My fourth resolution is to drastically increase the amount of living foods in our diet. I'd love to get us up to 70%, but I'm going to be shooting for 50%. Yep, thats it. After all my babbling about the others, this one is pretty simple!
We're making progress with the other resolutions. Trey bought a computer book that he needed for his robot work today, and he made a special trip to Softpro Books, an independent computer bookstore, to get his book instead of going to Borders or Barnes and Noble. I made a couple of t-shirt bags - a double whammy! I purged a bunch of old t-shirts from the closet, and now they're going to be used as grocery sacks!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Third resolution
My third resolution is to create a peaceful home for me and my family. I have budding neat freak tendencies that never seem to flourish! LOL. I feel like I am ALWAYS cleaning, and while I have four children, several pets, and a husband, I still shouldn't have to spend as much time as I do just to keep my head above water. I have a vague outline of a plan, but I'm sure I'm going to figure it out as I go along. The first thing I am going to do is to get ruthless about what stays and what goes. I plan on going room to room and purging - a lot. Watch out Freecycle and ARC - you'll be getting a lot of donations! We've created a "chore chart" that has the things that are expected daily of the kids. It has helped some. I've had people tell me online to "just let it go," "you're just creating stress for your children," and "you'll regret the time you don't spend with them." Well, that all sounds great and utopian. The problem is that it is crap. When the house is chaotic, people's nerves are frayed, so I am not creating stress, the stress already exists - we're living in it. We have less quality time to spend together because we spend extra time looking for homework, tennis shoes, pencils, water bottles, etc. We spend more money because we have to replace things that we can't find or things get broken. And here is the big one that I am no longer willing to overlook - I am also an important person and a member of this family, and I deserve to live in a peaceful home. So, I am not quite sure how everything is going to happen yet, but it will happen. My goal for January is to get the upstairs completely decluttered, and I will go from there. If anybody has any great suggestions for me, please feel free to pass them on!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Where to buy?
I was reading an interesting news story and discussion a few days ago. It was about an African American family who have decided that for a year, they will spend all their disposable income by only patronizing businesses run by African Americans. They have $10,000 a month disposable income. That part I have a hard time wrapping my head around! LOL. Anyway, the discussion that followed the story was interesting. Some people (privileged, pompous white people) have been calling the family racists. It's not like the family said, "Hey, we hate everyone who isn't African American, so we're only going to patronize African American businesses." It is their money, and they're allowed to do what they want with it. Just like we have a right to do whatever we chose with our money. It's got me thinking a lot about where our money goes.
I am pretty careful about where I buy stuff, but my second New Year's resolution is to pay even closer attention to purchases and where they come from. There are several things I try to look for with a business. I prefer to patronize small businesses, and I prefer to patronize businesses that have high standards for their business practices (environmentally and ethically responsible) or benefit charity. We don't have the kind of disposable income that allows us to never shop at Target. We can make responsible choices though. One of our goals is to reduce our carbon footprint, so we will be making a conscious effort to reduce our consumerism. I really want to make sure that the things we do buy come from companies that fit the above criteria.
We did a pretty good job with Christmas. I love that our families are on board with similar ideals as well. At least, they haven't seemed to have hated the homemade gifts they got! LOL. Livi got a homemade dress from her grandma, and my SIL and BIL gave us homemade ornaments with pictures of our kiddos. Louis got two cool toys from Mom and Dad from one of the neatest stores ever All Things Renewable (Trey got me a couple of things from there, too!). I made Beth Ann a pair of socks and a scarf, Olivia a scarf, Ray a pair of pillows for his bed and a set of juggling balls with a bag, and a set of crocheted blocks with a bag for Louis. Louis got a couple of Blue's Clues (his absolute favorite!) videos that I got off Freecycle (the Harry Potter material for the bags came from Freecycle as well). I ordered sword and shield and my nephew Dylan's pull toy from my favorite wooden toy manufacturer Doodletown Toys. Trey's gift came from a small family owned company (of course, that was the only choice for his gift! LOL.). My MIL's gift was bought through a school fundraiser. One of my daughter Olivia's gifts came from a friend who had cleaned out things from her daughters' stuff. Louis also got a book from my favorite local bookstore The Tattered Cover. I think there were other cool things, but I can't remember off the top of my head right now.
Christmas morning felt good. It felt good see them open gifts that I felt good about giving them. I want to feel good about the purchases that I make. So my second resolution for the coming year is to make mindful, responsible purchases.
I am pretty careful about where I buy stuff, but my second New Year's resolution is to pay even closer attention to purchases and where they come from. There are several things I try to look for with a business. I prefer to patronize small businesses, and I prefer to patronize businesses that have high standards for their business practices (environmentally and ethically responsible) or benefit charity. We don't have the kind of disposable income that allows us to never shop at Target. We can make responsible choices though. One of our goals is to reduce our carbon footprint, so we will be making a conscious effort to reduce our consumerism. I really want to make sure that the things we do buy come from companies that fit the above criteria.
We did a pretty good job with Christmas. I love that our families are on board with similar ideals as well. At least, they haven't seemed to have hated the homemade gifts they got! LOL. Livi got a homemade dress from her grandma, and my SIL and BIL gave us homemade ornaments with pictures of our kiddos. Louis got two cool toys from Mom and Dad from one of the neatest stores ever All Things Renewable (Trey got me a couple of things from there, too!). I made Beth Ann a pair of socks and a scarf, Olivia a scarf, Ray a pair of pillows for his bed and a set of juggling balls with a bag, and a set of crocheted blocks with a bag for Louis. Louis got a couple of Blue's Clues (his absolute favorite!) videos that I got off Freecycle (the Harry Potter material for the bags came from Freecycle as well). I ordered sword and shield and my nephew Dylan's pull toy from my favorite wooden toy manufacturer Doodletown Toys. Trey's gift came from a small family owned company (of course, that was the only choice for his gift! LOL.). My MIL's gift was bought through a school fundraiser. One of my daughter Olivia's gifts came from a friend who had cleaned out things from her daughters' stuff. Louis also got a book from my favorite local bookstore The Tattered Cover. I think there were other cool things, but I can't remember off the top of my head right now.
Christmas morning felt good. It felt good see them open gifts that I felt good about giving them. I want to feel good about the purchases that I make. So my second resolution for the coming year is to make mindful, responsible purchases.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Random pictures from today!
Olivia felt well enough to model her pretty Christmas dresses today!
Beth Ann worked some more on her pants. They're coming along nicely. I think she'll finish them up tomorrow.
Here is Ray with his favorite Christmas gift - a stuffed snake from his Uncle Ed and Aunt Lori!
We finished up the day with a family game of Wii.
Beth Ann worked some more on her pants. They're coming along nicely. I think she'll finish them up tomorrow.
Here is Ray with his favorite Christmas gift - a stuffed snake from his Uncle Ed and Aunt Lori!
We finished up the day with a family game of Wii.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Aaaahhh, Christmas!
I love Christmas! I love Christmas! I love Christmas! We had a great day. I haven't downloaded the pictures yet because my computer was occupied with Ray playing games and me downloading Christmas programs! Those will come later. For now, I'll just say that I love Christmas. I love to watch my children's faces on Christmas morning. I love having a peaceful day watching the kids play with their new toys, staying in our PJs all day, snuggling on the couch watching a movie, sending the kids to bed yawning and exhausted, talking to my family on the phone, and feeling grateful for all the blessings in my life! Pictures to come later!
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