July week 2 work out

Week 2 work out!!

Each of my weeks contain pretty much what I did the week before to maintain what I have gained plus adding on something else to help increase either muscle gain, toning, cardio or stamina.

My goal this week is to eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning, no excuses!

This weeks work out will be:

20 Normal Squats
20 Push ups
20 Boxer Knees (Boxer Crunches)

20 Russian Twists
20 Jumping Jacks

20 Legs together Squats

20 Push ups
20 Boxer Knees (Boxer Crunches)

20 Russian Twists
20 Jumping Jacks

20 Sumo Squats

20 Push ups
20 Boxer Knees (Boxer Crunches)

20 Russian Twists
20 Jumping Jacks

20 Pilo Squats

20 Push ups
20 Boxer Knees (Boxer Crunches)

20 Russian Twists
20 Jumping Jacks

20 On your toes Squats

20 Push ups
20 Boxer Knees (Boxer Crunches)

20 Russian Twists
20 Jumping Jacks

The yoga I am picking for this week is going to work on help my back. I caught myself from a fall on Thursday night last week and injured the soft tissue along my spine from the bottom of my rib cages to the base of my spine. It sucks I can barely move and it was a huge set back as I have not been able to work out other than walking and yoga since Friday.

Remember just because you can't do it all at once doesn't don't try. Do it in sets, take breaks as you need them and remember its not a race!!!

http://www.improvementvoice.com/10-best-yoga-poses/

What is your goal this week?

Raised Garden Boxes

Spring is my favourite time of the year and this year was made even better with the new garden boxes that were built for me! So far I only have three but by the end of summer I will have 5 total. Life with garden boxes if so much easier, I don't know why I didn't do them sooner. They are all raised to about 2 feet off the ground or higher, they were made from old pallets I picked up for free outside of businesses as well as 2*4's that someone was giving away from an old deck. They are lined with black garden liner to help hold the dirt in and help with the prevention of weed.

So far this year I have only had to pull 1 weed, just one from garden boxes where in the years past I had to weed daily. In my garden boxes I have cherry tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, green peppers, celery, radish, carrots, green onions onions, romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce and American lettuce.

We have been eating lettuce from the garden for about 2 weeks now and its amazing, there is a big difference between home gown and store bought. With the raised beds I don't have as many pests either, but still have a few and to deal with them I just use soap and water sprayed on the plants.

The heat has been really hard on my lettuce and other leafy veggies this year but my tomato plants are growing like crazy.

Very little bending and no getting down on my hands and knees any more, this in itself is a life saver for me. Plus it keeps the dogs out the gardens too, well its supposed to, my current foster Lexi likes to get up in the big and dig in the middle where there is nothing growing, my son seems to love this too.

I put the garden boxes over top of the old garden so they are not taking up any extra space.

The garden boxes are easy to build with the right tools and in most communities you can find free pallets as businesses are always trying to get rid of them.

I used 1 yard of dirt and that filled the three garden boxes no problem plus I have enough left over dirt to fill one more.

As the garden boxes were kind of a last minute thought and not all are done yet I didn't get everything planted that I wanted to, oh well there is always next year.

What do you your gardens look like?

Teacher gift ideas!

This was Blaines last year at preschool. We had the most loving and amazing experience with Kiddie Korners Preschool in Petrolia. The teachers and staff are caring wonderful! I did a short stint as VP of the bored of directors and then left the bored as of June for personal reasons. Its a co-op style preschool and a true preschool as in no naps, a learning setting and small class size. There are 2 teachers, the director and the cook. All meals are homemade and made right in the school kitchen. Once a month each parent has to come in and clean for an hour as well as bring a snack on their snack day.

Blaine loved it and still talks about his teachers and preschool friends. As Blaine is home schooled this will be his final year with “Teachers” so I wanted to make something special. We always do gifts for the teachers at Christmas and end of school.

This end of the year I did watering can flower pots with flowers on them for each of the teachers. I did a mug for the OT and I did spices for the cook.

