My Summer Resolutions

Yes, you read that correctly....summer resolutions! I am one year and almost a month away from turning 40 years old and I have not even put a dent on my 40 before 4o list! Also, with each new transition, I always set goals and try to achieve them....start of summer, start of the school year, start of a new year. It's an opportunity for me to look at what's working in my life and what isn't....and work on improving and making changes that will not only benefit me but my family as well. So what are my summer goals?

We will be having our family meeting on Monday, June 9th....figure I will let my kids relax and enjoy the first three days out of school and I am planning on sleeping in and enjoying the first couple of days.

1. Developing and establishing new routines with the kids. Bed made each day. Showered and dressed each morning by 10:00 am.

2. Chores. This summer the boys will get the opportunity to learn how to sort, wash and fold their laundry. Each week they will rotate who's job it is!

3. Each week, two will help with the grocery shopping. This means, cutting coupons, looking at ads, planning what we will eat week, help with the shopping, cooking and cleaning up.

4. Setting and enforcing house rules. We just had new carpet installed downstairs from our sewer back up in January and had the upstairs carpet cleaned so no time like the present to enforce the shoes off at the door and no eating/drinking in the living room & family room.

5. TV/Video Games/Computer Time will be limited each day this summer. I want to spend each afternoon at the pool soaking up the sun and working on my tan to hide my cellulite-tan fat looks better than white fat!

6. Workout each day. Connor has a 1 mile run that he must meet under 6 minutes 4 out of 5 times during HS Soccer tryouts so we will be spending some time training on the track and trail. I would like to achieve my goal of losing 20 pounds over the summer.

7. Putting in a garden. We are planning on planting tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and a herb garden.

8. Finish deck.

9. Finish painting house.

10. A Garage Sale, start working on cleaning out the attic.

11. Sort Christmas decorations that have been piled on the saw horse table in the garage and placed on the shelves in garage.

12. Plus have fun this summer reading, spending time with my family and soaking up the sun at the pool.

What's your plans for this summer????

What Have I Been Up Too Lately?

It's been a while since I have blogged and you my be asking yourself....what has that woman been up to? Life has been very busy lately! I don't think I have caught a breath since the first of December! Many of you know that my good friend, Tina, and I have started a new business....check it out! Since we launched our business, I have been running on fumes! Here's a small list of what I have been up too.....

1. Cooking (3 sessions)

2. Delivering (3 sessions)

3. Stoning dance costumes

4. Sick kids-CWH, GLH and SJH (and me) have all had some sort of a strep throat strain...no fever just a really sore throat that last for 2 weeks with aching muscles in your neck and back.

5. Trying to keep up with the laundry-that's been a little dificult since the motor went out in our washing machine last week (Wed). We are pretty sure that the water damange from the sewer back up got the motor wet & that's why it's broke.

6. Futsal-scheduling and supervising games with hubby.

7. Indoor Soccer tournament in KC. Drove back and forth on Sat and Sun because CSH had cotillion Saturday evening.

8. Stayed in Sedalia for a jewerly party, which many of you will be invited to mine & Tina's party on March 15th---check out the jewerly! I attended the party and provided 2 dinners from The Friendly Freezer to help launch our business in Sedalia.

9. Working on recital packets.

10. Heading a committe for Futsal for MYSA.

11. Riding in the car with my son who recently got his driver's permit! That has been an experience. Really not too bad! Just a little nerve wrecking but we have been having fun!

12. Starting to work on Spring soccer for CMSL.

What does your month say about you?

My friend, Notes from the Queen, recently posted about her birthday month & what it says about her. To find out about your month check out the link.
Here is mine:

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

Disney Desperate Housewives

Can you relate? Let's see, I think I can identify with at least 3 of them :-)

Another year...

Another year has come and gone.....

I am blessed with my health and a wonderful family & great friends!

Back-to-School Essentials

Yes, I know, what am I thinking! Summer is in full force and I blogging about Back-to-School! I had mentioned in another post that July 4th always marks the half-way mark for summer & I typically start thinking about school around this time. My son, CSH, gets the EC:Essential Connection (GOD+LIFE+FUN) magazine from LifeWay and there was an article titled Back-To-School Essentials by Sherrill Echols. The quote in the column really caught my attention:

"Prayer, goal setting and planning are three essentials for a successful school year. As you prepare for the upcoming year, pray for God's wisdom and guidance in all of your decisions and choices. What is important to you? What do you want to accomplish?...Do you want to be a member of the student council, honor society , or drill team? What impression or impact do you want to make on your campus?"

What a great concept....for everything in life. Housework, work, relationships, etc. Committing our goals and aspirations to the Lord daily will help us achieve anything.

"Commit your activities to the Lord and your plans will be achieved." Proverbs 16:3

What a strong directive followed by encouragement. "As Christians, we have the ultimate partner in all of our efforts. We can give the Lord our concerns about the upcoming months and challenges ahead."

I continued reading the article and thought of ways this could apply to my everyday life! What activities am I going to commit to the Lord? Everything from housekeeping to grocery shopping to relationship building with my hubby and children to activities outside of the home like dance, soccer & volunteer jobs at school.

This is going to be my theme for the next year....

