New Year's Resolutions

The Fantastic Four enjoying the wonders of a white Christmas!

I realize that I'm posting this before Christmas pictures... surely you are used to me being backwards by now, right?

Well, this is what's on my mind and as I found that actually saying it (my Christmas not to do list) out loud and putting it in print just adjusted my attitude SO MUCH for the better, I think I'm going to be proactive in my approach to the New Year. Ideally, I'll get the kids in on the gig too! I'll post what they come up with later.

So here is Melissa's list of my 2011 priorities:

1. Stay on task with school and finish by the end of April so that testing can be done in May and we can have a long wonderful summer.

2. Keep my priorities with school in order so that I don't get fixated on #1 too much and forget that the biggest blessing/joy/privilege of homeschooling is to cherish every single day with my precious little ones -no matter how big they are.

3. Stay on task with our posted list of daily responsibilities and my own daily-to-do's so that weekends are Daddy time and family fun without guilt.

4. Recognize that we LIVE in our house and Martha Stewart does not, And if she comes to visit..... it better be for the company and not to make sure that my house looks like a magazine cover...... I live here, work here, play here, and rarely do I do all that alone...... life is messy when it's fun. As long as it's clean, organized, and sanitary... I WILL NOT demand perfection.

5. I will start walking the dog every morning once Snowflake is here and I can walk again. He needs it, I need it. It starts my day off right and better. I will probably expect the kids to do this with me.

6. I really want to finish reading the Bible with the kids this year so that we can start it again in 2012 but I won't get bent out of shape if we don't. Perspective, balance, breathe. :D I care more about hearts than checklists.

There are more things on my mind but this is what's really important...... balancing life better. Having a goal but accomplishing it while minding the heart of the matter and not the checklist and by doing so, to instill in my kids the right attitude about diligence and responsibility. I also want to facilitate a real and deep relationship with the Lord that shows my kids what His heart really is...... and hope they follow His example, not mine. If their relationship with Him is built on what Mommy says and does, then it is shallow and won't stand the hard test of life. They must be strong with Him on their own. They must stand on the Rock for themselves......

Happy New Year folks.... I'll get Christmas break pictures together soon!

Check out how deep our snow is!!!

My "NOT TO DO " List

Ok, stealing another post idea. This time from my friend Deanna.  Who, I believe, stole it from someone else..... love how this works.

Her not to do list gives her permission to let go of the guilt of the "shoulds" and "didn't get around to its" and focus on what is truly important.

God has gifted me with some serious perspective this year (that's another post... might skip it though, it's kinda heavy.) and so I have actually done a much better job this year than last.... but I'm still very human and very much under the influence of the "super mom" ideal....... so I love Deanna for this encouragement and grace check!

Here's my list:
1. I will not grouch at myself when taking the time to "do the right thing" makes me late for "doing the have to" thing. (Sorry kids for grouching about traffic yesterday.)

2. I will not feel guilty for not doing ALL of our list of activities.... we've done so much and we've done the ones we really wanted to and we've done many things on the spur of the moment that were so much fun! I'm tossing the checklist out the window!

3. I will not feel guilty for using a month's worth of butter in 2 weeks because the end result was lots and lots of yummmy cookies and biscuits that we've eaten and shared and loved...... and I might even go buy more so I can make more too! :D

4. I will not allow anything to steal the sense of joy and love and peace I have when I sit and marinate in My Father's Presence knowing that He alone understands me fully, created me 'specially, and adores me completely........ and He feels that way about each and every one of my "babies"(I do know that they are technically too old to be babies.... cut me slack on this:D), so much more than I can even imagine! And I LOVE that He has gifted me with a glimpse of the depth of what drowning in His love means!!! WOW! I hope I never come up for air.

5. I will NOT stress about the state of my house.... NO MATTER how unkempt it gets on Christmas Day... giggle, giggle and NO MATTER who is coming that WILL notice the details I miss tomorrow as I clean! lol You know who I'm talking about :) hahahaha, We'll eat, we'll talk, we'll enjoy each other's company.... check the guilt with the coat at the door!

