Things that need attention.

There are so many things I want to get done, that I generally just get overwhelmed, and then don't start. So I thought maybe if I started a list of the projects that I want to work on and complete, I could start hacking away at it.

 

This is my craft-tastrophy.  I like to make bows and dresses for my girls and the like. It's very extremely frustrating though, for obvious reasons.                                                                                       

   This is my storage. Uhm... so... yeah...                                                                                           

      My children are between rooms, so that should probably be worked on.

At the moment, those are probably the most pressing issues that need attention in my world. Well, and then there's menu planning, kids schedules, budgeting.. there are just too many, my brain is getting foggy. I must. stay. focused.  Wouldn't it be the greatest if there were like a book that you could write down things you need to do and stay organized and on top of things?.. If only there were some kind of thing like that, a note book used to plan...

I found list of things you can do in a monthly basis to get your food storage up and running. I don't remember where I found it or I would link it. I've tweaked it to fit what our family actually uses. August is 100 qts of fruits or vegetables per person and 24 pints of jams or jellies, and school and pet supplies. So this weekend I'm planning to can peaches. I'm not even sure how many I'll make. I want to do at least 40 but that won't even put a dent in the 600 number. I am thinking I'll do Apple sauce and pie filling, does that count? Sure it does!
I want to do tomatoes too. The garden was kind of a bust this year. I'm not sure what I did wrong, the tomatoes never showed up. So if I do them, I'll have to buy them. What other vegetables could I preserve? Any suggestions of things that work well?



                                                                       

Wonderment and inspiration.

 Hello, peasant.

 Yes, Hello.

 I have this stick!

 I can fold my tongue.

 Get out of here!

 That is simply wonderful!

 I can sing with my eyes shut.

 You are a wonder!

The tenatious sunflower.

Hey Kim! Wuzzup? I changed the name cause it seemed like a good thing to do. I want to always be righteous, so I followed my heart.
This is Oliver's sunflower. Can you say, "oh my WORD?" He planted it from a seed in his kindergarten class in, I'm gonna say, May? Anyways, he brought it home and it sat on our windowsill for a month and then we put it out by the back of the house for Moony to enjoy. It wilted. It died. For real. It was gone. Then out of no where, I noticed this large glorious weed. I almost pulled it, but didn't because I take a lot of pride in the weeds around my house. It is Oliver's sunflower come back from the dead! Resurrected! It is, not kidding, only a few inched short of our roof now. I'll post another picture when we have a beautiful flower on it. Oh yeah, and that is a sprig of some kind of tree that I didn't plant  over there on the left. Ah, nature!

Dairy free

I have been doing some research on being healthier and trying to listen to my body lately, and I am almost certain that I am lactose intollerant, again. (When I was younger I had problems but I figured it had gotten better.) A couple weeks ago I got thinking about why I had been having so many stomach problems and I decides to do an experiment and stop dairy consumption. awell within a week I started feeling tons better. Plus with the research i have found, getting rid of dairy can assist with weight loss as well as acne, (which I has been tormenting me for almost a year now since I got off birth control.)

So I am officially going off dairy. Today is officially day one, and so far I think my biggest challenge is not going to be ice cream, but cottage cheese and yogurt. I love it, and you are always being told how good the two are for you so it is going to be hard to give it up without a fight. I am actually going to take it a step further once I get adjusted to dairy free. I have looking into the paleo diet, and I really love the idea behind it, eating only whole foods and those foods that we would have eaten in the paleolithic time period. I am definitely not one to give up meat, I love it too much, but giving up dairy and grains, I think I can do that. From my findings, the average person lost 10 lbs a month, and feel a ton better with loads of energy. I think I am going to start that in a few weeks, (one so I can adjust my diet to whole foods and dairy free, and two because we are going to Disneyland, and who am i kidding, I will be on vacation.)

I am really excited about it, and I have high hopes that with this new lifestyle, (I hate "diets", and I dont want to just do this for a couple months and then go back to my old ways) as well as working out, I can meet my goal by August. That gives me just under 5 months. I better get my butt into gear.

The Deliberate Mother

I decided for Easter this year, (and Christmas as well) that I wanted to be more Christ centered, to focus on the purpose we celebrate these holidays. So on Palm Sunday (we dont actually observe Palm Sunday, but I wanted to focus on the whole week leading up to the resurrection), I gathered D and the kids and I read from the scriptures what Jesus did on that day before his resurrection. We have continued it so far the rest of the week, and although it is a simple thing and only a few verses that we are reading, I feel closer to Jesus and the spirit.

