Happy New Year!

No pictures for this post. Again. I'm so slacking on my photographing duties - poor d3 is going to have no idea what he looked like as a child. I may just have to throw some of d1's gazillion pictures away just so the younger two don't feel less-special. After reading some of my other fav blogs in the last few days, I decided to join them in making some of my very own resolutions for 2010. Beware, the list is lengthy but my reasoning is this - if I make MANY goals, I'm sure to hit at least a couple, right? And these are by no means prioritized - that would take more time and I'm doing good to have a few spare minutes to get this up.

* Get current with my scrapbooks - my fav hobby, of which I don't devote near enough time to. I'm sure I'll get their individual books done by the time they each graduate so what's the rush. I just better start snapping some pics or they will just be journals.....

*Increase our monthly savings in couponing - I started off strong and feel like I've kept the momentum up pretty well, even during the crazy busy holiday season. I would say my average savings right now is in the 30% or a tad more but my goal is to get up closer to 50%. It's still exciting to me to walk out of Publix with $40 worth of groceries for $20 (which is not the norm but does happen quite frequently). Have I mentioned how much I <3 Publix? I know, shut up already.

*Memorize one scripture per week - ideally, I would like this to be a family goal and maybe d1 could be a part of this but in any case, this could just be a personal goal. I know that hard times are always ahead and the only sure-fire way to push through is by faith and hope. And to do this leads me to my next resolution of....

*Getting in the WORD - D1 is so much better at this than me. He begins each morning with his quiet time (in our closet, on the floor) and has made it through the Bible entirely and is starting all over. He knows it makes all the difference in how his day goes and that his Walk is so much stronger because of it. I love him. He is such a Godly man and the spirtual leader of our home and I am so thankful for him. I just have a hard time reading anything before coffee. And if I make coffee, I wake the boys. And if I wake the boys, there is no hope of quiet time. Does anyone do theirs at night?

*Tone up - as noted in previous posts, I hit my weight loss goal but, most of you know, just because the scale gets to where you want it to be does NOT mean certain areas of your body get there, too. If only I could wave a wand and say, 'Abra cadabra, yummy gummy, next 5 lbs please exit the tummy.' How come that doesn't work? So if toning doesn't do the trick, maybe my 2011 resolution will be for a tummy tuck. Just kidding. Maybe. If only you could see what my 3 angels have done to my abdominal skin, you might just change your opinion. It's just gross. Nuf said.

*Simplify life - this might be more like a 3-year plan but I really think we need to explore the areas where our life could be less chaotic. With our boys getting older and going into extracirricular activities, that may be a lot easier said than done but I still think we can whittle away here and there. We just need to say 'NO' a lot more. OK, so this one may be the hardest....

*Build bonds with my boys - this one is really important to me to achieve this goal, and to continue every year. I started thinking about just how fast the last 5 years have gone and how fast the next 5 and 10 will go and I will never get this back. I find myself 'hushing' my children much too often if I can't hear the weatherman speaking or if I have a headache or if I just had a bad day. None of that matters a bit in the grand scheme of things. Who care if it’s going to rain or if someone cut me off on the interstate? At that ‘hushing’ moment, maybe my lil’ guy wanted to tell me he loved me or how he tied his shoe by himself or how his friend hurt his feelings. These ages are precious, their laughs priceless and I aspire this year to just truly listen to them, to be patient with them, to play with them and to just be their Mommy.


Got any resolutions you would like to share?