6. And finally, I will not forget the precious faces, stories, and footprints I have met and fallen in love with this past year....the butterflies spending their first Christmas with Jesus and the mommies and daddies that are walking around in the fog I was in last year, the ones whose hearts are ripped to unidentifiable shreds..... I remember. I love. I bring your names before the Father everyday with tears. I also remember and diligently pray for each rainbow on the way... all of them. I countdown to your due date with you, I celebrate with tears every healthy birth and adoption.... and yes, I pray as diligently over every adoption in the works just as I pray over every rainbow in the works. I may not say it out loud a lot.... but my heart and mind NEVER forget. EVER.

Love you all.... Have a Merry Christmas full of God's best for you, the deepest drenching in His Presence that you have ever known. I hope you all create your own "not to do" list! And find forgiveness and grace and peace in the midst of the insanity and chaos that can be a part of this year!

LOTS of love to you, Deanna, for sharing this!!! :D

Homeschool blog that totally rocks!!!!

Anyone who teaches elementary school or homeschool WILL fall in love with this blog!!!!

This godly woman is ridiculously creative, amazingly organized, and insanely talented!!!! This is where I got my binder/pocket idea from... but i REALLY love her workbox idea (use the search box in the top right corner). I wish I had the space for it. I just might have to see what I can come up with this summer.

Her ideas are just too cute and too fun.

Lord, help us!

next photo photo by Yahoo! Games/- - December, 7 2010

ANGRY BIRDS -- Portable gaming has gone to the birds -- the angry ones. Though this iOS blockbuster was technically released in December of 2009, its incredible story was written over the course of an amazing 2010. Perched atop the App Store for months, the addictive tower-smashing game became the runaway iPhone hit of the year, selling over 10 million paid copies and leading Finland-based developer Rovio to port it over to other mobile devices.

 

 

 

If you are confused as to why this headline caught my attention..... see here . Heaven help us all.... they've invaded the world.

I'm in love........

sighhhhhhhhhhhhh, (I'm looking dreamily off into space.....)

Click on THIS and see just why I'm starry eyed ;P

Some one else enjoys lists as much as I do. I'm thinking I LOVE this idea more than my laminated checklist! I'll never spend the money on something this expensive but maybe my ever so crafty hubby who is so awesome with tools will make me one???? After all, it IS Christmas and this would be a cheap gift under the tree..... right?

This just looks like SO MUCH FUN! I could even borrow THIS idea from Suzy (you are too cool of a mom, Suzy!) and make it even more fun......  hehehe. I'm loving the idea of "fun cards" added in.  I'm always looking for ways to make life more fun! We NEED fun ... we do.

Speaking of love.... here's our Christmas picture..... this is an entirely different kind of "in love" and we are drenched in it!

I tried to upload the black and white - which is much better.... but the card says, "Do you hear what i hear?"  love it!

New Venture

My friend, Tara, posts weekly menus. I LOVE it! He, he,he.... I started doing meal plans when I was preggo with Glitter because, among other reasons, I could...and it made my OCD tendencies productive, and it saved money, and i wasn't constantly trying to figure out what to cook at 4:30.

It was FUN! I loved it. I kept all those lists of what I'd made stored "for later use" until we moved out of that house. Then we moved to Atlanta and I was on to my next challenge...... I made it through my ENTIRE! pregnancy with Warrior without making the same meal twice. Got a ton of new and yummy recipes out of that experiment. Loved that too.

Then we moved to North Carolina and I decided to up the ante again. I organized all of our favorite recipes into weekly meal plans designed to make the most use of leftovers and half used ingredients..... I know, you're either shaking your head at my insanity or jumping up and down over someone else being as OCD as you are.

That too was fun. I've got approximately 13 weeks of weekly meal plans that do not repeat any meals. All weeks include side dishes (vegetables and starches) that are varied and palate pleasing. We don't eat carrots every day.... but we do eat them once a week. I make sure each week gets it's "quota of the colors". This was a challenge. I loved it.

