What Happened to Us?

We've been having an interesting discussion over on my fitness blog, and I wanted to bring it over here to see if you all might be able to add some insight. I'm curious what you think.

I've been watching the Biggest Loser this season, (Boo Vicky! Boo Heba!)and on this last episode they did a tribute to the 1980's. Sticking with their theme, the challenge this week involved a trivia game comparing health facts from the 80's with present day.

It was interesting and depressing to learn how much our society has changed since 1980. Here were a few facts that stuck out to me:

- Obesity rates have nearly doubled
- Percentage of adults with diabetes has increased 300%
- The average size dress a women bought in 1985 was a size 8, today that average is a size 14
- Women today eat an average of 385 extra calories a day as compared to the 1980's.

I found this all so disturbing. I really want to know what has changed so I can reverse the trend for my kids.

On the fitness blog discussion, the idea of how fast our society moves came up; we rely on fast food, too, much. My mom mentioned that 1980 was about the time she got her first microwave. She thought it might be an interesting study to look at how that has changed our food. Maybe, but I think more than anything, the introduction of the microwave signaled the time when convenience became most important. We want food NOW, and we settle for fake food because it comes quicker.

I was also thinking about how our lives have shifted indoors, we're more sedentary, and more isolated leading to lack of movement and more depression. I don't know. I've heard people talk about this before, but nothing is changing. We are just moving forward, getting bigger, and more unhealthy.

What has happened to us? I'm curious about your thoughts:

-What do you think is to blame for these dramatic changes?
-What do you think parents need to do to help our kids stay healthy?

Oh and by the way....Back to Biggest Loser....Go Michelle!

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Keeping Grandma Happy

Grandma demanded more videos of Prince Charming. I aim to please. : )

That son of mine does not perform on command, but he did give me a little charm. I just had to work for it. : )

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Mama's Helper

Monday nights are always a challenge for me because of AWANA. It is always a juggling act to get Prince Charming fed and the princesses delivered to the church before 6:00.

Lately, my oldest princess has been my saving grace. I was so proud of her tonight. While I nursed the prince, SHE COOKED DINNER. (Don't worry...I was close enough to supervise)

She even served it up on plates and made sure she and her sister were fed.

She was so proud of herself.

She even had their vests and handbooks in piles so they were easy to find when it was time to go.

Now if I could just teach her to clean her room! : )

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I Don't Know Much, But...

...how come the government is able to say, "Oops, sorry, we'd like to change where the 700 Billion dollars of bailout money will be allocated?"

...how come they can tell us, "Sorry, we know you taxpayers are footing the bill, but it's really none of your business that we just loaned 2 trillion dollars of your money. No, we won't tell you to whom we loaned it."

The last price tag I saw of tax payer money spent so far is 3.5 trillion, but others say it will be more like 5 trillion dollars or more before we are done. Oh my goodness, can you even wrap your mind around that number? This article was the best I found for breaking down the spending so far.

Where does it stop? Come on in, the Treasury's open!

Now everyone has their hand out looking to dip into the US Piggy Bank:

The auto industry is asking for 25 billion and may get as much as 50 billion.
The mayors of Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Phoenix want a cut while we are being so generous.

What will the final bill be? How can we spend more and more money that we just don't have? Honestly, I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I really want to understand. Why are we robbing from our children? At what point will we just collapse?

When my youngest daughter heard the radio say 700 Billion Dollars, her eyes got wide- "Mommy, is that really a number?"

Is it? I don't know. : )

I think the lawmakers need to sit down with the princesses and watch what they do with their allowance money. 10% to God. 10% to long term savings. 80% being saved for the Wii they are dreaming about that will probably take them the entire year to earn, but they understand "you don't spend money you don't have." And if you want money, "you work for it." Simple, right?

OK, you economists out there. Please explain. : )

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Golf Ball Sized Tonsils

I hate to admit it, but two days ago I was so annoyed by my six-year-old walking around the house moaning and whining about her sore throat. She kept making these moans that sounded something like, "Uhhh. Ohhh." I knew she wanted sympathy and for some reason I just didn't want to give it. I kept telling her, "I know you don't feel well, but you need to be tough."

Then Wednesday afternoon, I got a call from the school nurse to come pick her up from school. As soon as I walked in the door, she started to cry from relief. She was so sick and so happy her mommy had come to rescue her. Her tonsils were huge! I felt so bad for not being more sympathetic and also really, really grateful to be a stay-at-home mom who can just run to the school when my kids need me.

We took her home, got her jammies on, and tucked her in on the couch in front of cartoons. Then I noticed my own throat feeling a little sore. Within a few hours it hit me, too. Fever. Golf-ball sized tonsils that killed me every time I wanted to swallow.

And guess what I wanted right away?

Sympathy. : )

Next time I'll pass out the sympathy right away so I don't have to learn the hard way.

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My Book

Today, Mrs. MK wrote a blog post about my book, Hope and Healing After Pregnancy Loss. If you are visiting from her blog, welcome!

It was such an honor to read what she had to say about the book and such a blessing to meet her in person. I've been following her blog for awhile now, and have been so impressed by her and the way she is dealing with her grief. I'm grateful my story was helpful in some way.

I'll have to do a post another day about how God led me to write this book. It was a gift from Him, and the writing of it was something He used to help me heal. I'm looking forward to the day it is a "real" book instead of a manuscript. Now that the writing is done, I'd be so grateful if you would pray for the publishing process and all that entails. I'm a rookie and have a lot to learn about the process.

Please pray for the people who will read it. I hope it will point broken hearts to real hope and will help friends, family members, and churches to know how to help someone who is going through this kind of grief.

Thank you so much for your prayers. I'll keep you updated!

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Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Yesterday, this comment was left on my blog post:

Ahem....a little credit for the King would be nice. And you failed to mention that you picked THE MOST EXPENSIVE boots in the store. hmmmmm selective memory?

OK, King Charming, I will admit you were there and you were the one holding the cash AND you were very generous in allowing your little girl to have the beautiful pink boots. Thanks for shelling out the dough so our little girl won't be writing a future blog post about ugly snow boots. You know this isn't the first time my personal baggage has cost you money. ; )

But in my defense. There was only ONE other pair of boots in the store and they were only $5 cheaper than the ones we bought AND I overheard the princesses talking about how they didn't like the other pair because they were gray and that was close to black and I just had to have the pinkest of pink pairs for my princess.

Here they are in all their pink glory:


And just look at the smile on her face:


Plus, King Charming, you are a sucker, too. Look at the brand new backpack you surprised the other princess with:


You act tough, but I know the truth! : )

Love,

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