you would see that my workout clothes are really my true fashion most days. However you will not usually find me with all of my make-up on  like I have in these pics!
    A few weeks ago I hit my personal record of Squatting a 155 lbs and Dead-lifting 165 lbs. Its crazy all the comments I get  from guys at the gym for lifting like that. I had one guy stop me twice during one of my workouts. First just because he was shocked I was attempting to do a dead-lift and he commended me for lifting heavy. He than came back a little later to apologize for starring and to assured me he wasn't a creeper he than proceeded to tell me in his 3 yrs of training at that gym he had never seen a woman lift like that. I had another guy ask me if I was a lady cop and wondered why I was lifting so much. I get shocked when some of these guys confess they don't even lift that much. It seriously makes my day to have other  bodybuilders come up and hi-five me and even have other personal trainers compliment me on my build and my training style. Its true I don't train like most women and I like feeling like one of the guys. I grew up with 5 brothers so its my comfort zone. Lucky for me I have also been blessed with 3 boys of my own! For a change, its just nice to hear those types of compliments and have my hard work for my shape noticed  instead always being told  "must be nice to be skinny and eat whatever I want or just flat out being told I am too skinny!  I work hard "not to be just skinny and I work hard to have the ability to have some junk in my diet if I want! I do understand how hard it is to loose weight too. I  gained 60 lbs with my first pregnancy and only 20 lbs came off after having a baby! It took me a good 5 months through strict dieting and exercising to get the last 40lbs off! My next kid I gained 50 lbs. I will admit I ate a lot of crap when I was pregnant and couldn't exercise very much. With my 3rd child I was able to workout most of my pregnancy and was a lot more careful about what I ate and only gained 35 lbs. Yes I generally have a lean build but I also have the genetics to gain easily if I stop exercising and overeat like most everyone else.
     There is no quick fix or magic diet pill that will give you life long healthy results, no mater what your weight goals may be for your body! Its a lifestyle change through good old fashion proper diet and exercise, hard work and dedication!

Here are a few  exercises that are good to incorporate into your weight training routines. Stability balls are a great challenge to your balance and core.

                                Jackknife

       
                                    Push-up ( for beginners start on your knees)

                             Lunge



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Fourth of July Wreath

Fourth of July is another great holiday we look forward to in our family. Every year it is tradition to go to my Sis in Law's parents house for a big BBQ and swim party. Last year they also rented a cotton candy machine and the kids loved it! Then we always set off a ton of fireworks out in the street and let the kids have sparklers.  I always know that my kids have such a great time at that party because they always pass out in the car on the way home. Looking forward to another great party this year.

    This is my first decoration ever for 4th of July.  I figured it was time that I should have at least least one! Since my Gumball wreath turned out so well I decided I would try to make another wreath with some other sort of candy. I saw these twizzler bites in the candy section and they became the perfect inspiration for this wreath.

Used 3 and a 1/4 pkg of these Twizzler bites. I also let them sit out for a few days so that they would harden. Made it a a lot easier to glue them onto the wreath form.

Glued these on with my hot glue gun. All the outer bottom pieces I trimmed to half their size so they would be flush with the wreath form. Before I spray painted the wreath, I took my glue gun and filled in the holes in between the wreath form and Twizzler bites where there was some bigger gaps.

I primed the wreath with flat white spray paint than sprayed with the Global Blue Krylon spray paint. When the blue paint was dry, I then sprayed a clear protective coat over the whole wreath to preserve it. Did the same for my Gumball wreath so that I could use it again next year.

For the fabric wreath hanger I taped diagonal stripes onto 6" width white cotton fabric and used red Acylic paint for the stripes.

I cut the stars with my Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge. The star sizes I used was 3 1/2", 3",  2 1/2" and 2" stars. I then used pop dots that I hot glued to the wreath to make the stars stand out. 

                                                                                     


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