I believe as a part of this extra spirit in our home, I have noticed...I guess that is the right word... that I am not being the mother I know I can be. I have been thinking a lot about the time that I spend with the kids and what I have been doing with them, and...I am not sure how to say this with out it making it sound like I am putting myself down, because I am not, but...I am not putting my full effort in.

And I really dont want to put blame on anyone or anything, but I do know that a reason for this laziness is because of the internet. Take for example Pinterest. Although it is awesome and can give you so many ideas that you never would have though about, and I do think I may continue to use it if I am looking for anything in particular, I think it has made people more lazy. We sit on the computer or on our phone for hours just pinning all these wonderful ideas that we will "someday do". How many of us have pinned stuff and then just dreamed about it, never actually putting it into action? Not only that, I tried to remember the days before Pinterest, before the internet even. What did we do, what did our parents and teachers do when they had to think of something for us to do, or a solution to a problem? We had to use our CREATIVITY. I know I have it in there somewhere. But creativity is a like a muscle. It only gets stronger when we use it.

I was thinking back to when I was a kid, and I was pretty creative, just like L. That girl can come up with the most creative things, and she doesnt have pinterest to refer to. I am going to focus on getting creative with my kids, not just stealing other people's ideas.

Along with Pinterest, the internet has made us lazy in our communication with others. I had a presentation that I had to do in I think it was psychology, and I chose to do it on just this topic. What I came up with was this, (in a nutshell). The internet ruins our communication in two ways: we lose our communication skills with those we are speaking to on the internet, because we are relying on internet to do it for us. For example...facebook. We are relying on that little communication tool to tell us what are friends are doing, what has happened to them, and so on. We have gotten lazy to the fact that we cant call them up on the phone anymore, or send them an actual letter.

Second the internet is ruining the way we communicate with our family and friends close to us. As I look back at the past week for example, I have had my phone right there like a constant companion. I am really embarrassed to be saying this, that I was (probably still am) so dependent on that little box. Last night I made a decision though. I deleted the facebook app from my phone as well as any game app that took too much of my time. (Today has been a very interesting day, I had realized how much I look at my phone for those things. I have picked up my phone probably 20 times to look at facebook, only to remember that it wasnt there. Can anyone say ADDICTION?!)  I am also going to be getting rid of my facebook account altogether probably in a week. I am going to give people time to send me their email addresses if they want to contact me or if they want me to add them to my blog. I am going to strive to be better at communicating in the way that we used to and I am going to focus on keeping my blog up to date instead of writing it all on facebook. And I am going to focus on being involved with my kids. I am going to be a deliberate mother. Because that is what my kids deserve.

Just do it!

So, I have a new motto for myself...just do it! (I know Nike trademarked it) I think my problem with a lot of things is I get all these ideas and then I say, I will do it later when it is a better time. But Then I never get it done. Over the past couple weeks, I have been trying to do things as soon as I think of it, and I tell you what, it works. As soon as I think of calling someone, I stop what I am doing, (as long as I am not going to burn some food or break something,) and call that person. As soon as the thought comes to me to get something done, I do it, instead of procrastinating. I feel like my days have been so much more productive.

One thing that I need to do though that I have been putting off because it really does help me get a lot done, is get off of Facebook. It is the way I communicate with everyone, from setting things up, to finding a babysitter for myself to finding out what is going on with everyone. I really do feel like if I was off facebook, I wouldnt know what was going on with people, and I know that is a horrible excuse because I should be calling them to find out what is going on instead of rely on facebook. The reason I feel I need to get off is because I have what we call an addiction. I am always on, and I can see it taking away from my family.

I need to "Just Do It!" I need to just  relearn how to stay in touch with people like I did before the days of facebook, like by calling or emailing even. I also want to start writing more letters. Especially living out of state from most people that I know, I want to bring that back.

Kim, just do it!!

Some of the things I have cooking.

Today is such a beautiful day! I have full blown spring fever right now. A few weeks ago I planted some seeds in containers and set then on the side of my house (out door sewing) and guess what?! Some of them are sprouting! I was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen. Yeah, I'm a bit impatient.

I know, real pretty. Hopefully it works, because then I won't have to spend a bunch of money on plants for the garden.

This is the play house-

It isn't real pretty either. I'm crossing my fingers that we aren't "those" neighbors. But just wait, this is the "before" picture. I'm planning some major DIYing action. I'm thinking one solid paint color, some trees and plants and a roof for the big side.

