moving right along

I haven't forgotten my 2010 goals.  I think about them many times, but I just haven't sat down and blogged about it.  Here it goes.  As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

This 5 week period I am focusing on the nutrition of our family.  It is not at all that our family doesn't eat well, or that I don't cook for them.  I just believe that if I focused on more nutritious meals, I could improve the overall health of our family.

As I read many of your blogs, I am in awe of the healthy food choices that you put on your table.  I want to be that mom.  I want their bodies to be well nourished because they are so active with their daily activities and sports.

This past weekend I was in the health food store searching for things for myself.  As I was talking to one of the ladies that obviously knew much more than I do about healthy eating, she said to me...
If your kids aren't getting enough fat in their diets, their bodies begin to crave sugar.  Actually, she made me feel like a failure as a mother because I am not properly nourishing them.  Whatever!!!

But, it was like a lightbulb went off for me.  I have tried and tried to cut back on the sugar intake of my kids, but it is a struggle.  They fight tooth and nail.  But it made sense...it is more than just not eating sugar.  Their bodies are craving the sugar, and they can't fight it.  Our biggest struggle is at the end of the school day when they haven't had anything to eat since they had lunch at 11:00 that morning.  So by 3:30, they are starving!!!  The first thing their body craves is sugar, sugar, sugar!!!

Although I have heard that simple sugars can suppress the immune system, causing one to suffer from sickness.  I have not found any research that proves this theory, but it just makes me think.  What is sugar doing to our bodies????  I did find this site and this one too that provided a lot of scary information.  I know that I have to take it with a grain of salt.  We can't totally cut sugar.  We can't completely quit living.

Our household binder includes a section for meal planning.  Some weeks, I have done very good at this.  Others, not so much!!!  One of my other problems is coming up with new, fresh ideas for meals in our house.  I feel like I cook the same things over and over.  It is things we like, but eat repeatedly.  I found this blog that posts weekly meal plans.  I love the varying foods that she prepares for her family.  I can't help but notice the amount of money she spends on groceries a week.  WOW, what an amazing thing.

With all this being said...I am focusing on these few things in our nutrition.

• healthy meal choices that vary more
• lowering grocery cost
• carefully evaluating the intake of sugar
• regularly taking vitamins to benefit our health
• trying to include the needed fat and protein in my children's diet

This is going to be a lot of planning and preparation.  Something I am worried about, because I have very little time to actually include this in my day.  However, I think this is something I really have to take the time to plan.  One thing is for sure, if I don't plan it, we will go back to the same thing we are currently doing that isn't working like I want it to.

Hope your 2010 goals are moving right along as well.

Be blessed, 

made my heart pitter patter

Yesterday I passed on the Fly Lady's website.  Her focus for the month of January is was developing a habit of cleaning your kitchen sink everyday.  This is also Day 1 of her 31 day challenge to bring order to your life and home.  (That's a full time job in my house.)

After writing my post, I did it.  I tackled that kitchen sink with great gusto.  I was excited that at least my kitchen sink would be clean.  The excitement transpired to a good cleaning and bleaching of my entire kitchen.  All the cabinets wiped down, the cabinet tops sparkling, the knobs disinfected, and even the tile.  All the junk and mail strewn over the island is gone.  All that sits there tonight is my camera and an extra lens.  Nothing to keep it company...ahhh!!

But each time I walked through my kitchen this afternoon, it made my heart go pitter patter.  What is it about a clean kitchen makes the whole house seem so much cleaner?  It's crazy!! Cydney's toys could be all over the living room...I can just walk right through them to the recliner to rock her.  But a messy kitchen makes my stomach wrench.

Not tonight though...a clean kitchen it is in our home.  And a smile on this mommy's face.

Goodnight all...have a blessed week.

snow day #3

Before the snow settled in this week, a dear friend stopped me on the side of the road (we can do things like this in our small town) and shared with me some information that she had on organizing and bringing order to our circus.  Honestly, I threw it on the dash of my car for the moment with every intention of going through it with a fine tooth comb later that evening.  As you well know, this month has been dedicated to bringing organization to the chaos of our home.  We have done really well in some areas, and still have some work to do in other areas.  What I want is for our home to function smoothly and orderly.  What I don't want is for our house to lose all flexibility and those that live with me to feel like they can't really "live" here.  I often lose practicality and want everything in order.  Robby has to remind me that we live here...our home is not a show home, but one filled with growing children and lots of love.

When mother nature dumped a foot of snow in my yard, we were grounded to our home for going on day 3 now.  The kids are going crazy.  They need to fulfill the social needs they have missed the last two days of school.  But myself, not so much.  I love it!!!  I love that my car in snowed into the garage.  I love that my sweet hubby hasn't had a single minute to clear our driveway.  I love it that I have not had to wear make-up for three straight days.  I did get out of my pajamas today and wear REAL clothes.  I also love that I have had an opportunity to get a few things accomplished in my house.  One of the main things was clearing the sea of mail, school papers, and junk from my island.  Hubby and I have always had this issue with coming into the house and dumping everything in our hands on the island.  Over a few days...it begins to unravel my nerves.  I become a little psychotic...just ask Robby and the kids.

