New Year New You---Transformation Challenge

QSA....the place where 35 3/4 year old mommies like me Train Like An Athlete!!

Today began the New Year New You Transformation Challenge.    A 4 week contest to see who can lose the most Relative Body Fat.   With a $500 prize for the winner.  (I could get some pretty awesome new shoes with that cash)

And my next challenge.....

3 BeastFit workouts a week (at least),  at least 1 prescribed cardio workout (shouldn't be hard since I am training for a half marathon...I know most of you who are reading this are in shock right now), and a nutrition plan that is SER-I-OUS

I seriously need to get my nutrition in check.   No cheating for 4 weeks.  I am grateful for the meal suggestions and plan that I was given today.   I might be floating by the end of this with all the water I have to drink...

I plan on blogging daily through this journey.  Sharing  my thoughts  regarding  this journey I am on for the next 4 weeks.  On the workouts, my running, and the food/recipes/meals that D and I liked. (and possibly didn't like....I must get over being such a picky eater)

This is another accountability portion for me.  I have my teammates....GO TEAM AMANDA.... and the challenge checklist on the wall at the gym. 

My hope is that at the end of 30 days I will have results that will encourage someone else to step out  of their comfort zone and make themselves better in 2014.  (QSA is a great place to train and I would love to have some non-QSA peeps join me in the gym)

Off to plan my meals for the week....

Ready or not...there he goes

Thousands of parents across the country drop their children off at school each morning (or put them on a school bus) and pick them up hours later once the day is through.  They trust that the teachers and the school are going to take care of their child and love him/her like their own.  I have 25 children whose parents trust me each day with their children. None of them have parents who teach at our school. They drop their babies off at 7:45 and pick them up at 2:40.  They wonder throughout the day how their child is doing...is he happy?  Did she get over that nervous feeling?  I hope he makes some new friends.  Is the teacher being nice?  Did he get in trouble today?  I hope she ate all of her lunch. 
The list goes      on        and      on.


Tomorrow Jackson starts 3rd grade at the Charles Townes Center in Greenville County.  He has been at Palmetto with me since he was in 3 year old Kindergarten.  I took him with me every day (except car duty morning when Darron brought him).  Every afternoon I knew he would be in my classroom waiting on me when I finished with dismissal.  We would talk about his day, do his homework, have a snack, and ride home together. 

I was one of the few who took their child to work with them.  I was blessed.  Blessed by seeing him in the hall.  Blessed by knowing if he was sick or felt bad, his teacher would send him to me instead of the school nurse ( no offense, Candy).  Blessed by his teachers letting him hug when he saw me in the building.  Blessed by him coming to see me to brag and share his awesome work. 

This is what makes tomorrow (and this school year) so hard FOR ME!!!  Jackson is nervous and worried....that doesn't help the situation.  I haven't met his teacher. I haven't seen his classroom or his desk.  I haven't met the other children in his class.   Darron is an awesome dad and took him to Meet the Teacher while I was at work with other people's children. 

The unsureness of it all bothers me.  Knowing that my little man is worried makes it worse for me.  I have prayed so hard over the past few weeks that God will take care of him.  That his teacher will be nice.  That he will find his way to class...upstairs.  That he will eat his lunch.  That he will make friends quickly.  That he will follow rules and stay out trouble.   That the work will challenge him and not be too hard.  That he will make it to after school program okay and not forget to go by the nurse's office on the way.  That he won't feel lonely.....without familiar faces....without me.

Tomorrow I become a regular parent.  One who kisses their son goodbye as he and dad climb in the car and head off to school.  The one who picks her son up at the afterschool program because she has to work and can't be there at 2:30.

Ready or not....there he goes  

Questions....but do I really want the answers??

Remembering when J was little and all we heard was "why?" or "what that?". I heard those questions a million trillion times.
 Today his questions for us have evolved into "What happens when lightning strikes a car while you are driving it?" or "What is 400 times 12?" or even better "Do you think that I could hit a baseball out of the park at Doug Kingsmore field if I tried really hard and had a bat like the players do?"

