I was given a copy of Coursing Around to review earlier this month. This sidewalk chalk activity book is a great way to encourage physical fitness in children and even parents.  The book contains fifteen fun-filled workouts designed for children. Each workout, called a “course” has its own drawing to show you how to draw it on your driveway (using sidewalk chalk). My children had a ball drawing the courses before we began working out. We decided to draw more than one course on our driveway which allowed for extended fun. Included in the book are illustrated instructions for the exercises used on the courses.

Overall I think this book is a good resource. I have made obstacle courses using sidewalk chalk in the past, but my children had a lot of fun looking through the book to pick which ones they wanted to create. The course plans make it easy to add more physical activity to your day in a fun way.  The courses are designed to be a child-size workout and are good for parents as well. I would suggest checking this out if you are looking for a good way to add some fun physical activity to your homeschool routine.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book to review. No additional compensation was received for this review. The opinions stated in the post are my own.

My daughter fell in love with the speaker as soon as she saw it.  The sparkling crystals in the shape of a heart make this a great gift for the girls in your life.

My son is looking forward to ordering one that is designed for the guys – the sparkly heart made it easy for him to say this one could belong to his sister. He wants to get this one:

Now for the exciting news — Would you like a chance to win a chicBoom Keychain Speaker of your own?  Be sure to visit my blog on November 1, 2011 because I will be giving away a blue leopard print chicBoom Keychain Speaker.  Details for the one day giveaway will be posted at noon (EST).  For more free products and giveaways, go to the chicBuds Facebook page.

Disclosure: I was provided with two free chicBoom Keychain Speakers.  One is mine to keep and the other one will be sent to the winner of the giveaway.  The above review is my personal opinion.    

Everyone has periods of their lives where they doubt their decisions, abilities or their choices in general.  The problem just seems more observable in women.  I think it is because women just don’t always treat each other well.  Have you ever read Queen Bees and Wannabes?  You really should pick it up if you don’t have it.  The interaction between females is pretty consistent throughout life and quite frankly we are pretty mean to each other at times.

The important thing is to deal with these issues as they arise in your life.  The first time I was in grad school working on my counseling degree we were encouraged to participate in personal therapy sessions.  The idea behind it was we needed to deal with personal issues to be more effective therapists.  Most people entering the program were initially turned off by the idea, but eventually came to believe that the personal work was a vital part of our training.  After completing grad school I stopped attending personal therapy sessions, but maintained the belief that working on issues as needed was the best thing.

With a crazy family schedule like mine it is often difficult to find the time to do things just for myself.  It seems like I am always the one who compromises to make easier for my family…from small things like not getting the pizza toppings I really want to larger things like dropping a community group that I loved attending because it was difficult to manage with our schedule.

I have been making more of an effort of taking more time for myself.  I have decided that taking even a little bit of time daily to read or just veg out will help me to feel more balanced.  A few weeks ago during my reading time, I read about the 40 Day Inner Mean Girl Cleanse and realized what my major issues recently have been caused by – I have been listening to my Inner Mean Girl.  I was quite shocked to come to this realization.  At first I didn’t understand how I became bothered by my Inner Mean Girl.  I thought I had successfully duct taped her mouth way back in junior high.  I reminded myself that the tape can come loose over the years and I just need to put her back into her place with the duct tape firmly over her mouth.

I am excited to announce that I am one of the Self-Love Ambassadors for the Inner Mean Girl Cleanse.  During the cleanse I will be writing about the six habits that feed your Inner Mean Girl and the self-love habits that should replace those toxic habits.

The 40 Day Mean Girl Cleanse is free and open for anyone to join.  I encourage you to sign up and enjoy this journey of self-love with me.  The 40 Day Inner Mean Girl Cleanse kicks off on August 25, 2010.

Now where did I leave that duct tape?

In the past I have written about the fact that I have polycystic kidney disease (PKD).  According to the PKD Foundation, autosomal dominant PKD (the form that I have) is one of the most common life-threatening genetic diseases.  ADPKD affects approximately 1 in 500 people.  I inherited the disease from my father and there is a possibility that I passed it on to my children.  The disease causes fluid-filled cysts to grow in my kidneys.

I found out that I had PKD in 1999 when I was pregnant with D.  The disease didn’t really impact my daily life for the first few years.  Going through the process with Dad helped me make decisions in my life that allowed for fewer dietary changes after being diagnosed.  I saw my nephrologist (renal specialist) once a year to monitor things and went about my normal life.

