Things people do over a lifetime...

:Sell a home and buy a new one:
:Move across the country to Texas and purchase a car:
:Give birth to a baby:
:Experience the death of a parent:
:I've done them all in the past three months:

:But God gave me a great support group:


**Yes, that's baby me in the second to last photo being fed by my mom.

perfectly happy

What American society says I should do daily:

1. Feed the kids a nutritious breakfast
2. Do flashcards with my 4 yr old; review colors with my 2 yr old; language development with my 1yr old, all while cleaning the breakfast dishes
3. Go to story time at the local library
4. Go to playgroup at the local park. Remember to cheer each and every time my kids go down the slide because it's obviously all their doing and not gravity. Oh and talk with the other moms about nothing but our children.
5. Have a well balanced lunch
6. Nap for the little one; arts and crafts for the older two; laundry, housework, etc
7. Dinner
8. Bath, books, bedtime
9. Clean kitchen once again
10. Time for mommy (to research which kindergarten is the best and how I can push my kids to the limit academically. It's never too early!)

What I actually do with my day:
1. Give the kids a nutritious breakfast.
2. Let the kids watch cartoons (yes even the 1 year old) while I thoroughly enjoy a cup of coffee
3. Morning nap for baby, I take a nice, hot shower and tickle a few bellies or toss them over and over again on my bed while they giggle
4. Run errands for myself; stop by the park on the way home to let the kids get totally dirty and slide a billion times. Since the park is near railroad tracks, we have to go explore the tracks too in the hopes that a train will pass. (No luck today though.)
5. Realize that I stayed too long at the park, so lunch will have to be veggie burgers from Burger King. I only allow fast food once every two or three months but only b/c my tummy can't take too much of it.
6. Nap time for 1 year old, 2 and 4 year old run around and play on their own while I surf the web and/or read a good book. Quickly clean the kitchen and perhaps vacuum. (If not, the cleaning can wait until Saturday.)
7. Go to the gym by myself after the husband comes home from work.
8. Nutritious dinner cooked either by me or the husband, clean up the kitchen with help from the kids
9. Bath, books, bed
10. Spend time with a good book, sew, knit or do whatever I want.

A few reasons for this list comparison---Ladies, take plenty of time for yourself because if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Let your kids play freely because they'll have all the time in the world to learn when they're in school. We worry too much about being perfect when we should worry about being perfectly happy.

wii fit challenge: week 2

So I was doing great. I consistently lost everyday. I got in a 30 min. workout daily (which is really great considering my busy day). But then today, I somehow gained 2.9 lbs. All week I exercised at 7:30 pm but today I decided to do it earlier. I don't know if that made a difference or what. Oh well. I've gotten loads better at balance and strength. As soon as I get my old lady orthapedic shoe inserts from the doctor, I'm going to throw running in the mix. The only cruddy thing is it has already started snowing. I guess my sweat will just freeze!

weight: same as week 1
BMI: same as week 1
determination: going strong
coolness: to high to calculate

wii fit challenge: week 1

In case you haven't noticed, I'm into crafting. That's what this blog is supposed to be about right? Well, it's 1/4 crafting and 3/4 kids and family. So in keeping with the spirit of crafting, I have decided embark on the most important craft of my life...me. Or should I say mii?

I have either been pregnant or breastfeeding since 2004. Needless to say three pregnancies and almost 3 years of breastfeeding (still breastfeeding the little one) takes a toll on one's body. I'm rather soft in places that used to be firm. I am in no way vain, nor do I care what others think about my body, except my husband. We have 3 kids so you all obviously know what he thinks about it. But after reading You: the Owner's Manual, I realized that there are areas of my life which can be improved. Until I read this book, I had no idea what HDL cholesterol is or what causes a heart attack. One major thing I learned from the book is that I should get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. It is the one thing I should be selfish about. I don't care I have to put off mopping the floor or cleaning the windows, I need to make time to exercise!

Here's where the wii fit comes in. I don't have time to go to the gym. I just don't. Nor can I afford one with a play center for the kids. I also don't want to have to drive all the way to the gym. (Trying to leave a small carbon footprint!) So I did the calculations. A Wii and Wii fit together cost a fraction of the price of a gym membership. It also weighs you and gives you your BMI. Along with that you get a handy graph of how you're improving and you can easily set goals for yourself. And it really does work you out. Just ask my thigh muscles.

I've decided as extra motivation, I will post, hopefully once a week, my wii fit progress. I try to do it everyday, but I know I need to be realistic. I will probably get to it 4 times a week. It's a start right. I may even post a picture of myself once a week just for the record. I hope I have everyone's support in this and more than that, join my challenge yourself! You don't have to have a wii fit. Just get outside and walk or run for half an hour. Do some yoga. Dance around the living room.

So here are my results for week 1 of the wii fit challenge:
weight: 155 (goal 135)
BMI: 27 (it's 27.something, but I can't remember at the moment) (goal 20)
Wii fit age: 29 (-1 of my real age!)

exploration

I'm in the middle of a "life revamp." I got so wrapped up in doing so many things for other people, that I neglected to do anything for myself in a long while. In order to enjoy my kids, my husband, my hobbies, I've decided I'm not doing anything for anyone unless I really enjoy it. Selfish? Nope! Healthy? Yes!In the past few weeks, I have simplified my life a lot. It's great! I was so stressed for a while that I suffered great fatigue for about a month. I'm talking about slurring words fatigue. So to de-stress myself, I've dropped all obligations and such except being Mommy and wife and just me. I love it!

As part of being Mommy, the kids and I have decided to explore Ohio a bit more every few weeks. So today we went to Granville. This is the most adorable town I've been to in a while. We had a picnic at this great park. It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a blast.

On another note, I've been reading some great books. I'm working on a few book reviews for the blog just for fun. I'm also working on another pattern review for a dress that was really, really fun to sew.