THEN, I decided that we needed to up the ante on nutrition. I began re-writing my recipes so that all pre-processed junk was left out (no canned soup cream bases etc.). We became healthier... I was still having fun.

But the fun had to end. As I said in a previous post, this ball got dropped and we moved to frozen lasagna and dollar menu. We got sick, I got lazy, off the wagon we went. Getting back on it has been a difficult challenge. The kids are all wanting to learn to cook and we've done quite a bit of training on that front.

So, what's our new venture? Each kid is assigned one day a week to be "kitchen helper".  We are in the process of training them to cook one meal for breakfast right now. Once they get their meal learned, we'll branch out and get creative.... the bigger kids already know how to make their meal and are already stretching their skills... we're working more on balancing the plate!

They are going to take over breakfast prep for a bit once Snow Flake gets here so that mornings can go smoothly and I can take care of the babe. Once she moves to a 4 hour schedule (and we get to summer break) I'll get back in the kitchen with them and we'll up the ante!

For now, here's what we're eating :

1 protein
2 fruits
1 dairy
1 whole grain

Monday: Glitter:
-scrambled eggs
-yogurt
-butter fried apples w/ raisins
-granola bar

Tuesday: Ondepenya:
-cheese grits
-boiled egg
-grapes
-orange juice

Wednesday: Warrior:
-tortillas with cream cheese/peanut butter/ (1 whole which is 2 servings for a kid) banannas... rolled up

Thursday: Electron:
-oatmeal with raisins
-1/2 apple with peanut butter
-milk

Friday: Mommy:
-fried egg
-cheese toast
-milk
-1/2 orange
-1/2 banna

Due to what is available our fruits sometimes change BUT we are adamant about 2 servings of fruit for breakfast and 2 servings of veggies for dinner.... we try to get 1 of each for lunch so that our daily total is 3 each...... we don't seem to have a problem meeting our protein and dairy quota each day... can't imagine why? lol

Ok, you can laugh now but I feel better now that it's written down and I have accountability in this!

-

Just so you know.....

I haven't updated because, well, there's just SO MUCH TO UPDATE! And, typical, I'm waiting on photos to be downloaded....  go ahead, say it.... "Learn how to do it for yourself!". I know, I know. I will.... one day... hey, I figured out how to blog. That's an accomplishment!

I have a GIANT list of things to tell about and pictures to post but right now, we're having WAY too much fun cleaning the house... :D yes, I actually DID say that.  We're also getting quite a bit of holiday fun planned and some of it has even been checked off the list already.

Here's what been going on:

-Mom came for my birthday and brought a "baby shower in a box"  with love and hugs from her best friend Vickie. (pictures coming).
-Dad sent me a pizza party from Papa John's for my birthday... no pictures, sorry, the swarm of locusts descended! :) It was yummy!!!!!
-We successfully finished first semester before Thanksgiving and so we are officially on break until the New Year!
-Rex and Mary came for Thanksgiving and stayed for a week.
-We have more pictures of Snow Flake to share... she is doing very well. Every heartbeat we hear is cherished in a new way I could never have imagined possible. It brings me to tears every time.
-My dear beloved Grandma heard "Well done My good and faithful servant"  and is surrounded by grandchildren and great- grandchildren that she didn't get to meet here on Earth. She will be missed so very much.
-Glitter got her ears pierced for her birthday!!! And shared a Starbucks with Gem.
-It snowed!!!! Puppycakes got a kick out of that.
-We are in the throes of Christmas decorating and cookie baking and cake eating..... and play date planning.
-Lego competition has really heated up.... regional is this Saturday.... hoping for pictures.
-And so much more..... :) stay tuned!

.... So, one day, I'm going to post these pictures and tell you the stories to go with it.... for now... I hope your holiday fun is as blessed as ours. Christmas just has such sweet meaning to us this year. I know Grandma is experiencing it in its fullness! Oh how I wish we could all know this season as she is knowing it!