I also want to build a chicken coop that I found on the Ana White blog. I'm actually really obsessed with the Ana White blog right now. There is an endless amount of things for me to dream of making. Of course it would be best if I actually just did one of them. Any of them. I'm kind of a recovering pinterest addict. My goal is to actually start doing all the things I pin and stop pinning. Enough is enough! ( Yeah, right. )

These are some of the cans I've collected. (hoarder) I'm saving all my cans and painting them gold to put citronella candles in. I pinned that idea too. When I get around to actually making the candles, I'll add the link to where I found these.

To end, I thought I'd add a challenge. Who can guess what Luci is eating?

Feel Great in 8!

A couple weeks ago, my sister, my husband and I  joined a little health competition to feel great in 8 weeks. We are starting week 3 and I must say, I am loving it! I have never really had any trouble with eating healthy per say. I like wheat, and fruits and veggies and for the most part I try and pick healthy food. But this has really helped me to  improve on it  and really focus on what I am buying and eating.We are also supposed to work out  for an hour each day, which has been good to get me back in to working out. Although this is mostly a fitness challenge, it also includes spiritual things such as saying a personal prayer, reading something spiritual like scriptures, and daily challenges to help better ourselves. I have been much happier over the past couple weeks and I am very glad that I decided to do this.
 
One thing that I have noticed over the past couple weeks is that I am always thinking about food. Not in the "I am in starving, and I am not getting what I want" kind of  thinking. It is more  of the " What different meals can I come up with under these new guidelines?"

It has been actually pretty fun to find new and different recipes to try out on my family. And the best part of all of this... my daughter, the pickiest  eater in the world, (not exaggerating here either, I have her in occupational therapy to get her to start eating food.), has started trying different healthy foods!! This is a huge deal for us. She now has tried (and like!!) green smoothies, brown rice, apples, carrots and stuffed peppers with black beans!

So my sister requested that I post the recipes that I have been making  with this challenge. I am trying to have a different meal every dinner and so far it has been pretty close.

First I will start with my husbands favorite so far. Spinach BBQ Chicken Pizza. Its really very simple, it only has 5 ingredients!  I have tried it with whole wheat pitas, Whole wheat tortillas and the whole wheat premade pizza crusts, but I prefer the pitas, (pictured above). For the BBQ Sauce, you can use either a home made version, you can try this one here at The Gracious Pantry. Or if you are lazy busy like me, there are a few organic versions at the grocery store. The one I have been using is Annie's Naturals Smokey BBQ. My husband LOVES it! Anyways, spread the pita with BBQ sauce, topped with about a half cup of mozzerella cheese, cut up chicken breast, about 4 oz (or you can go with the canned version of this, big time saver!) chopped red onion, chopped spinach, (put as much as you would like, I usually just cover the whole thing with spinach since it shrinks when cooked,) then I put a tiny bit more of mozzerella for good measure, bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, and voila! Yummyness. I figure 1 pita is a serving size. They are really good and would also work for lunch, because they are quick.

My next one is my favorite so far, and I am sad I didnt get a picture of it but it was so good we just ate it right up. Sloppy Joes!! This aint no canned junk either. It was so good!! I found it here, but it honestly tastes better than it looks. I did make one modification, (I think). They asked for onions, but make sure it is red onions, it gives a little sweetness to it. I served them on the whole wheat sandwich thins, or you can put them on bread, whatever tickles your fancy. Oh and on the recipe in the directions it asks for brown sugar, but not in the ingredients. I just put about 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar in it.

Next is the one that L decided to try, and again I didnt get a picture of it, but here you can get a pretty good idea of what it looks like.  Santa Fe Stuffed peppers. They were really very tasty and had a lot flavor to them.
I dont want to bombard you with meals, so hopefully I can update as I go. Cant wait to see what I come up with next!!

My happiness project

As part of these new goals we are setting for ourselves, I decided that the best place to start would be for me to write down all that I wanted to accomplish this year, what I wanted to work towards, and how I was going to get there. After writing down this list, I remembered that I did the same thing about a year ago, (probably some new year’s resolution I was setting for myself). Out of curiosity I looked up this list to see how my goals have changed or stayed the same, and to my surprise, the entire list was different from the one I am working on now. Although I still agree with the goals that I was working on, I am glad to say that my focus has changed. A year ago, I was more concerned with losing weight, and well, I am guessing I wasn’t too please with me physically and that was what I wanted to fix. I guess over the last year, I have come to realize what is really important, and although it is still a goal to lose the weight and taking care of myself, that isn’t my main focus this year.

