Reflect, reuse, replenish

Have you ever read the blog Money Saving Mom? It's one of my daily reads.  She's a Christian, a mom, a home school teacher to her kids, and much more.  Anyway, I bring it up because she suggests making goals for the coming year, and for the first time in my life, I made a list of things I want to accomplish and I wrote it down! I even showed them to Darrell.

The things I came up with are not hard.  They aren't easy either.  They are things that will make life better, relationships closer, and time management simple.

The targets I aim to hit this year revolve around the people I care for on a daily basis, my husband and kids.  Here are a few of my purposes of actions for 2012. ;)

1.) A solid bedtime routine--stories and prayer time with all 3 kids together before sleep.  We even started a prayer book where I ask what/who the kids want to pray for and we write it down.  I figure we can look back on that book in later years and have a few laughs or tears about the prayer requests written in it.  We started this routine 3 days ago and the kids have already caught on, choosing books, getting the prayer book out, and holding hands during prayer.  So cute.

2.) Create a more structured daily routine.  I want to start teaching the kids more.  I think having an actual time of day for each subject I want to teach would help and create more disciplined attitudes.  This goal is going to be hard, as I am not the most disciplined person.  I am not good with sticking to routine, especially when I'm tired.  I'm pretty sure the kids will like a schedule, kids love a good routine!

3.) Create an organization and cleaning schedule.  Yes, another schedule, but I think this will help keep me on top of chores instead of the sporadic cleaning I usually do.  I'm always doing 3 cleaning projects at once, instead of focusing on and finishing one. A schedule will help!

4.) Workout 3 times a week on my WII fit---this is the hardest goal because this means getting up earlier than the kids!

5.) More strict grocery shopping and menu planning and more freezer cooking! This also takes discipline and planning ahead, things I'm not good at normally! Hoping a refreshed attitude in 2012 makes me better at these things.

With a lot of prayer, communication with my husband, patience with my kids, and working together, accomplishing these goals will be a cinch.

It is said that routines makes kids feel secure, and therefore they behave better.  Well, all hands on deck, routines are coming to the Cummins' household! Let's see if mom can stick to it!

P.S. After writing this list, my cousin posted on Face Book that she is giving up sugar (besides coffee and a few other things)  until January 31st and invited friends to join her.  I told her I would try.  I started yesterday, and day one went great!  I allowed myself to have my morning coffee and some chocolate milk, but other than that no desserts/sugar!  I was really proud of myself, considering how much sugar I usually consume. We'll see how well this keeps going.