Being snowed in, I also took some time to look at the bundle of papers given to me by my friend.  This little bundle of papers was from the Fly Lady.  The name rings a bell to me, but not really sure why.  As I began reading through the bundle of papers from my friend, I realized that I was already doing some of the things that the Fly Lady suggested.  I don't know about you, but it feels good when something we are already doing is affirmed by a "professional."

If you are looking for some organizational tips or a complete makeover of your household organization, I encourage you to head over to Fly Lady's website and see what she has to say.  She surely doesn't say to dump the entire house into the front to begin your makeover, but to take baby steps into making your home the happy place for you and your family.  She has a 31 day plan.  I haven't even looked through the entire plan, but I like the sound of Day 1.

As for now, I am off to shine my sink.  For real...the kids are out playing in the snow.  Cydney is playing with her baby.  What better time to take a few minutes to complete Day 1...shining my sink.

Have a super Saturday!!  Be blessed!

organization update

As of 7:39 this morning my answer would have been dismal failure...in some areas that is.  What is it that research says...it takes doing something like 27 times before it becomes a habit.  I don't know if I will make it 27 days!!

Our weekly plan has been successful.  Neither of the kids argued about their particular responsibilities for that day.  They got in there and did them and all were happy, including mom.  Yeah!!!

The family schedule is another story.  Did I mention how laid back and S.L.O.W. my husband and children are?  Well they are.  One morning this week, Carson was still in pajamas at 7:20...we need to leave at 7:30. You can imagine the response I gave when I realized this.  Not one of my better mom  moments.  I just don't understand how the kids and I can get up at the same time...I take a bath, fix hair, make-up and get Cydney ready in the same amount of time it takes them to eat breakfast, get dressed, and feed their animals.  Someone please help me understand this!! So, yes, our schedule is still a work in progress.  I am determined to make mornings happier at our house, and continuing to improve on our schedule is a way to do it.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God 

has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:14

Now, I don't believe that the calling God has placed on me is to completely organize my home, but I do believe that we will be rewarded with happy hearts when our home and schedule are more organized.

So press on we will.  

grocery list

I have a wonderful IN REAL LIFE friend that also reads my blog and sent me this grocery list last week.  I didn't want to post it to my blog until I had the chance to use it myself.  And oh my goodness, let me tell how much I loved it.

I am the type of grocery shopper that makes a list, but not in any real organized fashion.  I guess I am lucky to just get to the grocery store with the list.  My typical grocery shopping experience is starting on one side of the store and working my way to the other.  By the time I get close to the end of my shopping experience, I have forgotten something on the other side of the store, so I drag my crew back to the other side of the store.  Grocery shopping is an exhausting experience and you can see why.  I almost never go to the city to buy groceries because I just hate it.

Yesterday was the contrary.  I took my new grocery list and tackled the grocery store.  I was able to manage each section easily.  It was really quit easy.  I was in and out of the grocery store in no time at all.  That could have had something to do with the fact that I had none of my children in tow, but I would rather believe that it is because this grocery list is so fabulously wonderful and easy to use.

Hope the grocery list can be of use to you too!!  Have a great evening.

plan in action

When the new year sprung up on us, I was determined to take the opportunity to get our family organized and on track for a wonderful year.  My family is pretty much a go with the flow type of family, but me, not so much!!  I try to be, but find myself frustrated and aggravated.

Much of the past two weeks has been in the planning stages of our plan.  Whatever I decided we were going to try, I wanted it to be well thought out and the plan to work well for us.  When I make a plan, I want to stick to the plan as closely as possible.  I have a very hard time with flexibility and change.  This is definitely one of my down falls.  One would think after being married to my husband for almost 15 years, I would have learned that plans are going to change and I need to be flexible.  But I have not.  I still get mad when they do.  I even pout a little.  Ok, maybe a lot.

But, one thing I have realized this week is that no matter how much planning I do or how inflexible I am, things ARE going to happen that cause our plan to fail.  For example, on Monday I had to make an unavoidable trip to town.  Due to the fact that we live 30 miles from the city, this puts a serious kink in my well thought out, evening plan.  Dinner became fast food and bed times got pushed back...a lot.  Not in the plan!!!  Evening ends in rushing around and unhappy, impatient mom.

So here is the plan.  I know everyone has to adapt to their own family, but I wanted to share with you our plan of action.  This plan is probably going to change as we use it more, but it is a starting point.

Kirkland Household Binder contents...
     Weekly Plan
     Yearly Calendar
     Menu
     Weekly List
     Shopping List
     Family Schedule
     Family/Household Rules
     Budget

As my precious son was wondering around the house this morning at 7:20, still in his pajamas. I knew I could plan no longer, and must implement the plan immediately.  Before I lose what is left of my mind.  So today tomorrow it is.  Business dinner tonight with Robby.  It's a sorta like a date, so no complaints here.

Please Lord, bless this mother's endeavor to get her family and house organized.

the jury is in

I knew trying to decide on what area of personal improvement would be a very hard thing for me to decide.  I want to work on it all...right now.  After hours days of thinking, debating, and deliberating of where to begin, I have decided!!!