What you will need:
Mini metal watering cans (I got mine at Dollarama)
Either stickers or cut vinyl (I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut and design)

Dirt

Lighter
Flowers

Empty green pots that fit in your water cans

Mug
Spice set from Epicure

modgepodge (if using stickers)

Either cut my hand from vinyl or use scrap booking stickers to create your desgin on the side of each flower pot, the side of the mug and of course on the blank spot on the spices box

 Once you put your vinyl on your spice box that one is all finished!

Decide what saying you want on your mug I went with “Without SPL this would be booger” and it has a photo of a burger on it.

If you are using stickers put a thin coat of modgepodge over the stickers. Hand wash only the mug.
If you are using vinyl take the side of the lighter and run it over each letter with light pressure.

On the mini water cans. Do the same as you did with the mug but on the water can.

Take some of the dirt and fill the little green pot(s) you got, add your flower, add more dirt.

Put your mini plastic pot inside your mini watering can.

There you go three simple great teacher gifts that they will love, I know because the teachers at Blaines school loved them!!!

Ottawa: Christy

This was my second time going to Ottawa and it was for the same reason as the first time but this time I got to explore a little bit more and enjoy a little time out my normal activities.

I was taking a foster to her forever home, they were an amazing couple. They fell in love with her the moment she enter their home, they had a rocky start though with her escaping her crate and being just a pain in the butt, typical puppy behavior. Time has past and they have long signed the paperwork.

Things are different with this rescue, the adoptive family added me to facebook and I get to see photos and updates all the time, I never had that with the other rescue. We would get one or two updates but that was about it.

Ottawa was amazing!!! We skated the canal, I didn't get very far because of my foot but I still did a couple KM and it was amazing!!

Just so happens we were up there at the same time as the Ottawa snow festival we got to see sculptures and eat fresh made maple suckers.

We also visited the hill and a few other places while we were there. It was a short trip but it was amazing and we can't wait to go back again!!!

Have you been to Ottawa? What is your must do thing while you are there?

Not so lazy days of summer

https://gallery.yopriceville.com/Free-Clipart-Pictures/Summer-Vacation-PNG/Summer_PNG_Clip_Art_Image#.Wzl3mrgnbIU

This summer is about to be full of learning and exciting fun activities with lots of trips to places as well. Yes Blaine is home schooled and too young to be “bored” by being home in the summer and not in school although we learn all year round summer is a different type of learning. There is going to be lots of summer reading, library trips, splash pads, parks and places.

Unfortunately this summer is going to have to be a little bit different than our normal summers as we are down to one car until the truck is fixed so we have to drive dad to and from work.

Our daily summer schedule looks something like this.

Monday's are going to be visit a new splash pad or go to the beach in the mornings before it becomes so hot you have to peel yourself off the sidewalks. In the afternoons we will doing something from the home school bins such as a science experiment or something else that is hands on.

Tuesday's will bring play group in the mornings and the afternoon will include a work sheet.

Wednesday's are going to be our fun filled days weather permitting we will be heading out to adventures such as storybook gardens, the children's museum, Toronto science centre, the African lion safari, the ROM, and many many more exciting places.

Thursday's are our quit days we will visit the library in the morning to get new books and of course play in their play area and do the weekly craft. In the afternoon we will work on our summer reading list.

Friday's weather permitting this year are going to be hiking! He is finally old enough to hike the small trails with me which is great and his love for exploring and learning in nature matches mine. We will hike a new trail every week, do a nature hunt and learn about the items we are hunting for.

Weekends will vary depending on what all is going on, cleaning, yard work, the beach, camping, prepping for the week ahead and of course relaxing.

Through all of these awesome summer plans is his birthday and holidays and of course my business that still needs to function. Each day has time set aside for him to chill out and play while I work on whatever needs to be worked. The crock pot and I are going to be best friends this summer.

What are your summer plans?

Week of July 1st workout

Last year in October I fell and mangled my foot to say the least, it was really stupid how it happened and it was just a perfect place, perfect time moment. Well I was in one of those horrible cast boots and non-weight baring (hahaha with a 3 year old ya right) for 4 months. Come January I was freed from the boot but only allowed limited weight baring and NO exercises and was told I may never run again. So I followed the rules as I watched all my hard work from the year before go down the drain. For the past month I have slowly started getting back on track while being mindful that my foot is still injured. I have jogged twice in June and started working out here and there. This past week I put more effort in to making sure I was walking everyday and working out everyday although it is a smaller than normal work out and I have to bounce around the times as it has been 40 degrees out.

