Aging

I read a wonderful post at inCourage written by Kristen Welch who blogs at We are THAT Family.  Kristen is one of my daily read (sometimes more than once!).  This post is a beautiful message for every women on aging gracefully and true beauty.   Read her post here.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelery or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.  

1 Peter 3:3-4

My FinishYear

I just now came across Jon Acuff FinishYear idea.  I am a little late to the party, but I am going to tackle this.  I am going to update here periodically on my progress. 

1. Finish losing 50 pounds by December 31, 2012. 
2. Finish starting an online eBay store as a fun little side "business."  I have already made my first thrift store purchase with eBaying in mind!
3. Finish learning to knit and make dish clothes for Christmas presents.  I need to make about 20 so I better get going.
4. Finish rereading Proverbs over and over and over in 2012.
5. Finish praying consistently the daily prayers for my kids.
6. And stealing this from idea from Jon Acuff - Finish writing at least one handwritten note to someone each month. 

I Want a Cracker!

We are on week two of a gluten and dairy free diet for Little Man and Lizard. We took Little Man for food sensitivity testing and his wheat (whole wheat, spelt and gluten) and dairy (whey and casein) were high. Not off the charts allergic, but high enough to warrant a go at it to see if eliminating gluten and/or dairy would help with his behavior and his eczema. We are also following this for Lizard to see if we can pinpoint the cause of her ongoing stomach aches, which to date we have not been able to figure out.

It has been a challenge for sure. Not insurmountable, but a challenge. And very expensive. We eat an above average diet – not the healthiest out there for sure, but far better than many people. Even with that, it has been interesting to try to come up with alternatives to our normal choices. You can’t just grab a bag of goldfish crackers to fill the kids up. There are gluten/dairy free alternatives, but one box for $4.00 is the size of one snack – for one kid - maybe! Plus it is a challenge to find items the kids will eat. It has been some trial an error but we are making our way.

We started out thinking the whole family would follow it. But due to cost and the impact on our food budget, we are only following it strictly for the two kids. It is maddening that alternative foods… organic…gluten free… or whatever… are so much more expensive. It is actually ridiculous that I just referred to it as “alternative” because the general public should be eating THIS food, not the processed, chemical filled “food” the food industry shoves down our throats through coupons and cheap options. The more I learn, the angrier I get. It cuts to the core when I have to make a food choice based on cost and not on what is the healthiest choice.

In the end, I am not sure eliminating dairy and/or gluten will make much difference for Little Man. I guess I am hopeful that it will have a positive impact in improving his behavior; but skeptical at this point. Maybe I am reaching for something to “blame” for his actions, his defiance and his difficult nature. I know I must explore all the possibilities for my kids to be successful and provide that to the best of my ability. At the same time, it is hard to swallow that Little Man’s behavior might not improve despite our best efforts. I hate that he might be labeled the difficult kid… the trouble maker… the one that the other parents roll their eyes at and talk about. We have already had a small taste of it.

What I want people to see is that he is so full of life, funny and smart. He is amazing. He is athletic, runs faster than any kid I know and has a smile that lights up a room. He says the funniest things (like just the other day telling Soccer Girl, “hey you have polka dots on your face” referring to her freckles, as if she didn’t know!). I think people can see it a lot of the times when there is no structure and he is free to play on his own and on his own terms. But if structure or directions are involved, it is not as visible.

One of the other things Chief and I have talked about is our role as parents in his behavior. There is cause and effect in most things in life… when we react a certain way to Little Man’s behavior it can cause him to react a certain way. We are trying to monitor our reactions. I know there are times when I have escalated his negative behavior due to my reaction.  It is funny, people say by waiting to have kids until you are older, you are more mature and can handle the ups and downs better. Maybe so, but I have found I have less patience and am more tired than I was when had my other two and was "younger."  My challenge is to be calm, quiet and thoughtful in my responses.

We will keep plugging away at things for our Little Man.  He deserve that.  I know there is purpose for this struggle even if I can't see it right now. 

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

How I'm Doing

Well, two out of my three main goals for 2010 are going well. I have been keeping up on my reading of the bible and I am making headway on launching photography and should meet my deadline of March 1st.

