Step one.

Remove the old, ugly, unforgiving wallpaper...

Zero fun, sir.

Reality Check

Most people set their new year's resolutions at the first of the year. In our family, it seems that we set new goals at the beginning of the school year because let's face it...in the summer you're too busy having so much fun with hectic schedules, vacations and eating whenever or wherever. Did I mention the "vacation" part? You're either more or less active than you normally are when it's not Summer break. I think I'm finally over Summer vacation.

We're about a month into school and I have to say: Oh. My. Goodness. We're trying so hard to change some really bad habits around here and find solutions for some--challenges--that we've been faced with. And we wanted to add some new habits. Good habits. Heaven knows we don't need any new bad habits.

1. Physical activity. Notice I didn't say exercise. Use that word in a sentence and everyone starts to murmur...yep, even me. I thought I could initiate this as a mom (go on family bike rides, take a walk, etc). Apparently, those activities aren't "cool" enough. Our ideas of physical activity don't match. So, I introduced The President's Challenge to help us out.

My kids love to track and tally everything and get rewarded in the end. So, this program works for them. I love it when Aidan says to me, "But mom we have to go because I need 30 more minutes of physical activity!" I especially like how this program includes "housework" as one of their approved physical activities. So, I don't feel like I have to get out there and run a marathon everyday. Now I look at my kids (and my hubby) and watch their endurance level go through the roof! They have way more points than me while I'm "dying" over here trying to keep up with them.

Also, for the first time EVER we've let the kids (and us parents) pick at least one physical activity to be involved in outside of school/home. This was a HUGE decision for me because many of these programs take us away from home way too much. And the last thing I want is a crazy schedule just to get us to and from. But, we did find some programs that were a healthy balance for us.

2. Emergency Preparedness. We're still working on making this more family oriented. I go through phases of really focusing on this. We can make it through a hurricane. But, with the current drought situation Hunter asked me "Mom, if we had no water coming into the house would we be okay?" I panicked for a moment. So, I inventoried our water storage for the first time ever and realized we were WAY short of what we should have. Course, that led me to inventory everything. I found out one thing: we have PLENTY of peanut butter! This is definitely a work in progress...

3. Meals. This one kind of goes with #1. For a while there I was making some yummy, healthy meals every night. I thought I was in heaven. Then I realized we had a problem: I was the only one eating them and it was exhausting work for me! It was clear I needed to re evaluate this goal. You can't just change your family's eating habits overnight. Not that ours were bad--but we could be better. I'm trying better to let the children have more input on what we eat and I'm learning how to "sneak" the good stuff in. I've added A LOT of new recipes to my meal planning to get us out of the rut of eating the same things too often. I'm buying ingredients that I've never bought before (ex. liquid smoke?)! One thing I've started doing is finding those things that my family loves that's store bought and trying to make it from scratch at home. Yeah, it's a bit more work but it ALWAYS tastes better!

4. Ready for an upgrade. If I post it here for the whole world to see maybe it will actually become a reality. This home has been great for us and I feel ridiculous saying this (especially when you think about how small homes used to be with more people in them) but we're ready to move to a bigger home. Not to mention, Jaren's job (that he started back in March) requires a much longer commute than before. So, we'd like to live closer to his work. But, can't move unless we sell the home we're in. Obviously, this requires LOTS of preparation and it's just not happening fast enough for us. On the top of our list: backyard landscaping, replacement of floors and repairing some walls that I decided to start ripping the wallpaper from. Again--long sigh. I will have to face this idea that I probably can't accomplish these tasks on my own. Anyone up for helping? The thought of having to hire professionals...

We pray that maybe there's someone out there who wants our home just the way it is!

But, like the title of this blog: Reality Check!!