As the year 2010 closes I look with great anticipation to 2011. This past year has come with some very hard lessons to learn, not all of which I am happy I had to learn them, but I'm sure I will prosper from their knowledge in the future. Each year at this time many set resolutions for themselves, perhaps kicking an old habit, learning a new skill, or most often a resolution to live a healthier life.
I too am looking to make resolutions and set goals to have a healthier life, but I believe it takes more than just the exercise I do or the calories I count, or even whether or not my food is local, organic, and fresh. I think a healthy life comes from working on various aspect of oneself such as your mind, your body, and your spirit. Here are my thoughts on my goals for 2011
Mind- I hope to embody a peace of mind this coming year. I hope to allow for time of healthy reflection, meditation, thanks, and in general positive thinking. To accomplish this I believe that taking a page from this post by Simple Homeschool will point me in the right direction. I am still contemplating my words for the year but so far "SIMPLE" and "PEACE" are definitely on the list.
Body- Oh I have many goals for my body this year, some realistic and others possibly not so much. Mainly I want to strive to train my body to be in a healthy condition as we have decided that we might possibly be ready to expand our family. Although there are many factors involved I know that I must do my part to get myself as healthy as I possibly can and everything else will fall where it needs to be. To help me be accountable I have signed up for a challenge inspired by a dear friend. I will be striving to run 500 miles in the year 2011. If you would like to join sign up here. There is an option for 500 hours of fitness as well.
Spirit- My spiritual journey is in definite need of attention. To accomplish the level of knowledge that I hope to gain of my Creator I have joined Mom's Toolbox in her Bible in 90 days challenge. I must admit that I have never read the entire Bible, Revelation being a scary book for me, and all that history I'm not sure I have been ready to embrace until now. I pray that this will spur me on to a better spiritual relationship and understanding.
These are all very lofty goals for me to aspire to. I hope that by engaging myself in these various accountability sites this will make attaining these goals a reality.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Things were different this year.... A Reflection on Christmas
The Christmas Holiday was very different for the Fambro Family this year. For one, we were altogether and in our own home for the first time since we became "The Fambros". With traveling completed at the first of the month it gave us a bit of time to relax and breathe and just enjoy the time. Most importantly I was engaged this year. I lost last Christmas. I was in my own fog of despair and loneliness from my miscarriage and literally cannot remember any part of the Holiday. That saddens me to think I missed such a special time with my family but I respect myself enough to know I had to go through what I had to go through to get better.
This year was much better! As we had a slew of firsts (snows for the kiddos, real tree that we cut down, a completely made by me Christmas dinner, etc) we truly enjoyed the moments we could share. As Christmas approached I was very excited to give my children the gifts that Mike and I had made for them. We chose each gift for its meaningfulness and simplicity as we have begun to embrace these ideals for our family daily life. The volume of "stuff" was not nearly as immense as in past years, but truly no one noticed. Each person received something special to them and was able to give something special to another. That is all that mattered. I must say that I feel the most blessed this year as I learned the true joy that comes from making meaningful gifts by hand. I almost felt like I was cheating because the peace that came from each thought and time I put into gifts meant more than I could ever express to its recipient.
Christmas Eve brought its own newness as we were not partaking in the "usual schedule". We instead prepared dinner as a family and then spent the rest of the evening reading the Birth Story of Christ and singing all of our favorite Christmas Hymns. There was even a small production as I sang Drummer Boy and the kids "drummed" their parts for Mike. It was all so peaceful, touching, and real. And I was there, really there. I don't think I can really express how much that means to me.
I pray that these celebrations always stay new and meaningful. And here's a peek into what all of it looked like for us.
The Fun....
Gift designing
The Gifts...
Wreath for Our Guardian
An attempt at slippers
To hold treasures
For Jakob (Complete with a bag of Marshmallows)
Pajama Pants (from pillow cases)
Two other gifts not pictured were handmade woodblocks inspired by this tutorial and peppermint lip balm inspired by this post.
I also knitted a bunch of gifts for my family but did not get any pictures of them before I wrapped them and gave them away. Oh well they enjoy them.