Family schedule is so important in our house because when our schedule gets too busy and fails, we all feel the effects of it.  We get tired, grumpy and everything goes awry!!  No fun at all.

I am really wanting a new suburban, but have become very accustomed to no car payment so reworking our budget is going to take some work.  The sooner I get our budget all worked out, the sooner I get a new car.  But, I really don't think this is the most important for our household.

Organization of our family systems and our house is super important to me because if I have a happy home, my family has a happy mommy.  When my house falls apart, I become very hard to live with.  I become that nagging, hateful, scary mom.  No one likes her, including myself.  So this is where we begin for the year.  I feel like if I get things started in the right direction with our household responsibilities, many other things will naturally fall into place.

So this is where we begin.  I stumbled upon this little blog that had several great ideas for organizing your home.  I have searched her blog inside and out and decided to use some of her ideas.  They sound very efficient and useful.  What worries me, is yes, they are very efficient and useful to her, but can I adapt the system for myself.  Adapting is the keyword here.  No, not every system will work for every person, but adapting a system to fit your own unique lifestyle will surely benefit you and your family.  That is my hopes for myself and my family.

What am I using and what am I tossing?

I have begun the process of developing the Kirkland Family binder.  So far it has a calendar printed for the year, a monthly menu, chore charts for the kids, grocery list, and our family budget.    These are just some samples that I found from the internet that I liked.  I am sure if these didn't fit your needs, you could Google and find something out there on the internet that you could use.   Or better yet, make your own and publish on the internet.  Robby and I have gone through the Dave Ramsey course and have worked with his budget forms in the previous years.  Here is website with some pre-made forms you might like.  Or even here.

Things I will be adding to our family binder are MM Routines (Minimum Maintenance),  and Household Systems.  It will take a bit to sit down and get my thoughts squared away, but I hope to have it completed by the end of this week.

I also really like the idea of tackling a "zone" of the house each week.  Tackling would be defined as de-cluttering and reorganizing.  Read here to find out more about zone cleaning.  That is one problem that I have, I know I need to tackle a few areas of my house, but get overwhelmed and end up not doing any of it.  Well not this week anyway.  I had very good intentions of taking on the pantry and laundry room this week, but NO!!!  If I address a zone a week, I should be able to work through the entire house, for the most part, through out the month and it won't get to the overwhelming stage.  That's my hopes anyway.  Remember...kids can help with these cleaning jobs.  Oh, and mine will!!  Really, if it weren't for these kids that lived with us, we might not need these drastic cleaning and de-cluttering measures to begin with.

I must sign off for now.  The baby is awake.  I spent her entire nap time working on my Household Binder and typing this blog.  Now, I must get to work.  I still have lesson plans to do for back to school tomorrow.  ugh!!!  Dreading it right this minute.  But. that will be our test.  Can we make all this work when we throw work and school back into our busy lives.

Have a super evening. I am looking forward to spending mine at home with my family.

new year's resolutions anyone?

I am really not one to make outrageous New Year's resolutions simply because I don't ever keep them.  I do great for a week or two, and then I fall back into the comforts of life as I knew it.  Which isn't all bad, because it is a good life.  But, there are a few areas I could definitely make some improvements so our lives will flow a bit smoother, bank accounts robby would smile a bit more, our home would be cleaner, and my spiritual walk with God would be closer.

As I was catching up on a few blogs yesterday, I came across this blog from Trench Mommy with a few suggestions for personal improvement throughout the year.  It reminded me of this blog post where I questioned the idea of just going through the motions in life.  What would I miss out on?  What if I had given everything...in every area of my life?

I was just sharing with a friend last night that I feel like some areas of my life have just been blah feeling.  Nothing too serious....just blah!!!  I can't seem to move past that feeling toward a more motivated spirit.  Quit honestly, I hate the feeling.  When I lay my head on my pillow I want to feel like I have had a positive impact on each day and the people that I have crossed paths.  I have an amazing family and an amazing life and I want to make the very best of each moment.

In keeping with the idea from Trench Mommy, here are the areas of my life that I would like to make personal improvements.

• Family schedule
• Spiritual growth
• Personal Finance
• My husband
• My children
• Housekeeping/Organization
• Nutrition
• Servanthood
• Health
• Work

Although there are many areas I am sure that I could improve, these are the ten that I will focus on that will benefit myself and my family the most.  The problem is...that I want to fix all areas right now.  But you see, this is where/why I fail.  I try to take on to many improvements all at once and I can't possibly fix them all at once.  In reality, none of them are completely broken areas, they just need a little tweaking to make my life flow smoother and happier.

I am going to devote five weeks to focus heavily on each of these areas.  Hopefully with a five week focus, I change some of the bad habits I have developed and turn them into good habits that make my entire family happy.

For now, I will sign off and determine the order in which I will attack each of these areas. I think I have a beginning point, but need to evaluate.   I will map a plan (that I will share with you) and then buckle down for positive effects in my life.

Happy New Years Day to you all.  Praying for a happy, healthy and prosperous year for each one of you.  Much love from our family.