My 2 new responses are:
1. we will Google that later
2. I. Don't. Know. (said really slow so that he knows that I really have no clue)

Cleaning J's room and bathroom this morning, I found myself with a list of questions of my own.
1. Why is your sheet crammed at the bottom of your bed? And how do you sleep like that?
2. Why are all the pictures above your bed crooked?
3. What was in that cup? And why is it STILL in your room?
4. How is that we have 27 pairs of socks and none of them match?
5. What happened to the other 47 pairs that I thought you had?
6. Why are your blinds STICKY? All the way to the top under the curtain?
7. Do we really need to keep every Sports Illustrated for Kids that we have purchased over the last 3 years? (remembering the melt down when he couldn't find the Olympic edition that I think I threw away)
8. Why is there an entire roll of WET TOILET PAPER in your trashcan?
9. Is it possible to brush your teeth without getting toothpaste on the water handles?
10.  How did all those spots that look like soap get on the ceiling above your shower?


I can only imagine the answers to these questions.  I am afraid to ask.....I really don't think I want to know.

Never a dull moment as the Meares Mommy :)

Update (and a promise to do better this summer)

I just realized that I haven't blogged in FOR EV ER....
My goal when I started this was to have a place to share some snip its into my crazy world as Jackson's mom.  I haven't done a very good job lately so my goal this summer is to post once a week.

UPDATE on Little Man:

J just finished 2nd grade at Palmetto Elem.  He had an outstanding year with a great teacher.
We have always know he was brilliant...with parents like us how could he not be :)   He got Darron's natural "smartness" and curiosity and my drive to do more.  Plus his mom is a teacher :)

All joking aside....we have know for a while that J's quirkiness and ability to memorize random things were not normal.  He has always talked above other children his age and often had trouble making friends in pre-school and kindergarten.  While most little boys were making dinosaurs "roar" and fight, J was explaining whether they were carnivores or herbivores, bi-pedals or quadrupeds, and from what prehistoric era they resided.  He was gifted and we knew it.
So did his teachers and anyone who spent more than 5 minutes in a conversation with him.  (I recall him entertaining a man and his 2 teenage sons at the College World Series in Omaha 3 years ago when he was 5 and could name the mascot for any team the boys asked him. Within minutes there were 20 people more interested in his knowledge than the baseball game)

Darron and I have been worried about where Jackson's current education path would lead him in the near future. He has attended the school I teach at since 3K and has had great teachers that have pushed him and nurtured him.  But as parents we have know it wasn't always going to be enough.

In October, we learned about a part of the Greenville County School District know as the Charles Townes Center for Highly Gifted Students.  A lady in a clothing store overheard Darron talking about Jackson to a friend and interrupted their conversation to mention this school.
After soon research we learned that testing for students not enrolled in public school in Greenville County was the following week.  We had 2 days to get his application in.  Talk about down to the wire.

 CHARLES TOWNES CENTER INFO:  CTC is the only public school program for the Highly Gifted in SC. It serves a maximum of 75 children in each grade....3rd -8th grades.  It is a part of a the Sterling Elementary School----a school of choice/magnet school.  They accept the top 1% of students in the county who score in the 98 or 99 percentile in several categories of standardized testing.

 We learned in November that Jackson scored in the 96th percentile.  Our thoughts were ok...this wasn't meant to be.  In January I received an email letting me know that all the spots had not been filled and if J's scores from the same type of test that he took in his classroom at PES were in the 98-99 range they would use them.  He scored in the 97th percentile.  Once again...this wasn't meant to be.  At this point my thoughts were "God is trying to tell me that this door is closed.  Something else will come open but CTC is not where J should be for 3rd grade."  I forgot about the whole thing.

The last week of school, Jackson's teacher was getting report cards and test scores together and noticed that he had 2 scores on the testing report:  a 97 and a 98.  Something told me to call the director and just ask.  I knew they wouldn't have a spot...it was June.  But I had to know if he qualified.  She answered the phone on the first ring and confirmed that they could use either score. J HAD QUALIFIED AND THEY STILL HAD SPOTS OPEN.   Darron was on a flight to New Hampshire and I had no way of talking to him for hours.  

I am happy to say Jackson will be attending the Charles Townes Center for Highly Gifted Students this fall.