This year was much better! As we had a slew of firsts (snows for the kiddos, real tree that we cut down, a completely made by me Christmas dinner, etc) we truly enjoyed the moments we could share. As Christmas approached I was very excited to give my children the gifts that Mike and I had made for them. We chose each gift for its meaningfulness and simplicity as we have begun to embrace these ideals for our family daily life. The volume of "stuff" was not nearly as immense as in past years, but truly no one noticed. Each person received something special to them and was able to give something special to another. That is all that mattered. I must say that I feel the most blessed this year as I learned the true joy that comes from making meaningful gifts by hand. I almost felt like I was cheating because the peace that came from each thought and time I put into gifts meant more than I could ever express to its recipient.
Christmas Eve brought its own newness as we were not partaking in the "usual schedule". We instead prepared dinner as a family and then spent the rest of the evening reading the Birth Story of Christ and singing all of our favorite Christmas Hymns. There was even a small production as I sang Drummer Boy and the kids "drummed" their parts for Mike. It was all so peaceful, touching, and real. And I was there, really there. I don't think I can really express how much that means to me.
I pray that these celebrations always stay new and meaningful. And here's a peek into what all of it looked like for us.
The Fun....
House Building
Angel Making
Angel Making
Gift designing
The Gifts...
Quiet Book for Nephew
Wreath for Our Guardian
An attempt at slippers
To hold treasures
For Jakob (Complete with a bag of Marshmallows)
Pajama Pants (from pillow cases)
Two other gifts not pictured were handmade woodblocks inspired by this tutorial and peppermint lip balm inspired by this post.I also knitted a bunch of gifts for my family but did not get any pictures of them before I wrapped them and gave them away. Oh well they enjoy them.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Week In Review- Dec 13-17
This was the week that would never stop!! We returned from North Carolina and literally hit the ground running. This is the first time that I have been able to even sit down and update!
Ok so looking back at the subject goals for the month I realized I over estimated how much we could actually get accomplished. Especially since a whole week was taken off the month to visit family, and homeschool kids (and parents) get the before Christmas ADD too! But we were able to accomplish a bit.
Math- working on multiplication tables 1-4,5, and 10. Measuring ingredients for various goodies made this week.
Reading/ Spelling- Progressive Phonics
Language Arts-Here I was really excited about my ideas for Christmas LA, but we are not having the time or the concentration level to work on that right now, so mainly we are reading various Christmasy stories, poems, and finishing up some writing requirements for Boy Scouts.
Science- Weather was on the list for the month but again we have had no formal work here. We are ALL very (im)patiently waiting for a good snow storm so most talk of weather has revolved about the fluffiness of clouds, what snow is made of, freezing points, and general checking of the "weatherbug" for updates on the possible arrival of the white stuff.
I also decided that I would begin to pull out one of the many science kits that we have laying around and we would just do the experiments. I really need to use these up and they are so fun, somehow I just forget about them. :-/
Bible- This is the one area we have definitely not been slack in. Taking some activities from Hubbards Cupboard. I chose the ones we could feasibly get to between now and Christmas and we have added them to end of our Calendar time.
(Our Christmas activity chain-we take a link each day)
When visiting in North Carolina, I was able to obtain a couple of song hymnals and we have spent most of the week singing the Christmas Hymns. This has by far been my favorite part of the week. I love Christmas Hymns, they just take me back to my childhood and I want to share that with my kids. Since we have not really found a church here, I was really happy our hometown minister allowed us the old copies of hymnals. It has been funny this week though to try and sing some of these songs for the kids as I don't read music and my voice is less than stellar at times. But hey its, "Make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord" right? Never said it had to be pretty ;-)
(using Crayola window markers to decorate the name Jesus)
Using cotton balls and finger prints to add to our nativity scene
Handwork- The kids have been helping me this week with the makings in the kitchen from bread to cookies to chestnuts, we have all had our hands busy. We also took a bit of time to make some popcorn and cranberry garland to round out our tree.
All of that in between the massive amounts of crafting, trips to the post office, and various Christmas events have kept us on our toes for the week. Now that most of that is done hopefully we can spend the week in a more relaxed studious fashion (hahaha) before Christmas.
Ok so looking back at the subject goals for the month I realized I over estimated how much we could actually get accomplished. Especially since a whole week was taken off the month to visit family, and homeschool kids (and parents) get the before Christmas ADD too! But we were able to accomplish a bit.
Math- working on multiplication tables 1-4,5, and 10. Measuring ingredients for various goodies made this week.
Reading/ Spelling- Progressive Phonics
Language Arts-Here I was really excited about my ideas for Christmas LA, but we are not having the time or the concentration level to work on that right now, so mainly we are reading various Christmasy stories, poems, and finishing up some writing requirements for Boy Scouts.