First off, I need to make a confession. I can’t say no. There I said it. I hate saying no to people. And it honestly isn’t like when people say that they will do stuff and then complain the whole time they are doing it. I love doing things for people and helping out. I really thrive off of it. It makes me feel good that I am helping ease someone else’s burden. I also get involved with so much that it drives my husband crazy sometimes. I just love going I guess. Some might think this is a good thing. And it can be, but when you are always saying yes…well there are so many hours in a day. And with all that I get involved in, there are bound to be things that get neglected.

 And this is where I come to my first goal. JUST SAY NO. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to help people out, but I need to learn to say no sometimes. 

Okay, so that wasn’t really one of my goals, but it is one way I am making my other goals happen. Because most of my goals involve time, and I need to make more of it for me to be able to get ‘em done. One reason for making time is my family. I feel and know that I haven’t been giving my children or husband the attention that they deserve, and although they aren’t suffering, I know that it is more important to spend time with them than to be doing all these other things that I agree to.

One goal of mine that I have started with in my home is to get organized. Earlier this month, I decided to choose a word of the year, something that I was going to strive for, and Organization was it.  I don’t just want to organize physical things, like all the books I have piling up in my bedroom, or the overflowing amount of toys in the playroom, I want to organize my life and all the goes on in it. I feel like life gets cluttered, with all of our day to day activities and projects, and all that we have to worry about. Especially as a girl, my mind is always going. By the end of the day, I am just exhausted mentally from all that I have had to think about. This year I want to try and clear away as much of that “clutter” as I can.

Another goal of mine is the spend more time with my kids and husband. I feel like this is especially tied in with why I need to say no. Up until a year ago, I was in school and I felt like all my time was devoted to homework or going to class. I decided after I got my associates, I would hold off on the rest of my education until the kids were in school because I wanted to spend more time with them. However, homework and classes were just replaced with different commitments that I didn’t need to do like doing freezer meal or scrapbook exchanges, (don’t get me wrong, I do love having a freezer full of meals so I don’t have to cook. Plus that actually allows me more time with my family where as I would have to be making a meal.) I was still neglecting my family, just in a different way. I want to change that this year. I am going to spend more time with my family, in constructive ways too.

My next goal is to just be happier. I think so many people today forget how to be happy, or forget to be happy with all that is going on. I want to relish in the good that is going on in my life and be happier. This includes spending time with family, taking care of myself and getting closer to Heavenly Father.  There are some mini goals I have that are connected to all these goals, but I don’t want to get into that and make this post more of a novel than it already is.

I did want to mention one thing though. A while back I read a book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. (I actually probably should read it again.) It was a wonderful book about a lady that took a challenge upon herself to get happy. She felt in a slump like so many of us do at times, and wanted to change it. She decided to de-clutter her life and refocus all her attention on what matters most. It was a very motivational book and when I read it, it got me wanting to make changes in my life. The same changes I am going to work on this year. I highly recommend it.  So here I go, to work on my own happiness project.

The Girl who's waiting for me to be her.

My sister and I decided to change the name of this blog because we felt that calling ourselves wimps wasn't extremely uplifting. We want this blog to be about our goals and bettering ourselves. We only want positive things to be allowed on this blog. So if I decided that ice fishing is a goal of mine, than Kim has to be supportive of it and become an ice fisherman too.

So this post is to be about my goals for the year. Recently I read a book called Urban Homesteading, and it inspired me. I am being totally serious, I want to be a homesteader. I think it would be so much fun! Plus all the other tree huggery, economical reasons. This year I want to raise chickens, and be a maniac gardener who cans and dries all my harvest. I want to reuse as much as I can of what comes into my home. I want to to buy less, or at least if I do buy things, I want to buy them used.

My other goal, is that I want to start building things. Mostly crates and bins and stuff for the garden. I'd like to make things from barn wood, but first I'll need to convince my husband that it's a good idea to help me tear down an old barn. (With permission, of course.) This last weekend I built a work bench almost all by myself. I did all the cutting, and drilling. My husband Kris only helped me a little. It was so amazing to start with a pile of wood, and end up with a solid table!

My third goal, that should probably actually be my first, is I want to spend WAY more time having fun with my kids and teaching them things. I want to go camping and hiking, biking, and play games. I really want to learn and teach my kids survival skills, like how to make a fire without matches and things like that.(Yes, I've been watching "Doomsday Preppers" AND "Man Vs Wild") In short, I want to "get my house in order". I want to establish traditions and culture in my family.

It's weird to say, but I think most of us feel the urge to do these things. I think we're realizing that it's time for us as a people to start putting a higher value on things that deserve it, like time, good food, and skills that have been forgotten for convenience.

There is a person in my mind, who I want to be. This year will be the year that I pretend to be her, and then maybe I really will be.