January's Goal - Healthy Eating

So even though I didn't blog about it much I did keep my January Goal of Healthy Eating.  Here are a few things I learned on the way...
1. If you want to have healthier snacks for your kids in the house you need to go to the store weekly because produce doesn't last that long.
2.  My kids LOVED to eat healthier snacks.  Really they are going to eat whatever is in the house and their diet is up to me.
3. My family was already eating fairly healthy.  It was really the snacks that we were cheating on.
4. Trying new fruits and vegetables was a fun adventure.  For the most part they were pretty good sports about it!

I am glad that I set this goal.  Now on to goal #2 which I am going to keep a secret from my readers (one especially) until the end of the month.  Let's just say it is a REALLY good one!!

J is such a princess!

The girls were playing dress up the other day.

Princess B was Snow White with a sparkly skirt.

Princess J kept wanting to touch and eat her sister's skirt.

Here was the solution:  get her own sparkly, puffy skirt.

She loved it!  She was in heaven!

Such a little princess!

Yummy, yummy, yummy!!

After we got home from our vacation last week I cleaned out the fridge.

(Good-bye fast, "not so good for you" processed food. Hello healthier choices!)

Since we were on vacation for two weeks there wasn't much to clean out.

Hello yummy to my tummy healthy food!

My kids were actually so excited to see all of the produce.

As I was putting away the groceries B kept begging for strawberries.

She ate a whole package by herself in two days.

So healthy snacks check!  

We got one of our days of exercise done today too.

We ran, walked and sprinted around the house

 and yard till we got to a mile on my Runkeeper.

The girls loved it!

They were asking me when we were going to do it again.

Prioritizing Choices

"We must prioritize our choices 

to match our goals 

or risk being exposed 

to the winds of procrastination 

and being blown from one time 

wasting activity to another." 

Elder Ian S. Arden

This is why I am doing this.  I want to get my life back.

To be the mother to my children that I always hoped I would be.

This time in my life is for them.  

And it is going so fast.  

I need to use it wisely.

I want to give my girls the best of me in hopes that they can become their very best selves.

It is so easy to procrastinate.

To get distracted with other things.

Enticing things.

No more distractions!

Here is a really cool chart I made to help the girls and I set and keep our simple goals.

It's pink!  My princesses wouldn't have it any other color!

In fact out of the blue today B proclaimed, "I Love Pink!". 

Yup.  Already knew that.  

I framed it so we could put it in our kitchen and use it as a wipe off board.

For goal #4 (prepare healthier meals) I am not going to keep on this chart.

I have a separate planner for meals.

Here's how it works.

Every day the girls and I will write down what we did to achieve that goal for the day.

Example: Goal #2 - Make fruits and vegetables more accessible. 

Girls can write down some of their favorites for the day.

Today I cleaned out our cupboards and refrigerator.

Tomorrow I am shopping with healthier food choices in mind.

January: Tradition! Tradition! Same Old Tradition!

I thought since I have started out just about every year with a goal to loose weight and choose to be healthy that this would be my first month's theme: Healthy Choices!
The other day as I was thinking about what the kids and I will be doing this month to make healthier choices I asked my older three girls to name me some healthy foods.  Here are their answers:

M (Age 6): Oranges, Medicine,Watermelon, Strawberries, Life Cereal
K (Age 4): Pretzels, Goldfish, Protein, Cheeseburgers,Water
B (Age 2): Carrots, Dinner

I didn't think their answers were too bad.  I should have know that K thought cheeseburgers (from McDonalds) were  healthy.  They are her favorite.  And M and her sisters have been sick for four months straight.  If taking medicine relieves the pain and aches I guess it does seem to make you healthier. B loves her dinners!

Then I asked them what their favorite foods were.

M: Turkey, Pineapple, Rolls, Pretzels (they were eating pretzels while I was asking them hence the repeat), Salad, Salad (she wanted me to put this twice.  She has been known to have four to five servings of salad at one sitting)
K: Pineapple, Strawberries, Apples, Pretzels (there it is again), Cheeseburgers, Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese, and Oranges (Cuties to be exact.  We love our cuties!)
B: Had already left the room to play, but she is our "Mikey" of the house!  She will eat about everything I ask her to.  She loves tofu, eggplant, mushrooms, etc.  All the stuff that my other kids won't even look at. 

So to start out this new year here are my goals for January that I hope to make life long habits (I am trying to keep them simple so I don't burn out the first month).

1.  Get rid of all processed food in our house.
2.  Buy more fruits and vegetables and make them accessible to kids.
3.  Exercise with kids at least 3x a week.
4.  Prepare more well balanced meals and incorporating them into our 3 month supply of food.
5.  Get the girls to like one new fruit or vegetable a week.

We are still on vacation till Friday of this week so Friday will be my kick off day!  I have some fun ideas on how to carry out my plans.  Here we go!

My New Year's Resolution

My heart is racing.  My breath is short.  I'm nervous!  I just got a great idea for a New Year's Resolution, but it's a big one!  AND according to statistics 88% of people who make resolutions in January have quit them by June!  Why even try!  Don't you feel that way when you read that?  I did, but I was once told, by a highly respected individual, that I wouldn't EVER be able to achieve a certain BIG goal in life (he was trying to do me a favor and save me from wasting my time).  Well guess what I achieved that goal (after a year of hard work and LOTS of sacrifice)!  And it changed my life for the better! 
SOOOOO  I have decided to set a resolution that will require lots of hard work and sacrifice, but that will change the lives of my children, I hope, for the better AND forever. 
I have debated whether or not to use my UN-used blog to record my thoughts, efforts and successes and have decided I will.  I read once that to ensure success while dieting you should do it with a friend.  I hope that by posting about this resolution it will ensure that I don't stop and am diligent and successful at it. 
Alright, what is my New Year's Resolution?  I have decided to dedicate this year of my life to my children and in becoming the mom I have always wanted to be (but through excuses and exhaustion find myself falling short).  I have felt so overwhelmed lately with other responsibilities and such that I feel my focus has shifted from the ones who need me the most. 
So here we go.  How will it work?  Each month I will be focusing on a subject/habit that wish I could do better as a mom and then strive to make it a habit (ex: playing with my kids more, teaching them better hygiene, choosing better foods to eat, etc.). 
I am a horrible journal writer so I am hoping that I can find time to record this for future reference (we all can fall off the wagon unless we are reminded). 
To my six followers of this blog:  Feel free to share your insights with me as I embark on this grandiose goal!  Sometimes you learn more from others than books you might read.

I love my kids!  They are my life and I hope that I can give them a better one this year!  Happy New Year Everyone!

Things I don't want to FORGET!

One of my favorite members of the Quorum of the Twelve is Elder Richard G. Scott.  He first caught my eye when I was a young girl.  I remember he used to look right at the TV during General Conference and at "me" (remember the cameras would follow him and he seemed to have his talk memorized). 
Then on my mission while I was at the MTC (Mission Training Center) and then when I was in the mission field he came to speak to the missionaries. 
One topic that he speaks about A LOT is listening to the promptings of the spirit and recording them.  For several years I used to carry a small notebook around with me to record my personal revelations.  Since being a mom I have gotten out of the habit. Ugh!  I am going to try to be better again and so I created a file on my computer to record these impressions.  Here are a few:

• Be Radiant! You are a Daughter of God!

• Always remember how special you are (and others) to our Heavenly Father.

• Eternal Perspective - Keep it daily!

• Say those morning and evening personal prayers.  I am good with getting the family together, but need to be better at quieting my thoughts down for personal prayers.

• Be consistent in everything I do (especially with the kids).

Love the gospel!