This weeks out will look like this:

Every day!
At least 30 min speed walk and 10 min jog.

100Squats
20 normal
20 legs together
20 sumo
20 pilo

20 legs together on your toes.

100 Per side standing boxer crunch (Boxer knees).

100 Push ups.

100 Russian Twists

How my work out looks:
20 normal squats
20 push ups
20 boxer crunches
20 Russian twists
Shake it out

20 legs together squats
20 push ups
20 boxer crunches
20 Russian twists
Shake it out

20 sumo squats
20 push ups
20 boxer crunches
20 Russian twists
Shake it out

20 pilo squats
20 push ups

20 boxer crunches

20 Russian twists

Shake it out

20 legs together on your toes

20 push ups

20 boxer crunches

20 Russian twists

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/398990848233293027/

Above is the yoga that I will be doing after every workout this week!

https://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/10-crunch-free-moves-killer-abs?page=2

This is what the boxer crunch looks like

Cherry

Cherry and Donnie came together, however their stories are slightly different. They both came from a shelter in Windsor. They both had the same story “ we picked them up on opposite ends of town but both had a microchip and there was only an email attached that traces back to a known sketchy back yard breeder”. Cherry came with a whole list of her own issues, she was scared of life, had to be carried in and outside barely left Bosscos crate which she had claimed as her own. At her vet appointment when I had built up the courage to finally take her in, about 4 days after Donnie had crossed the rainbow bridge. The vet gave her a good once over, her spay was a butcher mess, both ears were infected, both eyes were infected, she couldn't produce her own tears, she was completely blind, had dementia, was partial deaf, but man her nose worked great!!! She had pressure wounds all over her body from spending her life in a crate and used solely for breeding. Donnie and Cherry were likely a breeding pair.

After being with us for a short time she started to warm up to us and boy she was sneaky. She would steal things and hide them in “her” crate, man she was such a hoarder lol. She was doing great, loved Blaine and would even allow us to snuggle with her. You could tell when she would get lost or confused she would just walk in circles until you went and picked her back up.

One morning we woke up to her having pooped on the mat, pee was the norm with her every morning there would be pee in front of the door on the mat or she would pee in her crate. This morning was different, she had a rough night and had pooped on the mat. I tired to take her out of the crate like every other morning to take her to pee and get some food. This morning she growled and went to bite me, I tired again and same thing so I gave up and left her be figured it was just an off day or whatever. I messaged the rescue and let them know she was having an off day and that I would see how she was at end of the weekend. This happened all day that day. She refused to leave the crate and was bring mean, she had also started to have what looked like the shakes someone who MS gets. The rescue figures she had a stroke or seizure during the night. I called the vet and made her apt for the Tuesday. This would give her time to see if she improved for not. Which she didn't.

Sadly after being in care for a short few months we had to say goodbye to Cherry. This wasn't easy.

After losing both Donnie and Cherry I felt as those I had failed them both, that if I could have found them sooner, if I could have, I don't know done something else to help them they would have been able to feel love for even just a little longer.

In rescue saying goodbye to dogs and holding them while they cross the rainbow bridge, giving the most out of life for even a short while is an honor, it breaks you but it is an honor that not many can handle. The best part? Even though they are only with you for a short time you get to see them be free and happy in a way without you they would never have, you get snuggles and love that is beyond words. You get to comfort, spoil and show them love that they have never gotten in their little lives.

Once again as I write this and think of the amazing snuggles and Cherry trying to steal my shoes as I am wearing them lol or socks from the clean laundry basket as I mate them, I am in tears because though she was only here for a little while each animal touches your soul in a unique way that without being in rescue I would never experience.

Thank you for allowing me to be the one to help those who can not help themselves. Thank you for allowing me to care for those who need it the most and thank you for allowing me to make a difference one dog at a time.