Science- Weather was on the list for the month but again we have had no formal work here. We are ALL very (im)patiently waiting for a good snow storm so most talk of weather has revolved about the fluffiness of clouds, what snow is made of, freezing points, and general checking of the "weatherbug" for updates on the possible arrival of the white stuff.
I also decided that I would begin to pull out one of the many science kits that we have laying around and we would just do the experiments. I really need to use these up and they are so fun, somehow I just forget about them. :-/
Bible- This is the one area we have definitely not been slack in. Taking some activities from Hubbards Cupboard. I chose the ones we could feasibly get to between now and Christmas and we have added them to end of our Calendar time.
(Our Christmas activity chain-we take a link each day)
(using Crayola window markers to decorate the name Jesus)
Using cotton balls and finger prints to add to our nativity scene
All of that in between the massive amounts of crafting, trips to the post office, and various Christmas events have kept us on our toes for the week. Now that most of that is done hopefully we can spend the week in a more relaxed studious fashion (hahaha) before Christmas.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Confessions... Not So fat Tuesday
Ok so I totally skipped last week, since we were in NC with family. The day after we got back was my self imposed weigh in day. I was nervous. More than nervous I was sick. I ate like a pig on vacation and even ate some pig. (North Carolina Bar-B-Que is the best anywhere I couldn't pass it up.) I didn't log a single calorie with Sparks People. I just stopped.
Well I started back about 2 days before we left when I remembered this little app on my Ipod I had downloaded and forgotten about for months. Its called Lose It. It tracks your calories, weight, and adjusts for the calories you burn while exercising. (yeah, didn't do any of that either) Why this app is easier for me than a pen and paper I have no clue but it is. I logged the last two days of the trip and have been logging ever since. Wow the difference it has made in my awareness. I just wish it gave me that little pie graph that Sparks People does. I like graphs. Or maybe its just the ones that look like pie. Whatever.
Anyways I reluctantly got on the scale Friday and was shocked to see I had lost 3lbs! the same three pounds I gained before! YAY!! Just for good measure I weighed myself again today and I have lost another pound! YAY for keeping myself in check!
I'm not going to get on the scale again until New Years. I have enough to handle between now and then I don't need that annoying white box in my bathroom ruining my focus. I will continue to run (4x a week) and log my calories at least 3 days a week. I will shoot for 7 but the minimum is three. I think these are reasonable goals as we head into a Holiday noted for lots of yummies.
Well I started back about 2 days before we left when I remembered this little app on my Ipod I had downloaded and forgotten about for months. Its called Lose It. It tracks your calories, weight, and adjusts for the calories you burn while exercising. (yeah, didn't do any of that either) Why this app is easier for me than a pen and paper I have no clue but it is. I logged the last two days of the trip and have been logging ever since. Wow the difference it has made in my awareness. I just wish it gave me that little pie graph that Sparks People does. I like graphs. Or maybe its just the ones that look like pie. Whatever.
Anyways I reluctantly got on the scale Friday and was shocked to see I had lost 3lbs! the same three pounds I gained before! YAY!! Just for good measure I weighed myself again today and I have lost another pound! YAY for keeping myself in check!
I'm not going to get on the scale again until New Years. I have enough to handle between now and then I don't need that annoying white box in my bathroom ruining my focus. I will continue to run (4x a week) and log my calories at least 3 days a week. I will shoot for 7 but the minimum is three. I think these are reasonable goals as we head into a Holiday noted for lots of yummies.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Mission- December
November's Missions were all accomplished! Family members in North Carolina have their gifts and I must say it was just as much fun to make them as to give them. Scarves, tutus, felt food, pillows, and hats were all received in good cheer.
We will be here until Thursday so when I get back I have a shortened amount of time to get all my crafting accomplished. So Here's what I got for December. Some of this Mike will assist with but nevertheless its a mission.
Presents to make:
Jakob- pajama pants, marshmallow shooter, buy Santa
Hazel- pajama pants, Olivia Tutu, branch blocks
Mike-knit or sew slippers
Niece and Nephew presents
Florida Family Presents
Other "To Do"
Mail said presents including Grandparents
Mail Christmas Cards
Go through bedrooms and remove any broken or no longer loved toys
DECORATE!
Have the best Family Christmas around our very own tree EVER!!!
I love lists! They make some sort of my life organized! Linking up with Mama Jen!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