Home Alone With So Much Too Do!

Good morning fellow bloggers! I have home today by myself, my three youngest children are in Arkansas in the Mountains with their Grandma, Great-Grandma, Aunt She-She & Uncle Chad. My Aunt & Uncle and their grandsons are there too! My husband and oldest son just pulled out of the driveway for ODP training in St Louis. I could have gone with them but I figured that I would take the opportunity to do some work!

Here is my game plan for the day.....yes I know it's Sunday & it's a day of rest but I can do that this week!...

1. Clean kitchen-mop floors and clean off cabinets.
2. Clean bathroom. I actually completed one of my June-To-Do items: Clean out Bathroom Closet-I emptied in out purchased some organizing bins & re-organized the entire closet. I have more room in the closet than I orginally had!
3. Change sheets on beds.
4. Run sweeper in LR and FR.
5. Finish laundry-I have 3 more loads before washing the sheets. I have one more load to do!
6. Take care of CMSL credits-send to my treasurer-send out an email to teams regarding Fall league registration. Actually completed on Monday morning.
7. Update my prayer journal-print out pages for my special friends-Kim & Tina. I already gave one to another special friend, Mindi one the other day.

If I get all of that completed before 6 pm, I will tackle a corner in the garage. My grandmother is having a garage sale on Friday and Saturday & I would like to take some bigger items in the garage to the sale.

I will check back with you later today & update my progress! Wish me luck in getting everything completed!

Total Mom Makeover-Week One-The Starter Mom

I purchased a book by Hannah Keeley called "Total Mom Makeover:The Six-Week Plan to Completely Transform Your Home, Health, Family, and Life" a couple of months ago. I decided to spend my summer working through the book. The Introduction had me hooked:

"I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I walked by with a basket full of laundry fresh out of the dryer. My hair was pulled back in the same scrunchie that I had worn to bed. My face, pale & washed out, had not seen a dab of makeup since last Sunday, and the drab gray sweatshirt that I wore only accentuated the fact that I still had twenty-five pounds to lose. But who has time to shower and dress when you have a house to clean and three kids to look after? And even if I did have time, what was the point?"

WOW, could I relate! I feel that way most days with four children, volunteer activities, a part-time job, etc. etc. What was the point? However, I am worth the effort!

So, now I'm on a Total Mom journey....what is a Total Mom? Keeley describes a total mom as "a woman who is changing the face of homemaking and motherhood. Caring for her home & family is not something she does on the side. It is a priority for her, and she loves what she does. She is smart, energetic, powerful, confident, balanced, and sexy. She doesn't sit around and wait for things to happen. She makes things happen!"

Each week is broken down into a Total Mom Needs Pyramid. Each day, I will read out of the book, do some exercises in a journal, and put what I have learned into practice.

Here is a breakdown of what I can expect to accomplish each week:

Week One: The Starter Mom-tear down that faulty pyramid, acquire tools to construct a better life, learn how to develop a vision, make every motion & moment count, how to speak my way to success & develop a winning attitude.

Week Two: The Basic Mom-begin meeting basic needs & build foundation for growth. Learn how to eliminate toxins from my diet, clutter from my home & (this might change my website rating form G to something else!) boredom from my sex life. As well as develop my own inner fashionista and learn key strategies to increase my energy level! Week 2 will be exciting!

Week Three: The Secure Mom-free myself from the fear & uncertainty that tomorrow holds and establish a sense of security in my life. Plug up the leaks in my wallet and work exercise into my daily routine. And develop methods to manage my temper as well as my housekeeping responsibilities.

Week Four: The Nurtured Mom-work on love & relationship needs. Be nurtured not only through relationships with friends and family but through my relationship with myself. Make mealtime special & create a nurturing home. Develop key strategies to make my marriage work.

Week Five: The Confident Mom-will focus on meeting need for personal esteem & competence in all areas of my life. Learn to trust my inner voice & pursue my destiny. Develop muscles in my body and organization throughout my home. Learn beauty secrets that will boost my confidence as well as appearance.

Week Six: The Total Mom-Move on to living the Total Mom life. Fine-tune those attitude skills & experience life to the fullest. Love to meet your children's' basic needs as well as my own personal need for solitude. Develop techniques to help keep up with the life that I created.

Should be an exciting journey. I hope to share my journal with you on my blog & share insights to my discoveries!

Imperfections

I received this in a email the other day from a friend. I think it's a great reminder..


"An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing homeonly one and a half pots of water. Of course , the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them." "For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

Have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!"

For Better Or For Worse (Dedication to Household Executive)

My friend, Mindi, posted (posted on Dec 16-can't get the link to work) a story on her blog about her boots...These's Boots Aren't Made For Walking...when I read this today in the comic section of the newspaper, I immediately thought of her. If you can't tell what's happening in the comic strip, she get's dressed for dinner in her stylish, very, high-heeled boots, you see her slippy all over the sidewalk and being helped into the restaurant, they eat dinner and her husband (or boyfriend) stops and drops them into a goodwill box. Here is website for the full soap opera For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston It's quite an interesting story line...in Friday or Saturday's clip a girlfriend confronted her boyfriend at another woman's home!