Losing weight has not gone so well. I am down 3 pounds but that is probably more from being sick the last few days then my mad skills at losing weight. It is curious to me what triggers people to lose with and work at it so diligently. I lost 37 pounds about 4 years ago. I just made a decision and worked at it – no looking back. I ate the right foods – veggies and fruit, did not eat fast food, and drank tons of water. It just clicked.

Here I am again but it has not clicked for me this time yet. I am happy to say I did not gained all 37 pounds back and that is all with turning 40 and having a 3rd baby! But I don’t know what IT was before. My original goal was to lose 50 pounds and to be healthier and shop where ever I wanted. I did that and stopped at 37 pounds because I had meet my ultimate goal of being healthier. I was happy. I can still say I am healthier then I was and can still shop anywhere. But I don’t feel that way deep down.

Some things have clicked for me though - no more fast food. It is not that I eat it that often, but when I do, I feel horrible almost immediately. I am done with being lazy, because that is most often when I eat fast food – I haven’t planned a meal, am running late, whatever. I am better off not eating then eating that stuff and feeling like I have the last few times.

I am not giving up for sure and will keep plugging away. Pray for some more “clicking” to happen for me soon!

Getting My Moxie Back

I am feeling very optimistic about 2010 - we watched the "Night at the Museum Two - Battle at the Smithsonian" with the kids on New Year's Eve.  In there, Amelia Earhart talked about "moxie". 

Moxie according to the definition here is the ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage; gumption, guts, nerve.  That's how I feel we are facing the new year - with gumption, courage and spirit on many levels.

I am signed up to run the Hippie Chick half-marathon again in May and will start training again this week to build up my base mileage.  Running for me takes moxie because I am not a natural runner; absolutely hated it as kid.  And, I am slow.  But it makes me feel strong and that I can do anything.  So I am starting off this New Year gathering up my moxie and it feels good.

Next Year Goals

Well, I have not been very good about writing down my thoughts and that darn menu plan.  I still menu plan as always, but I’ve decided I will not put it on my blog – it does not seem necessary to me after all.

Lots has been swirling around in my head and I not been too focused.  I could blame it on the hussle of the Christmas season, but I won't.  That is too easy.  It is not Christmas and all that goes with it.  It is simply my thinking lots of things and not taking the time to write it down.  But that will be changing with the New Year.

Chief and I have come up with an idea for our family for 2010… not really New Year’s resolutions, but more of goals we are striving to work on this year (so I guess you could say they are resolutions, sort of). The girls seemed excited about it and Lizard immediately came up with a few for herself.  I am still formulating mine but the big ones I have are:

Read the entire bible by January 1, 2011
My small group of women from our church who get together once a month for a Girl’s Night Out are going to do it together with a "girls weekend at the beach" for those that complete it as the reward – how fun is that?  Click here for the schedule I am going to follow.  Chief is going to do it with me too!  I have never read the entire bible, only bits and pieces based on the bible study I am doing at the time or from sermons.  I am really looking forward to the lessons God is going to show me through this.  Thank you Jennifer L. for encouraging us all to do it.

Lose 35 pounds by September 1, 2010
I am going to take the “Move More, Eat Less” approach… with “real GOD made” food as the focus and eating less sugar, eating more fruits and veggies and more protein and eating smaller portion sizes as my guide. I do not want to follow some rigid “diet” – I just want to eat healthy at least 80% of the time.  I am going to loose about 5 pounds a month which is about right – nice and slow!

Launch photography business by March 1, 2010
I have done three official photo shoots for friends (oh what fun it was!) and feel I am ready to put myself out there as a beginning photographer for hire.  I need to develop my website, get the legalities in order and begin to advertise.  It will be so fun to see what happens with this!

Some other ideas swirling around up there are… keeping to a regular blogging schedule, more topical writing on the blog, developing a regular chore schedule for the kids (I have done them in the past, but they always seems to fall by the wayside), following the Ramsey plan for our family better and lots more. There are both big and small goals in the works, but all ones I want to work on incorporating into our Goal Plan.

So… I’d better start reading my bible so I stay on task with my first goal… 2010 here I come!