God once again taught me that His plans are perfect and in His Time.  A door that I thought was closed and locked was opened when He was ready.   Reminds of Jackson's birth...it was all in His time...not ours.

My son checked out a dictionary

Only my son----he chose to check out a dictionary as one of his 2 library books for the week.

Dr. C taught them about the dictionary today and he wasn't finished looking at "all the new words" and "their definitions" so he asked if he could bring it home.

He was so excited he stopped a teacher in the hall and showed it to her.

Ironically.....I read a blog post this morning by one of my favorite Kindergarten on teaching kinders big words. www.mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com

She said other teachers complained that in her units she sells on TPT some of the vocabulary words were not appropriate for Kinders. Specifically that she shouldn't use metamorphosis in her butterfly unit. REALLY?!?!

And then today....I was reading Duck For President to my kiddos. We talked about the words governor and autobiography because they were in the text. Some got it and some gave me that blank look like "what is she talking about...can't we just hurry up and get to centers".

Did I expect them to go check out a dictionary and look up the definitions? NO!!

But I believe that exposing my kiddos to a variety of BIG WORDS will only benefit them as they grow and learn.

MAYBE....that is why my 7 year old checked out a dictionary today. MAYBE....that is why he knew that a meat eating dinosaur was known as a carnivore at age 4. MAYBE....that is why he talks like an adult and is reading on a 4th grade level. MAYBE....that is why he can tell you the technical names of football positions and how they work in a spread offense or a 4-3 defense. MAYBE...that is why he can read books like Tim Tebow's autobiography and understand it.

Jackson loves BIG WORDS!!! I love that he loves BIG WORDS!!!

METAMORPHOSIS, CARNIVORE, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, GOVERNOR, SCHEMA......who says they aren't age appropriate words for my 7 year old son and the 23 five and six year olds in my class? Maybe their future will be brighter because I exposed them to BIG WORDS and smiled when my son checked out a dictionary.

PS---I should probably teach him how to use the computer and internet to look up words because that bookbag was heavy today and before long dictionaries will be door stops :)

An Interview with Jackson

I first did this interview with Jackson in March of 2010. Here are his answers:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Don't say bad words

2. What makes mom happy?
When I help you clean up my room

3. What makes mom sad?
When I do something bad

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A baby

6. How old is your mom?
31

7. How tall is your mom?
7 inches shorter than Daddy

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Snuggle up

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
That's a hard question....I am not around.....What do you do?

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be?
Micheal Jackson or a Princess

11. What is your mom really good at?
Keeping score in my baseball games

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Coaching basketball

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Teach

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Apples or coffee...I am not sure

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Because we do stuff together

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Phineas and Ferb's mom

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Ride to school and listen to Kidstuff Radio

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Both are a Meares

19. How are you and your mom different?
You are older, bigger, and taller than me

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you say it everyday

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Clemson

Fast Forward 2 years----here we go again:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Don't wrestle around with Beau

2. What makes mom happy?
When I do not whine

3. What makes mom sad?
When I whine and when I am mad

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Show me my baby pictures

5. What was your mom like as a child?
no idea

6. How old is your mom?
33

7. How tall is your mom?
5 foot 6 (he is very close---I am 5'7")

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Watch The Bachelor

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
I have no idea...I am not there to see

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be?
A Principal of the School District

11. What is your mom really good at?
Talking

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Ballet

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Teach

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Veggies

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
That you are educated

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
The Roadrunner's coyote

17. What do you and your mom do together?
A whole lot

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we are family

19. How are you and your mom different?
we are from 2 different families---you are a Hamilton and I am a Meares

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you are my mother

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
school and Red Bowl

Success = Dress

If the dress (finally) fits, wear it :)

I will take every little success that I can get.

I got very discouraged earlier this week regarding where this journey is taking me.

BUT...today is a new day. AND THE DRESS FITS :)
Not the ultimate goal dress....we will call this one the speed bump dress.


Advocare Update----Day 21
I have officially lost 8.2 pounds, and 3.5% body fat. And a total of 5.5 inches.

Thanks you Advocare and QSA family.

New Year....New Mommy......NEW DRESS!!!!!