Over the years the effects of the disease started intruding upon my life a bit more….cysts ruptures, increase swelling, chronic pain, more visits to the doctor, more visits to the vampires~I mean more labwork, starting to take daily medication….All of these things were just signs that my kidney function was decreasing.  This was no great surprise to me.  PKD is a progressive disease.  There is currently no way to slow down or stop the progression of the disease.  There are medical studies currently being conducted that will hopefully make it where no family has to deal with this disease.

At the end of June I went to see my nephrologist.  I was placed on additional medication.  This is something that I am still having a hard time dealing with.  My husband sees it as a medication that will hopefully help with the fluid retention.  I see it as becoming more and more dependant upon medical interventions to live.  At that visit we also discussed my weight issues~I need to lose more weight before I reach end-stage.  I have been working on losing weight, but medical issues make it slow going.  Emotional eating my way through the almost four years I helped to care for my father following his stroke and through pregnancy loss/fertility issues has resulted in me needing to lose quite a bit of weight.  I have to visit with my doctor next week to see if the medication that was added is working and discuss the possibility of being placed on more for some other issues.  My visit to the vampires….errr….lab will determine if I have to adjust to being on even more medication.

People who have read my blog for awhile know that I am a member of the BlogHer website.  It is a great resource for women in the blogosphere.  A week after my less than happy visit to the doctor I was visiting the BlogHer site reading information about the upcoming conference I am attending.  One of the conference sponsors were holding a contest that caught my eye.  Healthy Choice was holding a contest to find twenty bloggers to challenge to improve their lifestyle to create a healthier life.  I decided to enter.  Imagine my surprise when I learned that I was one of the bloggers selected to participate in the program!

The challenge is designed to help jumpstart and maintain a healthier lifestyle by replacing just one meal a day with Healthy Choice.  I will have to keep an eye on the sodium content of the meals that I choose, but there are several that I will be able to eat.  All of the winners also receive one-on-one nutrition, fitness and general health and wellness consultations with Tara Gidus aka “The Diet Diva.”  I am looking forward to meeting her in a couple of weeks while I am in New York City.

I am hoping this will be the jump start I need to leave this weight plateau behind me.  I will be blogging about this challenge a few times over the next few weeks.  Be sure to check my weekend Healthy Choice updates to monitor my progress.

Disclosure:  I am participating in the “Better for BlogHer” campaign sponsored by Healthy Choice.  I am receiving coupons from Healthy Choice (ConAgra) for free Healthy Choice entrees, free nutritional consultation and additional compensation in exchange for my participation.

A few months ago I was able to have a Zhu Zhu party locally and give away some of these cute little hamsters thanks to BSM Media.  Zhu Zhu Pets are hard to find this holiday season.  I have an extra that I am giving away to a lucky reader here at Heathen Homeschoolers.

Entering to win is easy:

1.  Leave a comment on this post.

2.  Follow me on twitter and leave a comment on this post.

3.  Tweet the following and leave a comment on this post.

Are you searching for a Zhu Zhu Pet?  @HeathenMom is giving one away.  Enter at http://heathenhomeschoolers.com/?p=623 Good luck!

4.  Blog about the give away (be sure to provide a link to this post) and leave a comment on this post.

The fine print:  You cannot leave consecutive comments.  Please let someone else post between your comments.  The winner will be picked using a random number generator tomorrow (December 22, 2009).  I will contact the winner for shipping information 12/22/09.   Delivery by Christmas is not guaranteed, but I will ship using priority mail to help speed things along.

Good luck to everyone!

RESULTS – Thanks Random.org

3

Congrats to Eryn!  I will be emailing you tonight for your shipping info.  Thanks to everyone who entered.  I will be having more drawings soon.

That is a lot of crafty fun!

Each project comes with complete instructions that are easy to follow. My son read them to my daughter.  My daughter was able to easily follow along with the pictures.

Sample of Instructions

The first project my kids decided to complete was a fishing game.  They had fun decorating the fish for the game.  A magnet allows you to catch your fish.

Anyone for fishing?

I will posting several of the projects that my kids complete.  Mainly because when I said I needed pictures for my blog, they insisted that I post them all.  My kids love to display crafts that they complete and what better way than to put pictures on mom’s blog.

The company is still in start-up mode, but as soon as they go live I will be so happy to pass along their contact information.  I’d like to thank the company for giving my children the chance to try out their craft boxes.

I am pleased to offer Usborne Books to my fellow Heathens!

Usborne Books offer high quality books that are great for homeschooling families.  Please visit my site to check out the monthly specials and special internet only deals. You can even set up your own e-show that will allow you to earn FREE books for your family!