1. To be a better Mom- my kids would tell you I'm the greatest Mom in the world but I feel I could do better with my patience and what I expect from them.
2. To be a better wife- to make him feel loved even more than I already do.:)
3. To be a better friend- I need to take the time more for friends. Time, is one of those daily things I struggle with.."I don't have time"..., "I ran out of time", Why didn't I take the time"...sometimes, life is going 100 mph and I'm just barely hanging on to the wheel..I used to stop and smell the roses more often and I need to do that again. I used to send my friends letters, through snail mail...I miss that for sure.
4. To be an inspiration to someone- just that, to be an inspiration to someone, to help someone in need, to continue to give back, to continue to show compassion for those in need.
Okay, that about sums it up...basically, to IMPROVE me!:)
Okay, that about sums it up...basically, to IMPROVE me!:)
I usually do the traditional "I'm going to lose weight" but when I thought about it this year, I need to improve me on the INSIDE and then the outside will naturally get better. Not my heart or my spirit or my soul even...my mind. I think my thoughts about myself need to improve and when my brain is strong I can do anything, like lose weight.:)
But, I decided to change things in our household also, get back to basics..I'm a stay-at-home mom, I should have plenty of time to clean, do laundry and still do something I would like within my daily week. We have cut back on "electronic" devices including the T.V. and now play more board games, read more books and I feel I have gotten back on track with teaching my children the very fundamentals I always said I would. They now help cook a meal once a week and I mean they do everything, I stand guard, and help and of course, watch so there isn't any injuries. They LOVE it!! My youngest, Vanessa, has even figured out how to chop vegetables in a safe way and beautifully!
We are also doing more baking, I just taught them how to make a semi-homemade loaf of bread and we are pretty much baking bread weekly now. We still do the occasional crafts, mostly at holidays but only because they are getting older and doing crafts is not to be desired as it once was but they will always dive into creating a painting for me or coloring still and my oldest loves to draw so they are just doing more independant "crafts".:)
We have added more chores and they are earning money and our time together has just seemed more valuable and my oldest who loves his DSI, is fine with only being able to play it for an hour on Wednesdays while Vanessa is at dance and that is it during the school week. They have re-discovered toys and their imaginations keep blossoming. Now, this is not to say we haven't always done all of these things but we got sidetracked for awhile. We were letting Hayden play his DSI too much and reading books was every couple days not everyday...etc.... So, we are back on track, I feel better about my parenting...sometimes I'm so hard on myself.
That is life though, our children get older, we get busier, time goes by quickly and the next thing you know we are living in chaos. I decided to stop myself in my tracks. I was going too fast, literally not stopping and smelling the roses and missing things that I once did. That is where I am right now and it feels good...I feel refreshed and guess what? I lost 12 pounds! I didn't do anything except stop thinking about losing weight and been concentrating on my family and home and it has me busy(in a good way) and it is just coming off. I haven't stopped eating chocolate or cheese and I haven't done any exercising except playing with my kids. My brain stopped worrying about it and I have refocused on the priorities in my life (God, family, friends, house projects and hobbies) and somehow, that is working.:)
So, 2011 ended wonderfully, we went to Pennsylvania for Christmas and spent some wonderful time with family and friends and it was just what I needed. For New Years we went to an annual party at a friend's house and walked downtown to watch the ball drop and it was a perfect night!
I do have some craft photos to share, the kids did some crafts for Thanksgiving for their grandparents. Hayden wrote on the turkey's feathers all the things he is thankful for about each set of grandparents and Vanessa colored hers with her fingerprints. I did some Christmas tags for gifts. Below are photos of both along with Vanessa's Thank You cards from her birthday party that I made. I know I have not been on here much and I need to get on more so maybe I will add that to my list of Resolutions!!:)
