Stop: In the Name Of Love.

Sometimes it is really hard to stop being busy and spend some actual time playing with your kids or reading together or doing anything where your attention is totally on them.

However, It means the world to them and it is vastly more important than our to-do list.

Moms, I urge you to not just leave it for their Daddies to come home and play with them while you take care of cooking or chores. Carve out some time of your own to play.

Also, if your child has been misbehaving alot lately, you may see a correlation between the bad behaviour and your lack of attention. When put off for too long, they simply act out in desperation. I used to see it in my son. I would find that all it took was some time out from my day to do things with him where we could talk and play and create and laugh together.

With homeschooling you never have to worry about not spending time one on one with them. It is a neccessary part of your day. Even so, I try to take time for more fun things also.

Do you find yourself saying no alot? I don't mean 'No' as in ... 'No' you can't put the cat in the mailbox... or 'No' you can't put your sister in the dishwasher. (those are recommended)

I mean when your child asks... 'Mommy, can you play this game with me?' Or 'Mommy, can we play hide and seek together?' or 'Mama, can you read me this book?'

How many times a day do you say no to special time with your child?

I remember my grandmother being one who took time to just be with me. She raised me. She was fond of reading to me when i was little. She rocked me in her rocking chair. When I was older, we read peacefully to ourselves together on the front porch swing.

I believe it is vitally important in the raising of children, not to be always in a hurry. If your life is simply too full to make this happen, then some things must go.

Simplify, I beg you. This is important.

Here is a pic of my 5 year old at his 'lego station' I often sit and build with him. We got a box of assorted legos from ebay at Christmas and they are awesome to play with. Here is one of my creations...

That being said. I will also say that you must not think that your children require attention 24 hours a day. Children must have time during the day when they guide their own play. I spent more of my childhood coming up with things to do than most children. I had no neighbors, and no siblings and I lived in the woods, far away from anything by way of entertainment. I created my own. I read. ALOT. I taught myself to draw. (Pretty Well, if I do say so myself) I used my imagination. I had time to think.

I think kids today are scheduled to death. I think one of the greatest gifts we can give them is to let them alone a little each day (supervised of course). I may be alone in this conviction, but I think this may be one of the things that has made me how I am.

I meet women who can't be alone. I meet women who can't be satisfied being at home. I meet women who can't be still.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with them, but that maybe they may be lacking something rather helpful in their spirits.

Here's to a little less rushing... a little less running... a little playtime... a little quiet time. A little attention to the blessings that run around our feet... and a little time for them to just be kids.

Diet and Excercise are here to stay!

I'm back ya'll! (and those are not my feet by the way!)

I hope you all have had a wonderful beginning to 2011! I have had an awesome month and a half myself. Has it really only been that long? Crazy!

Well, as you may know I had set out to do many things this year. Heck, I have set out every year to do many new things, but I am here to testify that change can happen! This time I have kept many resolutions and even added more.

There are a several areas of my life that I have begun to alter for the better already this year. I will only talk of one of them today:

Diet and Excercise:

I have never been one for Diet. I have never really been on a diet to lose weight in my life. I have gradually become overweight and while good intentions have abounded, three pregnancies in 5 years have enabled me to let time and lbs get the best of me. The worst thing about it is that I didn't gain very much with my last pregnancy (a year ago) but that after my youngest was born, I proceeded to eat (and drink chocolate milk) like there was no tommorrow. Claiming that nursing was making me more hungry and thirsty, I sort of gave myself permission to be a glutton. I lost all self-control. I gained 20 more lbs than I had weighed before my pregnancy.

Now is the time to take control. Last month something in my brain finally clicked. Before that point, I was not able to say no to food. After that click... I have been able to totally embrace the concept of MODERATION!!! Woohoo!

I think I had been preparing myself during the holidays, that it would be my last time of eating freely. Then last month when I suddenly fell victim to an evil stomach bug that is going around, I actually decided to make the bad into a good by using those three days of fasting as a jumping off point for my new way of eating. (after all, my stomach had shrunk!)

In the past month, I have lost 6 lbs. I know what you are thinking. "Big Whoop, 6 lbs" But really, this is just the begining, because instead of doing something temporary, I have begun a long lasting new habit. I chose a sustainable method of losing weight. This is no crash diet. I have decided certain things in my mind and I am willing to follow through. There just comes a time in your life when you want to make your dreams come true. I dream often of being thin and healthy. I want to be able to look at photos of my and my kids without cringing.

Yes, that is my dream. Family photos where I look good!

What is my method of losing weight?

Just in case you were wondering. I am simply counting calories. Each day my goal is to eat only enough calories to properly sustain the ideal weight for a woman my height. I make sure to eat small snacks and meals throughout the day so that my body doesn't think I am starving (the body will hold on to that stored fat if you seem to be in a starvation mode). I gave up cokes. (a big deal for me) and occasionally substitute tea made with honey instead of sugar.

I am suplimenting my weight loss with an exercise program. I am using a video game on my Xbox Kinect to do daily workouts and now have begun to ride my bike again as I used to do... I ride about 4 miles a few times a week. I have also begun to take vitamins also, to help my body run properly.

I have lost some weight, but I have gained something too!

With these new habits I feel better. I feel great! I have more energy (not less) and I have more stamina and strength. I already play more actively with my kids. I don't need caffiene to stay awake. I sleep like a baby when it is finally time to hit the sack. I get more done (even though I take time to excercise I am able to exert more energy when chores are being done)

You may scoff. You may say that this is a temporary spell. I hope not. I feel confident that I have turned an important corner in my life that will ever be for the benefit of me and my family. If you too are trying to get started on a new way of eating and living, I encourage you... You can do it!!! We can do it! Don't worry if it takes a year or two years, or 5 or 10. The important thing is that we are taking steps in the right direction and no longer in the wrong direction. Keep it up! We will get there!